Eight weeks pregnant and counting!

Yes, it's true. My hubby and I found out around 2 weeks ago, using a home pregnancy test. We're both so ecstatic, to say the least. So now, I'm trying to learn everything I can to make this a very healthy and happy pregnancy for us. According to fitpregnancy.com, I have 32 Weeks, 2 Days to go! My due date is January 23, 2009. I don't feel all that different, except for the fact that my breasts are swelling up and that I easily get hungry. I threw up the other night, when we ate out in a restaurant, no less. I haven't had any morning sickness before and after that, thank God.

I have quit smoking as soon as we found out I was positively pregnant. I don't crave it even though people around me are smoking. One discomfort I'm dealing with is the phlegm that my body is trying to expel especially in the morning. It think I'm almost done with it though. I hope I don't feel the urge to take up smoking again after I give birth. I've known for a long time that it's a filthy habit.

So, I'm having a baby! I almost can't believe it. It's been a long time coming. I can't imagine how at one time in my life, I said I didn't want to have one, if it only means that he or she will have to endure the pain and suffering on earth. But now, I can't wait to see his/her angelic face. I think having a child of your own is a chance to make a better version of your self, and in turn make the world a better place to live in.

10 Habits

10 bad habits that could ruin your marriage
by Emily Battaglia, LifeScript staff writer

1. Not having sex
2. Letting yourself go
3. Spending too much time with the in-laws
4. Spending too much time with friends, work, hobbies
5. Not consulting your partner about purchases
6. Forgetting the smaller gestures
7. Criticizing and nagging endlessly
8. Always playing the victim
9. Sweating the small stuff
10. Not fighting fair.

Let me just comment on each one.

1. Hmmm...sex..
2. Don't think I'm guilty of this...yet...hope I don't do this after I have a baby.
3. Can't really do this since we live far apart and they lead busy lives.
4. I think I lack time for spending with friends and family. And work, we'll see when I get a new one. Hope I won't do this since I also don't want him to do the same.
5. Oh I almost always never do this. Hehe.
6. Nope, don't think I'm guilty of this.
7. I don't criticize, I make observations. And I don't nag, I remind.
8. Well, not always.
9. I think I'm guilty of this most of all. I am trying to be more patient and resilient though.
10. I hate when we fight so I try not to turn our arguments into full blown fights. It's simply evil.

Earth Day

HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE!
REDUCE. REUSE. RECYCLE.

my precious ones

I am currently living in my in-laws' house, and although it's not my ideal home, I know we are still lucky that we have somewhere to live for free, before we can buy our own house. I'm going to bore you with a list of our stuff that we bought with our own hard-earned money. This is really a list I need, to remind myself of all our valuable material possessions. These are the purchases that made a somewhat substantial dent on our savings, so that we need to take care of them and not take them for granted. I'm not afraid to make it known to the cyber world because they're not at all what you may call extravagant or expensive things.

I wish we could live without some of them, but I guess we need them to keep up with the modern times. I am grateful that I have them though, however cheap or basic they may be. Someday, we'll have our very own minimalist-type of house, and I hope we can bring these things with us, still serving their practical purpose.

In no particular order, here are our humble possessions:

a 6 megapixel digital camera + accessories
an mp3 player
a 50 liter backpack
a 2nd hand 16-inch color TV
a semi-working 2nd hand stove
a semi-working radio
a rice cooker
2 coffee makers (never been used)
a desk fan
a refrigerator
a washing machine (forgot the brand)
3 cellphones + accessories
a beat-up fishing rod
a pair of swimming goggles
some kitchen utensils
some pairs of shoes and clothes of course
a multipurpose rack
a shoe rack

It's a short list but I'm proud of it. I'm going to add more essentials to this list probably in the coming months. Essentials which include camping equipment and travel gear among others. Wish me luck!

saturday spaghetti disaster

It's saturday night and although I usually wait for Jay to wake up and decide what we're having for dinner, I took the initiative today. I cooked spaghetti and it was a disaster. I made it while simultaneously doing the laundry and I tried to copy how that Italian chef on the Lifestyle channel made her classic Italian spaghetti. Go figure. I could just kick myself for multi-tasking this way. I'm no chef!

Climbing Mt. Maculot

Since it's summertime, I'm going to pay tribute to the great outdoors. At least in the Philippines. I've discovered this wonderful pas-time called mountaineering in 1999 when my sister, being the most adventurous in our family, convinced me, our brother and cousins to try it out. We started with Mt. Romelo in Laguna, or Famy, as it's most widely known. After that, we were hooked. I think it was just a few weeks after Famy that we next tried Mt. Maculot in Batangas. We were so awe-struck by "the rockies" in Maculot, that we always go back whenever we need to have our "climbing fix."

I introduced climbing to my husband right after we met, and he joined a mountaineering club in 2005. I wanted him to learn the theories first and the best way to do that is to attend a basic mountaineering course that is usually undergone by new members of a group. I was so ecstatic when he not only enjoyed it, but he now wants us to complete our equipment so that we can go solo whenever we feel like it.

In the summer of 2007, we had the familiar urge to climb Maculot again. This time, it was only my brother, my husband and me. We met up after lunch at the Cuenca market and were confident in reaching the summit in just a couple of hours. Little did we know that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park like all the other times we scaled this friendly mountain. To make a long story short, we got lost. We didn't know that the trail we took was eroded and just lead us to a dead end. We were joined by a group of first-timers too so it made the hike much more complicated. We had to assist each other in scrambling up the slippery paths that didn't seem to lead us anywhere near the summit. Before we knew it, it was dark. Climbing is hard enough in the daytime, so you can just imagine how doubly treacherous it is to do it at night. Loose rocks and soil made it a living hell for us. We had no choice but to pitch an emergency camp right on the trail.

In the end, we had cuts and bruises on our arms and legs. I have a pretty low tolerance for pain so I think I was the one who suffered the most. I don't think I will ever forget the sound of falling rocks hurtling past me, nor the feel of panic when I slipped and slid in the dark, not knowing if I'll be able to stop from falling.

You might think that I should've learned my lesson and to just stick to a less life-threatening form of recreation. I do love this sport though, and I'm not going to give it up any time soon.

tennis and bus-boys

Woke up an hour ago. Am thinking of getting an early start to my day. Here I am now, blogging away. I read one blog and got to thinking about tennis. The blogger wrote about a list of movies that involves tennis in the plot. I myself am not a tennis player, although I'd like to be. I attempted to learn it in 2006, with my husband (my boyfriend then) trying to transform me into a tennis protégée at the ripe old age of...let's not mention it anymore lest I embarass myself.

Needless to say, with him as my instructor, instead of learning how to play tennis, we inadvertently perfected the art of quarreling. I don't know if I was just too much of a sissy, or he was too hard on me. In any case, we stopped just before I learned the proper stance and forehand. Too bad because I think it's a sport I would've enjoyed a lot.

Anyway, I was thinking about tennis when the garbage truck came. I admire the people whose work is to clean up other people's trash. They are the metro aids (street sweepers), janitors, maids, and bus-boys, to name a few. To me, they are one of the unsung heroes of our time. How do you think they start their day? Are they eager to start their noble work every single day, or are they like the whiny office worker who can't wait for Friday to come along so they can unwind after a full week's work? Do they take pride in cleaning up the environment for all the other people to live in? I would, if I were in their position. I would probably try and make the more insensitive ones feel guilty for not being more earth-friendly in disposing of their junk.

Don't get me started on public littering that metropolitans all around seem to enjoy doing. Filipinos are especially notorious for this. I don't know if they will ever change their ways. Just walk through the streets of Manila in a day, and I tell you, it'll be quite an experience you'd remember for a long time. And I'm not just talking about the amount of trash you'll see, but also the various annoying habits you'll come across with. Sadly, public discipline is one virtue that I don't my countrymen possess. Hospitality, yes. Common courtesy, I don't think so. I think some people don't even know the meaning of it.

Maybe I'll elaborate on this some more in my other entries. If you'll excuse me, I need to get ready to do some grocery shopping. I'm quite happy to say that I'm bringing my earth-friendly green bag with me. This is one of my little efforts to help preserve the earth. I just wish everyone else would realize how these kinds of initiative go a long way.

time crunch

It's summertime in the Philippines. Not only is it scorching hot, but it's impossibly humid too. I want to go out and bask in the sun, yet I don't want to get too dark. I am looking forward to planning some fun activities for the summer. My dearest hubby's bestowed that task on me since according to him, "I don't have the time." Which means that since he's the one who works full time, and I'm the one staying at home, I'm responsible for all the planning, budgeting, and list-making.

Funny how working 5 days a week, 10-12 hours a day can do this to a seemingly normal person. He couldn't wait for the weekend to come along, and when it finally rolls around, he realizes that he's still hasn't done anything much to maximize that pocket of time. He blames me if we forget to buy something in the supermarket and I blame him for making me forget stuff because he's always rushing me.

I used to be this way too, when I also was a call center agent, working the night shift. We start work at night and get off in the morning, so it's like we go to work twice a day. At the end of the week, my Saturdays were spent just for resting up or readjusting my body clock. By Sunday, I'll then have to think up of creative ways to squeeze in as many activities as I can, so as not to feel like I've wasted a minute of it.

It's not that I'm complaining about being jobless. Not too much anyway. I know that most people don't even have the option of quitting their jobs. But see, you can only be a bum for so long, until you feel like you're a useless good for nothing piece of crap.

snooze fest

It's the middle of March and I've completely disregarded my blog site. It's not because I was too busy. In fact, it's quite the opposite. That's why I couldn't write about anything that's interesting enough. Nothing new was happening that's worth blogging about.

I attended a christening, a wedding, and a birthday party. We also shopped at Divisoria and tried out some new restaurants. They're all done on the weekends. Actually, I could write about each of them, but it'll be just too ordinary and commonplace. Or, I'm just too lazy right now to hook up my camera phone to upload the pictures.

dream dream dream

illusions of becoming my own hero. dreams of travel. these are the thoughts crawling through my mind on a daily basis. still can't believe i'm married sometimes.

sacrifices, a lot of 'em. that's what i've been making lately. but, i'm happy. content to be with the one i most love and adore.

i've been a bad blogger. ignored my blog for some time now. if i was my own reader, i'd be disgusted with myself. i promised myself "i'll be better tomorrow", and that's today already.

Puerto Galera!

Traveling to Puerto Galera, although quite near Manila, takes some preparation, time and money. I haven't gone back since 2002, so I was bracing myself for a different kind of experience.

I. Packing.

I had to pack for 2 people - myself and my dear hubby. I'm the one with all the time so I had to do it. My budget for our whole trip was only P3000, so I packed whatever snacks I could find in the house, to minimize on our spending a little.

II. The wait.

My first long wait was for JR at 7-eleven in Buendia LRT. He arrived from work two hours late, at 10:30 AM. Luckily, I've uploaded enough music to my phone to last me the whole trip. We hailed the first bus bound for Batangas City, which will stop at Batangas Pier. We had breakfast on the bus, dozed off a little, but our butts were sore by the time we arrived at the pier almost 3 hours later.

III. The boat ride.

As soon as we got off the bus, we were approached right away by "boat barkers," all trying to make us ride on their boats. We paid for a two-way fare (Batangas pier - White Beach), that costs P340 each. We were surprised to learn we also needed to pay for a Mindoro environmental fee (P50) and a terminal fee of P10 each. Nevertheless, we were excited to be on our way. I wondered if we would be able to see dolphins like I used to before, back in the late 90's. Of course we could've done without the long 45-minute wait before it pushed off from the pier. They had to fill the boat up to capacity, or at least a decent crowd, that's why.

IV. Galera, here we come!

Nope, no dolphins. The boat curtains didn't help either, to have a nice view of the sea. So we just passed the time listening to music and taking pictures. After almost 2 hours, we could already see the tourist-filled shore of White Beach. Finally!

V. The resort.

We checked into the White Coral Beach Resort, the first one we found, or should I say, the first one that we were led to by a "resort barker." Yup, they have those too. I haggled the price of their standard room (with AC, toilet, ref and cable TV), down to P800/night. The receptionist/waitress also gave us a 50% discount on the extension rate/hour. It really pays to appear like penniless tourists, I tell you.

VI. Pretty sunset.

Our plan was to rest until around 7 or 8pm, then have dinner and drink the night away. But as expected, we were too restless to stay in our room. We quickly changed into our swimwear and had our first dip. The water was a little too cold for comfort, so we didn't stay in too long. We caught the lovely sunset with our trusty digital camera.


VII. Dinner by the beach.



We had dinner at Lenly's bar&resto. Breaded chicken with fries, and pansit bihon were our main course. We bought balut and nuts from a beach vendor, to go with our beer. We had the romantic sunset sky for our backdrop while we ate, which beats dining in a 5-star hotel, I think.


VIII. Rest.



After our long day, JR, who was up for 24 hours straight, was the first to crash on the bed. I, however, still had enough strength to take a quick shower and watch a little TV. The room wasn't too bad for the price, though I wished it was a little cleaner.



IX. A new day.


We planned our day carefully before we went out. We wanted to do as many things as we can, with the limited time left. For breakfast, we ate at a quaint resto called "Peter's inn&resto." We had their tapsilog and longsilog meals which come with instant coffee. These filled up our hungry tummies quite nicely.


X. Gotta get away.




I knew from my past trips to Galera, how you can get away from the hustle and bustle of White Beach. It's just on the other side of the rocks on the eastern most side of the beach. We set off to find it.



XII. Found it!

Now this is more to our liking. There's just a couple of resorts here. Not too many tourists around, no fishing boats to mar the horizon, and no beach vendors to disturb you. It's the ultimate beach experience we were hoping to get here in Puerto Galera. Of course, we were still approached by a few vendors who climbed over the rocks like we did. We bought ice cream and a couple of souvenir baskets from them.

XIII. A short walk back.


We left the tranquility and headed back to White Beach through the road above the resorts. Going down, we caught a gorgeous view of the beach.

XIV. Lunch.

We only had a few hours left. We needed to be packed up by 11:30, which was the check out time. We left our bags at the resort so we could move around freely until 4:30, the time we needed to board our boat. We had lunch at Peter's again. They had shark steak on their menu, which piqued our interest. We just didn't ask if it was the endangered kind. It was yummy.

XV. Souvenirs.

There's a lot of souvenir stalls and we managed to look through them one by one. We ended up buying beads, anklets, a scarf, and a pair of shorts. This is certainly a place where you can find fairly cheap and cute beach wear for the summer.

XVI. Mindoro sling!

We still had some time to kill after our shopping, so we tried out one of the bars. I only planned to have a fruit shake, but then we remembered that we weren't able to go out drinking the night before. So, we ordered the famous Mindoro sling. Our bartender, Wendy, convinced us to get a pitcher. If we had any leftover, she/he (he's gay) said we'll just take it with us in a bottle. Turns out we didn't need to worry about that. We finished the whole thing in 2 hours' time.

XVII. Closing time.

We were just about done hanging out in the bar when they called for boarding time. We got on the boat a little heavy-hearted and drunk. Good thing we didn't throw up in the crowded boat.

XVIII. The end.

It was great fun to spend the weekend in Galera. We wish we could have had more time to try out kayaking or go hiking to the nearby falls though. Maybe next time.

beach life

summer's almost here. i'm so excited, we might be going to puerto galera this weekend. haven't been for years! the sea has always held a special place in my heart. i don't know why. it's good that i know how to swim too. it makes for a fun time at the beach. i hope we can go kayaking this time. been wanting to try it for the longest time.

the first time i went to galera was in the mid-nineties. can you believe it? this was before white beach became "malate-like." it was very rustic and provincial then. after that, i wanted to go there every summer. it seems it's harder and harder to have a relaxing time there especially in the peak months of summer. i hope it's not too crowded yet since it's still february.

this picture was taken in zambales. i'm so lucky to have married a guy who has a close relative who lives near a public beach. the sand is not white at all, but the water is clear and the beach fairly clean. i guess it's because only local residents swim here, there's no resort yet. have you noticed that the more resorts/tourists on the beach, the dirtier it gets?

the story of us

we met at work. not that original i know. we were just yosi buddies at first. he waited for me during break time so we could smoke together. he filled up my water bottle when it's goin empty. we didn't talk that much about personal stuff, it was always about work more than anything. i was single then, and didn't expect to meet anybody interesting enough to be a boyfriend. i thought he was already in a relationship because he was older and nicer than most of the guys at work. i treated him like a buddy who's always just around. our first date was amazing. we just stayed in a restaurant and talked the night away. we discovered we had so much to talk about even after a year of being friends. i felt special again in his eyes. it's a first time for me to be friends with a guy for so long before being romantically involved. i usually know the first time i see a guy if i'm attracted to him or not. to make the long story short, we ended up marrying each other. exactly one year ago from yesterday, we were civilly wed. 6 months from today, we'll also celebrate our church wedding anniversary. to make things a bit clearer, the housemate i was referring to in my previous posts is actually my husband. bet you've figured that out by now.

feelin' fine

yep, feeling quite good today. must be because i've been kind of productive this past weekend. i stayed over in QC for 2 days. went home on sunday but first met up with Jay in Galleria. bought additional memory for my phone. finally, i can store more music and pictures on it. we also tried out a new fastfood restaurant called uncle john's i think it was. we were dismayed to find a foreign object in my soda so we had to have them replace it with a fresh one. it just goes to show that you can't be complacent with the food being served in restos. even the pricey ones might not be up to par with hygienic food preparation.

my sister and i stayed up late into the night just sharing stories and catching up. i played with my pamangkins (nephew/niece) as expected. also exchanged home improvement tips with my good old mom. didn't think the day would come when my mom and i can bond over these things. i've mostly ignored her nagging in the past about how to do things around the house. i thought i couldn't be bothered with it, what with my frenetic single life. well, now i can't deny the fact that i look to her for advice when it comes to family and home matters.

hopefully, i'll be employed by february. i need to, or else i'll go crazy with boredom. there's still a few things in my to-do-while-jobless list that i haven't done yet. maybe i can finish them before i start working.

all in all, it turned out to be a fun and full weekend.

more mundane thoughts

i googled my blog today and it didn't come up in the first 4 pages. maybe i should change my title to make it more searchable. i'm sort of a rookie in this world of blogging, html and all the other techy stuff. i don't have the patience to study how a site works and all that. jay can't get why i don't have the natural curiosity about stuff. i don't know. i think i easily get bored (or lazy) with things in general, especially now that i'm older. i'm also kind of egotistical in a way that i always think everything's quite easy to learn if i give it my full attention.

the reason why i didn't have any entries the last few days, was because i was sick. i had a fever and a bad cold. to top it off, jay and i had a huge fight sunday night. didn't mention it on monday because i was trying to forget it ever happened. it's one of those petty quarrels that seem so trivial when you look back on it. we've learned from it, now our relationship is stronger. i hope.

oh yeah, it's the weekend again! i will definitely have time to catch up with my family in QC, as i'm going there tonight. i still feel that i've got 2 homes. i know i have my own now, though still incomplete. a part of me feels like it's still living with the people i've grown up with. i've missed the kids (don't they look cute in their superhero costumes?) , though i realize that i've overcome being too attached to them in a way. i want to have my own life now, my own sense of being, so that they'll have a more enriching experience when they're with me.

well, 'til monday then.

me, myself and i

didn't do much this weekend, as you can imagine. my housemate and i didn't have anwhere to go so we just stayed at home. went out for a couple of hours to buy some grocery. we got so caught up doing household chores that we didn't have time to talk or touch base with each other.

i realize now that to be jobless is to have no purpose in life. i'm so isolated here, having no friends to talk to, and my family living 3 hours away. the only friend i can count on these days is my housemate, who has his own troubles occupying his mind. i think he's sensing that i am getting restless and unsatisfied. maybe if he was a girl, he would understand me more. as it is, he is sort of frustrated with my frustrations. he thinks i'm just making it more difficult on myself by moping around the house instead of occupying my time with more useful things.

thing is, i don't know how to motivate myself. i've always needed somebody to back me up. be enthusiastic for me. encourage me to move on. i don't know how i can change this about myself. i need to help myself get out of this rut. i can't count on anyone or anything to do this for me. it's really just me, myself and i.

a bum's life

is it friday already? been wearing the same pair of sweat pants for one whole week. been doing the same things everyday. get out of bed, watch some tv, eat breakfast, go online. when i get tired of that, i'll go back to bed, get up in time to cook dinner, watch tv, then go online again. before i know it, it's time for bed again. i'm so bored out of my mind i could scream!

living a bum's life ain't easy. i've arranged and rearranged my closet countless times, i swear my clothes are color-coded and organized according to the wet and dry season! i have an endless to-do list that i keep adding to, yet the house still looks the same, and there seems to be no improvement in my life.

i've noticed i've increased my dosage of smokes too. i tried to quit before, said to myself i'll quit at age 30. seems i don't have enough will power yet. so now you know my age. well, i'm still the same as when i was 20. still the same old me. still the procastinator, the late-comer, the happy-go-lucky type. go ahead, say it. i'm reprehensible.

don't get me wrong, i do apply for jobs. online that is. i do get scheduled for interviews, especially for the call center agent positions. even when i didn't apply for it! well, i'm not going back to being an agent, not if i can help it. you see, i have this idea of having this perfect job, you know. one that is close to my house, not that stressful, and is interesting enough to sustain my enthusiasm. oh, and it won't be so bad to have a boss that would keep me motivated and harness my potential too. is there such a job out there for me, or for anyone for that matter? maybe one of these days i'll get it. one of these days...

starbucks

what's the big fuss over this coffee? this branded coffee swept the philippines like a storm maybe 6 or so years ago, and it's here to stay. i tried it once, and i got hooked right away. i started with the cappucino, and now i always order the coffee frappucino. "one venti coffee frap please." it's really good, especially if you want to cool down a bit, bum around, and have a smoke or two. me and my friends, even my family, would go there after a movie, drinks at a bar, or after eating out. and also, where else but here, can you brush shoulders with foreigners, speak in english, and hang out with your "barkada" like you were in some rich foreign country, right? never mind the astronomically high prices of these flavored, ice-blended, or simple brewed coffee. it's pay-day anyway. or, i'm celebrating the start of the christmas season. or the unbeatable excuse: i'm gonna start budgeting my money starting tomorrow. yeah right.

my cousin who lived in baguio city before, was a barista for a year. he now thinks he's some kind of coffee guru. he claims that he knows how to make coffee in such a way as to have a customer come back and specifically ask for him. hmm...maybe he mixes something else in there besides coffee beans when he prepares them.

last year, i tried weaning myself from this addictive concoction. my housemate and i made an agreement to go here when we're with other friends only. we figure, if we can discipline ourselves to just go for a dunkin donuts coffee when we feel like kicking back with a cup and some smokes, then we'd get to save...let me see...lots of money! but then, where would we be able to lounge around while sipping, smoking and people-watching at the same time, but here at these starbucks stores? it seems all of 'em have an al fresco area just for coffee-smoke-addicts like myself. if i get filthy rich, i'd have a starbucks bar inside my own house. how's that for being extravagant?

cooking

made this dish from our left-over spaghetti, not too long ago. didn't know how to cook anything at all except for rice or fried eggs not too long ago too. maybe it's because i've been a free-loader at my parents' house until i was in my late late 20's. makes you wonder how i managed that huh?

but now, i can cook adobo, sinigang, tinola, along with some simple pasta recipes. looks like i've been domesticated against my will. well, not really. i quite enjoy cooking. the meal planning is the hard part. budgeting the grocery money can also sometimes give me a migraine.

if you're a slacker like me, you'd understand where i'm coming from. suddenly you find yourself living on your own, thinking up of ways on how to spend your housemate's hard-earned money wisely. i wish there were endless opportunities out there on how to stretch the budget so that you would still have enough to spend on movies, starbucks and "malling."

my housemate has left me an hour ago for his night shift. and now the night is stretching before me, with just this blog-writing and maybe channel surfing later on. hmm...maybe i will be a slacker all my life.