New Year Is Almost Here

In less than 24 hours, it's going to be a new year and a new beginning for all of us. Meeting up the new year is always an exciting event, our hearts are filled with expectation as to what the coming year is going to be and it's also a time of reflection of the things that has transpired in the past year.

How do you celebrate you New Year? As for our family, our New year's celebration tomorrow would be quite different this year. We won't be hosting any parties nor attending any. Our new house isn't ready to be occupied tomorrow so, we will still be staying here in our 'temporary' shelter. But I'm excited to just spend time with our family. We're planning to go to the lantern festival tomorrow night, have dinner out and then before 12midnight we're going to have our family prayer, testimony time and then maybe go to the city center to watch the countdown and the fireworks. I'm sure our kids will be more than happy to stay up late tomorrow night.

It will be our first time to watch the famous Hatyai countdown tomorrow. I hope it won't be too crowded and we will be able to get the best place to see the fireworks. In the Philippines, New year's eve is always a very grand and noisy event. There'll be firecrackers wherever you go and the smoke will be so thick that you would almost need hid lamps to see the road.

Anyways, before I forget.. I would like to greet all of you a very blessed New Year!!!! God bless us all!!

December Celebrants

December is indeed a month full of celebration and festivities, aside from the joyous Christmas and New Years eve, family members and friends have also celebrated their birthdays and anniversaries.

So here are the celebrants for December:

Our brother in law, Manny's birthday December 10

Our niece Reinyel's birthday December 12

Our li'l sis from Malaysia Deborah's birthay December 21

Our Ate Sarah and Kuya Jun's 16th wedding anniversary December 23.. The picture shows that love is sweeter as the days go by ..:) Kuya Jun also celebrated his birthday on December 29

My Ate Litlit's birthday December 26

and last but certainly not the least, my Hubby's special birthday on December 29!! :)

A Belated Happy Birthday to all the Birthday celebrants and Belated Happy Anniversary to the sweet 16 couple!!.. May all your dreams come true.. May all your hearts desire be fulfilled .. and may all prayers be answered!! God bless you all!!

Road Trips

We're traveling to Thailand by road again tomorrow afternoon. Our family is used to have road trips. For this year alone, we can't count how many times we traveled by road within Malaysia and to Thailand. Our family road trips are not always peaceful ones. With a toddler and a preschooler inside the car for hours, sometimes these trips are a bit noisy and challenging. That's why we have to make stops in between and I'm thankful for the Malaysian Government for placing R&R areas in almost every town.

After every trip, our car interior also looks like as if a hurricane has just passed by. Toys, books, crayons, papers, candy wrappers, empty tetra packs and etc will be found all over. We have to feed our kids and let them do activities for the whole duration of the trip so they won't feel bored and grumpy. My Hubby would love to always have a clean, shiny looking car with a cool wood dash kits with all the car accessories. But with a toddler and preschooler, he would have to let go of that 'dream' for awhile. :)

Anyways, the only time that we could have a restful and quiet trip is when both kids are asleep. Whew!

So, tomorrow, I'll try my best to put the kids to sleep during our trip back to Thailand... :) All the best to me.. and may we have a safe journey back home.

Yummy Sunday - Cashew Nut Chicken

Thai Cashew Nut Chicken.

One of my favorite dishes to order here in Thailand. This is dish is not spicy even it's tooped with red big chillies and chopped green pepper. Or maybe, I'm just so accustomed to spicy food that I don't taste the mild 'hotness' of this dish anymore. Anyways, if you're not a fan of Thai spicy dishes, you might want to try this one because I'm sure you'll like it.

Living Today As Your Last

I was blessed by today's sermon in the church. Even if about 50% of the message was in Tamil but I was able to understand and get many points. The sermon was taken from Ecclesiastes 3 , A Time for Everything.

Anyways, one of the encouraging reminders that the Pastor said was " Live today as if it's your last". Yes, the year 2009 is coming to an end and another the new year is just around the corner. As we look back at the past year, do we feel like it just happened so fast that we were not even able to accomplish our goals for the year? Do we have any regrets of our decisions that we made in the past year? Yes, indeed the next few days will be a time of reflection for me. But I think my new motto for the next year will be to 'Live everyday as if it will be my last'. With this in perspective, I will be able to prioritize my daily activities accordingly like making more time to the things that matter most or giving more priorities to activities that has eternal value.

With ' living everyday as if it's my last', would that also mean I need to get an online term life insurance now? Heheh! just kidding!

Christmas in Malaysia

We thought that we would be spending Christmas here all alone in Thailand but my 15 days visa has been a blessing in disguise. Because of it, we are 'forced' to go back to Malaysia to apply for our Non 0 immigrant visa. And so, we can get to spend Christmas with our family in Taiping!! yehey! :)

I have to pack now because we're leaving very early morning tomorrow.

A Merry Blessed Christmas to Everyone!!

Found A House!

For 3 straight days we went around the city of Hat Yai to look for a house to rent. We went to every nook and corner of the city, even to the places I've never set foot upon for the past 7 years of my stay here.

Day 1 has come and gone. We saw a cute, nice house located at the center of the city and called the number written at the gate, but the price was too high for a house with only 2 rooms. It was 2,000 baht beyond our budget. So, we had to let go of that house.

Day 2 came and we were more disheartened to know that there were not a lot of houses for rent in the city. We saw a house or two but it was more like a shop lot building that is not conducive for kids at all. We also got to know of a house that's for rent near our old house but when we went there, the neighbor house owner told us that there's leakage in that house. So, we didn't push through calling the owner.

Day 3. We got to talk to a lady who has a few houses for sale but she's willing to have one house rented. We went to her place. The house is quite okay but it was too far from the main road and the city center. And another big turn off is that her house doesn't have a kitchen. Yes, most of the Thai houses don't come with a kitchen. So, we had to crash that house from our list.

We then went to one of subdivisions in the outskirts of the city. We seem to have no choice but to move farther from the city, who knows there might be a nice house to rent there. And true enough we found a nice house with a small place for a garden. We excitedly called the number but we were a bit disappointed to know that the house will only be available on the middle of January. Oh, we can't wait that long. And on second thought, the house does seem too distant from our school and major establishments, we might end up spending a lot on gasoline.

Then, finally we thought of calling the house near our old subdivion. We could at least talk to the owner about the leakage that the neighbor house owner is talking about and maybe ask him to do some repairs. And we called the owner and agreed to see his house that same evening.

That evening, when we went inside the house, my Hubby and I immediately like the floor plan. It's not the boring 'basketball court' like floor plan that most Thai houses have. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, dining area and yes, a kitchen! But house did looked a bit worn out with the paint peeling off. My hubby then told the owner that we're interested with his house but would like to request if he could repaint the house and fix a few things before we move in. The owner is a actually a policeman but he looks so meek and kind hearted. He smiled at my Hubby's request, scratched his head and told us that he will think about it and let us know the following day. But he did assure us that he already fixed the leakage months before and if there's reoccurence, he will have it fixed at his expense.

My Hubby and I had peace when we saw the house. We even asked our li'l girl of her opinion and she too is excited to move in immediately!

And today we received the call from the owner and he agreed on my HUbby's request to have the house repainted and fixed before we move in. So, it's confirmed, we won't be 'homeless' anymore and we'll have a house to move in after Christmas! Yipee! Thank You Lord for making everything beautiful in your time.

Yummy Sunday - Vietnam Coffee

I'm a certified coffee lover. I love coffee in all different flavors, colors and texture. From 3 in one coffee to brewed coffee... ahhh.. how I love them all! But even though I'm a coffee lover, I don't consider myself as a coffee addict. I can survive a day or two without coffee.. though it would be nice to start my day and end my day with a cup.

Anyways, for my Yummy Sunday entry this week, I would like to feature the " Trung Nguyen" coffee given to me by my brother from Vietnam. He actually gave these to me a few months back, but it was only last month that we enjoyed it to the max because my Mom has a coffee maker.

I could already 'smell' this deliciously rich coffee, just from seeing the photo. I'm craving for a cup of this coffee right now.. but sadly, my 'supply' has already ran out.

For more Yummy Sunday entries, visit Bogie from Perfectly Blended.

Almost Home But Without A House ( Yet )

We're now back in Taiping. And a few days from now we will be going back home in Thailand. It'll be home sweet home for us to the country where we are called to serve but we still don't have a house to stay yet.

We're praying that we will be able to find the right house for us in a few days time. I just want to get settled immediately and start our family routine once again. I'm not so particular with the kind of house which we are going to stay. It doesn't matter if it doesn't have Kohler sinks, as long as it has a kitchen, a living room, toilet and bath and 2 or 3 bedrooms.

Almost Left Behind

Our flight to Manila was only at 2:40 PM but we were almost ready by 12NN. We were all dressed up and our bags were packed and ready. Since we had more time to spare, my Hubby burned all our photos in my Mom's computer. That took quite a lot of time but we didn't seem to mind. We were taking our time chit chatting while waiting for the CD. Then, we were on our way.

The last time I looked at my watch was 12 NN. That was after I ate my lunch and got ready. But when we were on our way to the airport and stopped at the gasoline station, we realized that we were getting too slow and maybe we would be late. When I checked our watch, I was surprise to see that it was already 1:45 pm. So, that means that we only have less than an hour to go to the airport, check in, pay the airport tax and board the plane. But with a prompting, my Hubby took out our ticket once again and checked our flight details. Then we found out that our flight was at 2:20 PM and not 2:40 as we assumed. So, we told our bro in law to rush to the airport because we only then had 35 minutes left before the plane takes off.

My heart was beating fast and was praying that the plane won't leave us behind. Oh, please Lord! When we arrived at the airport, I could already hear the boarding announcement of our flight. But we our bags have to go through the scan so, I didn't wait for my Hubby to bring the bags for scanning but I ran t the check in counter. My heart sank when I saw the "closed" signage at the check in counter. But nevertheless, I approached the ground stewardess and I asked her if we could still check in the flight that is currently boarding.

Praise God that she agreed. But when she was my ticket, I noticed the panic in her voice when she asked, " You have a connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur?". She then, called out for some people to help her.. to photo copy our passports, to tag our bags for transfer and etc. She told me that we should have come earlier because our flight was a connecting flight. I apologized for our tardiness but I admire her for her politeness. She didn't get mad or talked to us rudely. She then made some calls for the plane to wait for us.

And then I was relieved. That was an assurance that at least the plane would wait for us. After our check in , we hurriedly paid for airport tax, have our bags scanned again and boarded the plane.

Woohhh! We made it! Thank God for letting the plane wait for us. That was our first time to have such an experience and definitely the last time!!

Going Back To Thailand

I'm sad yet excited. Sad that we will be leaving our family here in the Philippines tomorrow yet excited to go back 'home' and get settled. I know it will be quite a challenge getting settled back in Thailand after a year of being away. One of the main challenges will be looking for a new house ( to rent) in such a short period of time. We are praying the 'perfect' house for us, perfect means, 'no leaks', a house not situated at the flood prone area, accessible and quite new.

One of my main concern now is the language too. I haven't been in Thailand for more than a year, ( oh, except for my short trip last August) which means I would have to pick up my Thai once again. It's really one of my goals for the next year to improve with my Thai language. I don't speak well enough to carry a long conversation with a friend. I may need help from a language helper or check on some sites that can help me out.

And speaking of practicing to speak other languages, if you can speak and read French, there are some French sites which you may be interested in. They are the following: abri de piscine, big bag and sites francais .

Mommy Moments- Talented Kids

This week's Mommy Moment's theme is Talented Kids. I'm excited to find out the different talents and giftings that our kids has.

As for my li'l Trish, she just loves to draw. She drew her first human stick figure at 3 years old. Just don't let her color because she's quite lazy to do that. That's why I have to continually encourage her to color to make her drawings prettier.



Meanwhile my son has shown his interest with the drums before he reached the age of 2. During church worship, his eyes is always locked to the drums and the drummer.



To see other talented kids, please click the badge below.

Three To Go!

I've just reviewed my 'Food Wish List' which I posted 2 weeks ago. And from the look of it, it seems that I've almost completed my food wish list

* Buko Halo at Jo's Chicken Inato - Done!
* Yellow Cab pizza- Done!
* Any meal from Bigby's Cafe - Done!
* I want to try out the cakes from Candy's - Not yet
* Chicken from Dear Manok- Done
* Cakes and lasagna from Red Ribbon- Done!
* lasagna and choco moist by my sis Laureen - 1 Done
* Coffee from Coffee Works - Not Yet
* Vjandep Pastels- Not Yet
* Jollibbe Chicken and burger- Done!

So, 3 more to go - Cake from Candy's, Coffee from Coffee Works and Vjandep Pastels. I'm sure I could accomplish these three since I still have a week to go before going back to Malaysia. And since I've eaten so much for the past 3 weeks, I think I've gained so much already that even a phentermine diet pill won't easily work wonders.

Born To Be Wild

" Born To Be Wild" is a show in one of the TV stations here in the Philippines. It's actually more like an environmental show. Last night was my first time to get a glimpse of this show. And even if I was multi tasking at that time, watching and writing posts at the same time, I was able to learn a few more things about conserving our environment. With this, I was motivated to help conserve our environment in my own small ways.

There are many so called ' green products' now. Even the Anilox roll cleaning solution are already environmentally friendly. I just hope more and more products will be environmentally friendly to save the earth.

One Week

We have exactly a week before we go back to Malaysia and then Thailand. Our long break will then be over. Sigh! I'm having mixed emotions now. I'm somehow glad that our long holiday ( 1 year!) is over and we could get settled and live our 'normal' lives again. But at the same time, I'm also sad to leave behind our very 'relaxed' , laid back and always-on-a-holiday mode kind of life with friends and family. Even if our long break wasn't like orlando vacations but it was a year that's filled with precious time and memories with family and friends.

It is just my prayer that God will indeed prepare us in every aspect as we go back to the place where we were called to 'work'.

Girls Day Out Day 2

Today is our second girls' day out for this week! And as you can guess, girls' day out means - Shopping!! It's actually more like budget shopping since we didn't shop in the expensive malls and stores but at the budget shops near Cogon market.. LOL!!

We actually took our li'l girl out to buy her shoes. And since we were in the 'market' area of the city, we found good shoes for a very cheap price. If you're from Cagayan de Oro, you would know where the Taiwanese shops are and that's where we bought her 1st pair of shoes. My li'l girl has been fond of Jelly Shoes since we came here last year and it was only know that I was able to buy for her. I can't believe that the jelly shoes only costs 30 pesos in the Taiwanese shops!! I should have bought for her earlier. Then, we bought some Croc Croc shoes for her for only 70 Pesos. The Cogon area was only in this place where I saw all kinds of Croc shoes flooding the shops. And then lastly I bought a pair of pink Tommy Flipflops for her for only 65 pesos. LOL!! I was so amused that I bought 3 pairs of shoes/sandals for my li'l one for a total of 165 pesos! Then, we also went to an accessory shop called Aizilym where we bought some bangles, hair accesorries and other things at very cheap prices.

And since we were all famished after our little shopping in a very crowded place, we went to Shakey's in Ket Kai to have our snacks.

It was indeed a fun girls' day out and I hope that more of these are coming in our last few days of stay here in my hometown.

'Eat All You Can' Diet ?

I'm on a new diet now. It's called the Eat All You Can Diet! LOL! I've been eating all my favorite food and have succumbed to all my cravings every since we arrived here. I think all my head knowledge about calories, fats and etc. have already gone out of the window especially when faced with my fave food. I would have to seriously think about proper eating and exercise later when we get back to Thailand and when we're already settled. As of now, I have to enjoy eating all my favorite Filipino food. It's only another 9 days left and we'll be going back to Malaysia/Thailand. Then, we don't know when we can be back here again. So, I hope that would make as a good excuse for my 'eat all you can' diet'. :)

When our long holiday is over, then it'll be my time to think about the real, proper diet and try to lose the excess weight I've gained. There are a lot of options, ways and strategies in losing weight. Many of these diets seems very convincing and most likely to bring results. But some are a bit expensive to follow or too difficult to maintain. I would have to read more reviews of these different diets and choose which one would fit me and my budget best.

The internet has really been my great resource when it comes to reading different types of reviews may it be book reviews, movie reviews or diet reviews. I've also found a site that also gives different reviews and compare Tramadol prices. So, when you want to buy a cheap tramadol, you can check the tramadol bluebook. There are even places where you can buy tramadol cod and pay for it upon delivery. So, when you need tramadol, you better check this site.

New Thai Restaurant in CDO

Thai Me Up is a new Thai Restaurant in Cagayan de Oro. We've heard about this new restaurant since we arrived here but unfortunately we haven't known anyone who's has been to the place. At first we were not so keen in trying it out because a few times we've been to 'Thai' restaurants here and were just disappointed that the taste doesn't quite compare to authentic Thai food.

But yesterday, it was our family day out and our sis and bro in law treated the whole family to the restaurant. I was pleasantly surprise that the restaurant was nicely designed. It has a touch of 'Thai-ness' in the interior. When we saw the menu, I got excited as I saw my favorite Thai food.

We ordered a few dishes and we're quite satisfied with the taste. Though some of the spicy dishes are not as spicy as we expected it to be but at least it has a bit of 'Thai' taste. The prices of the dishes are quite reasonable too. If you happen to be in Cagayan de Oro, you can always try out this Thai Restuarant here.


Anyways, our family enjoyed our time together trying out their different dishes.