We Are Family

I’ve been tagged by Feng here.  Whew!  I never thought i could think of 15 weird things about me but i did.  hehe.  I had fun.  Thanks Feng!

Pinching pillows.  I pinch my pillows to put me to sleep.  I’ve been doing this since i was a child.  My mom tried to break that weird habit but she did not succeed.  When i got married, my husband was surprised to discover that i do that.

I don’t eat apples but i love eating apple pies.

No period for over 2 years and counting.  First day of my last menstruation was July 1, 2005.  I’m loving it.  No PMS and no sanitary napkins.  I dread the day it returns.

Can work for straight 8 hours without talking to anyone.  I don’t leave my seat too. 

Giving out fake names at Starbucks or CBTL. It’s so funny hearing them call you by a different name.

Doing a funny face to elicit laughter to a cute child in public.  I get a different thrill whenever i make them laugh even if i look like a complete dork in public.

Reading the ending first.  When I read a book, I read the ending first. I won’t start reading it if the ending sucks.

Can’t live without lotions.  I can’t last a day without putting lotion on my skin.

Fries dipped in Mayo. I only eat fries if it is dipped in Mayo. Yummy!

Pigging out without gaining weight.  I can eat so much and not gain any weight.

Laughing by myself. I usually eavesdrop when people are telling jokes. If it’s really funny I end up laughing out loud. To outsiders I look like somebody who is laughing by herself.

Scared to try a Bob. I’ve always wanted a bob cut to sport a new look but I’m dead scared to actually try.

Moving Nostrils. My nostrils move voluntarily when I’m kinikilig.

Eating out alone. I like dining out alone. It gives me a nice opportunity for people watching.

Shopping Alone. I prefer shopping alone because it is less of a hassle. You don’t have anybody to consider if they’re getting bored or tired when it takes you forever to decide what to buy.

There! Mission Accomplished. Now i’m tagging Apols, Amore, Joy.  If you can’t think of 15 just post as many as you can.  :) 

Popularity: 11% [?]

We are very fortunate to be living in a tropical country where there are only two seasons: Rainy and Summer. Temperature just varies to 24 to 40 degrees Celcius. In other parts of the world they have to deal with winter’s bitter cold. I know because is used to live in Riyadh and winter can get very chilly too. We have a good heater inside the house but our garage has none. Mama has suggested to purchase garage heaters but Papa couldn’t find something that he likes.

I’ve seen an ideal buy over the net. It has a variable heat output so that you can control the heat based on your comfort level. You also get to save on gas bills by using the thermostat set-back. It also able to heat a large room area: 20×30 foot room. It does not require any electricity to operate so it still can be used even on electricity outage. Operation of the heater is also quiet and odorless.

This is perfect for our garage back then. Too bad we didn’t get to know of this sooner. But then people living in cool places definitely need something like this.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Work: We’re having a management dinner tonight. It will be held at Manila Pen. It’s going to be one sumptuous dinner and best of all it’s free. I should be thrilled but not quite. I’ll be giving up some quality hours playing with Andre in exchange. Oh well! As they say, they are no such thing as FREE meals. Hehehe

Blogging: I don’t have any opps or assignments to do. This is crazy! I have to work on getting a PR soon.

Panwich Business: It’s getting slooooow due to the rainy season. Even the orders I get in the office are getting smaller. I think we need to strategize.

Home: We have a major headache with our yaya. We’re seriously considering sending her back home. But I don’t want to blog the details, as I haven’t sorted it out yet. I hope all ends well.

Popularity: 6% [?]

We received your padala Simone.  Thank you so much!  We loved all of them.  M0rn1ng and i loved the coasters.  He said the line “a man you can trust” describes him well.  haha! 

B.boy also loved all the clothes.  He even wore one of them when we went out for lolo and lola’s Anniversary.  It looks good on him di ba?  Again, big big thanks from the bottom of our hearts. 

Popularity: 7% [?]

This is for my online friends Peachy and Joy.

We had our honeymoon in Bohol. Great place and there are lots of things you can do there. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously. Our expense is only a total 27K and here is the breakdown:
-Round trip Fiesta Class Airfare via PAL for 2
-4D3N stay at Bohol Beach Club + Daily Breakfast
-Airport-Hotel-Airport Transfers
-Countryside tour (Blood Compact, Baclayon Church, Tarsier, Choc Hills, Loboc River, Magaso Falls, Hinagdanan Cave, Man made forest)
-Dolphin and whale watching, Island hopping, snorkeling at the coral gardens of Balicasag Island.
-Kayak rental
-Everyday food

So with 27K, Morning and I almost did everything there. We got the airfare and accommodation for 17K. Then 10K was for food and tours. We saved a lot because of the Palakbayan Package. For the tour, we have a friend who is a tour guide there. So parang rent lang ng van yung gastos namin. If we’ve opted to get the package tours our expenses might have doubled. Then he also has a friend who rents boats. Mura lang din bigay sa amin kasi ni-recommend nya. Again it’s expensive if we got the dolphin and whale watching, island hopping and snorkeling from the hotel or from the travel agency. For a whole day tour we paid 2,400. That includes the transfers to and from the hotel. We paid 2,500 for the boat and that includes the snorkeling gear.  We are so happy that we got to see some dolphins.  We were clapping and shouting everytime they flip and dive.  We also enjoyed snorkling because there are lots of different fishes and corals.

If you like I could give the name and contact details of the tour guide. Kuya Boyet ang name nya. He’s very kind and friendly and he knows all the good places to go there. Just let me know if you want the contact details.

For the Loboc River Cruise, we spent 250 per head for both the cruise and the buffet lunch. There’s also a live band that will serenade you throughout the cruise. You can also visit the tarsiers found nearby. Their natural habitat is near the river. I didn’t realize they are that small. Super cute animals so let’s do what we can to protect them.

Nice places to stay are : PINR, Alona Palm, Ananyana and Bohol Beach Club. We enjoyed our stay in BBC because the food is good and affordable. The servings are also big. We had one meal that only costs us 200 and that includes the drinks na ha. They also have the longest stretch of white sand beach. So that’s a plus if you are a beach lover like us.

You could also visit our webshots so that you can see the Bohol pix. http://community.webshots.com/user/n1cemorn1ng_2 >> under Honeymoon folder. Hindi ko pa nasama yung kuha sa underwater cam kasi hindi pa nascan.

And oh, kindly take note that the prices are as of 2 years ago so it might not apply now.  hehehe

Popularity: 8% [?]

B.boy was nursing all the time last night so i wasn’t able to get a decent shut-eye.  By 5:30 am my patience wore thin.  I told him no more dede because mommy has to sleep.  As expected, he cried as protest but i still keep my back on him while he cries on top of his lungs.  Even M0rn1ng just let him cry it out.  Nag-iinarte lang naman kasi eh.  We want to teach our son that others have needs too so he should be considerate.

After around 8 mins, he approached me and stopped crying.  He just lay on my shoulder silently.  I guess he got the point.  I put him on my chest and told him that mommy has to rest so he has to stop his dede.  I explained that i love him but i like him, i need to meme too.  I know he understood because he has that sorry look in his face.  He also moved a few inches upward and kissed my lips as if saying mommy i’m so sorry for what i did.  :)  Tanggal ang lahat ng inis at puyat ko.

He’s very thoughtful too.  Last Monday, they were here at the office and my officemate gave him some fries.  She got surprised nung nakita nya na sinusubuan ako ni B.boy.  He’s always like that.  Whenever he eats, he makes sure that mommy and daddy gets a piece of what he’s having.

I hope he continues to be sweet even if he’s all grown up. 

Popularity: 8% [?]

Do you believe that?  I do.  Most of us get a certain disease because we consume some kind of food more than what we are supposed to.  For example, people who likes salty food gets kidney problems and hypertension.

Weight gain is also associated with food we take in.  If you want to lose weight, it is essential that you watch out what you take in.  No wonder South Beach Diet is such a success.  I’ve seen a similar program over the internet and it’s called Nutrisystem.  According to the website, it’s a weight loss program that’s based on Glycemic Index and is also rich in good carbohydrates, while still low in fat.  They have an ongoing offer which looks like a pretty good deal.  If you buy the 28 day program, you’ll get an extra week of food for free.  That’s a lot of savings!

It also lets you choose what program suits you.  So whether you’re a man, woman, dieabetic or even vegetarian, there is a program that’ll fit you.  This is definitely worth a try if want to trim down.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I’m glad to say we have none.  The photo here is enough proof that our child has a hearty apetite.  He’s not choosy eaither.  He eats everything we put in his plate and we’re proud to say that it includes veggies too.

He also showed interest in feeding himself with a spoon so we let him practice.  We received a kiddie plate with suction at the bottom and he uses that.  We find it very convenient as the plate cannot be moved by a child and thus avoiding uncessary mess.  Well, he uses the spoon to feed himself and occasionally picks bits and pieces of food with his hands.  I think this is a good practice for him to be able to eat na hindi sinusubuan eventually.  Initially we are quite reluctant to try because of the possible mess he can make.  But one book suggested to put newspapers underneath the high chair so that cleaning will be a lot easier.  You just have to fold the newspapers and throw them away.  Pretty neat idea so we tried.  We’re glad we did because our fears are unfounded.  He’s not a messy eater afterall.   

We also try to shy him away from junk foods, chocolates, fast food and the like.  So we try to set a good example by not consuming those at home.  I say try because there are times that we crave for soda and junk foods.  We give in to those cravings sometimes but we don’t show him we’re eating those.  hahaha!  I know it will get harder once he gets older.   :p

M0rn1ng and i hope he continues to eat well.  Afterall, eating right are one of the keys to good health.

Popularity: 7% [?]

This one of the reasons why i decided and persevered to breastfeed my baby.  Even formula manufacturers are trying to imitate the nutrients found in mother’s milk.  Not only that, i’ve read one milk for adults called muscle milk which claims to stimulate growth and recovery in a similar manner to mother’s milk nourishing a baby.

So kudos to all the women out there who breastfeed and have breastfed!  You are doing a marvelous job to yourself and to your child.  

Popularity: 18% [?]

Cameras are really essential to help preserve the memories we make everyday.  I love photos although i don’t have the talent in photography.  Currently, we have a Sony Cybershot and we are quite satisfied with it.  I say quite because i have some complaints on it’s speed in taking pictures.  If you hit the button, it takes around 5 seconds before it takes the picture.  It’s pretty frustrating if you want to capture a specific moment like B.boy’s doing a silly face.  Are all digital cameras like that?  Or is there something wrong in our settings?  If you have any idea kindly let me know because i haven’t had the time to read the manual or play around with camera.

By the way, what other point and shoot digicams do you recommend?  Is Canon Powershot any good?

Popularity: 7% [?]

Before i used to think that drug addiction is only limited to marijuana, heroine, shabu and the like. However i’ve read that there is also what they call prescription drug addiction. The National Institute of Drug Abuse estimates that some two million women are addicted to prescription drugs in the United States alone. In the 12-month period ending in April 1977, there were an estimated 880 Valium-connected deaths in the U.S. In most of these cases the victims had combined Valium with alcohol or another drug.  Not only women are hooked but teens too.

How does this happen?  People have been using these drugs to combat the stress of everyday life not knowing eventually they become dependents.  So the ultimate reponsibility really lies in the user.  Being in denial is really dangerous and the key to healing is the realization that there’s a problem and help is needed.

Popularity: 5% [?]

We went to Trinoma for the first time 3 weeks ago. Mama was here that time to visit B.boy so we wanted to take her out and visit new places. We also want to know what the buzz is all about on this new hang-out.

Well, the place is a lot similar to Glorietta but with more fountains and gardens. We especially loved the fountains near the restaurants strip. B.boy and I are counting as the water went up and down. Since they’ve just opened recently, most of the shops are still closed. We are hoping that there’s a department store so that we can buy shorts for B.boy. However, Landmark is still yet to open. There’s also a merry-go-round on the third floor (?) which is very similar to the one in MOA. The place is pretty relaxing with trees and plants that decorate the whole place.

We had dinner at Recipes. We’re supposed to try out Zhong but they are still closed. Fortunately, there’s Recipes and having tried it in Greenbelt we decided to dine there. We had Crispy Tilapia Fillets, Gising-Gising, Lechong Kawali and Korean Beef Stew. The Tilapia Fillets and Gising-gising are the hands down winner. I’ve never had Tilapia that good and the gising-gising has the right balance of creaminess and spiciness. For those who are not familiar, gising-gising is baguio beans diced then mixed with coconut milk and chilli. Korean Beef stew is a bit okay. My sister said it is a bit salty. If you crave Filipino food but find Centro’s price a bit on the high end, better try Recipes. Kindly take note though that their servings are small. My sister is surprised to see the kakarampot servings herself. Hahaha!

As far as I know they have branches in Greenbelt and Trinoma.

Popularity: 10% [?]

It was 1997 when my uncle decided to quit working abroad and start the construction business with my dad.  We had the hardware existing 3 years before that and it was successful.  Hopes are high and we are sure that this new venture will thrive as my uncle has an extensive experience in construction.  However contrary as what we’ve expected, the profits were not enough so we decided to shut the operations down.  :(  Maybe the time wasn’t right then.

Recently, they’ve been planning to revive the construction business.  My uncle so wanted to stay here for good and i’m sure with better planning and tools, it will be a success.  I’ve seen a good tool over the net, and it’s called a Construction Software Buyer Guide.  This helps facilitate the function of job costing which is the process of managing, estimating and tracking costs associated with the job.  Here are some of the features of the software according to their site:

• Analysis of actual costs compared to budgeted costs
• Tracking and managing the collection of revenue on jobs
• Project management
• Tracking and purchasing inventory and materials for jobs
• Estimating of project costs

Wow!  I’m sure my dad and uncle will be interested in this.

Popularity: 6% [?]