Remembering Hapchan

Birthday celebrations at my office means eating lunch out at HapChan. My first time there was two years ago, and that first experience was fine. I've been eating out with friends at NorthPark, Buddha and Superbowl and the ambiance was just like Hapchan. Chinese Food - been baptized there and i learned to crave for it once in a while. So when my birthday came, it was not a surprise at all when they told me they were bringing me there! I was delighted and overeating was forgotten for a moment.. Yummy.


The yummy calamares


I love their Yang Chow!


Their shrimp with cauliflower was so luscious too


My ever favorite chicken feet.. try it! yum really.


tasty tofu and fish for the vegetarians out there!


spare ribs (literally a spare, we were all full and this was the only left over) :D

Pictorial

One of my favorite shots at Tagaytay Church. Captured it right in time before the bride was walking down the aisle..

And right after all the guests of the wedding finished their pictorial session. We had our own moment of picture taking too.. Wished to post photos of the choir here but it was blurry. Blame it on my phone! :)

I have been using my motorola phone for photo capturing for a year now. If the photos are blurred, forgive my moto. It was supposed to be a phone not a camera. Ayt?

Spot the difference

Both pictures were taken at Picnic Grove Tagaytay.

Picture 1 - October 2007.
I was 6 months heavy with Yena. Hubby and I played Mom and Dad to his nephews for a day. :)


Picture 2 - November 2008.
Hubby carrying our Yena with our nephews and niece. Being mom and dad is a real life role we play everyday. :D


Can you still spot the difference?

I'll start with what i observed: When you become a mother, you turn into a photographer and you are supposed to be excluded on picture taking most of the time! :)

Happy Birthday!

Just a glimpse, one picture per day on my special day. Still very busy day at office so it will be very quick! :D

November 20, 2008 (Thursday) - A birthday treat from my officemates at HapChan. See the calamares? it was good! :)


November 21, 2008 (Friday) - Wedding singer for a day, i celebrated my pre birthday with the choir at Tagaytay. (Picture of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Tagaytay)


November 22, 2008 (Saturday-my birthday hehe) - Hunting for the much awaited laptop! We went to Gillmore for the first time, we rode two trains going there- MRT and LRT2.. I hated the word canvass (i was a compulsive buyer until i married Yobib), but whoever invented that word is quite forgiven. I am so in a hurry to have may 'nancy' so soon but we will be back there next saturday to fetch her!! Yahooo!! (i contented myself capturing the kois at Gateway Mall, they are lovely, so cutey cutey)


November 23, 2008 (Sunday) - I had my way or the highway! Wink to Hubby! LOL. Went to Picnic Grove Tagaytay with lots of our nephews, nieces, friends, siblings and my little family! It was FUN!

But so TIRING too.. But i was thankful that i had my way.. I am so loved really. Thanks for all the warm greetings! Mwah to ALL!

Birthday Leave

it's a super busy day today here at office BUT i really need to post this one! i will be on birthday leave tomorrow so it will be a long weekend for my little family! yehey!

there are a lot of things to be thankful about i know but i would like to highlight on this one -

i have been dreaming of having my own laptop for years now since i started blogging. it was wishful thinking for me and i never imagine someone i never met and someone i call friend in blog and email would fulfill that long time wish right in time for my birthday!

thank you so much umma! for the wonderful scrap you surprised me yesterday, for the laptop i will be naming NANCY on saturday and for the superb friendship i found in you.. thank you dearest!

i really owe you bigtime!! bawi ako sa'yo, promise! :)

Alphabet Tag

i thought it will be a bad day today. thank God i was wrong! i got a very sweet email from Umma and a nice tag from Enchie.. so i will leaving office now with a big smile! thank you dearest.. Got tagged again by madam Beng! :) Salamat!

A. Attached or single ? - attached.

B. Best friend? - husband.

C. Cake or pie? - cake

D. Day of choice? - sunday.

E. Essential item? - my pen.

F. Favorite color? - lavender.

G. Gummy bears or worms? - not into it, sorry.

H. Hometown? - cavite

I. Favorite indulgence? - lays, kitkat chocolate, knick knacks choco on choco, kisses almonds

J. January or July? - both. birth of my two most love on earth. january being yena's birthday and july - the birth of niko's love affair with yobib. :D

K. Kids? - i will be completely happy with 3, thank you.

L. Life isn’t complete without? - faith, family and friends

M. Marriage date ? - october 26

N. Number of magazine subscriptions? - none. i stopped collecting Cosmopolitan magazines some two years ago.

O. Orange or apple? - i would buy both, but i can last a day without eating one. orange is yena's favorite and apple is for hubby!

P. Phobias? - nothing specific. but i am afraid of the snakes..

Q. Quotes? - "the best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain"

R. Reasons to smile? - littlest things. a tag on a bad day, thanks enchie! and an email from a dearest friend, thanks umma dear!

S. Season of choice? - Christmas season? :)

T. Tag 5 people - Mommy Liz, Umma, Rose, Samantha, Bonnie

U. Unknown factS about me? - i love crosstitching. i heart sudoku. i adore jennifer aniston. i hate philippine politics.

V. Vegetable? - i dont eat vegetables that much. I hate it when i was a child. :D

W. Worst habit? - blogging too much?! ...LOL

X. X-ray or ultrasound? - should i chooose? waaaah.

Y. Your favorite food(s)? - pancit. barbeque. A lot more.

Z. Zodiac sign - sagittarius

Unwell

am not feeling well today.
not on working mode too but i have tons of reports to do.
slept not so good- missed his embrace but had to fight it.
o i got up just like what i used to do - got to work.
not in the mood for breakfast. started my day with a frown.
my bad mood started since last night and it is not changing until now.

Reflection

Inspired by my good friend umma's post. Here is what my office working area looks like..

Plants
A plant inside a mini bottle with a miniature bahay kubo. this is placed at the top of my CPU

Candy Bowl/Lots of Supplies
though i must admit that i am introvert at times, with food at my table I think i am extrovert. just before my area picture taking an officemate took my peanuts away.. and my knick knacks choco on choco got lost just after taking my break.. i cant get enough of sweets at office, that is my weakness. Got no Picture for this one! :(

Motivational/Inspirational Items
i have a little sto nino at the top of my CPU, an all time reminder of my faith. also, i would only reveal it here now, i have a lavender high heels shoe beside it, also a reminder that i can be taller / higher if i set my best foot into what i love doing!


Family Photos
i have the picture of me and husband at the front of my computer, a reminder of our love?! LOL and our daughter's picture at my desktop as a wallpaper.. hope it says enough that i love my family!


Excessive Post-It Notes
do i look like i cant keep up?? i hope my cork board looks like i can keep up with my work.. :D

Like Mom

Saturday and Sunday are my favorite days of the week. Aside from sleeping until 8am the longest, plus there is no work - it is our bonding time with our daughter Yena. This is how we look like waking up on weekends.

I was teased by officemates that my daughter looks like my husband the most, in all aspects. One thing they would nod and agree is that - Like me, my daughter has a long hair too!

Need not to ask but i am really a proud mom to my baby who has long hair at ten months. :)

runaway

have you tried running away from your present situation?

sometime in my life - i did. when i broke up with my soldier fiance and felt so misunderstood by my family. some of my friends misread my actions too and they thought i was going out of my mind. i felt the world was closing down on me, was it a mistake to choose the one you love most?

like a fugitive, i packed my things unsure where to go or what to do next. i just wanted to escape, i wanted to break free. my eyes were bulging, i cried nonstop. i thought i was a fool to have cried buckets of tears while walking, heading to some directions unclear to me now. i asked for help from a friend, she brought me to another place i can hide for the night. the next day i was about to leave to another direction while crying and feeling guilty of the things i should have decided sooner in my life.. if i can turn back time, i should have chose right away! i shouldnt bother what other people would tell about me..

and if i would live my life again, i would still if i could. i would run away again, this time not alone. i would run away with the one that i love. i would runaway with you!

*sponsored post dedicated to my husband yobib, congrats on your promotion baby! :D HAHAH

Pink Sisterhood

I was tagged by Odette, thanks pretty lady! :) And so here it goes..

* One in eight women or 12.6% of all women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.
* Breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk.
* Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer.
* Seventy-seven percent of women with breast cancer are over 50.
* Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 15 and 54, and the second cause of cancer death in women 55 to 74.
* Risks for breast cancer include a family history, atypical hyperplasia, early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), current use or use in the last ten years of oral contraceptives, and daily consumption of alcohol.
* Early detection of breast cancer, through monthly breast self-exam and particularly yearly mammography after age 40, offers the best chance for survival.
Facts taken from Women’s Health


And now here is the tag and the rules:

1. Put the logo in your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who shared it with you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add your link to the list of participants below
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

PINK Sisterhood

1- Fara 2- Massy 3- N.O.Y 4- Mariuca 5- A Great Pleasure 6- LadyJava 7- Kim 8- Pink Thoughts 9- Turn-u-Off 10- Roxiticus Desperate Housewives 11- STAY AT HOME MOM 12- Fida Abbott 13- Also Mommy 14- Janice Ng 15- Juliana’s Site 16- The Painted Veil 17- Heart of Rachel 18- Mga Muni-muni 19- littlemsfirefly 20. Niko's Blog 21. YOU


if you have time to do it this month, you are tagged...

Bonnie, Chubskulit, Mom of Four, Bonz, Enchie, Babette and Kat!

SURPRISE!

i have been updating my blogs twice or thrice a week. i need to update during lunchtime since that is my free time. i have three blogs already and it seems handful, but since i'm addicted to blogging who cares! i love what i'm doing that lunchtime is so bitin! :D

i've been wanting to post this since yesterday coz it made me leap for joy and painted a big smiley on my face. umma knows how to tickle my bones. she knew i love surprises and she did surprise me with this! i just cant thank her enough.. thank you so much dear!

of course it is my desktop wallpaper now, and will stay there for as long as i like! and oh how i love it i wanted it printed and posted on the wall of our room!

am a friend

because i look aloof, i have a very small circle of friends. i am quiet choosy too. counting my fingers, i have a little less than 20 closest that includes my childhood, highschool and college friends. i choose a friend who will keep me on the positive edge of life.. luckily they keep me too. :)

and just this morning i thank God again for a wonderful blessing called friend. i have been making friends online since i started blogging but my scope widen when i got yena.. i have now lots of mommy friends in touch. and i love it!!

thanks for my mommy friends who keeps me upbeat all the time.. blogging has never been this fun! thank you!

just feel better

I have been tag by my gorgeous friend Umma to list 8 random things about me, i would never say NO to a very exciting tag.. and it's getting-to-know-each-other-MORE time too! I had fun! Thanks Umma! ;)

My lists include:

1 - i love surprises. i am easy to please. i am easily delighted with littlest things like good books, romantic movies, sentimental songs, tender quotations - all of them can move me at once!

2 - i am the eldest of three siblings. my mother is the second wife of my father, and i have 5 distant-half-sisters from my father.

3 - i am five months older than my husband. i am praying to be a submissive wife to him.

4 - i do not know how to cook, to which i am concluding i am not yet a housewife.

5 - i am very choosy with friends but i love making friends on the internet! i have to admit now that i am addicted to blogging.

6 - i love shoes, bags and skirts. when i was still single, i was a compulsive buyer. now that i often go to the mall with hubby i would get what fancy me depending on his mood. which i am not complaining, i love the guiltless feeling of leaving the mall with only the essential purchases!

7 - i am currently employed with Eastern Communications, the philippines oldest telecommunications company.

8 - i spend my idle hours wishing like right now.. that someone out there with a big heart would hear my prayer - - i want to have my own laptop on my birthday! HAHAH


And the tag rules to follow are:

1 - Each player starts with eight random fact/habits about themselves.
2 - People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3 - At the end of your blog post, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their name.
4 - Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and to read your blog.

Now, i am tagging these 8 wonderful creatures on earth:

Odette, Chubskulit, Mom of Four, Bonz, Kreez, Sheng, Babette and Ria!

selling the drama

i want to share a secret. yobib and i had our greatest fight on our first christmas as a married couple. the reason, i already forgot now. but what made it big was my being so quiet. i was so overly sensitive, charge it to my pregnancy. i kept all my thoughts inside me while he likes to talk misunderstandings at once. and i hate to talk when i am mad. back then, we are two separate individuals, who does not like to meet halfway!

we made a scene, soap opera like. i packed my things and prepared to leave. he was mad too and carried my things away.. an unpleasant scene from a newly married couple on a christmas day. though no words were spoken, it still left a sad spot on my soul. i swear it wil never happen ever again! from then on, i will speak my mind - we will talk! i will voice out my feelings! my views will never be secret to him.

yobib is very vocal, he keeps no secrets from me and that includes his naughty escapades with girls in the past.. and i must say he played around nonstop before! (oooops that's another secret!) but then i learned something, i guess our being so open to each other helps to strengthen our relationship. we have our little misunderstandings now, but it will not last an hour.. we will talk, get back into each other arms smiling, forgiving, kissing and making up.

and yes, we sold the drama. though it does not make us rich, it gives us enough of something to keep us together. we swap the drama with talk.

ever after

want to change name? get married!

i dont know if its also the same case in other country, but here in the philippines when a woman get married, it will be automatic to use her husbands surname. and so if you want to change your name, go on and get married! ;)

but you will have to face the consequences of it all (evil laugh here! LOL), i will name a few i experienced..

first, it's like going back to grade 1. i have to right down remembering what is my new surname and middle name. often times in the past months, i would need an extra paper to back me up, i know its weird but i really contemplate first before filling up a single sheet!

second, having a new name, middle name and surname mean new signature. after a year, i now know what my signature will be. it was a constant practice on my part.. and scratch papers have been all around my table since day one of being Mrs. E. and i must agree that it's hard to create a new mess like handwriting!

third, it is a must to change all important identification cards! from SSS ID, tax identification ID, company ID, philhealth, credit cards and ATM cards. have i mention the bills?! you have to prepare yourself with handfulls of xerox copies of your marriage contract!

fourth, i've been praying to God not to give me a spouse surname beginning with E. though i know i am God's favorite, he gave me my husband whose surname starts with E. now my whole name initials is the word i dreaded the most, being LATE.

fifth, now you know that my real name starts with L, mother's maiden name with A, my maiden name with T, and my surname now is E.

I am Mrs LATE.

easy as sunday morning

every sunday morning, if you live near where we live, you would always woke up with the same noise of people hurrying, kids running here and there, and sounds of frying pans cooking breakfast as if endlessly.. it has been a ritual already. sunday mornings were spent at the church by the whole family! and nobody is allowed to be late - 9am is sacred hour!

what excites me most at the church is the whole time we would be singing. like a duet, hubby and i would share at one of the microphones. our old singing group whose previous members were friends from sisters of mary, an highschool alumni, is now composed of solid group of relatives and friends. siblings, cousins, very close friends and a couple (that's me and hubby! - ahem). :D

it has been six years since we started our choir, old members were now all over the globe and now have different sets of priorities. years back, we would sing at wedding ceremonies and sing/pray at funerals. and no matter how hard it is to gather 5 or more members at the same time for saturday night practice, my husband and i, and the rest of the group are glued to it. it is a common wish that on the years to come, we would be singing with our children in tow!