1. What is your ideal past time on a Lazy Summers Day? I love t stay in doors, inside an air-condition room and just watch TV or sleep or play with my daughter.
2. Do you enjoy BBQs? Oh yes. We usually do it every summer. We would even go out of town, to a near beach resort so we can enjoy BBQ party more.
3. Sun bathing or lazing in a pool? Lazing in the pool. Summer here in my part of the world is so hot and humid and so uncomfortable so I would prefer to dip in the pool over sun bathing.
4. Chilled glass of wine or chilled pop/juice? Chilled pop juice because it feels more refreshing.
5. If it’s too hot do you try to tan like a lobster or go inside? Go inside.
6. Do you worry about the risk of cancer when binge sunbathing? Hmm, not really because I love to get a tan so I don’t mind sunbathing.

Have you seen this from Katrice Wear site?

I posted on my other blog that I ordered this from Katrice Wear and it will be delivered to me on June 8. I am excited to wear it already because as you can see, it really looks good on Marissa (Katrice Wear’s owner) and her daugther.

As soon as I saw Jane and Sophia wearing it during the MBAPs summer getaway, I instantly wanted to order one because it looks so sexy so I contacted Marissa when we reached Manila. But of course, I did not realize that I am not as sexy as Jane and Marissa. LOL. So I have been reading weight loss pill reviews so I can slash some excess pounds so at least I can do some justice on the cute and sexy short summer dress from Katrice Wear. LOL.

Wish me luck. I promise to post a picture of me and Bela wearing our matching outfit when it arrives. I have ordered three pairs from Katrice Wear already and unfortunately, I haven’t posted any of our pictures here. Every time Bela and I are wearing it, I always forget to ask hubby to take our picture so hopefully, we can have a pictorial wearing our short summer dress this time.

Every year, I started to plan for Bela’s birthday as early as June. Now that Bela is turning four years old, I am not sure if we will have another party for her. (Oh well, this is what I said last year and I ended up with three parties. LOL).

Can you blame me? Now that she is turning four, she definitely can appreciate her party and every time I ask her, she really wants to have a party for her birthday. She is choosing between Little Einsteins and Animal Mechanicals theme. LOL.

But I really wanted to save this time and hopefully I will be able to keep my promise to hubby that we will have a simple celebration this year. But actually, my plan is she will just have a simple celebration at school. During their summer class, I saw two students who celebrated their birthday at school. They just got Jollibee for the food and they even have the Jollibee mascot. So I am thinking of doing the same thing. I just have to talk to the school administrator and I’m planning to just give party invitations to all her classmates, teachers and staffs at MSS and then I will just order food from Jollibee and have a Jollibee mascot too since Bela just so loves Jollibee. And of course we will have our annual party at a charitable institution, probably at Hospicio de San Jose again (and it will be our third year with them if ever) and I will just invite all our relatives and we will have dinner after the party at Dampa in Macapagal (This is what my kumareng Peachy did during Joaqui’s 2nd birthday).

Oh well, I still have a few months. Who knows what I will decide upon. LOL.

I ordered another nappy cake from Nice and Debbie as our gift for the son of my sister in law during his baptism last Sunday. And just as I expected, I love the final output. I just IMed Debbie and told her of my requirements and I showed her pictures of their previous designs that I like. I particularly like this one:

So I told her if she can make something similar to this but a male version of this design and I told her if she can work with this design within my budget. Her initial plan was to use a “Cars” theme but she told me that it did not work out and so this is what she came up with:

I love it. Even my husband love it and my sister in law love it too. There was even a guest who asked me where I bought it. Thanks again Nice and Debbie. Sa ulitin.

I heard from the news that one of the biggest semiconductor industries here will be closing and they will be moving their production site to other Asian countries where labor is cheap. I guess this is an effect again of the global recession.

But since these companies need to save money, they need to be moving their machines and equipments to their new production site and that’s when the service of portland crating services comes into picture.

With their plant relocation portland service, moving an entire plant to a new location will never be a problem. Their trained staff will help the company pack their equipments and ship them to the new plant location. What is best with this company is they offer crating portland services where they can even make custom made crates to fit in all equipments so all the machines and equipment will be safely packed in crates to avoid any damages during the shipment.

I am sure this semiconductor company will never be sorry for getting shipping crates portland services for their plant move. And although it will be a great lost since a number of employees will loose their job, I guess we can’t do anything about it as a lot of companies are really closing due to the effect of the global recession. We just have to hope and pray that our economy will be able to bounce back soon…

Have you tried investing in stock market? My cousin is planning to invest in stock market and he is asking me if I want to invest with him too. Honestly, I heard from a lot of people that investing in the stock market is a wise move but I can’t seem to grasp how stock markets really work. I assume that I should have a good knowledge at least of the stock market so I will know how to handle my investments to get profits.

But my cousin showed me his Power Options software which helped him make decisions on what stocks to invest to. My cousin doesn’t have good knowledge of the stock market also, but with the help of the Power Options software who does all the comparison and analyses for him, he was able to make good stock investments. Power Options even has a great tool that handles covered calls.

Oh well, I promised my cousin that I will check the trial version of Power Options so at least I will learn the ropes of stock market investment as I want to make stock investments too.

Camp John Hay will start to offer 50% off from their room rates starting June 15, 2009. We were able to avail of this promo when we went to Baguio last year and every year this “Irresistible Baguio” promo is being offered by Camp John Hay from June 15 to September 30.

We are planning to take our new car to Our Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan for a blessing and so I was thinking to avail of Camp John Hay’s promo again for this year so we can proceed to Baguio after going to Manaoag and we can stay there for three days and two nights.

Let’s see. I will discuss this first with hubby…LOL.

1. What bill do you hate paying the most? Electricity Bill

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner? Tagaytay

3. How many colleges did you attend? 1

4. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now? No other choice. LOL.

5. First thought when the alarm went off this morning? Arrg, do I really have to go to work?

6. Last thought before going to sleep last night? This has been a very stressful day.

7. What do you miss being a child? Being carefree. That I don’t have to worry about anything because my parents will always be there for me.

8. What errand/chore do you despise? Washing the dishes.

9. Have you found real love yet? Yes.

10. What do you get every time you go into Wal-Mart? We don’t have Wal-Mart here in Manila.

11. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual? Nope. Married is a sacred thing for me.

12. What famous person would you like to have dinner with? Barrack Obama.

13. Ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose? Nope and I don’t think if I have the need to use it, I would just panic and I would not even think of using the fire extinguisher.

14. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go? San Diego

15. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship? New career perhaps.

16. Do you have a “go to” person? None.

17. Are you where you want to be in life? Definitely.

18. Over the years, what about you do you think has changed the most? I am more responsible now, more caring, has become selfless.

19. Looking back at high school were they the best years of your life? Yes. In fact I still keep in touch with my high school friends and we always sees to it that we get to see each other once in a while.

20. Are there times you still feel like a kid? Yes.

21. Where was the hang out spot when you were a teenager? Bars.

22. Who do you think impacted your life the most? The failures that I had in the past.

23. Was there a teacher or authority figure that stood out for you? None.

24. Do you tell stories that start with “when I was your age”? Yeah, a lot of times which really make me feel a little bit old already. LOL.

25. What is the scariest thing that has happened to you as an adult? When I received the news that my daughter has a congenital heart disease and when my mom told me that my aunt is dying from cancer.

26. What advice would you give to someone about to get married? That they better be sure that it is the right one

27. What advice would you give someone starting their first job? Don’t be scared to explore and to try new things.

28. If you could go back and change one thing you did, what would it be? I could have stayed I touch with my friends from college specially C & H.

29. If you could go back and change one thing someone else did, what would it be? None. I only mind my own business.

Have you seen our wedding souvenirs? I was cleaning up pictures from my hard drive and I saw the picture of the souvenir that we had on our wedding and I thought to share it here because one of my friend who is getting married is asking for suggestions for their wedding favors.

When we were still planning for our wedding, I always visit the site of The Knot because they have a lot of great ideas on their site that we can definitely use as inspiration for our wedding. I always check their line of wedding souvenirs and my favorite is their wedding supplies that they can personalize with the couples names and initials. That is why when my friend asked for my suggestion for their wedding souvenir, I did not think twice and gave her the site of The Knot.

I am sure my friend will find lots of great personalized wedding supplies that she can buy to make their wedding truly unique and memorable.

1. Name a few of your favorite books. Twilight series, The Shopaholic Series
2. Is there an author that you don't like, yet so many people seem to love? I can’t think of any no as I am bad at remembering names of author especially if I don’t like his or her style.
3. Name a book to film adaptation that you really like. Name one you think was done poorly. I don’t think there was a film adaptation that was really good compared to the book. Almost all the books that were made into a movie can never really compare to the quality of the book version
4. Where do you buy your books? Fully Booked and National Bookstore
5. What genre do you read the most? Any.
6. What genre do you dislike? Nothing in particular.
7. Is there a book that has changed your life? Hmm, Og Mandino’s books
8. Have you ever met an author? What author would you like to meet?
till next time...None yet. I would love to meet Stephanie Meyer.

Hubby is planning to take his CISSP exam this coming July in Hong Kong. CISSP exam is not being offered here in Manila and the most possible schedule that fits in hubby’s schedule is the exam on July 19 at Hong Kong.

I was already ready to book a ticket as hubby wants me and Bela to join him since the exam is only for four hours so we can have a quick stay at Disneyland or visit Ocean Park and have a quick shopping too.

But then I suddenly had to think twice about going to Hong Kong after hearing from the news that all the guests in one of the hotels in Hong Kong were quarantined after they found one guest from Mexico that is suspected to have swine flu. I think the hotel guests have all been cleared now but I am still thinking twice since I don’t want to take a risk especially if it is for my daughter’s sake.

Well, we will see…We still have less than two months to decide…

So I had a haircut a couple of weeks ago and after my sister saw my new look, she got convinced too to have a hair cut and so she went home yesterday with her new look. My sister said that she loves her new look but she mentioned that her new look comes with a hefty price that she has to pay after all the treatment that was done to her hair.

So my mother was teasing us that we should have let her do our hair treatment instead of going to the salon so we cold have saved a lot of money. We were just laughing at her suggestion because we thought that she was only joking but then my aunt mentioned that my mom did studied cosmetology when she was still single and it became her sideline which helped her earn extra money to help her and her family with their expenses.

But that was quite a few decades ago and too bad there was sill no Regency Beauty Institute that time. Who knows if my mom went to Regency Beauty Institute for her cosmetology training, she would have gotten the best training and she might have gotten a good job in the beauty industry since Regency Beauty Institute not only provide excellent training for their students, but they also help them get jobs after their training.

Oh well, those were the days and I know my mom is happy with what she is today and I am sure that she is contended with her life, now that she has three lovely kids and a very sweet grand daughter who just love her to the bits.

If you could completely redecorate any room in your house at no expense to you, what room would you choose?

That would be a difficult choice as our house needs major redecorating. LOL. But I would say our living room because that is where we spend most of our day so having a nice living room would be a very good thing for us.

Which hour of the day do you feel goes the slowest?

After lunch. Because that is the time where I feel really sleepy and I just can’t wait for the day to finish.

If your birthday could be in a different month of the year, when would you have it?

Maybe mid of the year. My birthday falls on the month of January and sometimes people are still busy catching up after the holiday season so sometimes they can’t find time to spend their time with me on my birthday. LOL.

Thanks to Peachy (my kumare) and to Jody for this award. I never really thought that I would be able to find great true friends online, but you all prove that is really possible. Thanks for the friendship.


Rules:
1. Take your award here.
2. Put the logo on your post.
3. Link the person who awarded you.
4. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
5. Add links to those blogs on yours.
6. Leave a message for your nominees on their blog.

Passing this to all the MBAP mommies, Aggie, Alpha, Apple, Apols, Jacqui, Jane, Jody, Joy, Kathy, Kelly, Mich, Peachy and Thea and to my former colleague and good friend Ems.

For years now, hubby and I have been planning to finish our degree program. You see, we both are just one step away from acquiring our Graduate School Degree. Hubby just needs to finish his thesis to graduate from his Master of Science in Information Technology course at De La Salle University and I just need to finish my thesis too to finish my Master of Science in Engineering Management course at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

But we both are now over our residency period and so we have to take refresher subjects before we can enroll in the thesis program. The bad news is, we are both very busy that is why it has been years already and we kept on postponing our plans to pursue our masteral degree.

So I was really glad when I learned of the online courses that is being offered by Capella University. They are the leading online school for graduate programs and their targets are the working professionals who don’t have the time in their hands to attend on site classes to finish their masteral degree. This is the best option for us so we can both finish our graduate program so we will definitely consider enrolling at Capella University since we really need to finish our Masteral Degree once and for all.

This blog post is based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.

I was tagged by MM. Thanks sis.

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To
- Looking forward to an out of the country vacation either in H, B, U, or E
- Looking forward to buying my second LV bag (But I know it will take months or years before I will be able to do this. LOL).
- Looking forward to a relaxing time at the spa
- Looking forward to another trip to the beach with my family
- Looking forward to staying at Amorito Resort (one of the new resorts in Bohol)
- Looking forward to staying at Boracay’s new Shangri La (I wish!!)
- Looking forward to my performance appraisal report
- Looking forward to having more budget for my online shopping

8 Things I Did Yesterday
- work
- ate pesto pasta
- check my emails
- watch House M.D on my Ipod
- update my blog
- update my flickr account and upload pictures taken during the MBAP’s summer outing
- upload pictures to my FB account
- chat

8 Things I Wish I Could Do
- Wish I could sleep the whole day
- Wish I can go to the US and visit my best friend Jacq
- Wish I can go to Singapore and be with my best friend carol when she gives birth this October
- Wish I can travel every month
- Wish I have all the money in the world to shop
- Wish I can make everybody happy
- Wish I can forever be with my daughter and hubby
- Wish I can always be there for my family

8 Shows I Watch
- CSI Vegas
- CSI NY
- CSI Miami
- House MD
- Amazing Race
- American Idol
- America’s Next Top Model
- Project Runway

8 People I Tag
- Peachy
- Eds
- Ems
- Val
- Vien
- Denoy
- Jacqui
- Jody

Last Saturday, my family and I together with Peachy and Thea’s family all headed south to be with our other MBAP sisters for the MBAP’s Summer Outing. We have been preparing for this for months now (thanks to Jacqui who is our official events organizer and to Jane for letting us use her membership at the Tagaytay Highlands) and so we are all so excited when it was already days before the event.

We have been exchanging emails non stop days before May 16 to discuss our plans, to make schedules, and to finalize all the details for the day. We all had fun (especially the kids and the daddies) and we all agree that one whole day is really not enough (that is why we are already planning for our next meet up this June. LOL.)

Our day was so hectic. Look at all the activities that we had for the day:

* We went to the Mini Zoo (Bela really enjoyed this).
* Then the daddies played basketball while the mommies were busy making chika and entertaining the kids
* Then we had a sumptuous buffet lunch.
* Majority of the kids went swimming. Almost all the mommies did not take a dip at the pool, I included (I was not able to take Liporexall and so I did not find the courage to wear my swimsuit. LOL)
* We went fishing after that
* Then we had our merienda
* Some families tried the cable car ride
* We had dinner at Max’s restaurant with Joy, Thea, Kathy, Aggie and Alpha’s family before finally calling it a day.

I will post pictures and detailed story about the MBAP’s Summer Getaway on my other blog.

Last Sunday we were at Megamall as the reception for the Christening of the son of my sister in law was held at Kamayan Restaurant in SM Megamall. After the reception, we saw that there is an on-going Travel Expo at the Mega Trade Hall and so we decided to check it out. Good thing that there is no entrance fee as we did not find any good deals as there is only a limited number of travel agencies who participated in the Expo.

But I guess it is a good thing though since I won’t be tempted to book for another travel since most of you might know that I really find it hard to resist good travel deals. But with the continuous effects of the global recession, I think it is still best to start saving up as we don’t know what our future will be and how much effect will the global recession have on our financial status.

That is why my husband and I have been thinking of investment options like buy gold coins perhaps. We read that investing in precious metals is a very wise investment since it won’t depreciate in time and is the best way to preserve assets.

I have been visiting the site of Monex company and I am really impress as I learned that they have experienced agents that can help us get the best market value for precious metals and they will be able to help us make the best investment for our money.

My husband and I really have to sit down one night and talk about this as we really need another investment plan to help us save up for the future.

Sorry if I haven’t posted updates on this blog for weeks now. I have been very busy (or should I say lazy and mahina ang racket so I am not obliged to post fillers. LOL) lately that I can’t find the time to update this blog.

But here is a list of the things that I need to blog:
* Bela’s Ice Skating Trial Lessons at SM Megamall
* I am now an MCTS (Microsoft Certified Techology Specialist
* Our decision on where to enroll Bela this school year
* Her last week’s anecdotal report (which I forgot to copy so I have to wait till Friday to get a copy of it).
* Our Mother’s Day Celebration in Tagaytay
* Pictures taken using my Holga camera (my first two rolls of film).

After doing this list, I realized now that I have a lot of back postings to do. LOL.