Look Alikes?

Like Father Like Son?

Like Mother Like Daughter?

You will be the judge :)

Anyways, I couldn't help but post these photos that captured Sophia's smile transformation...

So from her ordinary smile...

na naging pacute....

na naging 'mukhasim'..

Anak, ano bang pakulo yan?! Hahaha..

The simple joy of being a mom

I do admit that I regret not being able to be with my children most of the time. I leave the house early and go home in time for dinner which is about their bedtime. I regret that even if I don't have work on a weekend, I still can not give 100% of my time with them due to errands and other things I do to make me sane. And yes I know is not even an excuse. I feel guilty, I do. I get jealous at times when they run after their yayas instead of me. It breaks my heart. Deep inside I know they are still innocent and one day as they grow up they'll realize how much I love them.

When they are asleep, hugging them real tight makes the stress goes away. I whisper countless times daily how much I love them. I hope one day they'll understand what it means and I look forward to that day when they will whisper back 'I love you too, Mommy!'.

They mean the world to me. And that's the simple joy of being a mom.

We got robbed!

Teka, before it appears to be an exaggeration - no, we were not harmed at all. Just the other day, Che was very surprised that we lost the side mirrors of our Sportivo. It seems petty di ba... but Che and I were really pissed when we got the repair estimate that it will cost P30,000 to replace the entire set of side mirrors! The guy probably was in a hurry so not only did he got the mirrors, he also destroyed the mechanism inside. Apparently, he can not sell it at that price tag but probably the value of the mirrors will only be P150 or something less than a thousand. If only he begged for money because he badly needed it, I would have probably have helped him whole-heartedly.

I have had my share of this kind of robbery before. In fact, even worse in a sense that I was inside the car when two guys were quickly disentangling my side mirrors. It was actually in a crowded place and at the intersection while the traffic light was still red.

I asked Che last night whether he would do such things or will there be an excuse for people to take possesion of something that is not theirs. I know it is against the ten commandments and there's really no excuse for such a thing. Maybe I would have understood when they are in dire need like when their child is at the hospital due to some serious ailment. BUT there are also other alternatives to get that money. They should trust that God will provide.

Anyways, talking about robbery, I was scared when we were told some weeks back that the house that we are staying in now (my parents-in-law's place) is one of the target of 'akyat-bahay'. Apparently, robbers are keeping a list and this was a tip given to us by the police after they have caught one of the suspects. Scary no? Apparently, they know the family names and must have based the 'list' on the size of the house as evidenced by the 'potential prospects' in our neighborhood.

Just a tip, we were told that they pretend to be some delivery boy (even in uniforms) and wait till someone opens the door. They will then suddenly push the person in and the gang (which are all inside a car) will quickly follow.

Makes me wonder - how safe are we now?

Celebrating our 3rd yr Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday marked the 3rd year of wedding bliss.

I initially had planned for an overnight stay in Tagaytay on Fri-Sat since I felt I needed to relax after all the recent travels. I did cancelled our reservation for One Tagaytay Place and opted to have dinner in a nice restaurant here in Manila instead.

The day didn't exactly started right. Sean fell of the bed around 3 am. We didn't had any bed frame anymore since Sophia fell off the bed a few months ago. We thought he's fine but in the morning, his eyelid is somehow sore and he had a lump/swell near the ears. With the fear that it might get complicated (heard of horror stories for babies falling off the bed), I rushed him to the hospital. After a thorough check, the doctor said he should be fine but we should observe him for any other signs like vomitting and blackening of the lump.

At around 1030am, I got an SMS from my colleague saying I got flowers. I was indeed surprised and thrilled. That's the reason why Che kept on calling me and asking me whether I will still report to work. I arrived office around noon and saw this...

I initially thought it will be peach roses which is what I have always wanted back in College. But this was just perfect as it reminded me of our wedding with pink and green motiff.

Che asked me to choose the restaurant. I was craving for a good salad, steak and anything with foie gras and so I had the following in mind:

• Lolo Dad's - along Quirino hi-way which I pass by always and have heard this is really one of the best restaurants in town
• Spiral at Sofitel - mainly because it is an easy choice and my favorite place for buffet
• Highlands Steakhouse - because they serve really good steak!
• Duo - at Serendra and heard good reviews about this place as well

Given that I wanted to try something new, Spiral and Highlands Steakhouse were taken out of the list. I called up Lolo Dad's and although I expected this to be an expensive place, I don't think I was prepared to dine with Php 2700++ price tag per person for a complete course meal. Maybe some other time! Haha.

And so Duo it is!

I went to pick-up Che in Makati so we can just use one car and then we headed off to The Fort. I heard good reviews about Duo and the price tag seems reasonable so I was pretty excited.

We got the following:

Tessie Tomas Salad (Large) - costs about P790 shared for 2

This is a bed of greens with salmon, roasted prawn, shitake mushroom with some balsamic dressing. It's yummy! I think some salad tastes the same but what makes it special are the combination of prawns, mushroom and salmon.

Then we had..

French Onion Soup - Didn't quite like it. Not the best French Onion Soup i've tried

For main course, we opted to go for Steak DUO combinations.

I had Steak and Duck Foie Gras while Che had Surf and Turf. I was too excited to eat it and thus failed to take a picture :)

The steak (around 120g) was good. The Foie Gras as usual is good but there is a guilt feeling every bite you take. I didn't really enjoy the potato gratin and the vegetable siding.

We were supposed to get dessert but we were quite full already. Maybe next time I'll try the DUO combination also which includes chocolate decadence, cheesecake, panacotta and tiramisu!

Overall, we did enjoyed it. Total price tag of P2700 which was not that bad.

Then we grabbed some take out desserts (French Apple Pie and Bananalicious) from Conti's which was right next to DUO. I will eat my Bananalicious today! :)

Yey!

And so from Grrr... to Yey! :)

Indeed, there are still some positive developments happening in this world despite all the negative news we have been constantly hearing.

Yesterday, I gas up and I felt happy that prices of diesel is now at level of P25! I am currently driving a diesel - an Isuzu Sportivo. And although I was initially a bit hesitant on owning it since we paid for it using part of the money I have been saving for our 'dream house', it is so far serving its purpose. Our family is getting big so a sedan is too small for us during our weekend trips. Besides, Che and I can no longer manage to use the same car to/from office.

Anyways, I gas up for P500 worth and I was happy that it already reaches half of the fuel tank. This will usually cover for my 1 week travel to/from office plus some short trips during the weekend. Tipid no?! Also considering I am driving an Automatic which is generally cheaper than Manual transmission. Che is also using a 1.3 car which consumes less as well. So I can say that fuel is not really hurting our pockets these days!

So if you are intending on buying a family car, I strongly suggest Isuzu models e.g. Sportivo, Crosswind or Altera. Che can help you on that. :) Shameless plugging!

Closet Queen?

Well, obviously I am not a closet queen (i.e. a homosexual who keeps his true identity) haha! However, I would love to be the queen of closets! One of the top things I will greatly consider in building a house is a walk-in closet. It doesn't have to be as grand as Carrie's closet in SATC the movie (that's my dream closet though!). It can be a size of a small room where upon entering, you have rows of cabinets on both sides - one side will be mine and the other side will be Che's stuff. Facing the door is a huge mirror. In the middle will be a carpeted walk way where I can strut when I feel like without having any audience (probably with Che as an exception). Also, I would put in a stool in the middle that could be useful when I wear my shoes.

Also, I would love to have my shoes , bags and belts lined up by color and type. Not that I have plenty and expensive stuff to display, but it does makes choosing clothes and dressing up a lot easier when you can see all your stuff in one shelf.

The walk in closet should also be well-lighted. Then I should have uniformed clothes hangers - i prefer the wooden ones. I got Ikea wooden hangers that are good enough but I need more.

This is just a dream and it's free to dream anyways. First, we need a house! :)

Grrr...!

You know that election is nearing when you see tv and radio commercials featuring politicians. I so hate this!

There are at least 3 politicians I can name with their commercials flashing on the screen on prime time tv. I also listen to AM radio every morning on my way to work and in the evening on my way home. This morning I turned off my radio momentarily just so I will not hear the politician's campaign. Kabwisit kasi!

One is saying that he will help lower the cost of medicines with tagline 'Kailangan pang kulitin ang gobyerno.. Magtulungan tayo'..

Then on the radio, he talks about a campaign on pre-need insurance. That he will provide legal assistance to those who are running for their pre-need insurance that were squanderred by certain insurance companies.

Then there's another one who talks about helping others with tagline something to this effect.. 'Ang galing sa mahirap puro tulong sa mahirap..'

I am ok if those are information campaign that will really help create awareness. But when you help others, you don't need to make it known to the world! Yes, politicians sometimes have to show they are doing something to avoid criticisms and make it known to the public that they are really worth to be public servants. But for me, true servants are those who will help others without the need to bring in media.

Those huge amount of money spent on advertisements (I actually wonder whether these are from personal or public funds? hmm.) could already help hundreds and maybe thousands of poor families in this country. Sigh.