Happy Halloween!

May you all have a fun-filled, spine-chilling, spooky Halloween night ...

Happy, happy Halloween my dear bloggers !!!

NY tour

New York City ... I so want to visit this place again and again to re-live my wonderful experience in the big apple. My last stay in NY was short and I felt like I haven’t explored the city so much. As a matter of fact, I was able to enjoy some of the famous NY sights, thanks to Bus Charter NYC which I availed on my first day in the city.

Together with other tourists, I joined the tour group that brought us to famous landmarks on New York. We availed the day trip offer which includes downtown tour like the shopping districts of Madison’s Square Garden, Times Square, SoHo, the big Macy’s store, the famous World Trade Center, the financial district of Wall Street, Rockefeller Center, Carnegie Hall and the Broadway theatre district.

Sadly, I was not able to join the tour at Battery Park going to the famous NY icon, the Statue of Liberty. I totally forgot the time and spent my day trip doing some shopping. Hahaha! I think I lost my way into Macy’s that I’ve miscalculated my shopping time. Nevertheless, I promised myself that I’ll be back in NY soon to visit our lovable aunt in Fresh Meadows. You see, she’s been in NY for over five years now but she has not been to the famous landmarks of NY. Blame it on her work. She’s very busy with her hospital work that she missed seeing all the lovely places of NY. Anyway, we promised to visit her soon so she can take a break from work and join the sightseeing tour with us. Wouldn’t that be fun?!

Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia ... the bratinella's new fave movie after Kung Fu Panda. And believe me, she can't get over it. It's been weeks since she first watched the movie and our nightlife never been the same again. Our night ritual now includes watching the movie coupled with a lot of jumping, dancing and singing by Sam on the bed. She adooorrrees and looovvees the movie so much that she was able to memorize the songs (ie: Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia, Super Trouper, Honey, honey etc...) which Kuya Ico patiently downloaded on the ipod for her to enjoy. And not only that, it has become our default CD inside the car every morning on her way to school. She really can't get over the Mamma Mia fever, huh?!

The good thing about it, she can now sing and dance the Dancing Queen song, and can jive with the videoke machine. She now performs the dance number with so much enthusiasm even to a big audience. Last family day, she bravely sang infront of her classmates and some parents the Dancing Queen song. Syempre was really proud of her! And just yesterday, she sang few lines from Mamma Mia infront of my colleagues here in the office. So kaka-aliw!! Now she's famous as Samantha , the dancing queen!! lol. Showbiz na sya talaga! And mind you, she's not into cutie highschool musical fever ... mas feel nya to listen to ABBA songs. Grabe, oldies but goodies girl.

more wishlists ...

And yes, all the Christmas wishlist starts pouring in ... families and friends already busy creating their own wishlists. Some already dropping hints what they want to receive for Christmas, including my Mom. As usual, my mom's wishlist includes kikay items like lipsticks and make-up. But, her special request for me ... another home appliance ---a microwave oven this time. Aside from this, I am thinking of buying her box cutter I saw on the web. An essential tool she can use for her everyday use. It is handy and safe, very ideal for my Mom. I hope she'll like this surprise gift together with the microwave oven. Oh, I think she will definitely like it! My only problem, with all the busy online shoppers worldwide, praying that it will be delivered just in time for the holiday season.

christmas list

With Christmas just around the corner, I am already starting to create my gift list. I am surprised as I am half-way thru my list, I noticed it doubled compared to last year. My list consists of friends and families, god children, colleagues, team members, Sam and Ico’s classmates and teachers, hubby’s officemates and friends, and even hubby’s godchildren! You see, I am the designated Christmas shopper of the family thus you will be surprised how loooonnngg my Christmas list this year. I am not complaining though, but as I think about all the shopping time, budget and traffic … it now sets me to panic-mode!

For starters, I haven’t thought what to give hubby this year. I’ve already shopped a lot of office items for him this year and I can’t think of something unique or extra-special to give him. The last time I checked, all his personal necessities fairly brand-new and as a matter of fact, some of the undergarments I bought still unopened yet. The next best thing I can probably give him is another watch for his office use. It has been three years since I last bought hubby a watch. I know he personally wanted a Rolex GMT watch this year, but budget-wise…I don’t think I can afford this as a Christmas gift. Even if I offer to shoulder fifty-percent of the watch price, I don’t think I’ll be able to raise that big money in two months time. No way!!

And since I cannot afford to give hubby that much desired watch this year, I am thinking of giving him the next best thing to his dream watch. That is, replica watches I saw on the web. Price quite reasonable and with five-year warranty period. And with over hundreds of watch design to choose from, I think the husband will be very much interested to check this out.

Field Trip Day

Last week, I joined the bratinella at her school fieldtrip. Initially, I don't have plans of joining the trip since I have a scheduled office meeting that day. But, I felt guilty when yaya told me a day before the trip that mommies were already talking non-stop about the trip and how eagerly will be joining their kids. Of course, I felt guilty and bad if I let my daughter join without me ... thus I immediately re-scheduled my meeting and decided to join the trip on a last minute.

Glad that I had a change of heart because I enjoyed the trip so much. Sammie was very happy that I spent the entire day (mind you it was a wholeday event, 7am-6pm!) with her. Had an entire day as bonding moments with the little girl ... and truly priceless! Anyway, posting some of her field trip picutres below:

First stop: Mulan at Centerstage Greenbelt :

The Nursery Rm 5 girls while waiting for the Mulan show. Simply playing and goofing around.

Inside the bus, while waiting to depart from school


2nd stop: Doll Joy Factory in Pasig.
The nursery class visited the doll factory, makers of Precious Moments dolls.




Lunch at Frontera Verde, Tiendesitas. Sam and I had our lunch at Teriyaki Boy together with some parents and kids.

3rd Stop: Ark Avilon Zoo, Tiendesitas





4th and last Stop: Kids fun play at Active Fun Ranch

We ended the day with the kids playing, running and sliding at Active Fun. It was kinda-chaotic with kids running around, and mommies busy chatting ... But,it was truly a fun-filled day and we all had a great time with our kids. We all went home tired and exhausted. Sam and I left Tiendesitas before 7pm, and as soon as we hit the road, she immediately went to dreamland 'til the next day. Hahaha! Really glad I made the right choice to be with her on this special day. Priceless, indeed.

MBAP's fun parties

Why I love the MBAP's parties.

1. Whenever we meet up, it is always a family-event thing. Hubbies and kids bond together, while mommies busy talking. lol. It is like an extended family party.

2. We are always surrounded by food. As in never, ... never we ran out of food. We always end up sooo full and the best part, may take home pa kami lagi.

3. We share same passion for blogging, food, online shopping and "wifey stories" (read: evil wifey diaries, escapades, once in a while green-eyed monster attack, little life drama and pa-cute tweetums with hubbies etc...)

4. We know how to have fun...games, kwentos, small surprises ---basta, we find simple joys on simple things... for short, "mababaw" lang kami. Hahaha!

5. For party preps, we do almost anything online. Payment contibutions, raffle, kris-kringle for kids, votation for party dates, payment settlements sa mga "kalakal" ... lahat online. Basta you can do everything online. Hahaha!

6. Lastly, everyone is soooo lovingly-generous. Kahit na-agawan ng gift (lol), all smile pa din. Ok lang! No bitterness sa white elephant game. Also, lagi lahat may bitbit pauwi after the meet-ups. Especially the kids! (you see, we value our kiddos so much! happy kami to see them happy!)

To my dear MBAPs, Advance merry christmas! To the preggos, we all pray for your safe delivery! :)
See you to all upcoming "chikiting" parties.

posting below the famous Estrel's caramel cake!

the beautiful MBAPs ... jane, apple, thea,jody,kelly, moi, abie,mich and peachy.

not in picture: joy, aggie and apols

Looking at our picture above, I don't think the MBAP girls would be needing yellow bullets to cut down weight. Don't you think we are all sexy and slim? lol! Well I am sure our three preggo ladies might consider taking yellow bullets to get back to their pre-preggo shape soon..

business for you.

Bored of being an employee? Tired of being confined to an 8-5 job? And wanting to be the “boss” of your own business but does not have the required capitalization? Then, starting a Bored of being an employee? Tired of being confined to an 8-5 job? And wanting to be the “boss” of your own business but does not have the required capitalization? Then, starting a small business franchise is the thing for you!

Starting a small business franchise is not as hard as everybody thinks. Hard work and dedication are the ingredients of solidifying a strong business foundation. A small business franchise is no different from a multinational company. The basic principle of running the business is always there. Hands-on management is the key to making the small business franchise grow.

And most importantly, as lived by a great man … you should have the boldness to dream. Coz thru these dreams … the small business franchise might turn out to be a conglomerate one day.

on HK loots ...

I almost forgot to post my recent loots from HK. Been very busy with work lately and with too much weekend partying. lol.

Anyway, I am so proud of myself. As I've blogged last month, NO big pruchases from HK this time. Despite lots of teasing and cajoling from my colleagues at LV store, I never gave-in. I promised no more bag for the year. The LV EPI ALMA was my last purchase. And true to my word, I kept my promise. I am saving up for something big, though. :) Sharing some of my loots este ... excess baggage.

From Nathan Road: G2000 office outfits for hubby and myself. I bought hubby four long sleeves and ties. For myself, got pair of pin-striped suit and black office slacks.

At Ladies Market: Red matching cheongsam for Sam and me. This is in preparation for our family Christmas theme this year. Chinese hat for Mike and Ico, Kung fu panda outfits and I Love HK shirts (4 x $100) as pasalubong (sorry no pictures, already gave the shirts away)

On sale Nine West shoes along Nathan Street for Sam and myself.

Wild shopping at IKEA Kowloon Bay: two comforter set, collapsible shoe boxes, comforter, three mammut style chairs for sam and fitted sheets.

The Ikea mammut chairs ... I so want to get the matching table unfortunately red was the color available that time. Di bale, next time. (note: hand carry ko ito sa airport ha!)

From Tunchung outlet stores: Lacoste bag for Kuya Ico (real good deal at $385 only!). Esprit white blouse for myself, and Bossini foldable shopping bags as pasalubong (no more pics, already gave the bags away as soon as I arrived)


From Ocean Terminal's Marks and Spencer, Boxer shorts for hubby, undies for me and Sam (not in picture), school socks and leggings for the bratinella.

From HK Disneyland: since we were here few months back, just got few items for Sam this time like the Ariel picture frame, princesses collections and disney shirt.

From Sasa @ Nathan Road: lipsticks, eyeliner and small bottled perfumes (kenzo and clinique happy) enough to fit evening bags.

And from Macau: foodie items like pork jerky, portuguese sardines, egg rolls, almond cookies, chewy peanut bread, egg tarts --- all for pasalubongs!

I am not sure if I've posted everything but I think I've been a wise-shopper this time. I only bought "must-have" essentials like office attire and school things for Ico and Sam. Not sure if we will be back this coming December to HK, but hubby is already asking for airfare and accommodations budget. Hmmm... think he wanted to bring the kids to HK as Christmas treat! :) Let's see. I've been to HK several times already but I haven't tried going here month of December. I am pretty sure travel arrangements will be expensive during the holiday season. Hopefully I can find budget-friendly rates.

on subway franchise

Egg sandwich … Tuna Sandwich … BLT sandwich … These are a few of the delicious treats I enjoyed at Subway when I started my young career. Several lunches and dinners were filled with the treats of this Subway franchise . It never occurred to me that a week would pass without me munching on these delectable treats.

That is why when I was able to manage to gain savings, the first thing I did was to inquire about owning a Subway franchise . At first, I was hesitant when I knew the rigors of owning one. But my appetite got the best of me since it would be like a dream come true to have my very own Subway franchise!

Soon I'll be owning one of my dream franchise. But for now, I guess I have to content myself with my homemade egg sandwich, tuna sandwich … and, wait, where’s my BLT sandwich? Whew … I thought I lost it. Well, time to get back to work. It’s almost lunch time and my appetite is calling my fave sandwiches! Off to Subway deli across the office.

LO Invites from Adworks

Finally, received the LO for Sam's party invites from Adworks. Had a small hitch with the delivery commitment from this supplier but nevertheless, I love the result of the lay-out. They were able to incorporate my request for Strawberry Shortcake theme with Mc Donald's party place. Truly nice. Adworks was able to exceed beyond my expectations (again). Really happy with this supplier.

And for the tarpaulins and welcome banner, do check out how Melisse of Perfect Pixels was able to creatively execute my themed requests. Posted here Melisse's Strawberry Shortcake lay-out. (thanks girl, loved your work as always!)

hardware vendors

What is so fascinating with my work in the telecommunications industry is that I get to receive invites from hardware vendors once in a while. Invites for trainings, product launches, demonstrations and product testings for gadgets or equipment available in the market. I get to see and check first hand cutting-edge technology products that are new and available in the market. Telecom hardware equipments either an upgraded version of the existing hardware or box, or totally a new product that will change the landscape in the telecoms industry. And just recently, I received an invite from one of our trusted vendors for product demonstration of KVM type of switches as LAN extenders. Truly helpful product demo especially now that I am looking for switches that can be incorporated to our telecom service, the managed services. Since I am beefing up the MS product this year, I am in constant search for equipments or hardwares that can be bundled to our products at a very cost-friendly price. Hopefully, vendors will be flexible enough for payment terms and product warranties. Otherwise, it will be hard to sell these services now especially with the financial crisis all over the world. Companies are holding on their investments and prefers less capital expenditures.

Christmas wishlist for Samantha

As per request of the MBAPs, Christmas wishlist for our kids should be posted on our blog site. Thus, whoever got my little girl's name ... please refer to her toy wishes below. All items below can be found at Toy Kingdom / Rustan's branches.

1. My Little Pony

2. Play-doh play sets -- looks something like this

3. Puppy in my pocket -- new fad in TKThough I've ordered some of the play items above online from my aunt in NY, but it seems these toys will not make it on time for the bratinella's birthday this November. My aunt is currently moving some of her things from her NY flat to their old home in Illinois and to this date, she has not completed her house transfer yet. I think she just outsourced hauling and transfer services from mover NYC to speed up her movement. Hopefully by early December she'll be very much settled in her new home and can send all the online items I bought for the bratinella. It'll be great for her to receive these gifts as Christmas present.

surprising news ...

After six days in HK, I am now back. Still busy as ever.

In between answering business correspondences, I am also busy with my personal email. Need to finalize everything for my daughter's upcoming birthday party and MBAPs Christmas party on October 19. I haven't made my final arrangements with the caterer for the party and my daughter's invite. Yup, cramming again with Adworks.

Got some very good (and surprising) news too while I am away for an official business.

1. Ico made it to Top 1 of his class --- really smart kid! Truly proud of him.

2. Ico made it to the top 10% of the batch also. Because of this, he will be sent as school representative to NCR regional meet (advance classes) together with other schools.

3. We have a new boss for Bayan Business, our lovable VP was re-assigned to a new task. Happily, management decided to bring our old boss back as his replacement. We equally love them both. Our present VP Brigs and VP Chito.

4. And lastly, really a surprising news ... I received a call while I am on a business meeting in HK. I was told my promotion was officially announced as Department Head of Business Solutions and Partner Services (BSPS) yesterday during our General Assembly. My colleagues started calling and congratulating me, and I thought it was all a joke. But, our VP called to inform me about the good news. This was really a surprise. I never thought it would be this soon...still speechless... (sorry, in denial pa ako. lol!)

More HK post and kwento to follow...

For the meantime, I leave you with a picture of my happy family ... the Bayan Business in HK.

still here in hongkong ...

I am on my third day here in HK. I miss the kids and hubby, of course. This will be my longest stay here in HK. Since Day 1 we arrived, I've been shopping like crazy! Blame it on our hotel location which was strategically located in Nathan Road. Real shopper's haven!! It is very near in HK Peninsula, Gateway Mall and Ocean Terminal. I've visited the LV store twice since the day we arrived. First at The Peninsula, then at Ocean Terminal. Accompanied my very good friend with her big purchases (she bought epi speedy and monogram wallet). I am sooo tempted, but NO big purchase yet for myelf... yet. Still thinking. Hahaha!

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I also went to Macau (again) by Day 1. Disneyland and Tun Chung outlets by Day 2. And today at Metropolis Mall and Ikea in Kowloon. Hahaha! No time wasted. And just this afternoon, transferred to a very nice hotel Harbour Plaza in Kowloon. Thankful that I now have an internet connection. Kinda pricey at $120HK for 24-hours. Nevertheless, decided to plug it anyway ... need it badly for work tomorrow. I opted to plug it at 10pm ... just in time to catch all my Friday mails and to respond to all my mails Monday mails. That is to maximize my 24-hrs connectivity. Mahal noh?!

Anyway, tomorrow will be my official work day. Details of my HK trips and pictures to follow.

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For the meantime, I need to check the website for some cinema style home theater seating. The husband is begging me to consider getting one for our family room so as to maximize our entertainment viewing pleasure. Though with all the shopping spree I did for the past three days here in HK, I am not sure if we still have budget left to get the studio home theater seats. I guess this will have to wait until our next salary bonus. lol.

Happy Sunday everyone!! Signing off from HK.

off to hongkong again ...

Will be off to Hongkong (and Macau) this coming Friday, this time with my Bayan sales colleagues. This is our long overdue travel incentive, and finally the long wait is over. I bet it will be a super fun (and riot) trip, all 50+ Bayan Business employees off to Hongkong. Our travel itinerary so full ... and we don't know where to start! Of course, number one item on our list is shopping and ... more shopping be it in HK or Macau. lol! As a matter of fact, our team decided not to join the HK city tour and prioritized more shopping time at the Tun Chung outlet stores.

It will also be my first time to ride new airline, the Hongkong Express powered by Hongkong airlines. An airline that operates between Hongkong and mainland China. They've expanded their flights in Asia, particularly the Philippines effective Sept 25, 2008. New airbuses available and with hot meals provided on board. Hmmm...will definitely blog about this.

Aside from the new airline, it will also be my first time to stay at Imperial Hotel in Tsimshatsui. Actually this is the best location since it is perfectly situated around the shopping areas in Nathan road. Near the star ferry (for macau travel) and MTR stations. Just perfect.

Sadly, I will be away for six days from my family since my trip will be extended due to some business meetings.I'll surely miss them. Not sure if the husband can handle the bratinella that long. I really hope so! Nevertheless, I was told that its a holiday on October 7, thus more shopping time for me. I just hope they'll offer great sale items and discounts on this day. I promised NO big purchases this time. Totally done for the year. Though I am thinking of getting some home items from Ikea. I hope they'll be on sale too.

For the meantime, I need to do my packing and finish all my house errands. I've got lots of things to do before I go for holiday leave. Aside from buying food supplies for the week and pay month-end bills, I need to visit the bank for some papers to sign to avail our mortgage protection insurance. The husband totally forgot about this.

Anyway, until my next post.