Simple Pleasures

Will do this for the love of K! bwehehehehehehe!

Instructions: Name ten (10) of life’s simple pleasures that you like the most, then pick ten (10) people to do the same.

Here's my list:
1) Swimming
2) Bringing Bianca to school
3) Meal time with the family
4) Waking up late
5) Taking Pictures
6) Bianca's laughter
7) Calling everybody in Pinas
8) Calling everybody in Austria
9) Emails/calls from friends
10) Kisses from Thomas and Bianca

Now it's time to tag somebody else :)
Betchay, Bethski, RAven, Mr Pogi, Mr Myepinoy, Analyse, Patrice, PhamzZz, Litarista ... sorry short of one person ,,, hehehehehe

Performance Monitor - Excellent!

Everybody meet my mom ... yes, yes, i know she looks more like my sister! Looks could really be deceiving ... can you believe that she's already in her mid-50s! And mind you, she's proud of it!

I really never understood my mom until the time that i became a mom myself. I didnt fully grasp what it was like to have sleepless nights feeding a baby, nursing a sick baby, juggling a career at the same time attending to family affairs until I too was in the situation. I remember very well how her day would start ... she'd wake up at 6am to cook breakfast, wake up the kids at 630 for school, kiss the kids goodbye at 715 and make herself ready to leave the house at 815 for work. We were lucky to have a maid that can help in managing the household. But most of the time she would prepare before leaving the house our meal for lunch. And in the evening she tries to come home before 7pm so she can prepare dinner for her family. Oh yeah, i forgot to mention, she never failed on calling the house during lunchtime to ask whether we were eating properly and how our day was so far. This routine went on until we were in college. That's why we all call her "supermom".

My relationship with my mom was not always smooth sailing ... I guess since I was one of those kids with raging teenage hormones. Still she managed to have kept a calming environment for everybody. She's not your typical nagging mother nor is she your mom who goes to your room and asks you intently what's going on ... she's more like a person who you know is there and would support you and give you all the love not by a multitude of words but more of the actions that you see.

In the course of adulthood and maturity I made some bad decisions. But my mom never judged me. Instead she always say "everything will always turn out for the best". And in many ways this principle has helped me managed my way in getting out of messy situations.

I could go on and on and on and on about the wonderful and amazing things she had and has done for us. But that'll take a lifetime if i do enumerate them all :) So let me just say to my mom: Congratulations for your recent promotion as Asst General Manager and the whole family is super dooper proud of you Ma! We love you and the family would not be where it is today if not for you! Cheers!

Me oh My!

Vacation in Germany: water adventure

The first time I heard my sister-in-law say that we were going for a swim, I didn’t think she was actually serious. Outside it was pouring snow and couldn’t figure out how in the world swimming could ever be possible. Then I was informed that there’s this Spa Center in Kempten, an hour from their place, called Combo Mare, which features nice warm swimming pools. That’s when I got all excited!


I was thinking to myself “this is such a treat!” First of all my trip in Germany introduced me to SNOW … yeah I’ve seen snow in the past when we went to Schloss Neuschwanstein two years ago but that was different since I only saw remnants of winter. This time it was like “white Christmas” … winter wonderland! Aside from being amazed with the white thingy coming from the heavens, we were just about to go swim in winter?! How cool is that?!

So off we went to Combo Mare. Upon entering the Spa I noticed the change in temperature. It was a nice 24-28 C compared to the negative temp outside. The areas was very spacious, locker rooms very well kept and didn’t have that stinky pool smell of chlorine.

After changing, we then hit the pool area. If memory serves me right, they had three big swimming pools featuring a fountain in the middle, a massage area, and a big slide! I was very impressed that they had an outside pool, still with warm water, but you can definitely swim where you have snow just inches from you!


I also discovered how much Bianca loves water. The first sight of water makes her all thrilled and excited and she just can’t wait to make that splash. When Thomas told me that he’s taking Bianca to the big slide I was frantic! I couldn’t imagine myself taking the slide and let alone my daughter take it … since she was with Thomas then I got a little pacified and just trusted his guts.

I don’t have to tell you what happened with that slide trip … you can see for yourself in the pictures I’ve attached. And by the way, they didn’t just go once … they took on the slide for more than I could keep track off.