Survived Ondoy... and lived to tell

Yesterday's bagyo was bad. Early morning, it started raining hard... with winds pa! I knew it was bad when I was having breakfast and the tree beside our house was swaying like it was dancing to some rock music. I was bent on going to the palengke for our weekly food stock but the hubs won't hear of it. The rain and winds were going berserk then. Good thing we had a semi-full pantry, so we subsisted on whatever we had.

Then our internet went caput at around 10am. We still had electricity and cable, so it was bearable. Internet came back up at around 1pm, but then our cable went out. Without cable, we relied on the radio for news, and well, my friends' facebook updates. That's when I knew Marikina was mega-flooded. And Rizal too and parts of Metro Manila.

I called my Aunt and cousin in Rizal, but couldn't reach their cell phones and landlines yesterday afternoon. Until today actually, I still couldn't reach them. My parents, friends and cousins already called on check on us. I'm glad we have people who care enough to ask about us.

Laguna is spared, I believe. There were a few places submerged in flood water, but on the whole, Laguna's on dry land. Marikina, Rizal and Antipolo are worst hit, according to the late news last night. And yes, cable went back up at around 9am.

I offered my rosary this morning for those who are stranded and their houses under water. I pray for family in Cainta, who I still I haven't heard from. Please help pray for them too.

Loving the long weekend

I started the weekend on a Friday. Worked from home. TBH though, it was more work from the road (sssshhhhh! don't tell my boss though hehe). My mother sent us a couple of boxes Lanzones from Cagayan de Oro and I had to pick it up from the airport. There was heavy downpour in the afternoon, hence the delivery was so late. For 3 and a half hours.

Anyway, I hurried home to attend a birthday party of a friend's son. The little one was so happy coz he had a lot of playmates. He was the youngest boy and I was afraid he'd get bullied, but was so proud to see him assert himself. When they were playing basketball and he was pushed, he told his playmate, who was 2 years older, "Don't push me! Say sorry!". When I heard that, I knew he can take care of himself.

Saturday was spent playing badminton the whole morning with hubs and a couple of his office mates. And then we met up with a prospective architect (yes, finally decided to build that house, hopefully in January! Wish us luck!) and just hang out. And did a lot of FarmVille hehe

Sunday went to the palengke for the weekly food budget. Dropped by the nearby weekend flea market. Waited for the Marquez vs Mayweather game on tv. Uploaded pictures on facebook. FarmVille again (though it's not working now huhuhu!). DVD marathon(Hangover, Fast and the Furios 4, The Management, Ice Age 3 and about 5 more DVDs). Helped the little one with his homework. Heard mass in the afternoon. And had barbeque dinner at the newly opened Reyes Barbeque at Nuvali. Chatted with my Papa and requested for my birthday gift :D. Played lots with the little and now blogging at 12am. The hubs is also still up and blogging too.

It's a fun filled weekend and we have an extra day tomorrow! I just loooove it :) Tomorrow would be swimming at our club house so we're all praying for a sunny day. Finish the little boy's homework. Get a mirror hopefully, as we don't have a big mirror. Taebo at 7 :)

Long weekends are such a blessing.... could we have more?

Pashmina Love

It's been raining for almost 2 weeks straight. Although I don't like getting wet in the rain, I love the cooler weather it brings. And so out comes the jackets and to me personally, pashminas!:)

I adore pashminas since the first time I tried one in HongKong, I believe around 2001. And that's when I bought my first pashmina, a black one, which also converts into a scarf. Then I got a brown one here in Manila after a few months. I use pashmina in the office, instead of the usual jacket. It's quite comfy and goes with either slacks, jeans or skirts. Perfect for me :)

I have more than a dozen pashminas. I only bought 2 for myself, the rest are gifts. A friend went to Nepal once and came home bearing 4 pashminas for me. Made of the softest and lightest silk, I only use them for special occasions, like parties or events. The hubs was assigned in India around 2007 and when he came home, got me the nicest pashminas in different colors and material, a total of 6!

And on Christmases, friends give me pashmina. One Christmas, I got 3 pashminas :D

So far in Manila, the best pashminas are from Anna Pashmina. I believe they have stalls in Powerplant and Shangri-La Mall.

Would you believe, I have 3 pashminas currently in the office with me? The picture is proof. I really heart pashminas. And I heart the people who give me pashminas :)

Bonding moments

Hubs, little one and I are in front of our laptops.  Well, the little one is sharing his Dad's.  It's 10:31pm, they're playing a game on the net and I'm, well, obviously, blogging and facebooking :D  It's bedtime in 5 minutes.

This has been our usual pass time of late.  We hardly watch TV anymore, which is good.  I'm trying to cut down on TV time.

A few minutes ago, I asked the little on stand on my aching back.  I swear it's the best massage ever!  Better than Spa massage.  Cheaper and so much fun to do :)  My backache is gone and the little one had loads of fun.  Anyhoo, tomorrow's Friday!  And Friday, I'm in love! :) 

My little bugoy

The pictures above were taken last weekend, while we were watching World Cup of Pool on TV.  He likes to have his picture taken.  He specially likes it when the camera captures his open mouth and his big eyes.  He's never been camera shy, as you can see in the above.

His loves nowadays: Hi5 (the Australian tv show for kids), playing games on the computer (not sure about the site coz he plays with his Dad), play badminton (he's not good yet but we make it a point to play with him) and school.

I'm still amazed at how fast he's grown.  A few weeks back, while I was rushing to do my errands with him in tow, he was requesting to play at the slides.  I told him, slides are for little kids.  He stopped walking, looked up to me said "I'm a kid Mom".  And he is right, he's a kid.

My son has a great memory.  He just picks up things and remembers them.  I don't know how he does that, but his teachers have been amazed as well.  Anyway, when he remembers something, my husband and I are always quick with praises.  One time, I told him he's smart.  And then he replied "Smart Buddy" - you know, the pre-paid of Smart Communications.  :D

And oh, he loves to party.  Thank God he's still 3 and not yet a teenager! LOL.  We were invited to his classmate's birthday last month and he was the youngest one who loved joining the games.  There was a portion in the games were each participant would say "Happy birthday" the longest.  He was 3rd in line and when it was his turn he said "Happy birthday----day----day----day-----day!" haha  Instead of saying "Happy birthdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"! :)  Everyone's amused. 

Few things on my (Pinay) Mind

I've just recently watched Mikey Arroyo's Media suicide on Unang Hirit on You Tube. There are two videos on youtube, video 1 here and video 2 here. It was major road kill from the second it started. He was no match for Mareng Winnie, and he looked and sounded so corrupt and full of himself. He even had the audacity to say that PhP 76 million is "kapiranggot". Geez! And he says that to a 3rd world nation, where hundreds of people are hungry and own nothing.

Please Pinoys, let's keep him out of our government. And away from our nation's money.

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September 7th was declared a holiday. But not for our company :( We apparently belong to the BPO industry and hence are exempted from the holiday. Good thing I'm allowed to work from home, so work from home it is for me tomorrow hehe

I'm lucky to be able to work from home. It allows me to be with my son the whole day. Although it can get stressful as well. Whenever I work from home, I make it a point to bring the little one to school and wait for him there. So I wake up early to bring the hubs to work and then to jump start on work, before we leave for school. Then after school, I go back to work and try to finish everything before 4pm so I can pick up hubs at 4. Talk about hectic! haha But I love it :) It gives me a glimpse on how it is like to be a (desperate) housewife :D So that's why I still opt to work haha!

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I'm planning on buying a new camera. I don't think I'd have the commitment to buy a DLSR or SLR. I'm good with a point and shoot type of camera. I learned that Hidalgo is the place to buy cameras. A lot of sites have provided a review. Here are the few I happen to like:

http://www.budget-gadgets.com/2008/12/hidalgo-camera-shops-and-contact-numbers/

http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/showthread.php?t=264315

http://papitikpitik.multiply.com/notes/item/11

How to get there:
http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/showthread.php?t=264315

So I know where to buy. The next question is what to buy? I used a Nikon already and I was satisfied with it. I also used an Olympus, and loved it as well. I also got to use Kodak, which was great too, the only downside was that the video doesn't have any audio. Bummer. Reviews are in this site. I need to get started reading the reviews.

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Oh and Congrats to Legends Efren "Bata" Reyes and Franciso "Django" Bustamante for winning the World Cup of Pool!!! Super galing!!! They truly are legends.

Happy thoughts

The past 2 days an Aunt and a cousin have been driving me crazy. I didn't want to dwell on the issue, a rather unproductive one, so I wanted to keep my silence. But they are such buggers. It's rather been difficult and frustrating for the most part. Although now, I'm totally decided not to say anything anymore. I even deleted their numbers and names from my contact lists. Such a release.

This morning, I missed my bus. So I was forced to travel an additional 30 minutes to catch my ride to Makati. I would have been grumpy, but I was thankful that at least, I had a job which makes me happy and it doesn't make me idle. At all.

Anyway. As they say, happiness is a decision and I'm aiming for that. Happy thoughts for today:

1. A new belt. Well, am still planning on getting one. But the thought of buying one excites me!
2. New friends :) I have finally made friends with the other Moms at my son's school.
3. An old favorite friend resurfacing. She disappeared for a while, but now she's back with a vengance! haha
4. The little one healthy and virus free :D
5. Taebo session tomorrow
6. My upcoming birthday
7. A little girl on the other bus waving to me :)
8. Facebook updates from friends
9. A private joke shared with the hubs :D
10. Finally, tomorrow's Friday!

What are your happy thoughts today?