My husband and I went to a Europe trip last 2009 and I must say that it is one of my best vacations. Europe has a lot to offer in terms of art, culture and not to mention shopping haven for designer brands too.

As much as I want to go back there and explore other places that we haven't visited (and I am sure there is still a lot that we missed), I think we won't be coming back there soon as budget is a little tight. So when my friend told me that she is going to Europe and is asking for tips on how to plan their itinerary, I got so excited as planning for another Europe trip is the closest that I can get to vienna restaurants. LOL.

I gave my friend my secret weapon and that is the site of Cool Capitals. Cool Capitals is collaboration between tourism offices and it is here in this site where they share information about Europe's five most stylish cities: Amsterdam, Zürich, Vienna, Valencia, and Antwerp. Information about art zurich, or music package for Vienna, or shopping in Zurich and many more information can be found from this site as well as insider's information and places not to miss in this five cities.

My friend got excited too upon learning of the site as she is so much interested in Zurich Art and shopping.

Europe really gives me a different kind of high and I am glad I will get to help my friend plan their Europe tour so it is like revisiting Europe all over again for me.

We will be going to Bicol tomorrow for the first death anniversary of my mother-in-law. We will be there from Friday, June 30th until morning of Saturday. There will be a mass to be officiated by Howell's brother who is a priest on Friday and then we might just go to the cemetery to offer flowers, candles and prayer.

Since Bicol is a 16 hour drive from Manila, it is very rarely that hubby and his family gets a chance to visit their house there and so this is also the perfect opportunity for them to check on the things that is needed in the house.

That is why since last week, hubby has been checking out the website of Part Simple. This is where we buy all parts and accessories like Laptop batteries, AC adapters, screen displays, mountings and even Cell Phone Cases. It is very easy to order from them as we just need to know the part number and it will display the stocks that they have on hand which I can order and pay for online and will be delivered to our house.

Hubby made a list of the things that he need to buy and this includes TV Parts and I am sure he will find it in Part Simple.

Yehey, I am so happy. Bought online our tickets for the Varekei Cirque du Soleil show just now. I actually have no plans of watching. I know how good the show is and it is really a must see but tickets prices are so steep that I let go of the idea.

But then after my officemates watched the premiere and they are all raving about it and I saw some of their pictures in Facebook, I told myself that it is indeed something that I should not missed.

Hubby on the other hand got sold already when he saw the circus tent set up near his office. LOL. Since we think alike, he gave me a call at exactly the same moment I was thinking if we should watch the show or not.

So we both decided that we should watch. The next question is if we will bring Bela or not. Bela got excited when she saw the circus tent but she probably was thinking of elephants, lions and sea lions in the show because she got scared when I showed her the commercial and the giant posters and she kept on saying “Oh I don’t like, they’re scary. Please don’t take me there.”

I explained to her that daddy and mommy will be watching and if it is okay that she is not coming and she said “Yes, I will just stay at home and wait for you.”

So I guess it is a date for me and Howell on July 14th. Hubby was teasing me that this will be our Valentine’s date 5 months late. LOL.

Finally our housing loan will be release this week. The good news is that the house officially belongs to us, as we will be able to pay the balance that we owe the seller. The bad news though is that this means that we will start with our first monthly amortization for this loan next month.

This reminded me that I have to look for check ordering services, as hubby and I need to submit post dated checks to our bank for our monthly amortization and we ran out of checks already.

Thankfully I can always rely on ExtraValueChecks.com to get discount checks.

Extra Value Checks is a site where you can order customized designer checks both for personal and business use. They have a whole range of designs to choose from for the check or they can even customize a new one for us if we can't find a design that we like from their designs database. What is good with Extra Value Checks is that their checks are of high quality that it will surely work with my local bank. It is even cheaper even when getting for re-orders and is even cheaper compared to getting it straight to our local bank.

This check is all we need and we can finally say that we now have our Dream Home.

Last Saturday was the first birthday celebration of my son, Cobi. There was a typhoon that week that I was so worried the night before the party because it is still raining very hard so I am a sure street will be flooded and my guests might find it hard to go to the party venue.

But thanks to all my friends and family who prayed with me as we were given a good weather a few hours before lunch time and so by 3 PM the venue is almost full with all our families and friends who wants to celebrate this big event with us.

Everything is already ready for the party. The magicians, the caterer, the acrobats, the food carts and even the photo booth. I even wrapped all the prizes for the games in paper bags and ribbon (which I bought from Papermart.com) so it will look presentable on the prize table. The gifts for the adults have also been wrapped using organza bags so it really looks so pretty and presentable.

I talked to my supplier the night before and informed me that I can just let her know if I want to cancel the party and I didn't even know or think that cancelling is an option. But I just let go and left everything to Him and we received a miracle that day as it did not rain and almost all our closest friends and relatives made it to the party.

It was the most unforgettable birthday we had so far.

On our third day in New York, we joined the Statue of Liberty Cruise. I bought our tickets online already so we did not have to queue that long to pass the security check and to ride the ferry as there is a special line for those who bought their tickets in advance. We got the afternoon schedule as I did not listen to my friend Glo when she told me to book our tickets in advance as tickets get sold out fast. But we are lucky that we were still able to get tickets to get inside the museum and the pedestal.

It was actually a breeze as soon as we arrived in Liberty Island after the ferry ride. We just dropped off our things at the locker room and there was no line going inside. We went to the museum first and then went outside the pedestal. It was a bit windy and cold so we just took a few shots and went back inside.

After the pedestal, we had late lunch and then went around to explore the island. Hubby and Bela went souvenir shopping (as always) before we board the ferry going back to Battery Park.

We also went to the Brooklyn Bridge and had a few pictorial there before going back home as Bela and Cobi are already sleeping.

I was watching the news before going to bed and I heard the statistics of fire incident here in the metro in the last couple of months and the numbers is a bit alarming considering it is almost the rainy season.

This made hubby and I think since we have a lot of important documents just kept in a box, which can be easily damaged by fire. We know for a fact that it is a big hassle to get original copies of these documents so we thought that we better start using industrial cabinets like the one that we use in the office, so we will feel secure that all our important documents are safe from any danger like fire.

And I was able to find a site, which sells metal cabinets, Durham Manufacturing. They sell all kinds of products from industrial storage, to workstations and workbenches, shelving and racks and even metal storage cabinets. I learned that Durham Manufacturing has been in this business since 1922, which goes to show how reliable they are, as they will not last this long in this business if their clients don't trust them.

I already requested for a catalog so I can let hubby choose which metal cabinet will suit our needs.

Come one!
Come all!

Step right up and have a ball,
Here’s your ticket.
You’re on your way, It’s
Cobi’s Birthday!

Please join us under the Big Top
On Saturday, June 25, 2011
2:00 PM
at Valle Verde 6 Clubhouse

So tomorrow is Cobi’s 1st birthday party. I have been preparing for this for almost a year already (I started planning when he was 2 months old) so I am really excited to see how my planning will all turn out.

Hubby wanted us to wear something bright and colorful and thankfully I was able to buy some nice and colorful clothes for us to wear tomorrow. Hubby and Bela will also wear funny t shirts during their song number.

I just wish that typhoon Falcon will finally go out of the Philippine Area of Responsibility so I can finally have a peace of mind that everything will turn out great tomorrow.

See you all there!!

We noticed that Cobi was a little hot at around 2 AM and when w checked his temperature, he has low-grade fever. He actually has diarrhea so I begin to worry and blame myself and got paranoid already that I will not be able to forgive myself if something happens to him.

Howell woke up early to buy medicine after I texted Cobi’s doctor. Howell bought hydrite and Paracetamol and gave it to Cobi as soon as he arrives. We planned on just staying at home since Cobi is sick but his fever was gone and was so active again by lunchtime so we figured that it is better if we go out.

We first went to Times Square and had lunch at the McDonalds there and as promised, we took Bela to Toys R’ Us where we did a little shopping. We also had pictorial at the famous Times Square.

Then we decided to go to Empire State to have a view of the city at night. We were lucky as this is the best time to visit to famous places in New York as it is not crowded so we breeze through the elevator, the security and in no time we were already at the top.

Cobi was sleeping already when we went to Empire State but then he woke up when were at the top and cried non stop so we did not stayed long and just took a few pictures then head home.

I was watching the re-runs of Oprah on the topic of problems of parents with troubled teens and I was really bothered because the teenagers are all out of control and their parents can't do anything to help their kids out of the mud that they are in.

Well I have been a teenager once in my life and as I went back, I realized that the teenage years is one of the most difficult phase in the life of anyone as this is the phase where we are exposed to a lot of problems like peer pressures, bullying, drug and alcohol abuse, which is very traumatic and difficult to handle for a young and immature minds of a teenager.

But thankfully there are schools for troubled girls named Shelterwood, which offers residential treatment program for troubled youths. They offer one on one, group and family therapy that can help the teens and their family deal with the problem.

Their residential treatment program includes day-to-day recreational activities, mentoring, and group discussions to help the troubled teens regain their life back. What is nice about Shelterwood is that they have a very small class size so the mentors can dedicate more of their time in helping the students reconnect with their families. And since they are a Christian boarding schools, they put Jesus as the center of their activities so they help the teens also to develop a strong relationship with the Lord, which they will need later on in their life to be able to surpass this great problem.

If you are a parent of a troubled kid, the first step is to accept that there is a problem and then seek help of a professional as problems like this are deeply rooted and would really require the help of the experts.

Our insurance is due for renewal this month and hubby was glad that he was able to find a deal with an insurance company that will allow us to pay for our renewal in three monthly installment of zero percent interest. We just have to issue a check and they will start with the renewal process.

Unfortunately, since things are a little chaotic at home as we prepare for the move, hubby can't find his check. Luckily I discovered Extra Value Checks where I can order checks online.

What I like about their discount checks is that they can be personalize with our name and the design that we want for our checks and they are offering it at a much lower rate than getting it direct from our bank. They would even charge the same amount on my next re-order so I will be guaranteed that I will get the most affordable price if I order personal checks from them. All major banks and finance institutions also accept their checks so I will be guaranteed that I will not have any problem if I issue a check.

I already check the gallery of designs for their check and I just have to choose the design that I want so I will get my personalized check soon.

Last May 7, we board Cathay Pacific flight to New York and Howell fetched us from the airport at around 10 PM New York time on May 7 also. We just rented a cab that will drive us from JFK airport to his friend’s house. His friends were actually in Florida when we arrived but they left their keys for us so we can stay at their house even if they are out.

It was already 12 AM when we finally settled in the house and since it is 12 noon in Manila, the kids are all awake. Howell went out to buy food, as we are all hungry. After dinner / lunch, we stayed awake maybe until 2-3 AM even if we are all tired from the flight.

The next day, we woke up early, as we will be meeting my good friend Glo in Chinatown. My mom, hubby and kids are still sleepy but I force them to get out of bed to battle jet lag fast. We had breakfast and by 10 AM we are already out of house waiting for a bus to take us to the subway station.

We met up with Glo in Chinatown and had lunch in Jaya. After Chinatown we went to Central Park. Bela went crazy as soon as she sees the ducks and the birds in the park. She even asked Glo if they were real as the ducks and the birds that we saw look really beautiful that they almost look like they are figurines. LOL.

After exploring the humongous Central Park, we went inside Central Park Zoo as what we promised Bela. Howell, mom and Cobi (who is already sleeping) just stayed outside the zoo to catch some sleep.

The park was just small with no big animals like the elephant, zebra and lion but still Bela had so much fun. I think it took us only more than an hour to finish the whole zoo. We were already out of the zoo a little before 6 PM and Bela immediately doze off to sleep as soon as we are out of the zoo. So I was able to catch up with Glo but time is really short as it is time for her to leave to catch her bus going back to Boston.

We accompany her to the Apple store near Central Park and that is where we parted ways. Howell was able to recharge after his power nap and so he was still in the mood to explore the city and we went to 5th Avenue and to Rockefeller Center and call it a night after that.

Hubby and I were lucky that we are working in a company who sends us to training abroad so we get the perks of being able to explore new cultures and go on an adventure. Last 2009, hubby was sent to training in Germany and since his airfare is free already, I decided to tag along with him and we took this as a great opportunity to do a side trip to the other European countries and be able to see the beauty that Europe has to offer like Vienna Art, food in Italy, shopping in France and many more.

And after our recent vacation in the US, I begin to ask myself: which is the best vacation spot, Europe or US? Our US vacation was fun and exciting as we get to do a lot of fun stuff like visit theme parks, shop in outlet stores, try the best fast food stores and many more. But I did feel a different heaven after our Europe vacation as Europe offered more in terms of culture, art and history as we visit museum zurich, the castes in Versailles, and a whole lot more. I can still remember how amazed and in awe I was when I first saw the Grand Canal, the castles in Prague, and the garden in Shronbrunn palace which made me swear that I will definitely come back.

It is still a distinct possibility now but I hope that we will be able to do a Europe tour again and this time with the kids so we can show them Amsterdam design, the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa in Louvre and many more amazing things that we will discover in Europe.

We just got back from our 3-week vacation in the US and though it was the best 3 weeks that I spent as I spend some quality time with my family, it was also the most tiring vacation that we ever had. Imagine we travel across the US and Canada for only three weeks with my mom (who is a first time traveler outside Asia) and my five-year daughter and my 11-month-old baby. We were running from one city to the next so we can really make the most of our vacation so you can just imagine how tiring can that be.

But after we have done the amazing race kind of vacation, hubby and I agreed that we want a more relax atmosphere next time our family goes out on vacation and we are thinking of trying asia tours.

Aside from the traveling, the planning stage is a stressful part too when going on a vacation so we decided that we will book with Collette Vacations our next planned china tours. Since they offer escorted service, they will book everything from us including the airfare, the accommodations, and the tours like the national parks tours. Their tour guide will also be with us all throughout the tour and will even give insider tips on where to go, where to eat, where to shop and a lot of other important tourist information.

I hope we will really have a budget for this as this is really my kind of vacation.

That is how I can describe my week now. But I am not complaining and I am even praying for more extra work. You see, I am way below my quota for my sideline work as I was not able to work full time last month as we were on vacation. So for this month, I have to work doubly hard to make up for the earnings that I need for May and for June.

So far things are doing well as I got a regular writing job (though the pay is a little delayed) so at least I don’t have to worry every month as 20% of my quota is already covered by this writing job. Then we received yet another good news from my good friend Peachy for more work next month and possibly until August so I am really thankful.

I really need all this extra work as I need to save up for my share for the housing loan that we will start paying by July plus Bela’s tuition fee come August and my much awaited Cebu trip with my Twitter friends and their family.

So I hope job will continue to pour in and even if I get to sleep for only 2 hours a day, you will not hear me complain as this is what I need now to pay the bills. LOL.

Wow, I just heard from my father that my brother is looking for Flyer Printing service, as he will soon open one Lotto outlet. I am so proud of my brother as he is really good and a risk taker when it comes to business. And mind you, every business that he start are all a huge success that he was able to afford to quit his day job and just concentrate on being a businessman as he earns more doing this than being an employee.

I mentioned the prospect of opening a Lotto outlet to my brother and I did not know that he will take it seriously and the last I heard from my dad is that he already did a study of the idea and will soon open his first Lotto Outlet branch.

This would have been another joint business that my brother and I will engage into but I don't have the budget right now to join him in this new business venture so all I can help him with is to look for an Online Printing service where he can have his flyers printed out for the opening of his Lotto Outlet.

Good thing I know My1Stop.com, which I got for my Gift Card Printing last Christmas. From their site, I can easily obtain a quote for the project that I need and I can just upload my artwork and they can print it right away and deliver the materials in 3-business day. 

Just perfect for the requirement of my brother as he needs to find a printing service shop that will print the best full color flyer that he can use for his business.

For an international company like us where employees are scattered across the globe in different time zones, it is still important to have an open line of communication for collaboration, which can increase productivity and improve service of the company.

Before, this is only possible with a face-to-face meeting, which can be costly especially if the employees have to travel just to attend the meeting or conference. But thanks to Web conferencing, regular communication among colleagues is now possible without the need for expensive travel cost. 

Web conference makes use of the power of the Internet and computer to allow meetings to take place even if the meeting participants are in different places. Just set up the time and as soon as all participants are logged in, the virtual meeting can start.

And this Web conference tool is so powerful that it even allows display and sharing of files among meeting participants in different format like Word, Excel and PowerPoint for a more effective meeting.

This tool is so effective that we in the IT team are able to hold regular meetings with our counterparts from other missions allowing us to share information and tips to better improve the service that we can give our clients.

Finally I was able to start looking at our pictures and was able to select those that I will upload in Facebook and Flickr. I sat down one night and sort through the pictures in my laptop and surprisingly, I was able to finish three days of pictures in one sitting.

Well to start with, Howell was not able to take that much pictures because:

1. He is still jet lag and is still not in the mood to take pictures

2. The kids are sleeping most of the time (starting at 12 noon onwards) so there is not much subject to use for the pictures

3. It is difficult to get a decent picture if you have two kids in tow

I was sorting through maximum of 300 pictures per day and I am so not used to this because knowing hubby, who is trigger happy when it comes to camera, 300 pictures is not even half of what he can capture in a day.

But at least I was able to get some nice pictures of us and I will start to post our travel journal here day per day in the coming weeks so watch out for it. 

I need one of those patient monitor to hook my netbook as I feel that it will die anytime soon (or it might be sooner if I decide to throw it out of the window).

I was really happy with it during the first few months that I was using it as it provided me with what I need for a laptop – fast enough so I can do my work fast but lightweight, small and mobile so I can easily bring it every where I go. And for a while it has really served its purpose.

But lately, it has really been very slow and last week was the worse as it will stop for about 5 minutes to process whatever command I asked it to perform and then it will allow me to work for just one minute before it starts processing again. Imagine, a work that will only take me an hour or two hours at most to accomplish took me 5 hours (but I felt that it was forever) last night.

Now I am thinking if I should sell this crappy netbook so I can get the Mac Book that we have in our gadget store.

After a long and tiring day at the office, I have to stay awake for a few hours at night to work again. Sometimes my body feel so tired already that all I want to do is just forget about everything and just lie in bed and sleep the whole night. But that is not possible as I have a lot of hungry stomachs to feed (aka my kids, my parents and my sister) so I have no choice but to stay up and force my eyes and my brain to function even if my body is already saying that it is time for me to get some rest. During those times that I feel so tired and stressed out already, a scent of a candle is all I need to relax me and bring me back to my zone.

But I know how dangerous candles can be, especially if I fall asleep in the middle of the night and I will forget to blow my burning candle before going to sleep. That is why I am so happy when I discovered that there is a flameless candles with timer that I can use to give me the scent that I love, to relax my mind and my body, while at the, same time staying safe from accidental fire. This smart candle has 3 way timer switch which I can set to auto shut down after 8, 12 or 16 hours.

I am glad I have discovered this smart candle so I can get the relaxing feeling that comes with the scent of a candle without compromising the safety of my family.

I still haven’t recovered yet (physically and financially0 from our 3-weeks vacation in the US. Imagine, I only was able to rest for one day and then I have to go back to work right away. One reason is that I have no more vacation leaves left and second I have to start working hard again to earn money to pay for the expenses that we incurred during our trip.

Aside from our US expenses, now I can feel the stress as I have to pay for tons of house hold bills like electricity, our day to day meal allowance, house rent, yaya salaries and more and it is just me and hubby who is working to meet all this expenses. Our electricity bill actually started to shoot up last month (and I am expecting that it will double this month) since we are now using two air-conditioning unit since my parents and my sister moved in with us. I am happy that my parents are actually staying with us but my greatest fear is if we can cope up with the expenses as it is just me and my husband who will shoulder all our expenses plus the added budget that we have to allocate now that my parents are staying with us.

I guess I will just leave it all up to Him, that hopefully I will find extra work to shoulder all the expenses (which is up to the roof now) and that my body can handle the stress and the sleepless nights that I have to endure so I can work at night after working the whole day for my day job. Oh well, this is my life now….I just hope and pray that I will not get sick so I can continue to work to provide for my kids and my parents (and my sister too.)

If there is one thing that I hate every time we travel, then it is jet lag. My family just got back from a three-week vacation in New York and since New York has the exact opposite time as my current local time zone, then all the more it is difficult for me to deal with jet lag.

During our first week after we arrived, my husband and I will sleep around 7 PM as soon as we arrive home from work, and will wake up at around 3 AM. At first I was sort of happy to how my internal clock works as I get to sleep for eight hours, which they say is the recommended number of hours a person should sleep per day, plus I can work from 3 AM onwards before I go to my day job at 6:30 AM.

They say that the difference of your local time zone to the time zone of your country of destination is the number of days it will take for you to recover from jet lag. So at first I thought that I am still recovering from jet lag but it has been almost two weeks already and I am still in this kind of time system. This got me into thinking if I have sleep disorder already.

I know it is not healthy and I am not being productive since I have a day job and I feel sleepy and weak already in the afternoon but I have to force myself to keep my brains awake so I can still function in the office.

So I know that I should do something to combat this or at least to beat my jet leg so here are a few tips that I think I should try:

1. Diet. They say that adjusting one’s diet is a good way to recover from jet lag by avoiding excess alcohol or caffeine, by drinking plenty of water, and avoiding heavy meals. Studies have proven that having a good diet is the best way to reset your body’s internal clock to the desired time zone.
2. Observe the sleeping time and wake up time diligently. Sleep only when it is already time to sleep and wake up and get out of bed when it is time to wake up already.
3. Pills. If all the natural methods won’t work, then I can try taking medications which are proven to safe to cure jet lag.

These are just some proven tips to cur jet lag so I will definitely give this a try so I can start going back to my normal sleeping habits.

If you're looking for a beauty school for a doable occupation in the fashion and beauty business, then you should start finding out about Charlotte beauty school, among the many branches of Regency Beauty Institute.

Regency Beauty Institute is among the eminent beauty schools in the United States. They simply initiated with just 2 campuses in Minnesota and after this they already have 80 campuses throughout 19 states. This just goes to show precisely how fine this school is as they always have a lot of enrolees which shows how good their program is.

Their campuses mirror high end spas and salons so their enrolees are absolute to attain the best practical teaching. Soon after their enrolees be suitable to their courses, they have an enrolment to career process where they support their graduates hunt for employment as they have very good contact in the fashion, runways, spas and cruise sector as their graduates are the most wanted over the US.

If you decide to definitely need to create a title in the fashion and beauty industry, check out Regency Beauty Institute now.

This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com or contact Regency Beauty Institute – 9101 Kings Parade Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28273

We will be going home to Bicol this coming June 30th for mama’s 1st death anniversary and this reminds me that I have to look for a hotel that I can book for our 3-day 2 night stay in Sorsogon.

As per my friend Diane, these two hotels in Sorsogon have good reviews:

1. Paradise Resort: Unfortunately, their website is down so I can’t check the resort’s amenities and facilities.

2. Villa Isabel: I showed this one to hubby and he said that it is near their place so we will most likely book this hotel.

I don’t need anything fancy. All we need is a place to spend the night because we are bringing the two kids with us.

I better make a decision soon as we will be leaving in three weeks.

It will be a very busy weekend for us:

Friday: I went to Divisoria with my husband to buy more prizes for Cobi’s first birthday. It was a successful trip as I was able to finish my list and bought everything that I need for the game prizes.

Saturday: We will be attending the 4th birthday party of the son of hubby’s boss in Makati. Then after we will go to Greenbelt or Eastwood or Greenhills or Robinson to shop for our wardrobe for Cobi’s birthday.

Sunday: We will go to mass in the morning, then attend Meg’s 1st birthday party and meet with my Twitter friends (I’m so excited). Then maybe if it is still early, we can drop by the parish of hubby’s brother so we can drop their invitations for Cobi’s party.

Thankfully I have no work on Monday so I can rest, relax and spend more time with my kids.

Experiencing personal injury because of an accident is very traumatic, both to the victim and to the victim’s family. It can deeply affect the family’s financial state as the injury can cause loss of job and depression to the victim.

Dealing with all this is already a handful for both the victim and the victim’s family. Add the fact the stress that is brought about by dealing with insurance companies.

If you or any of your family members have incurred a personal injury brought about by an accident or by another individual, then you can contact an Austin Personal Injury Lawyer, like the lawyers from O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath law firm, to help you with your personal injury case.

They know the ins and outs of filing for a personal injury case and they use state of the art and aggressive methods to help individuals win their personal injury case.

If you need help, contact them now: O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath - Personal Injury Lawyers - 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 - 512-494-9949.

Hubby and I went on a date yesterday. LOL. Since we can still use the car because Bela’s still off from school, he fetches me everyday from work. On our way home, I spotted a small pizza stand in the side street and so Howell stopped the car, I went down and bought pizza, C2,chocolate and cheese dirty ice cream. Yuminess. We almost finish the whole box.

Then we went to SM San Lazaro to shop for stuff for Cobi and we tried to look for clothes that we can wear for Cobi’s birthday party. We even planned to watch X-men but we realized we are both sleepy already (at 8 PM because of jet lag) and so we might just fall asleep inside the movie theatre so we just went home after our short shopping.

Simple, yet I had the best time. We were like teenagers again. LOL. Hope we can do this more often. Maybe next week an “isaw” date.

My friends and relatives are all asking about our pictures from our recent trip but I still haven’t had the time to sit down, sort the pictures, resize them and upload in Facebook and Flickr. You know Howell, he is trigger happy when it comes to taking pictures and when I checked, we have minimum 200 pictures per day so good luck to me on when I can start and finish uploading the pictures from our recent trip.

But I will surely blog about it soon so I will have an online chronicle of our first trip to the USA as a family.

I can summarize our trip in three words: fun, tiring and expensive. LOL.

It was a real challenge taking two kids to an out of the country trip especially since we did not realize that we are going to a place like New York which is really not child friendly (I think I will go back here when Cobi is already 18 years old. LOL). But if you will ask me if I am willing to do it again, I will still say Yes in a heart beat. It was a great 3-week, without any work disturbance, far from any problems here in Manila. It was just pure bliss and quality time with my family so I will definitely do it again. Howell was actually suggesting that we go to Singapore on Bela’s birthday. LOL.

Topamax is a drug that is use as an anti convulsant to treat epileptic patients. It is also use to relief migraine. The two mentioned conditions are just simple conditions but I did not know till now that pregnant women are posed with a risk if they take Topamax to cure either epileptic seizures or migraine because studies have been done which proves to link Topamax with birth defects such as cleft lip or cleft palate. The defect can be a small, notched lip or in really bad cases, can cause an open groove from the roof of the mouth to the nose.

Studies have proven this and so the attorneys from O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath law firm is offering their service to help parents with children that has been a victim of Topamax to file for a Topamax lawsuit.

Let us face it, filing for a product liability claim is not an easy task and so we need expert help to win the case and get damage claims. That is why victims should really seek help from lawyers of O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath - Personal Injury Lawyers - 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 - 512-494-9949 because this is their niche, this is where they are good at so victims can finally get justice.

Los Angeles – Camarillo Outlet Store
Las Vegas – Las Vegas Premium Outlet Store
Toronto – Outlet Stores in Rodeo Drive
Washington DC – Ross and Marshalls
New York – Woodbury Commons Premium Outlet Store

Now I realized that we went shopping to every city that we visited that is why it is no wonder we end up with 6 luggages going home. We shop everything from bags, to watches, to ed hardy jewelry, t-shirts, shoes, toys and many more. The items are really cheap compared to prices here in Manila so it is really hard to resist. Like the Ralph Lauren tees that I got for Cobi which is only $10. It is even cheaper compared to t-shirts and polos from Gingersnaps.

Next time I go to the US, I will make sure that I have a lot of money to do more shopping. LOL.

Our last stop during our vacation was Washington DC and one of the reasons why I am so excited to visit this city is because I will have a chance to meet up with my kumareng Em and her family and Glo.

We were late at our meeting area so it was already lunch time when I get to see Em, Titan, Ethan and Glo. We spent our day at the Museum of Natural History. It was just a short get together and I was really in tears when it is time for us to part ways. How I wish we can spend more time to make chika and share stories and just catch up with each other's lives (though we get to do this often in Twitter, it is still different when you get to do this while you are face-to-face with the person.)

Next time, I will really make sure that I will allot more than two days if ever we will go back to Washington DC so I can spend more time with Em and Glo. I might just skip New York and just head to DC.

Different components make up a network system, from the switches and routers that connects all the network systems together, to the servers that manages the processes and communications, to the workstations that is used by clients to process data and a lot more. These devices are expected to function 24x7 as any downtime can’t be tolerated as it means disruption of work and services for any company.

But we can’t expect that all these devices will always function at their 100% performance. They are just machines after all and eventually, they will fail. So it is important that companies make use of network monitoring tools to monitor the network devices in case they will encounter any problem so immediate action can be done to solve the problem and restore connection or prevent possible downtime.

There are a lot of monitoring software available and one of them is LogicMonitor, the best network monitoring software available in the market today. What makes it stand out from the other networking monitoring tools is that it does all the hard work in order to monitor the entire network infrastructure. All that the software needs is the host name and it will detect the device or the OS and will configure all the processes and thresholds that needs to be monitored.

Let’s take for example their windows server monitoring. It will determine the OS that is installed and will automatically detect the CPU usage, the Hard Disk for latency, the SQL servers and other processes that needs to be monitored for a particular OS.

With this networking monitoring tools, systems administrator can be confident that they will not miss anything and will be able to address any problems to avoid any downtime.