Tuesday, October 9, 2007

To Market, To Market...

Aside from Walmart, where else can we do groceries in Austin?

1. There is H-E-B which has a location in the cross-street of our apartment complex and a location in Circle C - where we want to get a house. Wonder what H-E-B stands for? Here is an excerpt from Wiki

"H.E. Butt Grocery Company (abbreviated H-E-B) is a privately held San Antonio, Texas-based supermarket chain with over 300 stores throughout Texas and northern Mexico. H-E-B ranked No. 11 on Forbes' 2006 list of "America's Largest Private Companies" based on 2005 revenue of $12.4 billion.[1] Supermarket News ranked H-E-B No. 14 in the 2007 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2006 fiscal year estimated sales of $12.4 billion.[2] Based on 2005 revenues, H-E-B is the twenty-seventh largest retailer in the United States.[3]"

2. There is Central Market - which is supposed to be owned by H-E-B also and an answer to Whole Foods (see below). It's supposed to be an upscale version of H-E-B. The aroma in the store actually reminds me of Boise coop. The Lamar location has a restaurant with a patio and a playground for kids. There is actually another location just a block away from us which we have not checked out yet.

3. Then there is Whole Foods - which is headquartered in Austin. (They've got this beautiful building downtown!) Whole food specializes with organic and natural products. When you walk into their store, the pastries, the deli and the salad bar greets you and entices you to sample and buy. I made a mistake once of buying their grilled wild salmon and paid $$$ (greater than $20!) for it! I have learned now that I can get by with soup and bread for less than $5.

4. Up north, there is MT Supermarket - a big Asian food and goods wholesaler. Methinks it is actually mainly a Vietnamese supermarket. It was funny seeing the Filipino and Japanese food under "international" section! It is a large store, easily as big as Walmart (not the supercenter). It's just over a year old so the store is very clean!
MT Supermarket
See more at www.mtsupermarket.com.

5. Just near AMD is the Cebuana Filipino Store. It is a small store but the best things about it are: 1) it is near Al's workplace, so I could just ask him to drop by after work; 2) it carries Magnolia/Selecta ice cream and the commute is shorter (than MT Supermarket) so the it is not yet molten when Al arrives home; 3) they have frozen, clean ampalaya leaves, malunggay leaves, sili leaves and saluyut! The last item is very important to me since I don't have to clean them up and it does not rot (which has happened to me a lot in the past since for the fresh leaves, I sometimes feel lazy cleaning them up!)

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Austin Real Estate Musings

Dear Husband and I have decided that Circle C is the location for us.

+ It is near(er) to work. We do not have to deal with the Y (where US-290 and US-71 split). (Am sure, eventually the Y will become a non-issue. How soon? Don't know when, so meanwhile, we do not want to deal with it.)
+ It has a nearby commercial complex. Not much but at least a nearby place to do the groceries - H.E.B. We checked it out and the place was a bit dark (similar feel as Winco). The deli looks delish! Also, they have upo and ampalaya in abundance!
+ Its streets are wide and the sidewalk is great for walking, running and biking!
+ It is very near the parks where we can do further walking, running and biking!
+ It has its own swim center and residents have access to the tennis courts and golf course.

The big thing I am not sure about is the size of the house. The Boise house was 2164 sqft and we were bouncing is a big box already then. A 2400 sqft house in Austin will already be bigger than the Boise house. How much more a 3000 sqft house???

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Winnipeg Family Get-Togethers

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

3 family get-togethers in a row!!!

1. Sat Lunch at the Figueroa's
2. Sun Dinner at the Bayani's
3. Mon Dinner at the Causon's

Below is a list of who's who:

Generation #1 - representing the generation of siblings that is why we are related
Auntie Cela


Generation #2 - 1st cousins
Manang Deanna/Manong Boy Causon
Manang Lorna/Manong Rod Bayani
Manang Arit/Kuya Lino Cepe
Rela
Ria/Ody Figueroa


Generation #3
- Beltran 1st cousins
Jon/Lena Causon
Rodney Bayani (and Erin, soon to be wife!)
Jill/Ian
Ronald/Lea
- Ordillas 2nd cousins
Rio, June Ann, Jed, Chikoy Cepe
Miggy, Tim Figueroa

Generation #4
- Beltran 2nd cousins
Iris Beltran
Spencer Causon

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Monday, October 8, 2007

Meet the latest Figueroa!

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Timothy Titus, alyas Tim maitim (ehek, Tim maputi na raw siya ngayon), was baptized last Saturday 10/6.


Matthew Genesis, alyas Miggy and Super K, whose birthday was on Sunday 10/7 also celebrated his 3rd birthday one day ahead.


Dada and Auntie Cela (alyas Lola Isa) thinks that Miggy's eyes have a glint of mischievousness in them; while Tim's eyes are mellow. Judge for yourself!

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A Few of My Favorite Songs


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