Cutty

A couple of days ago, I had the urge to clean up my closet. Truth be told, I can no longer shut the closet doors. It is literally bursting at the seams.  It is calling for me to reorganize and discard unused items.  It took me the whole weekend to clear out 2 garbage bags of trash.  It was a difficult process because I really did not know how to deal with the discards.  I want to show you some of the items I found.  I found my hidden stash of lotions, beauty products, sanitizers from my 2008 US trip!  Nanghinayang ako.  These are a lot of stuff that I had forgotten about. I had intended to give these away as "pasalubong."  My mom brain got all fogged up, hence the 13-year old remembrance.  Needless to say, these ended up in the trash.   This shirt is from my first business trip to the US, back in 2006.  That was a fun trip.  I had the freedom to explore the midwest with some of my colleagues.  I spent weekends shoppin...

I know that this round-up is a week late.  How can I let it pass when it has brought me countless memories? It was a year of trials.  There were times when our household had to survive with one house-help.  It was in Q3 when I found out that the my most-trusted store supervisor was stealing from me.  Business was unstable.  Kids getting sick at the same time, specially when I couldn't be there to care for them.  Javi was physically abused by newly-hired nanny.  There were lots of late night meetings.   Monthly budgets barely covering expenses.  Lessons were learned, tears were shed BUT I have moved on.  I never realized I could overcome all those despite the judgement and opinion of envious individuals (wink, wink). It was a year of travel.  A summer trip to our favorite shopping destination during summer.  A trip to the World's Cultural Capital and it neighboring countries spear-headed by the ACS took place in Q3.  It...

If you fly Philippine Airlines most of the time, you must have earned some mileage from your flights.  I have been flying PAL ever since I can remember, but I haven't redeemed any miles from those flights.  There was always some reason not to.  I never had enough for my desired destination or I found out too late that 7000 miles have expired. Now, it seems that PAL is making it easier for us to avail of these "rewards."  Just recently, the came out with Great Miles Getaway where you can redeem flights for less mileage requirements. Case in point:  Domestic flights may be redeemed for 3200 miles or less.  Regional flights (Asia) may be availed for 10,000 Mabuhay Miles, down from the usual 20,000 miles for a round-trip ticket. Here is screen capture of their email blast Don't expect to get everything for free.  The passenger still has to cover taxes and other fees which are still quite substantial.  Expect to wait long when making reservat...

I've been itching to set foot on an airplane and leave town.  Every one is talking about traveling.  Even my husband is leaving for a short trip to watch PacMan in Macau.  I just want an uninterrupted shopping experience.  It is very difficult to find time these days, when kids are in tow and when you have a baby inside you. Because I wont be allowed to set foot on a plane in the next two months, we have short holidays lined up. To make up for it somehow, this week has been a gastronomical journey.  Friday was Hotpot Night.  Sunday was a buffet lunch at Vikings.  Monday was Tea Time at Lusso. It didn't look too filling so we got another sandwich, which Vic enjoyed a lot. I am waiting to see how it compares to Manila Pen's Tea Buffet. Tuesday was baking day at Cathy's Kitchen.  Here's what the kids and I made. I've experimented with two recipes.  The first one, the lemon meringue pie has promise.  Just a few mo...

This time last year, I had three trips lined up.  Now, I have made no travel plans for the rest of the year.  It seems that I've used up all my travel allowances.  But if I were to go anywhere this year (and if the money tree bears fruit), I would like to explore parts of the United States I haven't gone to.  I am targeting the New England area.  I want to see Martha's Vineyard,  the Vanderbilt mansion in Rhode Island, and drive up to the Canadian side of the Niagara.  I don't what's there to see in Maine and New Hampshire.  Fortunately, The Vineyard and Newport are less than 1.5  hours drive from Tito Rae's house in MA.  Yes, I checked Mapquest already. I'd also like to re-acquaint myself with Boston, Harvard and New York.  There are friends we'd like to visit in NY and NJ.  Hopefully, we also get to spend time with relatives in Chicago and Pennsylvania. Europe and Japan will have to wait till 2013.  I don'...

My husband and I just spent the weekend in Hong Kong for a much-needed break and quality time together.  It was one of those one-time big-time thingees:  a celebration of our anniversary, a belated Valentine celebration (according to him), and an advanced birthday blow-out for both of us.  We hit three months' worth of celebration with this trip. Without our kids in tow, it was quite a relaxing trip.  3D/2N was quite enough to enjoy the city.  We didn't bother ourselves with the usual tourists traps.  We went around the city by bus and MTR.  We rarely took the taxi.  We stayed in Hotel Benito, situated strategically in TST.  We lounged in the hotel till it was time to go shopping. We ate countless dim sum and visited our favorite spots. The weather was quite cool, averaging at 13deg.  Ideal for walking all day. What can I say? It was my kind of trip!  What more can I ask for?  Maybe, more pocket money next time =D Sa u...

I thought that by now, Vic and I are experts on travelling with kids.  In the past five years, we've taken five or six vacations with them.   One of which is a long haul trip.  No major incidents took place in the past, so I guess we did things the way it should be done. I knew what to expect.  I was set on not being able to do all things I want to do.  We made sure not to pack all days with strenuous activities.  I have made a mental note of where to take the kids so they'd be entertained.  We also have allowances for resting.  I was even prepared for tantrums. On our recent trip to Singapore during the New Year Weekend, I was quite confident that we could pull it off.  Together with my husband's side of the family, we took the afternoon flight to Singapore last Thursday.  Vic and I reserved a row of Choice Seats so we will be comfortable with the kids.  We brought Johann (4 y/o), Javi (3 y/o), Bettina (1 y/o) and yaya....

To most Filipinos, leisurely traveling is equated to shopping.   If it were a frequently visited destination, I’d probably skip the tourist spots and head to the shops.   However, the past few weeks were not about visiting a frequented place.   Hence, each day was valued-packed with uncommon sights and experiences.   To give you an idea of how intense our two weeks were, here is our itinerary: Days 1 – 2:   Paris Days 3 – 5:   Provence Days 6 – 9:   Rome / Florence Days 10 – 13:   Amsterdam Days 14 – 15:   Paris This itinerary is not part of a package tour.   It is DIY, borne out of invites of several friends and our desire to cross off items in our bucket lists.   Isn’t it obvious, we wanted to maximize the cost of the trip? Despite the busyness of everything, we managed immerse ourselves into the local culture.   We ate the local food, rode the public transport, befriended the French and the Italians, and...

We flew in the day Osama Bin Laden was killed.  It was, in fact, the news that welcomed us as we entered my cousin's house. That piece of news bothered me no less.  I was already fidgety because just a few days before that, Gaddafi's sons were killed.  I made a mental note to stay away from tourist spots. ------------------- Our flight in was quite pleasant except for PAL's "exceptional" customer service.  It wasn't bumpy at all so the kids were able to sleep during the flight. We got the preferred seats so Johann and Javi had space to move around when they were finally awake. There were a couple of  food accidents but WE managed WITHOUT the help of the cabin crew.  They always took a lot of time to get to us.  When they finally did, they spoke to us with THAT condescending tone.  I decided to let it go.  In cases like that, I always showed them saccharine politeness that bordered on sarcasm.  May araw din kayo. ---------------...