One of my friends is expecting their first baby soon and they are very excited about it. She has been asking me tips on pregnancy like what to eat and what to avoid. She also asked me about the best prenatal vitamins that my doctor has given me. I also send her a checklist of the things that she should prepare before giving birth. I also lend her this book that my sister gave me.

It’s a great book for first-time moms like her. It is very informative. I think every first time moms must have this book.

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to seriously lose weight. One of the moves I am taking is to prepare healthy foods and introduce more vegetables in our meals. It’s also my first step for a quick weight loss. I am making a weekly meal plan so that I could easily prepare them. I will be sharing with you one of the vegetable dishes I am going to prepare. It’s a very healthy and easy to cook dish. I call it “Steamed Bok Choy with Oyster Sauce”.

Here are the ingredients:

1 bunch Bok Choy or Chinese Cabbage
1 tsp garlic oil*
2 TBSP Oyster Sauce
2 tsp sugar
White pepper
toasted garlic for garnish

Procedure:
1. Blanch the Bok choy and set aside.
2. In a pan, heat the garlic oil then add the oyster sauce and sugar until well blended. Season with pepper and simmer for 1 minute. Turn off the heat.
3. Arrange the Bok Choy in a platter and pour the sauce over the veggies. Top with toasted garlic.

*To make garlic oil, heat ¼ cup of oil and toast about 1 TBSP of chopped garlic until it is golden brown. Turn off the heat. Separate the garlic and oil using the strainer. You may put the garlic in a paper towel to remove excess oil and store it in an airtight container for future use.

It’s 2010 and I’m still struggling to lose weight. I’ve tried my best to shed off some pounds and I did, but gained it back again when I stopped taking the diet pill that my doctor recommended me. Stopping the diet pill is not actually the reason behind the weight I regained; it’s actually my eating habits. My doctor advised me that I should really make a move to lose weight if we really wanted to have baby number 2. Now, I am looking for the best diet pills to help me lose weight, which I will accompany with healthy diet and exercise. Seriously. Yes, I am, and baby number 2 would be my driving force. Wish me luck!

Andre is getting bigger and bigger now. He’s turning four in May of this year and he wants to have a birthday party. He particularly wants a CAR-themed party with Lightning Macqueen and we’re considering the SM Storyland for the party venue. So as early as now, we are thinking of what to offer for his party. I am creating a “to do” list for the said party so that I could easily check the things I need to accomplish.

Here is the list:
1. Invitations
2. Souvenirs – custom water bottles
3. Guestbook – photobook from Artscow
4. Cake – Goldilocks
5. Food/caterer
6. balloons
7. tarpaulin
8. Photos and Video – c/o Abeth and Allan

Is there anything else? I wish we could accomplish all of those before his birthday.

While I was browsing the net about health insurance leads a few days back, I received a text message from a friend telling me that one of our friends’ lola passed away. Lola Azon had a significant influence during our SOMOS days. She was there to guide us; we, the unruly children during our childhood days. She was with us in every summer outings to look after us and to cook for us. She was a very kind lola to everyone. The last time I saw her was 2 years ago during one of our friend’s despedida. But she was already sick that time and was in dialysis.

Now, that she’s gone and now with our Creator, she will surely be missed by all the people who love her. All the good memories will always be cherished and remembered. Farewell Lola Azon!

After 2 consecutive weekends of out-of-town trips, I think I need a face moisturizer for my dry skin due to sun exposure during swimming and island hopping. It was really fun exploring different islands and seeing the magnificent view of the beach and huge rock formations on these islands. Here are some photos taken from Capones Island and Anawangin Cove showing off the beautiful rock formations.

It was such a beautiful island. It was our second time in Capones Island where the lighthouse is located. The first one was in June 2009 and it took us 1 hour of trekking to reach the lighthouse. We were all tired and thirsty because we did not bring water because we didn’t expect that we would go trekking to reach the lighthouse. But, we were all relieved upon seeing the magnificent view of the sea from the top. It was so beautiful!