my sister's friend needs information about 22 Inch TV

I'm so jealous. We visited three friends over the weekend and they all got LCD TVs. My sister also asked me to search for websites where she can find prices and reviews of 22 Inch TV because one of her friends who also works as a nurse in the UK is planning to buy one. Could it be that I'm seeing all these LCD TVs in their houses and I'm hearing news about more people buying their own unit because it's time to get one for myself also? LOL. I can hear my husband saying "keep trying" with a grin on his face.

I wish I can get one also. But, there are some more important things that we need to proritize. And, I understand.

celebrating my fourth year being a happy wife

We just celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary a couple of days ago and I’m so glad that we (my husband and I) are both joyful and contented. When we got married, we were very happy that we’re at last one in everything. Little did we know that there really are a lot of ups and downs. We were too proud to say that it all depends on how much two people love each other. We did not realize that we have differences yet to be discovered and that there are people around us who will add challenge to our relationship. We’re just as glad that we have managed to pass through all the trials for four years. And, we are praying that everything will be just as fine in the years to come.

I think I found the house plan that I've been wanting to build

This is a sponsored post written by Gab's Mom.

I mentioned before that my husband found a new place because Gab and I are staying with him for good. The house that he got is clean but it’s so simple and dull. I thought that maybe if we’ll find ideas on how to set it up so that the place will look exciting and somewhat stylish, we’ll enjoy the place better. I found great information in one website and they got thousands of house plans and home plans. Can someone tell me how I can earn extra dollars? I think I want to build a house when we go home to the Philippines. =)

new year's resolution

gab and i had ice cream and fried meat loaf for snack earlier. gab saw the left over meat loaf from our breakfast and asked me for it. but since i was eating ice cream when he went out of the room after his siesta, he also asked me to give him some ice cream.

i think i'm feeling nervous again... we're getting bigger and bigger.. could losing weight be on my new year's resolution list again? yay, when will it ever leave my list? LOL.

my sister got a new 22 LCD TV that Gab will surely enjoy

My sister told me that they got another 22 LCD because my nephews fight over the first LCD TV that they got. All four kids want to get their own 22 LCD in each of their rooms. As much as my sister would like to buy one for each of the kids, she said it would cost her a lot and it will mean a lot of overtime work.

I told my husband that it would be nice to get an LCD TV also especially that Gab likes watching a lot. He will enjoy more because of the wider screen display and the better picture and sound quality. My husband said we can look around for info on which brand to get but it’s just not time yet. I wonder when it’s time. LOL.

all i needed was a soothing warm bath

it's so funny when you realize after a soothing warm bath that you were acting as though every one around you was trying to spoil your day when in fact it was all you who is being so unreasonable.

getting up in the morning is not so nice when you feel pain all over your body. i've been carrying gab a lot lately because he's been all grumpy since he had his fever for almost a week. even now that he's okay already, he still asks me to carry him from time to time... especially when he wants to sleep. he lacked sleep during the time that he was sick that's why he's trying to get as much sleep as he can now. he's more than 20 kilos and anyone would lose breath carrying him for long hours.

last night before going to sleep, my husband told me to wake him up early so that he can go for a 30-minute jogging. and so i woke him up early and he told me he's still very sleepy to get up. i got so irritated that i told him not to ever ask me again to wake him up early to exercise because he will never exercise anyway. i heard "what's wrong with you?" the bad mood day started early today.

and all throughout the day... i heard maybe three or four more "what's wrong with you?" from people i love. then i thought, "yeah, what's wrong with me?"

took a warm bath... sent sorry SMS. it was something like "i'm so sorry to upset you. it was late when i realized i needed a warm bath. Again, sorry."

they all understood and said next time they'll ask "do you need a warm bath?" instead of "what's wrong with you?"

that's why i love these people. =)

we need an aircon for the other room

After four months of sharing a flat with my brother's friend, my husband decided to get his own place because he wants me and my baby to stay here with him. He did not want us to share the place because my baby is growing fast and he needs a place where he can play around and go around whenever he wants. A place where we can accommodate his tantrums and a place where we can encourage his curiousness. my brother's friend is nice to us but that's the problem in sharing a house with someone who's not a friend or a relative... you can't move freely because you want to be very considerate you'd limit your access to the place.

Having a place of your own is very expensive here in Singapore. I don't know but for me, it's way too expensive. good thing we know someone close to us who also works here and we plan to talk to him so that if he has plans of moving, we can share the place. It’s always better when you are confident with the person you'll be sharing the house with. You can be considerate in a relaxed manner. LOL.

If he decides to join us, we only need to buy an aircon unit for his room. We already scouted for the best places to get one. My husband said it's very important to know the A/C compressor specs in order to buy the most suitable unit for the size of room where we will install it. Although most of the places for rent here are fully furnished, the place that we got is semi furnished. It’s cheaper than the other places that we saw but we need to shell out cash if there's a need to buy some appliances.

less worried now

i'm less worried now. we had gab checked by a doctor last night and we were given suppository for his fever instead of oral medicine. the doctor gave it because i told her that it is very difficult to give oral medicine to gab. since we gave him the first bullet, he did not have very high fever. the doctor said it's a viral fever and that we just need to wait for the fever to pass. she said that rashes may appear after the fever is gone and that we should not worry about it.

the doctor said this has nothing to do with pneumonia and that gab's lungs are pretty clear.

gab is still sleeping as i write this. i hope his fever would go away completely now...

p.s. thanks sexyjessie for your advice and concern. it means a lot.

get well gab

i'm so worried about my kid. he's got fever again. he does not want to take his medicine. week before we went back here in singapore with his dad, gab got confined in the hospital due to pneumonia. he was admitted because he does not want to take his medicines and his fever was on and off. he also did not want to eat. he was slightly dehydrated when we brought him to the hospital.

i am praying so hard that this time, his fever is not in anyway related to the pneumonia findings (i'm hopeful because this time he doesn't have cough or colds). i hope that he will get well already. i can't sleep at night and during the day even if i feel very sleepy already because i'm monitoring his body temperature and i want to observe him for any other symptoms.

i'm just waiting for my husband. after office, we'll have gab checked at a nearby clinic.

Santa Claus

Gab and I just finished watching clips about Santa Claus on www.youtube.com . I decided to let him see those pictures and video clips because Christmas is fast approaching. He sure will see a lot of Santas on the streets and malls. I hope that this time, Gab will not be scared anymore. Last Christmas when we went to Enchanted Kingdom, Gab cried when Santa started to do the "Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas" thing. LOL

Who is Santa anyway?

When I was young, I just knew that Santa is a Christmas character. And, he's the one putting toys, chocolates, money and presents that we wish for in stockings that we hang on the Christmas tree on the Christmas eve. He's the one who sees us when we do things that we're not supposed to do. That's his basis of whether we will have an empty stockings or not. Then, one fogy Christmas eve, my brother accidentally opened my mom's drawer and found a lot of chocolates and presents. The following morning, we saw those presents in our Christmas stockings. So I thought Santa is not real. Then the line, "Santa will not give your wishes if you don't do as you're told" was not effective anymore. And then my parents found different ways that worked.

Now that I've grown a little matured, ehem, I have come to realize that Santa is a symbol of love... of giving. We give a lot when we love. And when we love, we give even if we know no one's giving something in return.

While talking to a friend (a mom of a boy who's 3 years older than Gab), she asked me if we will let Gab believe in the "Santa" who sees him when he's naughty or nice and I did not know what to say. I think that I will. But I guess I'll also tell him that Santa doesn't expect a gift in return but he might want to consider it. (Maybe I'll just tell him to let mommy take care of the shipping because he's too young to handle it. ;-)

Someone's watching

I was too tired last night. I slept almost midnight. I was loaded with a lot of things to do because I only realized that the day was almost over after being on the computer for more than half the day. Sometimes, even when you know you have to prioritize some things, you still forget it when you get engrossed with things that you like doing.... like following people on Facebook and being nosy on their whereabouts; or chatting with friends talking about the things that you've already talked about for the millionth time.

I remember when I was still working. As a QA specialist, our job was to monitor the call center agent's productivity; as a senior to my QA team, my job was to monitor my unit's productivity as QAs.

There were a lot of ways to monitor productivity. But one of the best ways to do it is to use productivity monitoring software. A productivity monitoring software is installed on computers on the network and it lets you view the applications that are used on a remote computer without the need to physically go to that computer. It summarizes the amount of activities done per day by a certain staff on a certain computer. It even lets you view the actual window they are using. So you know whether they are working or not. Statistics such as the amount of time spent on work related versus non-work related activities and the screenshots that you save while the staffs are wasting time on non-work related applications can be used to back up your assessment of a person's productivity. It can also log the activities on a computer. You can later access the log and still get the summary of time spent on a per application basis. Another good thing about this software is that you won't get noticed while using it. People get caught big time when they don't know that someone is watching them. On the other hand, you can also inform them that there is such software that can capture the activities on their computer while they are logged in. Making them aware that someone might watch them anytime already prevents them from doing things that will intervene with their productivity. This software is also one of the best tools to use when you want to identify coaching opportunities because you get to observe how a person does his job. It will help you identify areas where a person needs help in order to maximize his/her potentials. Such a great help when you have this productivity monitoring software.

Ah, I suddenly missed doing those sorts of things. I miss the people I used to work with also. I miss using the monitoring software... I miss being caught also by my boss. No wonder that now I can be on the internet browsing and chatting without noticing I lost half of the day already. LOL. Oh wait, I guess I gave someone (my husband) an idea... Will he monitor me after he downloads the software? =)

i can't get over the ampatuan massacre

i still can't get over the gruesome way of killings that happened in ampatuan. my goodness. i searched for video clips and news articles and the more i learn about the details, the more i feel sad about the incident. only evil minds can think of those ways to kill and torture.

i hope that the truth will come out. i hope that no political attachment will cover the truth. justice should be given to the victims.

let's pray for the victims. let's pray for their families. let's pray for those who did this. and let's pray for those who will implement justice.... may they do what is right.

the reason: duplicate files

It's so relaxing to write about things you want to write about when the laptop is not acting up. Few weeks ago, our laptop started to slow down and it irritates us to use it. We found out it was because the memory was almost eaten up by a lot of files that we have saved. We realized that it's been almost half a year since we last organized. We used to back up and transfer files to our external hard drive regularly until we became very busy (or too lazy) recently. We found a lot of files stored in our system and we were just lucky enough to have found a duplicate files software that came handy in cleaning up the laptop's memory.

We thought of keeping the duplicate files software in our system so that it will be easy for us to clean up the computer's memory. We also agreed to run a regular clean up of the files that we store on the computer. I hope that we will be religious enough to follow the schedule. This laptop is helping us a lot. It's not always nice to use one that runs like a turtle... or one that couldn't run at all.

Life is full of surprises

Being a full time mom (or dad) is not as simple as many people would think. A lot of challenges come in and out. Sometimes you will not believe how you've managed all of them.

I'm just lucky there's a place like this where you can go and visit and spend time to get diversion. Sometimes you'll even get surprises when you open your page. Like now, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the green shade on the tiny icon at the bottom of my page. HAH! I'm so happy. Suddenly I felt excited and I started writing.

I can't wait until my hubby hears about it. =)

Going back to the days when listening to music and playing computer games are fun!

Listening to music and playing computer games are two things that my husband and I used to enjoy when we have spare time until our very charming baby came. Hahaha. Now that Gab is a little big already and he can be asked to stay on his play area for longer than we expected, we can resume with those past times. Searching for music and games and films that can be downloaded for free is not very easy. Sometimes, you've waited long enough only to find out that the file is not complete. Well, maybe the search is over. Just found these free torrents that look simple and useful. I tried some free downloads and wow, I really guess the search is over. Looking for free torrents can be very difficult sometimes. But when it's your lucky day, you'll find one that's as useful as the free torrents that I just tried.

no citrus fruits when you have allergic cough

i thought that when you have colds or cough, it's best to eat citrus fruits. i was told that what i have always known is wrong.

i've been terribly coughing since four days ago so i decided to see a doctor last night. the doctor told me that my cough sounds like an allergic i never experienced nebulising or taking puff medicines, thank God.

maybe, just maybe, i became sensitive and caught cough because i was tired for the past weeks. aside from the medicines that i was asked to take, i was advised to avoid citrus fruits and peanuts and eggs or the allergy will worsen. what will i do with the loads of citrus fruits that i just bought heh?

will get halloween costumes for Gab next year!

It’s really nice to see kids in their Halloween costumes. When I was little, I did not get the chance to join Trick or Treat events or Halloween costume parties. Maybe, it was not a common event for the common people during our times. You know what I mean, maybe for the rich, they have these. But I noticed that now that there are malls in our province, they already have those sorts of activities during the Halloween.

When I started working in Manila, I got invited when one of my nieces celebrated her birthday party at the mall on the 31st of October. It was then that I saw kids walking from one stall to another in their Halloween costumes trick-or-treating! I thought it was fun. I thought to myself that when I have kids already, I will let them join Halloween parties. And I imagined shopping for my kid’s Halloween costumes. It was fun day dreaming that time.

Since I became Gab’s mom, I have never really shopped for a Halloween costume. Gab is only two and we (my husband and I) agreed that we’ll start involving Gab when he turns three. We want to save the money first until he’s big enough to enjoy things like that. We want him to experience it when he can already tell stories that he was part of those parties. For now, what we did was to let Gab watch the kids as they roam around the mall on their Halloween costumes. We let Gab watch movies and we let him see books with such costumes so that when it’s time for him to join, he won’t get scared.

Even if I need to wait for another year, I already started searching for nice Halloween costumes! I even got into one site where you can see different Sexy lace Halloween costumes. It's funny I browsed and saw some costumes that maybe applicable when Gab wouldn't want mommy to shop costumes for him. =)

ampatuan massacre

it's been a while since i used the computer to see what's happening around. other than the links that i click once in a while when i sign out of my yahoo messenger, i don't always look at news websites like http://www.inquirer.net/ or http://www.cnn.com/.

a friend mentioned to me that some massacre happened in the Philippines this week but it was only today did i read about it. my heart felt as though there was something punching holes in it and the pain was just so unbearable. it saddens me when horrible things like this happen. it makes me wonder what kind of world my baby will live in after some time. it makes me worry.

i hope that the resolution of this case will put end to that kind of violence. i hope that somehow, people who are responsible will be punished and that those who are thinking of doing it will be scared to death to do it. i hope that there won't be another maguindanao/ampatuan massacre. i hope that people will think of their children before they do something this violent.

there's no place like home

it's great to be back home. Gab immediately checked on his toys when we arrived home. he missed them so much. he slept at one in the morning after drawing himself tired of playing and making inventories of his toys.. LOL

his grandparents and uncles and aunts are very happy to see him again. even the neighbors are so glad Gab is back. we haven't had that much time to chat with everyone though. i've got a lot of things to attend to so that everything will be okay by the time we need to go back to his dad before Christmas.

there indeed is no place like home... we miss daddy very much though... gotta hurry and finish my errands so we ca run back to Singapore as soon as we can. =)

Gab's water fountain fun at Vivo City

Aside from the playgrounds scattered everywhere, one of the fun-filled places Gab enjoys to visit are the water fountains here in Singapore.

He loves getting himself drenched... he enjoys being sprayed on... he finds so much fun as jet fountains spew water from the ground..

I wish that Gab will start to talk so that he can tell stories about his excitement and enjoyment every time we bring him to places.

Check out this video... isn't it nice and relaxing to see and hear kids giggling?

caramoan islands, wait for me

check out this site. wow, what a place. i wish i can go there for a night or two. hopefully when gab grows a little bigger, we can have a family outing there. it would be a very nice getaway.

caramoan islands

a lot of my friends went there already. and i saw great pictures. they had so much fun. the place is just so fantastic!

prawns in oyster sauce

i cooked prawns in oyster sauce for my husband's packed lunch today. i bet he's gonna love it.

ingredients:
1 small pc of calamansi (calamondin)
1 tbsp chopped garlic
200 grams prawns (peeled)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
water
cooking oil

1. saute garlic
2. add oyster sauce and a little water. boil
3. add the peeled prawns until the color changed
4. add calamansi juice
5. simmer until sauce is thick and prawns are cooked

you may serve with blanched pechay.

it will look like this...





















(picture borrowed from my friend's site; same friend who taught me how to prepare it. thanks ryan!)

how to help those who were affected by typhoon ondoy

i feel very sad browsing websites and listening to news about the typhoon ondoy. =(

i hope and pray that everyone affected by the calamity will not lose hope.

here's one link on how we can help.

http://www.redcross.org.ph/Site/PNRC/wtd.aspx

Play time at the park

Gab and I spent almost two hours playing at the park opposite our block yesterday. Gab had lots of fun running and jumping and sliding and screaming with the other kids. It was in the afternoon after school hours that we went to the park. We used to go to parks in the morning but Gab did not enjoy those times because he was alone playing with his mom. Not so much fun for him, I guess. LOL.

Later we'll go to the park again. I love it when Gab enjoys his play time and when he sweats a lot. He's 20 kilos at 23 months... There's a lot to be burned.

gab and his king's crown

i'm very happy that gab can identify a lot of objects already.

TV, aircon, bus, truck, table, chair, spoon, fork, car, toy, laptop, pillow, bed, bag, shoes, slippers, towel and a lot lot more.

he can identify animals.

he knows the parts of his body.

ears, nose, mouth, chin, neck, shoulders, elbows, knees, head, hair, toes, hands, eyes, cheeks, butt, tummy, etc.

he can follow simple instructions. pick up this or that. get mom's phone. keep your toys.. get this and throw this in the trash bin. etc etc.

he knows how to keep his things and which places to put them.

mom made a king's crown out of a cookie box today and gab so loved it. =)

next time i'll try other objects. i'll make him part of the construction also but i got to buy a safer pair of scissors first.

it's so amazing to see how your kid develops and how you see him apply things that you teach him. isn't it wonderful to become a parent?

i'm excited to see a lot more...

wish i have dora's backpack

don't you sometimes wish that you have Dora's backpack? like sometimes when you need something and it's either hard for you to get it or you just don't feel like going out to get it... wouldn't it be nice to have her backpack of everything that you need? right now, i need leeks for the beef that i want to cook. i wish i could just shout and call for backpack.. and backpack will jump up on the air and sing....

Backpack (4 times)
I'm the Backpack
Loaded up with things and nick nacs too
Anything that you might need I got inside for you.
Backpack (4 times)
YEAH!

well, i'm not Dora and I don't have her magical backpack.. got to go to the supermarket and get some leeks...

Gab eats solid food!

Only last month did Gab start to eat solid food. Yes I was busy with facebook, but I was a lot busier with cooking different kinds of food to see what Gab will like. Having him to eat solid food has been our problem. The pediatrician even suggested not giving milk and letting him starve so that he will eat solid food. But of course, I can’t do that to my baby. A friend told me that perhaps I’m not giving gab the food that he likes. And so that’s where the search for the right food started. =)

I feel very happy that the list of gab’s solid food choices have grown longer... here are some of the food that he now eats:

1. Spaghetti in red and white sauce (I put carrots and bell pepper when I cook red sauce; I put mushroom on the white sauce)
2. Mee suah soup with either chicken or pork slices
3. Macaroni soup
4. Maja blanca
5. Spam with real bacon by Hormel
6. Fried fish
7. Fried chicken
8. French fries
9. Sandwiches and hamburgers
10.Crab and corn soup
11.Century tuna
12.Omelette
13.Pancit canton (instant lucky me or prepared using yellow noodles)
14.Sandwich with Nutella spread
15.Hello panda cookies
16.Ritz crackers
17.Rice
18.Porridge (minced pork or shredded chicken)
19.Beef in mushroom sauce
20.Hotdog

There’s a lot more... I’m very happy but worried at the same time. He’s had a pretty good appetite with his solid food but the amount of milk he drinks is the same. Is that normal because he just started eating solid and his body still needs to adjust until such time that his milk intake reduces? Mean time that I’m waiting for his milk appetite to lessen, I’m bringing him outside every day for half an hour or so to walk and play... just to burn some if not all of the extra. I hope we’re on the right track. =)

been busy with facebook

i have been busy using facebook to find friends and get in touch with them once again. i used to use friendster to know their whereabouts and stuff, but it seems that nowadays, most of my contacts are no longer using friendster. i wonder why. i still visit my friendster page, but just to keep track of my contacts, i signed up for facebook.

still not familiar with a lot of features of the social network site but i'm getting used to it. i enjoy looking at the old pictures. and the chat feature, i like it a lot. i get to chat and get real time replies from my friends when i see them online wherever they are.

well... guess i'm almost done searching about them... maybe i'll be back at my facebook page often to let them know about my whereabouts this time. :-)

is it true that pinays don't know their body parts and how it works?

my baby went to sleep early tonight so i thought i'd read some news from back home. my eyes were caught by one of the headlines saying "Pinays don’t know their body and how it works".

so i went on and read the article. i thought while reading that really nowadays, the myths and ideas they were talking about are absurd. the article is about an online survey wherein kimberly-clark, makers of kotex and other feminine products, included women in singapore, malaysia, indonesia, vietnam, philippines and india. the kotex bodylife IQ study, which covered 1,800 women aged 12-24 from six asian countries, discovered that there was an “information gap” among young asian women when it came to knowing their body, how it works, and how to take care of it from puberty to womanhood.

according to kimberly-clark, of all the nationalities surveyed, filipinas were the most misinformed. (ouch!)

it's really funny because i know for sure that i heard the myths when i was young... specifically when i started seeing some changes in my body, the age of puberty. i guess every filipina heard them from their aunts, moms and grandparents... or even from their parent, aunt or grandma's amigas. LOL.

some of them are as follows... have a good laugh! i'm sure you'll remember you were once told about 'em... (if you took the surveys, READ! welcome to the information world!!! LOL)

• For instance, 54 percent of Filipina respondents said drinking beer increases menstrual flow and 38 percent said menstrual blood applied to the face could prevent pimples.
• One Filipina said that on the first day of her period, she would jump over three steps on their stairs so her menstrual flow would last only three days instead of one week.
• “Some 26 percent of Filipinas believe that only men have hymens, which is why they are named as such,” the survey said. ---- ugh! this one is not funny anymore!!! hmpf!!!
• The subject of virginity was also a “mass of confusion” for many Filipina respondents, with 18 percent believing they could lose their virginity by riding a bike.

P.S. for the girls: hey, you're using the internet... i'm pretty sure you don't (or at least no longer) believe in those myths.... i wonder why the respondents (who did the survey online) did not make use of the internet appropriately. ha. ha. ha.

P.S.2. i'm not sure where the respondents have been putting their time on instead of reading (both online and offline)... but for sure, most of the filipinas are already informed and they no longer belive in those myths.... they (who are learned) are just too busy doing their stuff that's why they missed the survey. LOL.

singapore kite festival - august 29&30, 2009

i saw a poster like the one below while outside last weekend. we sure will go to the event because my husband does not work on weekends. i'm excited to see how gab will enjoy the colorful kites. i hope we won't get stiff neck in looking at a lot of nice kites flying. :-)



again, i'm excited. LOL. if you're anywhere near, mark this!

August 29 & 30, 2009
Saturday & Sunday
4pm - 7pm

GRAND LAWN, WEST COAST PARK
Picnic grounds open from 3:30pm.
Rain or shine event

here's a link to the website to see more details.

Is it the washing machine?

Remember when I said I'll have one of the automatic washing machines on my album? I wrote it in "getting used to doing the laundry ". I said that I'd like to have a washing machine that takes care of everything from start to finish but it'just too expensive. Well, guess what? I did not buy, but I got to use one!

I'm in Singapore right now. My baby and I came here to visit his dad. That's the reason why my laundry task is no sweat. And, that's also the reason I was missing here for quite some time. A couple of weeks before we left the Philippines, I became very busy. I bought stuff for my husband. I applied for my baby's passport. I had to do a lot of things so that everything will be okay when we leave.

I like it here. I don't know if it's because this place is really nice... or it's just that I want to be with my husband.

Or, maybe it's the washing machine!!! LOL.

Arroyo did not categorically tackle a transition to a new government in her SONA?

siyetehan, posted a comment that says PGMA "didn't confirm nor deny her plans after 2010." (see siyetehan's comment on my previous post).

Well, will the contents of the SONA really keep all of us waiting until 2010?

I searched for the statements that they said were the confirmation of former Presidents Aquino and Ramos and yeah, they were clear about it.

Mrs. Aquino in 1991 said "On June 30, 1992, the traditional ceremony of political succession will unfold at the Luneta. The last time it was done that way was in 1965. I shall be there with you to proudly witness the event,"

Mr. Ramos said "I will be working and governing -- you will all feel and hear and see me working and governing as your president -- until I turn over the presidency to the 13th president of the republic at high noon on 30 June 1998."

How about this for PGMA?
"At the end of this speech I shall step down from this stage, but not from the Presidency. My term does not end until next year. Until then, I will fight for the ordinary Filipino. The nation comes first. There is much to do as head of state – to the very last day."

My term does not end until next year.

Anyway, we can only wait and see. Right?

You can read the SONA here.

9th SONA of PGMA

Will this really be President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's 9th and last State of the Nation Address? I don't listen a lot to SONAs; I'm just not interested. But being the Philippine President with the longest term second to Marcos, I thought that I'd listen to her SONA today to find out if she will really push for the Charter change to lengthen her service (like what people against her are saying) .

I bet by now, a lot of protesters are already marching to the venue... or maybe most of them have already populated the vicinity rallying around the place (and some other places around the country). We were at the UP Diliman Campus yesterday to do ocular visit of the exam room for the upcoming UPCAT exam of my niece; we already saw one banner... it says, NO TO Charter Change!

I'll listen to the SONA to find out if there's gonna be another SONA coming up from her. Let's be quiet, watch and listen.

It's a nice Sunday morning.

It's a nice Sunday morning. The sun is shining and the birds are chirping. After giving thanks, I'll have a nice walk with Gab again this morning. And we will play outside until were dripping wet with sweat. Playing is the fun exercise my baby and I share. We enjoy it a lot.

Happy Sunday! Hope you’ll have a fun-filled day too! 

on Real Property Management

Almost every family dream of owning their house; I dream of owning a multi-unit apartment property so that money will flow in my pocket. Having read on real estate investing and how it can be used as a tool in building wealth, I learned that there are companies who specialize in the management of single family homes, multi-unit apartment buildings, and homeowner’s associations. One of them is Real Property Management. It is important that when you choose a company, they should meet certain qualifications. Real Property Management received "Franchise of the Year Honorable Mention" award and they manage over 20,000 units nationwide. They should also have membership in reputable associations like National Association of Residential Property Managers to ensure that standards will be met and maintained. I really dream of owning a multi-unit apartment property. When that dream comes true, I’ll have a Real Property Management company handle it. When you have properties, I think it’s wise to be safe by entrusting it some place where they can provide the expertise.

32,617 out of 77,901 the nursing board exam

Wow! We're very happy that both my nephew and niece have passed the licensure examination for nurses already! I just checked it now and for every one else who wants to see the results, click on this link.

Congratulations to the 32,617 out of 77,901 who passed the Nurse Licensure Examination.

Choices: Samsung J800, Samsung U800 and Sony Ericsson S312

My Uncle asked me to search for the features of the following cellular phones: Samsung U800, J800 and Sony Ericsson S312. The company where he works for is giving him a postpaid line subscription for free. Those phones mentioned are the ones given for free when you get a Plan 800 from Globe.

Samsung U800
Here are the specifications: http://uk.samsungmobile.com/mobile-phones/samsung-u800-specification
Samsung J800
Here are the specs:http://au.samsungmobile.com/mobile-phone/SamsungJ800-spec
Sony Ericson S312
Specs can be found here: http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/corporate/products/phoneportfolio/specification/s312



I hope you'll get the J800 Uncle! Happy choosing! :-)

Comfy house with attractive landscape designs? I love them!

It’s a bit warm but I still managed to bring my baby to sleep for his afternoon nap. I browsed online to check how hot it is and found on Weather in Philippines – Manila that it’s 86 degrees. In Singapore it’s around 87 degrees right now. If maybe in the future I’d live somewhere else, I want to go to a place with around the same temperature as our home. Why? Because I know the house setup can be the same. We can have the same comfy house with nice gardens and pathways and landscapes. In Arizona, the average temperature now is also warm. I think that if I’ll live in Arizona, I’d love to have my pathway landscape designed and maintained for me. Just like in the nice photos of houses with attractive landscape designs that I saw when I tried to browse about Arizona. Isn’t it relaxing when you have beautiful surroundings? I think I'd love to live or visit there someday.

Yummy and creamy Maja Blanca Recipe

I cooked Maja Blanca, and every one who ate said it's yummy!

Here are the ingredients and the instructions for cooking.

Ingredients:
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 small can evaporated milk (154ml)
1 small can condensed milk (168 ml)
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup corn kernels

grated cheeze

Instructions:
1. Combine all ingredients except the grated cheeze. Make sure that the cornstarch is dissolved.
2. Cook over slow heat until the mixture is clear. Stir constantly to prevent lumps.
3. Pour in a container and sprinkle with grated cheeze on top.
4. Refrigerate and serve.

Yes, you are right. As easy as that!

To every one who's not familiar with Maja Blanca, I'm so sorry I haven't had my camera repaired yet. Next time I cook, I'll try to have a photo so that you can see my finished product.

Anyway, can you try the recipe, and tell me how you liked it? Happy eating!

I got Manny of Ice Age 3:Dawn of the Dinosaurs for Gab

I got the Manny toy from McDonald's Happy Meal few weeks ago (thanks JP for the treat!) and I'm planning to collect all eight.. I might overspend until I have the complete set (I just hope I can go to places to find McDonald's stores with available stocks). Gab likes Manny. I like the toy because it looks good and durable. I don't mind overspending a little to get Gab nice looking toys that will last.

Here's the McDonald's ad about these Happy Meal toys that I'm talking about.



Got to go! I've got seven more hamburgers to eat!

Tropicana Juicy Pulp

This is Judy Ann Santos' Tropicana Juicy Pulp commercial.

When I saw this the first time, I thought that the line "Ito ang sa iba, SAPAL" did not sound appealing. I don't know why, but I just thought that maybe there's a better way of saying this; particularly the word SAPAL.

When I was watching the TV earlier, I saw this new version of the same commercial. They changed the line! It was something like "Ito ang sa iba, pisa at halos walang laman."

I don't know what made them change the line. Was it because I did not like it the first time? LOL. Maybe there's just a better way of saying it...

By the way, I like Tropicana juice drink that’s why I wrote about this. ;-)

PS: I used Google's tool in translating SAPAL in English and got "PULP" for the translation. Maybe they changed it because it would make more sense to say that there's no juice in the pulp (halos pisa at walang laman) than saying SAPAL (which means pulp) and not be clear whether it's a juicy pulp or not... well, that's just a thought.

sometimes doing a lot is not enough (yet)

have you felt tired of doing a lot for a goal and yet achieving the goal never comes before you feel stressed? i've been trying to do a lot of things lately for something that i want to achieve. actually, i've been trying hard and really working hard...

i read somewhere that people who fail are those who gave up not knowing that achieving the goal is only one step away from that point where he/she let go.

i feel tired. so i guess i should rest.
i don't wanna give up. maybe i'm a hair strand away from reaching it, i don't know.... i guess no one knows.
i'll pursue the goal.
i just need a little rest.

i'm sure it's just not enough YET.. but i'll make it. :-)

Ginebra or San Miguel; who will win the Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference crown?

I'm not really a basketball fan but I used to watch the summer games when I was in high school. Again, it's not because I'm a fan but I guess I just wanted to follow the trend when I was younger. Teenagers see cool guys and pretty girls when watching the games. I see cool guys... Cool guys see pretty girls (wink wink LOL!!!).

Alright, enough of the cool guys and pretty girls stuff. I wrote about basketball because of the following reasons:

1. This was what I read a little earlier:
"And after 48 minutes of Game Seven tonight, there will only be one team to be toasted – either Ginebra or San Miguel."

2. I think I should start reading about basketball because it might become one of Gab's interests. When Gab was only one year old, we brought him to his cousin's basketball game. That's when Gab started to like basketball. He watches the basketball games on TV. He knows how to dribble. He throws the ball... not in the hoop... but just anywhere and he thinks every throw is a good shot! LOL.

3. Even if I'm not a fan, I dream of watching a PBA game... or, maybe an NBA game!!

I bet the PBA fans are all excited to watch tonight. I hope I can seat with you guys on one of the final games in the future. :-)

Fun Time at the Mall

I emailed Gab's recent photos to his dad. He was very happy looking at the pictures and he even changed his laptop's wall paper! I think my hubby misses our son more than he misses his wife. It's fine with me just as long as no one comes in between me and my son on the list of the people whom he misses. LOL!

I also showed Gab's photos to my friends. I enjoyed their comments. Some of them, who after not seeing Gab for more than a year, said that he's not a baby anymore. And that he'd be as tall as his mom when he turns 8.

Gab's Lolo and Lola (Filipino for Grandpa and Grandma) actually asked me to have his pictures printed so that they can put 'em in their wallets and show to anyone they meet outside. Can you say they are proud grandparents? LOL.

And so Gab and I went to the mall again to have his digital photos printed. We printed several copies in different sizes. (The mom also wants to have photos in her wallet. LOL.)

Gab and I spent a couple of hours walking, playing and eating today. It was tiring but full of fun!

P.S. Below are some of the photos that were printed in different sizes!!!

P.S.2. Hey are you kidding me? You're not supposed to notice it! I'm trying hard not to sound proud. LOL!

On Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe

If you ever will be in a situation wherein you have kids and you will be separated to your spouse, will you give up your parental rights for anything? I don't know much information about the King of Pop, his life, his love life, his stories, and any other thing about him. I'm not a fan. I can only recall that when we were kids, we were told to dance to the beat of MJ's music. But that's it.

Reading through the pages, I saw this one article Jackson's ex-wife denies giving up kids and it made me think about the scenario.

Basing on how much I love my family, I mean Gab and his dad, I will not worry about giving up the parental rights or the millions! I think I'd be busy finding ways on how I will be in a situation where I will not have to choose. I'd work hard to reconcile. I'll be attracted to the millions of course, I don't want to be a hypocrite. But I don't want to cease being a parent to my kid... and a wife to my husband.

How about you, would you choose?

DFA Passport Appointment System by Internet

Although we do not have plans of going abroad yet, my husband and I decided to get Gab a passport already.

Since I couldn't recall the requirements anymore because it's been years since I applied for my own passport, I checked the DFA website to see the checklist of requirements.

There are several ways of getting the passport.
1. Go to the DFA in Pasay City and apply personally on the spot! After all the requirements for the day, get your claim stub and either come back on the release date or have it mailed to your house/office (with extra cost of course).
2. Log on to the DFA Passport Appointment System, wait for the confirmation sent to your email and show up on the confirmed date and time. Get the claim stub and either come back or have it mailed to your home or office address.
3. Let an agency process the application for you and show up on the scheduled time and date. Then wait for the agency to deliver to you the passport.

Because I can't afford to wait on queue, spend the entire day and leave my baby for someone else to look after him, I decided to go for number 3. It's a little expensive for some. But when I computed the cost of my transportation going to the place and back home, cost of the food that I will eat and the time... it's cheaper actually.

Following were the requirements that we prepared:
1. 3 pcs passport size photo, with royal blue background
2. NSO authenticated birth certificate
3. Accomplished application form
4. Since my baby is a minor, I prepared the marriage certificate
5. I also attached my passport

I paid Php 1500 for the following:
1. Pick up of the documents from my home address.
2. Submission of the application and documents and arrangement of schedule when I will personally appear at the DFA.
3. Delivery of the passport at my home address.

Again, it may be expensive to some. But I did my math and it turned out that it's actually cheaper. And, I don't have to leave my baby. And, I don't have to sweat all day and wait on queue.

If you're also a mom who don't want to burn time in processing this important document or you're simply a single person who'd rather go shopping than spend long hours at that government office, go for the third option.

P.S. There are a lot of agencies providing this service. Just be sure you do some background check or your documents (or worst, your identity) might be stolen. My sister already had several transactions with the agency that's why I'm not worried.

We Are The World Tag

Thanks ALF of My Careless Whispers for this Tag!

Here goes the rules for this tag:

*Start Copy Here
*You do not have to be tagged to play along. The game is simple and so are the rules.1. Copy from *Start Copy Here* through *End Copy Here*2. Add your site(s) to the list. Just be sure to post at each site you add.3. Tag as many bloggers as you like so the list keeps on growing.4. Let me know your blog’s name and url by leaving me a comment HERE. I will add you to the master list.5. Come back and copy the master list back to your site, often. This process will allow late-comers to get as much link benefit as the first ones in.

We Are The World Bloggers Master List:
1. Emila Yusof 2. The Other Side of Emila 3. Mariuca 4. Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery 5. Meow Diaries 11. Unlisted One 7. Spiff, the Spaceman 8. My Sweet Escape 9. Nota Nurul 10. Life’s Tapestry 11. Spontaneous Insignificancy 12. LadyJava 13. Miss Igorota 14. AnnyBoo 15. Yoon See 16. Jia’s Life 17. Nessa’s Mumblings 18. Also Mommy 19. The Walk of Life 20.Pretty Firefly 21. Untouchable EARTH 22. Baterya 23. Comedy Plus 24. Bain Cardin 25. Strawberry Milkshake 26. Turn-U-Off 27. Jom Heboh Di Sini 28. Notes by Marvic 29. Memoir Mez 30.Origena 31.Walking Newspaper 32. Nurul Aqilah 33. Bluedreamer 34. Breaking the Boundaries 35. Life According to Me 36. A Great Pleasure 37. Time Goes By 38. Kancing itu Butang 39. In my Kitchen 41. Fyzal’s Territory 40. Wiggy’s World 40. A Simple Life 41. A Taxi Ride 42. Single Life of Me 43. Little Bits of Info 44. Ode to Adrienne 45. KMP 46. Simple Happy Life 47. Chuchie's Hideaway 48.Seiko's Diary49.Her and History 50.PLACES, PEOPLE, EVENTS, GOOD FOOD AND MY LIFE!50. My Careless Whispers 51. Gab's Mom of Full Time Mom 52. YOU!
*End Copy Here*

I would like to pass this tag to the following bloggers:

Sexy Jessie
Rosemarie of My Journey
Analou of Me and My Dog

Thanks again ALF for this Tag!

Passport size, royal blue background, ID photo

Since Gab and I missed our target of having his ID picture taken last weekend, we went to the mall this morning to have it accomplished.

As I ordered a “passport size, royal blue background, ID photo”, Gab started to be all over the place. Every face behind the glass divider in that studio was smiling… they all looked entertained by my baby’s exercise (he was walking, and running and reaching for the photo frames hanging on the wall). Then in my mind, I started guessing who among them will be the lucky photographer. I wondered if he’s going to have the same sweet smile when he deals with the (tough, I bet) photo shoot.

My pick for the lucky photographer was wrong, but my bet was right. It was a tough one! The first challenge was to let Gab sit on the chair and stay put. We were not successful. I ended up grabbing another chair so that I can sit beside him and pretend that I was also included in the picture.

When Gab was already convinced that someone’s going to take a shot, he started showing us his “happy smile”. Mr. Photographer’s lines were as funny.

No lips!
No eyes!
Looking at the lizard (when he was caught looking up at the ceiling on one shot).
Not looking at the lens!

There were a lot more. But as my temper was starting to eat me and as my list of his lines grew longer, I thought that it’s my lucky day! It (maybe) is not Mr. Photographer’s lucky day but to me it was. Why? Because despite all the tricks that Gab showed him, he managed to stay patient and nice to my baby.

After more or less twenty shots, this is the most decent that we got. Thanks to Mr. Photographer. No smile was caught, but this one is acceptable.

Oh, I think I used the wrong word.. or maybe I should add.. I also think that one decent and acceptable shot is really presentable. :-)

Photo Tag

I received a tag from Analou few days ago but i wasn't able to grab it immediately. The reason is because I wanted to post the tenth photo from a recently saved photo folder. :-) Oh, I realized just now that perhaps this is the reason why I thought of going out with my baby... to actually have new photos taken!!! Thanks again Analou for inspiring me to really go out and have fun time with my kid.

So here goes the tenth photo from my recently saved photo folder!

That is Gab's way of showing us his "happy smile". We normally have difficulties taking his picture because he moves a lot. So every time we want to take a real nice shot, we have to say "Smile for the camera!"

This photo was taken at the Children's Activity Area. A lot of kids were lined up to have their photos taken on this Dry Diving Suit (I'm just guessing, because it looks like a space suit but with an underwater background). This is an advertisement board of Bibbo cheesedog. (By the way, I buy Bibbo Cheesedog because aside from being affordable, Gab likes it also.)

There goes my tenth photo on the recently saved photo folder!!!

I'd like to invite the following friends to grab this tag and also post the tenth photo on their photo folder. We'll be happy to read what you have to say!

S-H-Y of ChitChat About Entertainment
SAM.AE of Book.Girl
CARMS of Carm's Page
and to everyone who will read this post!

Additional 256MB RAM plugged in.

My brother gave me a 256MB RAM today. I just finished installing it. At first I thought that there's a problem with the card because the system did not detect the additional memory. It was still reading the old RAM size when i went to the "My Computer>>Properties". I then opened the CPU again and unplugged the card. I used a bond paper to clean the pins just in any case there's corrosion already. When I tried to install it the second time, I realized I wasn't doing it right. I did not plug it all the way in the slot the last time that's why it was not detected. I had difficulty pushing the card in the slot and locking it, but I managed to do it. Now the system is reading the additional memory.

I know a little about computers, maybe enough to manage adding software and hardware and a little troubleshooting when something's not working. But, I was used to not doing it myself because my hubby does this sorts of stuff for me. Now I have to do it on my own. I miss my husband a lot but having to do these sorts of things by myself encourages me that there's a lot more things to learn.

P.S. I hope I don't have to do this a lot because of problems though... but, upgrades. :-)

Manila Ocean Park Adventure part2

Sharing to you more photos of the ocean creatures.