Happy weekend

Yesterday, OHA and I went to In My Womb in the new Glorietta Link building for a Congenital Anomaly Scan (CAS). A CAS is a basic fetal screening to check the baby's vital organs like the heart, kidneys, etc.

OHA and I were super nervous because we didn't know what to expect. It was such a relief for OHA and I that my OB, Dr Sheila Jane Illescas, really goes out of her way to put her patients at ease by being wacky.

The scan took about an hour and it was the most excruciating hour of my life (I'm sure that I'll change my opinion about this once I've experienced going into labor)! It wasn't until Dr Illescas told us that the baby's fine that I was able to heave a huge sigh of relief.

Our LBJC was a little hyper and gave Dr Illescas a hard time in trying to take a photo of his face. He's also a little on the chubby side, but still perfectly normal. The only thing I have to worry about is that his position's breech. My OB said he'll still have time to move but that I should start watching what I eat so that he won't take up too much moving room in my womb.

At P3500, the CAS is a little pricey but definitely worth it! When we were viewing LBJC in 4d scan, it was just a breathtaking experience. It brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't believe that OHA and I made that beautiful baby. I could go on and on with the sap fest, but what I just want to say is that parents-to-be shouldn't miss out on this opportunity because it's wonderful.

Btw, the doctor said he looks like me but my in-laws say our LBJC looks like OHA. We'll just have to wait and see!

After In my Womb, OHA and I went to Greenbelt to celebrate (hurrah! our baby's normal!). We originally planned to go to Sugi but I changed my mind and said I wanted to eat in Segafredo only to find out that the stupid place is already closed! So we ended up eating in Sugi because I was too pissed to think of another restaurant.

OHA ordered the kaki teppanyaki and yaki meshi while I ordered the Katsu Donburi and green mango shake. Because we were famished, I forgot to take a picture of the food *insert sheepish grin here*

After Sugi, OHA and I went to Gourdo's beside Gloria Maris. It was like going to chef heaven! They have all kinds of spices, sauces, and other thingamajigs that are used for cooking. If I knew how to cook anything other than pasta, I would have cleaned out my wallet in this place!

I was trying to get OHA to pick out stuff for himself like bratwurst or German franks but he didn't want to. I, on the other hand, ended up buying a big box of Honey Bunches of Oats, Nature Valley peanut butter granola bars and three pieces of soap for my mother-in-law.

There's still something I haven't written about, but I'll reserve it because it deserves a separate post.

For LBJC

I recently transferred photos from my camera to my laptop and I remembered that I'm supposed to post all the things we already bought for LBJC.

Here's our inventory:

OHA and I are still waiting for these to arrive:

Playtex Drop-Ins system (2 4-oz bottles and 2 8-oz bottles)

Drop-Ins value pack (2 packs of 4-oz bottle liners and 2 packs of 8-oz bottle liners)

3 4-oz Avent bottles

3 9-oz Avent bottles

3 10-oz Gerber NUK bottles

Gerber premium feeding system (2 5-oz bottles and 3 9-oz bottles)

Swaddle Me adjustable infant wrap

We haven't bought the big items yet like the crib and the stroller since my mother-in-law is quite superstitious about timing the purchase of these items. OHA and I will be buying the breast pump and the sterilizer maybe in a couple of weeks.

Happy Friday!

Everyone at work's happy today. Why? Because we received our Annual Incentive Package! Ka-ching, ka-ching! BONUS! Yey!

It would've been a truly happy day if not for the amount of taxes deducted from our paychecks. My tax deduction is almost 10 grand! That's nothing compared to the deduction of one of our colleagues--almost 60 grand! I could go to Hong Kong with that amount!

My OHA and I will be celebrating tonight. I was thinking Cafe Ysabel or Casa Armas, but we might just settle for Cyma or Bubba Gump. We're also going to be shopping for our LBJC. Happy day!

Btw, as promised, here are our bookstore purchases from Singapore:

From left to right top row: Eternal Egypt, Heroes Volume One, Richie Rich Classics, I am America and So Can You, The Au Pairs, The Au Pairs Skinny Dipping, The Au Pairs Sun Kissed

From left to right bottom row: Nova Swing, 20th Century Ghosts, Daughter of Hounds, The Atrocity Exhibition, The Overnight, Best New Horror, Dead Sea, The Everlasting, Ghouls

Manila Ocean Park

One of our media activities for ASM this year is a tour of the recently opened Manila Ocean Park in Luneta. It is said to rival Hong Kong's Ocean Park and Singapore's Underwater World so everyone's pretty excited to visit the park.

When two of my colleagues went for an ocular last March 10, they found out that the ticket costs P400. It's a bit pricey, but since the park promises a lot of unique attractions, they thought it was worth it. The thing is, my colleagues said that a lot of exhibits are still closed. Now that's just unfair. Why charge for full price when you can't tour the entire park?

Anyway, to give you a clearer picture of the park, I lifted this from one of their brochures (I uploaded some photos to make the entry a little less boring but the photos here are from Underwater World and not Oceanarium since my colleagues forgot to bring cameras):

The first world-class marine themed park to adopt a fusion concept--bringing together in one complex an Oceanarium, a mall, a restaurant row, boutique hotel, open water marine habitats and multi-purpose function facilities.

Here are the exhibits:

Agos (Flow)

Begin your journey in Agos and learn about the natural flow of water from land to sea. Giant arapaima, piranhas, and various types of crabs can be found in this zone. At the Touch Pool, a hands-on experience awaits those who want to interact with some of our friendly residents, such as the blue-spotted stingray, starfish, and sea cucumber.

Bahura (Reef)

Bahura features some of the most fascinating creatures in the Philippine coral reefs. Find out why the clownfish loves hanging out with the magnificent sea anemone or why the Japanese spider crab is called the largest living arthropod.

Laot (Fishing Ground)

In Laot, you will find a wide array of fish in the deeper waters of the sea. Keep an eye out for the giant grouper, which can weigh up to 660 pounds, making it one of the largest coral reef-dwelling bony fish.

Buhay na Karagatan (Living Ocean)

Experience underwater life through a 25-meter tunnel that showcases various marine animals and how they interact with each other. See how they protect themselves from predators and observe their techniques for finding food to survive.

Ang Kalaliman (The Deep)

Ang Kalaliman features different kinds of schooling fish like the barracuda. Discover why many fish feel safer in groups.

Pagi (Stingray)

The overhang tank offers a unique top and bottom view of stingrays. Enjoy their wonderful co-existence with the beautiful golden trevally.

Pating (Shark)

In the Shark Tank, observe how sharks behave and interact with one another. Find out why they are called the "Masters of the Seven Senses."

Hopefully, they finish the park before the year ends or at least early 2009 so I can take my LBJC there. I think he's still going to be too young to appreciate all the creatures but I think it can be a good, stimulating experience for him. I just hope he's not scared of fishes. Like his mom. Yes. I'm deathly afraid of fish.

Also, I hope that this is not one of those ningas kugon projects which will eventually be scrapped due to lack of maintenance funds. I really hope not. I think the park is going to be a nice addition to the list of tourist attractions in our country.

If you're hungry, don't look at this post

I need to curb my appetite because my OB told me I gained five pounds since my last checkup. That's probably the worst news I've heard all year! I just want to eat, eat, and eat! It's not fair. I don't even think I'm that fat :(

It's not my fault that I gained weight, you know? Who in their right minds could resist these?

Duck rice

OHA and I found a nifty little hawker center right in the middle of Bugis. I was so tired and hungry that I already had three or four bites before I remembered to take a picture. OHA had a heaping serving of crabmeat fried rice.

Chicken chop

After Sentosa, OHA and I visited the food court in Vivo City. When I saw the words "chicken chop" scrawled across one of the blackboards in the food court, I almost cried! I love love chicken chops! The one they sell in the night market in Taipei is way better than this one though.

Three-cheese lasagna

I don't think I've eaten anything else on NYDC except for this lasagna. It's made of ricotta, parmesan, and mozarella. It's very yummy and very filling. Worth every cent.

Gyoza

I don't remember where I ate this. If I'm to hazard a guess, I'll say in one of the restaurants in City Link? It's only a few steps away from VNC.

Chicken and sausage pasta

We decided to have dinner in Bongo Burgers before entering the Night Safari. I ordered this pasta and OHA had a burger. This pasta was very good, but when I saw the burger that OHA ordered, I kinda wished I ordered the burger instead!

Godiva chocula

This one does not need explanations. The Holy Grail of chocolate. I. MUST. WORSHIP.

Ice kachang

We had this snack the same day we had lunch in the hawker center in Bugis. I ordered the ice kachang and OHA ordered kopi.


So tell me, is it my fault? Let's try to ignore the fact that I have no self-control. It's my LBJC's fault! He's always hungry! It's true!

My leg cramped really bad last night so I had to plaster two salonpas strips on it. The thing is, I wasn't so successful in completely scrubbing off the adhesive traces this morning. To make the long story short, I went to work today with itty bitty traces of salonpas on my left leg :p

I pray that my legs won't get all crampy again tonight because my OHA won't be home to massage them. Where will my OHA be tonight? :) Tonight, my OHA will be conducting his first business writing class in Libis. I'm so proud of my OHA! Goodluck, OHA! Knock 'em dead! Woot woot!

Before he goes to Libis for the class, my OHA still has to pass by UA&P to get his transcript of records. Hopefully, he won't be hassled too much. OHA, when you go to UA&P, try to relax ok? Don't get too stressed out. Remember, you have a long day so don't waste your energy stressing.

I wonder what I'll do later while I wait for OHA at home? Should I watch a movie? Should I play Pharaoh? Should I post gazillions of pictures here? Or should I sleep and just wake up when he gets home?

Pathetic, senti moment in three, two, one...I just realized that I'm the most useless person in the world because I can't even function properly without OHA. Huhuhuhu. It's just that I really love being with him that I didn't realize how much I'm getting attached to him. OHA, don't ever leave me because my life will seriously come to a screeching halt, then it will crumble into a gazillion pieces.

He did it!

Lookee at the shirts my sister-in-law gave us!

We've only worn these shirts once, when we went to my house one weekend. OHA was worried that my parents might get offended because of the word "bitch" on the orange shirt. I told OHA not to worry about it since my parents are pretty cool about stuff like that. True enough, when we got to my house, my folks barely paid attention to our matching shirts.

This is my shirt:

This is OHA's shirt:

I wish I could I could wear this again soon, but I'm afraid I'll have to wait until I give birth to my LBJC because my tummy's getting too big for the shirt. I told OHA that he can wear his shirt but he doesn't want to wear it unless we're matching :)

Too much time on my hands

And because I've been bitten by the Friday bug, I'm too lazy to do anything that requires moving a lot of muscle groups. I'm looking at random photo folders in my flash drive and I found a couple of pictures that I think are worth posting.

This was how our room looked like after OHA and I got home from our Singapore trip last November :

This was our loot:

We are such tourists! OHA and I have been here a couple of times (separately) already but we never tire of shopping for touristy items!

What we bought (from upper left): noodles, laksa and other food for my dad, Hang Ten shirts also for my dad (dirt cheap in Singapore), Charles and Keith bag for my sister, a glittery Singapore souvenir banner, T-shirts in can for OHA and his brother(The Departed and Kill Bill), a bottle of Body Shop's Bergamot body spray, seven of OHA's shirts from Bugis, several dresses also from Bugis, Merlion souvenir fans, a Night Safari glow-in-the-dark cap, matching mushroom slippers, 2046 portrait, a bunch of Chinese toys, a bottle of Private Reserve ink and Noodler's ink for OHA's Mont Blanc, souvenir shirts for my brother-in-law (my sister's husband, not OHA's brother) and my father-in-law, clothes for my niece and my nephew, an Underwater World tumbler, Craisins, Godiva demitasse, Underwater World backpack for my nephew, three pairs of shoes for me, one pair of black sandals for my mom, a test tube-full of water from the fountain in Suntec City (I forgot what it's called. Something like the biggest fountain in the world thing), Underwater World pens and bookmarks, huge-ass case of Ferrero Rocher, spices and herbs for OHA's aunt, six Chinese-print silk bags, three chests of chocolate coins, a pink whale named Taffy from Underwater World, Chinese lanterns, Cadbury chocolates in a vintage tin, tops for OHA's sisters, souvenir magnets from Bugis, Strawberry shortcake lunch case, Barney book of colors for my nephew, spicy fish chips, OHA's batman jeans from the DC store, a mahjong tile-type tissue holder.

Not in photo: the cutest Merlion stuffed toy (it's tongue's sticking out), Monty Python's Complete Flying Circus for OHA, Canon IXUS i-7 zoom for me, Uzumaki DVD for DHA and his best friend, Lamy Safari fountain pen for OHA, the mucho expensivo RISIS panda necklace, teddy bear necklaces for my friends, gazillions of books from Borders and Kinokuniya. I'll save that for next time :)

Oodles of doodles

When I saw this charm bracelet in Rustan's last year, I immediately fell in love with it. It's a wishing bracelet with the cutest charms! This one is the "I wish I was on vacation" bracelet. The charms include a palm tree, a camera, a tiny plane, and a suitcase.

About a month after OHA bought me this bracelet, he bought me another one! It's the "I wish I could eat junk food all the time" bracelet. I'm going to take its photo when I get home since I don't remember where I saved the file. Teeny tiny slices of cake, sundaes, hotdogs, and tubs of popcorn hang from a sort of different type of metal beads than the one pictured here.

Because there is a strong, wacky side to our relationship, OHA thought of giving me a matching charm "anklet":


We're quite artistic, OHA and I. Here are some more of our lovely artwork :) We drew these on a Burgoo table. Because our order was taking forever, we busied ourselves by doodling.

My drawings

OHA'S drawings

Aren't we brilliant? :)

We only stopped doodling when the food arrived. Here's my order:

I don't remember if this is the New York strip steak or the Country style steak

OHA's order:

Seafood Caesar's supreme

either quesadillas or chimichanga