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*Grabbed from BBC website.

Happy Chinese New Year everybody! A bit late though.

How was your Chinese New Year?

My Mom celebrated the new year (even though she is not Chinese). She is very traditional and would like to get some luck this year of the Ox. She prepared fruits, rice, and more during the Chinese New Year’s eve.

Here are some things I want to share about some predictions (I was born in the year of the horse) in the year of the Ox:

For the Horse (1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990) should be prepared as his luck would go to both extremes in the year of the Ox. Lucky stars shining on him in 2009 would be able to help him achieve success in his career, however some unlucky stars are also shining that could bring him tragedies and difficulties. These difficulties he should all pass before he will be able to taste the fruits of his hard work.

One lucky star that has influence on his work and career is the lucky star Jiang Xing. This star represents bravery, stamina and persistence in achieving success. This star also signifies better social status and leadership skills, which would benefit the Horse who is involved in the upper management, disciplinary teams and key positions in large corporations. They can expect satisfactory performance this year.

The star Di Lie could bring the Horse major problems, but with the help of influential people he would be able to face all the problems and solve them. Another star, Di Jie signifies moving. This could mean a new house for the Horse, a new real estate or new furniture.

Bai Fu is a star that signifies animal bites, Horses who have pets or who are working closely with animals are advised to take extra caution. Another interpretation for the star Bai Fu is a woman without sense who might bring great annoyance to the Horse.

One star that means good luck in wealth and career is the star Jin Gui. However the Horse and his family members might suffer poor health and injury on limbs and some teeth problems. Overall, the Horse can expect to make progress in the year of the Ox, as he can also look to have some changes in his environment. However, special attention should be given to his own physical and mental health and he also need to take care of his family members.

Do you think I should believe it?

Details taken from here.

This is my latest addiction.

From Red Ribbon’s website:

The first ever creation in the Premium Selection by Red Ribbon to suit your penchant for giving your loved ones only the exceptional. A symphony of luxurious flavors – exquisitely smooth coffee and Kahlua cream in decadently moist chiffon, with walnuts, cocoa powder and dark chocolate bars.

I had a taste of this a few weeks ago during my brother-in-law’s birthday celebration and I couldn’t get over it.

So we bought one whole cake for my sister’s birthday last Sunday. They loved it to bits too! I will probably get another one whole cake on our Anniversary next Friday. (*grin*)

I admit, I have been bad to myself lately.

This is because of sleepless nights, eating bad food like cakes, chips and softdrinks, and no exercise. I just can’t help it. I have been tired to do all the “good” stuff. If you can still remember, I just gave birth to our second baby girl and doing these “bad” stuff to myself feels like the right thing. (Bad!)

But now that it is the new year, I promised that I will be good. After taking the OGTT two weekends ago, I realized that I should be on a diet starting now and forget about eating the bad stuff or else I will be diabetic in no time.

While I was thinking of the things that I have to do to prove that I love myself, I thought of how would I feel if I do the breast enhancement surgery in the next few years. It is the most common surgery for women in UK and it has become so popular that almost all women want to do it. It is a simple procedure according to MYA or Make Yourself Amazing. The recovery is quick too considering that you only have a week away from work which already includes removing of stitches and dressings. I wonder what Hubby will think if I bring this up with him!?

After the unforgettable experience at Nurture Spa, I realized that I wanted more. More massage, more facial massage, and more foot spa. So, after a few weeks, I went back this time to The Spa with my sister and Mom to have another day of pampering.

We availed of the following package:

Refreshing Start Package
Aromafacial Massage
Choice of Foot Therapy
(Peppermint Foot Rub, Oriental Foot Therapy or Thai Foot Massage)
Choice of Deluxe Body Massage
(Swedish, Shiatsu, or Deep Tissue)

It was my sister’s birthday and it was their Christmas gift for me. It was perfect timing.

We went at the Fort (High Street) branch last Sunday. I was amazed at how the place was designed. I loved it! It was modern/zen type of design. The only thing I didn’t like about the branch is that it was too small. They only have four bathrooms and one big jacuzzi. The wet spa/sauna was small too.

But when we checked out their villas, they were really nice and I realized that they were catering a different market.

Take note that you need to have reservations before going there to make sure that you will be accommodated. Hopefully I would be able to bring Hubby here one of these days.

I am definitely a fan of Rex Smith after hearing his songs when I was in College. Here are the details that you might want to know about his Valentine concert this coming February.

With guests Faith Cuneta, Olivia, The Cercados and the RX80’s Band, Rex Smith will sing for us on February 12, 2009 at 7PM at the Heritage Hotel. He will also have a concert at PICC CCP Complex on February 13, 2009 at 8PM.

Rex Smith is known for his songs such as “Simply Jessie,” “Forever,” “You Take My Breath Away,” “Let’s Make A Memory,” “Foolish Heart,” “Everlasting Love,” “Steal Away,” “True,” “Could It Be Magic,” and many more.

Tickets are available at Ticketworld 891-99-99, National Bookstores, Ayala Malls, Robinsons Outlets and Cebu Pacific Outlets.

I hope I get to watch this once in a lifetime concert with Hubby. I haven’t seen any concert for YEARS! But for now we will have to talk about discount dining room furniture first since there is one that I saw over the weekend that is really nice.

Ever since I discovered the power of the internet, I can’t help but be amazed on the things that you can do online. One major discovery is the online booking. This is especially useful if you travel abroad or outside Manila.

An Australian website that I recently came across is called Last Minute. They offer a lot like last minute accommodation, last minute flights, and more. You can book everything through this website and the nice about it is that it is user friendly. You can find a hotel by name or you can refine your search according to country and region/city. They also have advanced options if you want to book according to the rating of the hotel and budget of course.

They also have cheap flights. And if you are traveling around Australia, they give you good offers everyday. Another one that made me like the website is the information that they give about travel insurance. They can give you quotation of travel insurance within Australia or even around the world. If you are interested and is happy with their rates, then you can avail of these through the website. They have pretty much everything there and if you check it out, I’m sure you will get everything that you need.

*Snagged from DessertComesFirst.com.

Now, I’m officially a “Nama Addict” (if there is such a word).

The first I tried Nama chocolates by Royce, I was ecstatic. You see, I was avoiding chocolates while I was pregnant so when I gave birth, I just can’t help but try the famous nama by Royce which recently just opened in Rockwell last November.

I so, so love it!

*Snagged from DessertComesFirst.com.

So that’s why we decided to give my brother-in-law two boxes of liquor free and one box of truffles. He loved it to bits.

Would definitely be in London!

I know that London hotels are pretty much expensive not to mention the air fare but this has been my dream ever since I was a child. There are just so many things to do there and so many places to see. To think that it has been there for 2000 years already. The good thing about traveling to London though is that I have the option to go for cheap London hotels. There are a lot of websites that can provide that information. London hotel is one of the things that I can book online. I can choose which area and according to my budget.

Did you know that there is a website called London-Hotel co.uk produced by Londoners just for the people who want to visit London? This website gives the us all the information that we need. From hotels London, airport hotels, places to visit and more. They also provide us with a little bit of history, transportation, and shopping. But this website focused mainly on hotel london wherein it is basically the need of tourists to know before visiting the city.

Just for fun, I tried this test. Check it out! You might want to try it too! (*wink*)

You Are Chili

You are a competitive and fun-loving person. You love the outdoors. You enjoy games and sports of all kinds. You are an adventurous and gutsy eater. If it’s unusual, you’re game! You’ll go for strange ingredients, mystery meat, and spicy flavors.

Aside from planning our budget, resources, food and more for the year 2009, we also planned our Family Vacations early. You see, we already two kids so it’s best to plan early to get discounts on plane fare and hotels too.

First vacation that we are thinking is the celebration of our 4th anniversary. So we are thinking of going to a beach! I have checked some Caribbean Vacation Packages online but it seems like I need to allot more for this. So we opted for somewhere near like in Batangas. We couldn’t travel that far anyway since our baby girl would be only 3 months old.

Hopefully on our 5th anniversary which is next year, Hubby and I can go somewhere far and maybe avail of the Mexico Vacations available over the internet. Kids won’t be coming of course. After all, we deserve a time alone from them right? We have been busy taking care of the kids that sometimes we tend to forget to spend time alone too.

Since we are too busy lately, good thing there are websites like Club Med that offers online reservation and even gives you details about the place that you are going to visit. They also give you itineraries that might be useful for the trip. The best part here is that they give us special offers and discounts if you reserve through their website. I am definitely using this in one of our vacations this year.