November 2 was the start of our Conference. I wake up early to prepare and left hubby and Bela in our room. I told hubby that they can use my buffet breakfast since we have snacks in the conference area anyways.

While I was busy attending the conference, Howell and Bela were able to check out Aquaria KLCC which is just near our hotel. Howell said that it is just small and our Ocean Park in Manila is much better but of course Bela had a different story. Seeing all the fishes and the other animals in Aquaria made Bela really happy and excited that day.

There was a Kuala Lumpur Cultural Night Tours after the conference that day but I did not sign up since I am not sure if Bela will enjoy it. So I just met up with them at our hotel and then we took a cab to go to KLCC mall where we had dinner also then we went back to our hotel as I am already feeling a little pain in my back and I am really not feeling well because I already feel tired and dizzy.

You can view more pictures here.

Howell has been really itching to go on a family vacation. Just like last week, he called me in the office and is asking me to book a trip for a family getaway. And then this morning, he mentioned it again and is asking me when we can travel again for our next vacation.

With all the expenses waiting for us with the coming of the baby I am not really sure on when we can go on a vacation. But I told him that he should not worry since both of us are travel addicts and for sure as soon as I give birth, we will find a way to have a budget for another travel. LOL.

If budget is not an issue, then I would really love to go to Azul Beach Hotel in Bahia Pentempich beach in Puerto Moreles. This is a family friendly resort and it is just newly renovated. They have lots of activities for families with kids and they even provide for cribs, strollers, milk heaters and the like which is one of the few things that I hate bringing (because they are bulky) every time we travel.

What I love about Azul Beach is that they only have 98 rooms and all of their rooms have beautiful view of the garden or the ocean and with this number of rooms, we will be guaranteed a very relaxing stay. Oh, I can’t wait to go on a vacation again.

This is me at 5 months (never mind the picture if it is small as I don’t want to zoom my face because it is full of pimples and blackheads that I really need blackhead remover. LOL).

I am now on my second trimester and I am savoring every moment of it because I think this is the most comfortable stage of my pregnancy

• Morning sickness and my everyday dizziness are already gone.
• My appetite is back and I am now eating more and I am back to loving sweets again (which I know is bad because I should be monitoring my weight gain but I miss eating sweets and desserts).
• I was able to go back to work already though I sometimes still feel pain in my back which means I still have to take it slow.

I will have my check up again on March 6 and by the third week of March, we will have our Congenital Anomaly Scan (so we are hoping to know the gender of the baby) and our 3D ultrasound.

We are so excited already but I am really praying that the results of the Congenital Anomaly Scan will all be okay. Please pray for me and my baby.

I need to look for hemorrhoid creams because I promise my friend that I will help her find one but I am just too excited to postpone blogging about my husband so i will continue my search after I post this.

I read a message or comment made by one of his staff about him and I quote:

“I would just like to say that Howell is a very good supervisor. He knows what we need and he earns our respect.”

I am all smiles from ear to ear upon reading this. I know that Howell is really doing a good job managing his staff because I know how dedicated he is with his job but reading this comment made by his staff is a true testament of how good a boss he is. Respect is something that is difficult to earn and I am so happy knowing that his staff is following his lead not because they are afraid of him because he is the boss, but because they are doing it because they have their full trust and respect for Howell. I think that is the most important – to gain your people’s trust and respect which really helped in him being a good leader.

I am glad that things are really doing well with Howell’ career. When the opening for the Supervisor position was announced, I know in my heart that he will surely get the promotion. He has been working really hard and he really has the right attitude and the right disposition in life to be a leader.

Congrats again dad for doing a great job. Bela and I are so proud of you!!

We woke up early to have breakfast as we need to be at the airport early for our 11:20 AM flight. We checked out after breakfast and we were able to get a cab just outside the hotel. I checked our tickets and it did not mention which terminal our flight is leaving and so I just asked the driver to take us to the budget terminal because I assumed that Air Asia is a budget airline. When we arrived in the budget terminal, I was in panic when we found out that Air Asia is in their International Terminal and we only have less than 1.5 hours left to catch our flight.

There is a bus that can take us to the international terminal but we figured it will be faster if we take a cab so we run to the Taxi stand to get a cab going to the International terminal. The International terminal is really big and Air Asia has a lot of customers so there was a long queue at their check-in counter. We were really running to go to our gate as there is only 30 minutes left when we’re finish with the check in and security check. Good thing we made it just in time for our flight.

When we arrived in KL, we we’re instructed by the conference organizer to book a taxi before we go out of the airport and that is what we did. But the parking for the taxi is a little far from the gate where we exited. I find it also chaotic and disorganized that it took us a while before we were able to ride a cab.

The airport is also far from downtown and it is more than an hour drive. We arrived at KL around 12:10 but we arrived at our hotel pass 1 PM already. The hotel is also fully booked so it took us a while also before we we’re able to get to our room.

After checking in, we just had lunch at the nearby mall which is just beside our hotel. I will attend the ice breaker as the first event for the conference and since we really had a very tiring day and so we just went back to our hotel to sleep and rest after eating lunch.

Howell and Bela waited for me at our hotel room and since we don't have energy left to go out for dinner, Howell just bought take out food from Mc Donalds and we call it a night after that.

You can view more pictures here.

I was reading about richard willich as recommended by a friend which is really a very good read but I can’t seem to concentrate on what I am doing because of the noise that my neighbor is making. Since this morning, they have been doing videoke non stop. I was not able to take my afternoon nap because I can’t help but hear every song that they are singing. It is almost 12 midnight but they don’t seem to run out of songs to sing.

I know Filipinos love to sing. I remember when we had our shower party for my friend Lala and we went to a videoke bar and we stayed up late too because we enjoyed it so much but don’t they have other better things to do than to sing the whole day?

I know this is beginning to sound like a rant and I don’t want my blog to be filled with rants but for crying out loud, don’t they realize that there are people like me in the neighborhood who need to wake up early tomorrow because we have much better things to do at work. Sighhhh. I guess that is all I can do for now. This is a democratic country I guess so they can just do whatever they want.

I was reading for colonix review on the net and it made me realized that health is really the most important thing for our family. That is why we should be prepared financially so we always have the budget for all our health needs.

That is why hubby is really working really hard and is working double time to earn enough money to support for our family. One of the things that he is busy right now is his online toy store. He found a business partner for his long time dream of having his own toy store. For now he will start with an online store and you can check out some of his items on sale here.

It is still at its soft opening and he is still not finish uploading all the pictures of the toys that he has on sale but do check out the site once in a while for updates on new toys that he is selling. He also accepts pre-orders for items like Leapfrog toys (Leapster, Clickstart, Lmax), Vtech toys and other children’s educational toys.

For any inquiries, you can leave a message at his multiply site: My Toy Store or you can send him an SMS at 0920-9232913.

Good luck to your new business venture dad.

We had a very long day last Friday. There was a Chinese New Year celebration at Bela’s school that day but hubby and I can’t take a leave from work so my mom and dad accompanied Bela to school and her lola became her official photographer (you can read about MSS CNY celebration here.)

Then they fetched me from work and since I haven’t eaten my lunch yet, I asked them if we can go to Serendra for lunch at Conti’s. It was already past lunch time when we reached Conti’s and so I was really hungry and I ended up eating one and a half cups of rice plus dessert and fresh fruit shake. After lunch, we went to A Different Bookstore which is just across Conti’s restaurant where Bela bought a new book. She also played for a bit there and so it was almost 4 PM already when we left Serendra.

We fetched Howell from work and went straight home as we will be meeting with Peachy and her family for a dinner at the President restaurant in Binondo. It was a very sumptuous dinner. We went home straight from Binondo after dinner.

When I reached home, I was greeted with tons of work to finish (insert a grin here as this means more moolah even if I will need the best acne treatments since for sure I will be staying up late again to finish all my work). I tried to start with my work but I guess after that very long day my mind is no longer working so I decided to just call it a night and doze off to bed.

On our second day in Singapore, we went to Singapore Zoo. We initially planned to drop by my friend’s house before going to the zoo as Bela wants to take a dip in their pool but since we had a very long day on our first day in SG, Bela was asleep until 9 AM and Howell doesn’t want to wake her up.

As soon as she is awake, we gave her a bath and we had breakfast at the hotel. Then we took the MTR again going to the zoo. The zoo was just a couple of stations away from our hotel so we reached the Singapore zoo in no time.

Bela had a real good time. She loves animals so she really went crazy as soon as we we’re inside. We we’re able to do almost everything that we can do at the zoo. We were able to watch all the shows. After the elephant show, there is a feeding program and Bela get to feed the elephants up close. I thought she will get scared but instead she really had fun. Then we also watch the Splash Safari Show. We had lunch first at the restaurant near the Splash Safari Theater so when we entered the theater, all seats are already taken and so we just sat at the back of the theater. But this did not stop Bela from enjoying the show. After the show, we lined up for a photo encounter with Carlos, the sea lion where Bela got a really wet kiss from him.

This time also, Howell and Bela we’re able to try the elephant ride. I wanted to join them but I am pregnant so I decided to stay behind to take their pictures.

After our Singapore Zoo trip, we are all tired already and it was even raining on our way home. Lucky we we’re able to get a bus easily to go to the city. We went straight to Orchard road for dinner and shopping. Howell wanted to go to his favorite toy store in Takashimaya mall so we ran there after I am done with my shopping. The store is already closed but they opened it for us and waited for us to finish with our shopping so Howell and Bela were really happy.

It was already past 10 PM and we are dead tired already so even though we still want to do some more shopping, Howell and I decided to call it a night an went back to our hotel.

You can view more pictures here.

My good friend Bo got inspired to scan and post in Facebook some of our group’s pictures some decades ago. LOL. Really a blast from the past. Just look at the pictures:

And look at us now.

Notice how big we have grown? LOL. Do you think we all need diets for quick weight loss? But did you know that one reason that we lasted this long as friends is that we all have something in common – we all love to eat. Be it at a small carenderia eating tapsilog with five cups of extra rice (paging Bo. LOL) or in a nice cozy restaurant eating ox tongue, or just home cooked sinampalukan manok at Dante’s house. Gosh, I miss those days. We are planning to go out of town this summer and food tripping, swimming and just having some crazy fun. Hope it will push through because one of our friends, Aubrey, is already busy with the election campaign.

I miss you all guys! Hope to see you all soon!

It is a long weekend for Howell since he is on holiday on Monday. He delegated the tasks to his staff (which is really a miracle) and he said that he is not working overtime on Monday. So for days now, he has been convincing me that we go out of town this weekend. First was that he wanted to go to Baguio to witness the Panagbenga Festival. He said that with the help of our ipods, Bela will be preoccupied and she can take the long trip and will be no problem. We have been to Baguio before and Bela did not mind the long drive as she is busy watching the trees, the cows, and the carabaos on our way to Baguio but it is not Bela who is the problem, but me. I am already on my 5th month of pregnancy and I am having a sensitive and difficult pregnancy this time so I don’t think a long drive will be such a good idea for me.

So he dropped the Baguio trip and he suggested that we go Bohol instead. He is asking me last Thursday to book tickets but when I checked, the airfare is P7,000 per person. That is ridiculous and I told him that if it is promo fare, it will just cost us P1500 each per person to go to Bohol.

So it is a no-no for Bohol and he suggested White Rock in Subic or Villa Escudero. But since it is Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day, both resorts are fully booked already. LOL.

Howell was a bit disappointed but I told him there will be more chances to travel so he should not fret. LOL.

I am just listening to the news and all I hear is that all prices are going up. This is still because of the budget deficit that the government is facing and the effects of global recession.

Because of these happenings, I can’t help but think of ways on how I can make extra money and that is when my friend suggested that it is time to buy gold bullion. I did some reading and research and landed on the page of United States Gold Bureau.

Gold has always been a good investment options and United States Gold Bureau can help first time investors like me, to make decisions and make the right investment for my hard earned money. With the status of the economy right now which is really so unstable, investing in gold is the best way to go since unlike other investments, it doesn’t depreciate in time and no matter what the form is – bullion, coins, etc, it is widely accepted and can be easily turn to cash.

I will do some more reading as United States Gold Bureau site offers a lot of good information that can help us make a wise investment decision.