i and family are on holiday break in damai laut, perak. i won't be able to blog hop and card drop until Monday. by then i'll be back. i promise to post some interesting photos when we come back.

for the meantime, you might wanna read our swiss garden holiday we took last year. we are on the same place now, doing the same thing but more interesting this time and more things to do as samantha is now older.

swiss garden holiday - part 1
swiss graden holiday - part 2

it's awesome to go for holiday breaks. the family gets the time to enjoy doing things together, enjoy the relaxing and refreshing environment. the best thing is when the hotel you're staying at will have sauna facilities. it can add up to a rejuvinating treat. the beach would be a plus too. you don't need to go out to the town to look for some other things to do. at swiss garden hotel where we are staying at right now, they offer a lot of things to do like trekking, island hopping, pangkor drop which there's a shuttle ferry to get you to an island, fine dining, activities for the kids and a lot more. sometimes when you go out holidaying, it's not about how famous the place is that would truly give you fun. it's what the hotel is offering you. then you don't need to go out and look out for some other things to do. hotel rooms are nice to stay in but i guess it would be nicer to stay in villas where you could do things your own, like cooking your own food and you can bring friends because the villas will have more than one room to spare. in fact, if you don't believe me, check out St. Barts villa rentals. and you will see for sure what i'm talking about.

Last night, while were having dessert after dinner, a group of band from the Philippines came and sang for us. It was a special treat for the family. We didn't know that if you go for fine dining, this special treat would be included too. But it was really a good treat. It was great because Filipinos can sing and play instruments well. Actually, there's a lot of Filipinos worldwide who use their talents in singing and playing music to be able to get job, earn money and support their families back in the Philippines. In the US, when my husband went there for a meeting, he saw and met a lot of Filipinos living and working there. For some Filipinos back home who haven't gone abroad yet, they must be wondering how to get into working abroad. I recommend using Boston resumes. It's very easy to get work if you apply with them.

I am not back from my holiday yet. I just try to get a chance to quickly check my emails and some opps to write. And I found I have a couple of them today. Good thing my kids are too tired to go out now. They're asleep.

sorry. the blog owner removed this post. the original post's backlink to this post is not working. i apologize to all my friends who did this tag.

one of my favorites is italian food, especially the pasta. i can make at least three pasta dishes with my eyes closed. hehehe. by the way, i am joining PMC weekly fest of posting a recipe. so i decided to post my recipe for my famous spaghetti bolognese.

here are the ingredients:

500 grams spaghetti no. 3
1 can of prego spaghetti sauce (my favorite flavor is basil, garlic tomato sauce)
8 cloves garlic2 big-sized onions
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp italian herbs
1 cup tomato sauce
1 pound ground beef
1 beef cube
2 tablespoon olive oil
salt to taste
loads of parmesan cheeze

cooking instruction (for the spaghetti sauce):

• heat the olive oil in a pan, saute garlic and onions until light brown.
  
• add in the ground beef - cook for 10 minutes
• add in beef cube
  
• mix in the prego and tomato sauce
• add a little bit of water
• let cook for another 10 minutes, medium heat fire
• salt to taste

cooking the pasta:

• boil water
  
• add 2 tbs of salt and 2 tbs of oil
• put in the pasta
• cook for 10 minutes in medium heat fire
• drain the pasta under the cool water
• mix olive oil to avoid sticking up

serving suggestion: sprinkle with loads of parmesan cheeze. garnish with basil leaves. this recipe is for 4 persons.

here's what happened to the pasta:

I had two friends who recently got a PR (page rank) of 2 out of 10. I was so excited for them. And both had indicated they wanted to monetize their blogs. What did I do? I recommended this paid to post company which I thought was the best because two of them had pr's in their blogs already. Both signed up, and both got accepted. Both were excited. One of my friends' goals was to buy a treadmill for herself from her earnings. And guess what happened? The moment they posted that paid post, both of them were gotten rid of their pr's. I felt so guilty. I felt that I was the one who had pushed them into the pit. Until now, I still feel so guilty. One of my friends said, there went her treadmill. Probably if I could just turn back the time, I wouldn't have recommended that company then. But of course, there is still hope. They could buy their own domain so that other companies could accept them. Now both of them are considering buying their own domain. I just hope everything works better for them this time. So that my friend can indeed buy that much hoped treadmill.

This is Shadowfax - the most beautiful of all horses - in the trilogy movies Lord of the Rings, that is. Gandalf used Shadowfax in calling out for the alliances. Not only he's the most beautiful horse, he also was the fastest. I can't forget the line Gandalf said to Shadowfax when they were about to leave: "Show them the meaning of haste." Woah, it gave me goosebumps, I tell you. I wonder if they used horse supplements for Shadowfax though because he ran around so much for three full days. Hehehe. Actually, in reality, you have to. I have ridden horses when I was young because mom and I would usually visit my father at the project site he was assigned. He was in an Engineering Battalion that time. So he would be assigned where no private contractors could go because of the danger and remoteness of the area. I loved those moments where horse owners would just offer their horses to be ridden. And they sure would give me the gentlest of all because I wasn't a professional rider (and that goes beyond saying of course). Have you ridden a horse?

My son came home bringing a loot bag with him yesterday. One of his classmates celebrated his birthday at school it seems. My boy asked me if he could celebrate his birthday already. I told him his birthday is not going to be sooner yet... but i asked him how he wanted to celebrate his birthday. He said he wanted to do it the club. He said he didn't wanna do it at mcdonald's. Last year, for his 3rd birthday, we had it at mcdonald's. We were in the Philippines then. And so he asked me he wanted to have a cake on his birthday. I asked him whether he wanted to buy the cake or he wanted me to make the cake. He said to make a cake was better. Hmmm... I have to polish my cake-baking skill (as if I have that skill already - hehe) then. Alamak. To celebrate it in the club is sure very expensive. So I'm thinking probably, we'll celebrate it at home this time. We just use a portable beer pong tables because we don't have enough tables for parties at home. Just decorate it a bit and we'd have a perfect table for the party.

peter is leaving for phuket today. soon, actually. he'd be gone for 5 days. he's taking a group to check/help on the project there. remember the 2004 tsunami? a few islands in the province of phuket were affected, right? so they have set up a project there to help with the relief and development especially for the sea gypsies. now, they're in the development stage where they put up schools, church, and what not.

so... i'm going to be alone with kids again. i'm so used to this idea already. although it could be tiring to take care of the kids 24/7 (without any breaks in between). but of course, when hubby comes back, we would go for a nice holiday to damai laut. i love the swiss garden hotel there. i'm sure we would enjoy our stay as much as we did last time. (there's a bath tub there, if you're wondering *wink). so i'm going to prepare all the spa ingredients for hubby and me. swiss garden hotels are not cheap hotels but we're going there for free, courtesy of our dear friends who gave us that holiday package last year. it's going to be fun, i'm sure.

you might wanna check out our swiss garden holiday last year:
swiss garden 1
swiss garden 2

Yesterday, we were talking to my brother-in-law about his coming wedding which will be in July. He was a bit worried coz they're short of flower girls. So I have suggested a couple of friends who got very pretty girls. And of course, it led us to wonder whether my girl could be a flower girl already. You see, she's only 1 and a half years old. But she's cute. Hehehe. What do you guys think? Can a 1.5 year-old girl be a flower girl on a wedding already? Please advise.

On the other hand, i'm looking for some jewelry that would match my clothes for the wedding. I'm thinking of Akoya pearls. It is actually a saltwater pearl. And looks rather elegant. Don't you agree?

This is a tag from Mitch.

{Start Copy}

The Rule:
Post a picture of YOU through the years. You can post as far back as you can and as far back as what you can dig with your pictures. Finish your post and tag three people Link up the BLOG post you had your entry on (let’s keep this real and not a viral link exchange, people, kies? Thanks! :D)

Blogs who participated:
Aggie | Yen | Glo | Jacq | Buge | Nice | Vannie | Mitch | j3net | janet | You are next!

{End Copy}

Mitch has this really fun pictures of her when she was still young until now. You might wanna check her out. How I wish I could do like hers also but all my older (single) photos are with my parents back in the Philippines. So I would start with the one when I got married.

November 22, 2003

me - 2008

my present looks

Aish, Mimi, Bern and Ruby, do you wanna do this too?

***en entry to parenting blog carnival***

It brings a lot of surprises. Some pleasant... some uncalled for. When I was single, I was envisioning myself as a best mother one could ever be. I got married, thinking I could have as many kids as we wanted to have. I was very idealistic. I thought when I give birth, I want my baby to be the smartest, most advanced, most disciplined, whatever-you-can-think-of mosts one could ever be. I got my first baby. True, he was the most beautiful thing to behold. I started doing whatever the books and articles in the internet I had read said. I wanted a perfect baby. It didn't last long. My ideals turned into reality. I couldn't have a perfect baby. I couldn't even have more than 2! As in... It's already a challenge to have one, harder to have the 2nd... what more with 3?


You see, becoming a parent makes you realize a lot of things. Probably once in your life, you were very idealistic. You want things your own way. (The baby goes the other way). Practically all your ideals are gone. You are now faced with reality. And we are surprised.


I have laid back a little after I realized I couldn't turn my baby into the smartest-cutest-most-intelligent kid on the block. I have to respect his limits. I have to realize who he is and what his personality is. I have to discover his own strengths and weaknesses. I have to enhance whatever strengths he has and mitigate whatever weaknesses he has. Yes, he is an extension of me and my hubby. But he is not us. And guess what... he could be better. I mean, better than what we expected of him. As long as we, as parents nurture him and love him with all our hearts and even all our mights.

Becoming a parent is one of the noblest task one could be. One can become a parent easily but to be a good parent is another story. It takes a bit of sacrifice, especially when the baby wakes up in the middle of the night looking for milk. It takes effort to read to him nightly just so we help him with his language development. It takes an energy to usher him when he starts walking. It takes just about everything just to nurture him. It takes unconditional love to go on and parent him... all the days of his life. Above all, it takes God to give us wisdom, strength and love as we guide, nurture and love our kids.

After having said all these, they may surprise us by being smart, well-behaved, etc... but there's no better reward than hearing them say I love you, Mom with matching hugs and kisses. This is just from a mother's heart. I hope I'm making sense...

Related Article: My Birth Story

Have you ever bought some things online? I have... but mostly it's from e-bay. And all I bought were second hand ones. Sometimes, I wanna see the product in real before buying brand new ones... you know, just to check whether the product is in good condition or not. But you know what I stumbled upon, Howie Mandel on you tube, introducing this product to a person and you can buy it online. They deliver it straight to your place, instantly. Well, I hope there's some kind of service like that too where I live. If you wanna check it out, check out this you tube item I found online. NO KEYWORD COMMENT ON YOUTUBE VIDEO Fore more information, visit buy.com

This is a tag from Mitch. My first time ever tag that I'm doing for this blog. Thanks Mitch.

Participants: Tere - Blessing in Life | Yen - Me and Mine | Mitch - When Silence Speaks | Mitch - Etc Atbp | Janet - the nambiars | J3net - Expressions and Thoughts | YOU'RE NEXT!

1. What do you want for your birthday? Nice Relaxing holiday with my family.

2. Who will be your next kiss? Probably my kids (Samantha and Schenker - Hubby is still sick)

3. When was the last time you went to the mall?This morning - after my boy's Sport's Day

4. Are you wearing socks right now? No.

5. How did you spend your summer? No summer where I live but I've been spending time the usual way.

6. Have you been to the cinema in the last 5 days? No. Didn't even buy any movies in dvd.

7. What was the last thing you had to drink? Rooibos tea - know to be the only tea that doesn't have caffeine... only found in South Africa.

8. What are you wearing right now? My beige tops and black pants.

9. What was your last purchase? Books on parenting.

10. What was the last food you ate? Spaghetti.

I am tagging: Ruby, Josiet, Aisha, Mimi, Bern and Lalaine,

If you've been following my posts, you would notice that I rant so much about my notebook. It is super slow in its speed. Opening it up takes forever to do. Like I'm still in Flinstones Age (actually not coz there was no computers on that era yet - hehehe - just exaggerating a bit). A friend told me that her husband did something to make their computer work fast, like putting half of the memory to the D drive and half of the memory to the C drive (we have the same notebook brand and model). Now I wonder how in the world can I do that. I'm technically better than my husband but it doesn't mean I know everything about techie stuff. I think the best thing to do is extend my computer's memory. But for now, I think I may have to store my files in some usb flash drives. Suggestions, anybody?

No, I'm not going to Chicago, nor my hubby is. I am just a bit curious about going to Chicago. I heard there are so many Filipinos there and the airport and its terminal is just full of Filipino staff. Probably there's one big Filipino community there by now. Why am I talking about Chicago? It just happened that I bumped into a website about Chicago travel. I got very interested when I learned that Chicago has gravity-edifying architecture, a world-class music scene fueled by thousands of restaurants, and cosmopolitan comforts without the big-city attitude. How I wish I could visit Chicago.

We woke up early today to go for my son's Sports Day at school. Good thing we reached the place early as there were already a lot of parked cars around. We found one spot right near to the gate, thank God. It was amazing to see my boy participate in the games for his category. He was very fast. I think my boy is going to be competitive in sports too, like his daddy and mommy. His daddy also used to join most of the sports that was offered in his school last time. Sports indeed is a good way to foster sportsmanship, friendship and healthy competition. The only thing my hubby didn't try was golf. A friend of his used to ask him to go with him to play golf. I think, if you get into golf, you would need to buy your own golf equipment.

I got a surprise today when my friend told me to check her blog coz she made a blog review. I quickly went over and checked. And I was speechless for a moment. It was so sweet of her to do for me... without me asking her to do so. If you wanna know what the review is, please check it out: the nambiars

This has helped me realize that even in the internet world, one can develop such good friendships. One doesn't know how it happens. It just happens, naturally. We have linked up our blogs last time. She was a newbie... I was a bit the oldie... (but I'm way too far behind now). She struck me as a very hardworking woman. She has sacrificed her career for the sake of her kids and that is the noblest thing one could do. I really admire her for doing that. Her life, if you are following her blog, is like a roller coaster... but there she is... standing strong amidst her struggles... and at the same time, showing kind gestures to her friends online. Look what she did for me on mother's day in her digiscrap blog:

Isn't that pretty? I mean the way she did it. I am very thankful for giving me a friend like her. Very generous at heart, very thoughful, no reservations whatsoever... friends like that are for keeps. Ruby is for keeps.

My brother-in-law's wedding is just around the corner. I haven't heard much about their preparation. The last time I spoke with the bride-to-be, they were going to Thailand to have his wedding suit tailor-made there. My husband also did his wedding suit there, which was quite nice and cheap. I wonder if she's gonna have a bridal shower. Usually a friend would do this for the bride-to-be. If ever she has one, I know of a place to do the bridal shower invitations. But of course, only if she will have one. Both of them are quite busy with their jobs now... not sure whether they can fit the shower party in between. I remember how busy we were for our wedding by this time... only two months away.

No. Not yet. Not having that third baby yet. My friend and I were chatting about it... and talked whether we only want to have two kids (like me, she has two kids too). At this point of time, we agreed that it would be hard to have another one since having two can be too much already sometimes. So, I was telling her that if God wants me to have a third, I pray that when Samantha is already 5 years old. That got me to wondering... what do I do with the baby furniture we have at home. Probably I sell it on e-bay or lend to friends who are having another baby that needs one. If you are in Malaysia and expecting, please let me know. I have some good stuff available here... but in one condition, please return them to me once you know (if) we are getting preggy, okay? Hehehe. And I hope it won't be too soon. 5 years is okay.

When I was in college, I used to break out a lot. I started using this product that was made in China - I forgot the name already. They said you'd normally break out for the first 3 weeks and after that, it would subside. Sad to say, 3 months later I was still breaking out. Arrgghh... I wished then that I could afford a best acne treatment. I would have eliminated all my acnes. It has left some scars actually. But now that I can at least afford to buy stuff for my face, I would go for a water-based product because my skin is oily.

My blogger friend, Josiet, and I had been talking on meeting up in person since both of us are based in Malaysia now (we're both originally from the Philippines). Today was the day of the meet. So I decided to take with me my boy and she also, her boy. Since only I and my boy were going, I decided to take the KTM train from Subang Jaya to Midvalley Megamall. There's a KTM train station that stops right in fron of the mall. Hubby told me it would only take 30 minutes to reach Midvalley. So I left the house at 2:00pm. Our meeting was at 3:00pm. When I reached Subang Jaya station (husband and daughter sent us there), I realized that you have to get off KL central and take another train to Midvalley. When we reached KL central, we straight away went to platform 6 to get a train. But we waited for 15 minutes before the train arrived and when it did, it was too full we couldn't fit inside. Then I had to rush up and took a cab. When we reached the mall, we were super late. I felt really guilty. Good thing Josiet and her husband were too gracious.

We went to Megakidz. It's a place where kids could play around. Met Josiet and her family. It was good meeting them. The kids really didn't play with each other because of age difference, but both had fun, I guess. Schenker really had fun. He was all over the place. Sad to say, EJ wasn't feeling well... so they had to leave without meeting my husband. Husband also was late coz he was stuck in the jam. Some things didn't go well according to the plan. But it was good enough meeting them. We'll surely meet up next time. Josiet, seems to me, is a sweet-natured lady. Hoping to get to know her more in person. Blogging can be helpful too in knowing a person... but it's better to meet up live.

All in all, my boy had fun. I had fun. Although it was too tiring for me. Had to wait for hubby to get some dinner. I had, by the way, curry laksa and watermelon juice. Yum. Was planning to eat ice kacang (Malaysian version of halohalo) but had to stop the urge to eat it coz my family's still having flu... not fully recovered yet. They would be tempted to eat too if I did. Maybe next time.