Where to now?

It was a slow day for us today. We all woke up quite late. We didn't really have anything planned to do for the day, that's why. Before having lunch I had to make a quick stop at Li Yuen to buy pajamas for Colin. Also tried looking for more long sleeved shirts for him since it's getting a bit cold already in Macau. Had a hearty lunch at Fat Angelo's in Central before heading back to Ate's flat. We were supposed to go back to Macau today but Benji decided to just move it to early next morning. Spent the whole afternoon catching up on sleep while little boy's busy at the playroom with his Auntie. Had dinner at this Vietnamese resto nearby... love those spring rolls! Got to sign off now... got to be up early tomorrow to catch the first ride back to Macau... yet again. ;)

Ins and Out

I started discovering Taipa on my own (actually, with little boy in tow, of course)... going around to find out places to go to, restos to try out, where to buy stuff, where to do the grocery and market... there are about three supermarkets near our place so I really don't have to worry much if ever I ran out of anything I need in the kitchen or personal effects for that matter. There is a Watson's store and lots of Chinese drugstores all around. Post office is also walking distance. Lots of 7-11 stores... this one is cool because they accept payments for water and electricity with MOP1 charge as compared if you will pay it in banks which charge you with MOP10. Although there are a lot of banks too in our area. I also like the 10 dollar store (almost evrything is priced $10 or MOP10) or the Japanese stores (for knick-knacks). There are also electronic shops as well as furniture shops around... lots of restaurants to try like italian, japanese, indian, portuguese, chinese and macanese... so you really don't have to go that far... everything's almost within reach. Oh and also schools... from International ones to Chinese-English and Chinese-Portuguese ones. Of course international ones do cost more that's why most of the Filipinos living here send their kids to Chinese-English schools in the area.

There's still more to learn and discover to be able to survive in this new world of ours.

Touring Taipa and Macau

Today was our (Colin and my) first day here in our 'new' home. We went around Taipa Village. Had lunch at Pinocchio which is a Portuguese restaurant. Went around to familiarize myself as to where I should go to buy stuff. Taipa area is pretty small and from where we live there are a lot of supermarkets and convenience stores in almost every corner. So getting hold of stuff is pretty much easy. There are also playgrounds/playrooms where Colin can go and release all his energy =). Benji just showed me at least the important areas I need to know of. I will do my own rounds later on... got lots of time on my hands for that... ha ha ha

Later in the afternoon we passed by the HK-Macau ferry station to send off Ate (Benji's sister)... she's going back to HK where she is based. We went around New Yaohan which is by the way the (sort of) only mall/department store in Macau. New Yaohan is much like our Landmark Department store in Manila. Yup... the only department Macau has... at least what we know of. All the other specialty stores like the high end ones can be found in the big casino-hotels spread all over Macau.

Blogging Tips

Got this from Jean.

Copy the list, add your tip and pass it on. Add a star beside the tips that you like the best. Sounds easy enough, so here goes:

1.Look, read, and learn. http://www.neonscent.com/

2.Be, EXCELLENT to each other. http://www.bushmackel.com/

3.Don’t let money change ya! http://www.therandomforest.info/

4.Always reply to your comments. http://chattiekat.com/

*5.Blog about what you know & love. http://sugar-queens-dream.blogspot.com/

6.Don’t use filthy language-buy a dictionary.http://shinade.blogspot.com/

7.Blog about something educational http://climateofourfuture.org/

8.Be yourself; others will follow * http://sfgirl-thealiennextdoor.blogspot.com/

9.Don't have too many blogs that will become a chore to maintain http://cubicledenizen.blogspot.com/

10.Keep it simple, user-friendly, interesting and organized *!http://erishaling.blogspot.com/

*11.Keep the blog simple and sweet!! http://www.leslieho.com/

12.Never ask for link exchange. Blog hop to increase traffic. http://www.jessieling.com/

13.Don’t clutter your blog with ads all over the place.IT’S IRRITATING. * http://oliviasy.blogspot.com/

14.Don’t comment for the sake of commenting. Some looked too fake and its a big turn off! http://sashablablabla.blogspot.com/

15.Share something interesting and you will gain more readers.http://judychow.blogspot.com/

16.Show that we care to all bloggers, treat each other as friends. http://mummyinvain.com/

***17.Pictures say a million words. Keep them coming!http://familyfriendsnfood.blogspot.com/

18.Blogging should be fun or you’ll get tired of it pretty soon. http://justmyrambling.com/

19.Don’t think people will come to your blog if you’re not willing to pay a visit to them. http://joshualai.blogspot.com/

20.Everyone loves read short posting and best, illustrated with a picture * http://www.demoments.net/blog/

21.Try not to publish more than 5 posts in one blog a day. Even if it’s from feed reader, it’s quite hard to digest and catch up reading everything. http://montessorimum.com/

22.Blog, the other window to peek into people’s life, minus the trouble. keep a certain level of privacy to yourself. http://babyshern.blogspot.com/

23.Never tell your readers that you are going on vacation. That’s basically telling them to not visit your blog for a week. Instead, write several posts, and take advantage of the timestamp feature. http://www.bloggingwv.com/

24.Try and write with people in mind that are “somewhat similar to you”. Allow your audience to identify with your blog and feel “at home”.http://nodirecton.blogspot.com/

25.The key to a good article is a good introduction. A joke, a question or a picture does wonders. http://behindthepage.blogspot.com

26.If you are looking to earn an income blogging read StevePavlina.com and Problogger.net, you will be amazed at what you can learn. http://www.christyscoffeebreak.blogspot.com/

27.Write for yourself first. Remember that it takes time, effort, patience…and above all, daring. The Laidback Buddhist

28.Don’t offer opinions that are not based in the realm of personal knowledge…share yourself and your experiences…they speak louder then words The MiracleProcess

29.Unless I'm a huge fan of your blog, keep your posts short & sweet. Mariuca - Wishing On A Falling Star

30.Don't be shy to make friends, open yourself to others and you'll be amazed with the tremendous responses. * A Great Pleasure

31. When you look make sure you SEE, When you listen make sure you HEAR, and when you talk make sure you SPEAK! First Time Dad

32. Don't leave hurtful comments, that is below to what is appropriate, you will hurt the blog owner and might not read or visit your blog ever again. Blessed Sanctuary

33. Let a correct grammar be a concern. One can't avoid criticizing upon reading an obvious grammatical error! When doing a paid entry, try to connect it even at least a little to a thought you can really relate! Read, comprehend, think, write, edit, post it! Recel's Unsealing My Mind

34. You have an obligation to keep when you have exchanged links with a fellow blogger - - that is, to visit the site of those that are in your link list at least once a week. More is even better, but only if you have time to spare. Juliana of My World*

*35. Blog about something you are interested in or are passionate about. Acknowledge blog visitors, be kind and gracious :) Thira As The World Turns

36.I firmly believe in reciprocal blog commenting. I am still trying my best to visit everyone in my blogroll and comment at least 1 or 2 of their posts. This is not required,but it sure good to hear feedbacks from your visitors isn't it?*Shabem-Embrace Simplicity.

37.Be yourself, be friendly by leaving good comments to the discussion you are making remarks with, then you can have a link back to your blog. Yvetchie's The Story of me

38. Blogging is fun. Meet new people. Gain new friends. Jean's My so-called-life.

39. Blog about things you love. Try to give feedbacks on comments left on your blog. Kitty's Perfect Bliss.

I think almost all in my blogroll already has this.

All set... and then some...

We're already packed and ready to go!

I'll miss my Mom again... she stayed with us this past week so she and Colin had a lot of bonding time. I know she'll miss Colin. Tito Louie also spent last night with us. He said he wanted to see little boy too before we leave... and he was so kind to let us bring the PS with us. No, we're still coming back here. It's just that my Mom already misses my other brother and his family who just recently moved to Australia... and now us... the thought of us moving makes her sad all over again... she's still ok now since we haven't really moved yet... but I know how she'll feel when that time comes. That's why as much as possible I try to spend as much time with her as we can now. But she understands. She understands that we all have our own lives to live now, own families to look after. And she's all supportive to me and my brothers and our families. And I love her for that. I just realized that you really start to worry like a parent when you're already a parent yourself. You worry about anything even the simplest of things.

My Halloween treat

My first Halloween treat from Jane. Thanks Jane.

"Don't just choose your friends making this cliquish and 'just groupies'...Make NEW friends by choosing random visitors!!!."

So I'm passing this to Jean, Jesse, Tere, Mich and Nor.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Packing time once again

Just got back from doing the grocery. Benji has several 'pabilins'. I was chatting with him earlier and he gave me a short (thank goodness!) list of things to bring there. Good thing I was really planning on doing the grocery today. Hopefully I was able to buy everything he needs as well as the things that I'll need there for our stay. To think that's not yet everything we really need at home.

Now it's the 'dreaded' time again... packing! With all the stuff I bought I do hope I get to nicely pack everything in in one big luggage. Ha! Good luck to me... ha ha ha ... we'll see ;p

A mommy survey - all about my pregnancy

Got this from Jane.

1. Was your first pregnancy planned? Yes.

2. Were you married at the time? Yup, Colin was a honeymoon baby.

3. What were your reactions? Very, very happy! I did the pregnancy test twice just to be sure before I broke the news to Hubby.

4. Was abortion an option for you? Definitely not.

5. How old were you? 29

6. How did you find out you were pregnant? I was already delayed for about a month but didn't do the preg test yet... really don't know why... though I was really so eager to have a baby... am I weird? :)

7. Who did you tell first? Hubby of course.

8. Did you want to find out the sex? Yes and no... partly we wanted it to be a surprise but we also wanted to be ready as to the color of the baby stuff we will buy. Some thought I'd have a girl since they don't see the tell-tale signs of carrying a boy but the US said it was definitely a boy.

9. Due date? September 21, 2004 if I remember right. Colin was born September 19, 2004... close enough.

10. Did you have morning sickness? Not really.

11. What did you crave? hmmm... i loved having french fries, ice cream and chocolates!

12. Who/what irritated you the most? for some reason it was the only time I didn't want the sight or taste of crabs... and before getting preggy crabs are my favorites.

13. What was your first child’s sex? boy

14. Did you wish you had the opposite sex of what you were getting? No as long as my pregnancy and delivery went well and the baby is healthy, it really didn't matter.

15. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? I was a slim pregnant woman... hehehe... I think I only gained 5-10 pounds.

16. Did you have a baby shower? Nope.

17. Was it a surprise or did you know? NA

18. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? None.

19. Where did you give birth? Perpetual Help Medical Center

20. How many hours were you in labor? 5 hrs

21. Who drove you to the hospital? Hun

22. Who watched you give birth? Too bad Hubby wasn't allowed inside.

23. Was it natural or C-section? Normal delivery.

24. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? I really don't know because I didn't ask for it but am guessing it was just one shot.

25. How much did your child weigh? 5.12lbs

26. When was your child actually born? September 19, 2004

27. What did you name him/her? Nicholas Martin

28. How old is your first born today? 3 years and 21 days today


This was fun! =)

Overrated Things

Tagged by Joy.

Here's my list and this is in no order. But I have to warn you, these are just my opinions so some may agree, some might not... he he he...

* Playstation, Xbox, then now the Wii - we really don't own one but it's only now we (errr, Colin) gets to play with one (PS1) courtesy of his Tito
* expensive photo studios
* autumn in New York City
* Religion - please, need I say more...
* anything Organic
* Starbucks
* Ipods - just too much
* Havaianas - sorry to all the Havies lovers... he he he
* Crocs - same goes for this...
* Blogging :p

Now I'm tagging Melisse, Mich, Tet.

nappy-free... at night

Colin is officially nappy free during nighttime. Yey! It's one milestone for him (us) again. Last night was the first time we tried going nappy-less for bedtime. Yes, it was extra effort for Mommy but it was all well worth it! I had to wake up twice last night just to have him pee (even while he was asleep mind you). He didn't become cranky at all when I had to drag him from bed to put him on his potty. Before going to bed I had him pee first then I kept on reminding him to wake up Mommy when he feels like going. But lil ol me just opted to wake up in the middle of the night to make him go. He he... So hopefully this will be the start. We just have to keep at the routine until he gets used to it.

By the way, we tried going nappy-free too while out. It was ok... though we had to make frequent trips to the loo and he only wants to go with Mommy and you know how long the lines can get for women's bathroom. Good if the bathroom for disabled is free... but if it's not, it'll be a long wait. So next time we went out he requested if he can wear nappy. I didn't push on going nappy-free... at least not just yet. Will try to give him more time. At least we tried and that's a start.

PS1

This is Colin's new plaything. This was actually just borrowed from my youngest brother, his Tito Louie. One day when we dropped off Mita at their house, Colin saw his Tito Louie and Tita Cheng playing Lilo & Stitch in PS1. They let him try it and from then on he never let go of the keypad. Good 'ol Tito Lou let us borrow it for the meantime. It keeps Colin pre-occupied . I even asked my brother if we could bring it to Macau as I think I'll need it more when we're there since it'll be just the two of us left at home while Daddy's at work. And it would help me have my classes in peace while he's playing. Though I don't want him to get addicted to it; that's why I put a time limit for each play. At least one hour tops, twice a day.

This is one of his favorite games to play...

Lilo & Stitch

The artist

When we're at the mall we sometimes let Colin play at playhouses. Just so he doesn't get bored. When I do errands or the grocery I sometimes let him have a little fun. Lately, he doesn't only play with whatever toys they have there, he also paints. There's this one playhouse that we've become "regulars" already. And since we visit there often one perk is that they have Colin chose a mold to paint... normally painting is for a fee but since we've become "regulars" this comes out free. Would like to share some of his art work... he he...

Nemo... he he he

Hello Kitty

Of course these were all done with a little help from yaya =)

Fever be gone!

Thank goodness Colin's fever is gone... hayyy... when he woke up this morning he was still cranky but at least no more fever... yey! it's just his normal "S"... ha ha ha... but I told him he still can't eat sweets... at least not just yet :p

Still sick

Little boy is still sick and now it's not a slight fever anymore... 38.2 deg :( Since he isn't feeling well, he was cranky when he woke up; on top of that, he is super clingy again. I do hope he gets better soon. It's so hard for us moms when our little ones aren't feeling well.

Under the weather

Colin has a slight fever since this morning. Good thing though, he's still in high spirits even with fever. Am guessing it has something to do with his tonsils. He's been into lollipops lately... yeah, I know bad Mommy. I try to limit it though. At least he's off the marshmallow phase and the Nerds phase... :p I do hope it's just a little irritation of his tonsils.

And they're off again...

It was a very tiring day... we went all the way to Pampanga to send off Benji and MIL. They took Tiger Airways this time since it's a bit cheaper compared to Air Macau. Their flight was at 1:15pm so they had to be at the airport by 10am; we were already on the road by 7:30am. Had our breakfast via drive thru. Colin was unceremoniously woken up this morning that's why for most part of the trip to Pampanga he was asleep. We were at the airport at exactly 10:15am. Had a little photo op for souvenir

Colin still in his pj's

They only had one luggage and my! was I able to fill it up with stuff for the house. Well, at least almost. I still need to buy a few more things that I have to bring myself. I've also asked Benji to bring some of Colin's stuff so that I just have to bring one big luggage when we go there. It's so hard to travel (without hubby!) with lots of baggage and a toddler in tow! So I'm just keeping it to (hopefully) a minimum of one check-in plus hand carry. As soon as we said our goodbyes we headed back to Manila with a stop over at Trinoma Mall for lunch. First time for me to go there but didn't feel like going around. We literally just had our lunch there... no more window shopping. Had to make a few errands and we were home by 2:30pm and at around 3:30pm I was already talking to Benji over Skype. Yep, they just got home and was busy unpacking all the stuff I've put in his luggage... he he...

And again before retiring to bed we had the usual video chat on Skype... thank goodness for internet ;)

Sad little me

I'm a little bit sad again because Benji will be flying back to Macau again tomorrow. I say "a little" only because in a little over a week me and Colin will be the ones flying out there to be with him. Since he's going away again it would feel weird all over again not having him around for sometime. Although I must say I'm not that really sad because there's something to look forward to and also we get to chat everyday and talk/do video every night via Skype. It was terribly hard the first week he was gone because he didn't have a computer yet at home and we didn't opt to have a telephone line installed at home (in Macau). Good thing he brought his Globe phone with him so we still got to talk and say our good nights every evening. Actually it wasn't really that good because now we have that huge bill to pay off... he he... oh well, these are some things that you just have to let go off for the sake of family and sanity =)

Busy bees

Today was another busy day. We went to Cebu Pacific ticketing office to book our (me and Colin) flights for Macau on the 13th of this month as well as for December. We were trying to do the booking online last night but the darn online booking won't accept our cards. So no choice but to goto their office. Our original schedule was to leave on the 11th but flights for that day were already full, so next available flight was Oct. 13. It's our turn now to go visit Benji. At least that's how it'll be while his visa is under process and ours (me and Colin) will be in a couple months time. Benji and I have decided also to spend this year's Christmas in Macau just in case he'll have a hard time fixing his schedule in December. But this is just a what if; hopefully we can still have Christmas here in the Philippines.

We also went to Globe to inquire why his line has been cut off. Turns out his bill was already over 9k. We only have a small credit limit as we're not really heavy users but since he's now based overseas there were so many calls that came in and out. Roaming is to be blamed for that horrendous bill. After I've settled the outstanding balance I'll have the line cut off already.

Bought a few more things for the house that he needs to bring back. There are still some things that aren't available in Macau and also some would still come out cheaper if bought here. I really can't buy much yet but as soon as I get there I'll know for myself what things to buy. You really can't trust men to tell you what else you need for the house.