My Crazy December

Whew.. December passed by so swiftly. There's only a few days left and I am still catching my breath with how crazy the month of December is. I haven't blogged much. 16th was my last official working day in the office as I took my vacation early. All along I thought the last two weeks of the month will be a breeze, I was wrong.

The first two weeks of December was quite hectic for me work-wise and also in meeting deadlines for my course at SIMI which were due mid of the Dec. At the same time, our Regional Director was in town mid of the month. Of course, there were some preparations I needed to do. Glad things went really fine. Then came our Christmas Party which is worth another blog entry (only if I have time!). There were departmental meetings and workshops I also had to attend or facilitate and work dinners etc... In fact, I went home consistently late (earliest 11pm) during my last 5 working days!

Then came the vacation which in fact is not yet one. I was extemely busy with my last minute christmas shopping. I crammed again! And oh boy, I was shocked to have listed 75 on my gift list. Hmm.. so imagine the countless mall trips and gift wrapping days!

Today is yet another busy day. Che and I decided to repaint our room and the last 12 hours were spent removing the wall paper. Don't even attempt to visualize how messy our room is. It is just unbelievable. It is like 'moving-out day' again for us. I hope things will be in order before we welcome the new year.

I also had my hair rebonded last Monday at Tony and Jackey in Makati. It was my 4th time and 1st here in the country. However, I was disappointed. It didn't had an effect on me. What a waste of time and money!

One week more before we resume back to work and I am looking forward to a lot of things: Christmas Party with friends tomorrow, New Year's Eve celebration with my folks, Mom's bday on Jan1 which we intend to celebrate outside home for the first time, reunion with our relatives on the 3rd (which we normally celebrate on Mom's bday), and 2 weedings to attend on Jan 3 (morning and afternoon) and who knows there could even be spur of the moment out of town trip.

There's even a lot of things I have planned to do like go to the dentist to exhaust the dental benefit I have for this year and schedule my Executive Check-up. Health is a priority and I hope iIcan squeeze in all I needed to do before work bug hits me again.

Happy Holidays! Enjoy the long vacation with your family!

Random Thoughts

The long weekend got me thinking....

...The only thing constant is change. In the corporate world, people do come and go. Not so long ago, you are a neophyte. Now, you become a senior of the bunch.

...Why is it that when you have finally embraced stability, it makes you think 'so what's next?'

...Whenever I see Sean and Sophia play together and laugh at each other, it makes me feel how lucky we are to have twins. And especially since we have a girl and a boy which is a rarity (except in Hollywood these days), it makes me feel I have already won the lottery :)

...Whenever I see S&S giggle and make funny faces, it makes me think 'Why didn't I had baby sooner' or 'I want more babies!'. Hahaha..

...Why is it that we are concerned about what other people think about us when in fact we will not change for them. What we want is to be real.

...With the financial meltdown, the only thing certain is uncertainty. We have to hold on to our seats and avoid being a spender as we might be off to a bumpy ride in 2009. I often forget this so I admit I have to remind myself this once in a while :)

...Why is it that our wish list never seems to end? When we have finally achieved or have gotten what we want, there is always something else to add on the list. I guess being consistently contented is an impossibility.

...Sometimes when luck strikes you, it can be over the top. Take Pacquiao's case for instance, isn't he one lucky guy?! I wonder how he spends his millions or billion of pesos. I hope he saves enough for his kids.

...In the corporate world, you have to keep going - keep up with the pace. Otherwise, your career might end up being stagnant. Career is like a pc's storage capacity. You have to upgrade yourself continuously, otherwise you become obsolete.

1st Haircut

We went to Cuts 4 Tots at Trinoma last Nov 9 for Sean and Sophia's 1st haircut. Syempre smilestones ito, so it has to be captured in camera and blogged about.

Here are the before and after pictures. They are so likot so wasn't able to capture it well.

Before



After


Sean definitely looked better without the flying hair (he's hair is curly kasi esp on the sides). Huhu, my son is really a toddler na!

Before


After


Naging boyish look si Sophia! :) Well, there's nothing much to cut anyways. Hehe...

Anyways, Christmas is around the corner. It's actually very chilly already in Copenhagen. It was already 5C last week. In fact, last Thursday, it snowed for the first time this year. I was having breakfast in our office when I saw it was raining snow. Cute :)

Here's a pic of myself with Sean and Sophia at Landmark in Trinoma before their trip to the kiddie salon :)

Bed of LoVe

If your bed is full of roses, it's sweet....
If your bed is full of LVs, it's called LoVe....
Hahahaha!



Well, before you even think I am insane, that's not all mine. Pabili lang most of them. But this lady gotta have something too ;)

Back to the 80's

In a month's time we will have our company Christmas Party. This event is usually fun with people really prepping up and coming in there 'theme inspired' outfit. Expect also several nights of preparation for the department dance competition.

Last year, the party was held at Jumbo Restaurant with Casino Royale as the theme (if I remember correctly). I was still on maternity leave then so I just visited. I came in my jeans with a glittery top and everyone else were beautiful in their evening dress.

This year, our party will be held at the Hyatt Hotel & Casino. The theme will be 80's! Ayayaya! :) There will be a chorale competition this time (ala 'Sister Act' daw). I am betting that my department will win! (Hahaha!)

I'm sure it's gonna be fun - as always. I can imagine the overflowing booze, dancing and singing all night and staff getting drunk and crazy (I'm always sober during these type of social events, pathetic?!) :)

Hmm... it's time to think what to wear!

After the Party

Sean and Sophia had their 1st bday party last Sunday (Nov2). Their real bday was last Nov 1. It was a success! Many guests came and there were more than 50 kids who celebrated with us. I prepared 60 lootbags and only 3 were left. Many guests said their kids had a blast! I'll post pictures later because I still need to sort them.

Nataranta ako, ang daming gifts! I said nga talbog pa ata ang wedding namin :) While of course, most guests gave 2 gifts each for Sean and Sophia, it's still a lot! As in several dozens of clothes and overflowing toys! Imagine, we got 6 'ride and walk' (that's the rider you can also convert into a walker). So everyday bago rider nila?! Hahaha.. Clothes were also overflowing.

But truly, I thank the friends and relatives who came despite the weekend being a holiday. Even days after the party (until now!), we are still receiving gifts for those who weren't able to come. I'll definitely show these pictures to my twins when they grow up to make them realize how lucky and blessed they are. Surely, I will teach them also the value of sharing especially to those who are less fortunate...

Check this for the pictures... http://melissa23.multiply.com/photos/album/8/1st_Birthday_Gifts#

My problem now is the storage to keep all the stuff - and take note adding to the list are the Christmas presents. :)

Moving to new office

It's been 4 months since we moved to our new office (so long overdue na tong post na ito haha!). From working on 51st floor in the tallest building here in the Philippines, we moved to an office building right next to the biggest mall in the country.

Here's the pictures we took on our last day in the old office...

Yes, my desk is unusually clean because I have packed all my stuff except for the laptop, phone, printer and an orange :)

Here's with a good friend/colleague Rowie in our conference room

Here's my new office. The room is a bit smaller in size and the view is not so great but it surely is good enough for me (at least, I am nearer my department and not in isolation hehe)

My old office has a stunning view of the metro that I probably won't be able to experience again but moving to our new office now has a lot of advantages. I can now leave past 7:30am and still be able to make it at 8:30am in the office (no Makati traffic jam!). There are tons of restaurants to choose from for lunch! I think there are more than 100+ restaurants and we've tried the following (I lost count I think and there's still a lot more to try):

Almon Marina (so far my favorite!)

Bacolod Chicken

Cafe Mediterranean

Chowking

David's Tea House

Healthy Shabu Shabu

Kalye Juan

Kenny Rogers

KFC

Mandarin Wok

Mann Hann

Mexicali (another favorite!)

Oki-Oki

Mongkok

Rack's

Sakae Sushi

Sbarro

Stars N Stripes

Superbowl

Tanabe

Teriyaki Boy

Wendy's

Lunch is definitely more expensive! No more P100/lunch budget! :) But having lunch is definitely not stressful now compared to Makati where there's traffic in the lift and waiting queue in restaurants. We can dine in at decent restaurants here without having to kill time waiting to be seated.

And most importantly, I can do my shopping everyday if I need to (lunch time or after office). I'm loving it! :)