Movie Day

Success! My Hubby and I finally were able to watch a movie together last week. Thanks to our cousins ( Salamat kau Jun and Aiz!) who watched over Lyle while we were at SM. We have always planned to watch a movie but then, we somehow didn't push through until last week.

We actually wanted to watch something light and romantic ( :)) but then, our choices were limited. So, we ended up watching "Knowing" by Nicholas Cage. The start of the movie was very interesting and suspense but I personally didn't like how it all ended. The ending was something that is not real, being taken away by aliens and such. But anyways, at least my Hubby and I had some time together watching the movie and eating out afterward.

Do you know that the last movie we saw in the theater was Ratatouille? That was also the first movie that Tricia watched in the big screen. She would call the cinema 'the big TV'. There are some movies that are really nice to watch in the big screen especially those theaters with home theatre seating . I wonder when's the next time we can watch movies in the theaters again.

Flying Solo?

Remember I made a post about winning in a travel contest? That was actually the contest hosted by GeckoGo.com and Intrepid Travels. I really won a 900$ worth of travel package. I was so excited to learn that I won the contest but after all the confirmation and details have been dra;wn out, I found out that the travel package is only good for 1 person. It means, I can't bring my Hubby and our kids with me. So sad.. I was already ready to let go of my prize.

Later, I found out that the other winner of the said contest was also a Filipina. We managed to know each other and kept in touch. She's also a wife and a Mom like me and we had the same desire of wanting to bring our family with us. But since rules are rules, our requests are not possible. But, we thought of the idea of traveling together instead. With this 'great' idea, I consulted my Hubby and he was also happy with it. He said, it'll be a good break for me too. I wanted to be excited for this idea but then, I still don't know how I would be without my Hubby and kids. Hmmm.. I think I have to prayerfully consider everything firts before making my final decision.

Back in Cagayan de Oro

I'm back now in the blogosphere after being away for 3 days. We had a great trip in Camiguin and I'll be posting the details about it soon in my Travel Blog.

The last time I had been in Camiguin was in 1999 with my working colleagues. Nothing much has changed in the last 10 years except that the roads are better and there are now more beautiful houses in the island. My cousin, who has been our tour guide told us that most of these beautiful houses are owned by foreigners married with Filipinas. I especially liked one big house overlooking the sea with a Mediterranean design. I wonder if they used cad drawings in planning the house.

We've also visited Enigmata, which is a tree house eco-lodge that can accommodate more than 20 people. I'm impressed with the creativity of all the artists who put so much of effort in creating this great masterpiece. I'll have to post the photos later. As for now, I have to check my mails and work on my writing assignments.

Camiguin, Here We Come!

After much discussion, calculation and deliberation, we have finally decided to push through with our Camiguin plans..and we are going TOMORROW!

I couldn't count how many times we've changed our plans and our minds. Earlier this evening, we've already made our 'final' decision to cancel our Camiguin plans but everything has changed after we talked with our Sis, Mom and Cousin who's in Camiguin. All our 'concerns' were somehow solved and now I'm so excited for tomorrow's trip. I'm praying that everything will go well and we'll have a pleasant trip. God bless our trip!

Another Template Change

I have just changed my template a couple of weeks back but then, it had some 'bandwith problems' which left me no choice but to change it again.

I hope this newest template won't have the same problem again. It took me some time to find a new template design. There was this design called Watercolors that I liked so much. I tried uploading it but then I still needed to upload the photos in photobucket. I tried to upload them one by one but then, I find it so time consuming so and not to mention, I get 'errors' when I try to preview my blog.

So, here's another template and I hope this will stay for a long time..:)

Weekend with the Kids

The countdown is on.. 29 more days to go and we're going back to Malaysia. As parents, we are trying to make the most out of the 29 days that Tricia's spending with her cousins here in the Philippines. Every weekend, we are creating activities for the kids. Activities that's new for them and will be memorable too.

So last Friday, we scheduled a "roasting marshmallows and hotdogs' session for them. We set up the grill outside the house, lighted up the torches and gathered the children together and let them roast the marshmallows and hotdogs themselves. It was the first time they experienced roasting the mallows and they got so excited especially when they see the fire from the mallows.

I was also happy to see all the children having so much fun! Next week, we'll try to let them have a mini camping. But, first we have to search for our tents or maybe borrow someone else's one. The kids are already so excited for this.

Photos to follow next time.. our connection is so slow today

I Won?

I'm excited!!.. but a bit unsure..

I just received an email that I won the travel contest which I joined last month. They just emailed to congratulate me and confirm my name for their contest winner announcement. They said they will get back to tell me the details after I've replied to them.

So, that's why I'm quite excited now and thanking God for the favor..but I'm also a bit unsure how everything is going to work out. THis is my first time winning a 'big' contest. The prize for the contest is not cash but a travel voucher to whichever place we choose.. cool huh! So, now I'm fretting as how things will work out... I know I should not fret but instead pray for things to go smoothly.... or maybe I'm just too excited.. I better get some sleep and wait for their reply..

I'll post the details once they got back to me..

Showbiz News

I was shocked to hear the news yesterday that Francis Magalona passed away. I haven't been in touch with the showbiz world for so long so I never knew he was sick with leukemia (until yesterday).

Since I'm an 80's girl.. I remember looking up to this master rapper back in my high school days. We even danced his song " Mga Kababayan Ko" in school.

Francis Magalona is considered as a legend in the Filipino music industry. He is known as the King of Pinoy Rap as his songs and he had developed a new genre in Filipino music. He was diagnosed with leukemia on August 8, 2008 and had undergone successive chemo therapy treatments and blood transfusion. He has been in and out of the hospital and I'm sure he had some some medical and disability insurance . But sadly he died on March 6, 2009 at the age of 44 due to Acute myeloid leukemia. If you want to read his blog on his battle against cancer you can go to www.francismagalona.multiply.com

The Fish Curry Treat

Guess what we had for lunch today? Yes, you guess it right, Fish Curry! We've been craving for curry for so long now. My Hubby brought some curry powder from Malaysia last December but after the flood, we were not able to recover them.. not until 2 days ago... Here's the story.

Two days right after the flood my sister, mom and cousins came to see the flood site and tried to recover some things. There they found out that the things inside the fridge were 'saved' but they just gave out those food items to my cousin.

Then 2 days ago, my cousin came bringing an unopened pack of Fish curry powder. He said that those were one of the things given to them by my sis (2 months ago). Wow!! we have fish curry powder now!

So, today our house smelled like and 'indian house' because I cooked fish curry and the scent filled the whole house..YUM! We truly had a great Fish Curry treat!

No Trespassing

We have already put up our "Survivor Philippines Torches" near the river. This way, our surroundings will be well lighted at night. My Hubby is planning to put more lights around the area and put up some kind of fencing so we'll feel be safer especially at night.

During the daytime, some strangers or fishermen from the river go up to our area and pass by to go to the other side. We've been telling them many times not to trespass since it's a private property, but still from time to time they pass by. Some of our neighbors even bring in their cows and goats inside the compound for their 'meals'. A good idea will be to have pvc fence installation but then, our area is big and it'll be very expensive to do that. Someone even quoted 100T Pesos as a total expense to have the whole compound fenced using hollow blocks. Wow! That's almost like building a house. So for now, I guess we just have to put up the barbed wire fencing that has been destroyed.

Everything Mango

Our mangoes are finally ripe! And our mango feast has already started..

We have been having Mango Float for dessert for 3 consecutive days now. Tomorrow, my sister will be making more Mango Floats. I guess, we will keep on making and eating this until our mango finishes. To pair up with our Mango float is a delicious Mango shake made my our cousin. Now I know how to make a Mango shake creamier and richer, just add all purpose cream and condensed milk and woolahh, you'll have the best Mango shake.

And guess what I'll be doing tomorrow? I'll be making Mango Jam. I'll have to preserve the Mangoes because some are already getting over riped. I hope my Mango Jam will be a 'success'. It'll be the first time I'm making one. I've tried to make Santol Jelly before and I liked that. Too bad our Santol tree doesn't bear much fruit anymore. If not, then we'll have a Santol Feast too.

The Mystery is Solved

The meeting starts at 6:30 pm but so far there's only one person present for the meeting. The time drags on slowly and one by one , the people start to come. By the 7:00 pm only half of the expected participants arrive. And finally at 7:15 the meetings starts.

Does this sound familiar to you? This scenario can be a meeting, a conference or an appointment but the point is, we don't keep our time. That's why we have the so-called Filipino time.

My Hubby for one doesn't like to be late and at the same time doesn't like to wait. But one day, as if he has solved a great mystery, his eyes lighted up and exclaimed, 'Now I know why we can not start on time. It's because everyone has a different time here in the Philippines."

It's quite true. If you ask 10 people about the time, you get 10 different answers. Some watches are slow, while are fast. Some maybe wearing an Audemars Piguet while others a Swatch watch but the same, we are the one who must be in control of our time.

Sweety Boy

Lyle's got a new toy car. He was so happy when he saw his toy car and he immediately sat on it and went places. He seems like he's going so far away as he endlessly waves his hand and say "ba bye...ba bye.." as he 'drives' his car.

Just this evening, he was playing with his toys when he decided to ride his toy car. He was already on his way to his car, but then he retraced his steps, gave me a kiss, said "Ba byee" and went on his way back to the car. Hahaha! That was so cute!! He was following exactly what his Appa has been doing before he leaves on his motorbike!

I couldn't help but smile everytime I remember what he did... he's such a sweet boy.. He just loves to give hugs and kisses.

Improving our Lanai

My Hubby and I have been doing a lot of planning and talking on how to further improve our 'lanai'. We have a lot of ideas but then, we also have to keep in mind that our budget is very limited. Even if I'm a graduate of Interior Design but I guess my Hubby has more interest on this area that I have. That's why I keep telling him that she should have been the one who graduated as an Interior Designer, not me. hehehe! Because in our house in Thailand alone, he loves to rearrange and experiment. I'm always satisfied with one 'look' and it could go on forever. But my Hubby likes our house to always look 'new' and fresh.

Anyways, back to our home improvement task, we bought some decorative light torch ( or the sulu, as my Tricia said, just like the one they used in Survivor Philippines!), planters, throw pillows , pillow cases and some hardware fixtures at ACE Hardware. This hardware is quite complete and my daughter enjoyed the part where they have a lot of lamps and ceiling fans.

So, next we're going to buy some white paint, tent material to extend the roofing of our lanai and plants. I'll surely show the photos once our project is finished.

Charcoal Me

Charcoal. This is the theme of my new blogger template. What happened to my blue template??

Actually, I wasn't planning to change my template because I really loved my previous one but then, when I tried to remove some codes and scripts from my previous template, it didn't work but get some "errors' instead. That's why I just decided to change my template altogether to simply get rid of the codes and scripts that I wanted to be removed. And it worked.

This is not exactly my fave template but since I can't spend so much time searching and 'reconstructing' my blog, I just chose the best template out of the 30 I found in one website. Anyways, this template should do for now. What do you think of my new template?

Ukay Ukay Club

My Hubby had his first Ukay ukay experience this afternoon. My cousin brought him to Cogon area to buy side mirrors for the motorbike and while they were there, they stopped by some ukay ukay shops. By the way, for those who doesn't know, Ukay ukay is the term used here in the Philippines to refer to second hand goods from dresses, shirts, slacks to tuxedo.

Back to my Hubby, he wanted to buy a jacket. He saw so many different types of clothes and there were so many ukay ukay shops in that area. But he finally got to buy a nice, black jacket for only 100 pesos. He came home very happy and satisfied with the great buy. And guess what, he wanted to go back and buy more ukay ukay.. So, I guess we should welcome him to the club!!

GPT Programs for Mom

I've been quite busy with my blogs these days that I always forget to create an account for my Mom to join some Get Paid to Click Programs. My Mom is a retiree with plenty of time on her hands. She doesn't like to write much so she can't blog that's why I thought of persuading her to join some get paid to click programs instead. At least her broadband connection and computer can be made into full use and not to mention earn a bit through it.

So, after I'm done with my writing tasks here, I'll have to search for the said programs. Do you have any good GPT sites to recommend?

Easy Contest with a Cool Prize!

How would you like to have a MacBook Air? I think I could trade my HP Mini for a MAcBook Air. Serious! Last Sunday, I saw someone using it at the hotel where we were having our church service and I was so tempted to go near it, touch it and try it out. But all I could do was take a glimpse of it from afar. But even from afar, the MacBook looks so cool, thin and I love it in white!

And now, I've got to find out that there's this cool contest from ben behrouzi and maybe I can get a chance to win this MacBook. Joining it is so easy!

Here’s how it works :

Just send a simple Tweet with the following message or something like it in your own words so you can be counted in.

@BenBehrouzi Ben count me in the MacBook Air Giveaway! http://tinyurl.com/de7f6b

I actually didn't have a Twitter account but I just created one so that I can join this contest. But then, it looks like a cool site though , so I'll have to browse through it and see what else it got. Anyways, you can try it out yourself and might win the MacBook Air.

Our Post Office Experience

Last December, our friends from Singapore emailed us, asked for our address and told us that they'll be sending our Christmas gifts through mail. We were excited and so thankful for their thoughtfulness. So, we waited for that package to arrive and assumed that it'll only take 2-3 weeks for it to arrive.

2 weeks.. 3 weeks.. 1 month.. 2 months.. has come and gone and it didn't arrive yet. We thought that maybe something happened in between ( package got lost or something) so we didn't expect it anymore.

But lo and behold! Last Friday, I received a notice from the post office. They asked me to get the package from the said office. Since it was already late, I didn't go the same day but decided to go on Monday.

Ready and excited to receive our package, my HUbby and I went there at around 10am. We directly went to the parcel section, gave the notice and waited for the man to look for our package. 5 minutes... 10 minutes.. 15 minutes..30 minutes passed by.. nothing happened. We just stood there and waited for the man to find our package but to no avail. Finally, he gave up searching and tried to look for my name in the log book.. 1st book opened,,searched..closed... 2nd book opened...searched .. closed... the minutes went ticking.. and finally, he opened the last log book... searched.. and he wrote something in my notice.

He was relieved to have seen my name but then he also apologized and told us that the package is not in the office and the mailman must have brought it back with him for delivery. He explained to us that it's because of their office which is too small to handle all the parcels and therefore everything is mixed up and said he has been complaining of this ever since. Anyways, he told us to come back at 4:30pm when the postman is back from delivery. I didn't say anything much, was just silent because I know that my Hubby who was with me will complain. Welcome to the Philippines! that's what I wanted to tell him, but I just kept quiet and didn't complain much anymore but was I was more embarrassed of the situation. What to do?

So, at 4:30pm my Hubby went with my cousin to the Post Office. I just wrote an
authorization letter for him to take the package on my behalf. And they finally got it.. whew!!! We were happy and so thankful for the people who sent the package.

And guess what? The package has been mailed from Singapore on the 24th of December. I tried to check the stamps to find out when it arrived in Manila, but there wasn't any stamp. There was only a stamp that showed that it arrived in Cagayan de Oro on the 6th of February. And not only that, the package box was tampered. Good thing that our friends gift wrapped our gifts so, everything was still intact. So, our question now is.. when did the package arrive in Manila? Why it only arrived on the 6th of February in Cagayan de Oro? And if the package arrived in Cagayan on February 6, why I only got the notice on March 2, 2009?? Haahhayy.. That... only the people from the Post Office could answer.

But in conclusion, I guess we could never trust our postal system for now. This is actually my 2nd bad experience with the Post office because several years back, my Hubby sent me chocolates and books... and I only get to receive the book from the tampered box. Who took my chocolates? Please raise your hand..

image taken from google