juls random thoughts

Disclaimer: This is my point of view. I hope you respect that, when you read my thoughts below. We may have different views on this so I am reiterating that this is MY point of view.

Why we want to have kids and the pains of motherhood. This is the recent topic in my egroup - newlywedsatwork. I was about to compose my response when I thought of just posting it here.

Hubby and I have been together for almost eight years when we decided to get married (almost, because our anniv is Dec. 10 and we got married Dec. 7). Though we've been together for so long, we have never experienced traveling together - just the two of us. We both came from conservative families so definitely di kami papayagan so our arrangement then is we'll be childfree for one year after being married so we can travel to our heart's content. Though we have this plan, we did not resort to having any kind of contraception - for us, it is: come what may. Hubby's two siblings both have difficulty in having kids that it took them at least three years to have kids so we thought why have contraception when we don't know how easy will it be for us to conceive. Come what may - it depends on when God wants us to have one, though preferably after a year. It turns out, it's easy for us to conceive, LOL - after a month of being married - we got pregnant. Of course we're excited, surprised but excited. I did not have an easy pregnancy but we so look forward to it. So, I can say that during that time, we really have no serious thinking as to why we want to have a kid - that time this is what we saw as natural - the natural path, the right way to go. I remember that when we attended Discovery Weekend before getting married we even discussed that we want maximum of four kids - preferrably 2 boys and 2 girls if we are given the choice. Again, that time, walang isipan how expensive and hard it is to raise four children.

Now that we have one, if I'll answer this question again, I'll have a deeper answer. We never thought that having a kid is this HARD. I actually even asked my siblings why they didn't tell me how hard it is. Not because we're regretting of having one, don't get me wrong, but more of because we could have prepared more before actually plunging into parenthood. It is very HARD but also very REWARDING. It's true that a child can give you so much joy that only your child can give, their love for you is so pure, so unpretentious, so unconditional, so undescribeable.

Related to pains of mother/parenthood, there are time when I wonder if I made the right decision of having a kid. Being responsible for one person is such a big responsibility that should not be taken lightly minsan I even wonder if I am doing things right, if my decisions and actions today will bring out a positive effect on my child.

Now, when people asks us kung kelan susundan, we reply to them na hindi muna, mahirap. I don't know why people won't take this answer on its own when they themselves are mostly parents who've experience rearing a child. It's a big responsibility that we believe should be accepted wholeheartedly. Kung ngayon pa lang, hubby and I are both having difficulty/feel challenged in rearing one child, what more if we add another one. Concerns like, are we good parents? can we give him everything he needs and at the same time be sure that we are not spoiling him? or that can we be sure that we are not making everything easy for him? can we provide him the best education that we can give without sacrificing our life? are we patient enough to handle the usual curiousity of children, most esp. toddlers? are we emotionally, physical and financially ready to support another one? Yes, it's very nice to have another one, syempre sabi nga nila the more the merrier but will we still be good parents?

Mahirap for us as we both have very demanding jobs and even if we're on these jobs we also make sure that we are hands-on parents. I guess one of my so-called accomplishments is that my son will never trade us with any of his yayas. As in! when we're home - nobody can do anything for him except us. Ayaw nyang yaya ang magpaligo sa kanya, ayaw nyang yaya ang magpalit ng damit nya, ayaw nyang yaya ang magpakain sa kanya and even in washing his butt after making poo it has to be either me or hubby basta we're home. I guess we did something right when even nung baby pa sya eh kami na ang nag-aalaga sa kanya when we're home - he got used to that. Yes, nakakapagod kasi supposed to be rest from work but now, I saw the advantage. He knows that the yayas are temporary caretakers - only when mommy and daddy are not home. That's why it was never hard for him when a yaya leaves us, he can easily transition to the new yaya. Given this, can we still do it for another kid? are we prepared? we don't know. I guess this is the reason why until now, we're not ready to have another kid. this I leave to God, to again, give us a child when He knows we are ready and we are deserving of rearing another one.

Saw this tag answered already by some of my co-bloggers but this is the first time that I was tagged with this question, so Tet, thanks for this!

Are you deeply in love with your spouse or boyfriend/Girlfriend? If you do, let’s try how well you remember the moment of your life with him. But before you put yourself in the hot seat please read the rules of this tag first.

RULES:1. This tag should be pass on to your closest friends.2. Visit the blog of the person you’ve got this tag.3. Leave a comment on her/his tag post. Be sure to thank her/him for this tag.4. Highlight and link all the list of people who accepted this tag by visiting their blog site.5. There are 10 questions that you need to answer but you will be the one to write the 10th question for the next person you want to pass this tag.

Here’s your questions: Be Honest and True!

1. How did you meet your husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend? We met on our enrollment day for college major in UST back in 1995. We're enrolling for 3rd year college and first year for Accounting major. We met in Casa Ilongga for lunch. He's with a friend, JP (our common acquiantance). He knows JP from their church org while JP was our class president on second year. I was with my barkada from second year. We were introduced with each other and found out that we'll be classmates. My friends think he's gwapo, my bestfriend even had a hard crush on him pero ako nun, di ko pa sya type.

2. Where did you went in your first date? In SM City, we watched Bridges of Madison County then ate at Wendy's.

3. When was your first intimate kiss? Hay naku, bakit ba hindi ko eto tinandaan? pero parang nung moment yata na sinagot ko sya. Oh di ba, ang bilis ng mga pangyayari

4. How many girlfriends/boyfriends he/she had in the past? Do you honestly know? nung mag-bf pa kami, mas natatandaan ko, even kung ilan dun ang seryoso at alin ang MU and most of them, I saw na whether intentional or unintentional pero so far ngayon, ang natatandaan ko na lang eh 5, hindi rin kasi sya comfortable na dini-discuss ang past relationships nya. kumbaga eh kaya lang namin napapag-usapan is because nakita naman yun tao or something.

5. What is his/her ethnicity? Filipino with probably a touch of Spanish kasi medyo mestizo ang features though he's naturally dark skinned but not to dark naman

6. What is his/her favorite food? sinigang, steak, japanese food

7. What is he/she like if he/she is mad? nakakatakot pag galit, as in!

8. What are the things he/she did you thought is the most romantic thing he’d/she’d ever done? madami, we've been together for almost 13 years now since naging kami. top of the chart are the following: (1) bf/gf pa kami - hinatid nya ko pauwi from la union to pasig then pagkahatid, balik na sya ulit ng la union. (2) when i was still a staff in the office and super OT na tipong hanggang madaling araw - what he'll do is he'll ask me to call him pag ready na ko umuwi, kahit tulog na sya, he'll wake up, susunduin nya ko sa office ng naka-taxi then dun nya muna ko patutulugin sa bahay nila. (3) also, everyday from work, hinahatid nya ko pauwi ng pasig from makati then uwi sya ng QC no matter how late. (4) when we took the CPA board exam, he'll wake up really early to pick me up from my boarding house, uwi kami sa kanila then sabay kami punta sa exam site (5) nung bagong panganak ako, hindi ko kaya ni tingnan ang tahi ko (CS kasi ako) - sya ang naglilinis ng sugat ko. as in! (6) also nung nanganak ako, ayaw kasi ng inlaws ko ako paliguin, what he did was he brought me to do the parlor to have my hair shampooed kasi di ko na matiis ang kati and he will always carry me going down sa stairs para di ma-pressure tahi ko. hmm... lately, ano nga ba?

9. Describe how he/you proposed to you. May 1, 2002, we went to Corregidor and he proposed while we're on the top of the lighthouse.

10. Where was your honeymoon? we had a seven days vacation in Boracay. we left on the 10th, we had our wedding on the 7th of December. we stayed first in Fairways and Bluewaters then we moved to Nami Private Villas. We're also on leave the whole month of December so enjoy talaga sa vacation.

THEY PLAYED ALONG:1. Soujourn2. Pinay Mom in Czech Republic3. See Me for What You Will4. Lainy’s Musings5. Our Journey To Forever6. Sheng’s Simple Thoughts…7. Pinay WAHM8. Me and My World9. coicoi’s World10. BLOGSILOG11. A Mother’s Horizon12. Because Life Is Fun12. Swept Away 13. A Sweet Taste Of Life. 14. Juls Random Thoughts

Hmmm... I dunno who else to tag as so far, the blogs I've seen did this already.

Hubby and I had lunch yesterday in Myron's Place in Greenbelt 5. I've been hearing about this na even nung sa Rockwell pa lang sila but since we seldom go to Rockwell and when we're there, di ko naman naiisip, haven't tried it yet. Now that it's so near to our workplace, I've decided to ask hubby that we have lunch there. That interest was actually renewed when I read about it here and since both hubby and I are steak lovers, we decided to give it a try.

Our order: salad with seared tuna - definitely yummy. sarap at feeling sosyal kami ni hubby, ang ganda ng plating. Then our main course, roast beef (medium, Franco cut). We're supposed to order ribs pa with this but according to the waiter the cut is already good for two so we took his word for it. We requested that the steak be served on separate plates na.

Photo from Dessert Comes First

So, what's our verdict. We still prefer the roast beef from Gulliver's as in! though I liked the sidings here better, mas gusto ko ang lasa ng meat sa Gulliver's pero bilib ako dito, sobrang kapal ng meat. The last time I ate that thick steak was when nasa US pa ko.

So according to our list, this only goes second. First is still Gulliver's, followed by this (Myron's Place) and third is the Highlands Steakhouse.

Hehehehe.... my victim for April Fool's day was hubby. I sent him a text message containing the following: I have a news for you. I am pregnant!

In less than one minute, hubby called me. He was in the middle of a meeting when he saw my message and he immediately went out to call me. He was asking me about it, really panicky. Then I told him: Happy april fool's day! He was soooo inis, relieved and laughing. You see, even though the little boy is already 3 1/2 we're both not yet ready to have another child. So, imagine his panic upon receiving that message. Funny..funny...

Happy easter everybody. I yet have to post the easter egg hunting pictures that we had this morning at home. But for now, I am posting some pictures I took from our Singapore trip on our first few hours. LOL! that was the only time that I am masipag in taking pics using my phone. After that, I didn't bother take any pictures na.

This is the cereal prawn that we ordered from No Signboard for our lunch.

This is the gigantic Australian snow crab. It's more than a kilo for one piece.

And this is hubby, seryoso sa pagsungkit ng crab. LOL!

The view by the bay outside Esplanade. Overlooking the business district near Raffles Place and the famous landmark of Singapore, the Merlion.

A snapshot of Esplanade "Theater by the Bay"

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.

So what exactly did we do in Singapore. Hubby and I have no itinerary for our Singapore trip, I only requested that we go to Sentosa during daytime (since I haven’t seen it on broad daylight yet) and we have a list of food to eat. Yep! That’s the only requirement for our trip – that we eat the food on my list. This trip was originally scheduled last year, unfortunately, we cannot get airline booking as we’re both using free miles for this trip. Hubby left ahead of me, his flight was Thursday evening while mine was Friday morning. Since we did not plan on anything, even our hotel booking was done the night before he left so not a lot of choices already.

So, what exactly did we do in Singapore? Walk and eat. As in! that’s all we did. We wake up, walk, then when we get hungry, we eat, then we walk again. That’s the cycle!

Day 1, Friday, Feb. 22

• I was early for my 8:20 flight, spent the time waiting in the airport with my sister and her officemates as they’re going to Hongkong, their flight is at 8am.
• Hubby fetched me at the Singapore airport, top-up my MRT card then went to our hotel to drop my things and freshen up
• Our first agenda: lunch in No Signboard in Esplanade. Our food: chili crab (Australian snow crab) and cereal prawn. The bill: never mind. Let’s just say that this is the most expensive food that hubby and I ever ate in our entire life. Imagine, the crab we ate are more than one kilo!
• After eating, we strolled on the river bank, hubby took pictures of the Merlion across the river then we walked on the bridge. Seeing the good view of the esplanade hubby took more pictures of the durian shaped theater. Crossed the road and walked at the back of the Fullerton hotel until we reached the business district and took the MRT from Raffles Place station – our next stop – Orchard road
• In Orchard, did some window shopping in Takashimaya and Wisma Atria. We saw the LV boutique in Ngee Ann City with people all lined up outside the store, so out of curiosity hubby and I lined up too, we’re actually thinking that probably there’s a sale going on, only to find out that well, it’s just a way to control the crowd as LV is so popular in Singapore that you’ll see a lot of Chinese or Singaporean clutching an LV bag.
• Met my brother then had dinner in Food Republic of Wisma Atria. Of course I ordered Hainanese chicken and the experience will not be complete without buying the S$1 ice cream sandwich along Orchard.
• Went back to the hotel then walked around our “wholesome” neighborhood. Yung mga akala kong houses, eh hindi pala houses but not so wholesome place, then the side streets becomes a "casino" at night and there are a lot of girls waiting for customers. Haaay... see related post here.

Day 2, Saturday, Feb. 23

• We woke up late. We’re supposed to watch the air show but since we arrived in Orchard visitor center at 11am (the airshow will start at 1pm), we decided to postponed it to the next day, we just bought the tickets. Had lunch first in the mini-hawker in Orchard. Ate barbecued stingray and noodle hot pot soup. Looked for kurt’s avent teats, unfortunately we can’t find #2, I guess out of stock and did more window shopping.
• Went to Sim Lim to look for some gadgets and other techie things, explored more of the Little India then went to Vivo City (the new mall) and took the ride to Sentosa.
• It was my first time to see Sentosa during daytime so I was happy. Saw people sunbathing, watched for a while, pasyal-pasyal, then hubby and I decided to try the sky ride and the luge. The sky ride was terrifying and exciting at the same time while the luge is all about excitement.
• Went back to Vivo city then had kaya toast and kopi for merienda. Then more pasyal in the mall.
• We met up with my brother again. This time, we decided to have dinner at Clarke Quay. Ate at Quayside Seafood and ordered satay, calamares, beef with broccoli, Chinese cabbage and seafood rice which I partnered with Singapore sling.
• Stayed in Clarke Quay for a while, ate the famous Turkish ice cream then watched those brave people who rode the reverse bungy jump and extreme swing. My brother left ahead of us as he still has work the next day. Hubby and I had a big adventure because we were not able to make it to the last trip of the MRT. We took the wrong bus, walked and walked hoping we’ll get to our hotel (we’re actually on the right road – but we found out that the bus stopped on the other side –not near our hotel). When we finally realized that we can’t reach our hotel walking, we decided to ride a cab, I think we arrived in the hotel at past 2am.

Day 3, Sunday, Feb. 24

• Had breakfast in a nearby mini-hawker, had roasted duck and rice partnered with teh (milk tea) while hubby had congee.
• Since we were able to buy our ticket already yesterday, we proceeded to the pick up place for the air show.
• Spent two hours on line baked in the sun waiting for our turn to ride the bus (abuso sa dami ng tao). When we got to the place, stayed the entire time out in the sun again! Grabe! Nangitim talaga ako even with sunblock (to think maya’t maya eh naglalagay ako tapos may taklob pa kong shawl). What can I say about the experience? Well, the only thing I enjoyed is seeing the new airbus A330 up close. I guess the reason why I did not enjoy the whole experience was I actually watched an airshow already in San Francisco and that was even better but hubby really had a good time. Well, he’s really the one who wants to watch this, ako, I just went with him for bonding pero sobrang I want to tell him na that I will not go with him, that I’ll just spend the day on the mall. But decided against it. After the airshow, we checked the aircrafts in the exhibit area, mesmerized at the arrival of the HUGE airbus 330. We got really good close up photos. I also enjoyed having pictures taken with the hunky US navy LOL! Spent another 1 ½ hour on line waiting for our turn to ride the bus back to the MRT station. I am so MAD with these Singaporean police or martials when we passed by the long line of waiting buses. Imagine my disgust. Ang haba-haba ng pila ng tao waiting for a chance to ride the bus tapos nakita ko na ang haba-haba din pala ng pila ng bus somewhere sa may labas naghihintay na papuntahin na sila dun sa sakayan. Maryosep! Kasi naman, ang bagal-bagal nila magpasakay, nung una, it’s one bus at a time, hinihintay nilang mapuno muna yung first bus bago pasakyan yun sunod na bus. Grabe talaga! Good thing later on ginawa nilang dalawa. They could at least have more bus there like nun papunta na like mga 3-4 bus yun sabay-sabay na pinapasakyan nila. The children are fussy and crying na kasi ang tagal talaga ng waiting time. Grrrrr….. I was so dead tired after that. That’s when I really realized how big and heavy I am na kasi nahihirapan na yun legs and feet ko carrying my whole body eh I remember in 2006, I was able to walk pa thirty blocks in NYC with my boots ha! Eh eto, naka-flip flops lang ako.
• After resting for a while, took a bath then went to Newton hawker center for a dinner with Francis friends. We had a good meal and great conversation, enjoyed my sugarcane juice then we had cereal prawns, barbecued stingray, calamares, sinigang na fish, Chinese petchay (not sure of the proper term).

On a good side, please read about it on this website if you want to know more of how it turned out and for pictures. The pictures that hubby took are still in his camera.

Day 4, Monday, Feb. 25

• It’s already hubby’s last day. We packed up our things, checked out then went to my brother’s apartment to leave our things there.
• That’s when we did our shopping. Went back to Ngee Ann City and bought ourselves Lacoste polo shirts (hubby’s gift to me) and Lacoste shoes
• Went to Funan and hubby bought external hard disc, while I bought a girly laptop bag and dvd case for kurt’s portable dvd. Finally, hubby decided not to buy the Apple laptop as wala naman talagang reason for him to buy that and finally he decided din not to buy muna the Samsung LCD TV. I’ve been convincing him not to buy kasi meron naman kaming TV sa room and we still don’t have our own house so impractical talaga to buy.
• After Funan, hubby went back na to my brother’s apartment and got his things for his flight back to Manila. I went with him to the airport but did not leave the MRT na para walang charge. Hehehehe… kuripot!
• On my own, went to more malls: Raffles Place, Citylink Mall, Marina Square and Suntec city looking for more things to buy and looking for my Melissa shoes, I found the shop that sells it kaso the style that I want has no more available size for me = (
• Went to a children’s mall near to my brother’s work to buy pasalubong for kurt
• Had dinner in a famous bah ku teh restaurant with my brother and his officemate. Sabi nila, this is the original bahkuteh and people are lining up just to eat here kaya we went there early. Bahkuteh is pork ribs with soup tipong nilaga style but with additional spices for that different twang
• Decided just to go home to my brother’s apartment after dinner as I am really tired with all the walking that I did.

Day 5, Tuesday, Feb. 26

• My flight back to Manila. I was able to buy Charles and Keith shoes from the airport, it's on sale tapos tax free pa. Good thing, di ako agad bumili, too bad lang na yung isang shoes na pang office sana doesn't have my size anymore. Nakakatawa pa ko kasi nasa boarding area na ko, when I decided to go back to buy the shoes that I tried =)

Hubby and I enjoyed this vacation. We’re so tired with all the walking pero masaya kasi walang pressure. Hubby wants to go back to Singapore on September to watch the Formula One. If we push through with that plan, I’m thinking of bringing kurt along na.

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 :)

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!

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 :(

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!

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!

I posted here my dilemma regarding our anniversary. Good thing, everything worked out well. The night before our anniversary, I've been waiting for hubby to arrive from work, with me really have no idea what to do incase he gets here. It's late already but still no hubby so I decided to go to bed, trying to make kurt go to sleep. After a few minutes, already past 11pm, he arrived, me asar kasi late na sya dumating decided not to go out of our bedroom to welcome him. But tagal pumasok kaya i went out pasimple, surprised not to see him there, he's probably upstairs. I went back to bed, when he entered, di ko talaga pinapansin, my face on the wall. Kaso si kurt has a way of spoiling (or fixing?) things out, he asked me that he wanted to make weewee so I have no choice but to stand up, hubby already lying on bed then. I glimpsed, a dozen roses on top of our personal ref pero kunwari di ko nakita. I was smiling in the bathroom then syempre pagbalik sa room i cannot deny it na so bati na kami. Babaw ko ba?

It's our anniversary tomorrow..BUT..we're not on speaking terms. Hay... long story. What now? I don't know what will happen tomorrow. I can't just give way right? sometimes, I have to stand on what I believe, right? or, should I give way for the sake of reconciliation? I don't know.

Hubby and I had an impromptu lunch date today. It happened kasi my co-managers are not here in the office and I want to eat out. I am actually craving for a grilled chicken caesar salad and can't think where to buy it so I asked hubby if he's available. Since he can't think of a restaurant that has the salad that I want he suggested the fusion japanese resto in Greenbelt 5. He ate there twice already and he's been raving about this resto so off we go.

Its my first time to go to Greenbelt 5, I just don't find it appealing yet since a lot of stores are not yet opened so even if I pass by it a number of times a day, I haven't been there before. John and Yoko is located in second floor, the place is impressive, a lot of choices in the menu. We ordered the spider roll (soft shell crabs roll) and japaella (a japanese paella). The food is good. Hubby is actually showing me other choices from the menu which he tried already, maybe next time. Total cost = P600.

Been busy last week that I wasn't able to post our activities.

Wednesday last week, hubby & I ate at Nanbantei of Tokyo in Greenbelt 3. I just love this restaurant. Their specialty is yakitori or japanese grill. We got the bestseller - it contains 21 sticks, 3 pcs. of each variant - corn, asparagus, chicken wings, potatoes with bacon, chicken ( 2 servings) and pork. My favorite is corn and the pork. Their menu is so simple and the yakitori is definitely so simple but I love eating here. We had green tea icecream for dessert. And oh, the reason why we ate here? we celebrated my 10th year with the firm!! Oh yes! that's how long I am with the firm now.

Thursday, we watched Enchanted. The movie is sooo funny! and Dr. Mc Dreamy (Patrick Dempsey) is soooo handsome! I highly recommend this movie, hubby and I are laughing so hard while watching. Didn't know that the witch is Susan Sarandon, learned about it only this morning from the Morning Rush in RX 93.1. I can actually watch it again as I so love the movie.

Oh well.. i spoke to soon. I posted about a possible anniversary celebration here. And now, we're more than sure that it'll not push through and what's worse is same as prior years, mukhang magkahiwalay na naman kami on our anniv.

Why did we cancel? well, we cannot get confirmed tickets. Francis return tickets are still on waiting list while I cannot get any tickets going to and back from Singapore kahit na mag-business class ako. We're moving the trip some other time. Probably, next year na, on the next long weekend - Feb. 25.

Siguro the best anniv celebration we had was last year when francis visited me in the US. hmm... not an anniv celeb but a chance for just the two of us to be together and really had a good time ng kaming dalawa lang. That's the last trip that we did na kami lang. This year, we always have kurt with us, unless you'll count yung time na nag-abot kami ni Francis sa Singapore last March. He went to Malaysia for a business trip via Singapore and on his last day there, first day ko naman. So, nagkita kami sa airport, hinatid nya ko sa hotel ko then had lunch with his friends, pasyal ng konti then diretso na sya sa airport pabalik Manila.

Why we won't be together this year on our anniv? well, looks like I'll have another business trip somewhere. I'm still processing my papers for visa application and pag natuloy it'll be for two weeks starting Dec. 2 so talagang eksakto sa ming anniv. Hay.. i just wish he can go with me to this trip na lang.

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.

Over the past three years, we have never really celebrated our wedding anniversary. Our first year, 2004, hubby is in Singapore for a work assignment and I can't go visit him as I have just given birth that October via CS. Second year, 2005 - we were together but we were not really able to celebrate it for a reason that I cannot remember anymore. Third year, 2006 - I am in the US. And now, on our fourth year, looks like we can have a grand celebration.

We're going to Singapore! well, actually, original intention of going there was not actually to celebrate but it just happens that hubby's frequent flyer miles and expiring. And I have miles that I can use too so we decided to go there.

He's booked already, leaving on Nov. 29 evening (since Nov. 30 is a holiday) then we're going back sunday. Me, medyo low tech ang PAL, I can't do the booking online so I have to process it by calling then going to the PAL office.

My boss gave me two free tickets to watch John Lesaca's In My Life show in Bagaberde, Roxas Blvd. last thursday. It's actually from one of her partners here in the office but since her husband will be arriving from an out of the country trip on the same night as the show, she decided to give it to me.

I am familiar with John Lesaca, I know he's into classical music, being violinist. I am curious to watch it but not totally excited.

Friday came and all go with the plans of watching the show until the Glorieta incident came. Hubby is not comfortable of going out that night, worried about security since Bagaberde is a crowded place. Around 6pm, we've decided not to go so I am looking for someone who can use the ticket kasi sayang namin but most of my officemates has other plans and I am in the client in the office anyway.

I am the one who brought a car since hubby's is on coding. He wanted me to pick him up from Makati. At first, I am hesitant because of the traffic in EDSA going to Makati. But I decided to pick him up anyway. We were surprised that it didn't take us an hour from QC-Timog area to Makati, I guess everybody got scared in going to Glorietta. Ayala was so dark and gloomy when we entered from EDSA. SM, Rustans, Landmark and of course Glorietta are closed but Greenbelt is open.

I dropped by the office first to replicate my mails then met up with hubby at the back of my office. He then told me that we'll go ahead with the plan of watching the show. I was not really excited since I have already set my mind that we're not going.

We dropped by Glorietta first and made uzi kaso we can't see much as the area has been cordoned (sp?) off.

We arrived at Bagaberde at past 8pm and surprised to see that most of the guests are old, mostly on 50s-60s I guess. And more suprised (yet happy) that it is a dinner show. Met up with our sponsor and he showed where we could seat. Dinner consist of: soup, salad, steak wrapped with bacon (forgot what it's called), mashed potatoes and buttered vegetables. Green House, a band consists of the alumni of UP's Alpha Phi Omega fraternity was playing, they are the organizers of the show anyway.

At past 10pm, John Lesaca started and whoa! we were so in awe. Never thought that we'll enjoy it as much as we did. He is really good! Some of my favorite repertoire are:

- Hindi kita malilimutan (didn't know that he was the one who composed the song)
- surprised to see Roxanne Barcelo (of PBB and RX) was there and that she sings beautifully
- My Strength - a song composed by Noelle Cassandra, dedicated to her mom. She is very good in playing the harp, and her voice is as hubby put it "pang high school musical" while for me pang Disney cartoons theme song.
- Am I the same girl - performed by John Lesaca. He looks so cool while playing his violin with matching kembot pa, really really cool
- Waters of March by Sergio Mendez performed by Tots Tolentino - really talented saxophonist! and funny too!
- Twilight time by Platters - still performed by Tots Tolentino
- I also enjoyed it when all of them played together, they played this song which I forgot the title with this lyrics: "Tatanda, at lilisan rin ako, ngunit mayroong awiting iiwanan sa inyong alaala. Dahil minsan tayong nagkasama..." Really good ender.

hay, super sulit that we watched the show. Was glad that we've decided to go after all.