Amelia's Nest

LIFE is like a rat race. People move fast always in a hurry. Act fast as if there's no tomorrow. Work as if t here's no other world. Party as if it's there last. Technology makes our world smaller. People communicates easily...SMS, e-mail, chat, Skype, blogs, video blogs what else can you ask for. People get what they want. People tends to be manipulative just to get what they want. They love to be in control. Choosing what direction they want to take. Becoming impatient and anxious about the world they live in. But most of the time these people who rule out their world tends to experience bad things...bad fate? Destiny? or Karma? I don't know. Or maybe God is just giving them an experience...a humbling experience for them to be reminded that they should only be in the passenger seat. Let the Lord drive their race. A humbling experience that will let them pause for a while and contemplate on the things they have done to themselves and towards others. A humbling experience for them to put their feet on the ground to remind them to be more appreciative in life. And not to compare the things that they don't have but rather be grateful for the things that they have. Patience is a virtue as they say. Be patient my friend...things will come in the right time and on the perfect timing. If things are not the way you wanted it to be...let it be. Confounded??? Dishearten???. Stop it. Believe me this will only cause you sleepless nights, headaches, heartaches, depression...what else. What's the fuss after all. There will come a time that things will fall into place as God has planned it to be. Take one step at a time. Don't rush, don't be on a hurry..you'll reach your finish line just let God be in control. Take a step at a time and it will bring you to the leap of a lifetime.

This month is my husband's birthday month and so during birthdays there's always a present. Happy Birthday dad! So I asked him what he wants for his birthday except for those non-material things. He told me he is thinking of an Oakley eyeglasses or an iPod Nano 3rd Generation. I gave him time to think about it and then finally he told me that he wants Ipod Nano 3rd Generation. We went to Challenger, it's an appliance center here in Singapore and purchase one for him (we also bought an LG DVD Mini Hi-Fi System to match our LG Plasma TV....LOL)). I asked myself what's in that gadget that my husband choose over an Oakley eyeglasses. When we reached home he was so excited to unpacked it and try it on and he showed to me what's in it. I learned that it has 8GB space that lets you enjoy TV shows, movie, video podcasts, and more. And it will keep you company for hours. Play up to 5 hours of video or up to 24 hours of audio on a single charge. All that staying power and a wafer-thin, 6.5-mm profile makes iPod Nano one small big attraction. Sounds cool. It's handy you can bring it anywhere, at the gym, office or at the train. We can also play it in our home theater. Nice product from Apple. A nice player in the market as of this writing. Below are some of it's features.

Extras. Calendars, contacts, and a screen lock appear in the Extras menu, along with a few more handy items. Take the world clock, for example. Spin the Click Wheel to choose different clocks for cities all over the world. For workouts, use the built-in stopwatch to log your best times.

No wonder my husband wants to have that....have a happy happy happy birthday dad and hope you'll gonna enjoy your new toy.LOL!!!

Last February 4, 2008 we celebrated our 2nd church wedding anniversary. I wanted this to be a memorable but not expensive event in our life as a couple and also to take a breather from the busy life of metropolis. During that time I was working in Aboitiz Transport System and we have this privileged trave l pass for the employee as well as their dependents using Superferry for free. So I thought of using this since it's part of our fringe benefit.
I choose Coron from the many destinations in the Philippines beacuse it's near Manila, their a lot of people telling that it's beautiful. Coron is a province in Palawan in Busuanga Island. Palawan was said to be the last frontier of the Philippines and I simply love Palawan. But before I scheduled any trip I make it sure that we have hotel reservations and itineraries. Luckily I was able to reserved to a resort which has a very affordable rate. Take note I only reserved it thru e-mail, it's nice that we have this technology, no need to call or even go to a booking office to reserved plus they are not asking for any deposit. I reserved February 9-10, 2008 at Busuanga Seadive Resort for two days and one night. After that I made reservation at Superferry for the said trip and got the ticket two days before the actual departure.

We left Manila, February 8, 2008 at 5:30PM on board Our Lady of Good Voyage bound for Coron and Puerto Princessa. We ate dinner at the ferry's cafeteria and just slept all night at the vessel. We arrive at the Port of Coron February 09, 2008 at 6:30AM it was a long journey, a ten hour ride. Then hop-in tricycle(this is the only means of public transpo in the place) and asked the driver to bring us to Seadive Resort, the ride was just Php20. We ate our breakfast in the hotel and it was a wow! the food was great to think that it's not that expensive. By the way the owner of the resort is a foreigner, an English who marries a Filipina. We have a heavy breakfast since our itinerary for the day was island hopping. We rent a boat, for the whole day island hopping it cost us three thousand pesos (Php 3,000) . Luckily there's this German tourist who wants to join us so to save him from paying the amount in full and this means we will only be paying two thousand pesos (PhP2,000), that's a nice deal! That German was an English teacher, so as a teacher he knows much...he keeps us company but the problem is he always talks, he really likes to talk....it was nice thou but there are times that you just want to be quiet and feel everything what mother nature has offered. So the hopping begins... First stop at the Kayangan Lake it has Php150 entrance fee. Before you can reach the lake you need to climb a rocky mountain but the activity was fun...down there it was beautiful, has clear water and it was splendid! This view is the most photographed area in Palawan. It is also judged as the cleanest lake in the country. Second stop was at Twin Lagoon, it's a towering rocks and on low tide you can experience kayaking under the hole of the rock. Then third stop at Banol, this is where we ate our lunch, it has fine white sand in its beach line and trees. Next is Beach 69, it's also nice here but not as good as Banol. Fifth is Skeleton Wreck, it's a snorkeling site where you will see sunken ship and around it are beautiful corals, by the way these wrecks are Japanese ships sunk during the World War II. And last was at the Barracuda Lake, as the name implies it has barracuda in the lake thou professional divers says they are so small and afraid of people..LOL. But before you can reach the place you have to climb a rocky mountain, it was a little dangerous just have to be careful with the rocks it has sharp tip and edges. The place was nice and quiet, tranquil and serene.

Two consecutive weekend we've been eating at a very nice restaurant in Parkway Parade Mall. The food was so delicious..ooppss that word is an understatement...should I say a luscious food. The food really feeds my senses and I can't stop myself on eating and going back to that restaurant. They serve a well, very organized way plus the drinks well, truely tasty and different. I can't say anything but good things about that resto. The resto that I'm talking about is the Fish & Co. We have this in the Philippines but I haven't tried it in there it's probably their location is not accessible to our house.

You've got to try on the "Best Fish in Town" it's a fried breaded fish, topped with lemon butter & served with chips and I suggest to squeeze in the lemon on the fish, wow! the best...as the name implies partnered with a Big Freeze, this hug blended juice served in a big mug..whow! amazingly satisfying. Also try their "Peri Peri Prawns" a butterflied, grilled prawns & served with peri peri sauce and pick Passion Fruit drink, boy you'll surely get hooked with it. Also they have a menu for the kids...design for the kids. Our kids like their fries and the drinks.

As they say, “one bite & you’re hooked!”

When my husband told me that our friend is inviting us for a barbecue lunch at East Coast Park I was so excited and even volunteered to make a leche flan. Whow??? do I hear myself right, am gonna cook leche flan. I even don't know how to cook that. But thanks to the ever reliable Google I searched for a recipe and everything is okay. The barbecue lunch was held last July 13, 2008, it was a Sunday. I cooked the leche flan the day before the event. I was too scared coz I don't know what is the taste or will it even look good but I told myself everything will gonna be OK. Came Sunday and everybody was so excited, the kids are all dress up. The plan was to hear mass first then head to East Coast Park but due the accident happened to my son we were not able to we just head right to the park. Our friend did all the preparation, the grill, food and drinks and I gave my humble share, the Leche Flan. I was so relieved when they tasted it and said "it's good", once again I have proven my cooking skills. Everything was doing good, the weather, the food, the grill, the ambiance and all of a sudden it rained. Gosh!!! the kids...me and my husband rushed them to a near by shed and settle there until the rain stopped. It last for about ten minutes I guess and we decided to go back to where we from. Again fixed things, food & drinks and ourselves. My husband tour the kids using a bicycle and they all have fun. Take some pictures and have a nice chat with friends. It is nice that during this times you have friends beside you who will keep you company and be there. We went home around four in the afternoon.

The day was surprisingly challenging but it was one heck of fun & laughter.

Last June 13, 2008 me and my husband went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia two days before I go back to Philippines to get our kids. A getaway to be cherished, a learning experience for us. It's a five hour bus ride from Lavander MRT Station in Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. There's nothing much of KL except there ever famous Petronas Towers but the rest is just like Manila. Whew! taxi drivers here are no good unlike in Singapore all of the taxi drivers are honest and kind. Back in KL, drivers will charge way above the meter, gosh! You need a very good negotiating skills to get a nice bargain of the fare. But we did enjoy the trip. We had our breakfast to the ever popular McDonald's at the China Town then head ourselves to the Twin Towers to get the ticket. Sorry for us our ticket is good by 3pm so this means we have to wait. While waiting since we are still full had a coffee in the ever growing Starbucks near the Tower. Then we went to KLCC Aquaria, National Museum then last Petronas Towers and Suria Mall. Had our grocery at Cold Storage, just bought some local goods, nothing much.

Once in a while it's good that couples give time to travel and treat themselves with a nice vacation. And we did it!

A lot of people are asking me even my husband if I can manage to travel by plane with two kids, not to mention how old are they. A two-year old boy and a one-year old girl. They are that small to handle all by myself. I took the challenge of me bringing them by myself. I told my family and even my husband I can handle it because I know my kids and their capabilities. I was really waiting for that day to come and the thought of it makes me more excited to the activity.

The activity was fun and challenging. At the plane, my son got fascinated with the remote control at the side of the seat as well as the television in front of him. My daughter was busy browsing the magazines provided in the plane. Thanks to this materials it makes my kids entertained and be busy during the trip. Am so proud of my kids because they are so behave during the travel and they don't even sleep.

I am so happy and fulfilled that I was able to bring them in Singapore all by myself.

Yes, I did celebrated my 28th birthday in a foreign land...Singapore..We, husband and our two kids started the day hearing mass, the church is just few walks away from our place, Our Lady of Queen of Peace and then suddenly it rained. I was not surprised coz backed in Manila I usually celebrate my birthday raining...I guess sort of a blessing:-) then we headed to Vivo City to have lunch and stroll the kids. We ate a traditional Kaya Toast and coffee at Toast Box for breakfast . Then we went to Harbourfront to try on the cable car. It's was my first time to ride in a cable car so did our kids. The experienece was priceless...then husband told me we will have lunch at a restaurant in Mt. Faber...thought it was just a fancy restaurant not until we reached the place. The place was great...just like a five star restaurant...The Glass Box at Mt. Faber. I love it and the food was great! then after that we walk around and get ourselves to enjoy the view. We went back to Harbourfront to buy toys for the kids but before that there is this store that we stop for a while and husband let me choose what I want...it was a diamond jewellery store...Le Belle Diamond! He brought me the necklace that I want....thank you dad for a precious birthday gift! Then we head to Mothercare, my favorite toy and baby shop. We bought toys for the kids and Ralph enjoyed choosing the toys on display. After that, we went to a japanese restaurant, Sushi Sakae to have dinner but due to the kids short attention span (I can't blame them they are just 2years old and 1year old) we end up taking home the food that we order. Then husband for the first time bought me a birthday cake:-) Love the cake and the gesture! Thanks to my husband who make my birthday a memorable and special one.

In deed I celebrated my 28th birthday with a bang eventhough we are in foreign land! Enjoyed another year together with my kids and husband - my family!