On my birthday, I wasn’t expecting any gifts since we’ve had a lot of expense the past months with a new baby and with E’s school. But when Ichi went to the mall purposely to get me a gift, I started to wonder what he’ll come up with. I was thinking that maybe he’ll buy me some blouses or perfume or if he’ll splurge maybe a wii since he knows that I want that esp with the games that whole family can enjoy. So what did I end up getting for my birthday? a Nintendo DS Lite, the special mario edition and E has been the one putting it to good use haha!

Michael Jackson’s long time choreographer Travis Payne and MJ dancers went to Cebu to choreograph and perform with the inmates last January 19, 2010. It took 2 days to complete the choreography and it is said that this video will be included in the dvd and blue ray copies of This Is It.

After spending three months here my mum went back to Manila a couple of weeks ago. I’m really thankful that she came over to stay with us, aside from getting to spend time with her and she getting to spend time with the family, it was really a big help for me while recovering from giving birth. Thank you mumsy! mwah!

On the other hand, my in-laws are arriving here in Sydney tomorrow morning, so yey for me!! I definitely need help with the kiddos as we’re moving homes again (the life of a renter ). And with E starting kindy next month maybe I’ll get to have some hours to myself, maybe catch a movie or something.

For the past two days I’ve been occupied (aside from the baby haha) with watching this series – Autumn’s Concerto.

Blame it on Leng (haha! :p) who I was chatting with the other day about drama series particularly Korean ones for getting me started (well at least for now) again on watching.

This series is from Taiwan and stars Vaness Wu (of F4 fame), Ady An, Tiffany Xu, and Fu Pei Ci.

Synopsis (from mysoju.com):
Ren Guang Xi, a cocky law student, seems to lead the perfect life. He’s the sole successor to a huge and famous business and a talented ice hockey player. But in reality, his lonely life lacks joy, laughter and motivation. That is until he meets Liang Mu Cheng, the new bento seller at his school canteen. Although orphaned at a young age, Mu Cheng does not let her past affect her and lives life with great passion and determination. A harmless bet brings the two together and Guang Xi slowly changes as Mu Cheng teaches him how to give and love. Tragedy strikes when Guang Xi suddenly has to go through a major brain surgery which causes him to lose his memory. His mother begs Mu Cheng to leave him and the latter has no choice but to do so. Little does she know that she already has Guang Xi’s child.

Six years pass. Mu Cheng lives a quiet life with her young son in the countryside while Guang Xi is now a successful lawyer and is engaged to He Yi Qian, the kind and beautiful doctor who took care of him after his surgery. A strangely familiar piano piece stirs Guang Xi’s heart as he struggles to recall his past romance with Mu Cheng. How will the couple make up for six years of lost time? Happiness, which stop do I alight at?

I’ve watched until the latest episode and I think it still has about 3 or 4 episodes left. What to watch next? Probably, Boys Over Flower since my mom brought me a dvd.

I mentioned in a previous post about my mum’s birthday that even though it was her birthday it was E that received a present. Actually he got two, one was a space police lego that he has been wanting for a long time (leave it to mamita to buy it for him haha .. lucky for him that it was one of the cheap ones and that it was on sale) and this … a BEN 10 bike. Early Christmas and birthday gift for E. We asked him if he wanted the cars one (which was cheaper) but he really insisted on getting the Ben 10 bike. It’s timely too that it’s nearing summer when we can bring him to the park so he can get lots of practice riding the bike.

Mum flew in a week before her birthday, I specifically scheduled it that way because her birthday would already mark my 37th week which means that I could give birth anytime. Anyways, on her birthday we celebrated it with a yum cha lunch at hilltop phoenix at castle towers.  We initially intended to have the yum cha at eastwood but then we learned that they had a granny smith festival parade that day and preggy me didn’t want to walk a lot that day. After lunch we walked a bit around the mall and even though it was my mum’s birthday it was E who got presents haha. Talk about spoiling the grandson :p I’ll post what E got (a super early Christmas and birthday present) in another post.

At the resto ..

Helping mamita blow the cake …

My brother and his partner opened a new branch of their sugarcane business today at Robinson’s Galleria in Quezon City. Before the end of the year they are looking at opening another one at Robinson’s Manila, they’re just working out the details with the leasing department. Looks like they can use good pos systems for all their branches to make updates of sales and supplies easier to monitor. Please visit their branches located in different SM malls and now Robinsons Galleria. For more info on the branches check out their facebook page –

What is happening ?

Last Wednesday in Sydney,  this was what greeted us in the morning ..

Dust storm at 6am

and at 9am

And then just this Saturday in Manila ..

this was the view from our relatives house in Quezon City, this photo was taken from the second floor balcony .. thank God everyone was ok.

from facebook:

from facebook (by miggy unabia, Sept 27, 2009, 7am) .. this is very near my mom’s place

from facebook: at my former university

We’re just glad that all our families back home are safe, though there may be material losses but still they are all safe. I wish and pray that all those who are still stranded are rescued and there are campaigns for donations and relief goods that have been setup. You can check out Bianca Gonzales’ blog for a list.

Two saturdays ago, tin, roselle & their families hosted a get together in honor of siobe. It was planned as a surprise for me but a couple of hours before the dinner ichi had no choice but to tell me as I really didn’t feel like going out that night and he had no “valid” excuse to get me out of the house haha! Had fun catching up with them and E had tons of fun playing the whole night with C. Thank you too for your gifts for siobe!

–

Last Saturday we went to Corner Cubbyhouse in Five Dock for E’s classmate’s birthday party. Funny though E was all excited leading up to the day and even on the way to the play centre but when we got there he suddenly didn’t want to join the party. It was weird seeing him that way because it was the first time that he really refused to participate, it took us a while to convince him to finally join the fun. It was also nice meeting some of the other parents as we rarely see them at the day care. It was crazy at the play centre with some of the other parents running after their younger kids following them everywhere, they sure don’t need fat burners with all the exercise they’re getting there.

–

After the party, we were on our way to a baby store in Castle Hill but got detoured to another baby store in Parramatta. We decided to check out the store since there was a bit of traffic. It turned out to be a good decision since the stroller that we were eyeing turned out cheaper there (Ichi asked for further discount hehe), the newborn nappies was cheaper too (compared to the nappy warehouse we checked last time). Earlier in the week too we were able to get siobe her portacot and thanks to the gift card from the manabats we were able to get it at the budget we set. With this we were able to get most of the big items off the list and some others we plan to get as needed. I still have to get some small items plus ready the hospital bag soon. Just over a month to go and our little family of 3 will become 4!

Last Wednesday, we were finally able to tour the maternity wing at the hospital we’re booked in for my delivery. They showed us the rooms, delivery suite and nurseries. As well as discuss some of the policies they have in place like the visiting hours, visitors (they recently restricted the visitors to family only because of the flu season, swine flu etc), times the front doors of the hospital close (you have to pass through the A&E after 9pm) and other stuff. Their tub in the delivery suite has a spa so we can use that while in labor, the spa filters are changed regularly so we can rest assured that it is maintained properly. A few more weeks to go and we’ll finally be able to meet our baby girl. I’m just hoping for a safe and easy delivery, hopefully a quick labor too!