Spa-turday

I really admire my husband for his effort to make it to every pregnancy check-up, even if it means travelling for 8 hours (both ways, from his place of assignment and back). Yes, he basically just sits there and smiles (none of the fussy husband questions for my OB like what I imagined before), but I really appreciate it. It makes the loooong OB wait worth it! Plus, if he's here, he pays for everything, hehe.

(Note: I just informed my OB that we're sticking with her and not transferring to Asian, and she sounded so genuinely happy. Made me happy, too!)

Last week was a bonus, since he was able to come home Thursday night to attend to some official business in Cavite come Friday AM. So Friday was still spent in our respective workplaces. Saturday, we were supposed to attend a nephew's birthday party in QC with my parents -- but the car was still having problems because of the flood so we ended up spending the whole morning in Taguig! As much as we wanted to enjoy our home over the weekend, we still had to go home to Laguna because I had an OB checkup that Sunday.

(Singit: Thanks Ma'am Arlene for visiting us , bringing Gab + the book!)

We decided to drop by Market! Market! before going home to Laguna - where Sam suddenly decided to have a foot massage. I wanted to bring him to Mikaela (they have fab 1-hour Xiamen Foot Massages worth P350.00 that are soooo good. Try it!!!! We used to live near the San Lo branch where I once had the massage while Ruffa Guttierez and her mom and dad were in the same salon!!!) but he said it was too far. So he settled for the Big Apple Spa at Market. I left him there and then decided to get my much needed pedicure (I can't reach my toes anymore...) , and settled for the California Nails Day Spa (?) which looked deliciously pink! It was interesting because I was put in between two old men having their own foot spas! I also thought they looked like retired military men, hehe.

I got the better deal because my pedicure was cheaper than Sam's massage :-) hah! According to the husband, the foot massage at Big Apple was "for compliance" and too expensive for the quality (it was like P499.00 for 45 minutes) . My spa-pedicure at California Nails cost me P390.00 , lasted more than an hour and the lady was soo gentle. It had a bright, cheerful ambience, too!

It was KKB anyway and we "bonded" by texting while we were at separate spas. Not an ideal arrangement, but still fun.

Twas a good weekend of dreaming and planning about the baby! Oh, and we also had fun thinking of the nasty stuff we want to do to our agent at DMCI. :-) That's marriage for you, for better - or for worse!

At exactly 30 weeks :-) We can't wait to meet you, baby!

Putting it into Practice

Books I've read or talks I've listened to on personal financial management always warn about changing lifestyles at the slightest increase in salary or benefits. I guess this is true... because as you get more purchasing power, the more you feel like you can get more of this and that, the more you want that "some more", the more you feel deprived of what you've been missing. Tsk.

I am guilty of being on that track. Extra money don't go to savings. They go to "extra expense", to small prizes that I think I deserve. Sigh. I have to kick the habit!

Now, I am put to the test. My new job entitles me to a super nice medical benefits plan, where they will pay for 80% of my hospital expenses when I give birth. And this means ANY hospital, ANY doctor. The 80% includes room, procedures, doctor's fees, tests, etc etc. They pay 90% for CS -- but knock on wood we are hoping for a normal delivery.

A HUGE part of me badly want to transfer to Asian Hospital. I heard that they have really nice hotel-like rooms , they have "birthing rooms" (private labor + delivery rooms where you don't have to be transferred from one room to another), a great nursery that they call the "huggery", great staff, good food, good ambience, good hospital room view. And if my plan pays 80% (plus Philhealth pa) , it will really be such a sweet deal. BUT, transferring to Asian will mean switching doctors and more gasoline expenses for checkups. Right now, our car is broken (the Aveo got flooded boohoo) so we have to rely on my dad to get around or hire a driver -- which can get expensive. We're also considering the distance from our Laguna house and the traffic that usually clogs up SLEX!

Right now, I go to Binan Doctors Hospital ( a small, family-owned private hospital in Binan, Laguna) with my OB since baby Sarie. Giving birth at BDH is more convenient and wayy cheaper. A rough computation of my canvassed costs for normal delivery less my medical plan 80% showed me that we could pay around 30K for Asian, but in BDH we'll probably only pay around 8-10K!

Hey, BDH took good care of me when I was hospitalized because of Baby Sarie. The facilities could be improved aesthetically, but everything was clean and functioned well.

The "maarte" side of me is really heartbroken to bid bye-bye to the posh hotel rooms at Asian, but we have to be more practical, to think of everyone's welfare , and not to be carried away with this so-called extra perk, which might have a lot of "hidden expenses". We have decided to stick to our basic plan and go with our current OB and hospital.

I've never experienced Asian before anyway so I shouldn't feel bad about what I'll miss. BDH is well within our range, medical plan or no medical plan. Probably better to save for baby's future than opting for a "lifestyle change" (read: luxury hospital) this early in the game!

On the Job Quotes

So, I officially started as a "real" employee in my what used to be a consultancy post last July 16. It was just a regular day at the office except for two significant conversations I had from our "top two"

-----

Number 2 Boss (heavy Brit accent, approaching my desk to shake my hand): Heyah Hanna, congratulations on your first day!

Me: Thank you!

Number 2: You're OURS NOW, ha ha! (evil laugh)

------

Later that afternoon, I ran into Number 1 Boss (the top boss of the Phil. office)

Number 1: Hey Hanna, congratulations !

Me: Thanks! Good or bad? You should have heard Boss 2 give me an evil laugh...

Number 1: Huh? Over email?

Me: No, in front of me while shaking my hand.

Number 1: Ah, this will be good for you! Don't worry about him, he's gonna be gone soon. Me, I'll be here for a looong time.

-----

Which is actually true because Boss 2 is going to be reassigned to another office soon (but still with the company).

I am excited but at the same time scared of what is in store for me. Right now, I feel like work "landslided" on me. Sigh, God - thanks for giving this to me ! Give me the strength to handle it.

Taste + Texture (Beijing Part 1)

Some kind of meat that you roast for a bit before you eat.

It tasted like beef but did not look and feel like beef!

I quit asking.

Just like any other "business" trip, it was another whirlwind travel adventure. My unemployment gap was cut short because of the regional workshop they wanted me to be a part of. I was not supposed to sign up for the "extended-but-temporary-contract" but when I found out that they were doing it because they wanted me to join Beijing, I just gladly agreed :-)

For weeks leading to the trip, I had guilty mommy moments - especially with people all around me saying that I was a bit crazy traveling with a big tummy. But my doctor gave me the go signal, so what the heck! Plus, I vowed not to treat pregnancy as a sickness. (But don't worry guys, I also promised that this will be my last plane travel before I give birth.. I already declined a Palawan and a Boracay trip!)

We flew to Beijing for a two and a half day workshop with our regional colleagues for some best practice sharing. I met people from East Asia working on projects similar to ours -- delivering access to finance for small / medium enterprises. Some of the programs included expanding microfinance, developing appropriate banking and finance products for those in far flung areas, and formalizing loan channels for small businesses. There were also discussions about how our company could get involved in low cost housing, greenhouse gas abatement and sustainable and responsible financing.

It was all pretty interesting, but I have to admit I had a LOT of spaced out moments. Anything with numbers really make me blank out. Note to self: I have to get used to this finance stuff, I have to expand my knowledge and get over teenage math and economics trauma!

Anyway, the trip was a mixture of work, culture, sights, smells, tastes and camaraderie. China's currency is the Yuan or the Renmimbi, RMB or CNY for short (I don't know why they call it a variety of names).

It was around 6.5 RMB to 1 USD or roughly 7 PHP = 1 RMB. I thought it was an expensive city ... or maybe just because we were living in the expensive area. Allow me to share with you some highlights of my trip:

Shangri-La's Kerry Centre Hotel, Beijing

Located about an hour's drive from the airport, Shangri-La's Kerry Centre Hotel is located in the middle of what they call the Central Business District. Compared to the previous hotels I've tried while working for this company, I thought it was the least luxurious. Personally though, it was very luxurious for me :-) It's a working traveler's dream. You get free broadband access in your room and breakfast buffet everyday worth 168 Yuan.. (at 900 Yuan a night, dapat lang!!!)


The breakfast buffet at the Coffee Shop was okay ( by far the best breakfast buffet I've ever had was at the Parklane in Cebu!), the hotel bar was really nice (with couches, bar stools, private nooks with wide screen TVs for the World Cup junkies.. I enjoyed a mocktail called delight with strawberry, kiwi, dragonfruit, pineapple and orange.. thanks Paula!), and we discovered this yummy dessert bar called Bento and Berries which sold their cakes at 50% off after 9pm. It was also from this dessert bar that I order steamed milk to bring to my room before going to sleep.

Stirfried and Duck Overload

Bullfrog in chili sauce... it wasn't the chili that I was worried about.

Authentic Chinese food is wayyy different from what we get here in Manila. My boss said (his wife is Chinese) that each region has a different cuisine, and what we usually get in Manila comes from another part of China.

I've experienced Chinese lauriat meals before, but what I had for the past few days topped those. We ate at Chinese restaurants for a total of 3 times, with the "learned" people ordering for us -- and it was just an ENDLESS stream of food! No complaints, they were all good, but stuffing one's tummy with tasty stirfried food one meal after another is not particularly healthy...

Everything laid out infront of us looked pretty much the same. Sliced, diced and smothered with sauce. I was really careful with asking before I ate. They kept on telling me, when you eat Chinese, you don't ask - you just eat. You savor the taste AND the texture. Thanks to Milan, I had a taste-and-texture tester and was thankfully spared from the super spicy or terrible things. We weren't able to go the food alley where they served scorpions on sticks tho, which is good because I really can't be THAT adventurous with a baby on the way.

We had too much food that I forgot the names of the restaurants. :-) Probably the most important meal of our trip was our company-sponsored dinner at the famous Quanjude restaurant. Net research says that the Peking duck served at Quanjude is the best in Beijing, due to its secret recipe used to feed Chinese emperors! I'm not a duck connoisseur but I really liked it ! Ah, but after 5 peking duck rolls , I was about to shout Quack!!!!-that's enough.

Your typical Peking duck roll: Thinly sliced duck, cucumber, baby onion and hoisin sauce. Mmm. I rolled about 5 of these..

That's about it for the taste and texture part. I've uploaded more descriptive photos on Facebook. I was also able to see a little bit of Beijing on my last day, watch out for that post!

Make Way for Miss Hawaii!

Jalee (USA) , Hanna (Philippines), and Jules (Uganda) hanging around while waiting to know our final cast. Denver, Colorado, 2007

There were about a hundred of us and she was one of the first few people I met during Up With People staging ("staging" meant preparation for the tour, which included workshops and show rehearsals) in July 2007. The way I remember Jalee way back then was that she was this really pretty, smart, bubbly, down to earth, adventurous, kind hearted girl from Hawaii. She had super great stories to tell about doing volunteer work all over the world and even whitewater rafting in the Nile!

Towards the end of staging, she was cast in Cast C (I was in Cast B) -- so we didn't travel together. But still, she was a significant part of my UWP staging.

Fast forward to 2010, thanks to Facebook, I learned that Jalee was crowned Miss Hawaii 2010! I never knew she wanted to be a Miss something ... She looks and sounds so different now. Soo cool and we're all so proud of her! That pageant definitely knew how to pick its winners. I hope I can catch Miss America somewhere here!

Got this from the Miss Hawaii website. I am actually part of this layout , haha! If you look really, really hard. Bottom photo, 3rd from right, arms up, wearing a black shirt and an ethnic print red-orange skirt. I'm guessing Jalee's the one upside down, she was one of the lead dancers in our mixed-cast Arizona show.

Curious? Read about her here: "Miss Hawaii Begins Reign With Service"

Hoy Mommy!

Ma! Alam ko binabasa mo itong blog ko.

I-update mo na yung blog mo... www.memicanblog.blogspot.com. Nabubulok na. If you update it, I promise, igagawa na kita ng FB account. Marunong na ako e :-)

:-) Mwah. Love you. Thank you for the ulam.

- hanna

Wishes for Baby Sam

We’ll call the baby Baby Sam for now. We do have a complete name already, but I’m still feeling a bit madamot about it, hehe. But for sure, he will have a Samuel somewhere. Why? (1) to compensate for my husband Sam’s “hindi-pinag-isipang pangalan na Sammy” – yup, Sam’s full name is Sammy and not Samuel, and (2) In the Bible, Samuel is Hanna’s son. Which is very perfect… it also means, “God Hears”

Every night I have been praying special prayers to St. Raymond Nonato (A Novena for Expectant Mothers, from a my former BPI manager) and also prayers to St. Gerard Majella (the Patron of Mothers and Children, my first copy of which came from Kiel, and I also got some copies from other friends via email , thanks!!). It is interesting to note that St. Gerard and I have the same birth dates! The familiar words of the prayers said over and over also help me to have a good night’s sleep.

I love the pregnancy! Yes, even the aches and discomforts that come with it. I like how he sometimes kicks me comfortably in the middle of my tummy, and I still find it great whenever he kicks me down below … even if it is quite painful. I like imagining him making funny faces whenever I do something stupid, or hugging me from within whenever I am feeling sad. Hmm… perhaps what I don’t like about it (minsan lang naman) is that it makes me more absent minded than ever. Like that time that I spooned in uncooked rice into my decaf instead of sugar. Haha!

In my night prayers, the Novenas usually have blank spaces saying, (say your petition / wish here) – and just like the way I usually do it, I’d also like to send my wishes out to the universe so the elements can conspire to grant our hopes and dreams …

- a healthy and happy baby (dami pa iba wish, like smart baby, adventurous baby, water-loving baby, pero baka maoverwhelm ka, next time na lang muna yun!)
- a safe and easy delivery for mommy, no complications (or expensive medications!)
- safety of Popi Sam, and hope that he will be able to spend a lot of time with us
- good health for all the people around us, especially to Wowo and Wowa (note: Lola Memi and Lolo Pepi have christened themselves Wowo and Wowa even BEFORE that show Agua Bendita came. Last year pa sila Wowo and Wowa for Sarie and even for Mia. Inis nga kami that the evil grandmother in the show calls herself Wowa! Grr. ) and Lolo Andoy and Lola Doray. We hope they can all be strong and healthy enough to witness Baby Sam’s growing years!
- for mommy’s employment status to get formalized before the baby comes so we can enjoy the great medical benefits
- for the conditions (financial, environmental, Philippines, etc) around us to improve so that baby may grow comfortably
- having Ninong Gibo will be a nice touch!

Yes that last wish is for real. I’ve worked on it, got some progress… but I’m now stuck ... so I think I still have to work harder and think of another strategy… hmmm.