HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Gail... Hope you had a blast! All the best!

HaPpY bIrThDaY, Caryl!

I know you are happy and contented with what you have right now but I still wish that He will continue to shower you with blessings that you truly deserve.

Sama naman ako sa Jollibee! :) I really miss that!

Happy Birthday, Joe! Hope you're enjoying your stay in Cebu. :)

Snow Storm on V-Day!

We had a crazy day yesterday with the snow storm mixed with rain and sleet. I didn’t think it’s going to be that bad wearing only my regular shoes to work. But as time went by, the road has become more messy and slushy. What a Valentine’s Day Treat huh! Still it didn’t stop some people from delivering the flowers. They did whatever they could to still celebrate a special day. :)

And despite that crazy weather, many people said we’ve had a long drought this winter and having a day like yesterday was the best. Well not for me. I mean yes I’m thankful for not having a bad winter season this year but I definitely don’t want too much snow.

It is sunny today and many are expecting the snow to melt. I guess not since temperature is very low. I don’t think it will since it is very cold.

I feel bad for Irvin though not having snow boots. I brought him to the store before for a few times asking him to pick one. He may be thinking that we’re having a really nice winter then so he kept on saying next time. And he didn’t like anything that was on display too. But come to think of it… snow boots is snow boots. You buy it for your protection and not for fashion. Oh well! I hope he learned his lesson.

Pictures of yesterday’s storm courtesy of CNN…

And here’s more snow storm coverage…

Happy Valentine's Day!

An Early Valentine's Date!

We went to see the movie Night at the Museum yesterday at the Lincoln Square’s IMAX Theatre. The tickets were given to me by my superior a few weeks ago. I also want Irvin to experience IMAX. It gave us a headache though with the big screen and all.

Anyway, I think the movie was nice. We both liked it though Irvin said the movie was very simple where they basically just concentrated on the museum as their location. Though the title already says it, we think it could have been better considering those great actors in the movie. But overall, I would still watch it. :)

Synopsis: Good-hearted dreamer Larry Daley, despite being perpetually down on his luck, thinks he's destined for something big. But even he could never have imagined how big, when he accepts what appears to be a menial job as a graveyard-shift security guard at a museum of natural history. During Larry's watch, extraordinary things begin to occur: Mayans, Roman Gladiators, and cowboys emerge from their diorama to wage epic battles; in his quest for fire, a Neanderthal burns down his own display; Attila the Hun pillages his neighboring exhibits, and a T-Rex reminds everyone why he's history's fiercest predator. Amidst the chaos, the only person Larry can turn to for advice is a wax figure of President Teddy Roosevelt , who helps our hero harness the bedlam, stop a nefarious plot, and save the museum.

We had a hard time finding the theatre location. Lincoln Sq. is on Broadway which is supposedly 2 blocks away from 5th Ave. if you in 34th St. So I was thinking we can just walk when we get off at Lexington Ave.-63rd St. and 5th Ave. but it’s not. We still had to take a cab just so we could be there on time.

After the movie, we headed towards Times Sq. to have dinner at Olive Garden. The wait time was 45 minutes so we decided to just dine in at another restaurant of which the name I’d rather not say. Irvin and I were both surprised when we looked at their menu. The prices were almost double compared to the same one we have near our apartment. I understand they may be paying higher rent and for other expenses being in the city but had we realized that soon, we could have just gone to the one that we usually go to. Oh well just charge it to experience!

TGIF!!!

It’s been a long and tiring week for me at work. Audit went on for three days that I couldn’t even do my regular tasks. They asked for too much information compared to what has been done the previous audit year.

Also, I wasn’t able to do my normal weekend routine… apartment hasn’t been cleaned… I had to do my laundry on Friday after work… I didn’t go to Flushing to do food shopping so we just settled for canned goods, breakfast foods and orders from the restaurant this week. I was in NJ last Saturday and we went to a birthday party on Sunday from noon till 8pm.

TGIF! At least I can have some rest this weekend…

Groundhog Day

Hooray!!! We're going to have an early Spring this year!!! Well, this was Phil's prediction if you believe it.

What is Groundhog Day anyway?! I can’t really relate the 1st time I heard of this. A co-worker explained it but also suggested that I research it in the internet for a better explanation. Here’s a brief history of how it all started…

European Roots

(Adapted from "Groundhog Day: 1886 to 1992" by Bill Anderson)

Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as this tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives. It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.

If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole.

If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.

Read more…

tagged!

I was tagged by Weng on:

5 Things That People Don't Know About Me

1. It has always been my fantasy to become an image model (endorser) of Guess. Yes you’ve read it right! Haha! And I really don’t know why! I’m not even photogenic by nature. Modeling or anything related to that sense is not even in our blood. The only modeling experience I had was in high school when we had to wear the clothes that we saw in Home Economics class. It’s free to dream anyway.

2. I don’t like soft/saggy bread. It’s either I’ll toast it before I put the condiments or better yet, make the sandwich when I’m about to eat.

3. I won’t stop whining till I get what I want. To me, there are so many ways to whine… not only the annoying one we know about. I would use a lot of “parinig” as they call it in our language especially if I can’t ask for it directly.

4. My brothers and sister used to call me Ms. Minchin… a character from the cartoon series “Princess Sarah” who’s an old maid, very strict and organized. I don’t want any mess in the house. When we were kids, I would ask my siblings to sleep in the afternoon so they could have snack. I never gave money to my siblings for pagers, cell phones or even for dating. I used to tell them they’re still students so act like one. They will have all these luxuries when they have their own job anyway.

5. I have fear of heights. I can’t be on those fun-rides like roller coaster, etc. I can’t really take it other than the fact that I also have motion sickness. I remember that time when Castrol (the company where I used to work) sponsored a Team Building Program. I was 40 ft above ground and I had to cross from one tree to the other just by walking in a single log that’s not even flat. I cried a lot and got so much support from the leaves and anything that I could hold on to. I did it though!

Now, I’m tagging:

1. Caryl;
2. Jheng;
3. Ate Irmee;
4. Erica and
5. Carmela

quality time!

I feel relaxed… well not really. I suddenly remembered sometimes you feel more tired if you had too much rest. Haha! But yesterday was one of those happy and stress-free days. We just stayed home practically the whole day talking, giggling, watching NBA, eating and feeling guilty (as charged) for not having gone to the church. I cooked 3 dishes yesterday and I didn’t feel beat up at all.

Backgrounder...
We’re always tired during the week being at work for 12-14 hours including traveling... 12 hours for me and 14 for him. It’s as if we don’t want to do anything anymore when we get home. And so we have to cook 5 dishes every Sunday for our one whole week’s food. We refrigerate them and just heat up whatever we’re going to eat. I try to finish all the chores (cleaning up of the apartment, laundry and food shopping) on Saturdays while Irvin is at work.

Bottom line is… I definitely had some quality time with my hubby. :)

anything goes...

Irvin's christmas gifts...

California Pizza Kitchen





Pho-Bang Restaurant (Vietnamese Cuisine)





1996 pictures that Tita Baby sent me

HaPpY bIrThDaY, Papa!!!

Papa is always in a light mood... always smiling and is fond of throwing out jokes. He's not much of a talker (it is Mama who's always been vocal to us in most things especially if we've made mistakes) but he can be serious when he does. Best wishes for my funny and loving father!

Birthday greetings also to my friends... Ellen and Janice... All the best guys! :)

Oh and belated happy birthday too to my niece Daighne! She turned 6 years old last January 15th.

breakdancing on a street in Manhattan

what we are missing in Pinas...

The company of family and friends is what we miss the most. Of course, we have some friends here but family is family. It's still different when you're in your so-called "home".

Anyway, I got this picture from Ate Irmee's webshots album. It could have been nicer if we were there to celebrate the fun of Miggy and Kyle's birthday party.

Maybe next time... who knows?!

samu't saring kwento

I really don't have the time to blog lately. Work has been taking all my energy plus there are chores to be done at home.

Anyway, we went to see the Big Tree at the Rockefeller Center and Empire State Building as well. I've been here for almost 5 years but it was just my 1st time to go there.

more pictures here...

Christmas was spent with Tita Laling and her family in Massachusetts. It was just a simple celebration but both Irvin and I felt like we're home. Of course we were still wishing we're in the Philippines but being with Tita Laling kind of filled the emptiness we have.

For New Year... well not really on the day itself... we went to Tita Gie in New Jersey on December 30th and stayed overnight. We were at Manang Fely's house when the clock striked 12AM. We've been planning to go to Times Square for the ball dropping but Irvin was just so tired that we decided not to go anymore.







more pictures here...

Irvin fell asleep on Christmas eve and happened to have a pose that Tita Laling said was sort of "cute". We took some shots with him sleeping. Good thing he didn't get mad... Haha!





Can you tell how much Irvin likes his gift?! Click here and here. Please bear with the mess in our apartment. I realized that only after I took the pictures. Oh he's really been talking about that latest perfume from Versace from the time we saw it at Macy's. I thought he couldn't guess what it is so I put it in a bigger box but I was wrong. :) I'll post some pictures of what he gave me for Christmas in another post.

Lastly, we want to greet Kyle a very happy birthday! Belated birthday greetings too for Miggy! He just turned 1 year old. Kuya Lito and Ate Irmee threw a birthday party for him and Miggy (who's birthday was actually on December 24th) last Saturday. You can view the pictures here...

I was online yesterday busy looking at this that I forgot to make a post. Haha! I ended up not buying it anyway. I'm still thinking though. :) Oh well!

Start of a new year could mean an opportunity to do things better. It's a perfect chance to start anew. So let's not deal too much on the past but concentrate on what we have right now and what we can do for tomorrow.

Happy New Year! Wishing you all the best in 2007!

Happy Christmas Everyone!

Tatay's Death Anniversary...

Today marks the 9th death anniversary of my paternal grandfather. It’s already been a long time but it still feels like it was just yesterday when we lost Tatay. It’s sad indeed but I know he has already found eternal peace with God.

I miss you so much, Tatay! You’re always in my thoughts and it’ll stay that way forever! I love you! Oh and don't you worry about Nanay... we are taking care of her. Tito Paqui makes sure she's in good health. :)

Freezing Cold!

Right Now...

at work: Port Washington, NY (11050)

Partly Cloudy
17 degrees Farenheit / -8.33 degrees Celsius
Feels like 1 degree Farenheit

and at home: Jamaica, NY (11432)

Partly Cloudy and Windy
19 degrees Farenheit / -7.22 degrees Celsius
Feels like 2 degrees Farenheit

Brrrrrrr!!! It's freaking cold!

things to blog soon...

Nope it's nothing really exciting. I just want to say that I have a lot of things to blog. It's just that I'm too lazy to do it and... too busy with work, wrapping christmas presents for the kids (I love gift-giving but sometimes it can be too stressful.), writing christmas cards to family, relatives and friends... both locally and internationally. Anyway, here is the list of what I'm supposed to blog:

- our CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) craving
- Thanksgiving Celebration at Manang Fely's House
- Shopping spree on 'Black Friday' and Thanksgiving Weekend
- balikbayan boxes sent to our families