juls random thoughts

• I’m a coffee addict. I can distinguish brewed from instant coffee on my first sip.
• I am addicted to traveling, if I have the money and the time, I’ll be spending most of my waking hours traveling – good thing I married a man who feels the same way and a son starting to show signs of being like us
• I don’t mind being alone, I actually enjoy doing things alone: eating lunch, shopping, traveling, though of course, there are times when I prefer to be with somebody while doing these
• I can spend the whole day in a coffee shop just reading or looking at passersby or simply daydreaming
• I love daydreaming. I do it while I’m at work, while driving, while taking a bath or anytime when I feel like escaping to my dream world.
• I love daydreaming about our future home. How each room looks like, spending a lazy afternoon curled in the sofa enjoying the breeze with the soothing sound of water falls coming from our garden, enjoying a barbecue cookout, having breakfast in our lanai, watching my son playing in the garage, spending time on my scrapbook room, whipping up something from the kitchen or having a good conversation over coffee with hubby
• I dream of managing my own “homey” coffee shop. Enjoying a conversion with my loyal frequent customers or reading a favorite book or simply enjoying being a barista.
• I enjoy window shopping. I can spend an entire day in the mall, looking around, trying clothes and shoes BUT go home empty handed.
• I enjoy long drives (for so long as it’s not traffic), most especially if partnered with good music, great food and coffee. I don’t mind looking at never ending fields, mountains and trees.
• I always plan the itinerary for our vacations, I can even go as OC as to list all the clothes we’ll wear in every activity that we’ll do but I also enjoy unplanned trips, I love the spontaneity of it and spur of the moment decisions of what to do and where to go. I truly enjoy not worrying of losing the time to do the things that we have to do.
• I’m addicted to spa. I have a weekly massage, which I recently upgraded to 1 ½ hour massage. I have an annual (at the very least) pampering day where I’ll have a body scrub, body wrap, body soak, massage, hair spa, foot spa. In the past years, I do all of these on my birthday, except this year where I decided to pamper my car instead on my actual birthday (got it the day before my birthday so it’s his first year) by taking it to CASA for a checkup (LOL!) Last year, I think I did this pampering ritual quarterly.
• During office hours, when I am so stressed out and can’t think straight, I’ll just leave and have a massage, foot spa or simply go shopping.
• I love reading feel good stories like Sophie Kinsella’s books.
• I enjoy staying on bed the whole day doing nothing.

Got this awards from Em. Thanks sis! you're so sweet.





Now, I'm giving this to Chat, Nol and Pat

Thanks to Nyree, Tet and Pat for this tag. I combined na lang your tags into one ha?

Rule: Copy the entire list and add your name at the bottom. And tag at least 5 friends. (But you can tag as many as you like)



Thea is {bloggerhappy.com}
Childstar
Mike
My Scrappy Side
Abie
Aggie
Alpha
Apple
Apols
Jacqui
Jane
Jody
Joy
Kelly
Mich
Peachy
Nyree
Pat
Tet
Juliet

I am tagging Em, Nol, Chat, and Diane

Just got back from Singapore, really tiring but fun vacation. We had a lot of bloopers, one of which was with the hotel we chose to book. You see, hubby was scheduled to leave last Thursday and we only looked for a hotel Wednesday night and to think we already had our flight booking since November! Talk about last minute and rush booking. Out of panic, we booked in a hotel in the red light district of Singapore. Yes, you heard it right, and those who know, you're right, we stayed in Geylang, Lorong 18 to be exact. Hubby's friends were actually laughing at us because according to them, the place we booked is actually a motel. You see, I am not really used to looking for a hotel on my own for out of the country trips, all my previous trips were work-related and it's our office who arrange my hotel reservations. I have no idea on where to book online, how I wish I know already about http://www.HotelReservations.com, they have last minute deals! And it's cheap I tell you, they actually have better deals than the one we booked. Hay, too late for us. They have a lot of good deals like rebates, where can you find a site that will provide you a rebate when you book through them? And what's even better is the "compare" functionality. Did you know that I did this manually?! Really poor me huh?
They also feature a city where they have a sale, this is useful when we don't know where to go but we know we want to go on a vacation. They have hotel offers worldwide so I finally learned my lesson, I will book through them on our next vacation, and it includes booking on our flight, car rentals and lodging. Did I mention that you can choose the type of lodging? Yep, they will not deceive you in a way that we were deceived; you can filter your search to show only hotel, suite, inn, vacation home or condo, resort or bed & breakfast. Not only that, they will let you also choose the amenities that you want to be present on your lodging search, like if you want one with business center, fitness center, internet access available (wahh.. again this one, I did manual search), kitchen, pets allowed, pool and restaurant on-site.
This is the first time that hubby and I traveled out of the country mainly for vacation as mostly we just extend our business trips, and now that we've tried and enjoyed it, I think, I'll be expecting more out of the country travels for pleasure. And I guess now, I really learned my lesson, I’m no longer a novice in online booking and having found http://www.HotelReservations.com I don’t think we’ll be fooled again.

Oh and regarding our hotel, even if it turned out to be in the red light district, we decided to stay and did not bother canceling our booking as we only used it to sleep :)

Friends, so sorry for being silent in the past few days. I am on my final night here in Singapore. I wasn't able to mention about this before we left as we're soooo busy. Hubby is now back in Manila, while I am spending the night here in my brother's apartment. We did not bring any laptop kaya dito lang ako sa brother ko naka-internet.

When I get back, I'll do all the tags. Final night of the vacation, so many things happened back in Manila that we have to face. Hanggang leeg ang naiwan kong trabaho so I hope I can squeeze in a few minutes to blog.

See you all soon my cyber friends!

To those who’ve been following my family’s life, you know how I have been struggling to make the little boy consider going to school. You see, last year, he was on home schooling. Hubby’s brother’s girlfriend (my sister in law now) used to tutor kurt one hour everyday as she’s also a pre-school teacher. Our agreement is that he’ll be doing that until end of 2007 lang as we intend to enroll the little boy in the pre-school near our house (saling-pusa lang naman). We’re intending to do this para he’ll get familiar with a school setup in time for his enrollment next school year with the same school. Kaso, it turns out, ayaw nya to go to school. I don’t know if its because he got used that it’s the teacher who visits him or if he got scared/intimidated kasi he sees his cousins always with homework then have to go to sleep early kasi maaga sila gumigising (as in 5am). Then dinagdagan ko pa when I bought two workbooks for him and attempted to teach him myself. So gusto naman nya, ako na lang daw magturo. Can you imagine a little boy who's only turning three years old last year saying that he doesn’t want to study kasi it’s hard daw! Oh my! Oh my! Is this a preview of what is going to happen in the future? Wag naman sana.

So, since we can’t convince him, sina-psychologize na lang namin. On our usual walks around the block, I’ll point to him the preschool and tell him that it’s his school and mentions the name of his teacher. There are times when he’d say he’ll go to school na but later on babawiin. This dilemma even made me consider sending him to a progressive preschool kasi at least there nobody will force him to do things (that’s my POV of progressive so I might be wrong). So, while I was on this dilemma and slowly convincing husband to agree, the little boy made his own decision.

Last Thursday, on his usual morning walk around the block with the yaya, he decided to stop by the pre-school and observe. Nasa garage lang kasi yung isang classroom (really informal setup) so from the road, you can really see what they’re doing inside. So observe-observe muna then according to the yaya eh pakonti-konti, palapit na ng palapit sa loob until finally he gate-crashed the class. He stayed there inside, observing and playing with the kids during playtime. Mind you he’s wearing pambahay sando, shorts and his crocs! He does not have any baon, good thing that one of the kids daw shared baon. My MIL texted me about this and I am so shocked. Happy na rin kasi at least he’s getting curious na with going to school.

That night, when I got home, I talked to him asking him if he’ll go to school na, no pa rin daw so I did not force him na. Sabi nya, finish school na. Ayaw na nya daw school, work na lang daw sya sa office ko. LOL!

The next day, my FIL suggested that the yaya take the little boy again for a walk to see if he’ll go again to school, which he did. This time he participated more. So, since naging habitual gate crasher na ang anak ko, we decided to talk with the owner.

Well, according to her, we just let things be it. She’s saying nga na it’s a good thing that we did not force him and just let him observe until finally he gets to enjoy it. Ang maganda nito eh walang bayad. LOL! Request nya lang eh pagbihisin na daw. LOL! Well not to offend us pero her concern is para the little boy or other kids in the school won’t compare na he’s wearing pambahay while the rest are not.

This time the little boy is more eager to go to school, he’s even asking me to prepare his baon, rice and hotdog daw – this was during the weekend. Come Monday, when we have already prepared his baon and his clothes, ayaw na naman nya. Heartbreaking actually kasi he’s asking me na ako na lang daw mag-teach sa kanya. Then he asked me to go with him to school, to help him. I am contemplating whether I’ll really take him to school kasi he’s more dependent when I’m there kumbaga mas independent sya pag wala ako. May worry is baka if I go with him the first time, he’ll always expect that I’ll go with him eh I can’t always do that kasi he wakes up late na. But finally, I’ve decided na sige I’ll go with him muna. Kaso mo naman, ayaw na naman nya. Pabago-bago talaga ng isip even if I told him na ihahatid ko sya and all. So I left na for office at around 9:30.

After a few hours, MIL sent me a text message na pagkaalis ko daw nagpaligo na ang little boy and kumain and he asked na to be taken to school. Funny talaga etong anak ko. When I got home, he told me that he danced in the school and studied. According to one of the helpers naman, the little boy daw was asking the teacher who helped him to eat his baon why he doesn’t have a juice. Water lang kasi laman ng baunan nya with his rice, 2 packs of peanut butter biscuits and peanut butter sandwich. Nyahahaha! Dami baon food pero I forgot to add the juice that I bought. He’s asking din daw why wala sya book, nagbigay kasi ng homework yun teacher in the book so ang little boy, hinahanap ang homework nya.

Today, Tuesday, I left the house early for a meeting (not very early though kasi 8am na nga ako umalis), he’s still sleeping. When I called home, pumasok daw. So, I guess this means that the little boy is seriously going to school na. I just wish I can actually see him there kaso ayaw nya pumasok pag nasa bahay ako.

Ok, I am in a blogging mood! too bad, there are no opps thrown my way.

I have one big news! I won in a raffle!

You see, I have my scrapbook magazines subscription from Bookoto and to celebrate their one year, they decided to pick one lucky customer and give a one year subscription of Digital Scrapbooking magazine. I am actually excited when I learned about it and even more excited when I learned that the draw date will be on my birthday.

So, I forgot na about it then just this morning, biglang naalala ko so I decided to check out their site, no news yet there (I checked just now, my name is there na rin on their site). Then I saw that they have a blog so I checked out the blog. And my surprise when I found out that I won!! as in, there's a picture of Ms. Julie's son holding a paper with my name on it. There was even a video of the draw! I am so happy! I actually shrieked when I saw my name. Grabe!! sarap ng feeling.

Here are the pics of the draw:


How I wish I can also copy the video but I can't. It can be watched here actually.

Thanks! thanks a lot talaga! I am so happy. I am contemplating kasi of going back to digital scrapbooking because of the scrapbooking difficulties I am having as posted here so napakagaling po talaga ng timing nito. A heartfelt thanks to the two lovely owners of Bookoto - Ms. Juliet and Sheryl. Thanks! And Sheryl, sorry I missed your calls this morning. Thanks! thanks!

I am such a big fan of Sophie Kinsella. I followed her entire Shopaholic Series (Confession of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic takes Manhattan, Shopaholic ties the knot, Shopaholic and Sister, and Shopaholic and Baby). I also read her other two books - Can you keep a secret and The Undomestic Goddess. I actually learned in one of her books that she used to have another pen name which I forgot already, I even looked for the title of her books under that name kaso hindi available dito sa Philippines.

So, imagine my surprise when I saw in Fully Booked (now I remember the name of the bookstore!) in Bonifacio High Street that she has a new book, Remember Me?. Di ko syempre pinaglagpas! I immediately bought a copy and yun nga, spent total of five hours reading the entire book on my birthday! as always, galing-galing ni Sophie! Now, I'm craving again for more of her books.

Warning: Contains some spoilers of the movie Jumper so stop reading after the third paragraph, or skip the fourth paragraph, if you haven't watched the movie.

We had the whole day today without kids. Hubby's only sister gave us this as a gift last christmas. She gave this to all her siblings with kids. She promised that she will take care of the kids for one whole day.

We actually forgot already about this so we're surprised when she told us last friday. Nakakatawa si hubby and his eldest brother kasi as in pang-asar na sumigaw sa tuwa pag-alis ng kids with their sister and his boyfriend. We're actually asking them kung seryoso silang gusto nilang gawin yun, imagine, they'll be taking with them four kids! three boys ages 3, 4 and 6 and one girl aged 9. well, they took one yaya with them pero mahirap pa rin yun. We're actually more concerned with Kurt and his cousin Gelo kasi the two other kids, Pau and Sean are older na so easier to manage.

So, what did the three parents did?! syempre, kanya-kanyang lakwatsa. Hubby's oldest brother and his wife went to spa, his second brother and wife have an official meeting, while hubby and I decided to watch a movie.

We went to Eastwood Libis to watch Jumper. Movie was so galeng! astig! though there are some things that we wished they have included in the movie. Kasi they did not explain why he got that power. I was actually hoping that David will ask his mom about that when he went to her house, which he did not. Galing lang with all the actions but I wished talaga they explained.

Hubby actually wanted to watch pa Spiderwick kaso parang feeling ko kasi pangbata sya like Narnia so we did not watch na. Pasyal konti kaso boring pala sa Eastwood kasi walang masyadong shops so we left na with nowhere to go. We decided to have mass muna then isip naman to just go to Farmer's and buy seafood. We bought tahong, which I made into baked tahong, and tuna and salmon sashimi.

We had a great dinner at home. Kids arrived very happy at past eight. We learned that they went pala to Parks and Wildlife for a picnic then sa Circle for some biking.

We ended the weekend the way we usually do - a 9pm massage. The best weekend ender!

I had a good birthday. No handa at all or any celebration but I am very happy. First, hubby surprised me on the wee hour of my birthday with two dozens of white roses. Well, I actually learned about it even before he arrived home kasi I called him as late na wala pa sya sa house, that's how I learned na dumayo pala sya ng dangwa just to buy the roses. How sweet is that! Slept for only 3 hours kasi madaling-araw na nga sya dumating then I have to wake up early for my review at 8am which unfortunately, pagdating ko sa review site eh biglang na-cancel ang registration namin. Hay.. this is the only glitch on my day, kaaga-aga ko pa naman dumating only to find out that we're not enrolled in the review. Well, this is another topic. Buti na lang di nasira araw ko, nainis lang ako kasi I woke up really early pa naman.

So, I went back home muna to sleep for a few more hours as I am so sleepy. I think I was able to sleep for an hour or two. My car also turned one year old the day before, Feb. 15, so I decided that this day din I'll bring my car to Honda Global City for the one year check. I'm actually looking forward to this day as I just love the location of this Honda service center, malapit sa pasyalan- Serendra and Bonafio High Street!

So later that morning, I took my car in Honda then that's the only time I realized that it's lunch time na pala, didn't know that I left home past eleven na pala eh my MIL asked pa the helper to cook pansit for my bday. So, I had lunch na lang at Pancake House, of course, since it's my birthday, I ordered my favorite, steak! I took with me a new book that I bought the day before in the bookstore in Bonifacio High (which I can't remember the name now. I'm so excited to read my new book, it's Sophie Kinsella! a new one, title is Remember Me. So, I spent my lunch enjoying my steak and reading my new book. After lunch, I went to my favorite dessert place in Serendra, Sonja's! I ordered brewed coffee and my favorite melt-in-your-mouth, no-bake chocolate cupcake. Stayed there for a long time as I am enjoying my book.

Usapan namin ni hubby is that they'll follow me there so we can buy kurt a new shoes. At past three, he called me as they're in Honda na daw, they're looking for me there, eh nakatambay pa ko sa Sonja's! so, I went to the service center, eksakto tapos na rin maintenance ng kotse ko. So, we went to Big & Small to buy the little boy a new sneakers, it's about time that we retire his ever reliable crocs! Grabe laki nang paa! we bought size 13!

Pasyal-pasyal, enjoy the weather kasi makulimlim tapos mahangin. The little boy had a blast in Bonifacio High. We then went to Market Market to have meryenda in Sbarro. I'm actually craving for Shakey's kaso wala kaming nakita so we settled there. We saw pa Songs along the way and he told us that Quel, Jeg and yaya are in KFC. So, we checked on them first then we ate na at Sbarro. After that, hubby has to go na for his saturday night bowling tournament. You see, hubby has monday, friday and saturday nights reserved for his bowling tournaments.

So, I'm thinking that kurt and I will probably go to SM Hypermart naman in Pasig kasi we need to do the grocery.. and I don't want to do it in Market Market kasi sa Honda naka-park ang car ko so abuso sa layo ang lalakarin. But the boy seemed tired already as he asked me to go home na so ayun, we went home na lang.

After bowling, when hubby's on his way home, he called me to ask if kurt is sleeping na and if someone can look after him kasi he's asking me to go out. Eh ako, since I'm reading nga my new book, tamad na to go out! but didn't dare tell him that! hahaha!! Kaso, all the helpers are sleeping na and even my in laws are sleeping na so we just went to the nearby Ministop. He bought beers, while I bought Vodka Ice. We spent the night watching cable tv (kasi we don't have any new dvd movies), sya lang pala nanood, ako I read pa rin my book! sobrang engrossed ko, I finished the entire book in half day!

Overall, I think this is the simplest birthday that I had but I am so at peace and happy. I was overwhelmed with all the people who greeted me that day. A lot of my officemates greeted me, which I am so surprised as it is a weekend. Even with the new project that I'm doing now, I'm surprised with my team mates kasi it's our first time to work together but they still greeted me on my day. We have email announcements of birthday celebrants but since it's a weekend, surprise talaga ako that a lot of people greeted me, even relatives in the province sent their text message. I am one happy gal!

We did not go out na to celebrate kasi we're going to Singapore next weekend (wipee!!). So, we're saving money for that trip.

Ako po'y nanawagan kay Anabellee. You left a comment regarding this post. I actually tried to check your profile so I can email the list, unfortunately, I did not see any link to a blog or email address. So, Anabellee, if you're still a frequent visitor of my blog, please send me your contact info so I can send you the list of bank acquired properties that my brother is trying to dispose.

I changed my blog layout! isn't obvious? LOL!

I grew tired of my blog's look. I actually wanted to customize my header, unfortunately, I'm using my office laptop and I don't have my photoshop here so I just settled on choosing from the available templates in blogger.

I kinda like it but let me know if you think the last one is better ok?

Saw this from Tet's new blog and I tried mine.

Your Birthdate: February 16

You're incredibly introverted and introspective. You live inside your head. You spend a lot of alone time meditating and thinking. People see you as withdrawn, and at times they are right. You are caring and deep, but it may be difficult for you to show this side of yourself. Your strength: Your original approach to thinking Your weakness: You tend to shy away from others Your power color: Pale blue Your power symbol: Wavy line Your power month: July

In response to Nol's question in our egroup. I am posting here ours.

Hubby and I are “sala sa init sala sa lamig” when it comes to valentines celebration. Meaning there are years that we celebrate and years that we don’t. Well, not exactly not celebrate, but, we don’t go out on the day itself. Reason? It’s unbelievably expensive on valentine’s day. I can just hear my boss saying that, “well, let your husbands spend for you.” Although I agree, I think I’m becoming practical na rin as we’re expecting huge expenses for our lot and future house construction. So, to go back on my topic.

We already had our date last night. It was actually not planned. I got tired on planning all our activities kasi and hubby is so used to me always planning everything. So, last night, while we’re both at work, I sent him a text message asking if he’s got plans, he called me and asked me if I have plans (sabi ko sa inyo sanay yun na ako ang nagpaplano eh). End of conversation, we’ve decided to eat at Gulliver's of San Francisco. We had our valentine’s date there two years ago, we made reservations that time but this time since we did not plan on anything, we decided that last night is the good time to eat as we don’t have reservations anywhere for tonight. We both love steak and we love Gulliver's more now when we tasted the Highlands Steakhouse in MOA, we liked Gulliver's better.

Hubby ordered the full bone cut prime rib (the biggest), while I ordered the Gulliver cut prime rib. We also ordered a bottle of Jacob’s Creek merlot. We both are so full after dinner, I think Gulliver’s cut is so huge for me and hubby thinks his order is too big for him too. About the wine, we both loved the wine. I was only able to drink 1 ½ glass as I got tipsy already. I can’t drink much as I’ll be driving home as both hubby and I brought our cars to office. Hubby finished the entire bottle but it is as if it has no effect on him at all.

This morning, I woke up early as I have an office meeting. We greeted each other happy valentines with matching kiss and he apologized for not giving me flowers yet as he’s still waiting for the sweldo. (Side note: we’re both financially drained as we paid in full yesterday the lot that we bought and there are processing charges pa pala that we were not able to consider – will have another post about this). I guess he apologized kasi on the past years he always buy the flowers early morning kaya pagkagising ko pa lang, I have flowers na beside our bed. Though ngayon, hapon na, wala pa rin akong flowers :(

Thanks Em for this! on theme with valentines. Hehehe!



Now, I'm giving this to my new blog friends Joy, Yoyin and Nancy. Happy valentines day! And thanks for visiting my blog.

I was surprised when I saw a comment left on my inactive scrapbooking blog regarding my latest post. And I was more surprised to find out that the scrapper who left a comment was from another country, Germany! And I was more surprised to see that I am her scrapbooker from the Philippines. Whew!! talk about pressure and inspiration at the same time. Her name is Kwebbel and I have no idea how she found out about my scrapbooking blog. But I am definitely so honored to have a visitor like her. I think it will make me create a LO so visitors of her blog who'll look at country Philippines will see that I am indeed creating layouts. Oh God! help me, I can feel the pressure!

I have been a “luncher” (my own term again) in Starbucks for quite some time now. I order either of these two sandwiches: turkey chicken sandwich and chunky chicken waldorf on cinnamon bread. I always pair my sandwich with a tall Americano and take one small cup of half & half with me. And today, I tried another yummy sandwich from them. You see, my fave between the two sandwiches above is the turkey chicken but then it seems that I’m not the only one who loves this as every time I go to Starbucks Enterprise after lunch, there are no more of this. Although I like the chunky chicken, I am in no mood of eating today anything with cinnamon. And, there are only two choice of sandwich available, either this chunky chicken or this one that I haven’t tried yet. So, naturally, I picked the other one which I haven’t tried yet but been seeing every time. It’s the antipasto cheese. I actually even contemplated on buying my sandwich in Oliver’s instead but I’m so “sawa” na of their sandwiches and I don’t like Oliver’s in Enterprise, I always go to Glorietta branch if I am really craving with their sandwich.

To go back to the story, I took my antipasto cheese and coffee with me back to the office for my lunch. And surprise of all surprises, I never thought that it will taste this good! Looking at it kasi, it looks like a simple ham and cheese fare but when I tasted it…wow! Really good huh! I checked for the ingredients and realized that it’s not an ordinary ham pala. It has beef pastrami, beef salami, pepperoni and lyoner pala together with iceberg lettuce, caramelized onions and white cheese. And to think I have been ignoring this! It means I have a new favorite!

Ok, it's hard to admit but both hubby and I have this problem on thinning hair.

My case, well, I have a thick hair when I was young, I even hate that fact because I'm having such a difficulty when I shampoo my hair, I have to use a lot of shampoo you know. But then now, I have a thin hair. I think the culprit is the fact that I always have my hair rebonded. I have a kinky hair and I want to have a straight hair. I guess too much chemicals caused it. On hubby's case, I guess its genetics, he actually decided to have his hair cut really short since it's thinning anyway.

We're now both on a lookout for good treatment for hair loss, doing a lot of research as there are a lot of products that all claim to be good and effective. As I am doing my search on the net, I came across trustsource.org. They have a review on hair loss products and that's where we found that provillus is the best hair loss product. Why? well, according to trustsource.org, provillus aggressively seeds your scalp to create optimum environment for new, healthy hairs. It supplies the proper nutrition required to bring damaged, dead hair follicles back to life. Whew! a good explanation huh? and more to this, the site even contain provillus reviews, and based on the review, it seems that provillus indeed really works. Those who used this seem satisfied and raving about the product. Wow! Really great site, good info. At least now we know the best product to use. Thanks to trustsource.org

Would this mean that we'll finally see the regrowth of our hair? I sincerely hope so. I really want to go back on having a hair rebond, as now my hair is sooo curly but I have no choice but to stop, otherwise I'll go bald. LOL!

What kind of mama am I?! Hay naku, I forgot to journal about this great milestone of kurt. Well, actually I logged about it but it's not the topic of my entry. Well, to go back to my topic.

The little boy is now sleeping on his own bed! yep! yep! what's funny is that we never planned it, it just happened on his own. Hay naku, buti na lang talaga natututo anak ko mag-isa.

Well, as a background. We used to sleep side by side, the three of us, with either me or kurt in the middle (I always negotiate with kurt that he sleeps on the middle kasi ang sikip kaya sa gitna!). Out of frustration since I can't move a lot, sometime during third quarter of last year, I decided to sleep na lang opposite them kaso the little boy is growing na rin and medyo umaabot na rin ang paa nya sa kin. That's when I decided to get the mattress that hubby used before when kurt was still a baby. Aba at nung first night lang ako nakatulog dun. The next day that the little boy found about it eh inangkin na nya. And that's the start of it. I think it was January when he started sleeping there. First few days, he wakes up middle of the night to check if I'm beside him and he really wakes me up so I could transfer to "his" bed but starting this month, I just lie down beside him until he falls asleep then that's it na he's ok until the morning. So, second milestone, this is the longest consecutive nights na that he's sleeping through the night. He only asks for dede in the morning pag na alimpungatan while we're preparing for office. Haay... such a good feeling!

This is the question that we're thinking. You see, hubby's grandparents in the US loves going to the casino. They always look forward to the occasions that they can finally go there and play. Once they are there, they forget about everything. They do not notice the time and all. However, these past few days, they have been weak and sickly. Hubby’s relatives wanted to let them play because when they’re playing they feel good but taking them there is not an option as it is hard for them to travel.

So, we're thinking that probably online casino would do the trick. It may not exactly give them the same experience of actually playing in the casino but it will give them the same thrill of anticipating for their win. However, we are confused as there are a lot of online casinos available. It is hard to tell which one is reliable and can be trusted. Good thing I chanced upon Pro360. This is a big help in filtering out the different online casinos. Of course, we all want to make sure that our hard-earned money does not go to waste by playing on untrusted online casinos. It is good that they provide the following information about each casino: a general info, editor and player ratings, game experience such as selections, graphics and speed, and really important is the trust score: of course, we want to make sure that we are given fair play and has good customer support and payout. They even include reasons why a player should play on that casino. And best of all, they have a list of the top 20 reviewed casino! That will definitely give an online casino player greater peace of mind. And they don’t only just offer ratings, there are even beginner’s guide to gambling (not that hubby’s grandparents are beginners though!), how to play casino games, and online gambling tips – this I think will be of big help for hubby’s grandparents as they are newbies on online gambling.

So now that I learned about this, we can inform the relatives that online gambling is possible but they have to check Pro360 first to choose the best, safest and most applicable online casino for the oldies.

“Mama, big na ko?” or, “Mama, finish na ko big?” This is the question that kurt always asks me whenever we watch his dada play bowling. And why is that so? Because we told him that he can only play bowling when he’s big na. So, in random days, I will hear him excitedly shouting, calling me to go to him. The reason? That he can now reach the light switch, or that he can reach the lower edge of the picture frame, etc. Whenever he tries to reach these high hard-to-reach things and be able to actually touch them, he’ll excitedly tell me that he’s big na. LOL! He’s such in a hurry to grow big just so he can play bowling like his dada. He will again and again ask me when he can play when we’re watching his dada, and I in turn will repeatedly tell him that he can play when he’s big na. Hay… I am such with two bowl-a-holic men in my life and I just can’t wait to see them both playing together.

Hubby at play:


Picture of the little boy attempting to get a ball:

The little boy with dada's wrister:


The little boy on his pretend bowling game:

I must note too, that this two both have the habit of swinging their arms as if attempting to throwing a ball while we're walking. There are times when I'll see both of them doing that habit at the same time and I am just so amazed with them. LOL!

And oh! an observation about the pictures above. Hubby's pictures were taken using my new phone, Nokia N82. While the little boy's pictures were taken using my jurassic-but-I-still-love Nokia 6230(if I remember the model right) flip phone. See the difference?! really great huh! LOL!

I lost my 20/20 vision when I was reviewing for the CPA board exams many years ago. The constant washing of my face to wake me up on a lazy afternoon or late evening while studying must have been the culprit. So, since then I have been wearing eyeglasses. I have a round shaped big face so looking for a stylish yet affordable frame is really difficult. I even tried wearing contact lenses but I have sensitive eyes that even if I wear the disposable type I always end up getting an eye infection. So, I am always on a search for an eyeglass frame that will definitely look good on me. Its kind a hard to look for this you know as most of the really stylish ones are super expensive, while the cheaper ones doesn’t look good on me. My futile attempt in looking for frames on the nearby optical shop made me search the net and that’s when I came across Zenni Optical: Sell Rx Glasses $8 with case! I was surprised that they have frames costing $8 only and mind you! They are of high quality. I learned that they can sell it that cheap because they manufacture their own frames thereby saving on the “brand” and they sell direct to customers. That’s a good business practice you know. Giving the customers the quality that they deserve without any imputed unnecessary cost. So, as I am looking at the different frames from their site, this one really caught my eye:

I know this will look good on me. I am so excited to get it. The reddish accent on the side adds extra class. This will look better if I get those photochromic lenses which will get dark when exposed to sunlight and becomes clear when indoors. Oh I can’t wait to get my hands on this eyeglasses.

Last saturday, 02/02/08, was baby Joaqui's baptism. Joaqui (full name is Joaquin Julian) is my brother's son. He's now the youngest in the cousins, replacing kurt on his throne. LOL! The baptism was held in Pasay, time set was 10am. Hubby and I woke up really early that day as we'll also be meeting with the lot broker at 8:30am. The broker arrived on time good thing we're done with all the preps, kurt did not throw any tantrums when hubby woke him up. We checked out the lots she's selling and we finally found the lot that we like. I'll just create a separate post about this in time.

So, we're in a hurry for the baptism as hubby's the official photographer, while I am a ninang. We got to the church on time, baby Joaqui's not even there yet when we arrived but we're the last from the family to arrive.

Reception was held in Max's Baclaran, I just love Max's chicken! and after that, we went to Makati. Hubby went to office to checked the status of their UAT while kurt and I went to Power Books as the little boy is requesting that we go to a bookstore. You see, the little boy loves going to the bookstore to check out the books. He doesn't exactly read it but he enjoys looking at them. We've only been there for less than an hour when hubby told me that he's done with work. He picked us up. We're supposed to go to Glorieta for his shopping but we're so tired and sleepy that we decided to just go home.

My migraine was starting to develop when we got home so I went to sleep. At past five, me still with migraine, hubby left for his bowling tournament. We're supposed to go with him but since I have a migraine, we're left at home. I locked myself in the bedroom and closed the lights so I can sleep peacefully, I also took my migraine pills.

Although I feel so guilty, I ignored little boy's pleading that he go inside the room, I have to keep him out as my condition will definitely improve if I let him in. After about two hours, I heard him crying. So I went out and learned that he bit his cousin. Hay naku! Found out that his cousin was not sharing his food that's why he bitten him. I've just decided that we leave the house to cool things out. We went to Hypermart to do the grocery and had dinner in Tiendesitas. We had papaitan, grilled porkchop and barbecue. We enjoyed our date together. We went home almost 9pm.

Ok..ok..I am now definitely taking this paid blogging seriously. I spent a lot of time on research, even saving in a document all information that I have gathered regarding paid blogging. All the rules, terms, FAQs and the benefits. As most successful bloggers doing paid blogging recommend, I have to join PayPerPost. Why? according to them, this site provides good opportunities as a lot of advertisers chooses PayPerPost for their blog ads requirements. I checked the website and I can't believe I am seeing opps amounting to $35 and more! wow! that's a BIG amount of money! I realized that it's not that hard to earn, I just have to be active in checking out opps in the site and keep my blog active. Well, I don't see the second requirement as a problem as I often update my blog. I almost always record the daily happenings in our life. So, what does an excited newbie gonna do seeing this $$$ opportunity? of course, I signed up! I was so nervous and excited completing the requirements, which is not very hard at all, then I patiently waited for the approval. I was surprised when I checked my email tonight that finally my blog was approved. Yipee!! They are really fast in reviewing and approving the blogger's request to join. That is so good! very efficient service I am telling you. So, how does it feel? I am super excited! I am excited to earn $$$! It will definitely help us in the lot that we are planning to buy.

Thanks a lot Jody! your post in our egroup helped me a lot on deciding, most especially in joining PPP.

Now for me to become more familiar and confident with this, I have to go out and check their site for more tips. I think I saw a PPP blog, I'll look into it too as I think it will help me more.

I am once again on a reminiscing mood. I had this episode too sometime ago, which I posted here with matching photos. To recall, I decided to go back to my friendster blog to check out my postings during the time that I am in the US. I realized that I didn't post a lot. I'm copying here my entry on my last official day at work in EY where I recorded the things that I don't want to forget about my US experience. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, I'll be able to journal about the experience, the places I've been too and the lessons I learned. So, here it is, I wrote this on Dec. 15, 2006.

*************

last day
this is my last official day in EY PNW. this is also the last time that i can check my email before I go home. time flies fast, i just can't wait to go home, i am so excited. this is also the end of my adventures here in the US. These are the things that i will always remember:
- tasting the famous texan barbecues in Austin, Texas
- the experience of having room service everyday in a hotel for dinner to the point that we already ordered everything in their menu in Austin, Texas
- driving my "own" car - silver Chrysler PT cruiser - touring edition 2006 model, plate # 5TQW454
- the first time i took I-280 to San Francisco, it was night and foggy on a winding, hilly road, with only less than a month driving experience
- the first time i drove in downtown San Francisco, oh my God! i will really never forget Divisadero rd going to Golden Gate bridge, the road is so steep... worse than riding the roller coaster since I'm the one driving
- ate's visit here during Labor day weekend - having someone during in times of grief over ate swanie's death - i don't know if i'll survive if she's not with me during that time
- downtown san francisco visit with ate - riding the cable car-sabit pa!, having desserts at Ghirardhelli Square
- Six Flags trip with fellow RSPs, I can't believe how brave I was to ride all the scary rides.
- Long drive to LA with Francis, experience was so good, great bonding too! we truly enjoyed Universal Studios - seeing Nicholas Cage from afar during our studio tour, seeing the Wisteria Lane and other sets that they use when they make movies; having dinner in a Korean restaurant at Beverly Hills with auntie Josie; Hollywood Blvd; Malibu beach drive and our adventures in missing our exits in LA
- Weekend in Lake Tahoe with Francis, auntie Al, Faye, lola Nita and lolo Ped. Lake Tahoe is so beautiful even without the snow, i just wish though that i can go back there now with the snow - screaming because we saw a black bear only a few yards away from us and really hungry! learning how to play the slot machines!
- two lunches in a Sushi buffet! it was so good! thanks auntie al!
- Thanksgiving weekend with ate: Thanksgiving parade in NY- we have a VIP pass - we can go in and out Macy's even if the store's closed to use the restroom, have coffee or just to heat up; watching Rockette's christmas spectacular in Radio City; riding the ferry from NJ to NY -seeing the beautiful Manhattan skyline; Chicago Bulls vs. Philly Sixers game - it was awesome to see it live and with good seats too! thanks tito willie!; black friday sale- to really experience waking up at 5am, run to Best Buy and fall in line outside the store with hundreds of people, run again inside to fall in line for my videocam; walking day in NY - we walked from 65th st. west side going to 79th st. then back to 34th st. to Macy's! it was a long walk but we never mind it as we really enjoyed the day walking along 5th street, seeing all the display windows; line dancing in a surprise birthday party that we attended in Philly's chinatown, i never thought they had a lot of versions of line dancing - a truly indication that I am in the US with fellow filipinos; US history glance in Philadelphia - seeing the Liberty Bell, Independence Visitor Center and knowing Benjamin Franklin; seeing and actually being inside Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island; spending quality time with ate - eating inside the car, while walking or in the park because we have a very hectic schedule;
- being in Alcatraz, the Rock with fellow RSPs
- experience driving in Golden Gate Bridge - too bad though that I was not able to walk the bridge as I originally planned
- being able to do parallel parking (a couple of times!) in downtown San Francisco! a truly great achievement!
- weekend drives to San Francisco and Alameda
- my one bedroom unit, S212, in Oakwood South Saratoga ave in San Jose - I'll never forget my home for 5 months - my pool view, my big space, the carpet, dish washer, heater, great shower, comfy couch, plush pillows and big bed
- my quick cook dinner - steak!! i'll definitely miss this!
- shopping in Great Mall outlet mall, Ross, Michael's, Target and Bare Escentuals
- doing grocery in Safeway
- the friends I made while I am here. I'll never forget them! they made my stay here bearable and weekends always something to look forward to!
*************
There will be a lot of backtracks regarding this US travel in the next coming days whenever I feel like it. My goal is to actually log here all my travels (hopefully, I still remember them).

I have always been curious on how to set up an online store. You see, I am a frequent online shopper. I started this when I was in the US last 2005, simple click there and there, accumulate everything in my shopping cart and wait for promo on shipping then check out. I continued with this back here for my scrapbooking materials purchases. I have always wondered how it was being set-up and how everything works. How can they keep track of everybody's purchases, how can they keep the items in the shopping cart for so long and even the purchase history. I thought it's all techie hardwork for the online seller. Little did I know that a shopping cart software can easily be availed from Ashop Commerce, very affordable and mind you that their service is reliable! A lot of online US merchants enjoy their peace of mind as they are backed up by a reliable ecommerce software provider. They even help first timers by providing trial software, advices, demos and almost everything needed to start with the business (with the exception of capital of course! LOL!) Hmmm...would this mean that I can now create my online store for the scrapbook materials gathering dust in our room?

I was visiting Tet's blog, when I saw this post of her. I tried it and really surprised with the outcome, it is so me. Galing! ahh.. well I think except for the homebody part. LOL! though I am really homebody when I am in our house in Batangas, I guess I'm a homebody to places I am comfortable at.

You Are Toast

Old fashioned and a bit of a homebody, you totally go for comfort food. You're the type who loves to cook for friends, and they love you for it. You truly know what tastes good, and you can often pick out the best dish at a restaurant. You don't fall for food trends. You stick with what's been food for a long time!

I know I have to post this. I tried two new restos this week and went back to a favorite one. As a backgrounder, last week, while we were eating Burgoo's Tomas Morato, our discussion went to Nanbantei and by the end of lunch, all of us are craving to eat there. So, last Monday, I asked hubby to eat there. I'm actually asking him to have lunch there but since he've got a 1pm meeting we've decided to move it to dinner. This is the second time that hubby and I ate there, I posted our first here. The other times I ate there was with my officemates c/o our boss. As usual, we ordered the "Bestseller yakitori treat" which consists of 21 sticks. Hubby and I felt so full after the dinner that I've decided to have coffee at Bo's after. Then last Wednesday, the boss asked us to go out for lunch. We're the only three managers in the office, the rest are on client or on leave. So, where did we eat? Shang! it was my first time to eat in Shang Palace here in Makati Shang. I tried Shang Palace in EDSA Shang but that was like 8-9 years ago. We enjoyed our lunch consist mainly of different dimsums, noodles and veggies and our tummies were so full because they keep on refilling our cups with hot tea! Then yesterday, we had our regular meeting and this time, she asked us to eat at Cantinetta in Rockwell. Another first for me here. We ordered various flavors of pizza and pasta, my favorite of all we ordered was the eggplant parmigiana, it was so good!! You can hardly taste the eggplant because of the melted cheese. Yum! yum! then for dessert we had pannacota and their famous Illy coffee. They were warning me that the coffee is strong but when I tasted it, it suites my taste perfectly. That's when my boss concluded that I am really a coffee drinker because she can't take to drink one cup by herself. It was such "gastronomic full week" (a term I invented! LOL!)for me. I have one happy tummy again. LOL!

So, as posted here, we finally decided to visit Trinoma. My initial reaction when I saw the place? hmm.. looks like Glorieta then we were able to go to the part near Mindanao avenue, that's where the restaurants are and wow! I am surprised, it looks like Greenbelt! ganda! the little boy enjoyed the water falls and effects while I looked around. Oh how I wish hubby was with us that time. He's actually supposed to pick us up from there however daddy asked him to pick up Dante from Lipa as he wants some things fixed at home so he'll be arriving Manila late and I am so tired already so we just decided to commute again. We took the MRT then went to the crossing jeepney station and rode the jeep. Little boy must have been really tired because he fell asleep in the jeepney and boy was it a challenge as I carried him from the jeepney until we took the tricycle, I'm telling you it was such a long walk. Kaasar pa kasi when we arrived home, he woke up and very active as if I was not having a hard time waking him up a few minutes ago. Pictures of our weekend to follow.

I have been blogging actively since last quarter of last year with the original purpose of having an avenue for my thoughts and life happenings. However, as I am checking out other fellow blogger's blog, that's when I learned that there are a lot of earning potentials in blogging. Wow! to be able to blog and earn from it is really awesome. This paid blogging even became a topic in one of my egroups, so I checked it out. Most of my co-bloggers recommend Smorty so I decided to visit the website. I found out that this is indeed a great site. They provide you with all the information needed for a first-time blogger or advertiser. The site is user-friendly and I heard they give really good oppportunities too. I was able to understand all about paid blogging by reading the FAQs, rules and terms from them. Wow, I think I'll be enjoying this a lot, to be able to blog for money is something that I never really imagined possible before!