MFEO

Whew! I just finished the two-week course that was quite stressful for a number of my office friends and me. We capped it off with a heavy merienda (courtesy of Jade Vine) and a few songs with my magic sing. We can all finally heave a sigh of relief. Although work is not yet over for us (post reports, etc.) but at least the hard part is over.

Last Saturday after having a very hearty breakfast of singangag and longonisang lucban, I had another stomachache. Similar to my gastroenteritis problem last month. It was so bad that I had to throw up everything I ate (gross!). I was also scheduled to see my OB that morning. Good thing, I felt a little better after throwing up (not completely though).

My OB told me that I only gained 1 pound over the course of one month. She said that it’s not that good also. She asked me to lie down so she can check on baby. She said that baby has grown but not that significantly. She said that I need to eat more protein for baby to put on more weight. Since I’m almost on my 7th month already, she told me that I need to see her every two weeks thereafter. Ultrasound? Unfortunately, she hasn’t given me the go signal yet. *Sigh* So excited pa naman.

Joven and I spent the whole day at home since I still am not in tip-top shape to go out. Plus, I was in soft diet so that my intestines can relax. I guess I ate too much the day before. Nuninu. I really need to control my food intake to what really is right lang.

Last Sunday, we made up for the Saturday-scheduled errands. We went to SM San Lazaro BDO to inquire on opening an account. We’ll get to that maybe before Joven leaves for SG again. He’s due to leave either this Wednesday or Sunday and won’t be back till September 15. *Sigh* Consolation: It’ll only be for a week. We also scouted for Avent products for baby. SM has 20% off on all Avent products until the end of the month. Cool! Joven’s going to check if it’s cheaper to get the items at SG (Hmm… Ano pa kaya pwedeng pabili? Hehe!). We also did our weekly grocery after. We didn’t have time to see a movie because we wanted to go to the 28th Manila International Book Fair at the World Trade.

Being book lovers, it has been a yearly thing for us. This time we already have a list of the books we want. Since being pregnant equates to being tired most of the time, we had to make a few rounds as possible of the exhibit area. I was able to get 2 Coelho books (Eleven Minutes and Like the Flowing River) and Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret. I am pretty happy getting the latter and have started reading it already. Joven wasn’t so excited with his loot. He was only able to get Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens. Oh well, maybe next year.

I was dead tired when we got home. I still am pretty tired this morning. Then, I remembered that the next semester of my Spanish classes start this week. Argh! I need some rest.

The Couple

It has been more than a year (and 20+ pounds re-gained) since the train incident…

Still wow.

The Husband

Last Saturday, January 27, Dionne and I met with OJ, Bon, N93 (with Allan), Dhang and Irish. In that order. Hehe.

OJ was the early bird. According to Bon, he was already at Gateway at around 11AM, while everybody else came after 12PM. Meeting was set between 11 and 12… Nuninu.

When we got to the food court, OJ was munching on delectable french fries from NYFD. Then he left us to meet Bon downstairs. He was kind enough to offer us the half-full regular-sized bucket of fries. We were quite hungry by then that we couldn’t resist eating them… Nakakahiya naman kay OJ kaya we decided to buy large fries! Good thing too, since we still had to wait for the others.

Allan and his wonderful N93 arrived next. Seeing the N93 made me want to hide my N90 in shame…

We then decided to check out the movie schedules. Babel was it.

A few minutes later, Irish and Dhang joined us. Unfortunately, Dhang won’t be joining us for the movie because of more important people (drama, hehe). So it’s just 6 tickets for us at the center of row K, which I will later realize is a little too far. Row G would’ve been “optimal”. At least according to Richie’s theory that the best seats are those that are as far to the screen as the screen is tall. Whatever. Hehe.

Lunch was at Bellini’s. YEAH!

*Pics courtesy of N93 and Allan

Allan, at first, because he thought we were going to Marikina (Shoe Expo), then Gateway. He preferred the latter. OK… After a little explaining by the girls, he was in.

Before 3PM, we were on our way back to Gateway for the movie. I got 2 vanilla lattes for us from our favorite coffee shop, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

On to the movie!

The movie was interesting. I got a bit disoriented at first, regarding the sequence of the events. But eventually got it. I must admit that I was more attentive with the parts with the Japanese girl… Haha!

After the movie, we went to Dionne’s new favorite clothes shop, F&H. She got a new office jacket at 50% off.

We also went to Bayo and Kamiseta and then Rustan’s, to look at wish bracelets, crocs sandals, and the new Wade. *drools*

Before going home, we dropped by Fully Booked to check out the expensive books… We went home with Orson Scott Card’s Shadow Puppets, a book on Spanish verbs for Dionne, and Dean Koontz’s The Husband.

The Mother

January 29 was Nanay’s 52nd birthday. We had lunch at Aristocrat’s at SM San Lazaro to celebrate this wonderful occasion. Mommie came with us. Jonjon, unfortunately, was not able to make it from Laguna. He better make up for it next time. Hehe. Meanwhile, Jayson came just before we left. He came from work and looked exhausted. He ate the supposed takeout chicken barbeque right there and then. I’ll be awaiting his libre from his sweldo. Nuninu.

To Nanay, may you have good health and many more years to come! Happy birthday! We love you!

We are.

Since January kicked in, we’ve both been busy. Well, Joven’s mostly busy with work stuff while I am busy with mundane stuff.

So, here’s a short recap of the things that happened in the past few days…

Saturday, January 6

Since I’ve been busy the past week, I decided to pick up my free spa gift certificate from Manila Bulletin Saturday morning. The contact person, Sarah, was nice enough to wait for us since it was already nearing lunch time. We almost got lost, thanks to the taxi driver who brought us to the Manila Times. Haha! Fortunately, Intramuros is small enough for us to find our way.

After, Joven and I plus my mom went to SM San Lazaro to watch Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo. The movie won over Shake Rattle and Roll 8. The movie was surprisingly funny although by the title alone, you’d expect it as mushy. All in all, I enjoyed the film because of Gina Pareño. Hehe.

Sunday, January 7

With nothing better to do, Joven and I went to Tutuban Mall and 168 in Divisoria to shop. I was able to buy 2 blouses and a pair of pants in less than 30 minutes. Since we have time to kill, we went to 168 to see if there are anything we can get our hands on. After going around for almost an hour, we decided to buy DVDs. I bought an 8 animated movies in one CD and 8 action movies in one CD. I got lucky with the first one. The second one was a different story. Audio was terrible! Oh well, that’s what we got because we only paid P75 for it. =P

Ang saya mag-Divisoria two weeks after the holidays. Konti lang tao! Hihi!

Monday, January 8

I was running like crazy in the office. I had four meetings with different groups. Kapagod! I missed one meeting because the previous meeting extended for over an hour. Haay. I had to have my boss attend on my behalf. He was nice enough to make notes. Hihi!

Tuesday, January 9

First day of my Spanish class. The teacher was early and the classroom was still half full when my friends and I got in. I kindda enjoyed it… sort of washed the anxieties away. It’s actually easier to understand because of my background in French. I just hope it wouldn’t be so difficult towards the end and the teacher would remain as nice as he is.

Wednesday, January 10

Big shout out to my sister: Happy Birthday Tita Dap! Hope you had a good one. See you on Saturday!

After work, Joven and I met at the MRT station to have dinner at Kalye Juan @ Tomas Morato. We’re to meet SML sans Ryan (Cors, Benj, Beej & Richie) because he has a Baguio thingy. Richie will be leaving for the US next week and it won’t be until summer of 2008 we’ll get to see him again.

The night ended at Baang coffee (which we were not initially sure if it’s Baang or BangBang. Haha!). According to Richie, the coffee’s not “Wow!” but it’s not bad also. I ordered a Chai Latte which for me was a bit sweet.

Conversation was from “What’s new with you?” to “What’s new with blah-blah?”

We had to end early because of work the following day.

Ingat Richie! See you soon!

Pics here.

Current

I’m busy reading Gap Creek by Robert Morgan. I got it in Booksale at a very reasonable price. I usually look for books that has the Oprah’s Book Club seal because I usually end up liking the book – The Pilot’s Wife, What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day, She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True – to name a few. This one, I can’t put it down. I’m not finished though but I’m really enjoying every minute of it. Another great find for me. I have yet to devour Icy Sparks, House of Sand and Fog and The Poisonwood Bible. =)

It has been quite a relaxing weekend for me although none of our previous plans pushed through. =D

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Last Thursday, because of a cancelled meeting, Joven and I had an impromptu date with the Bs at Rob Place.

Before heading to the cinema, we wanted to buy new swimsuits firsts. Unfortunately, the style I wanted didn’t have my size and Joven wants to buy one in a different store. Because of time constraint and we saw the Speedo store quite late already… we headed to the cinema instead and made a rain check on the swimsuits.

We watched Nacho Libre. I was not too keen on seeing it but relented with a promise that Joven and I will see Lady in the Water (I’m such a fan of M. Night Shyamalan!). Anyway, the Nacho Libre gave me a few laughs but I still think that it’s worth watching in DVD or HBO rather than on the big screen. Thanks for the libre brad, but I’d still want to see the Shyamalan movie. Hehe!

Dinner was at Piadina’s. Nice and cozy. With matching uber-hot-olive-oil-with-garlic to boot. If ever we head that way again, we just might come back. =)

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Friday night was uneventful. Joven was at the gym while I busied myself bloghopping.

Prior to that I was able to (finally!) finish the novel I was reading. Maya Angelou’s autobiography – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. If a copy of the book comes your way, get it and read it! It’s an old book (first published in 1969) but the eloquence of Ms. Angelou is remarkable. Countless of times I passed by the book in the bookstores, my sister even owned a copy of it but I didn’t take notice until I saw it in a book sale in San Miguel. Just an afterthought, I placed it on top of my mom’s purchases. Nice read talaga.

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Saturday was set for Jef’s, (my nephew) 5th birthday. He was to have a party at school early in the afternoon and a party at home, late afternoon to dinner. We decided not to go to his school anymore because our house is quite far from theirs. On board the taxi, we saw Fel’s car in the garage of the school. We decided to stop and take a peek. The party was over and the children are preparing to go home. The “organizers” were already packing the gifts and leftovers. Jef was sitting in one of the benches with his classmates; he has a bubble maker in his hands. He immediately jumped up when he saw us come in. After kissing everybody, he gregariously introduced us to his teachers. He had to repeat twice because the first introduction was unintelligible.

We went to my sister’s place for the second half of the party. Jef was so busy playing until he noticed that he has gifts to open. When he did, he did not stop bothering the adults until we finally had to give in. He was most excited with his Lolo’s gift. He wanted to open it first. We insisted for him to open the smaller gifts instead. When it was time to open ours, natuwa naman ako when I saw his eyes light up. He got his wish daw kasi according to his mom. Robot na nagsasalita at pumapatay ng monster. Although we got him a non-talking, walking robot that lights up instead, he didn’t seem to notice. The dinosaur set we gave him was supposed to pose as monsters were shoved to the side immediately. He later learned who they were and engaged them in his play later. He was also very enthusiastic with the construction set he got from his Lolo. He’s having a hard time not to touch it though. =D

Pics here.

Segue: While I was searching the net for Jef’s gift, I was surprised to find this. I didn’t know if I should laugh, be surprised or get myself one of those plants. =D

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Sunday was spent at home. The heavy rains got the better of us. We didn’t even dare to buy groceries for fear of being stranded. So the plan to buy swimsuits and swim apparel was crossed out of our list already. Plus Lady in the Water is out of the question. We were to stay at home and do something else.

We did! We watched the 16 60-minute episodes of Mai Geol (My Girl)! We got hooked! Okay, speaking for myself… I got hooked! The first 10 episodes we finished last Sunday and the remaining 6, yesterday! Yay! I’m not a kapamilya so I’m not aware that it’s being shown on TV until I read it in Weng and Geri’s blogs.

After the 16 episodes, I would greet Joven with yoboseyo’s. In turn, he would put his fist up and say bashya (which until now, we don’t know what the meaning is) and fighting (with thick Korean accent). I was so interested, I had to ask a number of details from my officemate who studied in Korea for a year. Ako din kaya? Nuninu. =D

Lee Dong-Wook does look nice. I have to agree with Weng and Geri on this. Throughout the series, Joven and I would comment that he looks like some local actors. In the end, LDW has a face of his own. Gwapo nga talaga.

My Girl official website. Di ko nga lang maintindihan. Hehe!

Next stop. House M.D. =D

Yesterday, I had a late (but great) birthday gift from Dulce. It was a 105-page book entitled “12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country” by Alexander L. Lacson.

My boss saw it on my desk and told me he heard a lot about the book. I knew that he was a book enthusiast but his genre is a bit different from what I like. From what he said, I got curious. This morning, I picked up the book. The moment I started reading it, I cannot put it down. There were moments when I got teary eyed because of frustration. The Foreword by E. D. Apostol was right, it will bother you.

I’m sharing the list to you. But I suggest you get hold of a copy yourself. His insights really bores a hole in one’s conscience.

1. Follow traffic rules. Follow the law.

2. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt.

3. Don’t buy smuggled goods. Buy local. Buy Filipino.

4. When you talk to others, especially foreigners, speak positively about us and our country.

5. Respect your traffic officer, policemen and soldier.

6. Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve.

7. Support your church.

8. During elections, do your solemn duty.

9. Pay your employees well.

10. Pay your taxes.

11. Adopt a scholar or a poor child.

12. Be good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law and love our country.

Among the 12 things, I’m already doing 7. I’m struggling to do 2. One I will do soon. One I will do once I give birth. One I will do in the future.

Like these people, I dream that we would be a beautiful nation with beautiful people someday. I just hope that my children will live to see the day that this dream is realized.