juls random thoughts

It is the Day

2008-08-08T12:41:00.004+08:00

Wow! to be able to experience this part of history. To be able to be alive when 08.08.08 actually happened. So many things happening today.

On my way to work this morning, while listening to my favorite morning companion, RX 93.1's The Morning Rush by Chicco and Delamar, I heard four greetings for wedding and that is in a span of 45 minutes. I can just imagine how a lot of couples decided to get married today and I can just imagine how many pregnant moms have decided to be induced for caesarean today so that their kids will have the 08.08.08 birthday. But what is galing is that one of my officemate's daughter turned eight years old today. That's really great huh?! turning 8 on 08.08.08

And today, as planned, is the opening of the summer olympics in Beijing, China. It will happen at exactly 8:00 pm tonight and this morning, again, I heard from RX93.1, this time on my way to the office from the client before lunch, that a motorcade with cyclists supporting the Beijing Olympics, started with their motorcade from Quezon City Hall at 08:08 this morning and they passed by Marikina, Pasig, going to Mandaluyong, Makati, Manila and final destination is Pasay, in SM Mall of Asia just in time for the opening ceremonies tonight. Looks like there's going to be a party as well in MOA.

Well for me, so far so good. I am oh so busy but everything's been doing well. I was actually wishing to have made a post at 08:08 this morning, unfortunately, I'm already on my way to the client.

So, here's my 08.08.08 post!

An update at 6:34 PM, I was about to search something in Google when I noticed this

Cute di ba!!

Kurt in Avilon Zoo

2008-07-29T21:24:00.005+08:00

Last June 29, our cluster in the office had an outreach activity. We took 21 kids from Asosacion de Damas Filipinas to Avilon zoo and the members of the cluster with kids were able to take our own kids instead of the kids from the orphanage. Kurt had a lot of fun and funny cause he thinks that Avilon zoo is forest due to lush trees and plants. Poor boy as the zoo he's seen so far is Manila zoo last September as posted here, here and here. Below are the pics on that weekend, wasn't able to take a lot of pics as the little boy always insist on him taking the pictures.

We had lunch first in Jollibee Montalban courtesy of Jollibee themselves, the kids food were for free.

Memories of Typhoon Frank

2008-07-27T23:28:00.010+08:00

As posted here, the little boy had a lot of fun. Below are some of the pictures of that day:

The little boy watching under the rain with his little umbrella, lolo's gardening shoes and Casper sweater:

Catching some fish with dada:

Look ma at my catch!

More fish to catch!

Look! here's another one, even Casper is looking at the catch!

The loot after several hours of "fishing" and fun!

I have to post here too the photos of the boy while having a bath on the rain, they did that during the morning and had this fishing fun late afternoon.

Power of Prayer

2008-07-27T23:06:00.003+08:00

Got this prayer tag from Em. Let us all pray for them. Sending this to Tet, Mia, and Jody.

Prayer for the MV Princess of the stars fatalities and survivors.Dear God, we pray that you comfort each bereaved family everyday as they grieved for their loss, we pray that you will supply all their needs, we pray for the survivors that they may have a good life after the tragedy, that you will bless them and let them know in the deepest part of their heart that in spite of what have happened, you LOVE and CARE for them. This we pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. I encourage everyone to keep the prayer going. LET’S P.U.S.H. (PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS).We Prayed: 1. Through The Rain 2. God’s gift 3. The Adventures of Dong and Jing 4. Me, Myself and I 5. malditang bunso’s journal 6. Underneath It All 7. 100% Kelly 8. My Colorful World 9. Living the Healthy Life 10. Em'sDetour 11. VanityKit 12. MindBubbles 13. SomethingPurple 14. Stripe&Yellow 15. Juls Random Thoughts

Something Special

2008-07-27T22:20:00.004+08:00

A very delayed tag from Tet. Sorry sis for the delay, thanks a lot for this!

~Start Copy Here~
1. Copy from start to finish2. This letter should be pass on to your closest friends online.3. Add your name and URL blog HERE!! .1. Wheng 2. Hazel 3. Janeth Vicy's Life Journey 4. A Sweet Taste Of Life 5. Juls Random Thoughts
4. Get back to Me [WHENG] and leave a comment once you’ve passed on the letter. Will then visit your site to make sure your links are complete and proper.
5. To ensure everyone receives equal link benefit, UPDATE your list regularly!

It's true I have never seen you

and we have never met,

Never shaken Hands oreven truly hugged and yet!

I know for sure you care for

me by the kindness that you give.

And our keyboards keep us

together doesn't matter where we live.

So I give you this gift to

put a smile on your face

and to let you know in my

heart you have a special place.

~End Copy Here~

To my online buddies, who I never fail to visit everyday. Here's one for you: Jane, Jody, Ems, Pat, Maver and Mia

7 Random Things About Me

2008-07-22T20:44:00.000+08:00

Jody tagged me and I remember doing this before when my blog was very new so I went back and saw my post about this back in June 26, 2007.

The rules:
A. List these rules on your blog.
B. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
C. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
You’ll have to read on for my 7 facts and see who I tagged.

My answer, I think I'll copy most of what I've written on my original post about this.

1. i belong to a family of 6, 3 girls and 3 boys and i am the youngest. i am a menopausal baby, my mother was 42 years old when she gave birth to me and the age gap between me and my eldest sister is 15 years. i am also the only girl that my 3 brothers were able to "control" since my other 2 sisters are older than them. i never became close with my siblings because of the age gap. and oh, i was conceived because my parents are on vacation in Bicol = D (wow!! too much for #1, parang ang dami na agad nito ah.)

2. i did not gain this much weight because of pregnancy. in fact, i think i only gained max of 25lbs. the entire pregnancy and this includes yung pagbawi sa lost weight nung 1st trimester. so when? i gained weight after i stopped breastfeeding, so that was 7 months after i gave birth. i was so excited to finally have the chance to drink coke again, coffee and chocolates. my three favorite food/drinks!

3. i only had two boyfriends, one was in highschool - illegal pa kasi bawal pa ko mag-boyfriend nun and sinagot ko lang sya kasi ang tagal na nya nangliligaw sa kin. second, in college - he became my hubby na = )

4. i am shy and not outgoing. i seldom initiate conversation.

5. i love daydreaming. until now, i do it.

6. i want to study either culinary, interior design, make-up

7. same as jody, i am a spa-addict! i always go for a weekly massage, and whenever I feel stressed in the office, I go to the nearby spa and have an hour and 1/2 massage.

I'm tagging Tet, Quel, Pat, Maver, Rocks, Nol and Mia.

4.

Kurt dancing Soulja Boy

2008-07-13T14:36:00.003+08:00

After dancing Low, he requested for Soulja Boy.

This video was taken this morning.

Kurt in First Step

2008-07-13T13:47:00.002+08:00

Aimee (hubby's SIL) is a preschool teacher in First Step and one day, they brought Kurt there. He was still 2 1/2 years old then.

Kurt doing ABC flashcards

2008-07-13T13:46:00.003+08:00

Got this too from Aimee's multiply site, Kurt was still 2 1/2 years old.

Kurt on puzzles

2008-07-13T13:42:00.002+08:00

Got this from Aimee's multiply site. A video of kurt taken last year when he was 2 1/2 years old.

Kurt dancing Low

2008-07-13T13:09:00.008+08:00

Kurt dancing Low by Flo Rida. This video was taken just this morning.

Sweet Award

2008-07-12T17:55:00.002+08:00

Thanks Jane for this. Only noticed this today.

Sweet Bloggers:1.) Janeth Vicy’s Life Journey 2.) My Precious 3.) Just ME.. Eds 4.) Eds Mommy Life 5.)FunFierceFabulous 6.)Me,Myself+2 7.)Supermodel Wannabe 8.) A Sweet Taste Of Life 9.) Mommyhood and Me 10.) Juls Random Thoughts

Our daily schedule...

2008-07-09T11:52:00.004+08:00

Jane wants to know our daily schedule, so here it goes...

Our schedule is kinda weird, I am a working mom but I don't do alarms, no required time to be in the office so if I don't have a morning meeting, I don't really care as to what time I wake up so my alarm is either hubby or Kurt. But generally, here's our schedule:

6:00am - Kurt wakes me up for dede (yes, he still drinks dede at night - did not bother weaning him yet kasi yoko mawala ang love nya for milk) then we both go back to sleep, OR, if he slept early the previous night, he'll wake us up na shouting: "Wake up! wake up! di na dark! wake up!" LOL!

7:30am - Hubby wakes me up. Kurt's class starts at 11am so no rush in the morning but I can just imagine our schedule next year when he finally moves to big school.

7:35am - Hubby wakes me up again, I am such a sleepy head that he has to wake me up several times, on really tamad days, I just let him leave me and I take my own car to work

7:40ish - Have breakfast

8:00ish - Take a bath, change to office attire, prepare for office

8:30ish - Prepare Kurt's undies (brief and sando), socks, lampin as punas sa likod then check if he has clean uniforms (sometimes I do this na before going to sleep). Prepare his baon - if it needs cooking, but if cookies or cereals lang, prepared na the night before and now, usually MIL asks me na the night before if the little boy wants to bring rice kasi sya na ang nagpeprepare ng ulam I just add rice, juice and water in his lunch box.

8:45ish - Three of us rides the car, yes three of us kasi Kurt gets his daily dose of driving lesson with dada. Hubby lets him drive with him around the block then off we go to office. Kaya sobrang alam nya ang left and right because of this driving

9:30ish - Office

12noon - 2pm - Lunch with officemates or in Glorietta for windowshopping then just takeout lunch

7pm-8pm - Depends on when hubby is ok to go as he usually has either basketball or jogging with officemates, we go home na

8:35 - 9pm - dependes on traffic, have dinner at home, watch LOBO (the only teleserye I watch) LOL! or pag nasa mood we eat out or go shopping

9:15pm - if little boy's still awake, we ask him about school, ask what he wants as baon the next day - as in we'll go through the process of him looking at his pambaon then choose, then kulitan sa bed, read LOTs of books

10:00pm-10:30pm - puts him to sleep - if he had a nap, he usually sleeps at past 11pm

10:30pm-12mn - watching tv with hubby or blogging

We have a different schedule though on Mondays kasi hubby has bowling tournament on Mondays, eh since I don't usually drive on Mondays as coding ako, I go with him. We leave the office at 7pm to get to Robinsons Place Manila by 8pm - he'll go bowling while I do window shopping then we get home past 10pm and usually the little boy's sleeping na.

Our unofficial rule is if we arrive the prior night na tulog na si little boy we make it up the next morning by playing with him longer before going to work.

Then on fridays, I usually also would bring my car as I want to be home early unless may gimik kami ni hubby. I'll be home by past 7pm then I'll check the little boy's bag for homework then play with him na.

On days when I bring my car, I usually get home at past 7pm so more time with the little boy.

Calipangers Kita-kits

2008-07-08T21:28:00.009+08:00

Last saturday, July 5, we had a get-together with our w@w turned n@w and more specifically knows as calipanga friends. We haven't seen each other as quorum for such a long time that I can't even remember anymore. When Raquel and Carlo had their house blessing and daughter Alyssa's 2.5 birthday last May, Quel and Songs and Lau and Jo were not there (same as the usual absentees: Benz and John, Nyree and Jasper, Ais and Joey and of course Jeanny and Edwin who's in the US na) then before that we had a Christmas dinner in Makati, wala naman sila Raquel and Carlo, and Aileen and Kristian plus the usual absentees above but Ais and Joey was there. There have been a lot of plans and ayain but our schedules won't just meet. This time we decided to push through kasi mababawasan na naman kami ng isa, Jo will be leaving soon for Ukraine so that was our despidida get together for him in their house. Compared to our usual kita-kita since we had kids, this time, we decided not to bring the kids, an all adults affair. And the outcome?! we were surprised when we looked at the time kasi 4am na pala!! and we didn't notice it. We're all so surprised and happy kasi before we had kids, malimit kami mag get-together and we usually go home ng 3am or 4am and now when we meet with the kids, we usually go home at 11pm-12mn, minsan nga earlier pa but this time that we met without the kids, ganun na naman! hay naku! sarap kasi magkwentuhan eh! sapilitan pa ng uwi ang lagay na yan! because of this, we've made a pact na sana eh at least quarterly eh mag get-together ulit kami. And hopefully, our plans for a group anniversary celebration will push through! we just can't believe that we're about to celebrate five years!! and to think, the SARS (surprise anniversary celebration for the Ranas) that was organized when we were planning our wedding pa is John and Benz' 5th wedding anniversary. Parang noon feeling namin ang tagal-tagal na ng five years eh yun pala kami na yun ngayon. Grabe bilis!!

Calipanga family during our 2006 summer outing:
L-R: Lau and Jo with Danielle, Aileen and Kristian with Gabby, Rachel and Denden with Inigo, Benz and John with Kite, Jeanny and Edwin with Keogh, Me and Hubby with Kurt, Quel and Songs with Jeg

Calipanga girls (without Rachel) with Toni during Kite's 5th birthday:

L-R: Nyree, Quel, Me, Toni, Lau, Jeanny, Ais, Aileen and Raquel

Calipanga boys (without Denden) during Kite's 5th birthday:

L-R: Jasper, i think it si Ram ni Toni, Jo, Hubby, Edwin, Joey, Carlo and Songs

Funny kasi ang papayat pa namin grabe!! lahat kasi preparing for wedding pa lang.

After SARS (same night), with the Kink cake (John's surprise gift to us):

Complete kami! L-R, top row: Aileen, Laura, Nyree, Ais; L-R, front row: Rachel, Quel, Benz, Me, Raquel and Jeanny

Complete din sila: L-R, standing: Edwin, Carlo, Joey, John, Songs, Jasper and Jonathan; L-R, seated: Hubby, Denden and Kristian

During the group bridal shower organized by Benz and Tisha, few days after SARS, still in Batis Asul's place, we're holding RAquel's shower gift to us:
We had other pictures kaso most are with hubby but mostly before the wedding kasi on our get-togethers when we had kids, we seldom take pictures na.

Baby bump tag

2008-07-08T20:58:00.007+08:00

Tet wants to know...

What I love about being pregnant

Me while 5 1/2 months pregnant:

Me while 8 months pregnant:

Hubby and I five days before giving birth:

Blooming ako when I was pregnant that's why most of them thought I'm carrying a girl.

SHOPPING, SHOPPING, SHOPPING!!! a great excuse to splurge on my hobby

I look good on preggy clothes

I am super spoiled with hubby that I can eat anything that I want

The thought that someone is growing inside my tummy

That my having a BIG tummy is normal! LOL!

And since having a big tummy is normal, I had the guts to wear two-piece swimsuit! LOL!

The frequent ultrasounds with my OB

:::::Start::::Rule:1. Copy from ::Start:: through ::End::.2. Add your blog to the list.3. Tag your friends. You don’t need to be tagged in order to join. Feel free to join the fun.4. Don’t forget to let me know your blog’s name and url by leaving me a comment HERE so I can add you to the Pretty Momma LIST.5. Come back regularly to update your master list! You never know? This might help improve your ranking!Pretty Preggy Momma’s1.FunFierceFabulous 2.Me,Myself+2 3.Confessions of a Supermodel Wannab e 4. Momiespace 5.Bits and Pieces 6. Juls Random Thoughts 7. YOUR LINK HERE

:::::End::::

I'm tagging Jane, Jody and Pat!

Update on the little boy's schooling

2008-07-08T20:24:00.003+08:00

Kasalanan ng blogging, or rather thanks sa bloghopping ko kasi I went to sleep late at nahirapan akong gumising kanina. The effect, I was not able to go to office. For some weird reason, medyo masakit din tummy ko sa talagang di ako makakapasok.

I was supposed to go to office late when I felt better na but decided to go with the little boy to school instead to get updates.

Teacher told me that I have to supplement the little boy's studying at home. He showed me the little boy's workbook and there I saw what the teacher was saying. Wala syang tiyaga to color, he knows the right color but he doesn't color the shape completely, paano ko ba ituturo sa kanya yun?

They are also currently studying LEFT, RIGHT, UP and DOWN to which the little boy was good naman. He was asked to recite in front of the class and he answered correctly. He was asked to identify which among the two chairs drawn on the board is facing left and he was able to encircle the right answer.

Next was their individual identification of colors. Teacher showed a board colored with the following colors: RED, BLUE, GREEN, ORANGE, YELLOW unfortunately, the little boy answered color YELLOW as GREEN so he did not get a star but a happy face stamped on his arm instead.

It has been actually our problem na talaga kasi may pagkasutil the little boy, he has the tendency not to take you seriously when asked for a color kaso even if ako ang magtanong nagkakamali pa rin sya and no matter how I explain how to properly color mali pa rin. Hay naku... though sabi naman ng cousin nya na 7 yrs. old na and boy rin is until now daw lagpas-lagpas pa rin sya mag-color. Sabi rin ni MIL, baka ganun talaga kasi boy, hindi masinsin mag-color.

I decided to go to NBS in my attempt to supplement his studies. I bought art papers of various colors and attached this to an illustration board so he can review, I also bought a wallchart of colors so sana naman in the next few days eh maging clear na ang yellow at green sa kanya.

On a positive note, I am so thankful that he is so well behaved in the school, hindi sya kasama sa mga tinatawagan ng teacher ng attention - ang suki si Joaquin and Matthew. Katakot pala if for preschool eh traditional school - parang naawa ako sa mga bata pag pinagsasabihan sila but I guess they have to learn discipline. Paano ba pag progressive? hindi ba pinapagalitan ang students? Masyado lang ba akong protective for my little boy? para kasing di ko matanggap na baka dumating ang time na si kurt eh papagalitan din.

Beijing China kwento - Summer Palace

2008-07-07T23:30:00.013+08:00

Continuation of this post

WARNING: Photo overload, goes to show that I so love Summer Palace.

Summer Palace (UNESCO world heritage site) – I so love this place, I actually even liked this better than the Forbidden City, only the pictures can explain why. Summer Palace is the emperor’s vacation house, basta ganda-ganda ng place. And as if hindi kami napagod sa pag-akyat sa Great Wall and Ming tombs, we even went up pa the Yu Feng Pagoda on top of the hill. Grabe talaga! Pero we’re so enticed with the beautiful structures and surroundings na kahit super pagod na, go pa rin kami ng go.

To be continued... too much photos already

Beijing China kwento - Ming Tombs

2008-07-04T23:21:00.009+08:00

Continuation of the Beijing kwento...

Ming tombs (UNESCO world heritage site) – we went to Ding Ling, the only tomb that have been excavated. Ming tombs is composed of 13 tombs of the 17 emperors of the Ming dynasty, instead of building pyramids, they create an underground palace on hills and that serve as the emperor’s mausoleum. We passed by cherry farm so we bought na rin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_Dynasty_Tombs ; http://www.mingtombs.com.cn/ ; http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1004
Bridge entrance:

Ano raw?

Going to Underground Palace where the tombs are buried:

Inside the underground palace, behind us is the emperor's throne and some of his possessions:

A replica of the emperor's, empress', concubines tombs and their kept treasures:

Finally, up and out!

Last in ou itinerary for the day was Summer Palace.

To be continued...

Little boy's homework

2008-07-04T22:47:00.007+08:00

Friday last week, I was surprised when I got home from work as the yaya told me that Kurt has homework. Wow! only on second week in school and he's got homework already and to think he's only a nursery. When I checked his assignment notebook, I found four assignments! so while the little boy is still excited in doing his homework, we answered it that friday night. I completely forgot to take pictures then but since its a friday today, new set of assignments again! I took pictures already of his assignment last week.

First, the task was to color the two pictures with their natural color. So I asked the little boy the color of apple and sun. Here what he did:

Second, put a check mark if the drawings are alike, then put an x if not. Well, the little boy know the answer, the problem is in putting the check mark and x. As in we practiced first before actually doing it, unfortunately, the little boy's check mark was not clear, nagmumukhang x so i told him to just put a diagonal straight line instead. Too bad however that the teacher did not give points to those drawings that he wrote his version of check mark, malabo kasi kaya he only got 2 out of 4 correct. Kainis!! gusto ko sana ireklamo sa teacher kaso sabi ni hubby wag na.

Third, to put an x on the drawing that differs with the rest. on this, the little boy got everything correct so he was given a star.

And lastly, the hardest of them all, he's asked to draw the missing parts of the face. The little boy knows that the drawing misses two eyes, one nose, one mouth and two ears but to draw it! that's another thing. I'm just so proud of the little boy that he did not give up until he's satisfied - he keeps on erasing until he likes what he did. And here's the funny face that he draw:

He's got four new homework again and a note from the teacher. Apparently, he'll always have a homework on fridays. I'll be posting the second homework next week - with the teacher's marks.

Wow! I really have a schoolboy now.

Beijing China kwento - The Great Wall of China

2008-07-04T21:51:00.013+08:00

Saturday, May 31, our agenda: Great Wall of China, Ming Tombs and Summer Palace.

First part of the trip - Great Wall (UNESCO world heritage site) – we went to the Badaling side, which is the part of the wall nearest to Beijing, we left early kasi since it’s a weekend, madami daw tao. I was so in awe of the place when I saw it, parang I can’t believe that I am actually there. Fortunately, nakayanan ko akyatin yung tallest tower, fourth tower, which has total of 888 steep steps, some parang stairs, others as in steep road lang. grabe talaga experience! Pagod! Pero so worth it, I can’t actually describe how it feels, basta kakaiba. Had lunch in Starbucks, yes, there is starbucks in great wall = ) then off we go to Ming tombs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badaling; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_wall_of_china

Ticket booth:

Group picture at the entrance:

Roel, me and My with the awesome background of One World One Dream (theme for the olympics) and the wall that we will climb, it'll take us 888 steep steps, some stairs some just steep road, to rich that top in the background and that'll be the fourth tower.

Now, we're the same level as the olympics theme:

Few more steps, three towers past:

Finally! on top! but once we got on top, that's when we saw more of the wall at the back and I am so at awe of those people who continued on walking to think I am so dead tired when we got to the top. As obvious in the photo, only five of us survived the climb to the top, others gave up midway. I almost did actually but seeing that I'm a few steps to the top made me decide to go for it.

One of the unexplored side of the very looooonnnngggg wall:

Window in one of the towers on our way back down:

A photo on the other side:

Beijing China kwento - part 2

2008-07-02T22:51:00.007+08:00

Next day, Thursday, May 29, symposium the whole day then we had a firm sponsored dinner at China Club. Tourist bus picked us up from the hotel and the tour guide provided us some background about the club. We were informed that it is a posh exclusive club serving szechuan food, that the place was built for an emperor (forgot who) and that the cook were from the province of Sichuan pa talaga. According to the guide, it’s hard to get a slot on this place kasi mahal and exclusive nga and that the place actually used to be a prince’s palace. Got to the place, colder than the previous day and gulat kami kasi daming walls, enclosed talaga yung place (they say to protect the prince before) and we’re happier to see an old Chinese man waiting for us to have our names written in Chinese calligraphy using authentic rice paper. Had cocktails again then had Chinese lauriat. Was not totally happy with the food, according to some officemates from Malaysia and Indonesia, must have been that the Chinese food that we all love has been customized already to local taste kaya di naman ma-appreciate yun authentic, even the Peking duck did not excite me, mas gusto ko pa peking duck from Gloria Maris dito. There was a Chinese dance pa na nagpapalit-palit ng mask to entertain us. Went back to hotel late na so no more gimik, natulog na kami.

Friday, May 30, this time the symposium will end at 3pm so we’ll have time to go around. Our agenda for the day is shopping so our first stop was the silk market, two officemates had their Chinese name carved so they can use it for stamping. We did not do much shopping as most of us want to buy souvenirs from the Olympics store so we just looked around the place then left and took the taxi hoping to go straight to the Olympics stadium, unfortunately, the taxi driver cannot understand us so we have no choice but to go back to the hotel. The hotels provide a calling card with Chinese character and they can even write for you your planned destination in Chinese character kaya bumalik kami ng hotel. We were advised to take the subway to go there. WARNING: super crowded ang subway pag rush hour, parang MRT natin and what’s worse, the guards will even push the people inside to fit the people trying to enter, fortunate for us, di namin na experience yung tinutulak ng guard. We then took a taxi from the subway station to the Olympics stadium, we saw the bird’s nest and the water cube, had pictures taken but we can’t get really near kasi di pa tapos ang construction for the Olympics. Took the subway again then went to Oriental Plaza (mall) for dinner. We’re supposed to have shabu-shabu but since they can’t understand us and we can’t understand them, we decided to eat na lang in the food court kasi at least yun ituturo na lang. Pathetic! After dinner, pasyal-pasyal again in Wangfujing, got back to the hotel really late and super tired! Nagbabad ako sa bath tub with hot water just to relax.

MRT station where we ride to go to the Olympics Stadium:

The view while walking on the walkway going to the Olympics Stadium:

At the Olympics Stadium, layo lang kasi bawal pa lumapit, dami pa construction, rush for the olympics:

Why we want to have kids and pains of motherhood

2008-06-30T19:29:00.005+08:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beijing China kwento - part 1

2008-06-30T18:46:00.006+08:00

I was fortunate enough to be included to those who will attend our firm’s global symposium in Beijing, China. There were ten of us, three partners and four senior managers/managers. Three of us left for Beijing on Wednesday, May 28, early morning as we’ve decided to take the China Southern airline. We were actually given a choice of airline, either China Southern, with travel time of six hours (including the stop over in Xiamen) or thru Cathay via Hongkong but the travel time is nine hours (including transfer of plane in HK) and will be arriving late night of Wednesday which I didn’t like so we chose the first one. China Southern is a small plane, same as the plane used by Cebu Pacific on their international flights, language is Chinese and most of the passengers are Chinese, I agree that Cathay would have been a better option but we opted for this because the time that we’ll get to ride Cathay is two hours lang to HK then the three hours is via a domestic plane din so ok lang.

We have a stop over in Xiamen for 40 mins to complete the entry requirements, we had the immigration and customs check here then went back to our plane. We landed Beijing at past 3pm. Our first impression – yuck! Smog!! As in we’re so shocked to see the very poor visibility due to dirty air (but we later on was told that it’s like that because of all the construction and that since it’s windy, the sands on the nearby dessert is being carried to the city – but according to Wikipedia, madumi talaga air in Bejing – must be the reason why I developed throat infection), funny pa kasi one of the kids of the partners commented that kawawa naman daw ang kids sa Beijing because they don’t know that the sky is blue. Hehehehe…..

Since we already completed the immigration and customs check in Xiamen, we went straight to the luggage carousel and waited for our luggage then went for currency change. Hay naku, inikot-ikot pa namin lahat ng money changer sa airport to get the best deal only to find out that they charge RMB60 so lugi pa rin. Then our next problem was how to go to the hotel given that nobody among us three can speak Mandarin. So we went to the taxi queue hoping that the driver will understand the printed name of the hotel pero unfortunately hindi so we’ve just decided to call the hotel and let them talk to the driver. I was surprised that Beijing is so clean, modern and has lots and lots of building, may expectation kasi is tipong Chinatown but eto, hindi, parang HK but bigger and marami pa ring nagba-bike. Funny as tipong mga naka-high heels and suit pero nagba-bike, it was also my first time to see a hybrid bicycle/motorcycle, I want sana to take pictures but baka ma-offend sila. According to most of our colleagues, there have been really huge improvements in Beijing in preparation for the Olympics. To those who’ve been there two years ago, na-surprise din sila with the development. We spent RMB70+ to get to our hotel. We’re booked at Park Plaza in Wangfujing, buti na lang ganda location ng hotel namin, it’s in the middle of the happenings. Rested for a while then prepared for the cocktails and registration for the symposium on Regent Hotel, venue of the symposium, which is just beside our hotel and even has connecting doors as same owner sila. Chika chika with the partners from Germany, US, HK, etc. then went back to hotel to change to casual for pasyal. Good thing most of the hotel staff can speak English, we asked them how to go to the Food street which is famous for the weird grilled and fried foods such as scorpion, snake, sea urchin, centipede, sea horse, bugs, etc. It was two blocks away from our place and shock kami na talagang totoo pala yun, we’re hungry pero upon seeing these “exotic” food and the smell! Yucky!! Nawalan talaga kami ng gana. But since we’re so hungry as cocktails lang talaga yun sa registration ng symposium we opted to try the safe food just so we have some food in our stomach. After that pasyal-pasyal on the malls of Wangfujing. We’re surprised that it’s cold as when I checked the internet before I left, we’re not expecting it to be that cold, para kaming nasa SanFo sa lamig then add pa the wind and to think I only brought a shawl with me.

At the Street Food Market with some of the weird food:

Me with an officemate while walking along the main road. At the back you'll see the bicycle sign post, they have a dedicated lane for bicycles. Really good huh! wish we have here one for the motorcycles:

To be continued...

The HOT seat

2008-06-23T15:18:00.003+08:00

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

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

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

Here’s your questions: Be Honest and True!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No classes today

2008-06-23T11:21:00.002+08:00

Because of the typhoon whose wrath was experienced yesterday, DECS declared that highschool and elementary have no classes today. The little boy's reaction? he's NOT happy about it. As in he won't accept that he doesn't have school today. I am one happy mom because it means he's enjoying school. According to MIL, they will take him to school if he insists so he can just play there (the school is one vacant lot and two houses away our house).

About the rains yesterday, the little boy had fun playing in the rain earlier yesterday and had more fun when the fish pond in a vacant lot near our house overflowed. He had a lot of fun catching the fish with his cousins, dada and uncle. I took a lot of pics of them having fun. Will post it here soon.