Bucket list?

I know I emphasize seizing the day and doing what you want. But there are still things on my list that have no check marks, some of which include the following:

1. Cook marinara or paella

2. Take that trip to Batanes

3. Continue grad school

4. Join an NGO or volunteer in a worthwhile project (like Gawad Kalinga)

5. Design and sew a dress

How about you, what are on your to-do lists?

Another excuse to go shopping….

I just had to share this! I went to Market Market this morning because I heard they were having a sale this weekend. I wasn’t able to buy much (just what I needed), but I found something  more that what I was looking for, something different. Guess where these pictures were taken?

Nope, this is not a children’s store…. 

This was the fitting room of the Market Market department store! 

It was definitely not your common fitting room! 

  Even the lights added character to the room. 

Now, your kids will not nag you about fitting your clothes faster! (Mama, last nayan ha!) (Wendy didn’t even want to leave to fitting room, telling me to fit all the clothes I wanted….which rarely happens!)

Yes, I know it’s mababaw! But it was really so cute, and it really makes you want to fit all their cltohes! Also, it was a candy to the eyes for those who are tired already because of hours of shopping. I don’t know about the others, but when I walked in, I automatically let out a smile. Not only that, you may also drop by to rest those sore legs after hours of walking around! Hmmm…I wonder if this is a marketing strategy or just a customer service! Well, whatever it is, it’s working!

Travelling? Plan your trip carefully!

For the past weeks, because of an impending vacation (I refuse to tell where until we are sure to go), Rick Steves has been my companion. For those who do not know who Rick Steves is, he is a traveler who spends months of research on great vacation spots. His books are such a great help…they’re simple, very useful, and easy to read. But I’ll talk about these books more in some other post.

Why, then, talk about Rick Steves? It’s because I can never overemphasize the importance of careful planning when going on a trip. Yes, I’ve experienced traveling without planning. And a few times, it worked…if you are in a super adventurous mode. But then, there are certain trips where planning is a must.

Where planning is the first step, finding the right sources is the critical part. For the past weeks, I’ve literally scoured hundreds of Web sites, read a number of books, and scanned so many brochures in planning for my vacation. Finding the right hotel, the right transportation, the right places to visit is very important (especially with this type of trip!).

Let me share some tips that you may find useful in planning for a trip:

1. The Internet can be your best friend. Let me tell you why.

        Information: The Internet can give you literally millions of links to information on hotels, transportation, tourist spots, what-to-dos, what-not-to-dos, and many more must knows! This can go against you though, because choosing the important (and authentic) information can be hard. But if you get the hang of it, it will be so much easier!

        Not only does the Internet give you the a wide variety of best options, but it also makes booking for transportation, hotels, and tourist spots/tours easier. I’ve just booked at four hotels thousands of miles away at the comfort of my home! This is certainly a plus, plus, plus! I’ve found the following links to be particularly very useful (especially for international trips; some were from Rick Steves):

        –Transportation

                Sky Scanner Flight Search (www.skyscanner.net)

                Mobissimo (www.mobissimo.com)

                Wegolo (www.wegolo.com)

                Raileurope (www.raileurope.com)   

        –Accommodations

                Hostelworld (www.hostelworld.com)

                Hotelscombined (www.hotelscombined.com)

                Hostelbookers (www.hostelbookers.com)

        -Travel information

                iExplore (www.iexplore.com)

     What I love about these sights is they search the whole database for the right transportation or accommodation for you, according to your preference, that is, by price, by location, by availability, and others. They certainly make planning a lot easier! I swear that I love these sites!

2. Try joining forums, or even just read entries. It is very helpful to read about the experiences of others…what works and what does not, what is worth seeing and what is not. It is very importnat that you do not waste energy, time, and money on sights or places that are not worth it.

3. When you are searching on the Internet, do not be contented on the first results page that appears. Go as far as you can.  Sometimes, the best information come after much searching.

4. Know how to filter information that you read (very important!).

5. Learn from the experiences of others…ask, ask, ask.

There you have it! Know that things might still go wrong after the most careful of planning. But then, I would rather have things go wrong even with planning than things go wrong without planning!

Nosebleed questions

Help! Princess Wendy has been asking some difficult questions!

Mama, diba dapat may boyfriend or asawa ka kung gusto mo magka-anak? [Gosh! of course!]

Mama, where did you learn to be a mama? [Well….]

Mama, can I ask Santa Clause for a laptop? [I don’t know if he has the budget.]

Mama, bakit di gumagaling si Lola eh everyday naman tayo nagprapray? [Hmm….]

Mama, what is a spirit? [I give up!]

and the hardest question of all… 

Mama, what  is life?

Please, for those who know the answer, please drop a comment before I lose my credibility of being a know-it-all mom!

House talk

I like watching home-renovation shows. Have you watched an episode of Extreme Makeover? It’s a reality show where a team of designers, architects, interior designers, and carpenters and construction workers get to literally tear a house down and build it from scratch! It’s so fun to watch the progress from rubbles (and nothingness!) to a masterpiece of a house designed creatively and provided with state-of-the-art appliances and beautiful furniture, most of the time tailored to a specific characteristic or identity of the family who owns the house.

It’s fun to watch, as well as inspiring because you get to think of your own house (well, if you haven’t got one, your future house) and how to make it better. Maybe you’ve been thinking, for a long time now, of redecorating that kitchen to include an Elba stainless steel oven, or replacing your very old sofa for a new leather sofa bed san diego, or transforming the study room into a home-theater room but haven’t taken the steps to do so for one reason or another (lack of time or budget). If only the team of Extreme Makeover can remodel all houses, huh? That would be great!

I believe that houses are also a reflection of the people living in them, their characteristics, their styles, their beliefs. Houses filled with antiques may mean people who have deep respect for history are living in them. Houses painted brightly may house lively people with a great zest for life. Houses bounded with high gates or walls may contain people who greatly value security. As for me, I would like a country-style house with lots of wood (wooden tables, wooden floors, wooden beds, etc, etc) and simple but classic furniture…I would love for it to have that “earthy” feeling!

So how about you, how does your house look like, and what does it say about you?

(Photo courtesy of http://lostworld.pair.com/blog/archives/002171.html) 

DEFINITELY not a guessing game

Thanks to the positive results of the CT scan of my mother, the dosage of the oral chemotherapy medicine that she has been taking over the past months has been lowered (from 150 mg to 100 mg). This is certainly good news…not only will it cost much, much less, but also, the adverse effects that my mother experiences will also lessen.

Being not much of a medicine taker, I’ve always wondered how physicians (or even manufacturers) set the dosage that they give to their patients. I mean, I know there are certain factors, like age, weight, and degree of sickness (I’m sure about the age because it’s usually on the label of medicines I give to Princess Wendy, eg, for 1-3 years of age, give this amount; for 4-6 years, this amount; and so on), but are these the only factors? What if, what if, the dosage given is not enough for the disease to be overcome, or, conversely (which I hope occurs almost never), what if an overdose is given? I guess we just have to trust that pharmaceutical manufacturing includes R&D on dosages. (I hope I can do, too, because giving to right dosage to Princess Wendy when she is sick is very important to me.)

As for the lowering of my mom’s dosage, my dad wants to make sure that this move correct…otherwise, we’d just be wasting time and money and my mother might as well be taking placebo. 

Bittersweet

Faced with the reality of mortality (more so because of my mother’s illness than their age), my parents recently talked to all of us siblings about inheritance: How will the four of us divide our properties among ourselves in a such a way that would be fair (not equal, but fair). I would not go into details but we had a hard time that by the end of the “meeting”, we hadn’t come to a consesus, not because we were all too greedy but rather the properties were just simply hard to divide (I gues there’s always the option of loan against inheritance if we really want to be fair about it…but then, I hope that that would still be 10 years from now!)!

It’s nice to think that your future is well-taken care of, but the issue of inheritance is also disheartening because it opens your eyes to the reality that sometimes, we have to say goodbye to our loved ones, and at one point in time, we will have to say goodbye to this world. Our loved ones may go ahead of us, or the other way around, but we will be saying goodbye, no matter what. But you know what, I’d rather have that “meeting” again 10-20 years from now, with my mother still up and about (I still believe in miracles and the power of prayer).

No. 1 in my book…of all time

I have never written a post on one thing I love: tennis…and I guess this may be the last.

August 11: The date that Rafael Nadal takes the number 1 spot in tennis from Roger Federer. The great Federer has held this spot for a record of 235 consecutive weeks. Nadal has been second to Federer since July 25, 2005. That’s 3 years! Imagine trailing someone for that long. I can only guess what Nadal is feeling.

Federer losing the number 1 spot is simply heartbreaking (and losing it to Nadal makes it doubly heartbreaking–but that’s another story). Just attests to one universal truth: You can’t stay on top forever. Federer was bound to lose his spot one day, and the time has come. What’s so admirable is his attitude. Yes, you can lose the spot, but you may never lose the attitude. He still fights, he still believes. And depite Nadal taking the top spot, Federer still feels that this has been a good year for him, and with the upcoming Olympics and US Open, he thinks it can still be a great year…losses and all.  And that’s what makes Federer the number 1 tennis player of all time. More than the skills, he has the best attitude!

Nadal may be the number 1 today, but the best of Nadal cannot beat the best of Federer…and you can quote me on that!

:)

(http://contactnaveen.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/fed.jpg)