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I have been so busy with the holidays (not to mention getting sick a few days before Christmas) that I had neglected this site for a few days. But I’m still here having fun (in spite of sleepless nights taking care of our toddler and newborn) and making the most of the vacation.

The Pinoys’ Christmas celebration is really something! Started from early November and this festive mood and celebration will end early January, right after the Three Kings. This entails a lot of family reunions, get together with close friends, Christmas parties, shopping until midnight, and many more. It is a month long celebration, I tell you.

For now, we are taking a rest from the Christmas rush just to re-charge again for the New Year celebration. SO many things to look forward to. A family getaway. A loong-awaited massage. A haircut that I have put off because I got sick. A post Christmas get together and more!

So, will be back with stories about how it went and photos too!

But for the mean time, while we are taking a break from all of it, will do a little reading about healthy grilling to serve for the New Year Eve’s at my in laws. (*wink*)

Nope, the holidays are not yet over! There are still more activities to look forward to. I’m still on vacation mode so I had to put off my research about disability insurance for a relative because I want to spend more quality time with my family.

Here are activities from Mom Center that you also want to check out before the year ends.

Intramuros History Town Philippines 5 to 31 Dec 2008 Craft demonstration & workshops, Pinoy handicrafts & delicacies, light and sound museum Venue: Intramuros, Metro Manila Time: 11.00am to 9.00pm Tel: (632) 523-8411 Cost: Free Admission

Miniatures Pastry Gifts for the Holidays 1 to 31 Dec 2008 Create a one-of-a kind holiday gift. Venue: Hyatt hotel and Casino Manila Tel: (632) 245-1234

Lego Christmas Village Exhibit runs until January 2009 An amazing diorama made of Lego toy blocks. Venue: Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City Time: 11.00am to 9.00pm Tel: (632) 816-2372 Cost: Free Admission

If you talk to a guy, the most typical topic you would want to talk to him about is car care. This can be about mags, wheels, paint, brakes and more. I had a taste of the “men’s car world” when I worked in a transport show. Everything was there. And I guess every guy in Manila is there too!

Did you know that there is a site that talks about car care in the web already? They offer services and make sure that you can really trust them. It’s called Atlantic Car Care. They have offered a lot like Wilmington NC brakes and other car parts that you need. But they are proud of the good service that they give to their clients. They are a friendly, clean and efficient shop. They also understand that sometimes car repair can be stressful that’s why they do everything possible to make their customers feel welcome, comfortable and satisfied with their service experience.

With this, I can conclude that you can do almost everything using the internet. I realized that when I lost my internet connection for several days. It is a necessity now especially if you want so many information like car care and you need it fast!

I have always love our house. Ever since it was built last year, I can say that I fell in love with it and now that we are living in it for more than a year now, I can truly say that it is now our home. It’s not as classy as Schumacher Homes though but it serves its purpose. It is safe and that the most important part here is that we have roofs under our head, we have simple beds to sleep on and a table to eat our meals! I know it sounds so sentimental, but really, I feel so blessed to have it at such a young age.

Hubby and I conceptualized all the designs and details of our home. Just like the Schumacher Homes, we wanted everything to be perfect. If I knew this company before, I could have check them out and see if they can design our house. They actually custom built houses and they conceptualized your dream house. For now, our home is our home sweet home but I think Hubby has still a dream house in mind. He wanted more, not actually bigger but safer and homier, if you know what I mean. We may not have it as soon as possible, but hopefully in a few years time just before the kids would grow up. With this I hope we can also afford the Schumacher Homes to design for us!

I can’t believe that today is the start of simbang gabi already. I have so many good memories of this tradition. As a family, we would wake up at 3:30 in the morning just to hear mass and then afterwards we would buy some Christmas foodies like bibingka and puto bumbong for our breakfast. We would do this for 9 days up until the Christmas midnight mass.

All Pinoys have a memory of their simbang gabi. It started since the Spanish era and Pinoys have been practicing it ever since.

I have gathered a couple of articles from Manila Bulletin and GMA News about how the first day of simbang gabi went this year.

Here’s the video from saksi…

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

Here’s another one from Manila Bulletin. Click here.

To all those who are having this tradition this year, I hope you get to finish the 9-day novena masses.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that ever since I gave birth, I was able to catch up on my reading. But I opted on reading about financial or budget management instead of just the same old novels. With this I was able to learn a lot! And this is just in a span of 2 weeks.

I noticed that debts particularly Credit Card Debt are one of the major problems of Pinoys these days. It’s not that we shouldn’t get a credit card, but the important thing here is that we should learn to manage it and settle it on due dates. Now that Debt Settlement is out there, bankruptcy has been avoided and debt has been settled pretty well. They offer benefits such as lowering of monthly payments due to reduced interest and making only one affordable payment every month. They also guarantee an absolutely debt free within 1-3 years. They will talk to your creditors and make sure not to risk your home or other personal property if ever you miss a payment in a month.

This is the the best thing that ever happened – having to have a company that would shoulder you in case of cash emergencies or credit card worries. But for me, it is important to still settle as much credit as you can so there is less hassle on your part.

Here’s another great news from Good News Pilipinas! I just love reading some news like this. It makes me feel proud of our country. How about you? Do you want to feel proud? Check it out! (*wink*)

The Philippines has landed on the list of top 10 most-searched travel destinations among Shanghai online users of China’s leading search engine Baidu, according to a research done by Darwin Marketing.

Baidu comprises 72 percent of the Chinese online market, and is the third largest search engine in the world in December last year.

Google posted a 19 percent share in the same market, placing it at a distant second to Baidu

The Philippines is 8th among the top travel destinations, with Japan placing 1st; South Korea, 2nd; Thailand, 3rd; Singapore, 4th; Australia, 5th; Bali, 6th; Malaysia, 7th; North Korea, 9th; and France, 10th.

Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano acknowledged the good news, saying, “On top of this report, we have several other developments in progress for China. It is a strong market which will augment the slowdown in other regions.”

Referring to the information provided by the Shanghai Tourism Board, Durano mentioned that the board has reported a 57 percent increase in tour group movement from Shanghai to the Philippines.

He added that Shanghai Post also complimented the country for getting the biggest increase in visa collections, with a 65 percent year-to-date growth rate recorded from January to October of 2008.

Apart from the data gleaned from these reports, DOT Undersecretary for Planning and Promotions Eduardo Jarque Jr. also highlighted several positive reinforcements coming from the air transportation sector.

“Three additional flights to Cebu and the Hangzhou-Manila charter will soon be offered regularly. Charters, which include two-three flights a week for Hangzhou-Manila, Hangzhou-Cebu, and Shanghai-Kalibo are now in negotiations to accommodate the increase in traffic during the Chinese New Year,” Jarque said.

The Chinese market is the fourth top tourism source, posting a 5.4 percent increase in tourist arrivals from January to October of this year. (Story courtesy of PNA)

That’s what I feel right now ever since I decided to change the theme of this blog. I have been researching all over about the Top Wordpress Themes but I still couldn’t decide which one to use. All of the themes out there are very nice!

My research started on trying to find what themes mean. Before I started my blogs, I have no idea what these themes are. It basically controls the appearance and the presentation of the wordpress website on the internet. When I tried one theme, I was hooked!

Another thing is that it’s free and so easy to use. It is a good thing that every wordpress blog requires a theme. If not, I would still use one for all of my blogs.

More activities that you may want to check out at Trinoma! These are nice for the kids and adults as well. And the best part is the Simbang Gabi that you can hear at night too. So if you don’t want to wake up too early for this tradition, this is perfect for you!

* Photo from ShopCrazy.

We had a change of heart and disregard our initial plans of what we are giving my in-laws. This happened as soon as we saw Sony’s S-Frame Digital Photo Frame! We loved it to bits. So since we haven’t given them our anniversary gift yet, we thought of giving this wonderful gadget. I just hope they will like it.

* Snagged from My Digital Life

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As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, we’re 90% done with our shopping. So during these days, all I’m thinking is what to give for myself! LOL! Should I invest in a diet pill so I could start losing weight already?