I didn’t receive an LV Vernis bag for Christmas (LOL) but I am happy still with hubby’s Christmas gift for me and Bela.

We are now booked at Marco Polo Davao for our city accommodation and Pearl Farm for our 2nd and 3rd day in Davao. I didn’t really want to splurge so much on our hotel accommodation but hubby kept on insisting that he wants us to have a relaxing time and since we are spending anyways, then why not go for the best. So how can I say no if hubby is insisting? LOL.

So last week I booked an overnight stay at Marco Polo Davao through Asia Travel again. This will be hubby’s Christmas gift for me and Bela. Asia Travel offers an instant confirmation for Marco Polo Davao so I got a voucher as soon as my payment was received.

So this is what is in store for us at Marco Polo Davao:

So I guess we are all set. I am excited already. It is really very busy and stressful at work so I really need this vacation.

I can’t believe Christmas is already finish. I have been busy with work these past few days that I didn’t feel that Christmas is already here. But I am glad that I was able to catch up with the holiday spirit since I was able to spend my Christmas day with my family. I have posted my Christmas eve and Christmas day story on my other blog.

I remember last year I was so prepared for Christmas that I was even able to make “do it your own” personalized Christmas tags using colorful papers and custom rubber stamps. I was able to finish all my Christmas shopping and wrap all of the gifts early (except for our gift for Bela since I have to wait for hubby’s arrival on the eve of Christmas to wrap it since he bought it in the US).

This year was really busy since I didn’t even have a chance to buy a gift for my dad and I have to ask my brother to do the shopping for me. And then I was doing last minute shopping for our gift for my mother. I guess we are really that busy in the office that is why I didn’t find the time to prepare for Christmas this year.

But like what they always say, gifts are not important. What would make our Christmas meaningful is if we spend it with our family and I am 100% sure that we really had a very meaningful and happy Christmas.

I will be busy tomorrow and the coming days as we have to attend a lot of family gatherings and celebrate our Christmas together as a family so I might not be able to visit your blogs.

Picture taken today after attending the evening mass. Bela and I are wearing the blouses that I bought from Katrice Wear

But I do wish all of you a blessed Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year!
~~ Howell, Abie and Bela ~~

I can't believe that it is already 2 AM on Christmas day and I am still working. But don't blame me. Laziness is not the reason why I am still working on Christmas day. Things are really crazy at the office that I have been working late during weekdays and even on weekends which gives me no time to finish all my tasks. I am so tired every time I arrived home after a very busy day at work, that I doze off to sleep immediately.

But of course I don't want to be still working on Christmas day and we have family activities lined up on the 26th and 27th and I have to work again on the 28th. So I better finish all my tasks tonight and I even need to help my dad look for a store where he can buy supercharger so I can start to PARTY!

It is Christmas day and I am a bit excited as we will have a reunion later. But I am sad too as my cousins Tessa and Joseph, won't be able to go to our reunion and be with us to hear mass as they are at the hospital right now as their father is sick. It is a tradition in our family that we have to make time so we will be complete on Christmas day to celebrate together. But of course my cousins have to be with their father tomorrow on this special occasion too so we really understand.

As for us, it will be a very busy day. We will celebrate Christmas first with my family and we will have food from CCME where we ordered all their house specialties (yummy). Then we will celebrate Christmas with Howell's family in the afternoon. Howell is also planning to spend the night at our house in Bulacan as he wants to check the Fig trees that he planted their last month.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a safe and blessed New Year.

1.) DID YOU DONATE ANY MONEY/GIFTS/TIME TO CHARITY THIS YEAR? Yes. Every year we celebrate our daugther’s birthday at our favorite charity.

2.) WERE YOU IN A HURRY TO GROW UP AS A CHILD? DO YOU EVER WISH YOU HAD ENJOYED BEING A KID MORE? I enjoyed my childhood.

3.) WHAT SNACK DID YOU USED TO LEAVE SANTA? DID YOU EVER CATCH A PARENT PUTTING AWAY OR EATING THE TREAT YOU LEFT FOR SANTA? Candies and No, I never caught my parents putting away or eating the treats that I left for Santa.

4.) IF YOU WERE NOT RELATED TO YOUR COUSINS, ARE THEY PEOPLE YOU WOULD PICK AS FRIENDS? Yes, my cousins are so cool.

5.) WHEN WAS YOUR LAST AWKWARD MOMENT? WHAT HAPPENED?
I can’t remember the date but I know we were at Hong Kong Disneyland that time and I was so tired that I did not notice that there is a gutter while walking and so I almost feel down to the ground.

6.) WHAT IS ONE GIFT YOU WOULD BE REALLY EXCITED TO RECEIVE THIS HOLIDAY? LV Vernis or LV NF

7.) WHEN STAYING WITH RELATIVES/HAVING RELATIVES STAY WITH YOU FOR THE HOLIDAYS, IS SEX A GO OR PUT ON HOLD? Put on hold.

8.) DO YOU HAVE ANY TRADITIONS FOR THE HOLIDAYS? (ie opening one gift Christmas Eve and saving the rest for Christmas Day, opening them all Christmas Eve, listening to a particular holiday CD while opening gifts, preparing a special breakfast, ETC). We always go to mass together as a family on the eve of Christmas then we will have our Christmas dinner. On Christmas day, we all gather at my grand mother’s house for our reunion and exchange gifts. Then we also have new set of clothes on Christmas day.

9.) WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WOULD BE EMBARRASSED TO RECEIVE AS A GIFT? Can’t think of any right now.

10.) DO YOU COLLECT ANYTHING? DVDs of my favorite TV series, books of Sophie Kinsella and Stephanie Meyer.

This is hubby several years ago when he was still single.

And this is my husband now.

Did you see the big difference? He has been complaining about how much he gained weight and he keeps on telling me that he should start to go on a diet. He enrolled for a three years membership at Slimmers World but it’s been more than three years now and I think he just went to the gym once or twice.

So he figured going to the gym is not the best way for him to loose weight. Since he is a sports fanatic, he thought that getting into team sports like basketball or football could be a great way to exercise and to loose weight.

Just recently, he joined a basketball league at their office and so he got to play at least once a week. He even bought new pair of basketball shoes so he has something to use every time they have a game. He even talked to my friend who plays football and he might join him in one of their games too.

At least hubby is conscious now of his health and I am glad he is turning into sports as his way to loose weight.

What if I loose my job? What do you think will be my options?
1. I can be a stay at home or work at home mom.
2. I can work full time at our cell phone store and invest my separation pay to expand our cell phone business.
3. I can apply for an IT job in another company.

Really, I don’t think I have that many options. Having a career in the IT field is I think, the only job that I know. Not like my friend. She is so artistic that she can even have a job in the beauty and fashion industry if ever she loose her job as an IT professional. She can search the site of Find a Beauty School to look for beauty schools in arizona where she can get training. Using the site for her search will be very easy as the schools are sorted by state and zip code and each school has a link to the school’s website.

Good for her, she can easily find a job in the beauty field which is really her second passion. As for me, I am happy with my job now and I don’t think I will be looking for another job and I might have this job until I retire.

1. On an average year, how many days before Christmas do you generally finish your Christmas shopping? One day before. I always forget someone in my list and I always make last minutes shopping for those persons that I missed.
2. Is the economy making you spend any less on gifts this year, or are you spending about the same? About the same or maybe even more expensive since the prices of all items really increased a lot since last year.
3. What part of the Christmas scene do you find the most chaotic? What part do you generally worry most about? Last minute shopping and maybe I worry most about not having enough budget to give gifts to all my friends, god children and family.
4. Take the quiz: What Movie is Your Christmas Most Like? My Christmas is Most Like: A Very Brady Christmas - For you, it's all about sharing times with family.
Even if you all get a bit cheesy at times.
5. What Christmas movie is your favorite? Which one is your least favorite? Home Alone. My least favorite? None. I love all Christmas movies.
6. What Christmas tradition from years past do you miss the most now? Having hot chocolate on Christmas eve.

Before I get busy since I need to get life insurance quotes online, let me post first my entry for this week’s Saturday Special.

==

1. Holiday Shopping in Stores or Online? Although I bought a lot of my presents online, I would still love shopping in stores as I can actually see how it looks. There are times that the actual look of the things that I bought online is really different than what is posted on the site.

2. Holiday Parades or Football? Holiday parades.

3. Holidays at Home or Visiting Others? At home. I would just love to stay at home and just wait for our family and friends to visit us. The holiday season is tiring as it is, and I don’t want to spend hopping from one house to the next.

4. Holiday Parties or Family Gatherings? Family gatherings. I would definitely love to spend my holidays with my family. For me, it is more meaningful if I spend it that way.

I think that is how I will describe our house in Bulacan. Since it is the old house of my grandmother, the style is already outdated and it needs major redesign.

Howell was checking the blogs on my blog roll and he can’t help but feel envious when he saw the construction work being done at Jody and Dicky’s dream house. He really wanted to start the renovation of our house in Bulacan as he really wants us to settle there and leave the busy city life. Of course I am excited too as it is our first real investment and it would be nice to live in your own dream house. I will definitely hire an interior decorator to help us with the design and style of our house. I want a minimalist effect but I would like it to have good lighting design to make it look homey like using those wall sconce in all the rooms.

Oh well, for now it will just be a dream for us as we want to start with the construction when we are already through paying our housing loan as we don’t want our debts to pile up. It will still be two years from now before we can start with the construction of our dream house so I still have a lot of time in my hands to think about the design for our new home.

And so I saw this shirt on Kelly’s blog…

She got it from Karl Edwards Bazaar. My friend also has a “Team Edward” hoodies which she also got from Karl Edwards Bazaar but unfortunately up to know I haven’t find the time to go and check out the bazaars. I wonder where I can buy those cute Edward Cullen shirts aside from the bazaar. Or to my sister, maybe you can buy this shirt for me for your Christmas gift. LOL.

And look at these bangles (I am sure they will really go well with this shirt):

These are hand painted bangles from Baubles, Bangles and Beads. I already ordered a bangle from them which I gave as present to Thea during the MBAPs Christmas party and I can say that their products are really unique, fashionable and pretty. I will definitely order this Twilight bangles from them after the holiday soon as I don’t think I can visit the bank to make a deposit before the 24th (which is the last banking day for this year).

I am so tired. I feel that I have been beaten up or something. I plan to wake up early so I just left the computer on during the night but since I was so tired, I woke up just a little before 12 noon. I can’t remember the last time I sleep this long.

It was a busy week for us in the office. Renovation work has started and part of the job of the IT team is to disconnect all network connection from the patch panel and disconnect them from the drops itself. Then we have to move PCs and set up temporary offices of users who will not have any office while the construction work is on going. We are a little short staffed last week and so it was really crazy. I was running here and there to service all the clients and to do the tasks needed for the renovations. What made it more difficult is that there have been delays in the project due to a number of reasons like, there are some materials that haven’t been delivered yet or the office furniture hasn’t arrived yet. These delays is giving us additional problems since we have to set up additional temporary office since the room that is intended for the users is not completed on time.

That is the reason why I am offline most of the time even in the evenings. I am so tired after a busy day at the office that I immediately doze off to bed as soon as I get home.

I was so caught up with our busy holiday schedule plus we are really so busy with work that I almost forgot that in just a few weeks time, hubby and I will be celebrating our fourth year anniversary.

I can still remember, hubby gave me the wedding of my dreams. I was a hands on brides to be then. I personally talk to each of my suppliers and take care and manage all the aspects of our wedding.

One of my favorite supplier is my cousin, Pido. He is an event stylist and since he is my cousin, he gave us his service for free. We just got wholesale flowers (which are really affordable compared to getting it to a local florist. And even though it is affordable, the flowers delivered where fresh and very beautiful) and then he took care of the event styling of the reception venue plus flower arrangement for our table centerpiece, the bridal bouquet and the whole entourage.

Here are some pictures during our wedding:

i got this fun tag from pheng. thanks sis! :)

the rules will start by using google images to search for your answers to the questions below. you must choose pictures from the first page from the results and post it as your answer.

1. age of my next birthday

2. place/places i would like to travel

3. my favorite place

4. a favorite thing

5. my favorite food

6. my favorite color/s

7. the city i reside now

8. the city i was born

9. my college major

10. name of your first lover

11. a bad habit

12. a hobby/hobbies

13. my wish list (max of 3)

passing this on to peachy, jacqui and jody

These pictures were taken last year after Howell put up our Christmas tree before he left for the US.


We already put up our Christmas tree a few weeks ago already but up to now Howell hasn’t taken a picture of it yet. All our gifts are already under the tree and Howell even bought an area rugs to be put under the tree but up to know he hasn’t found the time to put up the Christmas lights for the tree. That is the reason also why he still hasn’t taken a picture of our Christmas tree yet since it is halfway finish.

Christmas is just a few days away but up to now we are still very busy. I will be working overtime this weekend and on Tuesday and next Sunday too. Hopefully before Christmas, Howell will be able to totally finish putting up our Christmas tree just in time for our family reunion on the 25th.

I was just talking to our big boss at our Management and Consular Christmas party and he is telling us that the Christmas season can really be both fun and tiring.

I totally agree with him. Since last week I have been going home late since I have to stop by at the mall to do my Christmas shopping or to attend Christmas parties or to meet up with friends for Christmas dinner. I think to date; I have attended a minimum of seven Christmas parties or gatherings and since the start of December we are always out every weekend for our Christmas shopping and up to now I am not even done yet with my list.

Because of that I have been missing my favorite show, “I love Betty La Fea.” LOL. Actually I am totally lost now with the story since I already miss a lot of episodes. If only I have a Slingbox, I would have been able to watch my favorite TV show on my mobile phone.

In the Philippines, we know that the Christmas season starts early. We start preparing for Christmas since September and it is even extended up to the first week of January. And like what our big boss told us, we still have a few more weeks until January so it means I still have a few more weeks before I can totally rest and relax.

On our last day, we went first to the Avenue of the Stars as Howell and my cousin had to have a picture with the statue of Bruce Lee and the star of Jackie Chan.


Canton street (where the biggest LV store is located) is just walking distance from Avenue of the Stars so that is the next item on itinerary. My brother’s girl friend asked me to buy a mini lin for her but too bad it is out of stock. I saw the Speedy Damier bag that I was drooling for months (or even years) now and so I was not able to control myself and I bought my dream bag right then and there without even thinking. LOL. The sales assistant even showed me the conversion in pesos but I did not even look at it when I signed the charge slip as I might change my mind if I see it. So I walked out of the LV store all smiles with my brown bag. LOL.

Then we went to Causeway bay for more shopping. We saw the Royce booth at the Supermarket at the basement of Times Square and we did quite a lot of chocolate shopping there. Then we went out and we saw the Crocs store in front of Times Square. Bela said “Wow. Where are the small ones? How can I choose?” when we entered the store. They are giving us 25% discount and so we end up buying crocs for all of us. My sister even bought a cute bag which is really a steal and I am sure it is way more expensive here in Manila. Then we went to Sasa for perfume shopping.


Then we went to the mall where Toys R’ Us is located (I forgot the name of the mall) as Bela wants to go to Toys R’ Us. I was so tired (and broke too) that I just stayed with Bela and Howell at TRU while my cousins and my sisters did more shopping. Toys are Howell’s weakness so he bought a couple of toys too which according to him, he won’t be able to find at TRU here.

After our whole day of shopping, we went back to the hotel to get our luggage. Good thing the airport express has a pick up point at BP International so we just took the bus going to Kowloon station where we took the train going to the airport.

Our flight was on time and my mom and dad is already waiting for us when we reached Terminal 3 of NAIA around 12 AM.

More pictures here.

I can’t believe how busy we are at the office right now. Usually during the holiday season it is really quiet and I sometimes get bored since there is really nothing to do since most people go on leave.

But things are really different now since renovation work just started and we have to a lot of things. Just like today. I arrived at exactly 8:00 AM and then as soon as I drop my bag in my room, I was not able to go back to my room to even check my email for the whole day. I have to move three people today to their temporary office since their work area will be work on in the evening. I have to disconnect their PCs, disconnect their network drops and create a new network drops for them. Then after moving them, I have to set up their PC again and check to see if they can connect to the network. Then I set up four PCs in the board room as temporary offices of those who have to relocate because of the renovation. No network drops is configured at the board room so I have to make a network srops there also to connect the four PCs to the network.

It is ok if this were our only job. But of course we have to provide technical support to our other clients. We have to help them with their software and hardware problems, and we even have to find a supplier for digital signage for one of our clients.

It is really crazy. The renovations won’t be finish until end of February and it may even be extended up to March so I will be quite busy for the next couple of months.

Red is the color of Christmas. I was looking at the site of the popular online eyeglasses shop and I found this:


Isn’t it cute? This is one thing that I like about Zenni Optical. They have a wide selection of styles for eyeglasses and would you believe that they offer $ 8 Complete Rx Eyeglasses.

I am really looking for a nice gift to give my aunt as I am already running out of ideas on what to give her and since she really needs new eyeglasses, I thought that the Holiday Glass Frames From Zenni Optical would be the perfect gift for her.

I just have to get her eye prescription which I can easily get from her ophthalmologist and I can order this great eyeglass from Zenni online and voila, I have a nice Christmas present for my dear aunt.

I don’t know why there are some people who can really be manipulative and selfish. I am so pissed because I have to deal with that person. I can’t bear to even look at her. She is all smiles after she did her evil plot and she is good at pretending that she did not do anything and she is the good girl. I don’t know why she can ever live like that.

But like what I said, I believe in karma and I know all the bad things that she is doing right now will all come back to her. And besides she now longer has any friends because of what she has been doing.

Oh well, I am just so pissed since I can’t believe that a person can do such an evil thing. I just wish that someday she will come to her senses and she will realize that what she is doing is really wrong. Or maybe it would be better if she will just disappear from my life. LOL.

Jacqui organized another MBAP meeting last Friday. I really wanted to come as I like to meet up with the girls before Christmas and I specially miss having a personal chat with them. I get to talk to them via text or email but it would be a whole lot different if we chat in person.

These were their itinerary:

12:00 – 1:30 pm Lunch at Greenbelt
2:15 pm Watch Twilight
4:30 – 6: 30pm Shopping (This would be a perfect opportunity for me to check out the lcd monitor at Avant that I am eyeing to buy)
6:30 pm Dinner
8:00 pm Coffee or Foot spa

Last Friday was Bela’s Christmas party at school so I can’t make it even if I get off from work by 1:30. Then there was a big rally along Ayala and since hubby has a wedding coverage that day, I got scared that I might have a hard time going home because of the rally so I decided to go home with my dad after Bela’s party.

I heard Peachy, Joy, Jacqui and Jody had a blast specially when they visited the LV and Gucci store. So who brought home with something from these stores?

Too bad I was not able to go. I am sure the girls had fun. Hope I will be able to make it next time.

Are you expecting? I have posted a story here days ago about my encounter with an officemate who asked me thrice if I am pregnant or not. And as if it is not enough, another colleague of mine asked me again if I am expecting or not. He must have seen the look on my face (as I look shocked and irritated) after he asked me that is why he dropped the subject right away when I said no.

This is the second time in a week that somebody ask me if I am pregnant or not. As what I said before, I am really not conscious with my weight these days. In fact, I eat what I like to eat without even thinking how much calories with I gain from eating it. But gosh, after getting these questions from my colleagues whom I get to see everyday, it makes me really think if I am really that fat that I already look pregnant.

And with the coming holiday season, I guess I have to start taking Apidexin if I really want to look sexy as I really bought a really sexy dress that I plan to wear on Christmas day.

Join us here.

1. Do you like to read a book that is in movie format before you view the movie, or afterwards? I am really not a book work and I will read a book only if I really, really like it but I would like to read the book first before watching the movie format.
2. Have you ever had a dream about being a place you’ve never been, and days or years later, you end up there? Yup it happened to me quite a number of times already. I just can’t recall the exact details of the dream but I know I have experienced that.
3. How do you dream… in black-and-white or color? In color.
4. How many personal ‘fantasy worlds’ exist in your head? A lot. One is my fantasy for Edward Cullen. LOL.
5. What would you like to learn more about? I really like to learn how to cook. I love cooking but my problem is I am really lazy. But I would really love to learn how to prepare sumptuous and mouth watering meals.
6. What was the last family event you attended? The birthday party of my daughter.
7. Have you told your Mom and Dad, lately, how much you love and appreciate them? We live close to my mom and dad so I see them everyday so I don’t really tell them I love you every day but I show them how much and love them through actions. I get to text them I love you every now and then also.
8. Too much to do, what do you do? I will not stop working and I will only rest until everything is finish.
9. Do you like to save ‘the best for last’? Yes
10. Pick an online friend. Only ONE. Tell me something about her. A link to her blog/site so we can take a peek! Ok, I have a lot but I will select Joy. We belong to the same group – MBAP and we get to see each other almost every three months. She is so down to earth, very hands on mommy to Sandy, a very good web programmer and most especially we both drool over Robert Pattinson. LOL.

Today is our all staff Christmas party. I was wearing exactly the same dress today:

But I did not wear a leggings but I just wore it as a plain dress. One of my officemate approached me to ask me this:

Officemate: Are you pregnant?
Me: No!!

My officemate was thinking that I was joking and so she asked again:

Officemate: Owss?!! Are you kidding? You’re pregnant right?
Me: No!!

And as if she is not really convinced with my answer and she have to ask me again for the third time. I was already tempted to say yes just so she will stop bugging me. LOL. I was really not insulted as I know that my tummy is big. At least it made me realize I have to use Slimquick Cleanse to put me back in shape. I have not been really conscious of what I eat lately and even I noticed that my tummy is getting bigger and bigger. Of course I am pretty sure that I am not pregnant since I just had my period. I just really need to do some work out and diet. LOL.

We started our day again late. We left the hotel around 10:30 AM and we started looking for the terminal where we can ride the ferry going to Macau. The front desk staff told us that it is just by the corner of the hotel but we had a hard time looking for it.

We were able to catch the 12 nn ferry going to Macau and so we are at Macau by 1 PM. We went to the Fisherman’s Warf for some picture taking again and then we took a cab from there going to the St. Paul Ruins. We checked out the ruins first before we had lunch at the Plaza. The plaza was so crowded since there is a concert so we left right after we had lunch.


Then we went to Macau Tower. We went up to the viewing deck and the view there was so amazing. Of course I was so scared again to step on the glass bottom floor but Bela was really enjoying it as she was even running and jumping and was not even scared to look down. We also went up to the Open Viewing Deck were we were able to watch visitors trying the Sky Walk and the Bungee Jump.
After Macau Tower, we went back to the ferry terminal and we catch the free bus that will take us to the Venetian Hotel. The Venetian Hotel was so beautiful. It is indeed bigger compared to the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. We were able to check quote a few shops at the Grand Canal and we tried the Gondola ride.Bela had a great time riding the gondola while we are being entertained by our handsome gondolier, Alissio. We even told them that it is Bela’s birthday so all the gondoliers sang Happy Birthday (in Italian) for Bela when we reached the loading dock.We went back to the ferry station after our gondola ride to catch our ferry going back to Hong Kong Island. It was not the kind of ferry ride that I wanted and I almost got scared. Good thing I was so tired and sleepy so I just sleep instead since Bela was sleeping soundly too.

You can view more pictures here.