What Happened Last July 2014

Hello my "stranger blog!" I actually visit you everyday, but I don't have the "positive" energy to radiate with you so I don't log-in anyway. July is a roller coaster ride for me, but I guess amidst everything,  I am  still lucky and blessed because I have D and daddy R for me. I am very optimistic (crossing my fingers) that August will be very good for me, for my family and for my career!

Anyway, let me tell you what happened last July in pictures. 

My little firecracker is so clingy whenever he's sick. I am thankful that I don't have work during those days, so literally we stayed in "lally" our rocking chair all the time. 

Someone misses school because of Glenda. So he insist on playing school at home. And I am his teacher. He's so adorable in telling me "bye teacher!"

 Naught and still so playful. And when he's tired, he can now sleep on his own. Growing-up so fast. 

This racing car is 20 something old already. R brought it home as pamana to his unico hijo. But after 2 weeks, D dismantled it, I asked him why? he said "hanap ko upuan sa loob mommy!" hay.. our adorable #siraniko. 

Despite busy schedule, R and I made sure that we will have our "me" time. We were able to watch a movie, go on a date, hop on restaurants and share a meal again.  

 D made it to timezone again!

While the other kids are busy playing in the indoor playground, someone is relaxing like a boss. 

D's idea of picture. Wacky! 

Boys busy discussing what kind of toys they will buy.  

My boys. 

And my plan to go on a diet is still cancelled, until further notice. Haha. 

Life is so good, so lets enjoy!

My Eye Glasses from Paterno St. in Quiapo

Since college, I was prescribed to wear eye glasses, but the pasaway in me always get away with wearing one. I had different glasses before, even contact lenses only to wear them not longer than 2 weeks. Hindi talaga kasi ako sanay, and I don't really feel the need to wear one, until last July with frequent migraines and itchy-dry eyes. I really need one. 

So the search for a comfortable, stylish and  yet reasonable priced eye glasses begun. A friend and officemate told me about Paterno street in Quiapo and I quote  her "Sa Quiapo, madami dun, makakapili ka and mura pa!". 

I am working in Manila for more than 6 years now, but I still don't know how to go to Quiapo alone. Hindi ko alam bakit haha so I tried to look at possible ways. 

1. If you are from North or Quezon City, you may take UV express, Jeepneys to Quiapo and alight at Chowking just before the Quiapo Church, and thats the Paterno Street na!

2. You can also take LRT line 1, Paterno street is just walking distance from the Carriedo Station. 

3. If you have friends na alam pumunta Quiapo, pasama ka nalang!

And since I have a very supportive husband, sinamahan nalang ako ni daddy R, who surveyed the street before bringing me there. 

As daddy R said, "Masusuya ka sa dami ng salamin dun!" and the Paterno Street didn't disappoint me. The whole street is lined with different shops with thousands of styles you can choose from. Not the tiangge style that my parents and I envisioned. Nakakatuwa magsukat-sukat, just make sure din to tag-along someone para may kasama ka pumili, because if not, hindi ka na makaka-alis dun lol. 

Frames ranges from as low as P450 to P7,000 depending on the style you will choose. Some offered free lenses with the frames, some as separate and may require additional fee for specialized lenses. Eye examination is also free if you will purchase the glasses with them. As for my case, I had my prescription with me, so I gave it to them and waited 30-45 minutes for my eye glasses to be done.  

Wide selection of eye glasses. Nakakasuya talaga! lol

After shop hopping, I settled with this blue frame worth P800 including the lenses. I just added P200 to make the lenses multi-coated for computer exposures.

Super sulit for me. I got compliments with the glasses, and what I love most is that super comfortable to wear, even in my budget!

G, 

First Day High!

One night, when I arrived from work between D's kisses and hugs he said "mommy, bili ka school" hahaha akala mo mayaman kami noh?! nun pala he meant, he wanted to go to school na sabi ng lola niya, so I asked him if he really wanted to go? he said "opo" so I said yes also, na excite ako bigla so I asked daddy R if okay sa kanya. At first, ayaw ni R because baka daw magasawa lang agad, sayang ang tuition, then we realized K-12 na nga pala ngaun and kids starts school early talaga. Plus, D is becoming a bully kid, he needs to learn how to socialize or else mag-school hopping kami lol. 

So there, the next weekend, we enrolled him to a child training school, equivalent to toddler school in a pre-school  inside our village and bought him school supplies. The tuition is P400 per month plus uniforms and IDs. Not bad, since no pressure naman tlaga for D, e di kapag ayaw niya pumasok, e di wag, walang tuition na masasayang, plus the school is small lang but they use US based curriculum and 1 hour a day lang so okay na din and pinakamaganda isang tumbling lang from our house. 

So last monday, this little baby is officially a schoolboy. I took a leave from work talaga, to be able to witness the milestone, frustration ko yan nung bata ako eh! So come monday morning, I feed D during breakfast, bathe him and dressed him, prepared his baon. Nanay na nanay ang peg ko! 

Hay, where did time go baby?!

Since I learned D will be going to school, nagpplan na din ako ng baon niya everyday, kaso the teacher specified crackers and water only. No sugary food and drinks daw. Corny! haha 

D's baon: Apple juice, Crackers and Custard Sandwich. 

Since Daddy R can't take a leave, he just requested photos of his little man. 

Did I mentioned na isang tumbling lang ang school niya sa bahay namin?! Yes! pero the lolo still insisted na ihatid si D using the car at 6:30am pa lang ready na e 8:00am pa ang pasok. haha sino excited?!

I wasn't able to take photos of D at school, anlikot eh! plus ayaw niya magpaiwan sa room nila, kapag sinabi ko aalis na ako sasabihin niya "ayoko na, uwi na tayo" patay na haha.  First day pa lang may inaway na siya na classmate. Lagot na tlaga! buti wala ung mommy ng little girl, kundi napa away din ako. And the teacher's promised na they will correct D's behavior, sana nga!

So after 1 hour, we're home and D is excited to show us his stickers from his teacher, 

And stars... yun lang kailangan sa skin nila? lol na-OC ako bigla! haha andumi tingnan eh!

Yesterday, si Lola na naghatid sa kanya, then I asked if nagpaiwan ba siya, oo daw at hindi umiyak. That made me so nostalgic. I now have a big boy. And bilis ng panahon, but I know I need to let him go so he can learn how to be independent, pero nagbbreastfeed pa din siya sa gabi. lol

Now I am more excited to go home to hear D's story from school, madami yan of course...

Hello Baler! Summer 2014

Hello there! I'm back, and my one and only avid reader (my hubby of course) is demanding for an update for this blog. How time flies right?! Last time I blogged was last mother's day! ayayay! A lot of things happened, with so many stories I want to document and others?! I want to forget them! lol

Anyway, one of the highlights during my hiatus was when we trooped to the "famous" Baler! I don't know what happened this summer, pero lahat nalang ng feeds to sa fb at ig is all about Baler, super naging destination siya this summer and syempre hindi kami nagpahuli! 

We left manila at 2am via private van, and arrived Baler at 7am. Travel is supposed to be 6-7 hours, I dunno what our driver did basta ako tulog and nagising nalang when we are cruising the sierra madre mountains and sunrise. 

Blurred Panoramic shot of the Balete Tree. I just discovered that my Samsung s3 can do this, super thanks to the "kuyas" there who patiently took our photos. 

Drama upon entering the gigantic tree. 

Yes, pwede pumasok, hindi lang sure if makakalabas ka daw. lol

Next stop was the Ermita Hill, where you can see the sabang beach.

And the "brackish" part, also known as an area where fresh and saltwater meet. Yes, at ang tagal namin pinag-isipan yan. The view is fascinating and relaxing. 

This is the picnic area of Emita Hill. There is also an area where kids can run and run all day. 

Next stop is this rock formation. Its beautiful, tinamad lang ako bumaba ng van to have a picture.

Our itinerary also includes visit to the museum and church, kaso we are all "tamad" na. So we went to our accommodation to rest in the Sabang Beach. Since Baler is still developing, most of the resorts are small and basic, some are still constructing and some are homestay. Ours is a basic room with aircon plus bathroom, but sobrang lapit sa beach and bars.

And while we are having relaxing in our rooms (ang init kasi sa labas) nagbrown-out! omg! haha the caretaker said we are lucky dahil few hours magkakaroon din daw power, pero dati daw days nawawalan and even water wala! oh my talaga! And we are lucky pa din, because during the peak of summer, ung iba sa schools na daw nagcheck-in. Baler is way more to be developed pa talaga, to be ready for tourism. But I like it na sobrang probisnya ung feel ng lugar, mas relaxing.

And since walang power sa room namin, we went out so have lunch in the stretch of Costa Pacifica. It's  the beautiful hotel dun, so its always fully booked, I didn't dare to take a picture, maiinggit lang ako lol.
But this is their view of the pacific ocean.

We had lunch at Bay's Inn, so pictures of the food since we are all so gutom na, we get their group meals kaya siguro mabagal ang service. The food is good, pero medyo pricey. 

So while killing time, we took pictures on their signages, and I love this one "stress free zone" haha pwede ba dalhin yan sa office?! lol

And since walang power sa Inn namin, we proceeded na with our next day's IT, the trek and swim to Ditumabo falls. We rode a tricycle from our drop-off point to the starting point, sobrang bumpy ng ride! nakakaregla! lol! then we walked 1 hour to the falls, our tour guide said the locals only took 30 mins to the falls! nakakaloka ang hirap kaya?! But when we reached the falls, sulit naman! the water is so crystal clear and malamig1 brrr!

See?! enjoy kami. Don't ask me why I am in rashguard, nakigaya lang ako haha. 

After our falls trek, we went back to sabang beach and experienced the waves. Ang saya! we don't have pictures dahil tumakas lang kami while some are cooking our dinner. There are free surfing lessons pero hindi na kami nagtry, wala kaming guts lol

After dinner, we strolled along the shore, nakakatakot dahil there are areas na madilim, except with the stretch of Costa Pacifica. Aside from the retaurants, some bars and grills, wala masyadong night life. And dozed off by 10pm and set our alarm at 5:30 so we can watch the sunrise. Kaso even we woke up by 5am, the sun rises na! Ganito pala sa pacific ocean lol

The waves are still peaceful, enough for a morning walk, played in the sands and just when we are planning to dip the sea again, we saw manong there with the jellyfishes!

Andami nila! so natakot na ako pumunta sa dagat. Instead, we went to the market and bought blue marlins for P180/kilo, salmons for P200/kilo, beef for P180/kilo and some squids and others fishes fresh from the sea! Nakaka-aliw namili, hindi lang aliw ang wallet ko haha dahil mapapabili ka ng madami dahil mura talaga, mas mahal pa nga cooler (the styro type) P200 haha.  Tricycle drivers there are so kind, they even helped us to pack the fresh fish and put on ice plus salt para umabot sa manila. 

Since we don't want to go to the museum and church na nga talaga, by 9am we are off go! we just dropped by at Puno's Ice Cream, and made me fall inlove with the macapuno flavor. Nagsisi talaga ako at hindi ako bumili ng pint! hmp! anyway, sabi ko nga, babalik pa ako sa Baler, para sa ice cream! lol

And, thats it for my Baler Summer!

A Mother's Day Post

I admit before, I don't value mothers as much as I value them now. But when I had babyD, I understand everything because I know how it feels like. Nonetheless, I will never exchange anything for motherhood. Being a mom is the best job I had so far. And babyD's hugs and kisses are no match in anything material in the world. Mother's Day may be overrated nowadays because it was used as promotional campaigns by some companies, still I am glad that once a year our hard-work and sacrifices for our family is being compensated.

Happy Mothers Day to all the mother's out there!

MommyG,