OUR DREAM CRIB

is now currently under prayers. And by God’s grace, we are already claiming it. 

Poy and I thought that times seem so hard these days in the Philippines that’s why we tried our luck abroad, where the grass is perceived to be greener. We decided to work here in Dubai to provide the best future to Mimay and to our future Mimoy. And aside from preparing for the kids’ educational needs, another must is to provide them a simple yet comfortable home. Yung amin talaga, from our sweat and blood. 

Back in April last year, hubby and I both came here in visit visa and thank God because I was blessed with a job after 8 days =) While Poy got his work naman after 2 months. He had some struggles kasi from the first job that he got that’s why he had to look then for a better opportunity. God has been good to us. After few more months of financial adjustments, we were able to send Mimay and Naynay here in Dubai for a 3 months vacation. It’s sobrang magastos but it’s okay. Their vacation kasi served din as a trial if we can all manage if Mimay and Naynay will stay here with us in Dubai.

For almost 11 months here, we proved that life is “financially” easier abroad. You can get to eat in a fancy or posh restaurant anytime and material things seem to be very easy to get. But I’m not saying we are truly happy, in every sense of the word, to where we are now. There are still many depressing, heartbreaking and sad moments of being here on the other side of the earth just to earn money and be away from our family. And to compensate on that, Poy and I decided that now is the right time to take the plunge. We have to start reaching our plans, dreams and prayers. After all, we are here for our future. 

Even if this will mean less shopping and less dates for me and Poy, we know it will definitely worth all the pagtitipid. This is for us, for Mimay, for our family.

Guys meet our “soon to be” crib. Simple but OURS, oh I mean “soon to be” OURS =)

MY BRIDAL SHOWER (WAY WAY BACK)

Since my decision of having my own blogsite came too late, there have been so many important events in my life that I missed to share. Eh I’m feeling nostalgic so I thought of documenting them although they happened ages ago. I feel like I still need to blog it so that me and Poy have something to reminisce came our old days.

I really cannot remember the precise details eh, basta the story is something like this. May 31, 2008, I was supposed to meet and have dinner with my friends Melai and Lady somewhere. Then we also have family gathering the same night. So I was really torn between dinner with friends and dinner with my family. So my ate suggested that I come first to our family dinner and escape na lang early to meet up with my friends. So the clueless me agreed.

My ate’s husband, Kuya Dong, has to go somewhere that night so we went to our lola’s house in tricycle. It’s mga 1.5 kilometers away lang naman from our house. But what made me curious was when my sister asked the tricycle driver to drop us 300 meters away pa from my lola’s house. Knowing my ate na super tamad maglakad, nagtaka talaga ko. I asked her why and she just told me that she feels like walking, exercise daw. I have no choice, nakaalis na si tricyle driver.

After 25 years, we arrived in my lola’s house and saw my cousin, mommy and aunts all in pajamas! Then one by one I saw my dearest friends (including Melai and Lady which I was supposed to meet for dinner that same night!) coming out of the porch all in their big smiles and pajamas too! Anong meron? Then my mommy handed me a pajama to wear. Slowly everything is sinking in me. We’ll have a pajama party, yeeaahh!!

My heart is flowing with so much joy that time. I am so overwhelmed in happiness! I am deeply touched with all of my family (esp. my ate) and friends’ efforts and preparation just to surprise me. I am so clueless and it made me so overjoyed.

Here are some of the photos from my bridal shower which happened exactly 10 days before our wedding in June 2008. I grabbed these photos from Abby’s multiply account. Other photos including the foods, the cake with a “T” haha!, my mom and aunts, the decorations, etc. are all in my PC in pinas. I don’t have Facebook pa that time eh.

Here comes Mrs. Jhanil Margarita Cruz-Aguilar!

The game which is mejo rated PG haha! Arranged, last being the most bastos of all =)

Gift giving! I love Abby’s gift, cash haha!! Bridal shower gift, cash?? Ang labo no? 

Some more photo ops!

This once in a lifetime experience is truly unforgettable. I am loved, so much loved and I will be forever thankful.

MORE KESONESS!

It’s Saturday again and I’m not in the mood to work. Bakit ba naman kasi napaka saklap ng work schedule dito sa office namin, nakakaloka talaga!

Anyhoo, I just want to share something to all of you that (again!) made me kilig and smile because of hubby.

Yesterday afternoon, as we were both lying in bed for some kwentuhan… sorry for the cheezyness though!

Nani: Bibi I love you! Ang swerte swerte ko talaga syo.

Poy: Bakit naman bi?

Nani: Eh kasi ang bait bait bait mo bi. Alagang alaga mo ko tapos binibili mo pa lahat ng gusto ko. Dapat helmetan kita no? Baka ka kasi mauntog. (laugh!)

Poy: Ay bi nauntog nga ko kanina paggising eh!

Nani: Owws? Ano natauhan ka na?

Poy: Opo, kasi pagka untog ko, mas lalo kitang love na love na love lalo!

Aaaw! It melts my heart =)

While I was pulling some clothes naman in our cabinet, our conversation was this:

Poy: Oy bi dahan dahan pagkuha ng damit. Kaayos ko lang nyan at kapplantsa.

Nani: Ay ang sungit! Galit ka? Pinapagalitan mo ko bi kasi ginugulo ko mga damit?

Poy: Ay bi hinde ah, di pa kasi tapos. Sabi ko nga guluhin mo pa, dali naman ayusin nyan. Ako na bahala =)

Hay I’m so lucky with Poy! I cannot imagine my life without him. I’m just not lucky, I am so blessed!

Bibi ko, I love you so much! Thank you for your kindness and love. Thanks for keeping your words that you will take care of me. You have actually exceeded your promises. I can’t thank you enough.

SEE YOU SOON PINAS!

Countdown again! In 77 days, we will be going home for vacation. I am super thrilled thinking that we will again sleep in our bed, in our own room =) I miss so many things in the Philippines. I thought of listing them all here so that I have a guide on what to do and where to go as soon as we reached our happy H.O.M.E.

1.    Yellow Cab’s Charlie Chan pasta and NY’s finest pizza – miss na miss ko na to. Actually while typing this, I’m salivating! Yellow Cab has been and will forever be my choice of fast food. I particularly love their chili oil which is very perfect on their humongous pizza slice. Nyam nyam!

heaven!

2.    Jollibee’s spaghetti and chicken joy – if you’re a Filipino, I’m sure your taste buds will agree with me right? I’ll eat this everyday, promise! May Jollibee sa bawat kanto namin eh haha! We have Jollibee here in Dubai kaya lang the taste is different.

Langhap sarap!

3.    Isaw ni Dino’s – hay my all time fave! Ang isaw na nakakapagpabagabag (hanu daw?) This is our college friends’ most loved tambayan. Isawsss here are super the best! Miss u Cha, Abby, Ton and Jhayz!

miss u my dino buddies!

4.     Home service mani and pedi – I haven’t had my nails done here in Dubai, it’s super costly! Cheap-ipay salons are charging AED 60 (Php 720) for manicure, as in the regular manicure in a so-so parlor only. Oo ganun kamahal! So it’s like Php 1500 for both mani and pedi. Di bale kung may free massage at may buffet lunch after. Kaloka db? Eh in pinas, Php 200 lang, home service pa! I miss that!

5.     Body massage – Me wants this so much! The stingy me kasi cannot take talaga the cost of a body massage here in Dubai. Even if hubby is allowing me to go for it kasi I deserve it naman daw =) But my gawd, it’s AED 400 (Php 4800) for a one hour back massage! Kamusta naman yon?? Sige na kuripot na ko talaga!

Oh it’s already 5:45 pm, I have to prepare myself. Bye for now! I’m itching to go home. I have so many works in pile but I don’t feel doing it. It’s Thursday today and I’m already in OFF mode since lunch time. And tonight is Bert’s birthday celebration in 101, I’m so excited for the yummy dishes.

Ciao! Happy weekend everyone!

MIMAY AND THE DENTIST

Our dear Mimay finally had her first ever dental check-up yesterday. I’m so excited to share how it went. But first, I’ll give you a background why my daughter badly needs a dental check up.

Mimay’s front teeth are like that, tooth decay kung tooth decay talaga! When I saw this the first time, I felt so guilty. At the back of my mind, I was thinking that I have become an irresponsible mom. If only I was there with her, I’m sure she’ll not get those cavities at her early age. I think the culprit kasi of her decaying teeth was her pacifier. It took some time for my mommy to stop Mimay from using her pacifier. I told her to put the pacifier in shrimp paste before Mimay will use it and it worked! But the damage is already there so I asked naynay to bring Mimay to a pediatric dentist. The problem is, Mimay doesn’t like to be seated in a dental chair. My mom told me na super cry daw si ineng. I cannot blame her. Ako nga 26 years old na takot pa sa dentist eh, sya pa kaya?

When Mimay was here in Dubai, I learned that she is not fond of brushing her teeth, parang ako lang haha! So I made her uto the whole time she was here to instill to her the importance of brushing her teeth. And I think I was successful naman.

Then just this morning, my kuya sent me these photos that really made me smile big time =)

Taking it from my kuya’s mail, he said that they went yesterday in SM Calamba to let Mimay play in the inflatable playground which by the way is our daughter’s fave. Then in the same floor, they saw a pediatric dental clinic. They inquired and the kind dentist allowed Mimay to seat for check up. Eh they noticed that Mimay was just silent and wasn’t crying, ayun tuloy tuloy na for a cleaning! Yehey!! It shows naman in the photos that Mimay enjoyed the procedure =)

Hay baby, dadee and I are so proud of you! You’re so brave sweetheart! Big girl ka na. Sayang lang, we weren’t there to witness this very special moment in your life. But I know you understand us. We love you baby! See you in less than 3 months. Kisses and hugs from me and dadee.

DATE NIGHT AT POTBELLY

Last Thursday is another date night with my bibi. Celebration na din because it’s our 33^rd wedding monthsary. 3 months to go and it will be our 3^rd year anniversary na! Ang bilis. Parang kailan lang ;) 

Speaking of our 3^rd year anniversary, I am so excited for it. We will be celebrating it in Pinas with our baby Mimay. My ate’s taking care of the reservation of flight and accommodation for our 3 days celebration, I should not worry ;)

Back to our date night, Poy is not so much into burgers and sandwich, mas mka rice sya, pero I was surprised when he told me that he wants burger daw this time. So with that, we tried the newly opened sandwich shop in Deira City Centre.

Potbelly is a famous US sandwich shop which is known for their made-to-order sandwich. Looking at their gigantic menu board, I was salivating na. Parang ang sarap sarap lahat! 

To order, you have to first choose the sandwich, size and bread. Poy ordered Potbelly’s “wreck” original size in regular bread which has beef salami, roast beef, turkey breast, smoked turkey and swiss cheese. While I tried naman their “Italian” sandwich in multigrain bread. It’s a combination of beef salami, pepperoni, turkey capicola, beef mortadella and provolone cheese. Talking about calories, I know! The sandwich was then placed in a conveyor oven to toast it. Next is we choose the toppings for our sandwich. Hubby’s wreck had mustard, hot pepper, lettuce, onion, tomato, pickle, oil and Italian seasoning. I asked to put the same in mine except for pickle and oil and requested for additional mayo instead.  I wanted to try din sana their salad but changed my mind, I might not finish it because the sandwich looks big. And yes I was not wrong, it was big talaga! For the drinks, we had Coke light and Schweppes ginger ale.

We took our seat and were relaxed by the ambiance. The restaurant features a vintage interior and decorative memorabilia such as vintage signs, music mementos sepia tinted photographs reflecting Potbelly’s antique store in Chicago. Adding to the great ambiance is the background music of local musical artists and the lively service of the staffs. Pang Mr. and Ms. Congeniality all the staffs, panalo!

Hubby surely enjoyed his meal and I did too. The sandwiches were very tasty and meaty except that mine is super spicy. Ang daming jalapenos! Ate galit ka sa kin?? I didn’t finish the whole thing because it was really very spicy and it was too big for me. The prices here are very affordable too. AED 19 (Php 230) per sandwich is not bad ah.  Next time we’ll just order one sandwich (the bigger size at AED 24) and will try together with their salad.

After that, we went inside the supermarket to do some groceries. To save time, hubby asked me to go to the fish and vegetable section. Pick daw the fish and vegetable that I want for our ulam the coming week while he checks out the meat and chicken section.

While I was in the fish section, I called Poy.

Nani: hello bi, punta ka dito dali!

Poy: bakit bi? pili ka na ng fish jan.

Nani: naku eh nakakalito nman bi eh, magkakamukha mga fish. Iba iba lang ng price. Tapos nakakatakot pa yung iba, may bola sa bibig! Punta ka na dito.

Poy: Sa gulay ka na lang muna, kuha ka ng pechay.

Nani: Ok sige bye.

After less than 2 mins, I called again.

Nani: bi ano ba yung pechay? Eh magkakamukha din mga gulay dito. Lahat kulay green!

Poy: sige bi hintayin mo na lang ako jan, ako na bibili.

You might think nagiinarte ako, of course not ha! I have a proof. See photos below:

Sige nga, alin jan ang pechay?

At sa mga fish na to, which is which? Their names are weird ha!

And who will not get scared of this? Bakit may jack stone ball sa mouth???

There goes our simple monthsary celebration. Simple, funny and busog! =)

"GIZMO I"

Yesterday, just like what I told you here, I was super duper wasted from work. Ang sakit sakit pa ng likod ko, yay I hope this is not uti again. So ayun, I went home feeling stressed and exhausted. We were supposed to go out with my dearest 101 friends but I graciously declined which is very unusual of me.  I was really feeling low, low low, low, low, low.

Not until dinner time came, aside from the yummy kaldereta which hubby cooked for me, he told me his wonderful surprise which made my heart jump in joy! He’s getting me a new phone tonight as in tonight! Yeeeh!! Nawala ang pagod ko bigla haha!

Guys meet “gizmo I”, my new doodad!

 Bibi,

Once again, pinasaya mo na naman ako ng bonggang bongga! Thank you so much for your selflessness and generosity when it comes to anything that will make me happy. I am deeply tats! I love you so much!