Pepper Lunch photos

Here are photos from our dinner at Pepper Lunch. We would've taken more photos but we were afraid that we might overcook the meat. So instead of taking a gazillion shots, we took a couple of shots, then we attacked the oh-so-yummy food.

Here's OHA's cut steak and hamburger combo:



Here's my Pepper Rice:

We're going there again tomorrow, and I'll try my hardest to take better pictures. Maybe I'll even have the chance to capture it on video.

OMG, I'm so excited to go there again!

Approximately 29 hours to go!

Pepper Lunch!!!

Guess where my OHA and I are eating dinner later? :p

Here are some clues:
1. It's local franchise of the diy steak restaurant from Japan
2. It's in Rockwell
3. It has branches in Singapore, Korea, US, Australia, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand

Since I know how annoying guessing games are, I'll just tell you. We're eating in...

(drumroll please!)

Yay! Pepper Lunch!

I'm super excited to eat there. I've been salivating over the pepper rice for the past couple of days, while my OHA's been craving for the cut steak and hamburger combo. He also wants the Shake! Shake! Salad.

I brought our camera so I can take pictures of the lurvely food and post it here.

My Favorite Flash Game of the Moment

It's simple but so addictive that I'm almost tempted to eat sushi myself. Almost...but not quite.

Today's my first year anniversary at work. I didn't think I would last this long, but I'm glad I did. There were a lot of things that were bothering me before about my job, and I didn't think I'd weather it out.

I owe it all to my colleagues. They're wonderfully understanding and they made my transition easier. When I left my old job, I was really depressed because I thought that I wouldn't be as close to my new colleagues as I was with my old colleagues.

My old colleagues and I always had fun together. Since our editor was not strict about work skeds, we'd go to Starbucks during office hours and smoke about a pack of cigarettes just talking about random stuff. We'd go to Greenbelt and take two to three-hour lunch breaks. I guess I could say that we've cultivated our friendship through fun activities.

I couldn't forget how bitter I was to leave it all behind. That was a year ago. Fast forward to a year later, I could say that I'm no longer unhappy. I've gotten quite close to my colleagues. Though we don't hangout with each other outside the office, we've bonded with each other really well. I guess it helps to have a difficult boss. If with old colleagues, the basis of our friendship was all about fun, with my new colleagues, it was all about stress.

We encounter a lot of problems in our line of work (or maybe it's just me because this is the first time I went corporate) and it takes out a lot on all of us. A difficult boss also adds tremendously to the stress. The only good thing that came out of the situation is that it brought us together. We cheer up each other, we encourage each other, and we support each other. Although I very much appreciate the kind of relationship I have with my old colleagues, I'm more grateful to my new colleagues because they have helped me more in terms of personal growth. My new colleagues made a stronger impact in my life.

This doesn't mean that I'm not at all grateful to my old colleagues. I AM VERY GRATEFUL. The time I spent with my old colleagues were two of the happiest years of my life. The only reason now why I'm more grateful to my new colleagues is because they were there for me during the hardest time of my transition period--meaning my first few months here at my new job. Those were the times that I needed friends the most.

My new colleagues do not know about this blog, but just the same, I want to thank them. Thank them for welcoming me into the group. And I want to thank my OHA. Thank you for helping me cope and for understanding me. I love you.

Happy anniversary to me.

Busy bee

I've been busy with work and baby preparations that I hardly have time to rest properly, let alone write a new post. I do have a lot of things to write about, I just need time to organize my thoughts. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Ok, time's up.

Here's what's I've been up to:

1. I had to go see an orthopedic last week to have my ingrown toenail checked. This is the second time I've had an ingrown toenail and I thought that this second time was a lot better than the first time because it didn't bother me as much as it did before. Good thing I had it checked because this second time is actually worse since the nail got really embedded on the right side of my toe!

Long story short, I underwent surgery last Saturday to get rid of the stupid ingrown. The doctor said it was a good thing that I decided to have it removed because it might just get infected and that would've been worse for my LBJC and I. I wasn't allowed to take any painkillers (oh joy), but I was asked to take antibiotics. The only brand I can take is Augmentin because it's the only brand that's safe for babies. It's about P89.00 per tablet (I so did not want to spend on this) and I had to take it three times a day.

I took the last tablet today (hurrah!) and boy, am I glad that it's over. Augmentin gave me tummy troubles! It made me feel bloated and gassy. I hate it.

The next time I get tempted to cut my toenails too short (I really like cutting 'em short) or the next time I get tempted to wear ill-fitting shoes (If there's a cute pair of shoes that I like and the only one available is one size smaller, I buy them anyway because they're...well, cute), I'll just remind myself that it's not at all fun to deal with an ingrown toenail.

Some people have it easy because they can have their ingrown toenails removed by their faithful pedicurists, but for some reason, I REALLY CAN'T TAKE THE PAIN! Why am I not like those people? Oh well. I think I'll throw my nipper away. The doctor said I should just cut it straight and that I should not use a nipper to shape the sides because that's how you get ingrown toenails.

2. I've gotten so big. REALLY BIG! It's getting harder and harder for me to move around by myself. Shifting positions in bed takes a lot out of me. I can't wait to give birth so that I can feel "light" again! Of course, that's not the only reason why I want to give birth already. The ULTIMATE reason is that I'm super excited to meet my LBJC. I want to hold him already!

I still have seven weeks to go before I give birth. Hopefully, he's not in a breech presentation anymore. Tomorrow, when we go to our OB's clinic, we'll find out if I'm delivering him normally or through a Caesarian section.

3. My in-laws saved us a ton of money! How? They gave us a baby crib, a playard, linens, and a sterilizer! Thank God my in-laws bought the big items on our to-buy list. Now the only big thing on that list is a breast pump.

We haven't seen the crib, but my mother-in-law said it was pretty big. The playard that we got was the Pooh Graco playard. OHA and I aren't crazy about Pooh, but hey, we got it for free so we're not complaining! The sterilizer that we got was the Avent steam sterilizer.

Here are the new bebe thingamajigs (images taken from the web since I don't have photos of the actual loot yet):

Avent steam sterilizer

Graco playard
(Same color and style as our playard, but different design pattern)

3. My OHA and I watched Iron Man last April 30. I loved the movie! I'm not that big a comic book fan, but seeing Iron Man is making me want to read comics. I want to see it again, but I don't think I'll have the time.

I think my LBJC also enjoyed the movie because he was kicking up a storm during the movie! My OHA was quite proud and said, "That's my boy!"

Before we watched the movie, my friends and I decided to eat in Barrio Fiesta because I wanted to eat sinigang and it's been ages since I last ate there. When I was a kid, I used to love Barrio Fiesta because their sinigang and crispy pata were top notch. Their sinigang's still good but the other dishes we ordered were just so-so. The nice surprise was their sisig! It was so yumpy! Too bad their servings are really small. AND EXPENSIVE. Which sucks big time. Well, the food's really not that expensive but the price is somehow not proportionate to how small their servings are. I think I would've been happier in Triple V.

4. I've been playing Virtual Villagers a lot lately. I didn't think I would get into this game because it takes so long for anything interesting to happen. I find it surprising that I immensely enjoyed playing the game. I've downloaded part one and part two, but so far, I've only played the first part.

My OHA said VV is like The Sims. I've never played The Sims so I wouldn't really know. It was boring at first, but as soon as I started unlocking the puzzles, I found it more interesting. I've unlocked ten or 11 puzzles out of 16 in the game. I've reached level two on the technologies, except for farming and construction becuse I'm already on the third level with those two.