Guest post written by Catherine Meyers
Most of the time I wait until the last minute to pick out gifts for my mom’s birthday. She always seems grateful and happy about whatever given present I get her, whether it’s a sweater or a random bestseller that I pick up from a display in a chain book store. But this year I started planning ahead.
I had recently looked up internet providers MN because my internet was a little slow and I thought that my mom may want a laptop. But then I realized it was out of my budget. So I did my research on MP3 players and found a few that I thought she may like to use when she runs in her neighborhood.
I ran the idea by my little brother and he thought it was a good idea too. So he pitched in a bit and we also found her cute pink and peach paisley-printed holder with coordinating headphones. We settled on our choices and I ordered them through wildblue satellite internet service the next day.
I think my mom is actually getting some use out of the MP3 player, at least more so than I think she would with a books she’d read in a week.
Technorati Tags: Writing
Today we had our family portraits taken by Ging Lorenzo at the UP theater and Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife. My dad drove us there since hubby can’t drive yet, it was an interesting drive going to UP. We’re all not familiar with QC so we even with directions from Ms. Ging we still got lost, good thing there wasn’t any traffic and we still got to our meeting place early. It was also good that Iyah got some sleep on our way to UP she was up and ready for the shoot once we’re there. I was praying for good weather and thankfully it didn’t rain during the shoot (it did rain heavily afterwards). I’m really excited to see the pictures.
My dad dropped us at Megamall after our stint at QC to meet my good friend Adel for dinner. We were able to do a lot of shopping for Iyah as well.
Technorati Tags: Ging Lorenzo, Vacation 2010
Family chat over dinner is pretty common in our house and one of the topics we’ve discussed with my parents is about life insurance among other things. The little girl wanted nothing to do with this of course (lol) and she’s more interested in playing than sitting and talking with grown ups about grown up things such as insurance. I’m cautious in letting her play though, my parents house have stairs leading to the second floor and she likes climbing up and down the stairs. We never let her out of our sight and make sure that she always have someone with her when she goes up or down. We let her take each step on her own but we’re always just right beside her in case she needs help. This is why I’m glad we don’t have stairs in our home, saves me from being worried that she could fall all the time.
Technorati Tags: Writing
I so love eating all the food I’ve missed here in Manila, I feel like I should indulge now because there won’t be any of these when we get back in SG. I’m telling my husband that I might need thermogenic fat burner when we get back so I could lose all the pounds I’ve gained during our vacation. I won’t let the worry over extra pounds stop me from enjoying all the food though, why should I? One thing I miss most being gone for so long aside from family is the food here so I’m going to savor all my favorite dishes while I’m here and I’m not going to feel guilty about it.
Technorati Tags: Writing
Today my parents dropped us off at SM Southmall so we could spend a day with hubby’s side of the family. Good thing it wasn’t traffic though we were still late for the mass. Anyway after the mass we met my MIL, SIL and her kids, her youngest was also a girl only seven months older than Iyah. These two girls held hands and walked off like two long time friends upon seeing each other, it was so nice to see them get along just fine. They were just babies when they last saw each other and now both are active toddlers with different personalities but they became instant playmates. The boys on the other hand are all grown up now, they were part of our wedding entourage, ngayon teenagers na. The eldest is now a senior in highschool while the other one is a sophomore (I feel so old).
We had lunch at Shakeys as Jessie wanted to eat chicken and pizza, good thing I brought along Iyah’s crayons and coloring books…it kept them occupied for a while but not long enough though because they both got up and ran around the place when they got bored. They happily chatted and shared ice cream for dessert too.
After having lunch at Shakeys we went to Storyland with the kids. Iyah was so excited to see all the kiddie rides. Good thing they have free entrance on Sundays so we only paid for the rides they wanted.
The girls had so much fun. They rode the carousel, lots of animal rides and happily posed for pictures. Before we head inside they also rode the train that goes around certain areas of the mall. My SIL accompanied the two girls, my husband took pictures and I went to Gingersnaps for a little shopping (they have the cutest paper bags) so everyone was happy. We head home after lots of playtime and Iyah fell asleep in the car while Jessie stayed awake. She took a long nap at the house as her cousin waited patiently for her to wake up. She even suggested to me that we tickle Iyah so she would wake up (what a cute idea), she really wanted to play with her. When Iyah woke up we went to the cemetery to visit my FIL’s grave. I explained to Iyah that we will go visit Daddy Brum at his resting place, when we got there and I showed her his grave her face was blank. I guess she was expecting to see a person, I will have a talk with her about death and heaven soon.
We went to a family friend’s house afterwards where we had yet another meal (everywhere we go there’s always lots of food). It was late when we got back at MIL’s house where we waited for my dad and mom to pick us up. It was a great family day.
Technorati Tags: SM Southmall, Vacation 2010
Oh how I missed pampering myself. I know I get pamper myself with a facial and a mani/pedi in SG but it is so much cheaper here in Manila that I don’t feel guilty for indulging myself with several treatments. There are natural acne treatment but it feels great to have a nice facial done by a professional. Oh I love how my pedicure turned out not to mention having my eyebrow threaded and my lashes permed, I wished I could do this every month. I used to back in college when I was still living here in Manila but moving to SG meant I have to shell out more if I want to have these treatments done. Knowing how much cheaper it is in Manila made me not want to spend too. Another thing I look forward to when we’re here, a day of pampering myself.
Technorati Tags: Vacation 2010, Writing
I know coming home for vacation there will be a lot of gatherings and there will be lots of great food that would be too tempting to resist. We’ve only been here six days and oh boy I feel like I will be needing to read different diet pill reviews when we get back to SG. I don’t want to deprive myself because most of these food won’t be readily available in SG so I eat whatever I want even if I have to pay for it later (lol). There’s going to be more get together soon and I’m looking forward to more feasts.
Technorati Tags: Writing
We all went home for this special celebration. So that Saturday was all about the small party with family and friends. Since it was a dinner party we went to the mall for a little shopping that afternoon. I picked up Iyah’s dress and accessories and was able to shop a little for the husband and me. We started preparing for the party when we got home, having two sisters and a daughter meant everyone wanted to use the bathroom, the mirror and there are dresses everywhere. Each person was doing something, so there was a bit of chaos in the room. Almost two hours later, the end result were four girls all dressed and ready to go. My mom and dad went to the venue first so we were picked up just when the party was about to start. A lot of our relatives were there and Iyah had a lot of fun playing with her cousins. The oldies sang karaoke, the younger ones chatted (and later on sang as well) and the kiddos played. It was a nice evening and my dad was really happy.
Technorati Tags: Max's, Vacation 2010
I know there’s no time difference between Manila and SG but we find ourselves adjusting to time our first morning in Manila. You see the sun rises a it earlier in Manila than in SG. So our first morning I woke to the sunlight peeking through the windows thinking it was 9:00am or something I went ahead and took a bath and went downstairs, only to glance at the clock and it was only 6:30am (lol), the same thing happened to my husband but the little girl slept just fine. I won’t need any anti wrinkle cream though because we sleep earlier than we usually do back in SG. Our house have broadband internet connection but they don’t have wifi so we could only use one laptop at a time and we had to share (my sisters and hubby), it took all of my desire to surf to I just read magazines and call it a night. This vacation is giving us time off from the computer 
Technorati Tags: Vacation 2010, Writing
It’s nice that we have a car to use while we’re here on vacation. I don’t mind commuting but it’s so much easier to go from one place to another with a toddler when you have our own vehicle. We don’t have to worry about motorhome repairs or other repairs for that matter since my dad really takes good care of his car and hubby’s car is well maintained as well. Since we’re at my parent’s house we use their car often and just pay for gas One thing I don’t like though, the traffic!
Technorati Tags: Vacation 2010, Writing
Subscribe
