We should have a tax holiday until this PDAF issue is fixed

today, august 26, we celebrate our National Heroes Day.  today, we go to Luneta to voice our indignation against government officials and their co-horts who have pocketed billions of pesos of our hard earned money.  BILLIONS! 

I posted on my FB page a few days back:

Whether you are for altogether scrapping the Pork Barrell or retaining it but with a complete overhaul of the system DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY.

On August 26, we celebrate our heroes. On August 26, we become heroes ourselves. March to Luneta.

And today after going to Luneta and as this day closes, my post on my FB page:

Tomorrow it's time to tackle the RHLaw with Jan-Sherwin Hilbay's brother in front of the SC Justices but as we end this day, I remember one of the lessons that we were grilled on in one of my Law subjects back in College lest, God forbid, one of us runs for public office.

Article XI: PUBLIC OFFICE IS A PUBLIC TRUST. Public officers and employees must, at ALL TIMES, be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.

We don't need idols in our televisions. We don't need heroes in government. We don't need heroes in our streets. We need honest, selfless and law abiding citizens willing to help our country move forward. it's as simple as that.

#millionpeoplemarch

I truly like doing the grocery.  I have no idea why.  Since I was a kid I looove doing the grocery with my mom.  There seems to be something therapeuti about it...hahaha but I must admit that I have certain quirks when doing the grocery.  1) I cannot do the grocery when the aisles are not aligned.  if there are gaps or missing rows then I completely lose my bearing and second is when there are a lot of people in the grocery, I get grumpier by the minute.  That's why I only go to certain SM hypermarts, shopwise and SnR. I tried in Trinoma but I hated it along with Robinson's Galleria.  Another thing that I do is, I have to pass thru all of the aisles even if I don't have anything to get from that aisle.  Otherwise, I'd lose my bearing again and forget to buy the other items I need to get.

totally sick am I.

spent saturday night with friends.  its been awhile since I've gone out.  i miss that. i miss my friends.  but its just that when the weekend comes I see myself staying at home.  too tired and too guilty to go out with friends.  to tired from work and household chores and taking care of the kids.  to guilty spending time away from the my kids even they're asleep by the time I go out.  i'm sure other moms know what I'm talking about.  oh well.

truly its been a year full of blessing.  there is one more hurdle to undergo.  it may be the biggest yet.  hopefully we all pass it with flying colors.

keep quiet!

some people do nothing but yak their mouth to death.  itching to place miles and miles of duct tape over her mouth

“Sometimes life has a cruel sense of humor, giving you the thing you always wanted at the worst time possible.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Sugar Daddy

Since we can't build more roads to accommodate the gazillion cars on the road, why not make our public transport better?

Why not add more coaches to our MRT, LRT and Philippine Railway lines?  Of course its gonna take lots of money so why not invest now?  With the rising gas prices that no one can do anything about the commuting public is now looking for an alternative way to get to and from one point.

Another is to make the metro a walking city.  Yea I know that's almost impossible but look at Marikina.  When I say walking city it means that there should be a decent sidewalk.  Sidewalk that has working streelights, bare of hawkers, garbage and side cars. One should not be like they're playing amazing race manila sidewalk edition with all the holes, garbage and roadblocks.

Next is to fix major and minor roads as well.  start w the big one such as the maharlika highway, SLEX, NLEX, STAR, C5, C3 Roxas Blvd, Quezon Ave, Commonwealth Ave and most importantly EDSA!  When I saw fix I mean to take out all of the obstructions (broken lampposts, hanging wires), fix potholes, fix drainage and of course fix the alignment of the roads. Its malabo naman na from a, for example, a 3 lane road biglang at some point magiging isang lane nlang no.  The national government can buy a portion of the land if they have to just to fix the alignment.

Manners!

people have got to get some manners!

I have 2 kids and I use a stroller in the mall so I don't have to carry my kids around.

I remember when I had my first, breastfeeding wasn't the norm then...there wasn't much info about it. There was no breastfeeding rooms in malls. Once I went to Greenhills, I had to breastfeed in their clinic in front of the doctor who asked me questions such as: masakit ba (does it hurt?), di ba sya pwede ng formula (can't he have formula milk instead?). Jeez. from a doctor? Breastfeeding and pumping for milk was AWKWARD! but my son's needs had to come first so keber! Then we discovered MOA's breastfeeding room so from then on we only went to malls where they have breastfeeding rooms and where strollers are not a burden to use (no elevator, etc). But one thing I notice and continue to irk me to this day is how people really do not know when and when not to use the elevator.

In the office, former office, that is, people who wanted to ride the elevator wanted to be always first to enter the elevator instead of letting those already in the elevator disembark. The same thing happen in mall elevators plus the fact when people who do not need to use the elevator gets to use it instead of those who have strollers or who are in wheelchairs. There's an effing sign na nga to prio those w strollers and wheelchairs and yet its the same every time!

Yes I do have huge strollers. I have a single Full size Graco stroller and another Quattro Tour Duo Stroller. They are the heavyweights in their class and I love them! Everytime we're in the mall, a lot of people really do stare at them. no kid.

going back, people really have to learn manners! Just imagine if we have to carry the strollers down the hot stairwell of the mall. Believe you me, we've done that many, many times!

Mall employees also needs to be schooled in making sure that people follow these simple and common rules. The security guards, take notice and tell us its bawal to use the escalator but what will we use? I'm not stupid naman to keep my kids ON the stroller while we're riding the escalator. We take them down and we let them ride again on the next level. tedious? yes very tedious if you have a 2 rumbunctious boys.

So far the best mall to go to if you are breastfeeding are SM Malls: SM MOA and SM Southmall

Best mall to go when you have strollers? SM MOA, there are only 2 levels and hallways are spacious.

while we're focused on impeaching 1 person...

50 maternal deaths in January alone

We attended a birthday party last December in Jollibee Blue Wave and by far, they have the best party host and Jollibee character compared to any Jollibee or McDonald's party I've ever been too.

I'm just saying.

Long Weekend #1

After much drama, we left our place just before 10am. There was no real traffic until we turned right in the intersection where Tagaytay Econo Inn was. From that point until Carlo's Pizza it took us an hour if I'm not mistaken. An hour again was spent in Carlo's Pizza where we got their Hawaiin Pizza (differently called of course) and a 2 cheese pizza. Yummy!

After a 2 hr drive, we finally got to Barangay Wawa. Make sure you have everything w you (ice, uling, etc) so you don't have to buy inside the resort. Which would just be around 10pesos in the ordinary store, uling was 30 pesos inside the resort! Nothing surprising about that though. In the plaza, they have dunkin donuts, andok's and jollibee in case you guys are tamad to cook. But if you're thinking of from the resort you can just go back to the plaza anytime, think again.

After Bamboo beach which is now called Kawayan Cove and Punta Fuego, you'd see colorful banners on your right to mark the entrance to the resort. Before entering, make sure you c

heck your breaks because the road is steep and 1/2 of the way is not paved. I don't think that there's light at night so I discouraged people from the resort driving out in the middle of the night. Parking is at the top of the resort. Make sure that your car is secure of course since I don't think anyone makes bantay the cars.

Make your way down to the beach. Just straight down (Cardio!) and at the end of the stairs, on your right is the information desk where you can check in.

They gave us the Family Room #5 (FRA 5), the "building"was divided into 4 units.

2 rooms on top and 2 rooms at the bottom. We got the bottom right unit.

There were 4 bunk beds. They allowed up to 10 people in this kind of room. There was 1 TV that we didn't bother to use. 1 ref and a small table. If you're all gonna use electronic devices you might wanna bring an extension and that multiple plug thing since there were only 2 outlets ~1 for the tv and an extra beside then we unplugged the one for the emergency lights so we can use it. No plugs at the other end of the room (where the aircon was). They provided pillows w clean beddings. it was acceptable naman and there was no "amoy" but OC as I was I brought my own pillows and mattress.

banyo was clean and spacious. don't expect hotel room banyo but it was ok.

There was a common grilling area, outdoor shower area and where you can wash the dishes too. Below, you can see the grill area w the red roof/ and just beside it is the outdoor shower area.

We ate outside since we can't fit everyone inside. Make sure you bring a candle or 2 to ward off the langaws and katol for the mosquitoes. You can buy katol in the resort but it was 30 pesos each. Yaya said that it was just 10 php outside. There was a lot langaws esp since we had inihaw isda for lunch. so make sure you have a candle or 2 ready. There was also ants of all sizes. The biggest was...the length of the nail of my thumb! grabe!

They provided the table and bench seen below :)

now the beach.

don't expect boracay type of sand..maybe more of Galera type of sand pro not naman gray or blackish ha.

in front of the beach resort, the water has lots of stones.mabato sya so not really nice for swimming but it's not THAT mabato when you compare it to Laiya. if you wanna swim, facing the water, just walk to your left past the resort and bingo! better swimming area especially for the kids since there's no sudden drop in the water level.

only 1 or 2 vendors asked if we wanted to buy a lobster or bracelets unlike in Galera and Boracay where one would pass by you every 15mins/so.

over all, the trip was nice. again, don't expect a lot from the resort but for a cheap beach thrill its ok.

btw, with 2 kids in tow, I wasn't able to roamed around and inspect the different facilities of the resort

Costs:

Room: 5kphp (good for 8-1opax). 4 bunkbeds.pwede na mag tabi ang di 2 payat.

Entrance/ person (same for adults and kids): 330php

Sucat to Sta Rosa Exit: 91 php

Gas: 2100 w lots to spare. 1500-2k gas would suffice.

katol in the resort 30php each ~buy somewhere else

uling in the resort: 30php/ bag ~buy somewhere else

Reference: http://www.muntingbuhangin.ph/

i've been meaning to blog and I have a long one in my drafts folder but still unable to finish it *lazy*

finally we found a place. not the ideal place I wanted to go in the first place but it would suffice since we have a limited budget plus the people who wanted to go w us couldn't go out of town longer than what we wanted to. sigh. Baguio would have to wait till the 2nd quarter.

Back in the day, when we spent our summer in Bamboo Beach (now Kawayan Cove), we'd hear about Munting Buhangin but we never wanted to hop on the boat and explore it...think my mom did and other relatives but I, personally didn't. why. because it was sq....never mind.

now with 2 hands tied at my back sige let's see. so far I've been reading mostly good reviews but 1 or 1 not so nice reviews.

so far, 1 point for being the most affordable place I've seen on the net for a beach resort that is.

2nd point for allowing people to bring food w/o any corkage. I can never understand what corkages are for.

We were also s'posed to go to Canyon Woods but the place was booked and to Tamarindu Beach Resort but we took into consideration that the beach wasn't pure sand plus we couldn't bring food. But they had the lowest food package amongst the Beach Resorts in Laiya at 600php for adults.

Reference Sites:

http://www.wayph.com/munting-buhangin-beach-camp-batangas/

http://www.kitchencow.com/2009/06/11/taramindu-beach-and-garden-inn-your-formula-for-a-great-vacation/

http://traveling.ph/stories/taramindu-laiyas-beach-garden-inn.html

let's go back. let's see where this would lead me ;)

things to buy:

Alessandro
1. soccer shoes (w and w/o spikes)
2. soccer socks (2)
3. shin guards
4. football

Me
1. coleman (where are my old ones?!?!?!)
2. ala director's chair
3. bigger coleman box (same as the 1 I have but bigger)

*i'm realizing my dream of being a soccer mom*

...and no, i still don't know how to drive
...and no, i won't push myself to learn. i can pay the driver to do it

Alessi went to his free trial w futbolfunatics yesterday at the Meralco center in Ortigas. Though he was his usual quiet at first mode I know eventully he'll learn to warm up. in the middle of the class, he started dribbling the football. good sign. a few minutes he ran up to me and asked me if he can play w his ben 10 computer game. this made me more determined to get him interested in any sport as i dont want him to become one of those kids that's always stuck in front of the computer. by the end of the class, all he did was play w dirt while the others were in a scrimmage. in short, he didnt participate in class. oh well, a few more classes and hopefully we'll see progress.

come to think of it, there was a change him that i've never seen before: he played with dirt! he never does that. my Alessi is as prissy as hell. If during dinner he gets food or ketchup anywhere on his body, he'll have it wipe it off. if even one grain of rice falls on the table or a drop of juice, he'll tell you to wipe it off. at least now he's acting like a normal 4 yr old boy.

next week is the start of soccer camp in Cuenca, AAV. I can't wait!

We moved!

we finally got to moved in to our new "house" a few days before Christmas. finally. though at that time there was still some kinks here and there to be straightened out. there still is actually when we moved in and as the days progressed we started noticing the pangets of the house. the one who made the house didn't do their job well. oh well. its not really naman our 'our" house so who we are to complain. besides. as long as i'm with my sons i'm fine.

so last christmas wasn't that chrismast-sy for us since we were so busy moving our stuff. we had so much stuff. let me correct that. we have so much stuff and I have so much basura! im a hoarder! i dont 'collect' food stuff or whatever but what i 'collect' are papers. from the wlang kwentang receipt to my stationeries to my grade school palancas...gawd. basurera! i left them in 605 until i get to straighten my personal stuff here in Timbuktu (yes I call our new place Timbuktu).

the mil told us that we had to go bring the kids back to pque late Sunday so we headed off to Fun Ranch around mid afternoon. half epic fail it was. we'd usually go there first thing in the morning to avoid the rush of kids going there (yea a kids place to avoid kids) in the afernoon but then again, it was the only place i could think of at that time plus that there was a sale I wanted to go to. (paging Frontera Verde admin: more parking slots please!)

the kids and I got off and waited till Ace found a parking spot.it took him 30mins to find one!we almost gave up and we were s'posed to leave na when I saw Ace walking towards where we were waiting for him. sa wakas! i was tired na from making my 2 kids saway coz they wanted to ride the carousel or buy french fries or ride the horsey or follow the yellow balloon! kapagod!

Alessi wanted to get on the rides but past experiences tell me that im just gonna waste money if I buy tokens for this since takot si Alessi sa rides. Active fun was puno so we went to the barn across it and while they played sa mini play area nila I went shopping for a few minutes. got those corner covers and a new binder since the old one that I have is not only missing but also pokes me at my ribs when I use it. sakit e. after a few more ikots and since in less than an hour pagod na kme we decided to go home na...whew.

in the car Igo was teasing his kuya when he kept on trying to "kiss" his kuya. igo's kiss means lots of laway that his kuya hates. hhaaayyy kaya kahit super kulit ng mga anak ko I miss them everytime they're not with me :( kahit super sakit ng likod ko at ng ulo..spending time with them and hearing their laughs and getting laway-ed up compensates for all the aches

The Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act (RA 10028): Support for Breastfeeding Mothers in the Workplace

The Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act (RA 10028): Support for Breastfeeding Mothers in the Workplace