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That’s what I’m going to do this year! Same like last year, I did my Christmas shopping early and it was sometime in August. That was because I was about to give birth to our second baby girl. Shopping was a breeze because it was early and people were not shopping for Christmas yet. And now I’m looking for ways to make my Christmas easier.

I found some coupons online, so this year, I will definitely shop online. This will be my best shopping ever! There are a couple of stores that I’m looking at already. Getting Discount Watch Store coupons are one of the list of my things to do before shopping. Check out these gorgeous watches where shipping is free if you get worth $130 or more!

Aren’t they gorgeous?

I hope Hubby is reading this so at least he has an idea now on what to give me for Christmas. Or better yet, why not give him a gorgeous watch too? Hmmm… that’s a good idea!

As promised, here are the list of emergency hotlines and rescue operation sites that you might want to check out. Reposting from Litzie’s blog.

Rescue Operations

1. National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) (+632-9125668, +632-9111406, +632-9115061, +632-9122665) Help hotlines: (+65 734-2118, 734-2120)
2. Philippine Coast Guard (+632-5276136)
3. Air Force (+63908-1126976, +632-8535023)
4. Metro Manila Development Authority (136)
5. Marikina City Rescue (+632-6462436, +632-6462423, +632920-9072902)
6. Pasig Rescue Emergency Number (+632-6310099)Quezon City Rescue (161)
7. San Juan City Hall Command Post (+632-4681697)
8. Bureau of Fire Protection Region III (Central Luzon) Hotline: (+63245-9634376)
9. Senator Dick Gordon (+639178997898, +63938-444BOYS, +632-9342118, +632-4338528)
10. Senator Manny Villar (+639174226800. +639172414864, +639276751981)

Civil Society/ Media

1. Philippine National Red Cross (143, +632-5270000)
2. Philippine National Red Cross Rizal Chapter operations center hotline: (+632-6350922, +632-6347824)
3. Go to GMA Facebook page & post complete addresses and names of people in need of immediate help.
4. ABS-CBN Typhoon Ondoy Hotline: (+632-4163641)
5. Jam 88.3: (+632- 6318803) or SMS at JAM (space) 883 (space) your message to 2968

All calls for help, please help us by filling out information here at the Rescue InfoHub Center. Rubber Boat Requests, 4×4 Trucks

1. NCRPO (+632-8383203, +632-8383354)
2. Private citizens who would like to lend their motor boats for rescue. Please call emergency nos: +632-9125668, +632-9111406, +632-9122665, +632-9115061)
3. You can also text (+632917-4226800 or +632927-6751981) for rescue dump trucks.
4. For those who are able to lend 4×4 trucks for rescue: Please send truck to Greenhills Shoppng Center Unimart Grocery to await deployment, Tel No. (+632920-9072902).

(more…)

Yes you can do that!

If you plan to donate money on the victims of typhoon “Ondoy” you can deposit at the following banks:

BDO Dollar Account
Account Number: 3970-033971
Routing Code: BNORPHMM
Branch: General Araneta Branch Cubao
Account Name: Light of Jesus Community Foundation, Inc.

BPI Peso Account
Account Number: C/A: 2900-0012-34
Routing Code: BOPIPHMM
Branch: St. Ignatius Katipunan Branch
Account Name: Light of Jesus Community Foundation, Inc.

BDO
Account Number: C/A: 3970-048057
Branch General Araneta Cubao Branch
Account Name: Light of Jesus Community Foundation, Inc.

Please email them if you have donated, so they can acknowledge your donation. Email them at calamityfund@gmail.com or fax at (02) 7275615 or (02) 7269918.

This weekend was the most stressful for me and most of the Filipinos. It was a tragedy for the country. Many people lost their homes, stuff, and some even lost their loved ones. These relief goods are just the current need but the most important thing are months after this disaster when people will need to rebuild their lives and their homes. I hope we would be able to help on that matter.

For now I need to go back to work and read about some wrinkle cream that is highly recommended by some friends. I’m sure this will be of big help especially after the disaster.

I’m sure all of you have heard about the flood all over Metro Manila which happened last Saturday up to Monday. Almost 80% in Metro Manila was part of it. Even Hubby and I who were at 168 Mall last Saturday afternoon was affected. We left the mall at 3PM and we got home around 1AM. Metro Manila was a mess. Pasig, Marikina, Cainta cities were submerged in the water. These are cities which were not affected by typhoons before particularly Pasig.

There are so many evacuees now and people need emergency assistance. They need food, water, clothing, and support. If you are willing to help, you may visit :

Couples for Christ, Ortigas for donations. Please call (02) 7270682 or text 09195359036.

You may also drop your donations at the following schools:

• De La Salle Greenhills
• Poveda
• Ateneo de Manila University
• ICA

More lists to follow…

See this photo?

I’ve read so many things about Kuta Square. People would call this the shopping haven of Bali. You can buy almost all the brands here – lots of surfwear like Quicksilver, Billabong, Ripcurl, street wear like Mooks, Paul Frank, and branded stuff Polo Ralph Lauren, DKNY, and more! What I like about Kuta Square is that you don’t have to bargain for hours before you buy the item that you want. You know that prices here are fixed and that you are getting good quality stuff.

We were so hungry from walking and shopping that we decided to have snacks at Dulang Kafe.

They offer international dishes like Chinese, American, Thai, and Indonesian. We ordered noodles with soup, club sandwich, and iced coffee for me. The food was good and cheaper compared to Manila price. For PHP700 we had two main dishes and two drinks. Not bad considering that the ambiance was nice and that we were in Bali!

Dulang Kafe is located in the middle of Kuta Square. You won’t miss it. It is next to the main entrance oo the Matahari Department store.

Right after eating, we proceeded to our shopping spree! We realized that we couldn’t stop by every shop in Kuta Square so we just chose which shops look nice and then buy from there. Check out a few photos of the busy streets of Kuta Square.

I tell you, it was a tiring day considering that we haven’t slept for even one night yet. But, what the heck, we were all having a great time!

And what’s next on our list? MASSAGE!

Dulang Kafe
Kuta Square,
Kuta. Bali – Indonesia
+62361753389

You may want to check this out!

Featuring interactive activity areas and all-day talks and activities showcasing some of the
most progressive and creative kids activity providers today:

* My Masterpiece Multi-Arts School
* KidsAhoy
* Multiple Intelligence School
* Kiddieparty.com

Program Schedule:

10:00 AM Formal Opening
Kids Bazaar open to the public

10:30-11AM Yoga Kids

11-11:30 AM Balloon Show by Jiggles the Balloon Lady
Activity Areas open to the public

11:30 AM-12NN Raffle

12NN-12:30 GSK Book Launch

12:30-1PM Games and Raffle

1-2PM The Bumblebee & Co 2009 Collection
A Halloween Costume Fashion Show

2PM-230Pm Science Exploration by KidsAhoy

2:30-3PM Little Theatre by KidsAhoy

3PM-330PM Drum Jam! by Dona Esteban
Enrich your child’s creative expression, coordination, team spirit and musicality through dynamic rhythms!

330-4PM Tumble Tots

4-5PM My Masterpiece multi-arts show

5PM-6PM Batang Pinoy by KidsAhoy

6PM Onstage Games
Raffle draws

8PM Closing

An Expo Kid Bazaar of 30+ vendors and exhibitors of unique finds for kids and everyone in the family.

Expo hours: 10am to 8pm

Entrance Fee: P 25/head
*All proceeds from registration will benefit Mio Mendiola, a 5-year old boy fighting leukemia. (www.miofightscancer.com).

I came across a Car allowance program the other day and I was curious if this would help us. You see Hubby is contemplating on getting another car. It is just a tiny car. A car that he can use everyday. It can be used to bring and fetch our daughter to school. But the problem is we don’t know where to get the funds. Until I came across Corporate Reimbursement Services, Inc. or CRS.

What can this company offer? It is a management consulting firm that gives out highly flexible and customizable vehicle reimbursement programs. They mainly focus on companies with mobile employees. I guess their program works best for Pharmaceutical companies that have medical representatives who have cars. The “Med Reps” usually bring car to visit doctors or clients. So Pharma companies would need a program from CRS. They have more products such as Personalized Driver Reimbursement Schedules wherein they would conduct an analysis for each driver to determine the reimbursement rate. They also have Driver Safety Training to educate and train “high-risk” drivers to operate their vehicles more safely. They have so much to offer actually and these programs will be very useful in every company.

Now, the question is, should we buy another car? Let’s wait and see!

We took the 6:30AM (first flight) to Denpasar from Jakarta through AirAsia. Their website was very easy to use and their rates were not too bad. I love their seats too, they were pretty comfortable compared to Cebu Pacific’s so I was able to sleep all throughout the flight! We arrived Bali with all smiles. We knew that this trip is going to be fun!

Inspite of having no sleep the previous night, we are still excited in what Bali has to offer! The weather was perfect! Perfect to shop, to swim, and to eat!

On our way to our hotel (Rama Garden Hotel) we had a glimpse of Bali for a few minutes. I was surprised that shops were everywhere here! Wherever you look, you would see something you can buy like fruits, shoes, clothes, dresses, local souvenirs and more. This made us excited even more!

We love how our room looked like. Check out a few photos.

This is how they arranged the face towel. Love it!

You would see this flower everywhere in the room!

After unpacking a few stuff in the hotel, we decided to check out the beach! At first it was not too impressive, probably because it was gray, but we totally fell in love when my sister and I swam the next day.

After checking the beach, we headed to the market where we found lots and lots of clothes! It was overwhelming, I tell you. But we got the hang of it and finally started shopping.

One tip that we got from a friend is to bargain at least 50% off the price. It was tiring at first to bargain and all but the longer we were there, we were having fun already! After having lunch and trying Babi Guleng, a Balinese food that is made of pork, veggies, rice, and spices, we went to Kuta Square where all the branded stuff are! No bargaining here though but pretty relaxing.

Coming up next, our meal at Dulang Cafe and how our shopping at Kuta Square went. For now will have to find weight loss supplements reviews that my friend has recommended. She said that the ones there were really effective. I better check it out now.

When I booked our flight to Bali, I realized that there were no direct flights from Manila. SO we had to drop by Jakarta first and then get a domestic flight to Denpasar or Bali. It was a blessing in disguise because at least we get to see two cities in one trip! We get to experience life in Jakarta even for a day and a half.

A day and a half. Because our flight from MNL arrived in Jakarta at 11PM their time. They were ahead for an hour against Manila time. I was a bit worried at first for our safety if we are going around the city on ourselves (considering that we are all ladies in this trip). When we arrived Jakarta, my Mom decided not to go out anymore but my sister and I insisted. Good thing we were able to find a really nice and accomodating driver who took us a tour of the city for IDR 250,000 (USD 25). We saw their National Monument at night.

There was no traffic too! So at least we get to see the malls that we are going to check out on our way back.

We also asked the driver to take us to the place where we can eat seafoods and Indonesian food. So he took us to Chinatown or known as Glondok. It was like our Divisoria. The place was dirty but the food was really cheap. We ordered for fried noodles (this was supposed to be noodles with soup but the waiter didn’t understand us. LOL!) and Nasi Goreng or fried rice.

I know it doesn’t look yummy but when we first tried it we were impressed. Not bad for a meal at IDR 40,000 (USD4) for four! Just by looking at the photo makes me want to go back there again and eat! I just love their food in Jakarta. I even need to take weight loss supplements from then on because I gained a lot ever since this trip.

After touring the city, our driver brought us back to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (Terminal 3).

Our flight to Denpasar/Bali was at 6:35AM.

We arrived Bali at 9:20AM. And the weather was just PERFECT!