One more day and we’re on vacation!!

To say that I’m excited is an understatement.  No matter where we go, I’m always excited.

And tomorrow we leave for Hongkong.

First stop is Disneyland.  Of course.  For the kids.  We’ll be spending 2 and a half days in Disneyland.  Its a good thing that the hotel I booked offered us a pass to allow us to enter the park for 2 days for the price of one ticket.

Then we’re off to Kowloon to spend the rest of our vacation.  I’m sure we’ll be going to Ocean Park as well.  This is really for the kids.  But our last day will be spent shopping.  This is for the parents…hehehe.

Still can’t decide what I’m going to invest on this time.  Last time we went on vacation I went ahead and blew my birthday money on a camera.  This time I think I want to satisfy my bling bling fetish.  Hey, I’ve been a really good girl and I’ve been holding off on buying diamonds for the longest time.  And they say HK has some great deals on stones.  Who knows what I might come home with.

In the meantime, I have to pack 3 suitcases.  Wheee!!

Tags : Shopping, travel

My eldest just learned to ride her bike without training wheels. Ever since then she has been biking twice a day, everyday. My youngest still uses her training wheels but is equally as addicted to biking.

This is one addiction I’m totally all for.

Tags : Fitness, kids, PhotoHunt

Summer not only brings beach weather in these parts…it also brings with it all sorts of skin problems. In my case, I break out during summer. I have to make a bi-monthly trek to my dermatologist for a facial and a diamond peel just to keep my skin in check. Unfortunately, because my hormones, not even my dermatologist can prevent a breakout. To say that I hate it is an understatement. I’ve always believed I’m too old for zits but apparently it isn’t so.

Since I’m not big on popping zits, I try to employ the best natural acne treatment and try to keep my skin clean at all times. Eating the right food is also important. I try to eat more fruits and veggies. And water…in this case 10 glasses a day or more.

I hope it starts raining soon…my skin seems to like the rain.

Tags : beauty, gripes

Finally, after bombarding Philippine Airlines‘ fanpage with bitchy comments and after constantly arguing with agents in their call center, PAL finally caved. I’m not saying that it was all my doing. I’m sure there were other disgruntled passengers in the same boat as we were.

I was getting rather desperate, actually. Especially since the situation in BKK wasn’t getting any better. And despite the assurances from friends in the know that it was safe to travel to the city, I just didn’t think it was a good idea to go on holiday in a place where we would have to worry about what was going to happen the next day. And having the kids in tow would make things even harder. And why go on a vacation when you have to worry, right.

Anyway, so PAL rebooked our tickets with no penalties. We had to pay a little extra because our tickets now are a little bit more expensive but heck, I don’t mind paying for my peace of mind. Except for the forfeiture of one night at the hotel, everything else is a-ok already. I can’t wait!!

Tags : family, gripes, travel

After waging a battle against this gruesome sun damage on my face, it seems I am slowly winning. At least that’s what it looks like in my pictures.

I think I finally found the right products for me. They’re all Vitamin C based which not only lightens my melasma, it makes my skin tighter. I can actually feel it tighten. In the beginning I didn’t take to the product right away. I started breaking out and I feared I had nodular acne after developing a zit so huge it looked like a volcano ready to erupt. But my fears were unfounded. My face cleared up and so did my melasma.

I’m still on the product and nowadays a high SPF sunscreen is something I cannot do without. So be warned……

Tags : beauty, beauty tips

Summer time is definitely here. My cue is when my neighbor’s Caballero (fire tree) is in full bloom. The best place to see the tree is from my kids’ window. Its an old tree and its huge. Its branches have reached our property and every morning our lawn is filled with fiery red petals.

Tags : Ruby Tuesday

Just came from my Mother’s house yesterday after not visiting for 2 weeks. My nephew and niece who are living with her have been getting sick lately. Alternately. I don’t want to risk having my kids catch anything especially now that we will be travelling next week.

Anyway, when we were on our way home we were pleasantly surprised to find Gaby’s poster hanging near the church. A couple of years ago, she was chosen by her preschool to be its poster girl for their school advertisment banner. If I’m not mistaken, she was only 3 years old when that poster was made. Whoever the school tapped for its poster printing did a pretty good job. That banner has been in use for the last 4 years and it still looks good as new.

That poster gave us school discounts for several years.

Tags : kids, school

For my very first entry for Mellow Yellow Monday, I took a pic of a yellow moth perched on the flower of my Thai Coriander plant. I know I know….looks familiar. He stayed long enough for me to adjust my settings and that was a good 10 minutes or so. He probably knew I was going to post it.

Tags : Mellow Yellow Monday

Hubby wants to buy a new car. He has one year to plan. His car plan is almost up and he is so excited. He is carefully selecting the right car for him. If I were to choose, I would rather get a van. The girls are growing up so fast and things are getting tighter in the car. Plus giant school bags are the norm and that means we need more room.

However, he has announced that he will be handing down his SUV to me and we’ll be selling my car. Ok, thats good. I prefer his car over mine. But that leaves him with what? Guess…

He wants a sports car. A snazzy red Mazda Miata. The kind European DOM’s drive. Har har har. Of course I couldn’t hold my acerbic tongue and told him. Along with his receding hairline…he practically would have DOM plastered on his forehead!!

But he won’t be swayed. He wants his eye candy and he wants it soon. He’s been checking reviews and titan auto insurance review (good!) for his future toy.

I’ve got a little over a year to dissuade him. Wish me luck.

Tags : family, Husband

Due to the current political unrest in Bangkok, we decided to cancel our trip. We booked this trip way in advance so we were all looking forward to it. Its been years since we visited BKK.

Anyway, after several travel advisories were issued, I felt it wasn’t safe to go there anymore. I immediately called the airline only to find out that they were not giving any waivers for rebooked or rerouted tickets. I carefully explained that given the situation in BKK, it wasn’t a good place to have children visit. The agent feigned innocence and said that there were no memos regarding the matter.

Ok, I understand that making money is of prime importance for these airlines. But shouldn’t safety of its passengers become a priority when things like this happen?!?

Just thinking out loud.

Tags : family, gripes, travel