The Story Behind "Siomao Espesyal"

I imagine that several of you reading this blog are wondering what the meaning of our blog's title is. It happens to be a confusing tale of twists and turns, leading us down a strange path of name crafting to form a title for our 'love team'.

It all started just after I returned to the Philippines, back in October 2008. Jonah decided that she would make a new Friendster account. So that you know, Friendster is a social networking website similar to MySpace and Facebook. While she was making the new account she was trying to think of what her alias would be. She happened to be listening to a Filipino band called "Parokya ni Edgar", and the song that was playing in called Siopao Espesyal. Its a song that uses the tune of Radiohead's song "Creep". Now, for a definition of the song title, because its important to understand. Siopao Espesyal means "special siopao". Siopao is like a chinese steamed bun,


and the Filipinos love eating them. They usually serve two different kinds, Asado and Bola-Bola. Now, back to the story...

As Jonah was listening to the song, she decided that her new alias would be Siopao Espesyal. After she created her new account we occasionally called her Siopao.

A few months later, we became a couple. I still occasionally called Jonah Siopao, and all was well. In January, she started craving a certain type of food called Siomai, which is similar to a chinese dumpling.


During this time, she started calling me Siomai. She then decided that we needed a combination of our names, which is usually common here in the Philippines. We discussed the different possibilities of our names: Jomatt, Jonatt, Matnah, Manah, Monatt, etc. However, none of them really had a nice sound to it. She then came up with the name Siomao. A great combination of our nicknames, and also a good combination of foods. After we came up with the name we started to us it in various places. Then, when we decided that we would start a blog we thought that just Siomao wasn't enough, the title had to be more special. So, we added Espesyal, to make it special.

That's the story, and meaning behind our blog's title.

Its alive!!!

This morning I woke up, as usual, and Jonah was by my side. Suddenly I heard her say, "I felt it!". I was a little confused by the comment, so I didn't really react. Then she said, "It moved again!". This time I realized that she was talking about our baby, so I quickly moved my hand into position to see if I could feel it move as well. After a few moments, I felt two small, distinct pushes against my hand. It was an amazing feeling! I'm so excited for this baby! I'm going to be a daddy! That was definitely a good way to start my day.

The Family's Visit Part 3

Now for the last part of the family's visit to the Philippines...

After the wedding was finished, we decided that we would take a break from all the busy planning, and hectic schedule. We took both families up to Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines. The ride up had some gorgeous views, and was rather nice. When we got there we checked in to our hotel, rested for about 5 minutes, then went out to Mine's View, a very scenic area in Baguio. We took a few pictures of the view, but it was mostly covered in a thick fog, as it was almost dark.

We then went to the Botanical Gardens, but didn't stay long because it was dark. Then we went to Burnham Park, a sort of Central Park in Baguio with a man-made lake.

We then went to dinner at Mang Inasal at the mall, yet another place that encourages you to eat with your hands in the traditional Filipino style. After dinner, we went back to the hotel to enjoy some native cakes made by Myrna that morning, and to get some rest for the next day.

Our first stop the next morning was back to the Botanical Gardens to see it in the daylight,

then to Mine's View to see the view in daylight,


and to shop at all the various vendors. We split up into smaller groups and scoured the area. Several souvenirs were purchased, and prices were haggled until everyone was happy. It was great! After shopping at Mine's View, we got back in the van and headed back to Tarlac. On the way out we took a different road, and stopped to see the Lion's Head Welcome Marker. We took the opportunity to snap a few shots,

and to enjoy the wonderful view.

The trip to Baguio was wonderful, and the temperatures were great! I think that's another place I'll have to visit again.

On the way home, we ran into traffic. We were bumper to bumper for about an hour and a half. There was even a time that the two-lane two-way hi-way became a four-lane one-way road. Traffic jams get insanely ridiculous here in the Philippines, and as far as I could tell, it was started by a couple of left turners trying to get to the overcrowded mall. We finally made it back to Tarlac about 9:00 pm, and went back to the hotel to get some rest before taking Mom, Richard, and Jon back to the airport at 1:00 am Sunday morning. We made sure to leave plenty early as to avoid any more traffic. We arrived at the airport safely, said our goodbyes, and our thank yous, and went separate ways.

It was great to see some of the family again, and to have them see the people, and country that I have come to love.

17 Weeks!

Jonah is now 17 weeks along!

We'll try to upload weekly or monthly pictures of her progress.

The Family's Visit Part 2

The next part of this installment was the big day...May 14, 2009. The day Jonah and I were united in marriage.

The day started off a little late, when I woke up with a killer headache. I stayed in bed for about an hour to see if it would go away, but it didn't. So, I got up at around 10:00 am. Jonah and I were scheduled to go to the salon at about 9:00, so we went straight there. I had to get my hair cut, and Jonah was getting her nails done. It took a little longer than we were expecting, so when I was finished with my haircut I went to go pick up the flowers from our florist. We had ordered Jonah's bouquet, two smaller bouquets for her sisters, 6 corsages, and 7 boutonnieres, including mine. They had everything ready, except for my boutonniere, because they didn't have the flower that it was supposed to be made out of. So, I told them to switch the flower type, and that we would be back in an hour to pick up all the flowers. I then went to pick up mom's gown, and thankfully there were no problems with that. I went back to the salon to pick up Jonah, but she wasn't finished yet. So, we waited for her nails to be done, and left around 12:00 noon. We went next door to the mall, bought some food and drinks for us, Myrna, Jingle, and the person that we hired to do their make-up. We then went back to the flower shop, picked up our flowers (there were two extra small bouquets), went to Tessie's grill to make sure that everything was set up right, dropped mom's dress off at their hotel, and went to our hotel room to get ready. We finally got there at about 2:00 pm, and only had 2 hours before the wedding was supposed to start.

Jingle was finished, Myrna was being done-up, and Jonah still had to shower. We also had our photographer(s)/videographer(s) there in the room taking plenty of pictures of the getting ready process. We still don't have their pictures yet, so we are currently unable to upload those. Our original schedule was to be on the road to Gerona by 3:00, but when 3:00 rolled around we were still at the hotel. Finally everything was good and ready, and we left for Gerona at 4:00 pm. Upon arrival at the chapel we got everyone ready and the ceremony started. Everything went well at the ceremony and we were able to take lots of pictures afterward.

Here is a picture of us, the happy couple, and our parents.

And this is a wonderful picture of my lovely bride and I.

After we were finished at the chapel we all saddled up and went back to Tessie's Grill in Tarlac for the reception. We arrived at about 7:00 and immediately got everything started. There was another procession to introduce the witnesses, and parents, and of course the happy couple. There was a wonderful program that included the cutting of the cake,

releasing of doves,


and the garter/bouquet toss, which Tessie's throws a little twist on. They do a sort of musical pass, rather than an actual toss. That way someone is sure to end up with it, and its a total surprise. Somehow Jon ended up with the garter, and Joyce with the bouquet. So there was a little game that followed. Jonah and I were to show the 3 levels of kisses, and Jon and Joyce were supposed to follow.

It was a great game. I can't find the best video of the game, but when I do I'll be sure to post it.

The whole reception was wonderful, and Jonah was absolutely gorgeous the entire evening.

I would say that aside from the late start, our wedding day was a success. Jonah's extended family members are still bragging about how lovely the reception was. That concludes part 2 of the story.

The Family's Visit Part 1

For those of you who are reading this, be warned! I'm new at this blogging thing, so it'll be quite the adventure for all of us...fasten your seat belts!

This last couple of weeks Jonah and her family had the opportunity to meet some of my family. Our adventure started when we went to Manila to pick them up from the airport. We stopped by the temple to pick up Jonah's sister, Joyce. We also took the opportunity to snap a few pictures.










We had lots of fun taking pictures and enjoyed the scenery while we walked around the beautiful Manila Temple grounds.

We even decided to let Path (Jonah's father) have a little fun. He thought that these horns fit him well.

We then went to go eat dinner. After our dinner, the van that we rented had a few issues. We were supposed to be at the airport waiting for Mom, Richard, and Jon, but by the time we got there they were waiting for us. So we left the airport, stopped by a mechanic, and went back to Tarlac. We got everyone checked- in to their hotel rooms, and we finally got to sleep at around 4:30 am.

The next day we took everyone down to Clark to enjoy some 'Eat All U Can' Filipino foods. It was interesting to see the reactions on everyone's faces. Mom and Richard found some things that they really enjoyed, and Jon was very brave in trying a lot of different foods. The first major meal was a success!

We then traveled back to Tarlac to rest a little before the next meal. We brought the family by the internet cafe for a minute to show them the location and the units. Then we dropped them off again at their hotel. Jonah and I then went up to Moncada to pick up Myrna (Jonah's mother). Upon our return to Tarlac we picked everyone up and went to the Isdaan Floating Restaurant in Gerona. We took a bunch of pictures on the grounds,

and even enjoyed throwing a couple plates at their 'Tacsiyapo! Wall', which they say is a good way to release your anger. We didn't have any anger to release, we just wanted to smash plates.While we were eating we decided that we wanted the family to have the Filipino experience, so we had them magkamay (use their hands to eat). It was great to see their willingness to do so. Maybe they were just afraid that they would offend the family, or maybe they wanted the experience to be memorable. Either way, they did it, and the meal was good. So, major meal #2 was a success as well.

After we finished eating, we brought everyone back to their homes/hotel and got some sleep for the next day, which was a big one...the wedding day.