Inner Ramblings

Designed by brgfx / Freepik In a world where anything remotely...

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 19:32:01 +0800

In a world where anything remotely negative can be considered bullying, did we start raising weak children?

My daughter came home from school today in tears, she was telling me about a boy in school whom she was grouped with for an activity. She said she was trying to participate but does not know all the answers, so she was not able to help much, the boy snarled at her and said “you’re useless.”

Do we consider this as bullying? As a parent it makes me feel a bit bad for my daughter that she was treated this way, but is this enough for me to go marching to her school, to talk to her teacher? If I don’t do anything, does it seem like I do not care enough for my daughter? I don’t know anymore.

I have always been and will always be a mother who will teach my children to fight their own battles, how else will they learn about the real world. So, I listened and let her cry it out, then when she was done venting I asked her what she needed me to do. I asked her if she wanted me to talk to the boy, or if she wanted me to go to her teacher. She wanted neither, I wanted neither.

So, I went on and rambled instead about how in some of my jobs, some bosses, out of frustration have said that someone was useless when they did not do their jobs correctly. Or some colleagues say the same, because they were relying on an officemate to do one part and she does not. When you are expected to do something, and you don’t do it right, I said, you are not helping the team, or your boss, or the situation and if you are not helping, it is synonymous to being “useless” at that time. I said perhaps your classmate could have used a different word, and if he did you might not have felt hurt. But sometimes you have to look within yourself to figure out what others mean, or if you don’t understand, ask them to explain.

It may not always be a case of bullying, I think, when our children say that they were verbally attacked. I think in our current social construct we have given too much value to “feeling” rather than “understanding”, which made us more vulnerable to negative words.

I asked her instead, that the next time she hears anything negative from a person, rather than thinking of it as an attack, think of it as an area of improvement for herself, a challenge, instead of shutting down and sitting in a corner feeling hurt, she must do everything in her power to show that person but more importantly to herself that she is the opposite of whatever that negative thing is. People can throw sticks and stones, but it is up to you whether you will catch those sticks and stones and use it as ammunition or let it hit you and break your bones.

Where Uber beats GrabCar

Tue, 30 Jun 2015 12:32:51 +0800

In the market nowadays, we can find alternative commute solutions offered by private companies such as Uber, Grabcar, Lyft and so much more. The main competitors, I believe, in Manila is Uber and GrabCar.

Just recently I posted a rave review about grabcar and how convenient it is, along with the number of promos they offer their patrons that would range from 50 pesos off to a free ride.

I was not a user of Uber to begin with, because it required a credit card, and I had none. But I found a way to become a part of this wonderful community by using my MasterCard Prepaid Card to register.

I was a happy GrabCar user, until one night when traffic was extremely unbearable, that no UV express picked us up from the queue from 7pm to 9pm. I thought, I would book myself a car from Grab no matter how expensive it is, just to be able to get home. I was tired; I was willing to pay the 545 pesos that it quoted me, just to be able to get home. But Lo and Behold, I tried multiple times to book, but no GrabCar is willing to take me. I tried Uber, and 2 minutes later, I was in a car, on my way home.

To a person only familiar with the concept of both Private Cars for hire, you would think, why is it different? Let me explain.

GrabCar’s system is simple, you, as a passenger, will plot your pick up point and your destination, then you will be given a fare, this is a flat fare that you will give to your driver in cash once you get to your destination. Simple. But what the drivers will see in their system is the same, your pick up point, your destination and the fare. The trips are not assigned to the driver; instead, it will flash as an alert when someone in their vicinity tries to book. The drivers will then be able to choose to bid or not. This is where GrabCar gives so much power to the drivers, they give them freedom to choose, which means, the passengers will have to be at the drivers mercy.

Uber’s system is more passenger-friendly. You will plot both your pick up and destination point, then you can view your fare estimate, emphasis on estimate. Uber does not provide a fixed fare, instead they charge a minimum fee of 40-60 pesos, depending on the booking surge or the current demand, and then they charge on both per distance and per minute of the travel. Once the passenger attempts to book the ride, Uber’s system will automatically assign the booking to the nearest driver, the assigned driver will then be able to see the pick-up point and the estimated fare, take note, they will not see your destination, the drivers can just estimate your location based on how little or how big the fare estimate is. This removes the driver’s ability to discriminate based on your location. Uber drivers are given 3 chances to accept / deny assignments, if a driver rejects 3 assignments consecutively; Uber will turn off their system for a while, making the Uber Driver not bookable for a period of time, wherein he will not be assigned any jobs, no matter the distance. So Uber driver’s tendency is to keep accepting jobs when they come.

This is why booking from Uber comes easier when you want to go to a place that is not within Makati.

I also wanted to blame the incentive program of GrabCar, most of the GrabCar drivers that I am able to hire, when I go around Makati area says that they usually prefer and pick up bookings that are both from and to Makati or BGC area only, because they want to hit the 75 rides per week incentive that GrabCar offers to the drivers. If they hit 75 rides, they automatically get a 20,000 Peso incentive. So the tendency of the driver is to only choose short distances to make sure that they have more time to pick up short distance passengers. There is actually no incentive for distance travelled while booked, which may be a more passenger friendly incentive program.

Uber also has this kind of incentive program, I remember one driver mentioned that they get 320 pesos per ride once they hit the 75 rides per week target, which means that if they book 75 rides for the week, they get 24,000 Pesos, 76 rides means they get 24,320. This is basically almost the same incentive program as grabcar, but the difference is, that since the destination of the passenger is not disclosed during booking, the driver will not be able to discriminate.

I hope that both these private cars for hire companies succeed, but I hope that they provide incentives that give more value to passengers than the number of rides.

We are not just a statistic, we are customers, and we hope to get treated as customers and not just rider number 22.

Why it might be my first and last Zalora Purchase I had very...

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 12:06:36 +0800

Why it might be my first and last Zalora Purchase

I had very high hopes with my first ever Zalora transaction, as I am no stranger to online shopping. I was one of the pioneer stores in multiply, when online shopping system is still shaky and was still a baby. I would like to think I helped mold what it is that consumers enjoy nowadays in the form of Lazada, Zalora, or even the smaller entrepreneurs using Instagram and Facebook.

I have always had no problems the other online sellers, be it the individual sellers, or from the bigger ones like Lazada. I have never been scammed, my orders were always on time if not early, and the items are always properly packed and beyond expectations.

So when I ordered the Happy Skin Limited Edition I am a Preview Girl Moisturizing Lippie Set, that is only available in Zalora, I had high expectations. Zalora has been around a long time now; I figured they would have had the delivery process down to a tee.

Delivery time is not a concern, my items were delivered 2 days after I ordered, which is actually a bit earlier than the estimated date of delivery. So when I heard Zalora Couriers are knocking on my door, I was elated. My makeup was here! I was even excited to share the unopened package to my officemates! It was a limited edition, newly released make up after all. And being almost all girls in my team, they were excited to unpack with me.

I opened the boxes and there it was, my lippie set looking pristine and glorious, ready for usage. But before I can open the tubes, my officemate asked if she can see the box. The container of the lippies is nicely crafted, so I handed it to her without hesitation. She asked me then if she can look at the colors of the lippies, and I told her to go ahead.

Then there was an “aww” sound. I turned around to see my officemate frowning at the sight; she was so disappointed to see that the lipstick, in its original packaging, just opened is broken. And I am too. My first instinct was to take a picture and call Zalora. To have the package returned and exchanged. I am in no way going to accept a broken lipstick that I paid for.

The conversation with Zalora was a bit confusing to me, they asked me to take a picture of the lipstick and then respond to an email that they will send me 10 minutes after the call. They asked for my email address and my details. We hanged up and I waited. 30 minutes passed and no email. I decided I cannot wait any longer. I want something done now. I emailed customer service and then gave them a call afterwards to make sure that they get the message.

After engaging my second customer service rep of the day, I asked her what the process will be. If I had to send the package back through the return slip and through their partner couriers, or do I wait for their advice. Maricar of Zalora then told me, that usually for these items, they no longer require the return of the item, I assumed it was for hygienic purposes, and that they let the customers keep the defective item. She then said that she will process the request for the exchange of the items, wait for an email update, and then we hang up.

I received an email acknowledging the request to exchange my broken lipstick and shortly afterward received acknowledgement that my Items for exchange have been received by Zalora. No mention that they will have my defective package picked up the next day. So my assumption was, they are letting me keep the defective item.

Come Friday, I get a call on my mobile, from an unknown number. I picked up and it was a Zalora courier, asking me for the package that I am returning. Without any notice, there they were. I did not bring the package with me at work, so I immediately called Zalora and asked them if the item were actually going to be picked up, or if I will be allowed to keep the defective item as Maricar initially informed me. The third CSR I spoke to, EJ, told me that he will confirm, and give me a call.
After a few hours I received a call for EJ, he did not acknowledge my question about the package and immediately delivered a spiel, that the pickup of the defective Item has been successfully booked for Monday. Alrighty then!

I am not angry that I will have to return the items, but I am disappointed that issues and concerns are not properly acknowledged and addressed by the Zalora Representatives, when I call; they seem unaware of the processes and will have to email or call me back, and when they finally do, it is not to completely answer my questions. I am disappointed that my first experience with Zalora is extremely painful and discouraging, that I might end up not going through their channel ever again.
Today, my Happy Skin I am a Preview Girl Lippie set is for pick up, I have not received any notice from Zalora confirming that their representative will definitely be coming by today. I just know this, because I talked to a representative last Friday saying so. Once this Lippie is picked up, their terms indicate that there is around 7 days of review of the items, before they can conclude whether my item should be replaced or not, the person I talked to on Friday, did not give me a clear idea on whether this courier will have a replacement for me already or if I need to wait that 7 days, even though I have provided them with a clear picture that the item they delivered was indeed broken and defective. Now as a customer, all these unsurety is discerning. As a consumer, I expected that my products will be available for my consumption the first time around.

Zalora has to streamline its quality control, they have to educate their CSRs in handling customer concerns, and they have to make sure that their consumers are happy, or at least well informed. Compared to the other online shopping websites that I have used over and over, Zalora is at the bottom of my list right now, and that is probably why this will be my first and my last purchase from them. It is too bad though, because they offer such flexibility and discounts that may be hard to resist. But the hassle they subjected me too does not outweigh their rewards.

That Mouth Watering Ribs Moving to a new office locations has...

Fri, 05 Jun 2015 17:38:37 +0800

That Mouth Watering Ribs

Moving to a new office locations has its ups and downs. But one thing for certain is that it is hard. Most especially here in the Philippines, where your Government related Accounts are location based, AND MANUAL.

But I am not here to tell you about the hard and boring stuff. I am here to tell you about the amazing Gem I found when my office decided to move from McKinley to Salcedo Village in Makati.

At first I would often go to jolly jeeps, poochinis, seven eleven, fast food restaurants for lunch. But as the days pass, you feel more and more bored with the type of food they cater. You crave for something more delicious both to look at and to taste.

Just a few weeks ago, I remember seeing a deal from groupon Philippines and found a familiar restaurant name: Rue Bourbon. It was a place I tried before, but only tasted their beer, which is Caramel and awesome by the way. Looking for a nice place to eat, and as a matter of curiosity I asked 4 of my colleagues to split a Feast Ribs Platter with me, it costs 599 Pesos as a deal, but is originally priced at 999 Pesos. We did not know what to expect.

But since I have tried some of their delicious appetizers before, such as their Roast beef Mojos and Chicken Fingers, which are by the way, to die for. I figured and expected their Ribs to be the same.

The day came, and we were at Rue Bourbon, finally waiting for our Ribs. And then it came. Upon first glance, you’d think, okay, its ribs. Ribs with Coleslaw, corn and French fries as side dishes. So we dug in.

The moment I sliced that soft and succulent meat, I knew I was hooked. The meat was so tender and it falls of the bone, it tastes so heavenly that I wanted all of it for myself. The roast beef and the chicken fingers I had before was a mere children’s food compared to this amazing Ribs and I can’t get enough of it. It was, If I am only allowed one word to describe it, heaven-in-a-plate. Well that’s not really one word, but that’s just what it is.

Apart from the great food the Rue Bourbon offers, they having delicious tasting flavored beers, favorites would be the caramel, rose, and the roasted almond. But they also have lychee, cucumber, and another flavor that, please forgive my memory, I forgot.

But one thing for sure that you will find when you step in any of the Rue Bourbon branches is the very, very, very friendly staff whom I’ve gotten to know very well. The great food, the delicious beer, and the welcoming staff will keep you coming back for more, I’m sure.

Keep Running

Fri, 05 Jun 2015 15:06:04 +0800

I was an intermittent runner, until this year. In the last 4 years, I would often start and stop depending on my mood, the weather, my weight or any reason under the sun.

This year, was the year I took running seriously, I made it my hobby, my sport, an activity that both myself and my husband did together. And ever since I changed my frame of mind about running, it started becoming more and more addictive. It is no longer a chore, it was no longer work, instead it was something that I looked forward to doing every single day.

When I started taking running more seriously, I did some research. Read some articles. I looked for helpful tips and advices. The web has a whole collection of such. You will find conflicting researches, common grounds, best practices all over the web. You will have to figure out for yourself which advice works or does not work for you. Which advices are just total bull for lack of a better term, or which advice just endorses products.

I found my rhythm, 2 months into continuous running. You can almost say “I found my footing” when it comes to running. I found out my limitations, and found out my capabilities as a runner. I found out that I am more of a distance runner than a speed runner, so I run with that fact in mind. But being my competitive self, I would often see myself competing with other runners on the road. I want to be number 1, I want to be first. And this is good! As long as you are not hurting yourself in the process, challenging yourself, attempting to achieve a higher goal is the point of running.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, I may have challenged my limits all too often. I got myself injured. Although it is not something major, it is something that may restrict me from doing what I love for a while. I am currently undergoing therapy for my lower back because I injured my muscles. The first question my physician asked me was, do you warm up your muscles properly before running, and stretch your muscles the right way after each run. I knew I was in trouble.

I guess my lack of warm up and cool down came from the conflicting running ideologies I found over the web. I have read a lot of articles saying that stretching is bad pre-run, because you end up breaking unlubricated or cold muscles before you even put them to use. I think what I forgot to find out is what I needed to do before running. I just recently found out that I needed to warm it up, there are a few warm up exercises that can be done before you start your run, and it will help you avoid injuries such as mine.

More often than not, after each run, I would be so tired that I would forget to cool my muscles down. Cooling down is an important process for recovery. This is the time when you tell your body, your muscles more particularly, that we are done, you can now rest. This is where the stretching should fall.

It is true that experience is the best teacher, but it also wouldn’t hurt if you try to listen to different advices wherever you can find them.

Start slow, and then build momentum. Keep running.

The Road to 104

Fri, 13 Mar 2015 13:55:15 +0800

Deciding to lose weight was easy. I looked at myself and said that I need to lose weight. The actual work that comes with the thought, now that was hard.

I was not a chubby kid. In fact I have always been thin. So after getting pregnant with my first child, at 21 years old, it was quite easy for me to get back into shape.

The struggle started while I was pregnant my second baby, age 29. With the thought that I will lose all the baby fats after I give birth, I let myself go, I really did let go. I allowed myself to gain as much weight, eat anything I wanted. I really blew up. I went from 109lbs to 150 lbs in 9 months. Then I gave birth.

I lost a few pounds after giving birth, ofcourse. The water and the baby had some input in that 41lbs, but I got stuck. I was 140 pounds, then started going down to 135. When my second child was 5 months old, I got diagnosed with post partum thyroiditis, and started gaining weight even when I was eating less.

It was quite a struggle, I remember looking at myself in the mirror, and I can no longer recognize the face staring back at me. I made my illness an excuse. I am fat because I am sick, and there was nothing I could do about it. But honestly, there was a world of things I could do.

When my second child turned 1, I was still in a rut. I was fat, but I was too lazy to even bother doing anything about it. The medication can only treat your thyroiditis, you will have to do the work required to lose the fat that the sickness brought.

I have 2 kids, a husband that loved me no matter what, I think I became complacent. I made them my excuse. I am a mom of two, so it was okay to be fat. It was really not. I already have a husband, a good and loving one at that, it is okay to let myself go. It was really not.

My husband started exercising regularly, hoping, encouraging me to go with him. I always had an excuse. It was too early, Im too sleepy, Im tired from work, its so late. There was never a good time to invite me, because I seriously was too lazy to bother. He never stopped trying, never pushing, just encouraging.

Then one day, I looked again in the mirror. I hated what I saw. This isn’t me. This isn’t the mom I want my kids to know. So I put on my running shoes, my husband was already cooking breakfast. I went out, and kissed him as I went out for a jog.

I remember it being a very hot day, and hotter because I started running at 10 AM, the sun was already glaring. But it was now or never, I thought. If I don’t motivate myself now, whats stopping me from making more excuses not to do it in the future.

The sun was piercing through my skin, as I tried to run as long as I could. Granted it was more of a brisk walk than a run. But I did it. Slowly but surely. I started my routine by running atleast a kilometer every other day.

Losing weight is not an easy thing to do. Just because you decide to lose weight doesn’t mean you will immediately do so. You have to keep focused on a goal, do it slowly, do it right. It required a lot of research on my part. I did not want to lose all the weight at once, only to regain it the next week. I wanted to make sure I do it the healthy way, the more permanent way.

The first step is finding the inspiration, mine was my family, my kids, my husband. I want to be with them as long as I can.

The second thing to find is a partner, if you do not have a husband. An exercise and diet buddy that will help you keep motivated. Someone who will diet and exercise with you, someone who will tell you, we can do this. Someone who will celebrate with you when you lose that point one pound. I had that, I am lucky. My husband was with me every step of the way, he encouraged me, motivated me. He understood that I need to eat when I need to eat and that I need to not eat even when I really want to. He reminds me that I am doing great. He did everything with me. We ran together, we both diet together. We encouraged each other, and that is really important. Find a person that will support you.

Water. It really is the fountain of youth. Water does wonders to your body, even when you don’t think it does. Drink water as soon as you wake up. Imagine how thirsty your body becomes during your sleep. 6-10 hours without hydration. So start your day by rehydrating your body. Drink as much water as you can through out the day. More water in, more water weight out. Your body retains water when it gets dehydrated, because it needs to save as much water as it can to make sure that it can rehydrate itself when you are not taking in water. If you keep your body hydrated, your body will release the water that it stores for future use, because it knows that it will get its requirement from your continuous rehydration. Not only will it remove water weight, it is best at removing toxins in your body. The more water you take in, the more water you release, along with it, the toxins. Read more on the benefits of water during weight loss. It really is the best.

I had to change the way I ate. Ever since I gave birth to my second child. I’ve started pigging out, eating anything I wanted anytime I felt like it. I sometimes skipped breakfast, eat pizza for lunch, donuts here and there, chocolates, chips, rice, rice, and more rice, carbonated drinks, juices, teas, sodas, milk teas, literally just about anything that I wanted. Don’t get me wrong, I have not deprived myself of these pleasures. I still get to eat all of the things I loved. I even still have weekly, seriously, WEEKLY, beer and pig out sessions with my husband, every friday and saturday nights. What I changed is how I ate what I ate. I make sure to eat a very heavy breakfast, sometimes, brunch. I would often eat a cup of rice, just recently changed to brown rice, and any main dish I wanted. Adobo, Kaldereta, Kare Kare, Sisig, Liempo, seriously ANYTHING. Then if I still have space for it, I’d eat dessert, Ice Cream, Chocolates, even BIKO, which is made from rice. I eat very heavy breakfast to fuel my day. After each meal I would drink hot green tea, to wash and flush all the fatty residue. Green tea also helps in getting your metabolism to the right speed. After the very heavy breakfast around 9am or 10am, Id have a light to moderately heavy snacks that would sometimes range fro a slice of pizza, half a sandwich, sometimes I would eat a rice meal again, pancit, lumpiang togue, bananaque, turon, corn on the cob, and actually so much more. I do not eat all those at once, I often choose two that would satisfy my apetite at that time. I would then again drink hot tea. Drink lots of water in between, run from 30 mins - 1 hour before heading home. Then I would either drink / eat plain yogurt, a banana, some fruit, a piece of bread, a very light receovery meal, a glass of milk, after the run, and that serves as the light dinner.

When I decided to lose weight, to regain myself. I knew it was not going to be instant. The road was going to be long, hard, painful. There will be frustrating times ahead, there will be plateaus, there will be days when you are working your ass off an the weighing scale will not budge. But there will also be rewarding days. The days when your daughter tells you that you are not fat anymore, the day when your husband looks at you and you see the pride in her eyes without even saying a word, the day when you look in the mirror and you start recognizing your face again.

I am still 5 pounds away from my goal, today, I weigh 109.4 pounds, and it was not easy. Hard work, perseverance, commitment is necessary. I started at 135 pounds when I decided to start, now I have lost 25 pounds in 4 months, it makes me proud because I am doing it the hard way. I am doing it with self motivation and discipline.

I might be the laziest person you will ever meet, and if I can do it, anyone can.

30/45 minutes or its free

Mon, 29 Dec 2014 17:21:34 +0800

In the Philippines, we have a lot of fastfoods competing to be the number 1 choice for delivery, so the concept of
“if it’s late then its free” was born. If I remember correctly this was started by Pizza Hut, and then some but not all fast food chains followed suit.

How does this guarantee work? Well after ordering whether online or through phone, the agent you are talking to will tell you “Please expect your food to be delivered in 30 / 45 minutes, in so-so time” after you hang up the timer starts running and you count down to the minute when your food arrives.

But lately I have noticed a growing trend regarding the stores that offer this service guarantee. They would call OR text 5 - 10 minutes before the time limit expires giving you excuses such as, the motorcycle of the delivery personnel have stalled, or any other excuse just to get out of that “if its late then its free guarantee.” But is any excuse acceptable for this kind of guarantee. I think it is not.

These chains promises that no matter what happens we will get our food at a certain time, and they should stick to that promise, or just remove that guarantee completely.

If we keep accepting excuses, no matter how heavy or petty it is, to get them to cheat their way out of the service guarantee, then we can expect that these “courtesy excuse calls” will be all that will be receiving on time everytime we order from these chains.

If you can not or do not want to give away free food due to your poor delivery service, then just remove that guarantee in the first place, and let your customers know the real time you expect our food to be delivered.

But removing this service guarantee will definitely have it repercussions, a lot of customers might just choose a different chain because they would no longer have the benefit of the prospect of free food.

I digress, My point is, if you order from a chain that guarantees that your food will be delivered at this time, then you expect it at this time, no more no less, free food or none. So if you happen to order at a chain that guarantees free food if they are late, then it is your right to claim that free food regardless of the reason why they are late, and whether or not they notified you or not.

So my advice is, the next time you receive a “courtesy excuse call” from one of this chains is be firm, tell them thank you for letting me know that the driver will be late, but that you stil expect them to keep their word regarding the “if its late then its free” guarantee. Besides, you are not the one who imposed the rules, you are not the one who promised to deliver on time.

A Very Happy Skin Indeed

Sun, 14 Dec 2014 12:45:08 +0800

Eversince the beginning of Happy Skin, I have been dying to try their make up. But they are not cheap so it took me quite a while before finally buying a few of my own. Happy skin doesn’t just make me happy, it makes for a really Happy Skin, true to its name.

It is quite difficult to find make up that will be compatible with anyone’s skin, and the makers of Happy Skin really took the Asian, the Filipina skin into consideration, making all their make up not just compatible with your skin, but also work wonders on the Filipina skin.

I cannot call myself a make up afficionado because I don’t have drawers and drawers full of it. But I make it a point to buy make up atleast every six months as a treat to myself. I have tried the popular international brands like Mac, Stila, Urban Decay, and although they are quite good, they often do not react really well on Asian / Filipina skin.

International Make up brands I’ve tried would often become extremely greasy, and even run after a few hours of application. I’ve even had the “permanent” gel liners become runny and oily. So I continue searching for ones that will be more compatible to my skin.

When I found out about Happy Skin, being a Filipino Make Up brand, I was itching to try it. But then due to financial constraints I had to hold back. This year, my wishes was granted by my most generous husband, when he bought me the holiday lippie set (mistletoe kiss, naughty & nice, and under the sheets) and the ZZ cream.

It was everything I hoped for and more! The ZZ cream reacts so well with my skin, it doesn’t just give me a natural glow that lasts the whole day, it doesn’t induce zits and allergy spots on my face which often happens with the imported foundations I have tried in the past.

As for the lippies, I am not a fan of lipsticks that much, I guess because most of the lipsticks I have tried tend to look chapped and dry before the day ends. But as advertised, Happy Skins Shut up and kiss me lip stick series keeps your lips hydrated and moisturized through out the day. It doesn’t leave your mouth feeling like sandpaper.

And just recently I bought my very own peppermint eye am here to stay gel eyeliner that I used last night during my company year end party. It kept my eyes looking fresh the whole night! I even got very nice compliments on my make up. and I only used the ZZ cream, under the sheets lipstick and the peppermint eye lines. Although I had to use my other imported make up because I am yet to purchase the rest of the Happy Skin products. But so far, they’ve got a believer in me! A patron for life.

Happy Skin for a very Happy skin!

Okiniiri - oh no (an okiniiri no review)

Fri, 12 Dec 2014 15:57:00 +0800

Okay fine, i am a cheapskate! I bought a voucher from groupon for a set meal at a restaurant called Okiniiri no in BF Las Piñas. But to my defense it was not that cheap! A set meal of 3 pcs gyoza, a bowl of ramen (flavor of your choice) and a cup of yakimeshi rice, costs 295 pesos on the deal, original price 550.

I have been hunting for an authentic japanese place in Manila for quite a while now, and this place claims to be using authentic japanese ingredients. Bingo! Right? Wrong!

I was so excited to use the voucher! I thought I have found my little japan in my city.

I went to the quaint restaurant in Las Piñas with hopes soaring high. Why the high expectations you ask?

They describe this restaurant in groupon as:

“Okiniiri is an authentic Japaneae Restaurant with branches in Las Piñas and Aguirre. It was conceived in 2009, bringing authentic taste of Japanese Cuisine to the Filipino community”

Higlights as per groupon:

100% authentic japanese ingredients - sorry no! The most basic japanese ingredient would be using Japanese rice in their maki and yakimeshi, but its not!

Traditional japanese preparation and cooking - ummm I cant verify it, but when the food came out, they were cold. Not even one of the elements of the set meal is hot. I expect the ramen to be steaming hot when served but its luke warm.

Ramen is good for sharing - this much is true

Comes with hot green tea and cold mugi cha - what are those??? We didnt get any free drinks aside from tap water.

Offer is exclusively for groupon holders only - okay

Choice of ramen - we got to choose what we wanted, but it didnt indicate that ramen will be luke warm.

So this is why the experience is very disappointing. We expected so much more! We probably wont be going back to Okiniiri no, because they are not cheap without the voucher. But their gyoza actually tastes good. Its not hot, it was actually really cold, not recently steamed/fried. But atleast it tastes good.

Would I recommend or bring my friends here? Probably not.

Commuting: Las Piñas to McKinley Hill and vice versa

Mon, 13 Oct 2014 14:03:29 +0800

It is extremely difficult to find shuttle terminals in the south, most of them only exist for a few months, then they move to an unknown location, and those that stay put are often only available for certain hours of the day.

Now working in McKinley hill, I doubled my problem. McKinley hill is a fairly new business location and public transport is really difficult.

How do I do it?

If my shift is early (8am -5pm) I would often catch the shuttle terminal that is operational at my village gate (Doña Manuela) which starts roughly around 5:30am and ends at 6:30/7:00am depending on how many shuttles show up.

Then I would alight either at Ayala Bus Stop or Park Square 1. When I alight at parksquare 1 I have to walk all the way to Shell Gas Station to catch the scheduled Free Shuttle provided by my company that drops me off directly in my office building. If you don’t have access to a free shuttle, from Shell you can ride the BGC bus going to Market! Market! Go to the Shuttle terminal and ride a Jeepney going to Gate 3. You will be able to alight at the Junction of Lawton Ave. And McKinely hill.

If I alight at the Bust Stop in Ayala, I will walk from the bus stop to FGU building to catch the free shuttle that my company provides, dropping me off directly in my building. But if i don’t catch the shuttle, I will need to cross the street and ride a bus going to G4, alight at intercon or G4 and walk towards Shell gas station in the intersection of Ayala Ave. And McKinley Road, and follow the same route as if I alighted at parksquare 1.

If my shift is not early, there lies the problem. There are 2 existing Shuttle Terminals along Las Piñas Zapote road that is operational until 9:30 am or 10:00 am.

The first one is at Casimiro, right in front Red Ribbon. This one charges 65pesos to go to Makati, the thing about the shuttles in this terminal is each driver follow a different route to Ayala. The first time I rode the shuttke here, the driver passed through parañaque, headed to domestic airport, towards NAIA 3, then used the skyway. In the skyway, the driver exited at Don. Bosco exit, then passed through chino roces heading towards magallanes. If the shuttle passes throug here, I can alight in front of San Lorenzo Place, and ride the free shuttle that my company provides that drops me off in front of my office building. If ni free shuttle is available then I can ride the UV Express that is also in the San Lorenzo Parking lot going to FTI, this passes through lawton avenue and turns right at McKinley hill, allowing you to get off at any point in McKinley hill. This is actually my most preferred route if commuting.

Niw, unluckily not all drivers pass through San Lorenzo Place, even when they exit Don Bosco. My second try at this terminal, the driver, turned left on chino roces, heading towards waltermart, instead of heading towards magallanes, therefore skipping San Lorenzo place, and Parksquare one! Rhe first stop of this route is Greenbelt 1. I had to alight at the Ayala Bus Stop, cross the street, and ride a bus heading towards G4 / intercon, and then walk all the way to Shell Gas Station in the intersection between Ayala Ave. and McKinley Road.

When riding this shuttle, better ask the driver whT exit from the skyway he will be taking and ask him to drop you off at San Lorenzo Place in Chino Roces, or if he is nit passing through there, to make sure he drops you off at park square 1. They should always be able to drop you off at Park square 1.

The other terminal in Las Piñas is near Cecilles in BF Resort. i personally have not explored this option yet, but I might do so soon. They are supposedly operational from 6am - 10:30 am.

While travelling from my village to casimiro, I once spotted a queue of people and uv express in Caltex along Alabang-Zapote, near Starmall. I have yet to explore this as well. I will let you know if this is another option to go to makati.

During the days that I cannot get to any Shuttle Terminal on time, I will usually ride the bus or the jeepney going to baclaran / coastal (avoid jeepneys that has the word kabihasnan or palengke) alight at coastal mall and ride another bus going to Ayala MRT, sign on the bus should be EDSA) and bus letter should be A or B. If you ride the A bus, you will need to alight at paseo in EDSA, and walk from there to Shell Gas Station. If you ride Bus B, you will be a le to alight directly under the Ayala MRT Station, and walk a shorter distance towards Shell Gas Station.

Now going back to Las Piñas is another story.

I am really not sure how to leave the McKinley hill / Lawton Ave. Without the free shuttle that my company provides. But Once I get to Makati, I just go to parksquare 1 to ride the shuttle that goes from Ayala to Las Piñas, and it drops me off along Zapote road in front of RFC.

How to get to Makati while inside the McKinley hill area is one thing that I need help on. Any thoughts?

Taking Advantage of free things - City Health Center

Sun, 23 Feb 2014 10:27:24 +0800

I finally have some me time! This write-up is 5 days overdue, but atleast I have a few minutes to myself to sit down now and put my thoughts together.

Just a few days ago, last wednesday to be more precise, I took my daughter to the Baranggay Health Center in San Miguel Pasig for her penta second dose, I was hoping to also get her Rotarix second dose but apparently our city health centers do not really offer those, or are very very very limited so only a very few lucky ones will be able to have it administered.

I asked my cousin first thing in the morning to go to the Health Center to get a queue number for Nina, I was thinking that bringing your child so early in the morning and queue for 2 hours is not very conducive and not very healthy as well, The frame of mind is that since it is a free clinic, the queue would be quite long and even though we were already there by 7 am, we would probably end up queueing forever before it was our turn, and I was right. But unfortunately, even though my cousin was there at 7:15 AM, to get a queue number for my daughter, the persons in charge would not allow her to get a queue number without my daughter being present. So she came back for us here at home and we all went back to the health center at 7:30AM. We got a queue number. 45.

But let me tell you a few things about how this is processed before we talk about the long queue.

The reception area is just a small table near the narrow staircase in front of the small entrance door with one person sitting behind a desk. Greeting you with a smirk instead of a welcoming smile and a shrill voice of condescension as if scaring you away from the free vaccines every child is entitled to. If you are a new patient, you are required to bring your own Long Brown Envelope with Long Plastic Envelope and a piece of Long Bond Paper. They will ask you your specifics and write it down Manually and almost illegibly.

They have no forms for us to fill out instead, which may be more efficient, since the questions for all the patients are the same. They will ask you if you and your husband are married, what your name is, your husbands name, you address, and even threaten you that they will do a “house visit” and if you really don’t live there, God knows what they might do. Ask for your childs birthday, birth weight and where they were born. If they are not all too familiar with what hospital you just named, like in my daughters case VRPMC, they will tell you with a confused smirk, “what’s that?” And let you explain as if telling them what the hospital or where it is will suddenly give them instant understanding on where it is in the world.

After writing this all down, you will be expected to wait, outside the building, which is really not a healthy place to wait with your child. There are no chairs for waiting and the building is just across a busy street with jeepneys, tricycle and traffic.

They wouldn’t mind putting your childs lungs and comfort at risk, hey, you are getting the vaccines for free anyways!

But since we were there for the very first time, we were asked to go up to the doctors waiting area immediately. There I was, naive as hell thinking that there is a special queue for first time patients. Nope. There is none, but atleast there are chairs. There are two electric fans in the doctors waiting area but both stayed closed the whole time we were there. even though there are almost 15 of us waiting in a cramped space, each one holding a child almost no older than 6 months old. Mosquitos flying here and there and babies crying. I was still hopeful. Hey we were #45 and we were asked to wait in the doctors area, so that must mean we might be getting in and out quite soon.

Calling number 15. Calling Number 16. Calling number 17. No number 17?? wheres number 17. Apparently they went back home. I thought, hey 1 more slot for me to skip. One of the city health officials started asking everyone in the waiting area what our numbers are, and is quite confused why I was already there when I am number 45. We told them we were asked to go upstairs because it is our first time. I was telling the official nonchalantly hoping it would ring some kind of bell and tell us to go in directly and see the doctor. But nope, she doesn’t even have the slightest inclination why that would mean anything. And continued asking everyone what their numbers are hoping that number 17 is just right around the corner.

Calling number 18, not there, 19, not there, 20, not there. 21 and so on were and started checking their babies.

So there I was thinking that, hey, this might actually move faster than I expected, because as per their rules, they must be here when their numbers are called, they must be here to get a number, so if they are not here then they should be moved to the end of the line. By the time they are serving number 35, the missing people from 17 - 30 started showing up, and the health officials just made them cut the queue. This made me irritable. Oh and I was still there, waiting because there is no special queue for first time patients. I should have just waited downstairs, where it was still a breezy morning, so my daughter would not have been sweating in there and getting feasted on by mosquitoes.

It was my turn, finally after waiting for 2 hours! The health official checked my daughters baby book, wrote down all her existing shots, and then asked us to go at the end of the hall to have the penta shots and pollo vaccine administered by a person I am not sure is a doctor or a nurse or is even qualified to administer the shots. They bring out this adult sized needle and asked me where I want to shot to be administered, left leg or right leg. I just gave them my daughters left one.

and with a bit of struggle, they inserted the needle halfway, and administered the vaccine. I want to stress that the needle used is really not pediatric sized. because I remember her first shot of penta and the needle was very small that she hardly even flinched, and the needle penetrated entirely on her small thighs, this needle though, needed to be just halfway in, so Im guessing they just estimated how far they needed to go. My daughter screamed with pain, and then we were off.

just before I got out of the clinic door, my cousin whispered to me to give a donation, apparently its the common practice. I was happy to give a hundred pesos, since I saved 2,800 for the penta shots anyway. And then off we went.

It was a whole new experience for me, going to the city health center to get free vaccines for my child. It was enlightening and actually quite nice to know that our government, no matter how corrupt still gives us a little bit of support.

It is just a little bit funny for me if I take into account the reactions and the actual people encounters I had during my visit.

Here a re a few of my observations:

My cousin is very embarassed about my husband taking myself, our daughter and my cousin to the health center in our car. She insisted we get dropped off a few meters away from the building so that no one will see us and tell us “what are you doing here if you are rich.” To this I responded to my cousin, Why would I be ashamed to get the vaccine my daughter is entitled to just because we have money? We pay our taxes, I think we earned the right to get free vaccines for our children.

I was afraid to take my iphone in the clinic with me. So my husband told me to bring an old ugly samsung phone to use while I’m inside the clinics vicinity. It is not because I didn’t want them to see that I had money, its more I was afraid someone would steal it. The Philippines is a crime infested place and I was afraid that using my phone in such a public place will attract the wrong people and would get myself and my daughter in harms way.

The city officials, people working for the government, usually acts like they are queens and kings of the world. That we owe them, when in fact they should treat us with respect as we do them. But you will rarely see a government office with a smiling receptionist and officials. They will always be snarky, smirking people who look down on you for being the taxpayers who pays for their salaries.

Everyone wants to be in the queue sooooo early in the morning. and by the time we were all done, at 10am, you would realize that you should have just gotten there later in the day, because there is no queue at 10am. you come in, you come out. But our frame of mind is that since it is free then the queue must from here to timbuktu.

The officials expect a donation. Even though a donation in every sense of the word is a voluntary thing, something may or may want to do. You are expected at the end of your visit to give even just the smallest amount for their services.

Not everyone knows that we can really get free vaccines in the health centers. Our people, most especially the middle class often take the health centers for granted as a place to get their childrens vaccines, because we are not being educated. We do not know what kinds of vaccines we can get there, we do not know where our health centers are, we are not aware that we really can get the vaccines for free. We can save so much money just by going to the health centers for the shots that our government is providing our children for free. And if our government is really adept in giving us this services, they should educate more.

The government should provide all the basic shots that are necessary to children, not just the chosen few. So that we can consistently and confidently visit the health center knowing that if I take time queueing for 2 hours, my child will get the shot she needs, with no doubt. So people will not be scared to queue so long and jus be devastated in the end, because apparently the government does not have the basic vaccination that our child required. Such as rota virus shots, and now the pneumoccocal vaccination that doctors say is now a basic routine shot.

All in all my experience is enlightening and great. I will be back there again next month for my daughters third dose. Im sure there won’t be a lot of improvement, but after my first experience I will come equipped and ready.

30 Years and Counting

Fri, 24 Jan 2014 14:02:19 +0800

I am living for 3 decades and I am blessed.

I have friends that will stick with me through thick and thin.
Family that love me even at my worse.
A husband that accepts all my flaws
Beautiful children that love me unconditionally.
Healthy Parents that help and guide me.
A sister that is a bestfriend and advisor.

I have most things that people spend their whole lives searching and I am only 3 decades old and counting.

I may not have the most stable career, I have enemies at every turn, but I am blessed. Because the more important things in my life trump the unimportant issues.

I look at my life with no regrets.
Nothing but hope for the future.
And basking in the glory of the present.

I am living for 30 years and counting, and I am happy.

A Mothers Plea

Sat, 18 Jan 2014 14:09:00 +0800

I am a mother, I did not let go of my beauty. I am not making it my excuse, but I recently lost a part of me, physically and my body is learning to deal with it.

I am a new mother again, and experiencing the joy of having my little ones new firsts. I am busy feeding her, teaching her, loving her, I am busy watching her grow.

I am a mother of two, I have responsibilities to them to help them grow to become better people. I have to teach them their homework, I have to take care of them when they are sick. I have to play with them, bathe them and guide them.

My kids come before any of my needs, their needs are superior to mine. My time is theirs, my body was their home, and I was never whole again when they left it. So my body is adjusting, my mind is busy while my body is learning how to be by itself again. So please do not make me feel bad about how I look, about how saggy and flabby parts of me are. I have given birth to a whole person and my body is learning how to live without it. My flabs and my sag will eventually lessen, but they will never be gone, my stretch marks will be my trophy, so do not make me feel bad about them. It is proof that I am a mother, that sometime ago I had a person inside me, our hearts beating as one.

Make me feel proud of what I have accomplished and make me feel loved. Please do not bash me with fat comments and remarks because I am a mother and it is not an easy task. Do not tell me I am no longer beautiful or that my arms are as big as thighs, Please do not insult me by telling me I used to be thin, that I used to be flawless, do not asked me what happened to my body in a condescending tone that would make any mother think twice about herself. I became a mother.

I have given birth to beautiful children and I deserve an applause. I deserve compliments, I do not need your negative remarks. Help me with my self esteem so I will have the courage to get myself back in shape after losing my wonderful baby bump. Give me a little bit of encouragement and help me by helping me with a few little chores so I will have time to give myself a little attention.

We are mothers and we need love, support and gratitude. We do not need people telling us we are fat, or unkempt, that we are flabby or saggy. Believe me, we know. But there are far more important things to do now, like love my children. The exercise will come later, but for now I will enjoy being a mother and you should let me.

Closing Chapter Singapore

Wed, 04 Sep 2013 21:36:30 +0800

Here we are, less than 24 hours left before we close another chapter in our lives. The chapter that has been the most difficult for our daughter, the chapter that left her alone. The OFW chapter of our family’s life is almost done, and all I can feel is relief and excitement. I thought I would feel a bit of sadness, a bit of regret, that we would no longer be earning the bigger salary that we are getting in this chapter, but all I can think of is how excited I am to go home to my daughter, to be whole, to be complete, finally!

This chapter started at 2009, when I urged my husband to try and work in Singapore, in the hopes that in 2 years he may be able to get the whole family to migrate in Singapore with him. After he came to Singapore, rule after rule after regulations changed which made it more and more difficult for him to take us with him. We kept telling ourselves, that maybe 1 more year, maybe next year will be the year, until we decided that maybe our chances of getting our family migrated here would double if I worked here as well, so in 2012 I found a job, and we applied for PR. REJECTED.

That is when we decided it’s enough, it’s time to choose family over money. It’s time to head home. My husband has lost enough years of my daughters childhood, enough is enough.

We have decided to just struggle together than to struggle apart. We choose our family, we choose our daughter. And no one is more excited than her. Her parents are coming home. And with a bonus, a baby sister will be coming a few weeks after.

I will miss Singapore, Noel is going to miss it more, this country has been his home for 4 years. There is no denying it is a much better country than the one we are going back to. Singapore offers a safer nest for the little ones, better opportunities, but Singapore has rejected us, our family, and we are not one to push ourselves somewhere where we are not wanted. So we are coming home, to a broken country, hoping that eventually will heal. Atleast this country will welcome us with open arms, this country will give our family the chance to be complete. Now its upto us how this new chapter, the back to Pinas chapter will go.

We are coming back with lots of hope and determination. We are greeting this new chapter with positivity. Chapter Pinas Part 2, here we come.

No 13th month pay for all

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 14:19:12 +0800

I was wondering lately, why 13th month pay in Singapore is not mandatory. It is really weird. Because as most of you should know, 13th month pay is not a benefit or a bonus it is a right. It is the excess number of days you work in a month. That is why at the end of every year, you are given this 13th month pay, pro-rated as to when you entered the company.

Just look at it this way.

1 month is considered 4 weeks
a week is considered 7 days
so with this we should know that a months pay should be for 28 days a month (including saturday and sunday) or 20 work days.

And every month of the year except February, we spend an addition 1 or 2 days extra as work day. if there are 11 months a year with 2 extra work days, then 2 days for all 11 months, should be equal to 20-22 extra work days we do in a year. Hence the 13th month pay.

But here in Singapore, it is not mandatory. Most companies would often offer performance based bonus at the end of every year instead of the 13th month pay, which I believe should not be the case.

13th month pay is a right, it is the days we worked for that we have not been paid. And it is my belief that it should be every employees right to get the full amount / pro rated amount of their 13 month pay.

And if a company is generous enough, they have the prerogative to give performance bonuses as well, to motivate their staff to keep doing well or the keep the staff from resigning.

Why is it important? Imagine, you have been working for a company for 10 months and you resign, since you are not entitled to a pro-rated 13th month pay, all those extra days you worked beyond 20 work days a month is now forfeited. Because your company only gives you a performance based bonus which you are not entitled to get if you are no longer an employee of said company by the time of the release of the bonus. So you gave your employers a free 18-20 work days. How generous of you.

So how come 13th month pay is not mandatory in Singapore? I really don’t know. But I feel that it should be.

Falling Victim to a Scam

Mon, 15 Jul 2013 12:28:10 +0800

As most people right now, I have become addicted to hunting for bargains, and even in the Philippines, I would tend to go to deal sites to look for cheap stuff I can buy.

I used to buy RF treatments (Radio Frequency - Skin Tightening, Fat Loss Treatment) from deal sites in the Philippines and am happy to say that I have not had any problems with any of the vouchers I purchased in the past.

Being used to deals, I figured deals in Singapore would be more beneficial for me since everything here is extremely expensive. So last June, when I felt like I was in dire need of a haircut, I decided to go to deal sites to search for an affordable one, since normal ordinary haircuts would cost around 50 - 100 sgd here. I found one from STREETDEAL that would only cost aroun 18 dollars. I immediately purchased the voucher, upon signing up. Little did I know that I will be scammed after 2 days.

The scam was not apparent to me until today (a month after), I was able to have my haircut done with no problems. Redemption of the voucher was not the issue.

So today, I decided I will check my bank statement for no reason at all. and Lo and behold I notice that 2 days after purchasing the haircut from Streetdeal on June 9, I have another 99 dollar deduction on my account from Streetdeal.

Not remembering if I bought anything else from the site, because that was a month ago. I decided to log in on my account. There was no other voucher, apart from the haircut voucher that I bought. So wheeeeere in the hell did the 99 dollar deduction came from.

I searched the net.

Apparently this site: STREETDEAL who offers discounted stuff to consumers has had a lot of complaints filed against them for misleading sign up clauses that states that they will offer you a free 48 hour PREMIUM Subcription that entitles you to an addtitional 10% discount for any and all vouchers that you will buy from them, after which they will deduct 99 dollars from your account for this said PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP.

I really do not remember this statement anywhere in the sign up page, I guess because I was too excited to purchase a cheap deal because I do not have 50 dollars to spend for a haircut?

But although it is there, this company should take into consideration not putting it in their voucher purchase page so small that it seems irrelevant.

Why in the hell would I buy an 18 dollar voucher for a haircut, if I can afford to shell out 99 dollars for a membership? It just doesn’t make any sense does it? And even if it was stated in their website, so ambiguously, that there is a paid membership after 48 hours, why not email your clients before the lapse and confirm that they do want to pay the hefty 99 dollars for a premium membership to get what? additional 10% discount for discounted vouchers?

So I immediately contacted my bank and told them that the 99 Dollar charge is not authorized and is deemed fraudulent and asked them to help me in this matter. Then emailed streetdeal a nice but irate email that what they are doing is misleading and fraudulent. Gave them a call, which I found was easy enough, atleast, they didnt give me a hard time asking for a reversal of the membership fee.

I guess its because they have received numerous complaints over the same issue already, so as not to exacerbate the situation further they just grant a refund to anyone who asks for it, when they ask for it.

But how many times do they get away with this scam? What about those who trust the system and does not have the time to constantly check their bank accounts for erroneous transactions done days after they made a purchase? So this company STREETDEAL just gets away with taking their 99 dollar premium membership fee.

I will let this be a lesson to myself, to always read the fine print, and trust no one. I just cannot believe that even in Singapore, Scamming, Shady companies like these get away with these kinds of actions. It is very disconcerting.

This is their website: http://www.streetdeal.sg
beware of their shadiness.

#Nina #Pregnancy #6months #26weeks our pregnancy progress so...

Fri, 12 Jul 2013 10:12:26 +0800

#Nina #Pregnancy #6months #26weeks our pregnancy progress so far. I had a huge jump from 4months to 5months in terms of size and I just keep getting bigger!!!!!

On Marriage

Thu, 04 Jul 2013 17:19:49 +0800

I had a thought while I was eating lunch this day.

I wanted to eat fried tilapia, but since it was sold out I had to settle for tapa queen.

And thats when I thought of the word settled and thought of the act of marriage, proposal and anything related to it.

I know that a lot of us get engaged because we think we are finally with the right person. Most men would say they asked their fiance or wife to marry them because they loved them.

I know that love is always a factor, you will never, ever ask anyone to marry you out of pity, or obligation (atleast no one should). But is it really just about love or is it the right timing?

Do we settle to love the one we are with because its the right time to get married? Or do men ask women to marry them because they really want to?

So to get engaged, do you have to have the right timing on when you will become a mans girlfriend?

Sometimes it makes me think that love is just secondary to time when it comes to marriage proposal. A lot of people have been together since they were fifteen and end up breaking up eventually after some years no matter how much love they have for each other, because they are still too young to get engaged and get married. If those couples got together later in life, say when they are twenty six, odds are after a year they could actually already be engaged.

I am not saying all marriages happen because it is the most convenient timing, some people do get engaged and married very young and I am betting their number one reason is love. But you have to admit that nowadays people get engaged at a certain age, and ofcourse they will get engaged with the person they are currently with.

so it makes you wonder.

Noel

Wed, 03 Jul 2013 16:43:43 +0800

Whoever said that he is perfect is lying. He is not. But he is amazing. His flaws are what make him who he is and I love him more for it.

He loves me. He definitely does. And I am a difficult person to love as a whole, I am more imperfect than he is.

He loves unconditionally, and he understands my flaws as he has his own, forgives my mistakes as he makes some too. He does not expect me to be perfect and I never expected him to be. He makes up for bad times with so many loving ones.

He is not always thoughtful nor sensitive, but he asks me If I am okay during the right moments. He comforts me, he nurtures me and he cares for me.

He is the type of man who will take things at face value, if you tell him you are fine he will think you are, but if you tell him you are not, he will do everything to make things okay. He leaves you alone if you don’t feel like talking and he talks to you when you do.

He sometimes forget to listen when I talk, and forgets the things I say, a lot. But he remembers the important things. He remembers to love me and our children. He remembers to make me laugh, he remembers to wipe our fears and tears away.

He is not perfect but he is damn near perfect for me.

He is the love of my life.

If there will ever come a time that we are together at gunpoint from robbers or what nots, I will run away as fast as I could, away from him, because I know he would die trying to protect me, So if I am not there to protect then he may just survive.

He is the type of man who gets angry at people I am angry at just because. I don’t need to ask, he just does.

He is the reason I live and breathe everyday.

And someday our children will grow up and have their own lives and I know he will still be by my side, loving every line on my face and white hair on my head. And we will be laughing like we always do.

Gerry's Grill Singapore - A gross experience

Tue, 02 Jul 2013 21:29:20 +0800

So yesterday I was in the mood for some filipino food, like I have been for most my pregnancy. I went to Marina Bay Sands - Rasapura to buy dinner at the Filipino Stall more Popularly known to Filipinos as Gerry’s Grill.

I have eaten there so many times and I love it. But yesterdays experience drove me to decide never to eat there again.

I ordered their set meal of Kaldereta with Veggies and rice, I originally wanted their Sisig but it was sold out, and apart from their grilled stuff (Pork BBQ, kebab, squid) their Kaldereta is great (tastes like Mechado in the philippines.)

I was given a small bowl of kaldereta, a small bowl of pinakbet and a cup of rice and I was ready to eat.

Pregnant and hungry, I started chowing down on my veggies, took a scoop of kaldereta sauce and gobbled it up, took a piece of potato (not completely cooked), and started scavenging for pieces of meat in my kaldereta bowl.

So by now you can assume that I already double and triple and quadruple dipped my already used spoon in bowl of Kaldereta, but found only 1 chunk of meat.

Paying SGD8.95 for a piece of meat is definitely not worth it, so I went back to the stall, and asked the lady to please add a few more pieces of meat because there is only one piece right now.

To my surprise the lady dumped my already eaten bowl of Kaldereta back to the main pot, without second thoughts, and without asking me if I have already eaten from it. But regardless if I did or did not eat from the bowl, they should have set aside the bowl that I returned and gave me a new bowl. But nope, there was even a flabbergasted onlooker watching her do the deed, darting his eyes fromt he pot to the lady to me and back to the pot.

She scooped me a few bits of meat and sauce and gave me back my bowl as if its such a normal thing to do. And I was shocked, I wasn’t able to say anything. Went on my table and texted my husband about what happened.

That’s when we decided never to eat there again.

If it happened to me this time, how many times could this have happened in the past?

It makes you wonder how well they handle their food, did they sneeze on it? talk over the food and accidentally spit on it? The pots dont have any covers and can easily be spit on, they do not have mouth covers to protect the food.

So, no matter how much I crave Filipino food from now on, unless they will be serving freshly cooked meals per order, I might never consider purchasing from Gerry’s Grill - Marina Bay Sands again.