I say, let's all be Smart moms, okay!

MY FAMILY, MY TREASURE

As a wife and mom to 3 girls, I often have my hands so full. Well, I guess it's a universally known fact that when you're a wife and mom, there's no day-off. In my case, I do get some hours-off alone enjoying some peace and quiet. It usually happens when my girls are off to dreamland, and that usually starts no earlier than 11 p.m. every night. I'm used to it, so I have no complaints. In fact, I believe at this point in my life, I have found "my balance". By that I mean, I am enjoying a work-family-life balance. I love going to work and when I'm at work, I look forward to 5:30 p.m. and go home and be with my family.

I have developed a mindset that my real work starts when I'm at home and my corporate job is just my sideline even if work takes much of my time (47% of my waking hours is spent at work). Having that mindset continues to work for me. I also make it a point to "give myself a break" even for just an hour everyday when I'm at the office. I do this during my lunch break -- I get out of our office and take a trip to a bookstore where I browse over some books and magazines. There were times that I just get out of the office just so I could breathe some fresh air and spend some time praying to God while I'm walking. Oh, I love doing prayer walks! It helps me de-stress. Whenever I get back to my cubicle in my workplace, I feel so recharged.

My weekends are spent with my family but I also get to squeeze in some online time like blogging, facebooking, and surfing. Those are my other ways of de-stressing. These online activities can eat up my whole weekend waking hours if I have a slow connection and that's not what I want. I still have a lot of chores to do at home and I still have a family to take care of.

Why on earth am I talking about what keeps a working mom so busy, busy, busy??? Well, because our time is so precious! Any delays in our "deliverables" can spell disaster! I may be exaggerating here but I hope you get the picture. That's why in this day and age, having a fast and reliable internet connection is most important to me or to any working-mom. Yes, having a personal broadband connection is like having a reliable helper. Working moms need all the help that we can get to make our lives easier.

So, now is the best time to subscribe to SMART BRO Unlimited Home Broadband Plan 999 or 1995 because of all the amazing freebies below. This offer may not happen again so let's grab the opportunity now.

• Freebies for subscribing to this plan are the following:

a. Free All-In-One HP Printer
b. FREE Call & Texts with SMART Gold Lite Plan 300 for 6 months subscription
c. Free 1 month broadband subscription

• With the SMART BRO Unlimited Home broadband, you will get consistent surf speed and stable signal.
• The Smart BRO Unlimited Home broadband promo is from March 4 to June 4, 2011.
• For further inquiries about the promo, you may visit the nearest SMART Wireless Center or any SMART BRO accredited agents.

Per DTI-NCR Permit No. 1871, Series of 2011.

Watch the video below and be prepared to be awed by what SMART BRO can do.

Oh yes!!! This will definitely make our lives easier. Imagine, with a Smart BRO Unlimited Home Broadband, I don't have to wait to get online since my internet connection is always on. I don't even have to wait for hours before I can finish downloading some review materials for my kids' school work/assignment or uploading pictures to my facebook so I can share them with my friends and family abroad. I can also use it whenever I like without paying extra because I am billed on a monthly basis, anyway. Talking about being cost-efficient!

I can holler up a friend while I'm reading a recipe from the internet and compare notes with her. My husband would also love this since just like me, he also likes to know how things are done or how certain recipes are cooked by watching them in You Tube.

I can surf speed! Whoa, I like the sound of that. I don't have to panic anymore every time I have to consult the internet for getting ready information on dengue, chicken pox or if my baby is constipated, etc. I panic easily when I don't get answers fast especially when it involves the health of my children. It's darn annoying when my internet connection suddenly does not connect or hangs. Boy, I want to kick my PC every time that happens.

Upgrading to a broadband connection not only allows us to download faster but more importantly, it lets us experience the internet's true potential. We can listen to our favorite songs, catch up on missed programmes, connect to our office PC from home -- things that we find difficult or impossible with a dial-up connection.

So you see, there are really a lot of benefits of having a personal broadband connection and it shouldn't be just any broadband connection, it should be Smart BRO Unlimited Home Broadband. Again, I repeat -- speed and reliability are what it's all about in this day and age. And Smart offers these with their broadband. We deserve nothing less than Smart.

To moms like me, having a personal broadband connection is like "heaven-sent". So I say, let's all be Smart moms and have a Smart BRO. Smart na, BRO pa.

This is my official entry to the SMART Bro’s Broadbandest Blowout Blogger Contest!
Visit the Nuffnang Philippines contest page to know more about this contest.
Deadline for this contest is on March 21, 2011.

42

In just a few minutes I'll be turning 42. I have no qualms in divulging my age because I know I still look like and feel like I'm just turning 22, hahaha! To my eldest daughter, 42 is old. She used to ask me if I will be the first one to die in our family since I'm the oldest, hehehe (I'm older than my husband by 6 months). Well, I would always answer her with a "maybe" and a smile. And then she would ask me to stop talking about it because she doesn't want me to die. Huh?!

Since it is my birthday, I filed a "birthday" leave which our office doesn't have. My bosses were kind enough to allow me to go on vacation so I can celebrate my birthday with my family. I plan to sleep for 10 hours and just be lazy the whole day, probably watch a marathon of DVDs with my hubby and kids while eating pancit malabon, cake and ice cream.

Anyway, the real reason why I'm suddenly blogging about myself and what I plan to do on my birthday is that this blog entry is for a contest that I will submit to Jayvee Fernandez' A Bugged Life. At stake is a Galaxy Tab. Isn't that cool???? Well, I actually don't know what a Galaxy Tab is but I have seen pictures of it on his blog and I would love to have one...for free. You see, I refuse to buy any techie gadget because most of the gadgets I want are worth more than Php5,000 and when it reaches that amount, I consider it beyond my limits. And eversince I won my first gadget, a Sony digital camera, from joining a contest, I told myself that I will complete my gadget needs by winning them and not buying them. Oh, how determined I am.

I started joining contests 4 years ago. My first foray into this addictive world of contests had me submitting pictures of my kids to parenting magazines. I got tokens each time they would be featured in the magazines. Since then, I was hooked.

I win some, I lose some...
I have a database of all the prizes I won since 2007. Believe it or not, the amount of prizes I have received reached half a million already. I consider all my winnings as blessings from God and I am extremely grateful for each and every item I won. I don't discriminate between a pricey prize or not-so-pricey one. May it be a bar of soap, box of toothpaste, one pack of diaper, a hair makeover, restaurant GCs, or a Php50K vacation package -I am sure to relish it.

I joined several contests already that had a netbook, laptop, IPAD, or any similar gadget as its prize but these items seem to elude me. I hope not this time.

Anyway, since this contest I'm joining requires me to talk about something funny, juicy or intriguing and post pictures or video which I have not posted before, here I am posting the following photos I took when I got invited to watch a TV show last year as part of my prize from, again, joining a contest, hahaha!

So, here are the photos:

Can you guess who among our local celebrities own these legs and shoes? Grabe, killer heels talaga!

I hope you have fun guessing and I hope these photos are something new and intriguing enough for Jayvee to make me win the Galaxy Tab.

Anyway, win or lose, it's my birthday and win or lose...I'll still be happy eating my pancit malabon... and cake... and ice cream, which my hubby will buy for me.

Happy birthday to me!

This is my official entry to Jayvee Fernandez' A Bugged Life contest.

Lucky Coins

I do a lot of walking. Really. Every morning from Mondays to Fridays, I walk along the streets of Ayala to reach my office destination. There's not a day in a week that I will not walk from our house to our village gate since tricycles in where I live are hard to come by. I also used to walk almost everyday from our office building in Ayala to Greenbelt area, even reaching SM Makati, during my lunch break. I still do that but not as often as before. Yes, I have grown to have strong legs and I don't tire easily anymore because of this frequent walking. But, this post is neither about walking nor related to the health benefits of frequent walking. This is all about the coins I often see along my way enroute to wherever I'm going. I call them my "lucky coins". It started with just a single coin, of course, and after about 2 years, I see my collection growing. Hahaha! I keep them in a wallet given by an officemate, an LV (Lucky Vivian's, hehe).

Well, I am not at all superstitious but I really don't now why these coins fascinate me and why I have tagged them as "lucky". I'm thinking maybe, I will have these coins buried in the soil during the groundbreaking rites where I will put up my future orphanage. These coins will symbolize the journey I took as I fulfill a dream of building a home for the orphans.

Our Dusit Experience

One of our grandest and most memorable hotel stays happened last year. It was my husband's 41st birthday and we opted to celebrate it in one of Dusit Thani's Grand Rooms. We were so excited, that a week before our scheduled check-in, everything was planned. Our 3 daughters couldn't keep their excitement as D-day grew nearer. As I was packing their small tent and few of their toys, board games and favorite stuffed dolls inside our big bag, I knew in my heart that our one-night stay in Dusit Thani would be a blast.

August 28, 2010- Upon our arrival in Dusit's busy but impressive hotel lobby, we were greeted with warm smiles. A lady in Thai national costume accompanied me towards the line to the registration while my kids roam around. I was glad my request for an early check in was granted! Weeeee! Happy, indeed! Oh, we felt so at home right away.

As soon as we opened the door to our Grand Room #1105, my kids immediately looked for the bed and jumped on it, while my hubby checked the TV channels, haha!

The view from the entrance door. Straight ahead is the bedroom. A wall separates the bedroom and the living area.

The Grand Room has a separate living area which is simple but elegantly designed.

The living area

The pantry

The bedroom is spacious with a designated work station. And oh, there's an LCD flat screen TV in both rooms so there's no need to fight over the remote control. There were two of them, anyway. It proved to be very ideal for us since my hubby is such a basketball freak while my kids are into Playhouse Disney.

Family picture in the bedroom

The view from the bedroom and look at the red thingy there, it was the kiddie tent our kids set up. Ain't it cute?

Our Grand Room also has 2 bathrooms. The master bathroom is fully-equipped with all the amenities and toiletries you need. Name it, they are sure to have it. See for yourself and check out the L'Occitane shampoos and lotions. Nice!

Just as we were about to check out the pool, the food that we ordered arrived while my hubby's family was also waiting for us to fetch them at the lobby. Everyone was excited, I could tell!

Picture taking at the spacious living area after my hubby's birthday merienda celebration. See, the Grand Room could fit us all!

Swimming time is bonding time

One of the things that I consider important whenever we stay in a hotel is the pool and everything around it. We have 3 kids who love swimming and really enjoy playing by the pool (in fact, one of them even wants to be a mermaid), so much so that whenever we pack our bags, I do make sure to pack their water toys. Well, not really water toys but toys which they can play with while in the pool.

All dressed up for the afternoon's highlight -- SWIMMING fun!

Dusit Thani's pools are lovely. Months before we checked in, I already checked out the pool area and I fell in love with it. I went home that day telling my kids how nice and lovely Dusit Thani's pool area is. I guess, it's like seeing a glimpse of Thailand, although I haven't been to Thailand yet.

Dusit Thani has 3 pools. One very shallow pool more for toddlers, one less shallow pool for kids and one adult pool. Those three were all very inviting. The very shallow pool with a nice little mermaid sculpture is not limited to children, by the way. I stayed there the entire time with and without my kids.

They also have an area, like a small pavilion, where you can chill out, relax and just spend time reading, reflecting or taking an afternoon nap. There were thin mattresses lying around the wooden floor. I was really tempted to get one for myself and take even just a 15-minute power nap. But I was too busy taking pictures to capture those wonderful moments my family was having.

See, much of our family bonding time during our stay there was spent in the pool.

An oasis that was Devarana Spa

Stepping into the Devarana Spa was like stepping into an oasis. The mood was just so relaxing and the ambiance was so light and tranquil.

My hubby related to me step-by-step how he spent the most luxurious time of his life when he experienced the Devarana Spa. How I envied him for that. But it was his birthday and he deserved a day of pampering, free of stress and just enjoy living the life!

The lobby

It was late at night when we sneaked out of our room and hubby brought his camera and tripod along. We took the liberty of posing at the grand lobby of Dusit Thani while everybody was asleep. See, nobody's around....

Feeling like a queen and king

Going loco over coco at Dusit Gourmet

I discovered something delicious at Dusit Gourmet - their Coconut Bread! Their mongo bread was also good but it was their coconut bread that made me go loco, hahaha! I took home two loaves of this.

I was looking for a cake that night for my hubby. He doesn't have a sweet-tooth nor is a cake-lover like me, so I wanted to give him a treat that wasn't too sweet. I thought the Apple Tart would be perfect. I brought it into our room and we had it as midnight snack together with the Coconut Bread. And yes, that was what we served when 2 more guests arrived that night. Lovely!

and much more at BASIX

At Basix was where we had our complimentary breakfast buffet. There was a variety of food which could satisfy different tastes - Asian, Western, Indian, Continental.

I love their fruit and bread selection --- abundant & fresh! It was where I headed first. And then after finishing my fruits and breads, guess where I headed next -- the BACON section! I just had a few pieces, mind you.

Lots and lots of bacon! I love! Weeeee!

My hubby was so happy with his breakfast. He had a plateful of his favorite breakfast fare - tapa, tocino, corned beef, bacon and a lot more. My daughter on one hand, who was the only one who joined me and my hubby (our other 2 daughters were still asleep) at that time, was happy with her fruits and some freshly baked pastries.

A donut for breakfast? Well, why not, donut?

No, we weren't coy at the Koi Pond

After having breakfast at Basix, all our kids were up and were raring to explore the rest of Dusit Thani. We went to the koi pond and Zen garden where the kids enjoyed feeding the fishes.

A must-see for the whole family - Dusit's Koi pond

The Koi pond, Zen garden and the mini bridge are not to be missed when visiting Dusit Thani. It was so refreshing to see these koi fishes swimming in the pond. Being here gave me a feeling of serenity maybe because of the zen-like atmosphere. I felt like a Japanese girl in a Japanese park :-)

A great place for the whole family, I swear

Everything is great at Dusit! - location, food, service, staff, ambiance, amenities

Dusit Thani Manila is a wonderful place for the whole family. The hotel is very family-oriented. During Sundays, the lobby is transformed into a mini wonderland, a place where there are lots of attractions for the kids. Oh yes, it has something for everyone.

Our stay in Dusit had been very pleasurable and most memorable. I, my husband and our 3 daughters couldn't wait to go back here. My husband wants to celebrate his birthday here every year. How I wish we could afford it... (sigh).

This place has left a lasting impression on us. It has left a soft spot in my heart. Truly, it was a delight to experience Dusit.


Dusit Thani Manila website:
http://www.dusit.com/dusit-thani/dusit-thani-manila.html