Sister is Off to Paris

Sister is off to Paris for 9 days. It's a school trip, with 2 professors. They will be staying at Mary's Hotel, a nice and affordable hotel for students. They will visit Vatel, their sister school in Paris. I thought only community service clubs had sister ties. Well, you learn something new everyday!

They will be sharing rooms of course, some are double-sharing, some are in triple and quadruple-sharing rooms even!

quad room view

breakfast for students


internet room, for connecting to the people back home

location map of hotel

Text from hotel website:

Easy to reach by car via the Avenue de la République, the Boulevard du Temple and the Boulevard Voltaire, MARY'S HOTEL is located only 10 meters from the métro station Oberkampf.
The hotel is close to the stations Filles du Calvaire and République. The bus lines 54, 75, 56, 96, 73, 65 and 20 pass close by.

MARY'S HOTEL is located on the edge of the Marais cultural quarter. The public transport services provide a direct link to the railway stations Gare du Nord, de l'Est and Gare d'Austerlitz (métro line 5), the Gare de Lyon (métro line 8), the Eiffel tower (line 9), the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysées and the Louvre (bus 73), the Notre Dame cathedral, the quarter St Germain-des-Près (bus 96).

All White Outfit

This is Sister, as she goes off on her organization's Halloween party.

They have to come in all white or all black outfits, with masks. Forgot to take a picture of her mask though.

Having a Root Canal

My mom has been suffering tooth pain for over a week now. She went to the dentist last week, who took out her broken crown and cleaned her teeth and gums. The dentist told her that she had a gum infection and that was the source of her pain. After the cleaning, she was pain-free for a couple of days, but the pain returned, even worse than before. It transferred to her neck, her head, and the back of her neck. She finally had a root canal treatment done this afternoon.
I don't know about you, but I have to steel myself for dental treatments other than ordinary cleaning. The smell of the dental clinic, the whirr of the drilling machines fill me with dread. I do go to the dentist regularly, but frequency does not make me feel more at ease at the thought of dental appointments.
I accompanied Sister to her root canal sessions last year. I could see her suffering and I was sorry that she had to go through it. I almost had a tooth done a few months ago, but luckily, I didn't need to have it done. I just needed a new filling.
Our old dentist had her own clinic at the ground floor of her house. It didn't necessarily make her more accessible to her patients, because she could only see patients 4pm and down, and on certains days only.
Our new dentist has clinics based in malls. She is required to open on the days the mall is open, which is actually everyday. During holidays her clinic is also open. But you have to make an appointment usually, because she is in demand. She is not the only dentist in her clinic, she has a few other dentists on her staff too.
The dentist is convincing me to bring Belle in for a check up. I want to, but the thought of Belle crying her heart out while a stranger is peering into her mouth is daunting. I saw a little girl a while ago, screaming and crying while the pedia-dentist was examining her. I thought, "Baka mauna pa ako umiyak kesa sa anak ko!" But the dentist was right, I should learn the right way and right position of brushing Belle's teeth. Better a few tears now, instead of a lot of tears when cavities come.

A Home-Style 2nd Birthday

My daughter celebrated her 2nd birthday 12 days ago. It was a simple dinner party here at our house. I bought fresh seafood and had them cooked at Seaside Market, 1 grandmother gave misua, the other gave sotanghon, so we had 2 noodle dishes! I borrowed a picnic table from my mother, had someone buy half a dozen balloons from the church, and with the birthday cake my dad gave us, we were all set!

birthday cake from grandpa

This cake gave us a laugh. My dad had the shop put in only his name, no thought for the rest of us.

birthday girl with grandma, with a mouthful of icing

with uncle Oliver, and cousin Nico in the background

with cousin Alex in the ball pit

We had a big bash for Belle's 1st birthday last year, in thanksgiving for the gift of our daughter, and for her health. You see, we have infertility problems, and we went to so many doctors in the past 6 years before she was conceived. We had many treatments, both western and traditional, but nothing worked. But at last here she was, our precious baby, Belle Lorraine.
After the party last year, Willy and I decided to keep birthday celebrations to a minimum. We don't want Belle to get used to having a big party every year. We want to mark birthday milestones with family gatherings, not necessarily big parties. That way, Belle will grow up knowing the importance of family and with an appreciation of all her blessings, big and small.

Going Out with Sister

I went to the SMX Convention Center a while ago. Sister asked me to go with her as her professor required them to attend an exhibit there. Sister wasn't actually sure what exhibit was ongoing today, but we went anyway.

I picked her up at 2pm, after her classes and meetings at school, and we went straight to the Mall of Asia. We had my mother in law with us, because I met up with her in the morning to accompany her to the bank in Binondo. She came with us to see MOA. She had never been there before, despite living in Baclaran, just a stone's throw away.
Mom in law was able to buy a pair of formal shoes, and I bought some pajamas for Belle. I asked our driver to bring her to her house, while Sister and I went to see the exhibit.

The exhibit had ended at 12 noon! We weren't able to see anything. I hope Sister's professor understands, seeing that he wasn't clear about the exhibit and the days it ran.Tomorrow we're scheduled to go to another exhibit the professor is requiring Sister to go to. We're going to see the One Town, One Product exhibit at the Mega Trade Hall of SM Megamall. We want to go early, to avoid the rush of people in the afternoon. I'm bringing Belle too. I know she'll enjoy getting out and seeing different people and stuff.

2nd Day of Trial Class

Today was our second day of trial class. Belle paid much more attention to the teacher and the activities today. Yesterday she was just observing them. She danced and jumped and sang a bit when the teacher asked them to, but was also busy in exploring all the wonderful new toys and books she saw. Willy noticed that she was really intent on watching the teacher and the other students, as in her forehead was furrowed. So today, she knew what to do.

Teacher Arlene said yesterday that she would recommend Belle to join the toddler class. She noticed that Belle had concentration and focus on the teacher and the activities and she could follow directions.
Yesterday the snack was a small slice of cake. Teacher Emmy celebrated her birthday and the children sang happy birthday to her. Belle only finished half of her cake, but I was still happy because she tried to eat by herself. I think she was encouraged to do so by looking at the other little kids all eating at the same time and trying to feed themselves too. But of course mommies and yayas were there to assist them.
Today the snack was 3 pieces of crackers. Belle could only finish 2, since she only takes small bites and is a slow eater. She really eats so daintily. Parang dalaga.
Alex ate his 3 biscuits fast. He ate Belle's last biscuit. I asked the teacher to give him some more so she gave him 3 more. He even took the biscuits offered to him by other classmates. His yaya told me he ate 10 crackers all in all! The teacher and the other yayas were so amazed. We were all laughing because when he was done, masama pa rin ang tingin nya at the leftover piece of biscuit in Belle's hand! LOL

Alex's Day at Cambridge

Alex also had a trial class at Cambridge. He really enjoyed playing too.

I have these blocks at home too!

Under the bridge

Through the bridge

I'm here!

Pictures from Last Saturday

Pictures from my mom's birthday dinner last Saturday.

Standing: brother Oliver, SIL Claire, brother Louie, me, Willy.
Seated: nephew Llance, Ama, nephew Alex, sister Vanessa, Belle.
(note: hubby and I can't wear red because his dad passed away just last year)

My little family

Some kissing scenes

Willy and Jenny

Claire and Louie

Happy Birthday Mommy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM!

In a little while we will be preparing to go out. I'm not sure where we'll have her birthday dinner, but it will be a quiet celebration dinner.

Online Enrollment

Spent 2 hours this morning trying to encode Sister's classes for next term. The encoding system at DLSU-CSB sucks! You have to wait for a specific time to encode, then you and thousands of other students clog the system, making enrollment a headache.

When you finally get logged on, you have to encode 1 class at a time, and the system won't let you choose which class you want to enroll in first. You have to do it alphabetically! ARGH!

In the end, SIL had to help me. I was panicking, thinking Sister won't have an acceptable schedule. Last year, her schedule had huge blocks of vacant periods. Good thing SIL helped me. We found it strange, we were used to the old style of enrollment where we lined up for everything. This paper-less enrollment may be environment-friendly, but more of a hassle. Guess we're more old school. Please don't try to guess when SIL and I were last enrolled in DLSU.

Angelo King International Center

Shoe Emergency, with Heaven and Eggs

Sister and I went shoe shopping for a pair of heels for her last Saturday. Her everyday pair was almost worn out at the heels. Heels are a requirement in her school, you see, and she bought an almost identical pair.

We had a late lunch at Heaven and Eggs, Glorietta. I had the chicken and mushroom omelet with fried potatoes and sourdough bread.

Sister had the chicken with vegetables omelet, with rosemary and garlic potatoes and pancakes on the side. Excuse the blurry shot. The swing moved when I pressed the camera button.

This is Sister, while waiting for our food.

We've been wanting to try this place out for a long time. Luckily, the swing chairs in the middle were unoccupied, and we each sat on a swing.

I got a blouse from People Are People, but I forgot to take a picture before having it washed. Will post a picture of me wearing it soon.

Makeovers for Me and Sister

This was last month, when Sister and I went to have free makeovers at Rustans Makati. The same makeup artist did our faces. She used YSL products for me and Guerlain products for Sister. What do you think?

This is me, with the makeup artist. Silly me misplaced her calling card and forgot her name.

This is Sister. Do you think this picture is ok?

Or does this one without flash look better?

A Fun Sunday

Some pictures I took yesterday.

This is my brother O, with Belle riding on his shoulders. Belle likes to say her Uncle O is big and strong, so this is proof that Uncle really IS big and strong.

This is Belle's cousin Llance, on the play exercise machine on the boardwalk outside the mall. Good thing it was already 5:30 pm when we went out, otherwise it would have been hot!

Belle saw the slides and wouldn't leave until she went down a few times. Actually, she didn't want to leave even after she'd been on the slide. She cried when we had to leave.

And this is Sister, with Belle. Belle really loves her Auntie. She's the only one who can carry Belle when I'm tired with carrying her. Belle will not go to her grandmother or anyone else, just Auntie.

Look at them smile.

My Saturday Date

Today Saturday, sister and I signed up for free makeovers at Rustans Makati. They are introducing new YSL and Guerlain products. Photos of us, post make-overs, in a future post.

After that, we are going to RCBC Plaza to watch Avenue Q.

I've wanted to watch this show for a long time. I'm glad I finally got tickets. Sister loves watches plays too. Guess she got this from me. I took her to see Repertory plays when she was younger, and she always loved it. She enjoys watching old movies and old musicals too, just like her atsi.

We're hoping to catch Lea Salonga in Cinderella in August.

My To Do List

Jody tagged me. How do I pass my days?

I don't make a list of things to do. I try to remember them all, since I find writing things down and crossing them off a list too much of a bother for me.

1. wake up around 8am and have breakfast with hubby, unless he had to go to work early.
2. turn on my laptop and surf my favorite sites while Belle takes a bath.
3. play with Belle until she takes a nap.
4. blog-hop while Belle naps
5. lunch
6. play with Belle
7. blog or take a nap with Belle
8. snack time with Belle
9. dinner with hubby
10. bedtime with Belle and hubby

This is my usual day.

Unless...

1. there's a need to go out and buy stuff
2. I need to accompany my mother or sister on errands
3. I need to sub for my brother in his store when he has his errands

The past few days were busy, since my cousin's hubby just passed away. We went to Funeraria Paz to be with her and her kids during this trying time. This morning I had to leave a sleeping Belle to be at the last day service of my cousin's hubby. He was cremated today.

BUSY PEOPLE: 1.) my chopsuey 2.) mind bubbles 3.) vanity kit 4.)somethingpurple 5.) a detour 5.) Confessions of a Supermodel Wannabe 6.) 6) Mommy Talks. 7.) Aggie Shoots. Aggie Scraps 8.) Winding Creek Circle 9.)Pink and Brown Diaries. 10.) Juls Random Thoughts 11.) In This Game of Life 12.) Jenny and Belle

How about you Crystal, Eds, Jane, Joanne, Juliana?

Sister and Best Friend

This is my sister and her best friend, posing before a car on display in the Power Plant Mall. We didn't catch the car's name and model, so busy were we giggling and having fun. We watched a movie afterwards.Can you guess which one is my sister? :)

The New Pool

My brother bought an inflatable swimming pool the other week. He measured the width of the corridor outside his house so he could be sure the pool wouldn't be too big. Belle and Alex just love splashing the water. The floor of the corridor, 2 nannies, 2 mommies, were all soaked.


Unfortunately, most of our shots may not be posted because Alex wasn't wearing anything. But I hope you see Belle's bikini bottom with ruffles, courtesy of her Ninang Connie. Thank you Ninang!

Sister's New Cellphone

My sister bought a new Nokia 2626 yesterday at the Power Plant, Rockwell. She was looking for an inexpensive phone as her second cell, and she chose this one from the Nokia store. It's cute, and only 91 grams. It has a colored screen, but no camera.

Back to School and A Few Memories

Since my mom was out of commission yesterday, I had to take over her duties of taking care of her other grandchild, my nephew Llance. My mother normally makes him ready for school in the morning, comes back home, prepares his lunch, takes him his lunch, takes him to the Chinese tutor, brings him back to school, waits for 4pm when school lets out, gives him a snack, brings him to the English tutor, waits for him and they go home together. Whew! It really takes a lot of time and effort.

I had to wake up extra early, but I convinced Willy to drive me to Llance's school and we had breakfast at McDonald's together.(Yipee!! My favorite Sausage McMuffin!!) After that, I had to buy our lunch. But after bringing him back to school in the afternoon, I had 2 hours free and I had to treat myself to a hair spa. It's been so long since my hair has been touched by any stylist. I only had a hair spa treatment, which is like a hot oil treatment I could have done myself at home for less cost, but the massage part was heaven!
I used to do this when I wasn't pregnant yet, I was the one to bring Llance to school and wait for him. but when I got pregnant, Willy and my OB wanted me to rest at home so my mother had to do the school rounds. I was bored CRAZY at home, I wasn't on bedrest but they said that since my pregnancy was an unlooked-for miracle already, we had to take all precautions. I bugged Willy to buy DVDs so I could pass the time watching them. I borrowed boxes of books from my brother and read all the Star Wars series again and again. I was climbing the walls really!

Accidents Will Happen

My mom had a nasty fall yesterday. The stairs on her house are spiral, and newly cleaned and buffed. She was holding on to the rail, which means she was standing on the inner, small, tip on the triangular step (can you picture this?). She twisted her right foot and bumped her head on the concrete. Thank God she didn't break any bones or suffer any internal head injury! She put ice on her head. We went to look for a hilot, a traditional massage therapist popular here in the Philippines. The first hilot we went to wasn't at her home, so we went to our old hilot, Aling Pat. Aling Pat massaged my mom's foot for a very long time. My mom was trying not to shout in pain but the pain was really very great. You could see it on her face and hear it in every moan. It was a bit funny though, because my mom kept trying to pull her foot away from Aling Pat whenever she pressed a bit harder on the foot. When we got home, we grated a piece of ginger, put a tablespoon of flour and a pinch of salt in it and mashed it into a paste. We then applied it on the affected part of her foot and wrapped the whole foot up with an elastic bandage. She took Tylenol for pain relief.
This morning her foot was a little better. But it looks like she'll have to keep off the foot for a few days.