Wonderland

We were at Emporium yesterday and we saw their Christmas decor. We couldn't resist taking pictures.
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I think no other holiday makes us giddy with excitement like Christmas. Aly loves it; no doubt about that, but it also seems to bring out the kid in Richard and me.
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I can't wait to go home. Christmas is best enjoyed in the company of family and friends.

My Happy Thought

This never fails to make me smile:

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Aly and Richard dancing to Michael Jackson.
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aTrying to do that famous anti-gravity lean from Smooth Criminal -- with the help of daddy, of course. (Pardon the blurry pics, my camera skills are getting rusty. Need to practice more!)
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aAly's got the moves!
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aBig hug from daddy.
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aShe can't stop dancing!
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Richard and I were pleasantly surprised at how good Aly was at dancing! Gayang-gaya nya talaga ang dance steps ni MJ. No surprise there, since she watches her MJ DVD's practically every single day.
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It was a fun night. It's my happy thought and it still works like magic :)

Gifts

The past week was very productive! I ticked off a lot of to-do's in our Christmas list: Christmas gift shopping is 98% done (save for a few more gifts that will have to wait for the weekend because I can only buy them at Chatuchak), bought the gift bags, printed our tags and I tied all the ribbons for our gifts as well.
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On Sunday, Richard and I bought our "secret" gift for our dear daughter. This week, I am aiming to finish my gift shopping and to buy Richard's Christmas gift.
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Hay...it was tiring -- had to juggle gift shopping with my household chores, went to Chinatown twice, and practically visited all the malls in Siam -- but I am very happy and fulfilled :)
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Anyway, Aly and I finished wrapping her gifts for her classmates.
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She calls them lunch bags, but the contents are far from edible.
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aThey may look simple, just brown paper bags, ribbons, tags and tiny green wooden sipit...but all these were made with love by me and Aly. Each bow was carefully tied by me and inspected by Aly...the tags were cut individually and the design was a collaboration between mother and daughter.
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aOur tags are printed, including the recipient's name. Heehee!
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I love Christmas! I love gifts and I love wrapping them more :)

Table Setting by Aly

My darling six-year-old set the dinner table all by herself last night! She did everything on her own: getting the place mats from the drawer, carrying the plates and utensils from the cupboards...my only participation was I got the glasses for her because she couldn't reach the upper cupboards yet.

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Aly's work.
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aMay kasama pang dessert. Wheee!
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I love how Aly sets the table...the small details like the folded napkin, the chocolate...it truly is a labor of love. I'm a proud mom :)

Trees

Christmas 2008: our tiny pink tree.
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aToday: tiny pink tree is lonely no more :)
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I wish we had more space at home. Aly would definitely love to have a bigger Christmas tree -- oooh, how I'd love to have a big, bright orange tree at home as well! Ngayon pa na alam ko na magpunta sa Sampeng Lane in Chinatown, where everything is crazy cheap. More space = more decorations. But space is limited, so I just have to make do with table top trees for now.
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I added the masks that we used during last week's party as well, para naman hindi masyadong masayang ang effort ko to make them. Heehee!
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Paskong-pasko na talaga!! 23 days to go na lang! :)

Christmas Resolutions

My ultimate Christmas notebook that contains our gift list, holiday to-do's, anything and everything Christmas-related; my handy dandy calculator (a must for Christmas shopping!) and my pens.
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Is there such thing as Christmas resolutions? Well, if it took you five days to wrap 30 kilos worth of gifts last year, you are definitely bound to come up with one. Heehee!
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I told my dear hubby that I'm planning to keep things simple for Christmas this year because I don't want to stress myself too much. I also want to enjoy my time with family and friends. So, in order for me to savor the holidays, here are my Christmas resolutions for 2009:
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#1 - Gift wrapping should be simple and easy because I refuse to waste precious vacation days wrapping Christmas gifts! I'm also planning to use earth friendly paper bags and ribbons. I'll just slip the presents in, seal the bag, and I'm done! No more boxes and scotch tape for me!
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#2 - This year, I'm setting a budget for our gifts. Last year, I didn't and it was crazy! Really crazy, but it was lots of fun. Heehee! Now, I took the initiative to set a budget, and so far so good! I am halfway through my shopping and I'm proud to say that I haven't gone over yet. *beams* :)
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#3 - Gifts should be light, compact and suitcase friendly. My husband has now imposed a three-suitcase allowance for our family everytime we travel (compared to the five suitcases that we brought home last year!) so our gifts should be easy to squeeze in our luggage along with two-weeks worth of clothes for three. It's also good because it helps me stay within the budget. Hehe!
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Funny how these resolutions are supposed to simplify things for me, but it's not as easy as it looks. First, paper bags are sold by 50's or 100's so the gifts should be roughly the same size so I can limit my bags to two different sizes. Second, finding the perfect gift is not that easy! Especially when you are bound by budget. Haha! I love how it challenges me, though. It puts my imagination and creativity into full gear:)

First Christmas Party in Bangkok

I can't believe today is the last day of November! The entire month just flew by. I know I promised to update this blog more often -- I should be ashamed for breaking that promise! But things have been crazy around here.

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Well, that's not the only thing that I should be ashamed of. I am way, way behind on my Christmas shopping! We just started shopping for gifts yesterday, to think I had our list up and ready since October. So now I'm rushing to complete my Christmas shopping before we fly home.
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Speaking of enjoying the holidays, Aly and I attended our first Christmas party for the season last Friday. It was our first Christmas party in Bangkok as well.
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It was a masquerade themed party with the Cenacle group.
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aAly and I wore our matching Christmas dresses from last year.
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Aly and Jianna.
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Part of the group picture.
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The view from the pool deck was fantastic!
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It was a fun night with friends! The food was great! The star of the night was, ofcourse, the lechon. I think it was the only thing on the buffet table that had my full attention. Heehee! Too bad my dear hubby missed it. He was in Manila for a business trip.

Guess Who's Back?

Yes, it's me. Sorry for the long absence. Things have been crazy around here. Good crazy; crazy but good :)
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I have a lot of catching up to do: our 2nd wedding anniversary weekend, my in-laws' visit and so much more that I don't know where to begin.
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Christmas is around the corner, by the way. All that's missing is the nippy BKK winter weather. Nevertheless, our hot pink Christmas tree is up and I'm starting to work on our Christmas gift list.
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Speaking of gifts, I'm also starting to look around for gift ideas for Aly, Richard and myself :) Heehee! See, I told you. I'm back!

Single Parent for a Week

The hubby is away on a week-long business trip. Sigh...this is going to be one hell of a week for me. You see, Richard's usually in charge of weekday mornings. He gets up early, prepares breakfast, and wakes up Aly as well. He only wakes me up at the last minute when Aly's ready to take a bath. Mornings are going to be tough for sure.
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I'm proud of my husband and his work. I just hope he doesn't have to go on these business trips too often. I know this is all for the best. I also know that this it's not easy for him to leave me and Aly behind, but it's one part of his job that we all have to endure.
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When Richard told Aly during breakfast last Saturday that he will be going away, she cried. Poor Aly was looking at me in such away that it broke my heart. It was like she was telling me to do something about it; to not let her daddy leave. But I couldn't. I just told her that daddy will be back soon. I also had to explain to her why her daddy had to leave. I also told Aly that she should be proud of her dad; they're sending him on these trips because that means he's very important to the company.
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It wasn't easy having to comfort my little girl while trying to hold back my own tears. Eventually she got over it, or at least we thought she did, because that night she asked her dad: "when are you going to stop working?" I guess what she really meant by that was, "when are you going to stop going on these business trips?" Heehee!
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Anyway, as a treat for our little girl, Richard told me to take Aly out to the mall for lunch on Sunday so she won't feel so sad. So after hearing mass, we headed to Central World Mall. Her restaurant of choice was Pepper Lunch. "It's my favorite restaurant, mommy!"
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Aly and Mommy. She got the burger steak. She said it reminds her of her favorite Jollibee Burger Steak. Heehee!
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aI usually get the Hitokuchi cut steak, but I wanted to try something else naman so I got the Beef Pepper Rice. It was yummy!
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Ofcourse, it wasn't the same without Richard, but at least Aly got her smile back. I wish Friday would some sooner.

MRT

If BTS Sky Train is above ground, MRT naman is underground. They run through different routes, but there are certain stations where they have BTS/MRT interchange. I loved my first MRT ride so much, I told Richard and Aly that we should try it together. So last Saturday, we rode the MRT to Chatuchak. When I told Aly that we're going to ride a different train, she asked me if it's like a rollercoaster. Sabi ko, "Babe, hindi sya tulad ng Space Mountain. Regular train lang sya." Heehee!
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Another first train ride for Aly. MRT naman this time.
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aI thought the Sky Train was tops, but I think the MRT station is better. Aircon kasi, at saka feeling ko nasa ibang bansa ako dito. Heehee!
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aMRT is less crowded compared to the Sky Train.
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aHappy to share this new experience with my hubby :)
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aSuper long escalator.
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aThis is where you wait for the train, but we realized that we were in the wrong terminal. Eeeek! So we had to go back up.
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aPicture muna before going back up.
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aUp on the super long escalator again.
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aWe are here...
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a...and this is where we're going. Ang layo!
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aWhat's that I hear?
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Little Miss Kulit.
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aThe train is here!
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Yipee!
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aEmerging from the MRT station.
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aAbove ground once again. We landed right smack in the middle of Chatuchak.
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The Sky Train can take you to Chatuchak as well, and it's actually shorter with ten stops from Chong Nonsi station compared to MRT's 13 stops from Silom station (these are the two nearest stations from our place, and the shuttle can take you there for free). But, if I were to choose, I'd take the MRT even if it's longer because it lands right at the heart of the weekend market. With the Sky Train, you need to walk a bit more to get to the market itself.

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What I love about Bangkok is their efficient transportation system. I'm ashamed to say that I don't ride the MRT back home, but here in Bangkok, I ride the train most of the time especially during my lunch time lakwatsa when the hubby's at work and the daughter is in school. It's clean and safe...hindi sya nakakatakot. And you won't get lost because they provide you with maps that indicate certain attractions that you will find along their route. I got myself a copy so I can explore the city more. Sawa na ko with the places that I usually go to with the Sky Train, I can't wait to discover new places with the MRT :)