My days are hectic. My household help of six years decided she wants to get hitched that in span of two weeks since she had that epiphany, she packed her bags and left. I would not have mind so much if only she gave me ample time to get a temp or a permanent replacement. She knows that I do online work and can't possibly afford not to "work". She knows that I am on a rehab program. Got you! Not rehab rehab but more of therapy for my dislocated left thumb.

My son is causing me a lot of fitful sleeping nights (not really for as soon as I take my meds, I'm dead to the world)because of his "alleged" girlfriend. I'm not really against him having a GF but! I'm really am not partial to her.

I'm just so tired doing housework and attending to Ethan. I just want to go to a spa and have a massage. In times like these, I want to get myself some spring plungers, attach myself to one and get catapulted to Shang-ri-la.

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D3, the dentist, was invited by Ethan's class to do a "talk" about preventive dentistry. In other words, D3 talked about how to properly brush teeth, the dangers of not brushing teeth, and what could happen if teeth are not cleaned properly. D3 even had a slide presentation showing what types of food are harmful and some really gross pictures of the bacteria that live in the mouth. The kids were all "yucking" and "ewe-ing" as they looked at the bacteria's pictures.

After the talk and presentation D3 took out a big replica of a set of teeth. She took out a toothbrush and showed the kids the proper way of brushing teeth. Sad to say, there a couple of kids with tooth decay and I can't help wondering "what the heck were their moms doing letting the tooth decay progress?". It is an often misconception that it's alright for milk teeth to rot as permanent teeth will replace them anyway. Wrong! Decaying tooth is "decaying" tooth and should be addressed immediately.

I have some seen some adults with decaying teeth and I think no amount of teeth filling could fix them. They need dentures! However there's another option for those living around Texas. They could go see an implant dentist Plano.Cosmetic dentistry is fast becoming an in-demand specialization. I wonder if D3 would consider specializing in this too.

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My doctor said I should come back after the six-weeks so he could take a look at my left thumb - the one that was broken during the Ondoy typhoon rescue mission. The six-week period was over last week and still I did not go see my doctor. Two days ago I decided to take out the splint since the healing period was at its 7th week. I thought that my thumb should be well by then. I took off the splint. My thumb was stiff and with very minimal movement. That was expected, right? Anyway, D1 was on duty the time I took off my splint. Last night D1 came home from duty and notice that my thumb was out of its splint, was swollen, and (truth be told) was still quite tender.

"Mom! You played doctor again! You should have not taken off the splint until the doctor said so!"

So, later today I will go to the hand surgeon. D1 said the thumb did not heal well. Worst case scenario was for the surgeon to fix the nerves and whatever stuff that props and connects my thumb.

With my current state of "sadness" and my impending doctor consult, wouldn't it be nice to just grab my luggage sets and fly-off to wherever it is that I could find solace?

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I am officially sad. I have not been sad for quite a while since my usual state of emotion is: pissed. Last night Ethan was asking D2 if I was mad at my son and at hubby. D2 said "no, mom is only mad at people who irritates her." To this Ethan retorted "but everyone irritates mom!" Okay. I can't help but laugh at Ethan's perception of me.

It's true though. People who are dense, cocky, hard-headed, know-all, arrogant and boastful irritate me at no ends. I don't like plasticity and duplicity too. I may be too frank for comfort at times (okay, most of the time) but I think that is a better trait that being superficial and artificial.

I am still too upset. Have you had that feeling that you want something resolved now as in "now" but can't? As I type, my laptop's battery indicator is blinking red. The indicator reads 20 minutes remaining battery life. I knew I should have bought one of the laptop batteries I was considering the last time I went to the mall.

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There are two things that are pissing me off right now. The first thing is... I cannot discuss it yet as I'm still raw (emotion-wise) to discuss it. Just give me time to process the "event" as it's current and not yet resolved. It's a good thing that one of medications makes me sleepy it not I could be up all night biting my already short nails. The second thing that has been bothering me is the fact that I've been neglecting this blog. I just don't have the time to blog hop and comment on other blogs. My Alexa rank ha gone down too! I think I need to resubmit my blog to a web directory to improve my ranking.

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I just heard from the grapevine that a friend I know recently won $16,500 at the local casino. The money she won is roughly equivalent to 750,000 Php - more than enough for her to go traipsing about the globe if she cares to. What did she play? Slots! I was told that my friend frequents the casino every other day and has won by the hundreds of thousands prior to the latest win. Okay. The last time I saw the insides of a casino was more than 10 years ago. The slots are still called slots but the machines are computerized and buttons are pressed for you to "spin" the machine, so to speak.

Seriously! I think I want to give online casinos a chance. My email is flooded with such offers but really, is there a way to tell which sites are legitimate. Yup! There is a site that has a listing of all trusted online casinos. The trusted sites motto is: online slots no download .You can just go to the sites and play without downloading any program. Looking for online casino games real money played? Check out the sites for I sure will. Who knows? I might get lucky and if I do, Palawan here I come!

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I have subscribed to a local airline's email notices of tickets on sale. I missed out on the "piso" seat plus last week. A round trip ticket for Hong Kong was at $99, including a 3 nights 4 day stay at a hotel. I missed it! The other day I was notified that tickets to Korea and Japan were at $50! A friend was able to book a $400 round trip ticket to LA. The fare is exclusive of taxes and travel insurance but what the heck?! It would be no big deal adding a few $$ for those items. Wait, I think I have another email notification of an airline ticket sale.

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I was invited by QTV 11's new show titled Full Time Moms hosted by Suzi Entrata-Abrera and Christine Jacob-Sandejas. The taping was on October 22, 2009 at 6:30 P.M. I was emailed the script for the segment and I was surprised that Tintin Bersola-Babao was with me in the segment too. As I read the script, I learned that the segment was all about techy moms. Okay. I am not that techy. As I read on, I googled all possible questions and their answers that might come up.

The day of the taping came and with me was a friend. D4 followed later. The segment was quite long. The script was not 100% followed as Suzi, Christine, Tintin and kept on veering away this way and that way.

Tintin has a website called ParenTin.TV and I promised her that I would link her site. We exchanged URLs but I seriously doubt if she'll link me.

Anyway, the episode was shown last night. I purposely did not blog about it because.... well... because! Some of my friends texted me last night and said that they were actually watching me on TV. I didn't watch the show though although D 2,3 and Ethan were watching. Why didn't I watch my segment? I felt "shy"!! Anyway, here's a picture with Tintin, Suzi and Christine. I forgot the name of the other girl. Gosh! Don't I look small?!

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Christmas is just around the corner. I bought some Christmas decors over the weekend to replace the damaged ones I have. Gosh! They were expensive! One textile poinsettia costs 29 Php to 89 Php. Multiply that by at least 20 and I still have a barely decorated tree. Speaking of Christmas and other holiday stuff, SIL had ordered a batch of corporate holiday cards the other day. She said the offer was really low so she grabbed the package.

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I got a rather urgent call from D1 yesterday. D3 and I were om our way home when D1 called. Our house-help collapsed and D2 had no way to take her to the ER. All the cars in the house were out! So, I told D2 to call her dad as he is probably in and around the neighborhood.

Luckily D1 arrived home and settled the emergency. It appeared that our help was bitten by some insect and had an allergic reaction. Good thing there was no need to take her to ER as it would have cost me a ton. Yes, I've had my shares of ERs and they do charge quite a chunk. It's a good thing we all have health cards to shoulder our medical emergencies. The only hassle with local health cards is that they are selective with the type of illnesses and procedures. I just wish there is a better health card like Blue Advantage card offered in the US.

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My obsession with Palawan continues. I have left instructions to a former co-teacher of D2 to let me know of properties on sale in Puerto Princesa. I was moved to leave such instructions because one of the tour guides I met said he bought 3 hectares of land (inland, not beach front) for 60,000 PHP. I was hoping I could buy a beach front property at double or even triple that price! Oh I wish! I pray! I implore! For the meantime, someone also sent me a message that there are homes for rent in the city proper of Puerto Princesa. Why would I want to rent? I want a beach front property!

This beach is only accessible by boat. There's no way you can walk to get to the beach unless you're willing to hike some then rappel down the stiff limestone cliff. Or. You can don your scuba gear and swim your way to the property. Makes me think of James Bond and Leonardo di Caprio. Is it for sale? Nope! It belongs to the city of Puerto Princesa.

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Pictured are D3 and Ethan at the beach in Sabang, Puerto Princesa. The beach is in the China Sea which is nothing really impressive as the beaches of Cavite are in the China Sea too... the dirty part of China Sea.



That's Ethan and I trying not to get sucked back by the receding waves. There was no lifeguard in the beach so it was kind of suicidal to swim in the beach. The pristine beaches of Palawan are akin to the ones in Thailand. Makes me want to pack my bag and have someone sell motorhome to me that I could park in any part of Puerto Princesa. This way, there's no need for me to buy a lot and build a house in Palawan. What do you think Huling?

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There is a lot of business opportunities in Puerto Princesa. There are no specialty stores of any kind in the city. You have to bring all your gadgets as there is nowhwere you can buy a replacement for let's say, your waterproof bag or your waterproof casing for your digicam. There's not even a shop where you can buy swim wear or snorkeling equipment. Life vests used in boat trips are bought in Manila. Gosh! I could make a living selling life vests to tour companies in Puerto Princesa! Maybe I could even sell equestrian and horse stuff because I saw two girls In breeches horseback riding. The scene was straight out of a wholesome-sound-of-music-thingy movie.

Puerto Princesa has possibilities...

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Yes, there is wi-fi in Palawan. The only trouble was it was so slow. Good thing I bought my own wireless broadband. How were we able to survive without such technologies for the last decades?!

I remember this game show I watched during the late 60s. It was a dating game show where a computer named Rhoda tabulated all info about the contestants so she may "compute" who are best matched. Did I believe such crap?! Of course I did! The "computer" was as big as a house and I really thought the computer could talk and think.

Kids today are not so gullible. As I was about to plug in the wireless flash drive into the USB port of my laptop, Ethan said how he wish he has his own laptop too. I told him that he does - while in truth I was referring to his toy laptop.

"Mom!! That's only a toy! I want a real laptop."

I told him that we'll wait for sale offers on laptop deals.

He looked at me and said "Mom, will that ever happen?"
Yup! Got mine and D4's on such deals.

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In Puerto Princesa is the famous Crocodile Farm. When they say crocodile farm, they do mean farming crocodile. The farm breeds crocodile! There's this huge structure that has deep tubs full of 1-2 year old crocodiles. The younger ones are in s more secured and secluded area away from the prying eyes of tourists. We were told not to get too close (duh?!) to the tubs as the crocodiles might think they're hungry and just might take a bite at us.

These crocs are about 18 months old.

After the hatchling house, we went straight to where the bigger crocs hang out. We saw some real big ones that looked like statues. They were just there. Not moving. Not reacting. To which I was pretty grateful for who would want to view active crocodiles?

Picture #2 is just like picture #1. The difference is that the crocs here are bigger.

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My daughters and I are in a quest to travel as much as we can nowadays. The present world economy has set numerous airlines put up tickets on sale for specific travel periods. This concept has given a lot of people the opportunity to travel to both local and international locations.

We actually got our Puerto Princesa tickets on sale. The other day local airline company released hundreds of sale tickets. We missed it! A friend was able to book tickets for UK at superduper low price. She said she plans on going to the UK by April next year. I was with her the other day as she was browsing for possible hotel bookings in Manchester. Why Manchester? I asked. She said she has always been intrigued with Piccadilly and last she heard, Piccadilly is near Manchester. Indeed! So she browsed for hotels around the area and was immediately drawn to The Palace, not Buckingham but The Palace Hotel. The architecture of the hotel is reminiscent of Victorian architecture. The pictures on the website are great. What's even "greater" is that the The Palace Hotel Manchester is right smack in the middle of the fashion and entertainment district of the city.

If you're not so familiar with Manchester it's where the big Ferris wheel and Palace Theatre are located. Okay. I think I'm officially envious of my friend now.

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Can you believe it? It's November already! In no time at all Christmas will hit us smack in the face. I was in sis-in-law's house last night and her house is already busting with Christmas decorations. I am in no condition to be as enthusiastic for I think my Christmas decors were "drowned" by the flood brought on by typhoon Ondoy. Anyway I might as well get into the groove of Christmas by browsing on some Holiday Fun Eyeglasses . I visited the site to look over some New Arrivals. I actually wrote Zenni Optical's support to inquire if they deliver in the Philippines. Yup! They do! They said delivery fee is set at $9 no matter how many pairs I order of their $8 Prescription Zenni Glasses . I just might order 3 pairs.

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I am still in "vacation mode". I can't seem to shake the feeling! The Puerto Princesa trip was the best vacation I have had in a long time. Seriously, there's a State U in Puerto Princesa that offers BS Architecture and I've toying with the idea of applying for a teaching position. What do you think?

Anyway, I have given away my stash of "rainmakers". The bamboo thingy is a big hit and everyone who has seen the rainmaker is asking for one. Well, sorry. I am all out of souvenirs. I should have bought more but lugging them would have been a problem. Speaking of souvenirs, I am a serious souvenir collector. I tend to ask close friends to bring home a souvenir or two for me from their travels.

Lucky me, I have found a site that sells authentic souvenirs from Australia. I started collecting souvenirs from Australia when a dear friend gave me a boomerang she bought in Sydney. The boomerang was hand-painted and though I can't throw one even if my life depended on it, I still treasure it. The latest addition to my Australian collection was a cutesy stuffed Koala . It sits in a special place in my car. Prior to that I received two sets of coasters. One set came from a fellow blogger while the other set came from D4's friend. I heard another friend is off to Europe. I wonder what I'd ask for a souvenir this time.

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Puerto Princesa in Palawan is home to the Sabang Underground River. We took a tour and we were awestruck by the miracle of nature as presented in the caves of the underground river. Palawenos are so proud of this natural beauty for it is now a finalist in the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Please vote for the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. Vote HERE.

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