Random Thoughts

Typhoon Ondoy has affected almost 80% of people residing in Metro Manila. It happened too fast. No warning from PAGASA. Hubby and I even went to 168 Mall last Saturday and had no idea that the floods are going to invade most of the homes of our fellow Filipinos. It was a very tragic weekend.

I hope we can help. Click on the following links:

- If you want help the Couples for Christ GK, click here.

- Bo Sanchez's Light of Jesus Community is also accepting deposits through banks. Click here for info.

- For emergency hotlines and relief centers, click here.

I hope everyone is safe and sound now after a very depressing weekend.

We can do this!

Let's pray harder and God will do the rest...

That's what I felt two weekends ago. I went "home" to my hometown to open a shop. It was just a weekend since I don't want to be away from home, hubby and kids too long. It was actually a business trip because I opened a shop there. Just a small shop at my Aunt's place. We are selling a few stuff like accessories, tops and shorts. We are also selling pre-loved bags, shirts and more. I went there Saturday morning (I took the 430AM flight!) and then came back home Monday night. It was a quick getaway but I felt that I was truly "home" for a couple of days. You see, I grew up in Malaybalay, Bukidnon and I stayed there until I was 11 years old until the whole family transferred in Manila. I had a lot of childhood memories there especially in our house and my grandparents' house. Now that my grandparents are gone, my Tita Carol is taking over the house and she really did well. I took a few photos while waiting for our ride on our way to the Church (will post more about the Monastery next week).
Look at our shop!
Noticed the photos of Ate A and Baby A? :)
That's us!
My Tita's Collection of Books
Our GIFT for her from Bali... I just lovee taking photos of her house. Everything is classic. Everything is a collectible. The house is huge too, so I bet it was hard to maintain. But surprisingly my Tita was really having a great time taking care of her house. It was a short but sweet visit to my hometown. I was so busy that weekend, not to mention tired that I couldn't find time to be online to chat with Hubby and the kids. I also didn't find the cheap term life insurance that I was supposed to find that weekend. It was one of my to-do list. But anyway since this weekend is a bit relax, I better find an insurance that will suit our budget and lifestyle. Be back with more photos of my Tita's house.

I used to laugh at someone when I heard that he is playing paintball. I didn't realize that paintball is a fad for adults now and it is really a stress buster. There are even nice Tippmann Paintball Packages that you can choose so you can make the most out of the game. What I like about Paintball is that there are safety rules that you have to follow. If ever before I was hesitant because of the dangers of this game, now I'm actually looking forward to trying it out. I just hope that the weather cooperates so I can schedule my much-awaited first game of paintball.

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Please vote for Andie! Click here!

Thank you!!!

The other night Hubby and I were talking about his toys when he was a kid. He had almost all the toys a kid would want - robots, matchboxes, remote control cars, G.I. Joes, transformers, and more. I asked him, if he could have kept all of his toys, these items would be collector's items by now.

Just like what I saw in ShopWiki's Collectibles and Memorabilia. They have tons of items there from dolls, coins, stamps, comic books, action figures and more! Everything is eye-candy. The Victorian Porcelain Doll is classic but not really my type. I prefer the simple ones like the one below. Just by looking at the items makes me remember my childhood days.



There is one item that I would like to buy for my kids - the collectible music boxes. The Crosley Music Box, Village Snow Globe would be nice. I didn't get something like this when I was a kid so it would be nice to buy two (one for each) and make them keep it until they grow up. Who knows, they might be able to give these nice music boxes to their kids as well!

I know, I know it's been 3 days since Baby A turned 10 months old. So I'm a bit late here. Things were a bit hectic lately with my offline life. I will post more on that later. I still can't believe that two more months and it's Baby A's first birthday already! She's getting bigger everyday. She eats rice with soup now, fish, chicken, and egg. I know the Pedia didn't allow us to give her egg yet but I remember when Ate A was still a baby, she started eating egg when she was 9 months old! The only thing different about Baby A is that she doesn't want to stay in the playpen alone! She wants to be carried all the time. The Yaya would still carry her to put her to sleep but when she is with me at night, I would just let her sleep on her own. So she ends up sleeping at 10:30 at night! She was able to go try the beach already and she loved it! During our getaway to Bataan, she had so much fun! Check out her photos. She also eats broccoli by Gerber. This is good since we can bring her anywhere now. We don't have to worry what food she will eat because she almost eats anything! Last night, we let her try to eat sinigang sa miso. She liked it too. Although she used to eat more congee than rice now but I still let her eat rice to help her adjust with the texture. Two more months and it's going to be her first big party! I haven't really completed the preparation yet. So far here are the things that I've accomplished... - Venue and Balloon setup - Guest list (not yet final) - Magician - Cake (deposited the downpayment) - Outfits (booked and will meet the designer on October 10) - Photographer - Food Carts (booked) We will checkout 168 mall for prizes and give-aways this weekend! I can't wait! :D

That's what I did last weekend.

It was a business trip actually and not a vacation but nevertheless, I still had fun bonding with my Titas, cousins and Dad, eating my hometown fruits, re-living memories of my childhood, and meeting my childhood friend again. After two years, it's finally great to be back even only for a weekend.

More stories and photos next week! (*wink*)

Have a great weekend peeps!

When I showed Ate A the Disney photos of Jane and Jody with their families, she immediately decided that she wants to go to Disneyland and meet Cinderella! I saw the excitement in her eyes that I want to go there myself too and see her reaction when that day comes. So I checked out some Disney World Tickets online and see how much these cost now. I remember I was there 8 years ago and it was something that was really unforgettable. What more in her position wherein meeting Cinderella would be a dream come true! So now, I have to plan this ASAP. Instead of Hubby and I having a trip by ourselves on our anniversary, we would probably bring the kids with us to make it to Disneyland. I will just postpone our planned trip to my birthday next year instead. I hope it gets push through and I also hope that there is a budget too! LOL!

My Mom, sister and I had a getaway in Bali, Indonesia a couple of weekends ago. WE left Manila, September 4, 8PM arrived in Jakarta at 11PM (Indonesia time).



(**Check out how our quick stop over went here **)

When we arrived at the Ngurah Rai Denpasar airport, I knew that this trip will be fun, fun, fun! The weather was perfect!

We immediately hailed a cab at the airport to bring us to Rama Garden Hotel. We passed by Denpasar City and I noticed that shops were everywhere! This is when we realized that our 2-day stay in Bali will never be enough.

So we decided to plan our itinerary and make sure that we make the most out of it. Our priorities for the trip include:

1. Shopping
2. City and Outside the City Tour
3. Swim
4. Eat the food that are not available in Manila
5. Take photos!
6. Get a Balinese Massage in a nice hotel

For 2 days we were able to do all these! We were dead-tired but very happy and even wanted to go back hopefully in the next few years.

Our stay in Rama Garden Hotel was a gift to my Mom when she attended the Astoria time sharing presentation. At first we thought that it was just a so-so hotel since it was free but when we saw it we were impressed.


A walkway on the way to our room...

(More photos in my travel blog soon!)

Rama Garden Hotel is located in Legian a very nice location. It was near the shops and a walking distance to the beach! They also have their own pool. No breakfast included in the package though but we didn't have time to eat breakfast in the hotel anyway because we had to start early to be able to explore a lot in Bali!

After settling down in our room and unpacked a few of our stuff, we started exploring the island!

Our first stop - the beach!





At first it wasn't impressive probably because the sand is gray but when my sister and I went swimming the next day, I totally fell in love with it. It's like you are walking on a velvet floor. It was too fine, the sand stuck on my bathing suit. LOL! Too bad we only had half an hour to swim because we needed to prepare for our 1 whole day tour to Bedugul.

Next to our list - Shopping and Food!



Shopping was one of the highlights of the trip and I was surprised that prices there were cheaper compared to Manila. Almost all of the brands were there - Ralph Lauren, Billabong, Mossimo, Roxy, D&G, and a lot, lot more of local souvenirs, dresses, tops, shorts and more.

The food was also not pricey. We loved the Balinese food so much. You can opt to get not too spicy food so we enjoyed it very much.



We also had 1 day tour to Bedugul which was quite popular there. Here's a photo of us taken in Bedugul. More details soon.





Lastly the Balinese massage which they were known for. My Mom promised herself that she will never leave Bali without it. True enough we had a massage twice! One by the local Manangs by the beach and the other one (which was unforgettable and very heavenly) was at Mandira Hotel.

There are more photos and stories to share. Watch out more in my travel blog. I wanted to post everything here but I've got no time since I need to find steps in doing LSAT prep for a cousin in the States. I just read that there are already available online so I better check and forward it to her.

I had to work on my birthday last Tuesday but I made sure that I go to the parlor after work. I had a haircut and hot oil treatment for almost two hours.

I asked Hubby to buy tempura from Dampa Ortigas as an additional food for our dinner with the family. I just ordered Lengua, Roast Pork, Chicken Relleno, and Pansit from CCME. I liked their service, they delivered on time! And the amount of food was beyond I have expected. We even ate left overs the day after my birthday. Now I need diet pills because I definitely gained weight after my birthday!

My in-laws' (MIL and FIL) came and so is my BIL, sister, and Mom (and a few of her friends). Here are a some of our photos.









I didn't have a big birthday bash because I was saving for our Bali trip. :D

I can say that Manila looks better than Jakarta. But, Bali, wow, I fell in love with that place that I want to go back there soon!

I will share this photo first while uploading the rest of the photos.



I was with my Mom and sister. Yes, it was a girl bonding trip and I had so much fun being with them for almost 4 days. We shopped a lot, ate a lot of Indonesian and Balinese food, and we talked a lot too.

But, sad to say, we were only able to swim for 30 minutes :(

I'm looking forward to a trip there in the next few years.

Watch out for more stories soon!

Thanks to Eds and Steph (our CFC household head) for the recommendations. If not for them, I wouldn't know that there's a hidden paradise in Bataan. Well, for me, that is.

We decided to have a quick getaway at the beach last weekend. Since my birthday was last Tuesday, we had a reason to celebrate. But the main reason we went was because Ate A has been coughing for weeks now. My Mom suggested that we bring the kids to the beach. So off we went. More details here.

It was quick. We only stayed for one night but we left early (around 5AM) so we were able to make the most out of the beach. It was fun and relaxing too. We are definitely going back there before the year ends.

Here are some photos of our quick get-away!


Baby A is not very happy. LOL!


But she felt better when Dada brought her to the water!


Ate A has been looking forward to this for days!






With the Yayas...


Goofing around...


The family who loves the BEACH!

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
- Shopaholic Abroad(thanks to Joy!)

What movies and/or TV shows did I watch this month?
- Time Traveller's Wife (loved this movie!)
- G.I. Joe

What special days did I celebrate and how?
- MIL's birthday
- Moyra's 7th birthday
- Psalm's 7th birthday
- Mikel's Baptism
- Mon's Birthday

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
- I received a nice IPOD Nano from Hubby!
- Clock for Moyra

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
- As usual, I had backache and headache
- Kids had Cough and colds again this month :(

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
- Went to Bataan to celebrate my birthday!
- Dinner with Hubby's college friends
- Dinner twice with my highschool friends since our friend Terry and Jon were here
- Dinner with Mage and Farrah because Mage left for the US
- Dinner with my family when my Mom got back from Mindanao

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
- Mary Grace in Serendra
- Dulcinea in Rockwell
- Dencio's in Rockwell

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
- I bought a lot of stuff from Faye. Uh-oh!
- We planned to get a bell tv but decided to just buy it next month since I needed to do more research about it

What were this month's disappointments?
- Stress!
- I hated the weather this month, it was too hot!

What were my accomplishments this month?
- A few sign-ups this month!