The Last Woman Standing

Tita Dionne's flight was on Sunday night so she still had one more day to go around Bangkok. But before doing any lakwatsa, we went to church for the 11am mass. Then, we had lunch at Secret Garden. From there, we went to the dentist at BNH hospital to have Aly's lower front teeth removed. I know...the hospital is not tops on the sightseeing list, but we had to go before Aly starts school on Monday.

Tita Di took a photo of Aly. Naka-smile pa sya jan but later on she started crying and she never does that! She didn't cry during our last visit. Palibhasa may audience kasi. Stariray talaga!

After Aly's drama show at the dentist, we headed to MBK to buy school shoes and for Dionne's pasalubong shopping. They didn't have Aly's shoe size there, so Richard suggested that we go to Central World Mall.

Before doing any shoe shopping -- more like shoe hunting that is! It was difficult to find the right school shoes and the right size for Aly! -- we went straight to Swensen's for an ice cream fix.

Dionne loved her Strawberry Stripes Ice Cream!

Tita Di, halos kasing laki mo na yung ice cream :)

Still high from the sugar rush, we took more pics around the mall. Pose lang ng pose!

Tita Di also watched over Aly while she played at the Isetan play area. O dba, may instant nanny pa kami. Thanks, Dionne!

It was a fun Sunday afternoon! Thanks for being so patient with the visit to the dentist, looking after Aly, shoe hunting, and all. We will miss you Tita Di!

Photos grabbed from Dionne's Picasaweb page.

Goodbye, Mga Nyora!

The days went by so fast, the week was like a blur.

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Now that my birthday week has officially come to an end, it's time for the girls to fly back to Manila. Except for Dionne; she will be staying for one more day.

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One more group photo at the airport before they enter passport control.

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Goodbye, mga nyora! Thanks for the wonderful week! We hope you enjoyed your stay as much as we enjoyed having you girls over. See you on December :)

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As for me, I had a ton of laundry waiting to be washed. I declared a week-long holiday for myself since it was my birthday week, so I did not do any household chores. Hehe!

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Photo grabbed from Jeng's blog - Tick-Tock-Talk.

Chatuchak Weekend Market

With only a few hours of sleep and no shower, the nyoras and I trooped to the weekend market for one final round of shopping. This time, instead of taking a taxi, we rode the sky train. Breakfast and preps were done double time so we can catch the 7:30am shuttle going to Chong Nonsi station. We made it to the lobby in the nick of time! Palibhasa walang ligo-ligo. Haha!

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Inside the Oakwood shuttle, listening to Mariah's I Can't Live. May hangover pa from videoke singing!

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Up the stairs to Chong Nonsi station.

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Wala pa yung train...picture muna tayo.

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Picture pa rin sa loob ng train. Tama na yan, mga lola. Nagagalit yung babaeng naka-green! Ayun, o!

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Wow! Fresh na fresh! Parang bagong ligo!

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We arrived in Chatuchak around 9:00am. To maximize the time, we split into separate groups and agreed to meet at the clock tower at 2:00pm. Kanya-kanyang shopping, kanya-kanya rin ng lunch. My shopping buddy was of course my little shoppingera, Alyannah :)

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Let me share with you some weekend market scenes that I took while we were waiting at the clock tower.

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Taking photos while shopping is a bit cumbersome so I'm hoping to get better ones when we go back this weekend. I will include shots of my favorite magazine/book shops and the ones that sell chinaware.

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I love, love, love the weekend market! If you're planning to go to Bangkok for some serious shopping, make sure you include a visit to Chatuchak (open only on weekends, from sun-up to sun-down). If your schedule permits, go to Chatuchak first before going to Suan Lum because the items that they sell are almost the same, but cheaper at the weekend market. Don't you just hate it when you thought you got a good bargain but you see the very same item in another store at a much lower price? It's heartbreaking!

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Anyway, here's what Yan and I bought:

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A bunch of magazines for Richard.

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BHG Magazines for me.

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Books for Aly.

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Cartoon mug and pencils for Aly, a white basket for my dresser knick knacks, and a plaid mug for my make-up brushes.

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Our newest discovery -- cute ref magnets. Aly also bought some as pasalubong for her lolo Bernie, lola Aple and my siblings.

The Domestic Goddess Turns 30

I also noticed that this is my 100th post -- and it's about my birthday. How cool is that?
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I'm sure my family and friends back home are wondering what happened last Friday. All I can say is, it was GREAT, WONDERFUL and FULL OF SURPRISES! Mas maganda pa rin sana if my family and other friends were there. Sigh...kung milyonaryo lang ako, I would've flown all of you to Bangkok just to be with me on my birthday...But your text messages, emails and phone calls (my best cousin, Chi, called me all the way from AU just to greet me! Thanks, Chi!) -- I even got messages on Facebook and Friendster from people who I least expected to greet me -- truly made me feel special and loved. Thank you to all those who remembered my birthday! :)

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While we're on the subject of saying thanks, I would also like to send my hug to the nyoras for scheduling their trip on my birthday! Sabi nga nila, the more the merrier. It felt good turning 30 in the company of women in their thirties. Haha!

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Of course, I will not forget, my dear husband and daughter...Thank you for treating me like a queen on my birthday. This father-and-daughter-partner-in-crime tandem cooked up a lot of gimmicks for me. Talagang kahit everyday ko silang kinukulit about their secret surprise, hindi ko sila napaamin.

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Anyway, so here's what happened on my birthday...

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I woke up with the phone ringing at 7:30am. My husband picked it up right away and all I heard him say was "ok". Still feeling groggy, I asked him who it was and he said it was just the front desk greeting us good morning (duh? clearly my husband is not a good liar. hehe!). I was a bit suspicious, but I was too sleepy to think about it so I just brushed it aside. Suddenly, he got out of bed and went outside. I thought he was going to the kitchen to make coffee for me like he would always do in the morning (so sue me, I'm a spoiled diva), but seconds later, he came back with a bouquet of red roses, singing "happy birthday". Aww...

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It's the sweetest wake-up call ever.

Then, Richard forced me to get out of bed so we can have breakfast so I went to the bathroom to wash up. When I got out, he was still inside the room waiting for me. Hmmm...I wonder why...
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Tadaaa!!! Our living room was decorated with balloons!! Kaya naman pala!

Balloons on the dining table light...

...and there were also some scattered on the floor.

Aww...Wait, what's that thing behind the curtain?

Wow! My very own birthday streamer! Gosh, you guys!

Yan was thrilled to see Becky on the streamer. You can see her here pointing at the picture.

It says: Happy Birthday (Souksaan Wankeud!) Domestic Goddess Krisan. Sparkling greetings from: the nyoras, the tropa-blends, Richard + Yan.

Besos!

Thank you, nyoras for the streamer! Thanks to Marc too for helping with the layout.

After that, we had breakfast and more chikahan. Moments later, they came out of the kitchen singing "happy birthday" complete with noisemakers and a mini cake!

1..2..3..happy birthday, to you! Happy birthday, to you!...

...Happy birthday, happy birthday...

Happy birthday, to you!!

It was like a pajama party! Thanks, guys!...

...or as they would say here in Thailand, khop khun ka!

The birthday celebrant with Richard and Yan

My Minnie Mouse birthday cake...before it fell on the floor. Haha!

A closer look at the flowers that were given by Richard.

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The pajama party gang.

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If we had a pajama party in the morning, we had a pool party naman in the afternoon. For our poolside picnic lunch, we feasted on pizza, pasta and chicken. Apart from being our photographer, Richard also doubled as a bartender. He prepared Tequila Sunrise and poured out the wine for our guests.

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Chow time!

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Swimming time!

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Yan was the first one to jump into the pool! She loves being in the water.

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A few hours later, we went back to the apartment and started getting ready for the real party. Just like in the Philippines, no birthday party will be complete without videoke! So we got all dolled up -- I wore a new dress, my birthday shoes and the jewelry that mom and dad gave me -- and headed out to R+B Karaoke.

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We booked the Victorian Room.

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Check out the wall paper....

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...and the chandelier. Nice!

The chow...

...my favorite spring rolls...

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...spicy pork knuckles with mango salad -- think crispy pata with spicy achara on top. Yummy!

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Deep fried hotdog wrapped with bacon for Alyannah...

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...and chicken wrapped in pandanus leaves. We also ordered other stuff but we forgot to take a pic -- kasi naubos agad. Hehe!

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Sige Yan, kumain ka...

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...so you can dance!...

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...and shake your bootay!

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Aly stole the show with her moves.

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Syempre, hindi magpapahuli ang stariray na birthday celebrant. I dazzled them with my version of Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing.

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Presenting! Our Best New Artist Award winner!...

...none other than...Letty! With her mentor, Brenda.

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Ang galing ng singing coach mo!

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She really brought out the singer in you.

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Bravo!

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Halfway through our singing, and before I was able to give them an encore, the waiter entered the room and started dimming the lights. I thought that was a signal for more intense singing and partying, but noo...right behind him was another waiter carrying a birthday cake. Yipee!

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My birthday cake from Aly.

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I heart Richard and Aly :)

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More singing! Richard and Aly's turn this time.

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Ang gwapo talaga ng asawa ko :)

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Mana sa daddy. Look at Tita K's facial expression...she's probably wondering what Yan is singing...because she can barely read! Haha!

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For my final birthday surprise, Richard came into the room with a HUGE brown paper bag!! Pardon the blurry pic, but I'm sure you can see that I am grinning from ear-to-ear :)

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My first LV.

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More party pics!

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Aly (pretending to be asleep) and her Tita D.

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Duet si Jeng and Brenda. Lette, mahiya ka sa mga kasama mo...

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...galaw-galaw ka naman...o sige, kahit ngumiti ka na lang...

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...ayan! That's better!

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The Domestic Goddess with the Nyoras.

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One big smile for the birthday girl!

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Happy birthday, Kris! Cheers!

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That was some birthday! It's like having three parties in a single day! Same guests nga lang. Hehe!

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Hugs and kisses to my guests, the nyoras...

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...my mommy Jeng...

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...Dionnne...

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...the Soliman sisters, Brenda and Love...

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...France and Lette...

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...Kathrina...

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...and Odi.

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As I turn 30, I thank the Lord for all the blessings that He has given me. I pray that He will continue to shower me and my family with more blessings and many more years together. Life has been good to me and I couldn't ask for more. I have a great family -- supportive parents, two brothers and a sister who never cease to make me proud, loving relatives and kind in-laws (thank you for remembering my birthday!). I have fabulous friends too!

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Best of all, I have a wonderful husband and a loving daughter...

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...and that's all I will ever need.

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Before I close this post, here's a look at Richard's birthday gift with my birthday shoes:

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A Louis Vuitton Monogram Neverfull and Charles & Keith Platforms :) :) :)

Other photos courtesy of Jeng.