Janice's Baby Shower

Our little baby shower for Janice is actually a surprise. We didn't tell her that our get together was the baby shower for her. See, we've been fixing all of our schedules to have this get together. It was supposed to be a summer outing but obviously that didn’t' push through. Anyway, after much preparation we finally had a date and unknown to Janice we were preparing a little something for her. She was totally surprised. When we shouted "surprise" she didn't even realized she was the one we were saying surprise to, Al was even thinking of who is celebrating his/her birthday ahaha.

We had a few games. The first is guessing how big Janice's tummy is. Here's me telling them what the game is all about. I'm the self-proclaimed host with Jose as my co-host ahahaha!

Here's everyone else trying to measure their waist and adding a few inches there. Mands won the game by the way.



And then for the next game, they were divided into two groups where they chose their "baby" and had to dress him/her in diapers using toilet paper. My husband was the baby boy ahahaha! But the girls won this.


We also had a game for the boys only with the soon-to-be-dad Al of course. They had to finish up a bottle of beer but the beer inside a feeding bottle. Mands won this game again! He was racking in the prizes!



For the ladies game, they had to taste baby food and then guess the right flavor. Weng won this game. She guessed every single flavor. She and Mands were on fire that night. It's like they are the only two people who won!



Of course, what's a baby shower without the gift giving. Joema and I gave the baby some onesies and these cute shoe-socks from Funky Feet. Got a lot of gift ideas for babies from Laz's blog, Anna's cutie son, by the way.


The night wouldn't be complete without the food and more fun - Rock Band and Taboo!








The next day before we left, we had our photos taken with the Cory Aquino painting hanging in one of the rooms hehehe

We hope to see these guys again, soon!

My Print is Here!

Are you excited to see what I bought from Etsy? Here it is!

It's called Terrarium. I know, I know it's not even in the list I was considering to buy. Call me chicken but I'm a bit wary shelling out money in things I haven't tried before. So I went into the Sale items of The Black Apple and saw that print. And I was torn between this and the other prints that I posted before. So I made the husband decide - without telling him about the prices of course. And he chose this one! And I'm so happy with it! The print finally came yesterday. It was packed in this very cute envelope.



With this...aaawww isn't that cute!



Here's a photo of the print still in plastic. I don't want to take it out of the cover coz I still don't have a frame for it. I know that the site has the measurement of the print on it but I was still a bit surprised that it was bigger than what I imagined it to be.



Then these came with the package. The one on the top is I think a bookmark, and then the other two shows the contact details of the seller at the back.



Now I can't wait to buy that Branch Bed print! Oh I wish it will be included in the Sale bin hehe.

First photo from The Black Apple. Blurry photos courtesy of my phone cam.

Chicken in Basil, Tomato and Cream Cheese

Remember when I blogged about us eating healthy? Well, I experimented again and made this sandwich. I just put basil leaves on some olive oil and then marinate the chicken breast there for a few minutes. Then I fry the chicken on a gridle. No need to put oil on the gridle because the chicken has olive oil on it already. And then I start making the sandwich. Just added some cream cheese and tomatoes..voila! My inspiration for this is the tomato, basil and cream cheese in bagel sandwich from Starbucks that my husband ordered a while back. I thought that was easy to do and they charged us what almost a hundred bucks I think. I can do that too but I need to add chicken, you know for protein hehe.

Date with Hubby = Lunch + Grocery

Usually the most exciting part of my and hubby's week is during the weekends. This is of course if we have somewhere to go to or an event we have to attend like the past weekend – still no photos hehe. But there are times when we just laze in our cozy little home and spend time with each other. And then there are also some weekends where we go out on dates. I didn't realize until recently that we were going on dates when we go grocery shopping. My routine during our "Grocery Saturday" is house chores in the morning and then I get myself ready for our "date". I only realized this two weekends ago while taking a bath getting ready to get out of the house and meet him. I felt giddy thinking that we're having lunch together and can't wait to see him again. Is that weird or what? So anyways, I usually meet him up at the mall and then we have lunch first. Our chosen food for that day…Mongolian! We always end up full after our lunch date so it makes perfect sense that we do the groceries after. The walking around helps us burn all those calories. Oh and that Saturday look what I saw in what one of the shelves.



Someone hid his plastic cup in the canned goods section! That is so gross! He or she could have just waited and threw it in a trash bin outside the store. I can't believe someone would do that.

So anyways, that's one of our dates. Not your usual movie dates but still a "date" nonetheless. I wish hubby will surprise me with a gift on our date. Hubby, you can buy me a Rolex or something. Get it at http://www.bestoftime.com/. I'm not picky ahahaha! How about you, what do you do on your dates?

Lousy Race for Vettel in Valencia

How was your weekend? Most people here in Manila went out of town because of the long weekend. Even though we weren't a part of that holiday, our weekend was equally jampacked. Went to Alabang for an overnight get together with friends (baby shower and a lot of rockband-ing) – will have to wait for my friend's photos before I blog about it in detail. But we were still able to watch the qualifying with Vettel finishing 4th. I'm not about to let the qualifying pass without watching it, we waited 3 weeks after the last race for Valencia. I was worried the whole time we were watching because I heard the commentators saying that Vettel had to do some penalty what with the changing of his engine and he will be 10 places down after his finish. I don't really understand this but it seemed it's a rule that the teams have to use their engine for two races. So there I was a worry wart because I wanted to see Vettel in the podium again. The hubby was telling me that I could've heard it wrong because after the qualifying, the hosts didn't even mention it again. Then Sunday came for the race day of the Valencia leg. While watching the pre-race show I actually fell asleep because of exhaustion and lack of sleep the night before that. But I woke up in time just before the "five red lights illuminate" – as Steve Slater puts it. By the way, when I was asleep Steve Slater discussed the supposed penalty for Vettel and it turned out there will not be any penalty for him. So that kept me all the more confused because I didn't get to see the explanation behind all that. Anyway, Vettel did a good 16 or 17 laps before he went down to the pits but he had to go back again for the second time, right after his first so that kept him on the 16th place. Oooohh that pissed me off so bad I had to switch channels and didn't want to finish watching the race ahahahaha. We eventually went back to watching it when I calmed down, but when we switched back the channel he was already out of the race. Argh! Apparently it was another engine failure. Haay!



I eventually stopped worrying when he was shown smiling from the garage like he can't care much because it wasn't really his fault he had to retire from the race. So from then on I was just waiting who will finish first and get those championship points. Both Vettel and Webber who finished 9th didn't get any. Button got two points and Barrichello finished first and got himself 10 points. So after the Valencia race, Vettel is down to 4th place for the driver's championship with Button, Barrichello and Webber ahead of him. I'm just glad Webber didn't get any points ahahahaha! I don't want Red Bull favoring Webber ahead of Vettel hehehehe Affected much! Like him, I'm still hoping he gets to win the championship.

Photo from here.

In The Fishbowl

Online shopping is addicting! After a few purchases from Ukay Manila and my first purchase from Etsy (although I am still waiting for my print to arrive – I will blog about it then), I bought this dress from In The Fishbowl.



Like Ukay Manila, they sell ukay-ukay items. They upload weekly new items and then you have to bid for whatever items you want. Bidding starts at 9pm every Monday. But since I still don't have internet access at home, I haven't participated in the bidding once the new items are uploaded. I made a bid on this dress a few days after it was uploaded. And yey no one else made a bid so I got it for the starting bid price!

For now, I am done buying online because my Paypal account is down to its few dollars. Let me save some more before I purchase online again.

Moving

Well, hello! I feel like I haven't been here in a long while. I've moved work areas following my promotion. It usually takes a month after the effective date of the promotion for the physical transfer to take place because I'm moving I moved to a different department. But even though I knew all about it, the move was actually done in haste. So stressful as I only knew on the day itself (it was less then a month from the effective date). Good thing I was able to turn over my responsibilities to my colleagues and there wasn't much work left behind, although there were a lot of documents left to be filed. Sheesh! And now I'm trying to study my new work. This is all new to me so I'm trying to read books and references online.

I feel like I haven't had time to be sad about the transfer. I mean it's only now that I'm typing this down that I realize how much I'll be missing all my friends from my previous department although of course we're only a few floors away from each other. And for the past few days I've still been seeing them everyday. They've all been very good to me. And I'm really going to miss them.

I wasn't even able to join Riz's contest on posting what's on your desk because when I read her blog at the time I was packing my things in boxes to be transferred to my new work area. And now that I'm here, my things aren't. phooey! Some kind of miscommunication with the people involved with the moving of my things. Haaay!

So that's about it. I'm still here. I hope to blog more about myself in the next few days heehee. I'm excited about this weekend because we're seeing some friends we haven't been with for a few months now. See you when I see you! Or should that be "read me when you read me"? :)

Four Eyes Times Two

Does that make it eight eyes? heehee


The husband is now wearing eyeglasses too. He's survived the past few months wearing contact lenses. But when he's at home and a bit lazy to wear them, he ends up with a headache because he's straining his eyes. So I persuaded him to buy eyeglasses even if just to wear them at home. And we eventually bought one. I told him he's lucky because he started wearing glasses only when he hit 30. I started wearing eyeglasses as a kid. I've had poor eye sight since high school. If only there were a lot of styles to choose from back then. I think I had glasses just like Harry Potter's hahaha those black round ones. Back then you have to go to those optical shops were most styles are for adults. Not unlike the young generation (or even us adults) now when you can shop online and get affordable fashionable $ 8 Rx eyeglassses with just a click of the mouse. High Five to Zenni Optical for offering very affordable eyeglasses online. I would have bought something like this when I was a kid.






Isn't it cute! Purple frames! I could pull off that style even until now, right? :-)


Before buying the husband's glasses, I wish we've watched Zenni Optical on TV!!! and known about them. But I don't think they have advertisements on local TV. I wonder if there are local optical shops who sell online?

Etsy

I first heard of Etsy from Anna. And then started really looking at things sold there when she mentioned she bought something from the site. It's a treasure chest really! Everything is hand made and everything seems to be just oh so cute!

Let me share with you some of the things that I am really considering buying.

From The Black Apple - I actually first chanced upon the owner's personal blog (which is up on my blogroll) when I was bloghopping before I went to her Etsy shop. I love love love love her prints.

Fronds and Flora Print set

Rock and Roll Print set
Branch Bed Print

From Mia Beads - for the longest time I wanted to buy a locket for myself so I started searching for lockets on Etsy. And lockets from this shop are just so adorabe, looks so antique as if it's been passed on for several generations in the family hehe.

Strawberry Fields locket necklace

Tea Rose locket necklace

Which do you think should be my first Etsy purchase?

*All photos from the shops in Etsy. Please click on the links to get the full description of each item.

Uh Oh!

Oh my gosh! I think I need to start to diet. Somebody just asked me if I'm already pregnant! Whapak! That's my biggest problem. When I gain weight, the first body parts that accumulates fat is my face and my arms. And I wish I can hide my face! Mukha na naman ata akong siopao!

Remember my post about going back to the gym, well I did started boxing again for twice a week but after less than a month I'm lazy to go back again. Huhu! I need to find the motivation to exercise! And you would think that pregnant comment is enough motivation. We'll see...

Mandarin Deal

A good example of what I was talking about earlier.

Got this good deal from Ms. Daphne Osena's livejournal account.

If you book a wedding reception at Mandarin Oriental Manila, you get a FREE HONEYMOON TRIP to Hong Kong with a 3-day 2-night stay at The Excelsior, Hong Kong


A three-day, two-night honeymoon holiday in Hong Kong is the package’s piece de resistance, consisting of roundtrip tickets for two persons, and a 3-day, 2-night stay with breakfast at The Excelsior, Hong Kong – which comes free with receptions that are booked for the Wedding Platinum packages, for a minimum of 150 persons.

The Platinum packages are offered for Western and Chinese weddings, and include: bridal car; a string quartet; a grand ice carving; lovely floral arrangements; a complimentary bottle of Moet et Chandon Brut Imperial for the couple’s toast; a two-hour photo booth moments by Baicapture; and delightful three-layer fondant cakes by Dexter’s Bakeshop or Penk Ching of Pastry Bin, and a round of soft drinks or iced tea.

The celebration doesn’t end there. The couple can look forward to celebrating their first year anniversary at Mandarin Oriental, Manila, using a voucher for a set dinner at The Tivoli for two persons.

The Platinum Western Wedding Package ranges from PHP320,888+++ to PHP450,888+++ for sit-down menus and PHP339,888+++ to 426,888+++ for buffet dinners. The Platinum Chinese Wedding Package ranges from PHP317,888+++ to PHP560,888+++. The prices are for 150 persons.

For more information, one can contact the Banquet Sales team at Mandarin Oriental, Manila at +63 (2) 750 8888 or via email at momnl-socials@mohg.com

So if you're planning a wedding better contact Mandarin Oriental immediately. :)

Get Your Own Site

We're going on a trip soon and like all of our previous trips, I've researched on everything about the place – where to eat, where to stay, what to do, etc. Sometimes when I'm looking for a place to crash in, a resort or a hostel, I usually expect these establishments to have websites of their own. But sometimes it's disappointing that they don't and you have to Google the place and pray to God you find someone else's site who has a review on that resort. Why can't they get their own website? There are a lot of web site hosting services to choose from. They do have to advertise their business right? Why not invest in their own site. I think it's really good for businesses to have your own website, especially nowadays when a lot of people are relying on information that can be accessed online. This is especially true for me when we were planning for our wedding. Almost all our wedding suppliers were found on the internet. Although of course, this could also backfire on us. There are times when the website photos of a resort are so good but when you finally get to the place you get disappointed because the amenities are not that great of their rooms are not so cozy; or when you think you wanted to get that photographer because of the photos posted on his site but when you met him in person there was no rapport (believe me this happened to us!). But in the end, you still get people to notice you because of your website.

Still on Cory (and sige na nga..Jamby)

My mom was able to take a photo of Mrs. Aquino's casket and the Fantastic four when they passed by them outside Manila Cathedral. It turned out they went to Manila Cathedral but wen home afterwards. Buti na lang because they wouldn't have endured waiting for Cory for so many hours in Paranaque.





The photo was taken from my mom's camera phone. Uy, look what that man (I'm assuming he's a HE) has on his wrist. A closer look shall we?


If you haven't heard, Jamby Madrigal gave out yellow bracelets with her face on it. Although that bracelet on the man doesn't have Jamby's face tied on it, maybe he yanked it out haha.


Kapal ng face! Galangin mo naman yung patay!

Source of Jamby's bracelet here.

Now and Then

I wish I don't have work today. I would have come with my parents to go to Mrs. Aquino's funeral. Here at the office, we're listening to the livestreaming of ABS-CBN news.

I remember I was 6 years old when the People Power Revolution happened. Our family went there too. Though I don't remember much about what really happened and why it's all been happening but I remember all the people in the streets. I remember while walking along EDSA after the rally, there were a lot of broken shoes, sandals along the road. That was the most vivid memory I had of EDSA hahaha.

What about you? Where were you then and where are you now?

Ma'am Cory

I saw excerpts of the necrological service for Cory Aquino last night from the news. But they didn't show what Insp. Melchor Mamaril's eulogy was. Here's the clip. I can't help but shed a few tears after watching it.



*You may click the link if it takes too long to load from this page.

Tie a Yellow Ribbon*

I am wearing yellow today. Though I have work and won't be able to watch the funeral on TV, I am one with our nation in mourning for the death of former President Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino. She died on the 1st of August at 3:18am.

*Did you know how the song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" was associated to the Aquino's? The song is about a prisoner who is about to come home. And he asked his lover to tie a yellow ribbon in the old oak tree if she still accepts and loves him. When Ninoy Aquino gave his intention to go back to the Philippines in 1983, the Filipino people tied yellow ribbons around the street lamps and streets along the road he would pass to let him know he is welcome to go back.

Photo from here.