My balikbayan cousin Nina from Illinois and I had a dinner date last Tuesday at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel - Paseo Uno. We haven't seen each other for ages so I thought it's apt to bring her somewhere special.

As usual, the food in Mandarin was glorious. We enjoyed every bite of it!

Here are some of the food we indulged in (which is just among the many plates of food we had)...

Bread that goes so well with soup:

A mix of things: beef brisket, shrimp tempura, pork barbeque, potato gratin, sea bass, polenta and rice. So, so yummy!

For dessert, we actually both had mango crepe and other wonderful stuff but it was Nina who took most of the pictures.

After dinner, my hubby picked us up and drove us to Boni High Street where we had juice and dessert at Seattle's Best.

As far as I could remember, Hubby devoured this New York cheesecake.

The night was filled with lots of good conversation and jokes! When we brought Nina home, there was even more kwentos that followed since Tita Josie was still awake. We ended the night a little past midnight. :-) It's so good to be seeing them again.

As a mommy blogger, I am always interested in finding out about the latest happenings, trends, updates and events in the online world and well as in the real world. On top of that, I am always on the look out for information that are relevant to me: about marriage, parenthood, child-rearing as well as great shopping deals especially when it comes to baby and pregnancy stuff.

Today, I found this cool website that offers IP Geo Location Tools for Webmasters or Bloggers. It's the newest search tool for those looking for the best deals, the right answers and valuable information about all the things under the sun. I am sure that with the help of this new site, I will be more informed.

Yesterday, I got to view part of the interview of my "katukayo" on tv while she talked about her giving birth in Cardinal Santos. I thought to myself...well, okay, her baby looks cute BUT what's so special about the rest of the other things told?

I'm completely puzzled actually. First, why does the show make it sound as if their stories have the BIGGEST revelations or the ULTIMATE news when it's not really the BIGGEST and MOST INTERESTING news to date? They just bank on the scandals that they see around and build it up. I think these network people should stop doing what they do, that is, to feature scandals, fornication, separations, materialism and many other sins. Is it ever possible to share stories with more content and more good messages? It's really what the kids, teenagers, adult viewers.. in short, the whole Filipino people need...not all that crap and trash that you throw in to make money.

Zoe thoroughly enjoyed the new swing in my Dad's place in Batangas. It's strategically located at their veranda where is are lots of cool air, flowers and nice plants around. I even think she enjoyed it too much that we almost couldn't get her off it!

With my birthday coming in less than a month from now, I thought of making my birthday wish list this early. Actually, I think I was tagged before by someone regarding birthday wishes but I never got around doing it.

Presenting!!! Our family of four! Daddy, Mommy, Zoe plus another one coming soon! :-) Do you think these stick figures look even a bit like us? Oh well, maybe we're a 'bit' fatter in reality but it clearly shows that we're a HAPPY FAMILY. :-)

I love you Daddy, Zoe and baby!

With everything busy again at work, I just want to take some time out to greet everyone a Happy Easter!

May the Lord God triumph always in our lives.

Just sharing a couple of pictures of Zoe and myself over the weekend.

We snapped these pics as we headed to go to Sunday mass. It was Passion Sunday or more popularly known as Palm Sunday. This day commences the Holy Week for the Catholic Church. Holy Week is a time for remembering the passion and love of Christ for the people of God.

Anyway, let's all hope to celebrate Holy Week this year in a holy manner. :-)

I was a bit late in going to the office today because the helper asked me if I could give my daughter a quick bath before I leave for work. She told me that Zoe has been vomiting without reason for the past days and that she may have gotten my pregnancy bug (that is, she's experiencing the morning sickness instead of me). By giving her a bath, that pregnancy bug might disappear. Although I thought that this is mere superstition, I gladly complied because I realized that even before I take in my role as a career woman, I have to stay loyal and true first to my original role as wife and mother.

Anybody who says that it's easy to juggle the many roles that a modern woman has must belong to another century. With women given more opportunities in the workplace in the past years, whether due to acquired skills, competency or high educational attainment, their time is more and more divided into compartments. But this does not mean that the more important roles of being a wife and a mother disappear when she goes to the office. She continues to be so. In fact, her competence in the workplace should also be in the same level as her competence in her roles at home. There is no excuse for a successful woman to be a lousy mother or wife. She has to maintain that high level of service, skill and love in everything she does.

What are the things a woman can do to manage her roles well? First, she can employ the help of effective tools such as planners, telecommunication gadgets like the cellular phone or something more sophisticated such as an IT computer tool or something. Just as marketing professionals make use of various software such as the Data Scraping Software to drive profits into the company, a woman must be wise in using tools that could make her life much easier. Even keeping a small notebook in her bag can make a huge difference if she can maximize its use in doing her day-to-day jobs. All she has to have is constant order in her thoughts and in material things. All the rest is up to her, the love that she has and grace from God.

Happy Women's Month!

A Payday Loan is a possible solution for those who are caught in-between paydays and need to pay for some unexpected expense.

It is a fact that life now is not easy. It's hard to be bumping into some kind of financial squeeze especially if your salary is just enough to pay for your family's basic needs. That is why I always recommend getting a payday loan facility to friends and colleagues who do not have existing savings and unfortunately get into a surprise expense. These surprises can come in various forms: family members getting sick, a broken car, an unplanned trip that one has to make, etc. etc. A payday loan can really be your answer for the rough times ahead.

...I go on crazy overtime.

:-(

I had a p.m. activity after work last Wednesday and my husband drove all the way to Makati from QC to pick me up. Since it was already late, we decided to eat dinner first before heading home. We decided to go to Dela Rosa Parking lot where there is a haven of restaurants - Teriyaki Boy, Pancake House, Sugarhouse, Kenny Rogers, and much more. But what caught our attention (and our tummies) is the inviting smell from the Tapa King resto.

We haven't had Tapa King in months you see and it was great to be there again.

Of course, we both ordered their yummy Tapsilog...

We also found out that they have some Lenten offerings especially good on Fridays when we abstain from meat.


Picture of the happy couple -- (oh my - is that my nose growing bigger?!!)



Love it!

It was a hellish work week for me and I mean super hellish!!

Anyway, I'm so glad that after all the tiring days at work, I have them to come home to. We bonded last Sunday, just the three of us and it was HEAVEN. :-)

...and I just love having dinner out with the one I love (naks!)...

Thanks Huny for being my Superman. :-) (wink)