31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 31

my nails were done by a girl called jiopai at nail spa in ibn battuta mall:-)

i can't believe that it's already the end of august! in short, mag chchristmas na sa 'pinas! BER months na kasi!

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baby has finished her baby class today.we still don't know if we would enroll her in another class (uh,it's pricey)...there are two options for her age.one class is called wee wiggle giggle and the other one is called big muscles for little babies.i'm more inclined to go for wee wiggle giggle 'cos the name itself makes me want to wiggle and giggle.not make wee-wee, though!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 30

we placed these small balls infront of baby to see which one she's going to pick up first.i was hoping she would pick the tennis ball.she did not.she picked the basketball!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 29

har har har

disclaimer: this photo is not mine.i found it on 9gag.com.if you are the owner of this photo, please let me know so you can be properly credited.ta!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 28

some weeks ago, my husband and i went to the newly-opened mirdif city centre mall.it was good.they have all these american brands that you don't normally find in other malls, and...they have pottery barn! yessir.the store of my dreams.before i would just browse online and salivate and wish, now i can salivate and wish inside the store in person! haha.i was kinda disappointed that i did not see their children's section.maybe it was still under construction as the shop was huge.



sometimes (like today) when i'm in a nesting mood, i browse through their catalog (and ikea's too).

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baby's friend a came by for a visit with her parents.they were looking at each other quietly.they're almost like twin sisters 'cos they're only a month apart and they're both half-filipinos, only a is fairer than my baby.baby's skin is like a mixture of my skin and mr t's.it's not white, it's not brown.it's like honey :-)sometimes i get amazed when we go out under the sun and she immediately gets a tan.after sometime, she gets back to her old color.as for me, as soon as i'm under the sun, i immediately get the color of a talong (eggplant).ayaw.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 27

we went for a lunch buffet at horizon restaurant in the newly-opened rotana hotel near our place.look at mr t's nicely-laden out plate as opposed to...


mine! haha

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baby's been a handful today :-( she wouldn't go to sleep, she wouldn't drink her milk.she was basically having a bad day.it all started when i let her wear her hello kitty hat.she did not like it.then i let her wear her hello kitty sunshades.she hated it.does she have anything against hello kitty, kaya? anyway, we bought these baby biscuits at cheothram for baby to chew on.she seemed to love it, and it's good for teething.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 26

not your typical dinner - salad, french onion soup, and...purefoods hotdogs!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 25

hahahaha

i would like to apologize on behalf of tigger.he is having some crisis of sorts so he has decided to bounce around using baby's door bouncer.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 24

arabic coffee

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i'm choosing to be apathetic. still, my heart goes out to the innocent victims...

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31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 23

we had *iftar at jedoudna, a lebanese restaurant near our place.it did not disappoint as we were still so full until the next day!

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i'm catching up with my movies-to-watch list this summer.the other day i was able to watch "the bucket list." ya, i'm waaay behind all you movie buffs out there.i'm currently watching "alice in wonderland." i still have to watch the ending of these movies (i've watched them onboard a plane, but i've never seen the ending):

-the lovely bones
-shutter island
-that movie about john lennon when he was a teenager

*Ramadan dinner.This is the evening meal when Muslims break their fast.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 22

so my husband and i decided to take a walk along the marina as we had to do some errands anyway.i was pleasantly surprised that it was not as hot as i thought it would be.

this was our view, and no, that's not our car.haha.

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after 154 years, we were finally able to watch "inception." i'm still in "limbo," to be quite honest.i think i have to watch that movie about ten times before i could come out with my own analysis.i still think it was fantastic.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 21

i love baby's socks! apple green, pink and brown with li'l owls on it! i want my own pair as well.

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we had a li'l drama in our house involving nanny.don't want to divulge anything more at the risk of us sounding like whiny, ungrateful brats, so let's leave it at that, shall we? this is a happy blog afterall.

baby had her first fish today.nanny mixed it with sweet potato, brocolli and pumpkin.i know, kinda yucky.surprise, surprise, baby finished her portion!

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just to let you know:


from tumblr

31 Photos in 31 Days: Days 19 & 20

it was 45degrees outside, but this was our view inside.

we went to a restaurant and bar called apres at the mall of the emirates.it overlooks ski dubai.this was also the place where we welcomed 2010.

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we had cheese fondue!

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baby's been rolling back and forth on the carpet, and she keeps on babbling "da-da." kyot!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 18

meet sleepy bear.we got him at carrefour (of all places) but guess what, baby adores him! tsk.tsk.she likes gnawing at his hat.

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so i went to this (free! yay!) workshop called the "uae cultural awareness." a very energetic, open-minded and smart emirati gave the talk.it was very enlightening and interesting.i have been here for five years, and i realized i still have a lot to learn about the uae.Just to let you know, my three favorite arabic words are: "Alhamdulillah|" (Praise to God) "Masha'Allah" (God has willed it)and "Inshallah" (God willing). "Inshallah" reminds me of our very own "Bahala Na" which can be translated to "God will take care of it." It's nice to learn that their language is very much connected to their religion.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 17

so yesterday i went to mothercare to buy some stuff for my colleague who has recently given birth.we all pooled money together, and i volunteered to get her the presents.any excuse to go to mothercare.hee.

i came across this pink doll, and i could not resist it, i just had to buy it.i called her ling-ling! i was so excited to show it to baby.well, baby then took one long look at it, took the doll's hand, and threw her across the floor.

i don't know about me and my choice of toys. :-( first there was uglee monkey. now this one.i bought it 'cos it's a cute chinese doll.i want baby to play with a variety of dolls, not just your typical blonde, blue-eyed dolls.

guess baby and i just have different toy choices...hmph.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 16

mr t's high chair when he was a baby.now, it's baby's turn to use it.the sentimental value of this chair is priceless.we brought it all the way from germany to dubai.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 15

this is one of the games from baby's class called little maestro.it's supposed to be fun, but mommy has to work so i've never seen baby enjoy the class.ah, the joys of a working mom.:-( i'm hoping that i can at least attend one class before it gets over by the end of august.it's the holy month of ramadan so we actually have reduced hours on which we only work from 8-2 pm.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 14

mommy & baby's sunglasses (mine was from a tiangge/market in manila, baby's was from hello kitty in h&m in garmisch)

we visited a, baby's half-italian, half-filipino friend.she's a month younger than baby.she was already eating carrots and sweet potato and seemed to be well-mannered.kyot!i wonder how she and baby will communicate in the future.in tagalog?in english?in taglish?in ilonggo?haha!

things i'm grateful for: together in germany part 3

road trip!

things i'm grateful for: together in germany part 2

so this is a continuation of our trip in germany.aside from fixing stuff, doing errands, eating out a lot, and meeting with friends, we were also able to go out of munich and visit these pretty places.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 11

view from the outside, reflecting baby's play area.i took this photo while mr t was swimming in the pool that you can see on the bottom right side...

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today marks the start of ramadan.

wishing you all ramadan kareem (blessed ramadan)!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 10

our dinner.mr t had to work late so we ordered in.we had japanese food from haru robatayaki.yes, we love our asian food. we had sushi and maki take, miso soup and vegetable tempura.

arigato!

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baby was wearing her sleeveless, red blouse today.so cute! u have to get her more sleeveless dresses.i just want to pinch her arms.hihi.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 9

Meet Maja Bee. Her name was derived from the leading bee in the German animated series "Die Biene Maja." She and Tigger are thisclose.Don't mess with her.She can sting really badly.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 8

mr t makes the best pasta dishes and salads.a combination of both, you have a pasta salad.teehee.


our dinner

i remember my mom would always reprimand me for not wanting to cook.she would scare me, "hala, you will never find a husband.you should learn how to cook." i got so scared that i always said to myself that the man i would marry should have the following traits in the proper order: 1) he can cook; 2) he should not be a senorito or a spoiled brat.one brat in the family is enough; 3) he should treat waiters and service staff nicely; 4) he should have nice, smooth skin (haha). and my husband has all these qualities and more.gosh.thank you, lucky stars.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 7

We took baby to the beach and she got in the water for the first time.She seemed confused.Haha.She did not look upset, but she did not look ecstatic either.Somewhere in between lang.


I have a thing with baby feet, especially ones that are covered in sand.

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You have all seen satc2, right? they were supposed to be in abu dhabi and staying in a luxurious hotel. in reality, abu dhabi did not allow them to shoot in the city, and they had to make do with morocco as the location for the shoot.

the hotel that the satc girls were supposed to be billeted in is the emirates palace, and experiencing a day of luxury in this hotel is enough to make me want to work the bejesus out of me so I can be rich someday and so check-in there anytime i want to.hush.a girl can dream, ok?!


emirates palace hotel (swiped this photo off from the net)

upon check-in, they provide female guests with roses. a lady staff accompanied us all the way to our room (east wing) and explained how to navigate our way in the hotel.this place is huge so for somebody as direction-clueless as me, I would have needed a map.

there was a butler assigned in each room.ya, haha.there was a butler.we did not make use of him though 'cos we did not know what to ask.haha.clueless! it was the first and last time we saw him.although we could have requested for another kind of pillow 'cos the hotel is offering seven kinds of pillow to choose from.well, i got overwhelmed with the choices that we just stuck with what we had which was heavenly as well.

the room was superb, and of course, everything that can be adorned/painted in gold is adorned/painted in gold.we had the room with the city view. the tv was huge and they had this fancy remote where you can basically control everything.of course, i had to take lotsa photos.








terrace


their hallways look like this


and the hall ceilings look like this

we then went to the beach that is exclusive for hotel guests.they have two pools, one pool caters for family with kids and one pool caters for singletons, couples, business travellers, etc.i did not swim, though.i just stayed in the jacuzzi.

views from the beach:











pools:











may nalalaman pa silang gold vending machine:



we went to hakkasan for our anniversary dinner.it's a modern chinese restaurant which is also located at the emirates palace and it offers the best chinese food i've ever tasted! (well, outside of china,at least. we went to a random restaurant while we were in beijing two years ago and it was excellent. but i digress).

we had dimsum (best dimsum ever) and hot & sour soup.for the main course we had duck, red snapper, mullet and rice.we had oolong tea afterwards.







hay naku, decadence, opulence, lahat na meron sa emirates palace.we had a blast! fun times.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Days 5 and 6

i know, i know.i missed day 5, so i'm making up for it.i have a valid excuse, though!

mr t and i celebrated our anniversary.teehee.*sweet* he surprised me with a stay at the emirates palace hotel in abu dhabi.*swoon*

will blog about it once i'm back to the real world.believe me, that hotel is luxury at its best.

thank you so much, mr t.together forever, xox.


the view from our room. that's the entrance gate to the hotel.it's only open for vvip's.so we used another entrance!


hotel beach

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 4

i think that's supposed to be ibn battuta, the great traveler.this was taken at ibn battuta mall in dubai.

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baby's been eating green veggies for the past two days.so far, so good.we're just a bit sad 'cos we haven't seen much of her as we've been both very busy...sorry, baby...she's been sleeping on her tummy also, and it doesn't make her upset that much anymore.