Kiddie Stuff for Christmas

Three months to go and it's Christmas! Time for giving and sharing and most especially it's the time of the year for kids. Yes, that's right. This season is really meant for the kids since it's the birth of Jesus Christ and the fact that Santa Clause showers them gifts for being a good boy or girl. Sometimes I do wish that I was a kid where it's stress free and laidback.

I haven't started my Christmas shopping. I'm planning to do it next month. I have more or less 18 god children but some of them are out of the country so immediately I will cross them out in my list but majority of them are still here in the Philippines so I'm thinking of giving them each of a kids backpack or personalized duffle bag so they can use it whenever they go out. It's a good thing that both of these bags can be personalized. I just hope that some of them will appreciate it since I like giving gifts that are useful. I don't like to give toys anymore since they will outgrow it eventually. Before I get ahead of myself, budget is an important factor for me to consider if I can really get them these as presents. If only money is not so hard to find nowadays.

Apart from the Christmas presents that I'm trying to accomplished, another one is finding an affordable landscape for the front garden of our house. We don't have a fence or a gate yet in front so we are considering having plants for the time being. I'm about to read the Dallas lawn maintenance to educate myself about landscaping and taking care of a garden. I'm not sure if I have a green thumb so I might as well prepare myself for the basics of gardening.

How come there's so much to do with such a little time?

30 Days

That's the exact number of days till our 3rd Year Wedding Anniversary. My mind is blank on what to do in order to celebrate another milestone of our marriage.

I was thinking of using the free overnight accommodation of Sofitel but ended up using it for another occasion which is, I think a first priority since my father and siblings needed it.

Out of town trips are crossed out. Well, I guess it's possible if there are affordable promos ongoing with the hotels in the South area. The easiest and stress-free celebration that comes to my mind is to just dine out and try restaurants we've never been to. Yup! There's a lot restaurants in the South so might as well try each of them :)
 
Let's see if I can come up something within in the next coming days. Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.

The RUSH

I just found out in the news a couple of days back that GSP or George St. Pierre of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Champion) will be coming to Manila for a visit! For those whose been watching UFC, you definitely know this guy as he made a mark in Mixed Martial Arts world.

One of my friend/colleague at work decided to go to the Music Hall of Mall of Asia to see GSP personally. I was planning not to go but changed my mind and accompanied her for an hour. When we arrived in the venue, people are busy setting up the place. There's a few crowd that have gathered wanting to be the lucky firsts to get inside once the "arena" has been opened. I can't wait for GSP to arrive since I have a lot of agenda yesterday so I told my friend to tag me in FB for the pics :)

Oh boy, I'm excited as a kid to show the uploaded photos on her FB account. Snagged some of it:

He is a Canadian with humble beginnings. 

Worked as a bouncer and a garbageman in order to pay for his school fees.

What a hunk! He is the current Welterweight Champion of UFC (swoon)

Manila International Book Fair 2010

Last Friday I went off to SMX to check out this book fair that everyone has been raving about. I was hoping to find some good steals as Christmas present for my godchildren. It was my first time to be on that fair.

Upon entering the fair premise, the National Bookstore booth will greet you. They have the biggest space in the fair. I also saw the St. Scholastica booth on the left side while the Logico (I think) is on the right side together with other encyclopedia publications.

I didn't stay for long as I need to get home as early as possible for me to have my sleep. I just went to the booths that I'm familiar with and didn't lounge for more than 5 minutes. It was a brief visit, so to speak.

I was fascinated with the books that I saw on the right most part of the venue. I forgot the publication's name but they have Jumbo coloring books that cost Php 80+ while the paper dolls costs Php 180+. I almost bought the children's bible for my brother and sister but decided to let it go. It costs Php 300+. There are books which featured Filipino stories that cost Php 50-80. After going around on that area and contemplating whether to buy or not, I came up with the decision of not buying anything for the kids. Instead, I went back to National Bookstore and purchase my own books instead (selfish me!).

I splurged (sheepish grin) and bought nine books...

Sophie Kinsella - Mini Shopaholic (Php 615)

Sophie Kinsella - Twenties Girl (Php 275)

Paulo Coelho - Alchemist  and The Zahir (Php 245)

All Nicholas Sparks' books are at Php 315

Ben Sherwood - Charlie St. Cloud (Php 299)

Since I spent over Php 2,500 (yikes!), I'm entitled to get some freebies from National Bookstore. On their Customer Service section, I was asked to draw 4 plastic balls where it has a corresponding item. And here's what I got:

Will I be going to the fair next year? Definitely! But I will need to do some research on the publications and the things that I want to buy. Ahahaha! Obviously I've been a compulsive buyer on the fair. No regrets since I love reading books since I'm in grade school. Till next year.

Zero

The website supporting my counter is gone! Finish! Kapoot!

I created another counter and since it's new then I'm starting back again from the beginning. Tsk! Let's see how many visitors I can gather this time around. 

I'm making an effort updating my blog now unlike before wherein I'm so lazy to connect on the internet and my mind completely gets blank when I opened the editor of my blog. 

But now, I have a lot of things to tell. I just have to make it a point to remind myself and remember all the things I want to write. 

I still owe you the complete travelogue of my Shanghai trip that goes way way back (Chinese New Year to be specific). Since my sister is already here in Manila for good, I'm going to ask her about the places we've visited. Chinese names sounds the same so I got all of them mixed up or worst I completely forgot the names.

Anyways, thank you for my fellow bloggers who never fails to visit my site every once in awhile. In the next coming days, I will visit your blog and leave comments as well to keep in touch with all of you.

Pantene Mystery Promo

Sometime between the last week of July and first week of August, I chance upon reading the blog entries of Daphne Osena-Paez. In one of her entries, she posted a link where you can get samples of the Mystery Shampoo that will be revealed in August 1st if my memory serves me right.

I already had a hunched that the mystery shampoo is Pantene just by judging the shape of the bottle and the tag line "You try, you decide".

There's no harm in trying to register for the free samples and of course the curiosity in me wouldn't just go away so I signed up myself on the link provided. After more than a month, I got the package from Procter and Gamble for the samples that I've been waiting for!

To be honest, I completely forgot about it. Good thing that they sent me an email last Friday telling me to be patient in receiving my sample. And indeed, patience is a virtue ;)

Since I already have the Pantene samples, I'm going to start the 14-day challenge tonight! =) 

Our Baby

We are not talking about a human baby here :)  May I present the puppy that my sister bought three weeks ago. She's a cross breed of golden retriever and collie. At first when she arrived in our home, she was scared and keeps following my sister whenever she goes. She's afraid to be touch by other people.

But after weeks of staying with us, she's now comfortable and keeps on following me and my husband since she sees the two of us more compared to my sister. As we speak, she's right outside my bedroom door waiting for me to open it for her. She has this habit of playing and sleeping in the bed since it's soft (she discovered it when she's sleeping in my sister's room). Like a parent to a child, I don't want her to get used to that habit which she will bring eventually when she's older so I always keep the door in our room closed. I can just imagine how chaotic it can be having an adult dog inside a bedroom.

Here's a few snapshots that I have of her...

A still photo of Poochie 

(Yeah, that's her name. My sister is the mastermind for that name).

Hubby took this picture while I was eating dinner.

Isn't she adorable? She's naughty and playful. You will know if she's not feeling well when she doesn't move around and prefers to sleep under the couch. She came to us weighing 2.4 kg. Last Saturday when we visited her vet, she weighs 3.3 kg! She's definitely growing fast in the span of 3 weeks ;)

Numero Uno

I'm glad that he did it again! For such a young age of 23, Rafael Nadal proves that one person can excel on his chosen field as long as his heart is set into it. Focus and determination to win are his defense that despite the injury he suffered last year, he proves that nothing can stop him to be the best that he can be.

In the coming years, I'm sure that he will surpass the record set by Roger Federer in the tennis world.

¡Felicitaciones! se esfuerzan por ser el número uno año nuevo el próximo

Glee

              
I was introduced to this TV series by my sister who happens to have episodes of season 1 in her external hard drive. I've been hearing a lot of raves about Glee but never had a chance to really watch it for myself since we don't have a cable subscription yet.

I started watching the episodes two weeks ago and I was blown away by the concept of the series. Yeah there are some cheesy moments and over board scenes but hey, the setting is high school where all the dramas and decisions in life are starting to kick in.

It's truly entertaining especially if you’re the type of person who enjoys music ;) The characters are all talented considering most of them have no professional experience in acting. Kudos to them, I'd say!

I'm not yet done watching all the episodes of Season 1 but I'm excited to finish it off and brace myself for Season 2 where Charice will be part of the cast. There will be a lot of showdowns I bet between Rachel and Sunshine (Charice's character) so 100% pure entertainment guaranteed ;)

Bouncing Back

I'm back!!!! And it feels so good! Two reasons that I am not online and don't have much updates on this blog.

First, blog sites and forums and the like are blocked in our office so there's no way I can be able to post anything. Almost all the sites in the office are blocked - shopping sites, entertainment, lifestyle, etc. 

Second, we lost our internet connection since I completely forgot to pay for it. I have these calculations in my head, allotting the expenses that I missed the internet service. Sigh!

I can't wait to start filling this up with the things that has been happening in my life and in between. But for the time being, I will need to take a nap since I haven't sleep yet since I came from work. 

Later in the evening, I will begin posting some stories of what happened on the past weeks.