So what’s Metro Manila like?  Well,  Metro Manila, the Capital of the Philippines, is a very, very big and busy city!  People and traffic everywhere, every single day.  The only time you would find the highways free from traffic would be at around 2am till 6am, on Christmas Holidays and during the Lenten Season, when most of the people would be home in their own provinces.   

I was born in this city, but I have to admit that to this day, I have yet to explore the entire city of Metro Manila!  It’s definitely a big city!  For the most part of my life, I have lived in the north areas, Quezon City, Caloocan City and Malabon City.  I have worked in the south part of Metro Manila, particularly  Makati City, Mandaluyong City and Pasig City.  I would go all the way to Manila every now and then whenever I wanted to shop for real bargain items, especially during the Christmas season.

Anyway, here are some photos of a few spots in Metro Manila for all those who have never been here before…

This is the busy street of Holy Spirit Drive, Don Antonio Heights along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.  The red and the white tricycles are the public vehicles that transport passengers inside Don Antonio Heights.

The DCGWS Internet Solutions banner.  The business office is also located at the Holy Spirit Drive

This is Quiapo, in Manila.  It’s usually this crowded, especially every Friday when devotees to the Black Nazarene hear mass at the Quiapo Church, and during Christmas season when people go shopping for bargain items at Carriedo Street.

This is the Quiapo Church. 

Quiapo Church by night

A view of the Manila Bay at Roxas Boulevard, Manila

This was at taken at the former Baywalk, along Roxas Boulevard, Manila

This is the SM City North Edsa Mall along Edsa, Quezon City

This was at the Star City at Roxas Boulevard.  That’s me wiping the tears in my eyes after that dreadful ride, while Baby enjoyed that ride!

Another shot still at Star City, this time after that ride on the Wild River… look at that expression on my face… you can just imagine what that ride was like!

And finally, this was at the Waterfun swimming pools at Fairview, Quezon City.  I’ve got other shots of this place in my photographs.

Well guess what?  I finally got my baby away from work for a few hours!  It’s been so difficult to get him up from his desk during the past few days.  Gosh, he’s always busy, always on a deadline!  Well, today was different…

already missing your laptop, Baby?

We’ve been planning on buying a new A/C for the past few weeks.  The electric bills have been killing us since the day we purchased our second-hand A/C.  This month’s bill just came in and it has gone way up to almost P13K, which is about US $282!  My younger brother Jonas has been telling us that our A/C was using a lot of electricity since it’s an old model of the Carrier a/c’s.  So we finally decided to buy a new one. 

Anyway, today was that day, and so we went.  Fortunately, my mom wasn’t too busy today, so she accompanied us to different stores so we could choose the best unit for our office (and home too).

now he’s in a better mood!

inside Mom’s SUV

Mom

that’s my baby.. he’s smiling now!

so here we go…

Friday is one of those busy working days… there was traffic everywhere, a usual.  I took some pics of  Quezon Avenue, Quezon City, and the underpass that crosses Edsa and Quezon Avenue.  You would expect the underpass to have less traffic, as public vehicles don’t usually take that route.  But just the same, it was just about as heavy as the main road. 

traffic at Quezon Avenue

that’s above the underpass

a view of the underpass

I wanted to take a closer shot of Parks and Wildlife, but we were too far from the side of the road, so the pic’s a little blurred.

We went to Cubao.  We parked at the parking area right next to the Araneta Coliseum, the place which has always been one of the favourite venues for sports events, concerts, beauty contest and religious meetings here in the Philippines.  It’s usually called “the Big Dome”.  I also took a couple of shots inside Ali Mall, one of the first shopping malls in Quezon City. 

parking area, Araneta Coliseum

wow, he really is in a good mood now!

inside the Ali Mall

My mom and my Baby

We ended up buying our new A/C and a new ceiling fan at Makro Novaliches, where appliances are usually much cheaper than the ones being sold in regular appliance stores.  I was so grateful my mom had a membership card.  Non-members don’t have that privilege to avail of the low-priced appliances and wholesale products that Makro offers.

It was a tiring day. Baby’s back (and happy) on the loving keys of his laptop…..

 I’ve got this terrible headache that’s crawling inside my head. I can’t tell if it’s a migraine. All I know is that it’s some kind of dizzy spell that’s crawling underneath my left eyebrow, that makes my left eye hurt and makes me wanna throw up! Somebody please tell me what this is?

I’m going to bed… more tomorrow… when headache’s gone. Good night world.

Technorati Tags: photo albums

Do you like planting a lot?  Is it one of your hobbies?  Some people like gardening and planting a lot.  I have never been able to successfully grow a plant in my life.  Well, when we were still in school, we were made to do some experiments in plants, and those were the only occasions I had the opportunity to take care of some plants.  But I was never good at it.  My little plants would die in a matter of days.  And every time that happened, my heart broke.  It was then that my dad would tell me that I didn’t have that “green thumb”.  After that, I never even attempted to try planting again.  I guess I just didn’t have that genuine patience to consistently care for a plant day after day.   

Baby’s mom, Gayle Davis, who stays in McAlester, Ok., USA has that “green thumb” I’m talking about.  The plants she planted have grown into beautiful trees and flowers.  She loves planting!  He says she’s kept a garden since he and his sister were kids.  That’s awesome!  She definitely has a “green thumb”!  And a lot of love and patience too!   She’s planning to start a green house, and we were hoping that we could send her some seeds of beautiful flowers from here so she could grow them nicely in her green house.  Unfortunately, we found out it wouldn’t be allowed by the post office.  That is, the post office from the US.    That is so sad.  I could just imagine how our flowers would look so beautiful when they actually start blooming in her green house!  *sigh!*

Anyway, here are some photos she sent me of the beautiful trees and plants that she has grown in their place in Ok. 

Tell me about beautiful trees, tell me about beautiful plants, and tell me about such a beautiful, quiet, peaceful place,  I tell you, this is it!

Baby’s dad and their pet Serra by the poolside

Shosty

Look at these beautiful trees!

The beautiful lake at their backyard

Being a stay-at-home mom is devotion.  What can you say about that, all stay-at-home moms?  You make that decision to become a SAHM not primarily for yourself, but for the entire family.  That is, unless you were the type of woman who has never thought of doing something else, like work outside, be employed; meet all kinds of people in world of business and technology.  Well, this is just my opinion.  I’ve been working for so many years that it seemed to me that every woman around me considered being a “working woman” as a status symbol in life.  Everyone you come across, be it an old friend, an old classmate, an old officemate, would ask you the same question, “hey, where are you working right now?”  And when you give them that “SAHM” reply, they give you that “ooooooh….so you’re just sitting around” look.      

When I decided to be an SAHM, I never realized it wasn’t going to be easy.  I thought, since I had been trained at office work, that I was already good at organizing and scheduling things.    I expected to consistently be able to accomplish every single chore in a matter of hours every single day.  But I was wrong!  Being a full time mom is a 24/7 job!  And even if you thought you had accomplished everything, something would still come up after.  As long as the kids are up, mommy’s job goes on and on! 

But the thing about it is that I’ve fallen in love with being an SAHM.  There’s no better feeling for a mother than to be wanted and needed by her children.   Well, to a certain extent, of course.  And,  while they’re still kids.  (I don’t think I’d like my kids to be too needy for the rest of their lives!)  Now that my former house help has come back to work for us, doing house chores has been a lot easier to accomplish, in less time too.  I finally have time for everything, the kids, the love of my life, our business, and most important of all, myself.    To all you stay at home moms, please don’t try to do everything.  Do as much as you can, but spare time for yourself.  We don’t want to be superwoman.  We just want to give all the love to our family, but we need to love ourselves too.  Remember that before we can really love anyone else, we have to love ourselves first!

Here’s a little song by Barry Manilow that I’d like to dedicate to all SAHM’s in the world!

We just attended a Baptismal Ceremony this morning. My brother Adrian requested Baby to become a godfather to his child (here, we call this “Ninong”), and so we had to be present during the ceremony, and that was at 11am at St. Benedict Church here at Don Antonio Heights.

Last night, I called my mom at The Wave Ballroom to ask her what time the ceremony would be as I wasn’t able to speak to Adrian all week long after he came by our unit to tell Baby that he(Baby) was to become a Ninong. Mom said it was probably going to be at 7am. Wow 7am! I couldn’t imagine how on earth we were going to get up this early on a Sunday morning!

Anyway, last night, Baby was so engrossed with working on the logo of his client while I was so busy browsing on posts at Mylot. Little did we both realize that it was already 4am and we hadn’t had a wink of sleep! So we decided to call it a day, and hoped that we both could still get at least a couple of hours sleep before preparing for the Baptismal Ceremony.

At 6am, the phone rang. It was Dang, Adrian’s wife calling, askng if Rachel, my other sister-in-law, was around as she had not come home from last night’s work at The Wave. Half asleep, I told her I didn’t hear anyone come in, and they probably had to work overtime as it was the grand opening of The Wave’s (extension) Bar last night. When I realized it was Dang I was speaking to, it suddenly occurred to me that I needed to ask what time the Baptismal Ceremony of her baby was going to be held. When she said 11AM, I was so relieved! I jumped back to bed right away. Baby woke up and asked if it was time to get up yet. I said “nope”, and boy, was he so glad to find out he had a few more hours to sleep and went back to bed.

The Baptismal Ceremony was quick, Adrian and Dang were both so glad to see us come. Baby was in a serious mood. It was the first time he’s ever participated in such a ceremony. He was listening intently to the priest and observing the people around. It was a mass Baptismal Ceremony, so there were other babies to be baptized, too. He was wondering why there were a lot of people at the church and asked me how many Ninongs and Ninangs could a baby have. So when I said “They could have 20, if the parents wanted 20 Ninongs and Ninangs”, he thought all the others were his co-Ninongs and Ninangs too! Oh, I told him yes, they were Ninongs and Ninangs, but not of Adrian’s baby…LOL! After the ceremony, we had lunch at Adrian’s place, and finally went home.

Here are a few shots I was able to take at the church this morning…Baby is so proud of himself, being a Ninong for the very first time!

My Brother Adrian, Baby Lindsay Cassandra & My Baby

Keep an eye on that candle, Baby!

Group Pic

My sis-in-law Dang and Baby Lindsay Cassandra

Baby carries the new baby!

On my quiet, leisure time, I sit and browse on the internet and find zillions of interesting things to talk and write about.  One of my most frequented sites is Mylot.  I’ve been on it for several months now, and I have always enjoyed every moment I spend on this site. 

This is one of the most recent and most favorite discussions I started, but unfortunately, it was deleted.  (just double-click on the image if you want to read it)

So sad..

Writing is my first love.  That site is where I hang out a lot. 

Anyway, to all my co-mylotters who contributed their thoughts in this discussion, I extend my apologies for the tragic disposal of this particular discussion. 

Did I ever mention that I finally re-employed my former house help?  Well, it was a decision my Baby and I made when we planned on moving to the next unit.  Our major step in moving to the bigger unit was in connection with our aim to improve our business.  We were so cramped up in our old unit, and Baby was having a difficult time concentrating on work with all the kids yelling and running around all day long. 

We’re in a bigger unit now, we had it renovated, and separated Baby’s working space from our living space.  It’s amazing how in just a month’s time after moving, Baby has been already very productive with his work!   He has finished several projects in just a matter of days, and he’s so proud of his accomplishments!  He’s very comfortable and isn’t easily distracted by everything that goes on around him now. 

Anyway, I mentioned about re-employing my former house help.  Last November 2006, when our financial condition seemed to be too unstable, we decided that we needed to start doing our own household chores.  The experience turned out to be good for the entire family.  Finally, my teenage daughter learned to do house chores!  She was helping me in the kitchen everyday after schoolwork, and attending to her baby sister’s needs while I was doing other housework.  She became responsible.  When Baby and I had to go out on business meetings, she would prepare dinner for her siblings.  Whenever we arrived home, all the house chores had been done.  She grew up in a matter of months, and I’m so proud of her!  My son, on the other hand, learned to run errands for us every now and then.  He was (and still is) responsible for all the things that needed to be done outside the house.  He learned to give the dog a bath every weekend.  He too, learned to become responsible with his own tasks.   The three year old, on the other hand, finally learned to eat by herself…amazing!  She also learned to sit on the toilet by herself if she needed to pee, and was already fighting for her right to the responsibility of setting the table at dinnertime!  It was really good for us!  However, I was too tired  and used up at the of each day.  There were days when we had to go out for meetings and house chores that I couldn’t expect the kids to handle, like laundry and ironing, had to be left undone until I got back home.  And by then, I was too tired and worn out.  Sometimes too tired and worn out to even have the appetite to eat anything at all!  I guess maybe that’s one reason why I lost a lot of weight. 

Baby wanted changes.  He needed more of my attention in the business.  He needed me to make calls for him, respond to emails for him while he concentrated on working on his projects.  That’s when we decided to re-hire our former house help.  Fortunately for us, she was willing to work with us again.  So, now she’s back.  This time, she tells me work is a lot easier for her because the kids have already learned their own responsibilities.  She says they weren’t like they were when she first came around, all too needy, all too dependent on just about everything to the house help.   I’m so proud of my kids!

Her coming back has given me more time and energy to give the attention and communication to every member of the family once again.   I’ve got time for self improvement, time to help and assist Baby in the business, and time for bonding with him when work is done for the day.

Now that things are a lot comfortable for each and every member of the family (including the house help), Baby and I are more optimistic about being able to accomplish our goals in making this business a success.  Guided by our faith, confidence, and constant prayers that God always be with us in all our endeavours, we look forward to being able to achieve all our plans for our future.

 I think I have an eating problem.  Most of the time I’ve got little or no appetite to eat at all.  I’ve read some articles of the possible causes of eating problems and I can’t seem to find one that’s exactly similar to mine.  It isn’t anorexia,  because I don’t have an obsessive fear of gaining weight.   Matter of fact is, I want and need to gain weight. 

From the day I gave birth to my eldest daughter, I seem to have never gained back the weight I had when I didn’t have kids yet.  I never had eating problems when I was young.  I used to weigh between 110-115lbs about 16 years ago.  Back then, it was the cellulites that grew on my belly were always a problem to me. 

I have three kids, and each time I got pregnant, I would gain weight, and the heaviest weight I would get was 121lbs.  I ate a lot while I was pregnant.  But, after giving birth, my weight always went down drastically.  I went as low as 87lbs, and the heaviest I could get was 95lbs.

Relationship problems, I had loads of them while I lived with my ex for 12 years!  Life was so stressful and so miserable.   I guess this was the major reason why I lost so much weight back then.  Too much of physical, emotional and financial pain and 12 years was too much to bear!   He’s gone, gone for good, and I don’t want to reminisce the days.  So many changes have already happened in my life since then.  

Today, everything has changed!  My life is beautiful!  I’ve got all that opportunity to bring back all that good weight once again!  But nothing seems to change with my eating habits.  I’m still thin.  I still don’t have that appetite to eat!  I still have an eating problem!  That article I read about anorexics say that one of the warning signs are denial of hunger and indecisiveness.  That is one of my problems!  But I love cooking, though!  Everyday, I make sure I prepare a great dinner for my family  But, it seems, I merely enjoy the sight of them having a good meal all the time.   I go to the grocery and shop for good food and I can’t seem to find anything really mouth watering to me.  When I do find something I like to eat and the kids come and want to have a bite, I’d give it all to them.  Sometimes, I wouldn’t even get a bite at all.  I’d feel better giving it all to them, irregardless of the fact that sometimes I’ve had nothing almost all day long.  Why, why, why?   I need help!

Sometimes I think it’s because I’m not consistent.  One day I would decide to eat a whole lot all day long, the next day I don’t feel like eating anything at all.  There are days I would take vitamins, and other days, I forget.  Then I would look at myself in the mirror and hate myself for looking so thin!   Gosh, being thin makes me look so old and haggard!

I’m at this point where I’ve made this final and ultimate decision to gain weight.  Yes, I know that the bottom line of this problem lies within me right now.  Unless I put my heart into it, I know I’ll never achieve what I want to achieve.  Meantime,  I would most welcome any suggestions and advice from anyone!