Scary A(N1H1) Virus

Have you heard from the news that the first Asian who died from the AN1H1 virus was a Filipina. If I remember it correctly, she is a 43 year old Filipina. DOH doesn’t want to disclose her identity but she is from Manila, married and she has a son. Apparently she went home on June 19 feeling tired and I think she had a fever then she died a few days after.

But Sec. Duque said that she did not really died from A(N1H1) since she had a heart attack. But her brother just requested that she be tested for the virus since she showed symptoms of the virus and it was confirmed after that test that she is infected by the A(N1H1).

A lot of private schools also cancelled classes and most of them will resume class come July because a number of their students have been tested positive for the virus. We should be really vigilant and be extra careful especially for those families with kids like us. We already took the extra precaution and all of my family members have been vaccinated with the flu vaccine already. Although this is not for the Swine Flu, but our doctor said that at least we have a stronger immune system against flu compared to those who don’t have the vaccine. Also, we always make sure that we have our daily supply of Vitamin C. I ordered this from Allegro Medical (they sell all kinds of medicines and health products, including maternity care or urological supplies like foley catheter). I setup an auto re-order policy from them so I am sure that we get our daily supply of vitamins every month. Also proper hygiene is also the best way to prevent the virus.

Hope the A(N1H1) pandemic will pass. May we all stay safe and healthy.

Weekend Snapshot # 37 - @ Sky Garden, The Block & Trinoma

Have you been to the newly built Sky Garden at SM North Edsa. We were there two weeks ago because I was searching for a kid’s apron for Bela. My cousins need to go to Trinoma so we just decided to go there instead of going to Makati.

I love the look of the Sky Garden. Bela loved it too since she enjoyed playing with the abstract structures (I am not sure of the right term to use here. LOL) thingy that you can see everywhere along the Sky Garden.

We went to Trinoma after exploring The Block at SM North Edsa. This is the second time only that I have been to this mall. The mall is really nice since it is big with lots of shops (from low end to mid end) but it is so crowded. I still love the relaxing feel of Robinson’s Place. LOL.

Mine, Mine, Mine

I know, I said that I won’t be making any major purchase since I am saving up for our August trip, but I just can’t really resist it.

My sister got this Coach Scribble shoulder bag from Faye.


Faye was really nice since I was just referred by Peachy and she offered me the same terms that she offered to the other girls in Twitter. So I inquired if she has a sling pack and lo and behold, she has one.

I also like the sling pack from Glo’s site but the one that Faye is selling is cute too and since my sister is getting an item from her, I figured that it will be a savings for the shipping if I ordered from the same person so I just got the Sling Pack from Faye too. LOL. It is a need you know since I need a small bag to put my money, credit card and passport when I travel. Don’t you agree girls?

So I have the bag, all I need is a Schengen Visa. LOL.

Pictures snagged from Faye's site.

My Granny's Birthday

On June 30, it will be the birthday of my favorite grand mother. My parents were both working and since I am the first grand child, my grand mother was the one who take care of me. If I remember it correctly, I used to sleep at their house until I was five or six years old and it took a while before my parents was able to convince me to sleep at our house.

My cousins and my siblings are already planning for something on her birthday. She will turn 84 by the way and she is even healthier (no high blood, good cholesterol and sugar level) than her two daughter (my mom and my aunt). We are thinking of ordering food and just have the celebration at home and we will just have videoke or we might go out and eat at our favorite restaurant in Dampa.

But I am sure whatever will be our plan, my grand mother’s only wish is that all of us (when I say all, I mean all her kids, her grand child and her great grand child) will be present on her special day. But I am sure this won’t be a problem because we never miss any of her birthday and we always try to make a little extra special.

Aside from the party, I am also thinking of getting her a present. I know how much she loves jewelry so I am looking for discount costume jewelry from Holsted Jewelers. I saw their set savings collection and they are all classy and fashionable (yet affordable and of high quality) which I think my grand mother will really love.

Expect to see pictures of her party here in my blog next week….

3x Thursday: 04/30/y2k+9: Randomness

1. What's the weather like today? Describe it. It was sunny when I came to work this morning but the sky is dark now and looks like it is going to rain.

2. Did you/are you going to do anything productive (sure, it's relative) today? What did you/are you up to? Yes, I need to finish a number of my tasks online and finish my first case study for IS 201 (Computer Ethics).

3. Do you need to make some phone calls or send some emails to people that you haven't heard from lately? If so, who? Here's your reminder to do it! Yes, I need to email my friend who lives in London to ask her about something.

Shopping for Bela

I got a list today of the things that Bela needs to bring to school next week.

1. Health kit which includes extra clothing (shirt, shorts, socks, diaper), hand towel, bar of soap, 8 rolls of tissue paper, 2 boxes of tissue paper, powder, placemat, alcohol, apron
2. 4 pcs of 1x1 pictures
3. 2 pcs recent 3Rs
4. 1 pc Family picture
5. 1 pc baby picture

I am so excited since I have a reason again to go to the mall and shop. LOL. I already asked Kelly (thanks girl) on where I can buy an apron and she said I can found one in Toy Kingdom. I am just not sure though how much it is. I checked from Amazon and it is priced at $18. If only I knew before hand, I could have order it from Amazon in advance.

Hopefully I will be able to finish all my paper works tonight so we can go out and hit the mall tomorrow. We need to do our grocery also since I have been postponing to do it because hubby and I are both so busy finishing all our tasks for school.

Tempting....Perfect

My best buddies from work already purchased their tickets for one of the best Tennis Showdown this year between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras at Cotai Arena in Macau. For days now, we have been exchanging emails and they have been convincing me so Howell and I will join them in this trip too. I would so love to go because I enjoy their company so much so I am sure this out of the country trip will be a real riot.

But as much as I want to purchase our tickets also for this tennis match so we will be seated beside my friends so we can enjoy this tennis match together, I can’t give them my answer yet as I am still waiting for Hubby’s confirmation for his training in Germany. And if I will go with hubby, then I don’t think we will have a budget for this trip to Macau.

Plus we are also planning for baby number 2 this year after our Europe trip (if it will push through) so we want to prioritize a romantic cancun vacation over Macau. Who knows, maybe Baby # 2 will be made in Riviera Maya. LOL. But that would be nice – white sandy beaches of Riviera Maya, a relaxing ocean view from our bedroom, a relaxing time at the artificial river….Perfect, just perfect….

Stemulite

When was the last time you had a work out and did not have a hard time recovering from the fatigue cause by working out? Or when was the last time you had a full restful night sleep? Wouldn’t it be nice to experience these? I admit that I and my husband have a very busy lifestyle. Sometimes we only have three to four hours of sleep per day because we have to attend to a lot of things like our responsibility at work, at home, at school, plus we both have our sideline too. I really miss those days when I was still single and I was still studying and I don’t have to worry about other things as long as I did well in school.

And now that hubby and I are entering another adventure when we decided to go back to school this semester, we will need all the help that we can get to survive. So I have been doing some reading and I discovered Stemulite. What is good with Stemulite is that it is an all natural product so we don’t have to be worried of any side effects. I viewed the testimonials of Stemulite users and it really helped them enhance their brain function which helps them to cope with their day to day activities. Even if they have a busy life, they still feel rejuvenated which gives them the energy the next day to survive another busy and toxic day.

I just finish reviewing the tasks that I need to accomplish this week (which includes hundreds of pages to read for my school paper, plus hundred word essay to post in our virtual classroom discussion board and add to that my responsibility with my daughter and I have to attend a parent’s orientation at her school too this week). Just thinking about all of this makes me feel tired already so I better purchase Stemulite soon to help me get through my very busy schedule.

Senti

Yup, I am feeling a little sentimental since I already requested for my SMART line to be disconnected. I have been using that number for more than seven years, I think so it was really difficult for me to let go of it. But like what hubby is always telling me, it is just a number, just a series of random digits so I should just let go. LOL.

Anyway, I already texted all friends in my contact list and hopefully they got my new number. If you did not receive a text from me, let me know so I can send you my new number.

But anyway, because I switch from Smart to Globe, I was able to get an E71 unit which I was able to sell to purchase an Iphone. (Read my blog about it here). And I just added a little cash, and I was able to buy a second Iphone for hubby (which by the way is his long time dream since he wanted to store FPJ movies in it so he can watch his idol anywhere he goes) as our advance Father’s Day gift for him. So I guess we are both happy.

By the way, here is our picture at Mann Hann restaurant after I picked up my E71 from Globe. Bela also did some toy shopping at Toy Kindom and DVD shopping at Astrovision so look how happy she is.

Travel Plans for 2009

Were you able to catch Philippine Airlines promo again last week? Sadly for me, I did not even tried checking it out because I can’t make any travel plans yet until we have news regarding Howell’s training this August (I have blog about it here).

You see, if I will be coming, then this is the only travel that we can afford for this year. (Though I haven’t made up my mind yet if I can really leave Bela for two weeks to travel with hubby). So I can’t make any other travel plans unless I am really sure of our travel plans this August.

But I have some options in mind already:

Option A: We will leave Bela and we can finally do a Euro tour which is really my big dream.

Option B: I will not go with Howell when he goes to Germany and we can just go to the US with Bela. We can either go to Los Angeles since my friend is already expecting that we will pay them a visit any time soon and we can take Bela to Anaheim Disneyland and Universal Studios which I think she will really love. Or we can go to North Carolina and visit hubby’s friend there who promised to take us to one of those Outer Banks rentals which is one of their favorite if ever they want to go on a very relaxing vacation.

This I think is the best option for us since our airfare is almost covered by our mileage plus we don't have to spend on hotel accommodations since we will be staying at our friend's house and we don't have to worry about visas because we all have US visas already.

Option C: I want to go on an Asia Cruise with hubby and Bela. This is something that I wanted to try too and since Bela will be turning 4 this year, I think she will be able to appreciate this cruise plus we can visit 3 countries in one travel.

Option D: I will just use the money to buy 3-4 LV bags…LOL.

What do you think guys?

Business Opportunity

I can’t believe how much online sellers I will be able to find at Multiply. I think you can find anything in Multiply like toys, books, party supplies, cakes, or whatever it is that you are looking for.

Multiply has been a very popular venue where online sellers can feature their products and hopefully find a market of customers. Just like Katrice Wear (one of my favorite Multiply Sellers). She does not have a store where you can buy her clothing line but just check out her Multiply site and you can get a view of the clothing line that she sells.

This gives me an idea to establish my own Multiply site and sell stuffs online too. I used to join bazaars where I sell books, Ralph Lauren over runs, and wholesale clothing but joining bazaars takes a lot of my time. And besides before I can join a bazaar, I have to pay for a rental fee which is getting more expensive specially during the Christmas season, that is why sometimes I always thinks twice since I am not sure if I will be able to get an ROI with the steep price of the rental fee during bazaars.

That is one of the advantage of using Multiply. It is free and it can reach a wider market since anyone who has access to Internet can check out my site and view all the products that I sell. Do you think I will do well as a businesswoman? Or I might just end up buying all the stuff that I sell for myself. LOL.

Addicted to Chocolate Shop Frenzy

I have been using my Iphone for weeks now and what can I say? I love it. But I still say to my friends who is thinking of buying one that the Iphone is really fun and cool to use but it still does not have that much functionality. So if you just want to look cool and be less productive, then get an Iphone. LOL.

But one of the reasons why I am enjoying my Iphone is because of this game, Chocolate Shop Frenzy:

.: Chocolate Shop Frenzy
Photo Snagged from Big Fish Games Website :.

It is the same as the Cake Mania game that I love to play on my PC, but instead of selling cakes, Emma (the main character of the game) is selling chocolates and she has to successfully run her chocolate shop for 12 months to pay back the loan that she got to open her shop.

The game is divided into 12 levels which corresponds to the number of months that Emma has to work to save money to pay for the loan. I have only reached the 3rd month and I can say the game is getting more exciting and intriguing as I progress to the next month.

I am sure I will sleep late again later (just like what happened last night) playing with this game.

Summer is Over

It has been raining for days now so summer is really officially over. Hubby is planning for an out of town outing with his colleague this coming long weekend and they plan to go to Camayan Beach Resort in Subic but I am not sure now if his colleagues will still be up for it specially now that it has been raining non stop almost everyday. Of course who will enjoy going to the beach if you can’t enjoy the sun and sand, right? Too bad since I have been really preparing for it. I have been taking weight loss pills so at least I will look decent and presentable when I wear my swimsuit. LOL. But who knows, with the effects of global warming, our weather is so unpredictable so maybe there is a chance that it will be a sunny day next week.

If ever their plan push through, this will be our itinerary:

- we will live early on June 12 so we can check out Ocean Adventure first. I checked their website and I am very much interested with their different Animal Encounters that they offer to their guests. I am sure Bela will enjoy this.
- After Ocean Adventure, we will check in at Camayan Beach and stay there until the next day to enjoy the beach
- Then after checking out from Camayan Beach Resort, we will (or might) go to Zoobic Safari.

Let us see what hubby and his colleagues will decide upon next week.

Europe...still a big ??

Hubby applied for a training in Frankfurt, Germany and he was accepted for the training. He wants me to go with him and we can tour Europe after his training but I am really torn. I wanted to bring Bela on this trip but our itinerary includes moving to five to six cities and countries (I think) and we will commute via train, bus, plane and I don’t think our three year old daughter can handle that at her age. So Bela definitely can’t go with us for this trip. So I am not sure how I can stand being away from Bela for two weeks. But then again, hubby said that this is a good opportunity since his air fare is free already and we get to travel to Europe which is really one of my top dream travel destinations.

We are still waiting for the budget to be release for his training so he can apply for a visa and book his airfare and accommodations. I am not making any reservation and booking for myself not until hubby has finalized his booking since I am scared that I already purchased my tickets and hubby’s training will be canceled or moved (which is very likely to happen) and I don’t want to go through the hassle of canceling or moving my airfare reservations. So this means that I still have time to think if I will be coming or not.

But it is good that I was able to get travel insurance quotes already as it is one of the requirement to get a Schengen visa so I only have to look for the cheapest airfare rates if ever I decide to go. I already inquired at different travel agencies for the airfare cost and as of last week, they still don’t have rates yet for August.

Oh well, I will deal with it once hubby is already 100% sure that he will get a budget for his training in August until then there is nothing that I can do but to wait.

New baby

I got my new baby last Saturday, my Iphone. I got a free Nokia E71 from Globe after I subscribed for a two year plan with them. Nokia E71 is far better when it comes to functionality, but since I have a low EQ, I chose form over functionality. LOL.

I am really torn between Nokia E71 and the Iphone. I love Iphone’s look better than E71 but it really lacks a lot of features like SMS forward, Bluetooth, MMS, ability to shoot video and the like. But we went to Greenhills last Saturday and I played with the Iphone that we have in our store and so I decided to choose it over E71. My brother installed an application that will allow me to forward a text (this is one of the feature that is not supported by Iphone), and to shoot videos and this is two of my concerns. So I brought my Iphone home and I played with it the whole day today and what can I say, I love it. I totally forgot that Nokia E71 has a lot of more powerful features. LOL.

But who knows, you know how fickle minded I am. My E71 hasn’t been sold yet and until it is not sold, I can still change my mind if I will still select Iphone over it. We will see…

Subic, Zoobic, Subic

I rarely get a day off if it is a Philippine holiday. So I am surprised when I found out last week that we don’t have work also on June 12 which means that it will be a long weekend (I can’t wait).

Hubby told me that since their last planned outing did not push through, they are planning for another out of town during this long weekend. One of hubby’s colleagues already checked out Camayan Cove and they still have available rooms for June 12-13 (which is a miracle because every time I called their office, they are always fully booked). Maybe summer is already officially over by that time so we don’t have any competitions for our booking during the said long weekend. They are also planning to drop by Ocean Adventure and Zoobic Safari during their two days stay and so hubby wants us to join them.

I am not sure of the Zoobic Safari, because I just read from the news about a white tiger in Nez Zealand Zoo who attacked his trainer to death, so I am thinking twice of going to Zoobic Safari because the taught of a wild tiger in close proximity to me scares me so I am thinking twice. But for the other places in their itinerary, I am up for it because I am sure Bela will really love it specially the trip to Ocean Adventure and a day at the beach.

And this reminds me that I better look for ephedrine so I might have a chance to loose some weight before I get in to my swimwear again specially I am with my hubby’s colleagues. I don’t want to have a picture of me taken which might land in facebook and might have a tag “Swine Flu”, or “Pig in the City” or something to that effect. LOL.

B-Day Month

Did you know that June is the birthday month of my family? My cousin, my brother, my sister, my grand mother, my soon to be sister in law and my sister in law will all celebrate their birthday this June so our schedule will be really hectic. We have no definite plans yet for the said parties/birthdays. Maybe we will just order food delivery and just celebrate at home because they prefer that kind of set up rather than dining out. Looks like I have to look for appetite suppressants if I don’t want to gain 10 pounds this month (which is like my pregnancy weight) since I know it will be difficult to say no to good food. And knowing my family who loves to eat, I am sure our dining table will be filled with hard to resists and sumptuous meals.

Also, next week, we will also be going to the house of my future sister in law for the traditional “Pamanhikan.” My brother will be ordering food from CCME I think, since no one in our family knows how to cook. LOL. And from what I overheard, he will be ordering lots of food so this means that we will be pigging out starting next week.

Well, wish me luck. I just ordered a size Small dress from Katrice Wear and I hope I will still fit in it when it arrives after all this partying and pigging out. LOL.

Sunday Stealing: The Monkey's Meme

1. Name one person who made you smile today: Bela, I was with her the whole day and we just played and enjoyed each other’s company while we are both waiting for Howell’s arrival who is working overtime on a Sunday.

2. What were you doing at 8am this morning? Blogging

3. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Still blogging.

4. What is your favorite candy bar? Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate.

5. Have you ever been to a strip club? Yes. LOL. I went out with my girlfriends and went to a strip club as our bridal shower for one of our colleagues.

6. What was the last thing you had to drink? Ice tea

7. What was the last thing you ate? Spaghetti

8. The last sporting event you watched? I am not into sports but I was able to peek while hubby was watching the NBA games.

9. Do you go to church every Sunday? We try to go every Sunday.

10. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza? Yes, they’re delicious.

11. What are you doing tomorrow? I have to go to work.

12. What do you think of when you hear Australia? Finding Nemo. LOL. (That is one of my daughter’s favorite movies).

13. Biggest annoyance right now? The fact that my I phone doesn’t have a Bluetooth and MMS but I still chose it over Nokia E71.

14. Last song listened to? I can’t remember.

15. Do you have a maid service clean your house? Yes, she is a stay in house help.

16. Are you jealous of anyone? Nope.

17. Is anyone jealous of you? I am not sure.

18. What do you usually do during the day? Work, work, check the Internet, work again…

19. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? I don’t want to talk about this. LOL.

20. Are you thinking about someone right now? My daughter Bela because I feel sad that weekend is over which means I have to go back to work and leave my daughter at home again for the whole day tomorrow.