Welcome to Star City

It's been a yearly event for me and hubby to visit Star City. Whether it's before or after Christmas as long as we try the different rides offered by Star City. Our original plan was to go to Enchanted Kingdom, however, things are really expensive there and we didn't have much money to fund for our transportation. Anyway, probably this year, 2008 would be a good year to visit EK. Hmm..

The Ride-All-You-Can costs P 300, and additional entrance fee for Dino Land and Snow World Manila for P 150. Supposedly if you buy them seperately that's a P 100 for Dino Land and Snow World for another P 100.

Things still look like the same, the tiangge is still there, where you could buy from toys, cellphones, clothes and even pets. You can still see the games where the prizes are huge toys hanging in their boots.

Anyway, our first ride was the Flying Carpet, it wasn't scary anymore, after, hhhmm.. the 20th time I ride on it? hehehehe.. Still, hubby's making fun of those first timers, scaring the hell out of them, silly but it was fun. We then had our merienda, for a small sized pizza, you can spend 80-90 pesos, good for two (slim people), the taste is good enough, you wouldn't mind eating it since you're in a theme park. And then we tried the Dino Land, it's like the old Lion King without the boat. I think it's not worth the P 100 bucks and you would really mind going back. Then there's the famous ride, if I remember it right, Star Rider, the one with the most line, I tried it twice and the less than 30-second ride was fun, just make sure you don't lose your slippers and bags because it will flip you over 360 degrees in the air. There's still the other rides which I can't remember their name. The last one I tried was the Surf Dance, I still remember last year when I almost vomitted. It was hair raising at first, but when I tried it again, it wasn't so bad at all, I even enjoyed it. The most enjoying part though is the Snow World. Just a hint, they would ask you if you have a camera, it will be a little stupid of you if you say yes, so just keep them unseen, so you could take pictures anywhere you want. It just looks a big freezer but the point there is it's really cold inside and you would really think you're in Alaska. I included some of the pictures here, so enjoy..


The Surf Dance



Scared ako..

Peace while waiting for our turn

Icillicious..

Welcome to Snow World

The Eiffel Tower, sana totoo..

Freezing??

With a scary child at the back..

Wow.. White na white..

The Carpet ride..

Still at the carpet ride..

Ayaw ni Bebe dyan..

Same here..

Dino Island.. pose si Bebe..

Ang Land na walang wenta..

Trip to the Manila Zoo

Oh boy, work is indeed been hindering from my blogging.. I so miss my blogging life where every so often time really permits me in writing stuff for my oh so love blog. Hmm.. what's new with me again? Oh just last January 11 my hubby and I went to Manila Zoo. It had been a not so nice experience since I didn't get to see a lot of animals. Though there were a few that I did enjoy seing again, like my favorite gorilla who at one point spit near where I was standing almost 20 years ago, heheheh.. Dunno if he's still the same gorilla, but boy I'm still afraid of him. There were like 20-30 crocodiles, though I noticed one that's practically floating from the mud like water, and we all knew that it was dead. Oh wawa naman.. Anyway, I saw a zebra, an animal I don't see often, I don't remember seing it in Malabon Zoo. I was extremely excited when I saw the cages for the lions and tigers, though I only saw a lion in one of the 4-5 cages there, which are nearly dilapidated, somehow, they look as if they are extinct as well. Hmm.. there were many unggoys hehehhe.. I even saw the nice looking elephant statue, I remember getting the same angle of picture back when I was just a kid, still the same elephant. I didn't get to see the long neck, I was expecting to see it though, a few snakes, birds are getting few, a few toytols (turtles) and some horses. And before I forget, one animal that would immediately welcome you is the biggie elephant, a real one, he or she's been marching all day, from and to his humble abode, ehehhhe..

Details of the place.. If you're planning to take your kids or kids of your kids, you can bring them there for only 20 pesos per head - for kids. For adults it's for 40 pesos. And if you're a resident of Manila, there's a 50% discount for your entrance. Not to worry if you forgot to bring a camera since there are nice photographers willing to take your pic for a high price of 100 pesos, good enough though since only a few would forget about bringing a camera in such places, especially with kids. The day we went there it was raining, and saddest part is we forgot to bring an umbrella, it's as if the zoo knew it, they are selling umbrellas too. A 2-3 fold umbrella costs 60 pesos and the big one for 120 pesos.

It had been 20 years ago that I saw this place, it was heavenly like for me, now, I feel sorry for the animals who've been captured and were forced to live in that kind of place. We would just probably visit Ark of Avilon which is just 2 rides away from where we live in the next few weeks..

But anyway, these are the pics from the zoo..

The mangangagat.. takot ako ehehehe

The suplados

The crockeys..

The elephanty..

The magpanggap na elephant with me..

The horses..

The zebra.. sayang feeding time kasi..

Kutuhan time..

The toytol

Recap from October to December of 2007

Wow, I miss blogging.. It's like I miss half of my life when I stopped blogging.. I got a lot to share with you guys.. Probably I'll start where I left off.. Last October was one of the lowest of my married life. Jeff got hospitalized during late October till November. He was out of work for a month. When we brought him to UST, it was only the second day of his hospitalization when we found out that his health card, which I forgot the name, he got this from Convergys though, would not cover the charges. So, in a week's time, the bill accumulated to 30,000 pesos. I tried every way just to get the money, I took my chance with Mrs. Santos again, I was able to borrow 10,000 from her and another 10,000 from a friend of mine, Jhomai (thanks girl). I waited till I get my salary and decided to just bail Jeff off from that freaking hospital, which didn't really help get him well. Anyway, after a week of hell in UST, we only waited a day and I brought him to Medical City, I immediately brought him his Medicard, which is his secondary card from Dell, he's my dependent. That card saved my ass since they covered almost everything, except for some phone bills and his cast which only amounted to 168 pesos. Aside from that, I was able to get about 80 percent of the money we shell out in UST through reimbursement. And to pay for our debts and bills I had to get a loan from SSS which I'll start paying by January of 2008. We were also near the separation stage in early December because of some differences and stress.



Another thing that happened just last Christmas eve was when my brother incurred Dengue, the worst sickness ever. It started out just a simple fever, we almost spent our Christmas eve in the hospital. Come Christmas day, mom brought him to the Meycauayan Doctor's Hospital, which I don't really recommend you guys doing, but since this is the nearest hospital from our place, mom made the wrong decision. Anyway, it took them three days to realize that the hospital was just after their money, they paid 7500 for a freaking room and some medicines that did nothing to cure my lil bro. So mom brought him to the public hospital and after some hours the fever started to to go down slowly. As of this writing we're still waiting for the doctor's confirmation that come next week he's fully cured.



I was always stressed the whole year and this year brought me a lot of tears. I just wish 2008 will bring me luck and joy and I hope it will prosper our life.

Busy week

It's the first week of October and I'm still my busy self. Aside from my jam packed schedule I'm also caring for Jeff, he's actually sick right now, he's got asthma and he's really suffering from it. He's not been able to go to work and now I don't even allow him to move arround. We're running out of money again because his medicines costs atleast 150 pesos a day. This doesn't include his medicine for flue. I'm too worried about his condition that I asked him not to go to his Grandfather's 40 days' commemoration. I'm really hoping he'd be okay within the next couple of days as he was only given until Monday to go to work. He was injected with steroids when I rushed him to Medical City the other night, it was actually part of his medication, only we bought not the injectable. We stayed there for atleast 6 hours and when he was feeling a little better we went home.

Earnings for charity

I was just emailed by a good friend of mine about this survey stuff, just answered them, btw, they're really quick survey and $1 of that will go the my chosen charity, PetSmart Charities. Do check it out..
https://www.dneero.com/survey.jsf?surveyid=28

Busy week

A lot had happened since the last time I posted. After a grueling and busy week of attending meetings and creating reports before the deadline I got exhausted. During the last week's day off, I busied myself doing the laundry, cleaning up the house and all, after that day I slept and when I woke up I felt a tingling pain at the back of my ears. At first I thought I just slept and woke up at the wrong side of the bed, but when I went to work that night the pain became worst. It felt like mumps. So I went to see the office doctor, he did not confirm it but they wanted me to go home immediately because I may be positive of mumps. I secured a request for CBC so as soon as I woke up Sunday morning, after feeding my babies, Aia, Ebe and Lola, I rushed to Megamall to have my blood tested. After an hour of waiting for an available doctor and an hour for the CBC results it came out with just a regular swollen lymp nodes. They gave me medication for the pain and antibiotic for bacteria. So, I went back home, decided to live my normal life, but alas, I just can't bear the pain. I was not myself during the medication stage, I didn't go to work for 4 straight days, and I was so helpless. Come Thursday my hubby assisted me to the same hospital, only I went straight to a specialist. The doctor saw an infection on my right ear, just right where the pain is coming from. He gave the same medication, only I will have to get this liquid form drops to use. Somehow, the pain and the gravity of the infection lessen but then I suffered from flue and slight fever. Aside from the Mefenamic Acid, the antibiotic, and the drops, I also had to take in medications for flue and fever and vitamins. Oh, well, it's been a hell of a week, I just spent more than a thousand bucks just for my medicine, and I didn't get to work for 4 days and missed my stats. But I guess everything really happened for a reason. I just don't know them yet. I'm still sick as of writing and my ears are still infected, still taking medication and the drops but I already decided to go to work because I know I got a lot of things to do.


Well, enough of that somehow bad news, just last Friday, our payday, I got my mid year bonus and that led to purchase a new phone, I just got myself my most wanted phone, Sony Ericcson K600i. It's one of the cheapest 3G phones in the market. I got it from Greenhills and Im really excited to use it. Then just now, the night before our big party (2nd Anniversary celebration) my hubby sent me 1 dozen of roses, delivered right at our office here in Eastwood. Wow, it's just overwhelming. Hmm..

News.. News.. News..

Wow, it's been a long week for me. It started last Sunday when my hubby brought home this lovely puppy, I named her Aia, after the name of the vocalist of Imago. She's really cute and chubby, she's all black but her toes were somehow painted with white. I'm still having difficulties waking up at noon just to feed her. It's different, a lot different from taking care of rabbits. Anyways, I'll post some of her pics here in the next few days.


Last few weeks, during my 1 month training through SMB, my SL (service lead) told me I'll be the POC (point of contact) for QMT (quality dept) of my team. I'll be attending meetings, all throughout the week, creating reports, etc. Well, I'll elaborate on that on the next few posts.


What's important is the recent news I just got last Thursday morning before we ended our shift. I just heard that I'm the top agent for the whole month of July for the entire site. Isn't that exciting? eheheheh...

Pics from my sister's 19th birthday

July 21, 2007, my sister's 19th Birthday celebration, it was supposed to be done on July 19, her birthdate but since she's in school and I got work, we're not able to get a better date but this one. Anyways, we enjoyed it though we had to wait for her because she got some activities in school.

Ratatouille cum Simpsons

Last Saturday, August 11, 2007, me and Jeff went straight to Glorietta 4 to watch Ratatouille, it's the newest Pixar movie, so eventhough I get disgusted whenever I see rats, we still watched it. The movie and plotting were good but still I get squimish (I don't really know how to describe what I feel) everytime I see flocks of rats squirming in the kitchen of Gusteau. I don't think they're still clean enough to prepare food for humans. Anyways, I still tried to enjoy the movie and I was happy that it ended even before I puked. When we got out of the movie house we saw this Simpsons statues. I personally like them but not to the point of watching their movie. Enjoy the pictures.

Pics from capping and pinning..

Here are just some of the pics of my sister's capping.. enjoy..

Capping and Pinning...

Last Friday was indeed really tiring, I started out waking up earlier than my daily ritual. I had to prepare for the whole day. I went to work, attended the training for three hours then left because I had to attend something really important. I then went back to my station to finish a little more of duties in Dell. I then went to my friend and previous colleague in Siemens to pay my dues. After nearly 15 minutes waiting for her at the lobby I went straight to Cubao to find a more comfortable footwear, since nothing fit my somehow small size of 9 inches foot I just shrugged it off because I know I'll have to content myself with my 1 inch sandals. I headed for SM North since I'll have to meet my mom there so she could get a decent clothes to wear for my sister's big day. I waited for over an hour for her so I went to Jollibee to have a quick brunch, im glad I did. So, we spent 30 minutes trying to rush things and looked for that special blouse that would fit my mom, who I think is a size 15, I know because im almost her size, hehehehe.. So, because we're so in a rush, as soon as she fitted the first brown blouse we headed straight to the cashier and paid it. We almost ran because my sister kept texting mom to rush straight to MCU. While inside the cab we took turns in painting our faces and lips to be a little bit presentable. We came there almost late because they were about to start when we took our seats. The program started with a thanksgiving mass, whew one of the longest catholic mass I've attended, it took almost an hour and a half. Then the main part of the program started, my sister's and her colleagues' capping and pinning. It was a memorable experience for my sister and my mom, it signifies that their dream is almost near, she's about to reach them. Though it was tiring, I know my presence did made her day. I wanted to spend more time with them and go back to Valenzuela to sleep and rest but my work on Saturday did not permit me to. So, tiring as I am, after a sumptous (wow) meal at Jollibee I headed back to Pasig, I got home around 11 pm. I nearly ended my day but because Jeff usually arrives at 1 am, I had to wake up to eat dinner with him. Such busy day but it was well worth it.. Probably tom I'll upload all the pics. No time right now..

Training

I've been in Dell for over 5 months and I have to undergo another training. We're now converting to SMB (Small and Medium Business) from CTS (Consumer something). The first day was a little boring, today, I'm learning more and more. We've discussed more on computer's basic parts. We've started with the mobo, proc, power supply and memory. I've learned just a little more than what I have stored in my head. Now, I have learned that mobo's have ATX and BTX, memory chips differ in speed and sizes and they have their own configuration. There are different kinds of power cables, one that attaches to mobo, storage devices and proc. We're just a little half way through the day and we still have so much to learn. Probably in the next couple of days I would post a few of our pics.

Minneapolis bridge collapses - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com

One of the worst news I've heard last week during a call was about this bridge. I was on a call when my caller, who was watching her TV while troubleshooting with me suddenly made comments like, Oh, that's horrible.. It's terrible.. Oh my God.. At first I didn't really know what to do, I don't want to shrug it off like nothing really happened. So, I decided to see this link about the incident. Please click the link.

Minneapolis bridge collapses - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com

Challenges

Life had been a little tough for me and Jeff, I've never imagined that we will reach as far as getting money from a person who lends money for an interest rate of 20 percent. Whew that was hard, getting just P4000 was really tough, I had to come up with some IDs, since I wasn't that informed and we badly needed the money I had to leave our medicards and his work ID. Good thing was a week ago he was able to get his back pay that was due last month, which we waited for so long. God still blessed us and we were able to get back my ATM and the IDs we left her. We were also able to survive this week's so to speak, drought. With just P1000 we're now trying to survive until my payday on Friday and his payday on the 15th. By then, we would be able to pay our debts. The P500 I owe my friend, the P500 we owe our Godmother, my credit card bill that amounted to I guess, P10,000, our rent for P6000 and some other bills I really have to pay. I know God will give us the courage to pursue life together while battling life's challenges.

Getting rich

I'm just wondering when exactly am I gonna get rich? ehehehhe

I can see the light, at long last

Puro nalang problema

Last day nanaman ng buwan, ito hirap parin.. Nakahiram nga ako sa 5-6, sobrang 5-6 nga sya kasi kailangan 3 sweldo lang ang bayaran, ang nahiram kong 4000, 800 tubo. Pero sabi ni Mrs. Santos pag binayaran ko within 15 days eh 400 nalang ang tubo nya. Yung 500 dun pinahiram ko sa nanay ni Jeff na kasalukuyang naghihirap din. Yung tira, pinangbaon naming 2 at pinangkain ang pambayad ng electric bill. Mahirap, sobrang hirap ng sitwasyon namin, hindi ako masyadong makapag isip. Parang binabarahan lahat ng problema ang utak ko at di ko maintindihan ang lahat ng dumarating. Unang una ay ang pambayad ng bahay, kahit pa sabihing naitatabi ko naman ang pambayad dito pero kulang parin. Pambayad sa credit card ko, ilang buwan narin akong di nakakahulog, pambayad sa phone, iniexpect ko na ilang weeks nalang lalabas na ang bill ko dun at isa pang bayaran yun. Sa totoo lang di ko iniexpect na mamomroblema ako ng ganito, at kung alam ko lang di ko na sana sinigundahan ang idea ng asawa ko na lumipat ng bahay, mas naging komplikado ang lahat. Sana lang madaan ko sya sa tulog, pero ang totoo ilang buwan ko nang gustong iyakan lahat lahat ng ngyayari sa amin, sa akin. Lahat nalang ng napupundar kong gamit eh out of date na, ang cellphone ko, ilang taon naba ang nakakaraaan ng huli ko syang palitan. Kailan nga ba ako huling bumili ng maayos na gamit? Puro nalang para sa bahay ang nabibili ko, siguro nga nagseself pity lang ako, at ngayon nga ultimo kama namin di kami makabili dahil sa problema namin ngayon. Si Jeff, nagstart nga sya sa CVG pero may chance na matanggal pa sya, more than 2 weeks na syang pumapasok at syempre dapat ay may nakatabing pangpamasahe nya mula sa sweldo ko, 15 days pa bago ang unang sweldo nya. Ang araw naman dumadaan at parang ang bagal bagal, parang wala akong pupuntahan. Paulit ulit sa araw araw. Sumweldo na ako nung Friday last week, pero ang sweldo syempre may kaltas ng 1600 para dun sa 5-6. yung natira pinanggrocery, pamalengke, at pambayad sa bahay. Nabigyan ko na rin ng pera para sa pamasahe si Jeff. Kahapon naman pag uwi ng asawa ako, ramdam ko agad na may problema sya. Nalaman ko after naming mag dinner na delikado nga sya sa CVG. Would you imagine, pera na nga ang problema namin pero heto at di pa sya sinuswerte sa trabaho. Nu nga ba ang magagawa ko? Saan pa nga ba ako kukuha ng pera? Minsan nga nakakahiya na, sa call center kami nagtatrabaho pero ito, ni isang pirasong panty di ako makabili. Kailan nga ba masusulusyunan ang problema ko? kailan???

MP3 downloads

I've learned something new that I'd like to share to you. All these years I've really wanted to be able to download MP3s from the internet, but I was never able to download because I don't know how. Till, a friend of my mine and a colleague gave me a specific hint, using google and this: intitle:index.of? mp3 (name of the artist). You would be able to get the best websites to download the best MP3s. Be careful though because there are sites that would allow you to download songs sang by impersonators, fake singers. Hehehe..

5-6.. Answered prayer or bawal na hiram?

Dahil sa kailangan ko talaga ng money para pambayad sa monthly bills ko this end of the month kinailangan na naming kumagat sa 5-6. Actually first time kong mangutang ng 5-6, although nanghihiram ang mama ko nun sa bumbay at sa nagpapa 5-6 sa aming lugar para sa pang enroll ko nung college, never ko pa talaga nagawang mangutang for myself. But because sobrang higpit na ng need namin for money eh kailangan na talaga. 20 percent ang tubo, kailangan pa nasa kanya ang ATM for 3 consecutive payout para sure daw na makakabayad kami, kailangan pa ng company ID saka payslip, oh diba, kulang nalang magbackground check sila. Contact lang sya ng mother in law ko, nagipit lang talaga kaya kahit na nga 5-6 eh papatulan na namin. Sana nga makaraos kami sa ganito, im really wishing. I've been actually praying na magkaroon kami ng pera, just enough to sustain our needs until the end of the month, sana nga we did the right thing.

Still not enough

Jeff started his new Job last Monday, July 16, 2007. It was an A-Ok start for him but he also got the worst bad news I've heard that day. He was an hour early, they were dismissed early because it was their first day, they didn'treally have anything to do so they just went home. Anyway, he said that his salary will only be credited on Aug. 15, which is almost a month from his start date. I didn't know how to react because we were already expecting that he'll get his salary at the end of the month and we will be able to pay our debts. I've not been able to pay my credit card for 3 months, our phone bill is due on the 30th, we owe his aunt 1K pesos and I owe a friend of mine 500 pesos. It's really difficult to think about what's happening, it's really getting out of our control. I don't want to think about it, but hey, it's money, we can't survive without it, that's reality. So, I decided to panic. I started by sending SMS to my friends, was able to borrow 500 pesos from a friend of mine. I know it's not gonna be a good week for us, especially that my sister's birthday is due tom, I'm bound to give her 1K on Saturday because she'll be inviting her friends for a small party at my mom's house. Anyway, I hope God help me and Jeff get through this situation.

Another week of higpit sinturon

Oh well, ito na nga ang sinasabi ko, Monday palang ubos na ang sweldo ko at nakapangutang na ako sa mga friends ko. Imagine naman, nagbayad ako sa rent ng bahay, tubig, groceries at namalengke pa ako. Itinabi ko narin ang pera para sa birthday ng sister ko. Nagbayad pa ako dun sa nagkabit ng phone namin. Dapat kasi sisingilin kami ng Globe ng more than P1500 para sa overspan ng linya namin, malayo daw kasi kami sa box eh, pero since nagawan ng paraan ng technician, nagbigay kami ng P800, atleast menos na diba. Pamasahe pa ni Jeff sa mga susunod na araw dahil start na sya sa Convergys. Kaya nakakahiya man, I had to do something kesa naman magutom kaming dalawa. Nagtext na ako sa friends ko, at nakapangako naman sila ng tulong, tig 500 ang hiniraman ko, dalawa sila. So, siguro naman medyo enough na yun until sa susunod kong sweldo next Friday.

Unti unti ng lumiliit ang mundo namin, lumalala ang nararamdaman kong stress, di ko pa mapaayos ang ngipin ko, gusto kong ipa root canal but financially alam kong di kakayanin, bahala na, kaya nga halos araw araw na akong gumagastos dahil sa sakit na nararamdaman ko. I'm just hoping that this time magtagal si Jeff sa work nya, as much as I would like to take care of him, di ko magawa ng 100 percent kasi nagwowork din ako. Oh, sana lang matapos na ang buwan na to, I know we both can make it, sana God will give the strength to surpass all these trials.

Higpit ng sinturon

Dumating na ang sweldo, pero hell, kailangan parin ng ibayong pagtitipid. Kailangan parin kasi kaming magbayad ng bahay, birthday pa ng kapatid ko, syempre naman kailangan kahit papano meron syang handa, at ako ang sagot. Kailangan din namin gumastos para sa iba pang requirements ni Jeff sa bago nyang trabaho. Kailangan din naming mamalengke at mag grocery, marami rin kaming kailangang bilhin para sa bahay. Nag alot narin kami ng pera para sa start nya sa Convergys, pamasahe and pambaon. We're both hoping na may swelduhin sya sa katapusan para may pandagdag kami sa panggastos sa bahay. And sana nga dumating na ang hinihintay naming back pay nya, matagal na rin kasing inaasahan namin yun. Nakalaan narin yun para sa pagbili ng bed namin. Sa ngayon kasi Japanese style parin ang aming bed kasi nga di na namin nadala yung dapt naming kama sa bagong bahay.. Sana nga makaraos kami.. I know we will, with God's help.

Transformers

Grabe Dell had really proven that they are so much concerned about their employees' welfare. One of the few things na hindi ko na masyado magawa is ang panunuod ng sine with my hubby, lack of time na rin kasi. Tapos, they gave some teasers about the film Transformers. Syempre I was so excited, kaso nga lang I got worried kasi baka exclusive sya for Dell employees. But since tickets naman ang pinamimigay I found a way to get a ticket for my hubby. 5:10 nag start ang movies, umpisa palang napa Wow na talaga kami, ang GANDA grabe. All the stunts were amazing, lalo na ang mga autobots. Although di ko talaga naging fascination ang manuod ng transformers kahit nung bata pa ako, pero napahanga ako ni Steven Spielberg. It was a very good movie. Napanganga na nga lang ako kasi talagang Wow. Anyways, kahit medyo late na kami nakauwi ng asawa ko it was worth it. We enjoyed it so much.