Last October, I was one of the lucky ITP who has been selected to participate in that year’s ITP Conference to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Since it has only been a couple of months when we left Bela when hubby and I went on our dream vacation, I told hubby that I don’t think I can stand even just one week to be away with her again. So even though airfare prices are really steep (2-3x the price than what I normally book if I avail Cebu Pacific’s seat sale), we still decided that Howell and Bela will be coming with me for this trip.

The conference is from Nov 1 – 4 but after doing some research, we did not find anything interesting for Bela to see in KL so we decided to drop by at Singapore for two days before going to KL.

We took the Cebu Pacific flight on October 29 at 8:30 PM which will arrive in Singapore at 11:55 PM. We decided to book YMCA Hotel again since we already stayed here first time we were in Singapore so we will be sure that we are familiar with the place even if we will be arriving in Singapore at the wee hours of morning.

I went straight to the airport where I met with Bela and Howell. We just had our dinner there and the flight was on time. Bela was able to sleep during the flight but she was wide awake when we arrived in Singapore. We took an airport taxi to take us to the hotel. We doze off to bed after checking in.

The next day, we started a little late. We took a bath, eat breakfast then went to a nearby mall in Orchard road to have our US $ change to SGD $. Then we took the MTR to go to Jurong Bird Park.

It was a very long ride going to the park but it was all worth it since Bela really had fun. We watched almost all the show and Bela was even called on stage during the show for a close encounter with the parrot and she was asked to imitate the crying sound of the parrot. That was one proud mommy moment as she confidently went on stage and played with the parrot, answer the host’s questions and entertain the crowd.

After our trip to Jurong Bird Park, we met with mu best friend and her husband in Suntec City Mall where they treated us for dinner. We haven’t seen each other for years now and so we really had a good chat and we were able to catch up with the old times. They took us to our hotel and it was almost 12 midnight when we decided to call it a night.

You can view more pictures here.

I had lunch with one of my friends and we talked about our jobs. I told her that I am already contented with my current job and admitted that I am already considering retiring here.

On the other hand, my friend told me that she feels unhappy with her work because she feels that there is no growth. I remembered some of my colleagues who are in the same boat as she is but instead of resigning, they just decided to enroll in graduate business school.

My friend like the idea as she wanted to have a graduate degree too and she is really that serious that she already found a school where she can take GMAT prep courses to prepare her for the admissions exams. Since she can’t quit her job while reviewing, enrolling in the GMAT prep courses of Knewton is her best option to prepare for the exam as she can review online. This means that she can view live GMAT courses or watch the video wherever she is and whenever she likes. And even though it is online, she will be guaranteed the best prep courses as Knewton only hires experienced teachers in the industry.

My friend is so excited with this new adventure. Who knows, if she pass the admission exams for her MBA, and if she finish her graduate degree she might be able to get a new job that will finally make her happy and contented.

I had lunch with one of my friends and we talked about our jobs. I told her that I am already contented with my current job and admitted that I am already considering retiring here.

On the other hand, my friend told me that she feels unhappy with her work because she feels that there is no growth. I remembered some of my colleagues who are in the same boat as she is but instead of resigning, they just decided to enroll in graduate business school.

My friend like the idea as she wanted to have a graduate degree too and she is really that serious that she already found a school where she can have GMAT prep to prepare her for the admissions exams. Since she can’t quit her job to while reviewing, enrolling in the GMAT prep courses of Knewton is her best option to prepare for the exam as she can review online. This means that she can view live GMAT courses or watch the video wherever she is and whenever she likes. And even though it is online, she will be guaranteed the best prep courses as Knewton only hires experienced teachers in the industry.

My friend is so excited with this new adventure. Who knows, if she pass the admission exams for her MBA, and if she finish her graduate degree she might be able to get a new job that will finally make her happy and contented.

I have posted on Bela’s blog my dilemma on if we should send her to big school already or not this coming school year. She already took entrance exams at St. Theresa’s College and St. Scholastica’s College and luckily she was accepted at both schools. Now all we have to do is decide which school we should choose or if we will just let her stay for another year at her current school.

I was reading one blog of a mom like me who is a pre-school teacher in a progressive school. She mentioned that before, parents don’t have other options but to send their kids to traditional schools because there are no progressive schools that time so it is really something that parents nowadays should think about.

I was telling my mom why it is so complicated to make decisions like this for parents like us. I told her that I feel that we really have a big responsibility to make since it is the future of Bela that is at stake here. My mom just laughed at me and told me that Bela still has a long way to go. She will have her first communion where I have to look for communion invitations, she will have her first crush, her first heart brake, go to college, get married hopefully and have her own family.

My mom told me that in time I will know what to do if I will just listen to my mother’s instinct. It is natural to feel this way especially Bela is our first child but my mom is confident that whatever decisions we arrived at, she knows that we will only choose what will be best for Bela so I should stop worrying.

On our way home last night, while hubby and I were stuck in traffic, we were able to talk about our travel plans. I told hubby about my wish to have another vacation this year after I give birth. If I have the budget, I would have wanted to book one of those gulf shores hotels but then I know that we have limited budget so that will not be possible. Imagine, I will give birth 2010 then we have to prepare for the Christening of our baby, then 2011 will be the first birthday party and 2012 will be Bela’s 7th birthday party. So we have a lot of major expenses lined up until 2012.

So I told hubby that even an out of town trip like in Cebu or Bohol is all I wish for this 2009. He promised that he will allot his Christmas bonus for this and he even suggested that we go to Singapore instead so we can check the Universal Studios which will be open by that time too.

Oh, hope this trip will push through. So I am now waiting for Cebu Pacific’s seat sale so don’t forget to buzz me if you spot any promos. LOL.

Bela has been coughing occasionally for almost two weeks now. She has no fever or sniffles but I am a bit bothered since she is taking medicines but I can still hear her cough. So I scheduled for a check-up with her developmental pedia tomorrow. We will go there after lunch since Bela still has class in the morning.

And while we are at St. Luke’s, I might look for a doctor that does rheumatoid arthritis treatments. My mom has been complaining last night of some pain in her legs and maybe it is because of her rheumatoid arthritis. My mom hates hospitals so as much as she can avoid having a checkup, she will really avoid it. But since she will go with us for Bela’s checkup tomorrow, then it will be a perfect time for her to have a check up as well.

I hope and pray that both Bela and mom’s checkup will have positive results.

My birthday is coming soon. I have no big plans on how I will celebrate it. Maybe we will just stay at home since hubby has work that day too and then we will just have nice dinner at home when he gets home.

But if you will ask for my birthday wish list, then here it is. Actually, these are just simple wishes. I know we have accumulated a lot of expenses last year and we have to save this year for the coming of the baby so no big expenses for this year.

1. I want to go to a facial salon for some pampering and maybe some blackheads treatment.
2. I want to eat pancakes at Bag of Beans
3. A nanny that we can really trust and rely on.
4. A sign that will help us decide which school to choose for Bela.
5. Good health for me and my family especially to the baby growing inside me.

Ok, ok. I know my wishes are corny but if you will ask for my real wish list:

1. A red Philip Stein watch.
2. The Red or Pink Ultragirl Tinkerbell Melissa shoes

3. The White Night III

4. The Violet Ultragirl Vazada Flocked

Picture snagged from store.melissaphilippines.com

We woke up a little late because of our long day the day before. We just crossed the street again to take the MTR going to the Airport. Howell has to withdraw some money as we don’t have enough Euros left. We bought breakfast at the terminal for take out so we have something to eat at the airport.

As soon as we arrived at the airport, I looked for the Tax refund counter to file the tax refund for the bags that I bought. I followed the long queue only to find out that they can’t accept my forms there as it is the counter for goods purchased that will be checked-in. Since I will be hand carrying my items (since I don’t want to risk checking in the Chanel bag of Jacqui. LOL), I have to line up at the Tax Refund counter after I checked in. But looks like we have no luck that day as the checked in counter opened late because they are having some problems because of flight delays so in short, I had no time left to file my tax refund after we checked in (sorry guys, but I really tried my best. LOL).

The flight left on time but when we reached Dubai, it was announced that our flight will be delayed for like two hours. Our flight from Dubai to Manila was full so there are a lot of Filipinos waiting at the waiting area so I was not able to get some sleep while waiting for our flight. And besides, the seats are really not comfortable for sleeping and I guess I am too much excited already and can’t wait to land in Manila to see Bela. There was also a mixed up because they change our seating assignment when we are already ready to board which leaves me and Howell several rows and seats apart. I was really pissed and the crew was really not helpful with our problem. This made me swear that I will not use Gulf Air again. Thank goodness that the fourth flight attendant that I talked to was able to sort things out and Howell and I got a seat beside each other.

When we arrived in Manila, Bela and my parents are already waiting for us. Bela was so excited upon seeing us that she wanted to jump out of the window as soon as she sees us. We went to Dampa for merienda as Howell and I are really craving for real food. LOL. Then we went to Duty Free for some pasalubong shopping and more toy shopping for Bela then we went home.

My good friend Lala will be getting married in just a few days. We are all excited for her and of course, no one can be more excited than her for her big day.

She made a lot of preparations for this special day. Everything is all set but the last time we talk she kept on saying that she should have used weight loss products so she will be more sexy and pretty on her big day but we kept on telling her that she will be the prettiest girl on that day in her groom’s eyes and of course, the bride will always shine.

I haven’t been out lately because of my condition so I haven’t bought a gift for the couple. But my wardrobe problem is solved already as Peachy lends me her evening gown which I will be wearing for the wedding.

I am sure this will be one fun and memorable wedding. You can see how much the couple love each other so I am sure I will be in tears again as I see her walk down the aisle to meet the man whom she will promise to love forever. To Lala and Cedric, Best Wishes!!

We are almost at the final stretch of our Europe tour. This is our last whole day in Paris. I feel exhausted already and at the same time excited that in just two days, I will see my baby again. It was a fun trip and I am glad that I get to experience this with my husband and I wish that someday we will be able to bring Bela to the places that we have been to Europe.

After all the travelling, I feel that I need to get an adult acne treatment as soon as I get home because my acne has worsen while I was on trip.
During our entire trip, we are always late for our bus ride, train ride and we barely made it for our flight to Paris. So I told Howell that no more running this time and we have to be at the station early. We went to Paris EST HGV station first to check the station on where we will ride our train late in the afternoon. We asked around to make sure that we are at the right station. Then we went to Long Champ store for more bag shopping for Jody, Kelly, my sister and I also exchange my bag again for the second time from the regular Le Pliage to the limited edition Le Pliage in blue. We also met a Filipino who worked at the Long Champ store in Paris and we chatted for a bit and she gave us her calling card. We went back to the Notre Dame area for some souvenir shopping before going back to our hotel to check out. Then we went to Port Newt and to the Pantheon. I was so tired already that I told Howell that I will just wait for him outside while I watch for movies on my Iphone. Then we decided to go back to our hotel to pick up our things so we can proceed to the train station and just wait for our train ride there.

We were an hour early at the station so we were able to rest and relax for a bit. We are taking DB Bahn from Paris to Frankfurt. I like DB bahn because their trains are really clean and it has a big leg room. There was a technical problem though while we are in the middle of our trip so we stopped for like twenty minutes while they fix the problem but that is no problem since we are seated comfortably inside the train.

We arrived a little past 1 AM in Frankfurt and we are lucky because that hotel (Hotel Continental) that we booked is just across the train station in Frankfurt and we are already familiar with the area because Frankfurt is our entry point in Europe. We immediately dozed off to sleep as soon as we are checked in.

You can view more pictures here.

I was watching the news last night and there was a report about a three year old girl who got reunited with his father after spending at least two weeks in the hospital. The mother and the girl had an accident and the mother was badly hit by the truck and that is why they were brought to the hospital. The mother died in the hospital and so the girl was left alone and the hospital staff took care of the girl while they were looking for the father.

Yesterday, the father was able to locate her daughter after weeks of searching. It is good news for the father but at the same time he was faced by the fact that his wife did not survive the accident and worse, I am not certain if the truck company will take responsibility for what happened.

If only they will get the help of personal injury attorney austin texas, then the bereaved family will be assured that they will get a settlement or help from the company responsible for the accident. Lawyers from O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath have extensive experience in these kinds of cases and they will even tailor fit their strategies base on the facts that they will be able to gather for the case. They will give the clients full control on how to decide with the case – whether to accept the settlement or go to court, while they give advise on how to best deal with the case.