juls random thoughts

Though few days late already...

Hope everybody had a merry and blessed Christmas, a time with family and friends. I have saved some of text messages that I have received from friends. Posting here those that I love the most because of the message it conveys:

From my co-reviewee, Lesley:
Wishing you the timeless treasures of Christmas, the warmth of a home, the love of a family and the company of good friends. Have a blessed and happy Christmas!

From my college friend and JPIA co-officer Yvette:
I wish you peace, love, good health, good people around you and the contentment of being with a happy family. Merry Christmas!

From my officemate Inah:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the governance will be on His shoulders and he will be called Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 May Jesus reign in our hearts always! Merry Christmas!!

From my officemate Ryan:
May Christ come to you and your family this "Christmas" with the gift of Love, the blessing of Hope and the promise of Peace.

From my co-reviewer Mark:
Great gifts are not found in any store. The best present is stored in the hearts of people. It has unlimited supply and bears no expiry date.

From my sister in law ate Ireen:
May Christmas blessing shine on you and may the special love of Christ be with you and your family all year through.

From my brother in law kuya Arnold:
It's time to reflect the true meaning of Christmas in our lives. A Blessed Merry Christmas to you and your family!

I wish I can write here what I truly feel this holiday season. But it is something that I will keep only in my heart and my hubby's sister in law's (ate Sweet) heart as she knows some of it. LOL! These feelings made me not wish for any material things. I guess that's the lesson that I got from this experience, that true happiness cannot be bought from a store, that happiness can be obtained when you feel peace in your heart.

As for the little boy, he was very happy this Christmas, he got all of his wishes:

• Hubby's officemate learned that the little boy wanted to have the Ben 10 ultimate omnitrix, kind of her that she bought it and gave it to the little boy as her gift.


• For the Bakugan battle brawlers, my boss (our wedding ninang) gave him three of these then hubby's officemates gave him too so he have a total of five Bakugan now
• While for Tech Deck, good thing his mommy2 and daddy2 gave it to him as a gift as that is one of his wishes for santa but "santa's helpers" couldn't take buying that toy for him as "they" find it so impractical. LOL!
• Santa claus gave him the big bike. The little boy is so happy. Santa gave him a really big bike that even I can ride it. The little boy enjoyed using it around the street, he actually knows already how to ride and get off it. Too bad thought that when "santa's helpers" were looking for the safety gears, they're out of stock so ayun, nasugatan ang little boy sa tuhod when he fall off. Good thing it was a small scratch at hindi naman sya nadala to ride the bicycle. And another good thing that we were able to see knee pads, elbow pads and hand guard from SM toy section in Megamall the other day so the only thing lacking now is the helmet and his all geared up.


• Our gift for the little boy is a billiards table. Funny, as it is not only the little boy who enjoyed, even the titos and lolos are playing it.

Obviously, hubby and I are not thrilled on buying toys influenced by Cartoon Network as we both find it overrated so good thing that he receive gifts of these toys as we'll definitely not buy those. We both agreed that we'll only buy practical toys. I guess it's also because of the fact that the little boy will only play with these toys while it's still new. He easily lose interest with these types of toys as he prefer outdoor activities.

I already took pictures of him on his bicycle but haven't uploaded it yet so will post it once I am able to empty my camera phone.

We just booked six tickets for the Duran Duran concern in Araneta on April 10, 2008. It'll be a triple date with hubby's siblings and their respective wives. Funny as Faye, will be on her due date on that month so I just hope that the concert will not trigger contractions. There'll be a lot of concerts happening this April in Araneta. There'll be Toto on April 3 followed by Swing Out Sister on April 7 then Duran Duran on the 10th and others. And, Dora the Explorer is also coming here to Manila, it'll be in Aliw theater though, been thinking if I'll take the little boy to watch this.

Title of the concert is 'Red Carpet Massacre: Duran Duran' - this is the title of their new album that's why.


Hubby and I actually originally planned on watching Toto and Swing out Sisters but his brothers convinced us otherwise. The hubby is now convincing me that we watch all three concerts, or at least two. Our love story started kasi with Toto and Mike Francis when were in college. We're having this conversation and it got to him learning that I like these two bands and that he happens to have 'cassette tapes' of them so he made me copies, and that started everything. While for SOS naman, I super love their songs. Haay... ano nga ba? or should I just buy cds of the two and just be content with the Duran Duran concert. It's not cheap you know.




Toto, SOS and Dora photos courtesy of Ticketnet Philippines, while the Duran Duran - sorry, I forgot where I got these.

Hello! anybody awake? how's the fireworks last night?

kami, ayun, nagtatago sa room sa attic. the little boy was so scared to go out of the rooftop to join everybody in watching the fireworks display. good thing i watched na before i brought him upstairs. he was actually sleeping kaso kawawa naman that as we welcome the new year eh mag-isa lang sya sa baba while all of us are in the rooftop. he really cried hard, nung una ni ayaw nyang lumabas ng room sa attic but later on, he agreed that we stayed near the door so we can watch some of the fireworks. we really had a good view up there, some nga nakakatakot kasi ang lapit lang sa min that they sometimes go inside to hide.

the boys first lighted up the "pla-pla" downstairs, in front of the vacant lot near the house, while the rest of fireworks/crackers were lit up in the rooftop. ni hindi man lang kami nakahawak ng "lusis" LOL

we went down again to light this time the "sawa". they bought two sets, one 1000 and another 3600 version. after it quieted, we had the media noche. really simple food as we only ate toasted bread, excelente ham, queso de bola, california maki and fruit salad with hot chocolate. we ate too much na nung dinner eh from the pamamanhikan. there are wines/champagne kaya lang parang di bagay sa hot chocolate. LOL

we went to sleep almost 3am na but still managed to wake up by 9am. now, the boys are lighting up some of the remaining firecrackers and Istong is cleaning up the cars, *wishing* na kasama ang kotse ko sa lilinisin.

so, here's my first post for 2008!

I have been so excited until the day that we're going to watch comes. Kurt likes Barney so much, as in for a time, si Barney lang pinapanood nya. Though a few days before we watched Barney, he suddenly showed interest na on Dora. Anyway, to go back to Barney, we've been preparing kurt na rin for this pero i think hindi nya alam na he's going to watch Barney live. As posted here, we got the sunday, 3pm show.

Lunch time that day, the little boy had a preview na of Barney. He saw Barney in ASAP, as in he's asking me "Paano?". His dialog was: "Mama, paano?" tipong hindi makapaniwala that Barney is here in the Philippines. So I had a preview na of kurt's reaction when he sees the actual Barney.

The way to Cubao was so bad, as in grabe traffic, kasi we took the mistake of passing by Cubao's bus station, so super traffic. We parked in Gateway, then off we went to Barney.

I've been telling hubby that I am worried that I am gonna cry. I'll cry kasi I know kurt will be very happy to see Barney.

The show started, the little boy's reaction? tulala. As in! nakatitig lang sya, not even participating. As in silently nanonood. Syempre, naluha ako. Medyo, kainis nga later on kasi parang wala lang sa kanya, I guess he still can't believe that he's seeing the actual Barney. When the first part was about to end, they allowed the kids to go near the stage so kurt and his dada went there.

Had a break, then on the second part na, ayun, he asked me to go back there near the stage and he's dancing na but not as much as when he's watching Barney on TV.

In a way, I didn't quite expected that he'll not participate that much, he loves Barney songs and dances and sings with it at home pero that time, not much, siguro nga, kasi nagulat sya na it's a real Barney. Stage design is not that good, simple lang. What we really paid for here is for Kurt to really experience seeing Barney live again. I know na from the start that the show is not that long, kasi syempre, the audience are kids.

Here are some of the pictures:

Since we already patched things up that midnight, ok na kami. We decided that we'll have lunch in Circles, Makati Shangri-La to celebrate. We haven't eaten in Circles for so long that we were suprised to see the major changes. There are more sushi, more seafood, there's even a lobster and better food choices. We saw the chef making his rounds and checking everything with some of the waiters, we guessed that he's probably new and he's responsible for all these really good changes in Circles. Of course, enjoy kami ni hubby as in major!

We started off with the sushi then seafood, then i tried some of the various salads and appetizer. Headed off to carving station and finally my favorite, the dessert bar, having a feast with all the different chocolate desserts. I managed to take a few pics using my camera phone, however, i cannot post them yet as my little boy is busy playing billiards in my phone = )

Now, here are some pics of my plate.

My sushi and seafood plate:

A close up photo of the sushi:

My greens plus caesar dressing:

A sampling of the different salads and appetizer:

I forgot to take a picture of the roast beef. So, here's my dessert plate. Hindi obvious that I love chocolate noh? LOL

There are actually a LOT more food kaso I prioritize, I only eat the sushi, seafood, salads, appetizer, carvings and of course the dessert. I always skip on the chinese, indian, pasta and other main dishes. I don't see anything special kasi on these food. In the carving station, I usually only get the roast beef but when I am in the mood, I also request for a slice of the lamb.
A picture of the huge Christmas tree in the Makati Shangrila lobby:



So funny how my anniversary celebration post turned to focus on the food that we ate. LOL!

Yipee! we finally have tickets for Barney's show. We bought it from SM ticketnet tonight and we got PT106, row A, seats 1-3 for the 3pm show on Dec. 23. Eversince I read in one of the blogs I visit that Barney is coming, I immediately informed hubby about it and asked for his free schedule. I really want kurt to watch this. I am so excited for the little boy. He loves Barney so much. He actually learned about Barney when he was able to watch Barney's show here in Manila last December 2005. He's only 1yr old then. He was only able to go because my brother have 2 extra tickets. And since it was a weekday then, it's only Kurt and yaya who watched together with my brother's family. So now, I am so excited and I can't wait! for sure he will love it. Barney is his only favorite. He watches other cartoons but he always goes back to his Barney cds. He has a lot na sobra. Soooo excited! i can't wait for Dec. 23!

Whew! hubby and I just got back from the Beyonce Experience Live concert in The Fort. And what can I say? GALING!!! as in! super! never thought that it'll be that good to watch Beyonce live, I am not really a fan you know.

So how did we get to watch it? well, everyday, we passed by the concert site everytime we go to work and hubby and I have talked about it that we'll go there to listen lang. We'll just park our car there, then just listen. That's our original intention. Things today changed when people in the office started talking about it during lunch. So, been telling them that we have no intention of watching since its expensive. Then learned that one of my officemates got free tickets from his brother working in Globe and wala pa syang maaya. So, when we returned from lunch, I am trying to convince him to just give the tickets to me. Well, he did not give the tickets, BUT! he asked his brother if he still have 2 more tickets. And whoa! meron pa. So that's the story on how we got to watch it. And take note, we got Patron B tickets!

We're already in the Fort area by 5:30, stayed for a while in Bonifacio High Street, ate donuts from Krispy Kreme. Bryan and I then went inside na, to kill time, we fall on line the Globe booth to get the charm bracelet, and we were to able to complete the charms naman.

Beyonce started at almost 8:30pm just a few minutes after hubby arrived. She is sooo good, as in good showmanship, good dancing, good stage direction, good costumes, definitely good show, all girls band, he only involved 3 men, and they are dancers. And, she's so hot and sexy! hubby can't take his eyes off! LOL! the three male dancers are hot too! LOL! not my type though.

She sang her songs and Destiny's child's music. Definitely galing! galing talaga! Last song: "to the left, to the left..." It ended at past 10 am but we got home almost 12 midnight na due to difficulty in leaving the makeshift parking area.