my hideaway

Holidaying at Fuerteventura

2011-01-29T14:57:00.005+01:00

.. was fab! The weather was perfect. The nightlife was great. Nature was a-bounty. What more could we ask for?

It was a deal. I told L that we try to save for Christmas gifts which pile up in closets and drawers and generally left unused. With the gift money, we could probably offer ourselves a Christmas getaway and escape from the cold weather. Not to my surprise, L agreed at once.

From there, I've checked for travel deals which are not far from France, with day temperature >20°C, leaving preferably from Nantes (to be close to L's family) and destinations that won't require me any visa. Fuerteventura responded to all categories so off we went just after the Christmas eve.

Fuerteventura was just 3.5 hour-plane ride away from Nantes. We left at 2 pm and arrived there around 5pm (one hour difference from France). Our hotel, situated at Corralejo was just 45-min taxi-ride from the airport.

We started our first night barhopping with the kids (it was the night of December 25th afterall!). Yes, with the kids! Bars were all around town and like almost every country in Europe, smoking inside public areas were prohibited (or was it because the crowd was mostly from countries where smoking inside bars were prohibited?). You could count the number of strollers going in and out of bars! Amazing! The crowd was of course multinational - but the majority were from north of Europe. Live bands were setting an upbeat ambiance and the girls were dancing even after bedtime. In fact, barhopping became our nightly routine in Fuerteventura ;). Cervesa San Miguel Bar became our favorite!
Beaches of course was our favorite daytime destination. The girls busied themselves building sand castles while the parents busied themselves sunbathing and reading. It was a relaxing retreat from the busy daily routine we have in Dijon.
We once rented a 4x4 to visit the countryside to get closer to the volcanic (and the volcano too!) lanscape of Fuerteventura. And the posted pictures could resume what Fuerteventura is all about.
It was an untouched nature. Far from pollution. Far from the stressful feel of any city. It was simply heaven.

Note: Corralejo is a small town of Fuerteventura situated at the northernmost part of the island. Tourism is there but not as exploited as the cities at the southern part of the island. If you hate bunches of tourists, Corralejo is your place.

A Not-So-Ordinary EB in Athens

2010-04-18T15:34:00.012+02:00

Yes, I finally set an EB with a longtime online friend Shalimar Orlanes. But what's extraordinary about our EB is that - we didn't personally met! Go figure! She was basking under the sun of Florida when I visited Athens - but that didn't keep her from welcoming us in her appartment. Bonnie, a family friend welcomed us and made us feel like we already knew each other for years!

Frenchguy still couldn't digest how Filipinos open their doors to strangers. And how strangers could be considered friends just after reading their blogs, after chatting and after being friends through Facebook. Well, I really can't find the right words to explain to him when here in Dijon, befriending someone is not an easy task. He's still culture-shocked!

Ate Bonnie and Shasha, thanks for the experience. I think our meeting is the highlight of this getaway - more than the visit of Athens itself. You showed Frenchguy another bright side of true Filipino hospitality and I thank you for that.

The Getaway

Did I tell you our favorite motto at home? When the kids are away, the parents will play.

We had a 3-day weekend to spend without the kids, Frenchguy and I looked at each other and *ding* (lightbulb ON), quick getaway starting to materialize in our head. I started to eye on great travel deals - I hesitated between Marrakech (Morocco), Istanbul (Turkey) and Athens (Greece) - but my resident card limited me inside the Schengen zone.

I started to check what flight could suit best our schedule and Olympic Air was just perfect. Leaving Paris at 7:30pm and leaving Athens at 4:30pm. That would give us ample time to enjoy Greek capital to the max.

Since Ate Bonnie was at that time on a short getaway in London and arriving 2 hours after our arrival in Athens, we decided we'd stay in a hotel for a night. Since it was just for a night, I decided I would try the hotel top secret promotion from lastminute.com and yes, we stayed in a 5-star hotel situated at the heart of Athens at 50% off.

Couch Surfing - My Way

Have you heard about this concept? If not, then google it, lol. The first time I've heard about this idea, I thought it was for me. I love the idea. Tourism for me is not only visiting tourist spots and taking my pictures infront of them. I want to go beyond that. I want to penetrate one's culture. I want to observe the way locals spend their daily lives. Curious-me wants to get a closer look.

But since couch surfing isn't ideal for a family of four, I content myself with different solutions like when we spent 3 days in an Agriturismo in the Tuscany Region of Italy or when we visited the Nubian Village in Egypt.

Staying at Shasha's place is my way of penetrating to how Filipinos live their lives outside of the Philippines. Dijon's Filipino community is limited to probably 10 members that you could hardly call it a community. Athens count thousands of Filipinos apparently, and their Filipinoness is still there. Ate Bonnie has spent more than 20 years in Athens but according to Frenchguy - she's still Filipino. Why? Because she prepares more than one type of breakfast everyday! For Frenchguy, a cup of coffee, a slice of bread and butter should be enough.~~And kulit ni Frenchguy, ganun talaga Pinoy. Kandaugaga palagi to please our visitors, right?~~

Athens - The Visit

I was expecting an old city, not like France or Italy - but older than that. Not that I was expecting columns and sculptures on each building - that's too much asking - but, well, I don't really know. I was probably expecting to see something different but disappointed to realize that yes, I was still in Europe!

I would describe Athens as an old city with distinct monuments here and there, surrounded by new and modern buildings and decorated by bitter orange trees everywhere. Though stray dogs were quite everywhere (which was not common in Europe), I was agreably surprised to see how clean the city was.

We started the visit by walking through the Plaka District then continued through Anafiotika District (which I found more exotic than the rest of Athens). From there we saw this sign going up the Acropolis so we followed suit (for info, all monuments of Athens open their doors to public free of charge every Sunday).

For future visitors, I would recommend to visit the Acropolis Museum first before visiting the monuments, especially if you already forgot the history of Athens.
We spent the whole afternoon roaming around the city and waited for sunset at the Lycabettus Hill. From there, we had a spectacular view of Athens - changing color as the sun sets. We then dined at the Exarchia District which by the way offered better Tavernas (restaurants) compared to the touristic Plaka District.

After an intensive Athens overload, we decided to take the bus the next day which took a scenic route by the sea. Direction - Sounion. There, another monument dedicated to Poseidon was dominating the area.
After that quick escapade, we again took the bus which took us back to Athens. We continued our visit in different districts of Athens and decided we needed to wait to see the Acropolis at night.
It was worth the wait. It was a Saturday night and Athens was all the more lively. We whiled away our time on top of a hill nearby the Acropolis Rock then continued our walk to find ourselves in a cozy restaurant near the cathedral. Did I say that Greek food is great?

Our last day was spent re-visiting the Acropolis. Yes, we're never tired. In fact, we visited the museum and we realized that we didn't see anything, lol. So up we went again to check the details that we missed from our first visit.

To sum up, it was a great weekend getaway. I'll probably go back when the girls are bigger.. or probably earlier, but to visit the islands this time.

Day 5-8: Bohol

2010-03-27T15:11:00.000+01:00

We've exchanged numbers and email addresses before we bid goodbye. The other frenchies continued their adventure in Puerto Princesa while we continued ours in Bohol.

We took the Cebu Pacific flight direct from Legaspi to Cebu, then the SuperCat ferry from Cebu to Tagbilaran. Transportation was A-OK! Efficient and on time.

Arriving in Tagbilaran, we took a tricycle to our hotel in Panglao Island. I've actually chosen a place which goes out of the ordinary - a sort of Bahay Kubo and the effect was great. We haven't thought about our work yet since we started our island hopping tour, lol. Since it was already late in the evening when we arrived in Bohol, we only had time to leave our backpacks in the hotel then we hurried out to scout for a good restaurant.

The next day was declared as scooter day. We rented one to be able to explore the island without any hassle - without being dependent to public transportation. We didn't want to rent a car either because we wanted to escape from the comfort of our everyday lives. And since we had no kids, it was feasible and highly recommendable!

We headed first to - where else - the Chocolate Hills. Then took again our scooter to have our lunch at one of the Loboc River's floating restaurant. Though the concept was more of an 'industrial scale' type of tourism and it lacked a local and natural feel to it, it was nevertheless fun. There was a group of musicians who serenaded us during a sumptous buffet lunch - who by the way sang not only Filipino songs but also Korean and Chinese songs! There were groups of folkdancers in different points of the river who incited visitors to try Tinikling and other local dances.

We again took our scooter to hunt for tarsiers.. then to check the Hanging Bridge.. then to different remote areas of the island just to enjoy countryside driving before we decided we had enough for the day and it was time to enjoy the seaside.

The next day was dedicated to dolphin watching, snorkeling and island hopping. We saw quite a lot of groups of dolphins in the area, but honestly, after swimming with the Butanding, the impact was much less.
I then asked the boatman to bring us to Balicasag Island to see the Fish Sanctuary and to snorkel a bit. I was very disappointed though because tourists and guides alike were standing on the corals to feed the fishes. I was snorkeling but all I could see were legs, legs and legs. These people were actually killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Too sad.

Last stop was at the Virgin Island. It was a tiny island boasting with a very white fine sand. The sand was immaculately white. It was really inviting but tourists were just all over the island, there were no space to swim!

It was easy to get bored when there's nothing to do so I asked the boatman to head us back to Panglao for lunch. We stayed along Alona Beach the whole afternoon - beach bummers! We walked along the beach with one objective in mind, check the hotels and see where we could stay the next time we go there - with kids!

The next day was spent at Bohol Beach Club. It was just to kill time before our flight back to Manila. 8 days without the kids was relaxing, refreshing.. 8 days which were sufficient enough for us to miss the kids. We were walking hand in hand along the beach, both impatient to hear our noisy girls - Louna with her endless stories and Kyla with her dirty diapers.

Day 4 - Mount Mayon Trek

2010-03-13T15:05:00.000+01:00

Drrriiinggggg! 4:20 am. Frenchguy and I jumped off the bed and quickly dressed up and brushed our teeth. Our rendez-vous with the guide was at 4:30 am, there was no time to lose. We hurriedly took the stairs and met the other Frenchies at the reception area.

4:35 am. Byron, the guide was still not there (Filipino time?). He promised he would arrive earlier. The Frenchies started to ask me questions on how sure it was that we paid 50% of the fee the night before.

4:40 am. I started to call him up but nobody was answering. Ok, alright. Keep cool, Ana. He must still be cooking our chicken adobo for lunch.

4:45 am. Byron called me up to inform me that he'll arrive in 3 minutes.

He arrived after 5 minutes. It's been almost 9 years that I live here in France. I almost forgot what Filipino time is, lol.

Well enough with the rant. The 4 Frenchies and I cramped ourselves inside the tricycle with the driver and our beloved guide. The joyride up to the jump off point was around 15 minutes. It was drizzling when we arrived there, must be the morning dew. 2 other guys met us on our way to Camp 1 - Byron's brother who is a guide himself and a younger one who carried our food.

It was still dark when we started the trek so head lamps and flashlights were more than necessary. I was wearing a short and it was actually a bad idea since the trail was quite narrow and dense with tall weeds, I had a lot of wounds and cuts after the trek.

Byron explained that the trek to Camp 1 should take us around 2 hours, but it would all depend on our pace. From there, we would then decide on whether we continue the hike or not to Camp 2. Few minutes after the start of the trek, the morning dew started to get higher intensity - it somewhat reminds me of rain. A what? A RAIN?

No. That's not the Hunchback of Notre Dame. That's me trying to protect my camera in my backpack.

Yes. It was rain. We hiked Mayon Volcano under the rain! But that didn't stop us from tracing the trail and arrive at Camp 1 an hour and 20 minutes after the start. It was even too early to take our morning coffee but since it was raining and we had nothing else to do, we decided to take our coffee in this half-finished shelter in Camp 1 while waiting for our shirts to dry.

The youngest guy carrying a big backpack was actually carrying everything! Even a thermos full of hot water for our breakfast!
The carpenters who apparently stayed there for the night told us that it won't be prudent to hike up to Camp 2 since it had been raining up there for 2 consecutive nights. The trail was slippery. And anyway, with a weather like that, we won't be able to appreciate the beauty of Mount Mayon.

I explained to the Frenchies and hardheaded as they were, we decided to wait a bit for the rain to cease. The rain of course continued and even increased its intensity (sino kaya sa mga to ang may balat sa p*wet?).

Byron, concerned about satisfying our quest for adventure asked us if it would be appreciated if instead of hiking up to Camp 2, we would rather take another route and approach the lava from the last eruption barely 2 months ago (December 2009!). The answer was of course unanimous.

It looks so close but it was in fact far and almost inaccessible. Byron said that they couldn't go that close just a month ago since it was still hot and fuming.

The trail going in that direction wasn't really a "trail". At some point, it was us who did the trail with the help of a bolo knife.

That's me and our guide on top of the lava. Nakukulitan na sa kin, lol. As you can see, the weather wasn't at all cooperating!But we patiently waited.. (we had our lunch up there!)

And the wait was all worth it! The tip of the cone.. at last!

The group was of course happy and satisfied with the hike. We stayed more than an hour on top of the lava to get a closer look of the tip. We never looked at the clouds that close all our life, lol.

We started our descent around 1pm. We decided that the day wasn't over yet so a quick shower at the hotel and off we went to the Cagsawa Ruins. Again, clouds were there to hide Mt Mayon but no worries, we're patient ;).
There were some kids in the area advicing picture tricks to tourists and even explaining to us the history of Mt Mayon.. and even what type of rocks Cagsawa Church was built! Wow! Saludo po ako sa inyo.

Even if we haven't had enough of Mt Mayon yet, it was already time to take the jeepney back to Legazpi. And since it was our last day together with the Frenchies, it has been decided that we all take the ultimate challenge - eat BALUT !

After 4 bottles each of Red Horse beer and a bit of local delicacies here and there, the Frenchies were still hesitant to take the challenge. But a challenge is a challenge. So on our way back to the hotel, we stopped a balut vendor and ta-dan.. yes people, Frenchguy ate his first balut of his life, lol. After that experience, all agreed it was good to rinse off that irky taste (for them only of course) with another bottle of Red Horse beer.

We agreed to take breakfast together the next day.. I could already feel the mighty Red Horse kicking me off to bed...ZZzzzzzzzzz.

Next: Day 5-8 Bohol

Day 2-3: Donsol, Sorsogon

2010-03-03T15:08:00.007+01:00

Day 2 : Catanduanes to Donsol, Sorsogon

We had to wake up early that morning to catch the first jeepney going from Virac to San Andres. Then the ferry from San Andres to Tabaco, Albay at 8:30am. We had our coffee at one of the carinderias at the pier while waiting for boarding. It was actually my first time to ride a ferry in the Philippines and I was quite curious how it would be like. The 3-hour ride must be fun.

It was a fine day, the sky was blue, but the beautiful Mount Mayon was teasing us, hiding behind the clouds. I was contemplating on a picture format - clear blue water with Mt Mayon at the background. But all I got was this - a big ship and a hardly recognizable Mt Mayon at the background.
Frenchguy was equally impatient to see the cone. He was insisting that Mt Fuji is more perfect than Mt Mayon (he by the way saw Mt Fuji behind the clouds - may balat yata to sa p*wet!) and though I never saw Mt Fuji, I was trying to defend Mt Mayon's reputation, lol.

From Tabaco to Legaspi, Frenchguy was focusing on the volcano but the clouds were really thick at that time, we can hardly get a glimpse of the tip. But once he saw the tip, he suddenly fell in love, he forgot how uncomfortable it was inside the van. He never quitted it with his eyes so I started to remind him that the volcano erupted barely two months ago and alert level was probably still up. I think he wasn't listening to me. He was there, admiring the beauty of Mt Mayon.

It was lunch time when we arrived at the van terminal so we reserved our place in the van going to Donsol and hurried at the nearest carinderia. Legaspi to Donsol was around 45 minutes ride at P65/person.

Arriving in Donsol, we headed at once at the Tourist Information Center for the registration. Registration fee was P100 for locals and P300 for foreigners. Snorkel and fins rental was p300/day. Boat rental with guide for the Butanding encounter was P3500, generally shared by 6 visitors. And at that time, there were no problem searching for other visitors to share the fee. I was quite surprised by the number of tourist in that area. I thought it was low season.. but then, it was also Chinese New Year and winter vacation in Europe.

After gathering all necessary information about the Butanding encounter, it was time to find a resting place for us. Most of the resorts near the Tourist Information Center had no available rooms anymore but we were still lucky to find one in Casa Bianca. The rooms were not really extraordinary but I don't intend to stay inside the room during my stay there so i didn't really care.

After a quick shower, we continued walking along the beach to wait for sunset. The beach wasn't really inviting so we contented ourselves with a glass of halo-halo in a nearby resort.

At 7pm, we decided we'd end the day with a firefly watch at the river. Frenchguy and I were engaged in an uncensored close-to-horny conversation while waiting for the start of the visit when we realized that the Filipino family near us could understand French! Yay! And since the youngest was currently learning French, we finally decided it would be great if we share the same bangka with them.

The firefly watch wasn't really spectacular but it was a good way to while away our time before dinner. We had our dinner at Baracuda Bar and it was G R E A T (must try!) - ambiance, food and of course it's infront of the beach!

Day 3 - Butanding Encounter - Back to Legaspi

We arrived at 7am at the Tourist Information Center. There were already a lot of people waiting to be registered but luckily (that's the advantage of being a Filipina), a guide approached me to propose his boat because he lacked 2 more people to complete it. He then did all the registration in no time and off we went before the other tourists were even registered.

The guide explained to us all that was needed to know while we were on our way to the whaleshark watchpoint. There were already few boats roaming around the area when we arrived. We started to clean our snorkel, fit the fins and prepare the camera when suddenly, the guide asked us to get ready. When he shouted GO, we got off the boat one after the other. I couldn't find Frenchguy anymore, selfish little b*stard. He knew that swimming was not my strongest point. When I submerged my head under the water, the Butanding was there just infront of me, swimming on my direction. I swear, I was there, paralyzed, not knowing how to react (I even forgot how to use my cam!). We were warned to keep at least a 2-meter distance but the Butanding seemed to be too close I could almost touch it.

Frenchguy with the Butanding. Until now, I still don't know how to express how I felt when I first saw this harmless whaleshark. It was surreal!

When it finally passed my way, I started to swim in its direction (with I don't know how much pair of snorkels and fins around!). It was approximately 5 minutes of overwhelming experience before the Butanding decided to swim deeper.

The experience was awesome. We did 6 encounters in 3 hours and saw 4 different Butandings ranging from 6-10 meters long.

We met 3 other Frenchies staying in the same hotel as us. Conversation was of course focused on Butanding and what activity should we do next. Everybody voted for a cockfight session but unfortunately, it was quite too late so we finally packed our stuffs and agreed to start heading back to Legaspi.

Arriving at the terminal, we learned that there was no more van travelling to Legaspi so we were obliged to take the jeepney instead. Countryside viewing is much more fun of course if you travel up the jeepney!

Since Frenchguy and I, the adventurous and well-organized backpackers, had no hotel reservation, we just followed the 3 Frenchies with their Lonely Planet guide. Arriving at the hotel, I asked the receptionist if they're organizing a trek to Mount Mayon the next day (it was Sunday, Tourist Information Center was closed). She called up an accredited guide and in no time, the fees were fixed and we were told to sleep early as the climb would start at 4:30am!

We haven't even digested the aftershock of the whaleshark encounter and here we are again, getting excited to the idea of hiking Mount Mayon.

Next: Day 4 - Mount Mayon Trek

3 Destinations In 8 Days - Day 1 - Virac, Catanduanes

2010-03-02T22:02:00.022+01:00

I had always been reticent about visiting my own country. Probably because I kept a bad picture of my old experiences, probably because we were hot baits for policemen and probably because I always paid higher prices because I was with “Joe”. Personally, I would rather visit Thailand or other countries than my own country - because I feel safer elsewhere and I don’t need to justify our culture, our poverty, our corruption, everything. In other countries, I’m the one criticizing and not the one criticized. But that's just me.

But our last getaway changed my view about travelling in the Philippines. I was agreably surprised. Hang in there as I recount our backpacking adventure around the Philippines with my Frenchguy.

Day 1 - Virac, Catanduanes

Our plane was scheduled early that morning and though it was quite hard to wake up after a hectic sched including our youngest daughter's Christening, it was an exciting perspective knowing that we're travelling without the kids. Frenchguy was curious to know where I was taking him but I just told him to relax, don't think about the planning as I'd take care of everything.

The one hour ride finally went fast, I wasn't even able to finish reading the onboard magazine. Drizzly weather was announced outside.

Why Virac? Honestly, it was not our main destination. It was just a jump-off point. Initial plan was to do island hopping in the Caramoan peninsula but the weather wasn't that cooperative so I decided to stay in the island.

We visited the century-old Bato Church instead then whiled away our time in the hidden Maribina Falls in Brgy Cabugao. We then satisfied our hungry stomach at Sea Breeze restaurant which serves rock lobsters at a very affordable price (P700/kg!).

The afternoon was spent in Puraran Beach, known as a surfing haven in that area. It was surely low season since we didn't bump to any surfer in the area. We met Jay though, an amateur photographer who gave me tips and tricks on how to use my camera! Yes people, until now, I still don't know how to use my cam, lol.

Jay offered to take us back near Virac onboard a truck which we accepted at once. Frenchguy stayed at the back with the other guys while I was seated comfortably near the driver, lol. Arriving at the truck's destination, we were obliged to wait for a tricycle to take us at downtown Virac. Believe it or not but I never saw a tricycle as productive as in Virac. We were 9 inside one tricycle!

Our new found friend asked if we're interested to stay in the same hotel as his. Not seeing any inconvenience, we finally stayed together and continued chatting around a bottle of beer and a lot more of tips on how to use my cam. Yipeee! I feel bad though as I lost the paper where I wrote Jay's contact info :(

To sum up, our stay in Virac was full of fun rides and great encounter of great people. I don't normally trust strangers but people there were warm and accomodating.

Next: Day 2-3. Donsol, Sorsogon

Naturalization: First Interview at the Prefecture

2009-11-11T18:51:00.002+01:00

Patience is a virtue. If you want to be French, then be patient.

For the record, 14 months had passed between the moment I applied for naturalization and the moment I was interviewed at the Prefecture. I'm not surprised tho. I was told that they're already submerged of 10 months equivalent of files to process when I submitted my documents. Good thing, I wasn't in a hurry.

When I received the appointment at home, I asked my Filipino friends living in France for some typical questions asked during this much-awaited interview. I prefer attacking a battle armed! Each of them of course had their own experiences so here's mine:

I had my appointment at 11am but that didn't mean I was received at exactly that time. There were 2 girls before me so I waited like around 30 long minutes before the interview.

When my turn came, I was asked first for some additional papers:

- Kyla's proof of French nationality

- Louna's proof of scolarity

- my pay slip for the last 3 months

- my pay slip for December 2008

- latest CAF certificate

- tax revenue declaration for 2007 and 2008

- frenchguy's pay slip for the last 3 months

And then the questions. I was practically asked the same questions already asked on the documents I furnished. Like when did I arrive? When did I start working? etc. Other questions were: What language is used at home? Am I part of any association? Do I frequent French communities or rather foreign communities? Why do I want to be French? Why didn't I apply earlier? etc.

The questionning part was rather cool and stress-free. But the announced waiting time wasn't cool at all. Apparently, the police department will do their investigation thing, then after their official report, my file will be forwarded to the Ministère des Affaires Etrangères before the countdown begins. Count 15 months, I was told.

Wow!

Camping

2009-08-18T21:58:00.015+02:00

Sunny at 27°C. That was the weather report last weekend. How would you organize your weekend with that almost-perfect weather? Would you spend the whole day inside the mall? Or stay at home doing nothing? I had another idea in mind.

I've always wanted to bring Louna at the Parc de l'Auxois and I thought last weekend was the perfect occasion. I checked for a camping site around the area and off I pursued to the reservation and all. I then announced to Frenchguy my plan and he enthousiastically agreed to my idea. He started to check the tent (which we bought 3 years ago but never used), duvets, camping gaz, chairs, beers (hehe), etc..

The plan was to mount the tent Friday night (the site was just 40 min away from Dijon) then watch the fireworks display at the nearby village (to celebrate Ascension Day), spend the whole day Saturday at the Parc de l'Auxois, pack the tent up Sunday morning and spend the rest of the day swimming, fishing, etc.

So off we went Friday night. The camping site was up to our expectations - shady, clean and not too big.
*Aperitif with the girls (*In France, the “apéritif” or “apéro” is an informal social ritual. It is quite usual to invite people for before-dinner drinks without actually providing dinner, or to arrange to meet someone in a café “pour l'apéritif” before going out for a meal.)

The first night was great. After the fireworks display and after counting the stars, we read the night-time story using a flashlight inside our tent. Louna then slept with her Papa and Kyla with her Mom (it's still too early to put the girls inside one room, more so inside one room in a tent!)

We spent the whole Saturday at the park. It's a zoo, kiddy pool and illimited rides rolled into one. Louna particularly loved riding a horse (not a poney this time!) and taking care of the baby goat. She even cried when we left the goat to its Mom. I was too close to adopting a baby goat, really.

The day at the park made the two girls tired and exhausted but that didn't stop us from enjoying local gastronomy. As usual, the girls were behaved inside the restaurant.

Sunday started with a short hike around the lake near the camping site. There were a lot of blackberries along the trail which spiced up our little sortie. And since the temperature rocketed to 30°C in the afternoon, the hike ended up with a dip in the water. Even Kyla enjoyed the refreshing break.

We then spent the afternoon fishing. Louna was overwhelmed. It was her first time!

That little weekend getaway was a relaxing treat. It was like we were still on vacation. This experience won't surely be the last one.

Sa uulitin!

Gorges de Verdon

2009-07-16T21:29:00.012+02:00

I had been wanting to update this blog since our last leg of adventure but there are other priorities in life that needed to be addressed.. with higher priority! It had been a challenge lately to find equilibrium between work and family - knowing that the balance tended to tilt on the work side and not on the family side. Not a good tendency, really. There were several weeks where I worked like crazy, bringing my laptop to work at home till midnight, during weekends, and even during our vacation. But that crazy period is ~~almost~~ over. I could go back to my normal mode soon.

So, Gorges du Verdon. The Grand Canyon of France. I think I fell in love with the place - by its beauty and the diversity of activities it propose. There are a LOT of activities to do in this place - trekking, canyoning, biking, canöeing and kayaking to name a few. For us, it was simply heaven.

So how does a family of four, with two young girls, could enjoy such adventures?

Well, simple. Frenchguy would bike in the morning with some other bakasyonistas while the girls and I sleep till I-don't-know-what-time. After breakfast, we either play at the playground or swim at the pool. We will then start our family activity in the afternoon, after the nap, when the sun is less dangerous. We once rented a boat, a pedalo, to visit the gorges. We hiked several times - once at 3 hours with a 300m elevation change with Louna as the guide (I was too proud of her!). She walked, picked some flowers and followed the yellow trail without a lot of complaining. One of the hikes led us to a tunnel, 600m long where a flashlight was a must. Louna was afraid at first but enjoyed it nevertheless. Now, she knows what a tunnel is. It's dark inside!

Aside from the different activities to busy our day, appreciating Verdon's beautiful landscape was also part of the voyage. My camera never stopped clicking.

Lavander farm.

A picturesque hotel where we did not stay hehe.

Typical village in Verdon.

Lac de Ste Croix. The turquoise water was too inviting, too bad the temperature was way too low to my tolerance level, lol.

Chateau-Queyras Weekend

2009-06-07T12:23:00.008+02:00

It's been almost a month now since we spent this outdoor-y getaway at the south of France - Queyras National Park. This site is one of my most favorite places here in France. Too beautiful, too wild, too much diversity and too much activities to offer. Frenchguy's friend celebrated his birthday there, and as always, we had activities à la carte to indulge to - hike, bike, via ferrata, kayak, raft, canoë... I won't focus on the menu since it's a man's party, we had sausages, barbeques, beers, wines.. and a lot more wine.

We started our adventure with a hike - which the girls adored.

Then I did via ferrata.. Frenchguy did the same with another group (because we need a babysitter while the other one does an activity).

And did rafting .. while the girls and Frenchguy were doing siesta.

Now, I can't wait for the next adventure.. next stop - Gorge du Verdon, still at the south of France.

Labor Day Getaway

2009-05-13T14:21:00.011+02:00

The frenchy family was on a 10-day getaway to escape from work pressures and to savour spring at the seaside with Frenchguy's family. It was perfect. We had the beach for us alone and daily temperatures were fluctuating at levels I love: 6°C in the morning to end at 18°C before the sun sets. Not to cold, not too hot, sunny most of the time and daylight till 9:30pm - need I ask for more?

The beach wasn't the one I crave for, of course. No white sands. No coconut trees. Not the tropical temperature. It was more of a fishing haven - rocks covered with algaes, beaches with fishing towers, low tides almost every morning to the delight of villagers and vacationers excited to gather clams, mussels, shrimps or even oysters. There were some mornings when Frenchguy would leave early in the morning to join hoards of fishers, bringing us fresh shrimps. After breakfast, me and the girls would go to the beach to build sand castles while waiting for Frenchguy.

The seaside transformed itself into a real beach in the afternoon where some sunbathers started to show more skin, where kite-surfers glided with ease because there were not much tourists and where families like us whiled away our time appreciating the calmness of the place.

I thought that this vacation would be a lot complicated because of the two girls. But outdoor lovers as we are, we had time playing along the beach while waiting for sunset (Louna became a fan, she was asking to watch it almost all night!), we had time biking (with Kyla on a baby carrier), we had time to get a good tan (even Kyla whom I tried to protect all the time!) and of course, we had a lot of time eating fresh seafoods!

How I wish we could be there more often. But the place is darn too far!

The family is really growing tho. How did I know? The car was packed up to the last mm2 that one could ask where we hid the kids.

Now, we're back to Dijon. Back to normal activities. See you around.

Kidney For Sale

2009-04-23T22:30:00.003+02:00

I'm currently watching evening news and current events start to scare me. It started talking about Continental shutting down production in Clairoix. Then Dexia offering 8M€ bonus to its big boss despite the fact that it was saved from bankruptcy by the government. The heck!

And now, I've just heard that Spaniards start to to put their organs up for sale on the internet to overcome crisis. I've watched almost the same scenario last week, talking about Indian woman putting their womb for rent to couples with reproduction problem.

When I hear the same news coming from India, it's some kind of a déjà vu for me. I know that it could happen in that part of the world. But Spain!

Don't you think that poverty is like a plague? Then "almost" exclusive to Thirld World Countries. Now gaining more territories in Europe and God-knows-where-else.

Culture Unplugged Video

2009-04-19T09:03:00.002+02:00

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

This vid made me teary-eyed. Well, I think I cried. This film moved me. Just watch and see for yourself.

Social Networking - How Does It Affect Your Life?

2009-03-31T22:29:00.003+02:00

Friendster? Facebook? Anyone?

I've heard on the news that an applicant was turned down from a job because the interviewer was looking at his Facebook profile during the interview.. which made his eyes wide open in disbelief.

There are two questions floating in my head since I heard the news:

- How far would you go in sharing your private life in a public domain such as a social networking site?

- Is it legal for an employer to check Facebook profiles? In what incident would a picture affect efficiency at work? What happened to freedom of expression? Do employers take into account that there's private life after work?

Ain't this news disturbing? Being fired because you blog about work or you blog at work, ok, I could understand that. But being discriminated because you talk about YOU? Errrr? Kindly explain..

Messy

2009-03-15T19:10:00.002+01:00

More picture update at Ma Crèche Privée.

Bisita Iglesia

2009-03-04T14:35:00.022+01:00

My love for adventure and photography incites me to explore the world around me. What's good about travelling is that you open your eyes to another culture, lifestyle and tradition. I feel more grown up after each travel. I learn something new when I visit another place and Rome wasn't an exception. I learned that by throwing a coin in the Fontana de Trevi, I could guarantee another visit to this lovely place. True enough, last weekend was the 3rd time. And still, I couldn't get enough of what this lively city could offer. One of my favorite activity is to church hop - bisita iglesia. Among the cities I've visited, it's the only place where I saw 3 churches in one piazza. And mind you, even the smallest capella are well decorated and painted - I even saw one painted by Michelangelo himself!

I've posted some church pictures below. If you could name each of them, you'll win a free ticket to Rome (o naniwala ka naman, lol). Bonus: the last picture is the Pieta, the masterpiece of Michelangelo in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City.

Valentine Date

2009-02-18T15:34:00.003+01:00

I’m not the romantic type. Take it or leave it. So when Frenchguy gave me the reservation card on one of the most reputed restaurant in Dijon, I started complaining... till he said it’s for me and my mom.

Oh (pause). That made me stop complaining… till I realized it’s still Valentine’s Day and it’s still baduy! The complains continued till I finally found a parking space and parked my car - probably a hundred meter from the restaurant! What an idea to go out for dinner on Valentine’s Day!

Well, okay. I’ll stop complaining..

The restaurant is set in a lovely décor situated in an old wine cellar ~~at the basement~~. The ambiance required a certain level of standing, Burgundy snobbism at its best. I told my Mom, Let them do the job. Just go with the flow. An employee took off our coats and accompanied us to our table. She then pulled the chair back to help us sit comfortably. My Mom started to observe the place, overwhelmed by the thickness of walls surrounding us – not even a bomb could destroy them, me thinks.

Dinner was officially announced when the amuse bouche were served. I have this bad habit of counting the hours when I dine in fine restaurants like that (we dined for 3 hours, 6 servings). I also checked the list of wines which almost made me choke. But anyway, I couldn’t take a bottle, I’m driving ~~palusot pa!~~. Each meal were finely prepared, beautifully decorated and well presented. I told my Mom to just smile and say merci pour each explanation of our meal. She then asked me if we could take a picture. I said yes if she wouldn’t mind being looked at - it’s like announcing that we don’t belong there. It’s not a restaurant where common tourist go ~~only those who want to taste Bourgogne gastronomy at its finest~~. With that, she suddenly changed her mind.

The conversation was the highlight of the night – it was Valentine-inspired, what else. You wouldn’t believe it but we talked about our ex-es, our crushes, those who courted us, about my Dad and about my Frenchguy. We were like young girls talking about our respective prince charming. My Mom’s 65 year old and so what? Lol.

What about you? Anything special on Valentine’s Day?

Yaya

2009-02-11T11:01:00.002+01:00

When Louna’s former nanny announced that she’s pregnant, we felt real happiness for her for around a second. The seconds which followed were realizations of a long process of nanny hiring à la française.

A lot of questions were asked on what solution we would take? Will we hire an assistante maternelle (a chid-care provider who could guard 3 kids in her place) like what we did for Louna? That would mean that Louna should eat at the canteen everyday and stay at the nursery after school because that nanny would only take care of Kyla and not Louna. What if we’re both on travel and couldn’t fetch her from school before 6pm (nursery closes at 6pm)? Will we hire another person, a périscolaire to fetch her from school? Another concern is that Louna should stay from 8:30am to 5:30-6pm everyday at school. That’s pretty much for a 3 year old!

Though that solution is financially more interesting, the time constraints and the lack of flexibility are frightening us. We progressively looked at another option.

Garde d’enfants à domicile. Yaya almost-pinoy-style (not the stay-in type). Somebody who would take care of the kids in our place. In addition to being a nanny, she would take care of the different household chores like cleaning, ironing and even cooking. Another advantage is that, she could fetch Louna from school at noon and have her lunch at home. Kyla could stay in bed and won’t wake up early in the morning to go to her nanny’s place. We won’t need to hire a cleaning lady.

We long hesitated to succumb in this solution because of the economic aspect but after an analysis, the little amount of euro we would add for this option would mean comfort for the whole family.

We had been actively pursuing this solution since two weeks now. We posted an announcement at the ANPE (employment agency) which transmitted a good number of CVs and letters of motivation to us. Frenchguy and I started to study the CVs and eliminated those which didn’t reply to our criteria. With that, we were able to cut down the number of candidates to 8. A series of phone interviews followed and 4 of the candidates caught our interest. We will meet them this Thursday and Friday for a face-to-face interview (yes, we will even take a leave for that! – but hey, one of these person would probably take care of my kids.)

While studying the CVs, I had this uncomfortable feeling of responsibility knowing that the future of those candidates depended on my decision – especially in this hard moment of economic chaos. There was this African applicant who seemed to be motivated and hardworking but lacked a driver’s license. There was this woman, a former office secretary. She’s almost perfect but I don’t need a secretary! There were women who live far from Dijon but were willing to drive more than 30km to bag the job. There were those young ladies, too young to have job experiences and old enough to have kids of their own.

In this selection process, I probably practiced racism and discrimination in one sole objective – that is, to find the best nanny who would take good care of my girls. And that’s one tough job!

My Mom is quite overwhelmed of this whole process. Overwhelmed by the fact that we will pay social charges for the nanny, that the candidates are mostly diploma holders specialized in child care, that interviews are even fixed, that even a retired teacher and a secretary applied for the job.

Aba e, sa probinsya namin, wala daw lahat nyan no.

Almost Widow

2009-02-06T16:49:00.002+01:00

Frenchguy almost fainted last week while playing squash. His left arm felt numb, he had difficulty aiming the ball, he lost equilibrium then thought his toungue was bloated (he had difficulty talking). Somebody applied first aid on him and when he thought he was okay, he then threw up everything he had for lunch.

He had doppler examination the next day which showed that his left vertebral vein was clogged. He had anti-coagulants from then on. His head was scanned two days ago which showed that everything was normal. Everybody's relieved with the results, and him, he's again thinking of pursuing sports.

Everybody at work knew about the news. No wonder, he played with a colleague. Here's some sympathizing conversations with them:

Colleague 1: So, the poison's starting to take effect?

Colleague 2: I heard that you're almost a widow. Too sad. Try again next time.

Colleague 3: Did he already sign the heritage certificate?

Colleague 4: Whoa! You'll be single again!

After the brain scan:

Colleague 5: At least now, he has an evidence that he's got a brain.

That's French humour! I reply them with the same humour, of course, and now they describe me as a young happy widow.

But kidding aside, that incident made me realize all the more that I'm a foreigner in this country. I don't even know my rights in full detail. And how would I proceed if something bad happens? Will I stay in the same house? How will I take care of the garden? I don't even know how to start the lawn mower! How will I do with the kids without any family around? What if I need to travel because of work? And would I be able to keep my job inspite of the economic crisis? What if? Will I stay in France?

Nah! Too much questions unanswered. I told Frenchguy that he's still not allowed to go ~~but should sign the heritage blahblahs, lol.~~

PS: Frenchguy's doing great and says HI.

Visa Extension No More

2009-01-30T21:53:00.004+01:00

I'm quite disappointed today. We had been checking our calendar this week and I felt a bit sad knowing that March 15 is nearing. That's my Mom's departure date. Sad because we really hadn't visited that much because of the cold weather, Kyla's age, and moi busy at work. All I could offer her was a freezing day at Paris Disneyland a day after her arrival here, a weekend at Bourg St Maurice next week ~~the mountains. no, she won't ski, don't worry~~, a weekend in Rome end of February and a busy daily schedule with the two girls.

With my boss' question whether I could go to the Philippines in the coming weeks ~~just for a week and I could say NO because of my family situation. he told me he would understand~~, I thought I'd take a chance and ask for a visa extension for my Mom. It would be more comfortable if my Mom's here while I'm on travel, considering Kyla's age. I asked Frenchguy to go the Prefecture ~~because I know they'll be more honest with a French citizen~~ to see any possibility but the answer was negative. The only possible reason for a visa extension is if my Mom's seriously sick. Ayoko nga!

Anybody here in France who had the same experience recently? So the news is true? It's really that strict here now? How is it in your country?

Kiddo Update

2009-01-24T10:26:00.002+01:00

Busy. That's the adjective that best describes me at the moment. Having two kids and a job is no joke. That means bathing and feeding two kids after work. In short, take everything about motherhood multiplied by two. The answer is exponentially overwhelming.

But I cannot charge my absence in the blogging world all in motherhood, there's also the fact that I love chatting with my Mom. She starts to repeat stories though, not enough chismis for a 3-month stay. I think she needs to go back home to gather more chismis to tell me, lol.

Job contributes to that adjective too. But I cannot complain. It's somewhat rewarding. Remember about my award? Well, I already received it and contrary to what I thought, I didn't tremble when I delivered my speech. But I jokingly told my boss that I will work less efficiently this year because I hate high heels and speeches. He laughed and congratulated me, told me that my speech was great and that's just a start of a more fruitful career. Frenchguy see more € signs now, lol.

But do you know what's more rewarding than certificates decorating my office? See what the girls could do at their crèche privée. I'm a proud Maman.

First Day at Work

2009-01-07T09:49:00.004+01:00

Yes. I'm again on work mode. Since Monday. And already busy.

I spent almost my whole day in our conference room on my first day. 9:30am to 1:30pm talking about strategies on how to decrease production cost. 2:30pm to 5:00pm talking about a new project I'll be working on. My wonderful bosses filled up time slots in my outlook calendar even before I arrived. The big boss was even reminding me that he needed to talk to me on another subject but that could still wait till next week. What a day! I missed the traditionnal morning and afternoon café where almost everybody gather in a small room sipping their hot coffee or tea talking about all kinds of nonsense except work.

The next day, Tuesday, my supposed-to-be meeting at 10:00am was luckily cancelled and moved to Thursday. I had time deleting and reading unimportant messages. Important messages were kept aside thinking I'll have time today at home to read some messages (I won't work every Wednesdays to take care of my kids). But nah, I have too much stuffs to do at home too. It's now 4:00pm here and I haven't opened my work laptop yet. I'll try later when the kids are in bed (they're now taking a nap), I need to prepare my meeting tomorrow.

Going back on my first day, it's funny how my colleagues greeted me. After the usual beso beso followed by classic new year greetings like bonne année, bonne santé and meilleur voeux, almost all of them striked a quick glance on my tummy and said nothing. Mga usi, lol.

PS: Picture on the left is the only picture of me last Christmas. I'm always behind the cam. Don't be fooled tho. Remember a lot of years ago when Baguio was hit by an earthquake? Where roads and buildings were heavily cracked and damaged? Let's say it was intensity 7.6 on the Richter scale. My abdomen looks like it was hit by an intensity 8. Heavily cracked and damaged.

Merry Christmas !!!

2008-12-21T12:17:00.001+01:00

Credits: Quick Page by Jennifer Schmitt

End of Maternity Leave

2008-12-18T14:55:00.004+01:00

Time flies! Not only is Kyla growing, work is also waiting. Would you believe it, I'm supposed to get back to work next Monday, December 22! That's exactly Kyla's 3rd month and the official re-start of my career life. Darn!

But nah! I won't start work before Christmas. Ayoko nga. I'll take some paid leave. I sent an email to my boss yesterday to officially inform him and at the same time ask him to sign a leave form for me. Formality side, I need to sign that form for insurance purposes. And since I opened my work email account through web access, I continued browsing through the pages to keep up with what's happening at work ~~well,to be honest, I've been opening my account from time to time~~. To sum up, my project didn't progress as I hoped it to be and my calendar started to fill up. I know that I need to meet up with a Thai colleague on January 12, a meeting on this and that date and so on. I then continued deleting a love email from our system administrator informing me that my inbox reached its maximum limit. Nonsense. I again continued browsing, opening only those unimportant messages like my boss buying me a backpack for my laptop. That's cool.

An email about winners and awards was also there but I ignored. Our department is organizing a yearly contest on practices and projects which yield great benefits for the company. It's on a global level so it's a good way to know what our Asian and American colleagues do while we drink our coffee here in France, lol. Frenchguy called me up last night to congratulate me ~~he's again on work travel. he found the best method to get away with dirty diapers and nursing kyla at night~~. Apparently, I won one of the awards. It's a project I did in collaboration with my favorite Thai colleague.

My reaction? Darn! I hate it. I don't work to get awards. I just do what I need to do. Period. Now, I need to go to Paris dressed up I-don't-know-how to dine in a private museum or I-don't-know-where with the big bosses and deliver a speech on how we got such great results. All that to get an award! The problem is, I'm not used wearing formal dresses ~~I love my shirts and jeans!~~ and I hate speeches. And if it's delivered in French, my, get ready with my terrible accent. I have stage fright!

Hayy, ang laki ng problema ko no?

Baduy

2008-12-11T10:39:00.002+01:00

Louna starts to have her own fashion sense. She would oftentimes exige the clothes she wants to wear and this morning wasn't an exception. So to not to lose a lot of time, I asked her to prepare herself for school (she knows how to wear almost all types of clothes, except t-shirts). After wearing the clothes she chose, she asked me ça va, maman? (is it alright, mama?). I looked at her and wasn't able to stop myself from laughing. She then asked me, baduy, maman? That, really made me laugh!

Home Alone II

2008-12-08T09:55:00.004+01:00

Frenchguy left again this morning. He will be in the US until Tuesday next week. That would mean I need to move double time again. But the thoughtful Frenchguy made sure that I have food to heat in the oven and I have fruits and yoghurts in the fridge at least until Friday. That would already save me a hell lot of time from preparing food.

This morning, I woke up earlier than usual to prepare Louna for school. School starts at 8:45am but Kyla's still sleeping by that time. I hesitated a bit but finally decided to leave Kyla alone at home while I brought Louna to school ~~My! I wish my Mom is already here~~. That was to prevent disturbing her sleeping pattern and exposing her to the cold winter temperature. 15 minutes later, I was already back at home but Kyla was still sleeping. The little girl changed her behaviour from a fussy Kyla last week to a sleeping beauty this week. In fact, she's still sleeping until now that's why I could blog.

Well, going back to Frenchguy, he'll be spending one whole weekend in the US. That would mean SHOPPING! I made a list for the kids but nothing for me. No idea, as usual. Would you be kind enough to throw some gift ideas ;). If you were me, what would you like for Christmas?

Louna's Drawing

2008-12-04T18:39:00.002+01:00

The pre-schooler loves to explore and express her imaginations through her pen. She would proudly present her drawings telling us what object she sketched. Mostly, they're unrecognizable but we encourage her to continue. But now, she starts to draw correctly. See it here.

Weaning Problem?

2008-12-03T10:36:00.002+01:00

It's been a month now since I introduced the bottle to Kyla. It was a breeze. No fuss. No problem. But since this weekend, I had been facing difficulties on bottlefeeding Kyla. It started when I changed her milk. She would start taking, like 30 ml, then stop abruptly and scream. It would then be impossible to let her drink the whole bottle. The only short-term solution I found was to introduce the milk through a syringe.

It was the same scenario the next day so I went back to the same milk. The same result. So I changed the bottle, changed feeding position, went back to the old position, went back to the same bottle, had Frenchguy nurse her, etc. In short, I tried almost everything but she doesn't want the bottle anymore. She still likes to be breastfed tho.

My question is, is this a weaning problem? A month after I introduced the bottle? Did you have the same experience? How did you get about it?

PS: I will be meeting the pediatrician tomorrow. Let's see.

Santa, Here We Come!

2008-11-29T16:38:00.003+01:00

Do you believe in Santa Claus? Louna does. And at the moment, it's only Santa Claus that counts.

Last night, she accidentally peed on her bed and while I was changing her pajama, she sadly told me that Père Noël va être déçu (Santa Clause will be disappointed). So I told her Yes, he will be disappointed so next time, you have to wake up and call Maman or Papa to help you go to the toilet. Talking about taking advantage of Santa story, lol.

Since this Santa Clause period doesn't last a lifetime, we want her to experience a one-of-a-kind adventure with Santa - something which she will cherish at least during her childhood years. So why not go Paris Disneyland?

I've received an invitation from Paris Disneyland offering me a free entrance ticket. But the ticket is good only up to December 25. Since my mom will be arriving on December 27, we thought we could only go there on December 28. I started to check their site for opening hours and ticket prices. My, the prices made me scratch my head - ang mahal naman ng ticket (50€ for adults and 42€ for kids). My kuripot attitude started to hit me again. Then I received an email from this site which finally saved me from ruining my pocket. I had 4 tickets for only 80€! What a steal.

Now, Louna will surely meet Santa Claus in person. Hope it will be sunny on that day. I don't want my mom to freeze on her 2nd day in France, lol.

Home Alone with the 2 Girls

2008-11-25T09:52:00.002+01:00

Frenchguy left for Ireland today and will be back Friday night. My much awaited break after office hour, when Frenchguy's home will be suspended till this weekend. The 2 girls will surely know how to overload my schedule. To start, I have to wake up earlier to bring Louna to school. The cold weather will surely not play to our advantage. Then in the afternoon, I need to stretch my patience so I could attend to their exigences. Wish me energy, patience and enough sleep.

Would You Let Your Baby Cry?

2008-11-20T10:04:00.003+01:00

Parenting style had always been a hot topic between Frenchguy and I. Too hot that we often raise voices each time we talk about it. The biggest culprit are none other than the differences in culture and education we received as individuals. Co-sleeping for example, though tolerated at home is not practiced in Frenchguy's family. And since they just can't just shrug their shoulders to such kind of idea, they would talk about the dangers of co-sleeping and how a child could develop a certain degree of dependence to their parents. Why the heck are they so afraid to be too close to their kids? When discussions are focused on such topic, I have this feeling that I need to defend my culture and tradition to the same people who already heard what I needed to say 3 years ago, when Louna was born.

Breastfeeding was half-heartedly accepted this time. No comments from MIL who had a word ~~warning~~ from Frenchguy during Louna's time. But in one of Kyla's fussy nights (pre-osteopath time), Frenchguy asked me if I was sure my breastfeeding was effective. That's a comment too much to an already worried and tired mom. He had his dose of my motherhood-induced katarayan in no time.

Since they know that I would accept but a little compromise in terms of motherhood, they would often accept ~~shut their mouth~~ and let me react according to what I feel and think is right. I'm the mother after all.

But crying is another problem. Frenchguy would often suggest to let Kyla cry. He's afraid I'm spoiling my daughter. But leaving a baby cry should depend on the moment. I wouldn't leave her cry when all she claims is to rock her to sleep, right? And I'm just doing the same as I did for Louna. And honestly, Louna was and is never a cry baby. She's even surprised to see kids cry or throw tantrums in malls or playgrounds. What I'm afraid in allowing babies cry too long is that they get used to it and use it to get what they want.

Hayy. It's during these moments when I want to send Frenchguy back to his mom. Buti na lang, my mom will be here end of December and will stay for 3 months. May kakampi na ako.

The Power of Osteopathy

2008-11-10T15:08:00.003+01:00

Kyla's arrival had certainly changed our life. The joy of finally having her around and cuddle her anytime we want is unexplainable. But to say that she brought but joy at home is an exaggeration. She brought more than that.

She'd been fussy. She had been regurgitating a lot, even close to vomitting sometimes. This disturbs her even when asleep, thus, not sleeping a lot especially at daytime. This is also one of the reasons why I started mixing between breast and bottle feeding - I thought my milk wasn't enough and good enough.

But there must be something more aside from regurgitation. She's too sensitive. She could be awakened by the smallest of noise and movement. She cries not even 5 minutes after I lay her down on bed. The only solution I found was to carry her almost all the time so she could get the dose of sleep she needed for her age. At first, I thought, that must be her reaction to what I had undergone after giving birth. Afraid of separation, she wanted to keep me this time.

Her behaviour had made our organization at home off balanced. Louna's jealousy had been intensified by the fact that I was needed by Kyla 24h a day.

When my FIL went here to pay us a visit, I was indirectly criticized because of my method (MIL in particular). They thought I was instauring a bad habit to Kyla. But after days of stay with us, they finally understood why I had to resort to my method. Kyla was crying a lot.

Her fussiness made me a worried mom. I unintentionally repeated several times to Frenchguy my hope that nothing is wrong with Kyla days before her 1st month visit to the pediatrician.

During those rare free time that I got, I search on the net for solutions. When my SIL talked about an osteopath and after reading reactions from the net, I thought I need to give it a try.

It's been 5 days now after our visit to the osteopath. Kyla regurgitates less, sleeps longer and could stay awake for an hour, observing things around her. Whoa! That's a big change. She still cries of course, but I could now decode the meaning of her cries. I could now attend to what she really needs. Calm is slowly gaining place at home. Louna is now enjoying her sister's company. What a joy!

A Month and a Half Later..

2008-11-06T14:38:00.007+01:00

During times when Kyla cries unconsolably and I start to cry myself, I wish time flies faster so she could be older and fill our house with laughter - just 6 months older would be perfect. But reality hits me big time when I think that I need to get back to work end of December - that's just too soon. I need to remind myself that the little miss won't stay this small forever and I need to take advantage, especially now that she starts to smile and focus on objects infront of her.

But the little angel is giving me a real hard time. She's regurgitating a lot and that wakes her up most of the time. She's got an agitated sleep too. Even the smallest of noise could wake her up. All that results to a fussy Kyla who lacks sleep which she badly needs for her development.

We brought her to an osteopath yesterday who did a series of massage particularly on her head. He apparently put all nerves which help in digestion in place to spare Kyla from any discomfort. The result could be observed progressively but so far, so good. Proof is, I could blog!

Ambiance at home is starting to get more harmonious than it was when Kyla just arrived at home. Louna got used to having her sister around and jealousy, I should say, is a thing of the past now. She's even becoming a protective sister, not wanting to bring her sister to her pediatrician because the doctor will just do some injections, as how she puts it. Yesterday, when the osteopath was massaging Kyla, Louna wanted me to take Kyla in my arms because the doctor made her sister cry. When I explained that the doctor needed to do the massage so Kyla could stop crying, she just contented herself in asking the doctor not to break her sister. That's just so sweet.

Yesterday, I submitted my request to work part-time to my employer. Since there's no school on Wednesdays, I'll take this day off so I could spend time with my daughters. The boss of my boss was apparently surprised ~~and worried because he'll have less employee~~ of my decision but finally signed the request. He even told Frenchguy that I'd be working on subjects which won't oblige me to travel at least for the coming year. That's cool.

It's Louna's 3rd birthday this Saturday. She already blew her candles last week when the family was here but I would still bake something for her tomorrow as she would be celebrating her birthday at school with her classmates. We would then bring her to an attraction park this weekend. That would be her birthday gift ~~she already have a lot of toys and books, tired of picking them up one by one, the big girl is not arranging her stuffs!~~

Louna blowing her candles while showing her age with her fingers.

Picture Collections

2008-10-21T10:30:00.005+02:00

Well, well, well. What do I do aside from changing diapers and breastfeeding? ... Hmm? ... Any guess?... Oh yeah, of course, I cook lunch, fetch Louna from school, bath Kyla, wash clothes and dishes, etc.. but what else?

Right. I work on our photo book!

I had been wanting to chronicle our pictures into something, you know, tangible. But it's been ages I haven't developped our pictures and I hate having loads of albums of different sizes at home. So when a colleague of mine talked about a photo book, I thought, why not give it a shot?

I started with one book probably 6 months ago. Satisfied with the result, I continued with 3 other books but due to lack of time, I just finished them and received them in my mailbox just recently. I'm now working on another book.. and I know, this is just a start of my cool-lection!

Does It Hurt?

2008-10-16T11:22:00.007+02:00

Yeah! Just right there! Not my fault, Cookie thinks I'm a mommy blogger who kicks ass and so be it! But in all honesty and humility, I love the way she reads me inspite my constant rants in this blog. Here's what she said:

Analyse who is a new mother once again. She makes living the expat life look so easy. Never mind that she has a toddler and a newborn baby to care for, not to mention the kick ass job she has. The way it seems, her life is one that anyone would love to live.

Hey, she even thinks that anyone would love to live my life! Would you? So, ok. Here is what it would be like:

8:00am - breakfast

8:30am - breastfeeding

... after breastfeeding, everything would depend on Kyla's mood. During best times, chores would include Kyla's bath, quick shower for me, hand wash some delicate clothes of Kyla, plurk, blog when I can (fyi, this entry has been started 2 days ago, with Kyla in my arms all the time) and read some blog. During bad times, it would mean calming Kyla the whole time.

... breastfeed Kyla before going to school

11:30am - fetch Louna from school

... prepare something for lunch (or most of the time, heat prepared food in the oven)

12:00pm - lunch

... play with Louna after lunch. Breastfeed Kyla before going to school (or sometimes I do it while having lunch)

13:30pm - bring Louna to school

... nap, breastfeed, prepare something for lunch for the next day (when I can), do some household chores.

16:30pm - fetch Louna from school

... deal with the 2 kids while waiting for Frenchguy. Manage jealousy. Spend time with Louna when Kyla is calm. Breastfeed. Frenchguy prepares dinner and bathes Louna.

8:00pm - dinner

8:45pm - prepare Louna to bed (includes reading a story)

9:00pm - bedtime for Louna

... watch TV when we can. Most of the time, Kyla is a bit agitated during this time.

10:00pm - bedtime. Breastfeed Kyla till she sleeps.

3:00am or earlier - breasfeed Kyla.

5:30am or around that time - breasfeed Kyla.

... and another long day starts. Ready?

PS: Dirty diapers have to be changed when needed. Pictures must be taken at all opportunities.

Thanks ;)

2008-10-10T15:03:00.004+02:00

I have been receiving calls from families and friends asking me what I need for my dear Kyla to which I always answer Nothing. I kept all the stuffs of Louna so I don't really need anything. Diapers, maybe? Lol.

But there are still some who wouldn't let this grand occasion pass without sending a word or a gift. For those who wished me well through greeting cards, emails and messages in this and the kids' blog, thank you very much. I read all the messages but sorry for not answering. I guess you know why. I'm most of the time lost in bulks of dirty diapers.

I have been receiving bouquets of flowers since last week and honestly, I've run out of vases to put them. ~~There's another bouquet arranged in a bottle of water covered with an aluminum foil.~~ I again received a bouquet of flowers from the boss of my boss this morning ~~which I arranged in a pitcher~~. He's really sweet. He makes working environment real cool. But boss, I can't be back to work till January 2009. And hey, haven't I told you that I won't be travelling till Kyla turns 1? Lol. Kidding aside, this is highly appreciated. I wasn't expecting it.

I had another surprise when I opened my mailbox this midday. Haze sent a gift not only to Kyla, but to Louna as well (right picture). Thanks a bunch Tita Haze. Plein bisous! Louna already started playing with the puzzles but she wants the lapin as well. Hayy.

Mom-Of-Two

2008-10-03T11:09:00.003+02:00

Parenthood has taken another twist with the arrival of our little girl KYLA. Check out her birth story at Ma Crèche Privée.

Since this new family event is on our top priority, blogging will be put on standby.. well, I'll try to keep up when I find the time, which I sincerely doubt at the moment. More mommy news will be posted at Ma Crèche Privée. See you there ;).

A Day at the Pre-School

2008-09-18T09:00:00.004+02:00

We attended the first parent-teacher's meeting last Tuesday at Louna's pre-school. The purpose of the meeting was to present the parents the nouveautés, the different schedules and activities this school year, and to explain how a day at the pre-school goes for a young kid like Louna.

Like all the other schools, they will open their door to different languages in Europe with a highlight on the English language. But aside from the normal English course included in the curriculum, they propose an immersion to the language with a twice a week (an hour per session) course with an English speaker within 12 weeks. Fee would be 80€ but parents are only requested to pay 40€. The other 40€ will be shouldered by the school and the parent-teacher association. That's really good news as I want Louna to be more exposed to the language. Dora (and her other DVDs) is good but she needs a wider reference now.

We talked about other activities like museum visits, class picture, sports activities (an hour every Tuesday and Friday with an specialized teacher), catechism, birthday celebrations, etc. Louna's calendar starts to fill up too.

Then we talked about the normal day at the pre-school. You know, sometimes, I feel like installing a webcam so I could observe how my daughter spends her day at the school. Of course, after the meeting, I had a clearer view of her daily activities which go as follows:

8:30am - arrives at school with her Papa. She then stays with other kids in a room dedicated for kids who arrive earlier. An assistant will take care of them during this short period.

8:45am - start of classes. Kids will be organized in small groups. The classroom has small dedicated corners like bedroom, kitchen, garage, tables and boards where they could write and draw and a corner where the teacher reads a story while kids attentively listen. The teacher is helped by an assistant especially in taking kids to the toilet, dining area, playground and bedroom.

Learning skills are focused on:

Language - kids are encouraged to tell what he thinks of a picture or a drawing

Mathematics + Socialization - like counting the number of absentees by using picture cards. They first take their own cards (because it's important for kids to recognize themselves in a picture) then give the names of the absentees (it's quite hard for kids to remember their friend's name, apparently) and count them.

Graphics - drawing, shapes, colors

Motor Skills - like cutting with a scissor, holding a pen, etc.

Their activities will of course progress in function of each child's developmental milestones.

9:30am - kids will go to the toilet in small groups then proceed to the playground.

10:30am - story time.

11:45am - fetch Louna from school. We take our lunch together while she recounts how her morning was.

1:45pm - start of afternoon class.

2:00pm - kids will be accompanied to their bed for a little nap

3:00 - 3:30pm - end of siesta. They will then do different activities till 4:45.

4:45pm - fetch Louna from school.

Louna seems to love this new experience. Ask her where she spends her day and she would voluntarily answer école. She learns to socialize and follow rules which is great for her age. We started bringing her only to the morning class but since she loved the experience last Tuesday where she spent the whole day at school, including lunch, we would then bring her in the afternoon too. But she would take her lunch at home while Maman is on maternity leave.

Since schools in France are close on Wednesdays, and I'm planning to take all my Wednesdays off when I get back to work, I thought of enrolling Louna on different activities around the community. We tried music and gym classes yesterday and we will try skating on Saturday. I'm still having second thoughts on the gym classes as she's got sports activities twice a week and I'm afraid it's just a repetition of what she's already doing at school. I think I'll have my decision finalized once I see the benefits of skating to Louna.

Whew! I didn't realize that I could be this busy.. and my, I'm just a mom to a pre-schooler!

Labor and Birthing Positions

2008-09-15T13:58:00.005+02:00

I'm 17 days away from D Day and frankly, I'm getting T I R E D of being pregnant. My tummy has been stretched out at its maximum level, me thinks, and no anti-stretch mark cream could ever prevent it from cracking. Too late. Damage has been done.

I'll be attending my last birthing class tomorrow but I'm already happy with the result. I feel more relaxed and confident with the coming labor. I took sophrology classes, a relaxation-yoga kind of thing where control of oneself is being learned. We learned quite a lot of labor and birthing positions during the last session and I've already chosen the positions which seem to be the most comfortable for me.

Labor Positions

Side-Lying - with one leg stretched out and the other pulled closer to the tummy, in less than 90° angle. Apparently accelerates dilation of the cervix.

Sitting on a Large Balloon - accompanied by circular, left to right and back to front movements of the perineum to help the baby find its position for labor. I tried this and not only it positions the baby, it's relaxing too.

Birthing Positions

Semi-Sitting - involves semi-sitting position with spine curved and legs drawn up while holding on a bar attached on the bed. I think I will opt for this position during D Day. It gave me the impression of having more force from my arms and legs to push the baby out. Frenchguy jokingly called it the Harley Davidson position.

Side-Lying - seems to be the most relaxing position for the mother and it reduces the need for episiotomy. This will be my plan B.

I hope I'll have a safe and easier delivery this time taking into account that I understand better what labor and birthing means. My first delivery didn't really left me with a great experience to share. I wasn't the actor of that moment (add to the fact that I was induced 2 weeks before D Day because the baby was already too big inside). I didn't even know how to push. I kept the lithotomy (flat-on-back) position the whole time ~~because I didn't know that I could actually change position~~ pushing as much as I could but the OB ended up with a suction cup for vacuum extraction and I was left with an episiotomy to heal.

Each mom has her own labor and birthing story to share - varying from one child to another. What position did you choose? What is your experience giving birth in the Philippines or another country? Please share some pointers to live this great experience more memorable.

While waiting for your stories, this expectant mom will be walking around the park to induce labor naturally. See you around ;).

Credits: Pictures from this page.

Hosting 101 for Preggy Moms

2008-09-09T10:37:00.005+02:00

If you're planning to host a friend and you're bump is too-big-you-think-you'll-explode-in-seconds, there are 2 important things to note that could save your life:

- Have your car and GPS available then prepare an itinerary for your friend. Save addresses in the GPS - home and maternity clinic as first on the list.
- Bear in mind that your friend is a potential babysitter.

Kidding aside, everything's going wonderfully well to think that we didn't prepare anything. We visited Beaune yesterday and took the scenic drive on our way back to Dijon. Aside from the vineyards covering the hills and plains of Côte d'Or, she was also enchanted by the old villages which completed the decor of this lovely paysage.

It was just funny tho that the bump is already touching the steering wheel and since we took some rough roads during the drive, I had series of mild contractions which forced me to drive on first gear during the visit. She proposed to drive but I prefered to do it so I could control the situation, slowing down if necessary.

Then I had my rendez-vous with the midwife last night. Frenchguy's presence was necessary because we learned the different positions on giving birth and the role of the father in each situation. Louna was delighted to stay with her new-found friend. Not only did she babysit, she also prepared dinner! Now, ain't that great?

Today, Frenchguy took a day off to accompany her in the Jura region while Louna and I stayed at home (well, Louna at school). Tomorrow, she will have the car for her all day so she could roam anywhere she wants. Then in the evening, we will take her to the train station. She will take the night train to Venice, Italy. She will then be back Saturday morning. We still have the whole weekend to catch up.

Filipino hospitality still runs in my vein. Not knowing what to offer her and not be able to accompany her, I finally decided to reserve a 2-day stay in Venice for her. There's a direct train from Dijon to Venice so it's really easy to organize (thanks Lovelyn for the helpful infos).

Hope she will enjoy her stay here in ~~Venice~~ Dijon. She's also hoping that our next vacation destination would be Mexico but that could still wait till the second baby learns how to walk :).

*Our Mexican friend was in fact my classmate at the French Language School 6 years ago. She stayed with us in our former appartment for 2 months when after school, she was able to bag a training contract in their satellite office here in Dijon. She was always with us in all our gimiks including bonfire camping with the barkada, a visit in Paris, an itinerary hike in the mountains of Jura when our French language skills were at its minimum (just the 2 of us), etc. We really had great time together. Inspite the distance, we were still able to keep the friendship alive. I'm sure, once we're again on vacation mode, Mexico would be considered seriously.

Busy Week Ahead.. Again!

2008-09-07T13:19:00.002+02:00

I thought my maternity leave could mean relaxing vacation but in reality, I had been real busy since last week. Louna's schedule, 8:45 am to 11:45 am everyday except Wednesdays doesn't really give me ample time to window shop or just lazy around as there's lunch to prepare and Louna to bring and fetch from school. Afternoon means siesta for Louna ~~and Maman when I feel tired~~ so I'm kinda blocked.

This week, I have 2 appointments with the midwife for the birthing classes and one of them requires Frenchguy's presence. So where do we leave Louna?

This evening, a Mexican friend of mine is coming over for a week vacation (she was my classmate at the French language school 6 years ago). Honestly, we have no idea how we could make her stay memorable considering my condition ~~unless she witness me giving birth, lol~~. I wanted to organize something for her but I don't know what she planned during her stay with us, will she stay with us in that one whole week or will she visit other friends? She talked about visiting small villages around Dijon but I have no idea what place I could recommend. Everything seems to be too ordinary for me now.

Frenchguy feels a bit guilty as that Mexican friend arranged everything for him when he was in Mexico City few months ago. He was really amazed by the beauty of the places they visited. But knowing Frenchguy, he's already amazed by our little barrio in the Philippines whilst I don't see anything extraordinary over there.

We're thinking about sending her some place, like Venise or Strasbourg, but I don't know if she would appreciate that we're like getting rid of her, lol. And I haven't reserved anything as I don't know if she'll have time.

Hayy, hirap. What I see now is that, she could play babysitter while we go to my different appointments with the midwife. Talking about being oportunista. Lol.

A Mom to a Pre-Schooler

2008-09-04T18:51:00.004+02:00

Today is Louna's first day at the pre-school. The night before, we were able to let her pronounce her teacher's name which is Barbara. The next day, everybody was up quite early, too excited maybe to prepare ourselves for the first day. Even Frenchguy took his morning off to experience this special milestone with Louna.

Arriving there, some kids already started crying while Louna stared at them, holding our hands, quite teary-eyed herself. She was probably thinking if crying was SOP. Does she have to cry too? Then she started to try the new toys around, then moved from one table to another. She was even able to talk to another girl and asked her if she could take the toy camera. Then she started taking pictures till it was time for us to leave.

Teacher B took her hand trying to assure her that everything will be alright. She cried silently when we left. But like a spy, we peeked on the window before we left. There, she was already mingling with other kids. She in fact stopped crying in no time.

She was already smiling when we went back to fetch her. First day was a promise of a fruitful school year. Parents had worried faces when they brought their kids to school. But all those worried faces were replaced by happy faces, excited to know how their kids fared. My, still can't believe I'm one of those parents.

Private vs Public School

We've chosen to enroll her at a private school. So ok, alright. I have been constantly complaining of the amount we're paying for our taxes and how few of those euros we put in the government's pocket we get in return. And now that we get the chance to profit of those contributions by enrolling Louna at a public school, we've deliberately chosen to register her at a private school. Why?

- because with this strike-infested country, we're afraid we find ourselves hostage of this national malady. With the kind of work schedule we have, we can't afford to be absent because the teacher is on strike.
- because the principal at the public school didn't give us a good impression whilst the principal at the private school showed motivation and dynamism - a certain level of competitiveness which was a deciding factor for us.
- because we registered Louna on both schools and whilst we had all the information from the private school, we don't even know if Louna is indeed enrolled at the public school. We had no news.
- because smile is somewhat easier to give in that private school than in the public school (at least that's what I observed).

School Fees

I have written an entry on how school fees (and the cost of living in general) in the Philippines are extremely unproportional to the minimum wage of the Filipinos, wherein I got varied comments ranging from ok lang to grabe, sobra nga. I even expressed my sentiments on how we make education inaccessible to most of the Filipinos, and that alone is a start of discrimination.

This raging sentiment is fired up by the fact that if I were an engineer in the Philippines gaining an average salary as practiced today, most probably, I won't be able to send my kids to Mapua, my alma mater. Depressing, right?

Here in France, Frenchies complain about their prevailing system which for me remains reasonable. Well, they complain all the time, anyway. Let me illustrate:

For a private pre-school here in Dijon, we will pay 414€ (P28,040 at 1€ = P67.73) for a year fee distributed as follows:

Yearly Tuition Fee : 282€
Sport Activities : 58.5€
Inscription Fee : 47€
Catechism Contribution : 26.5€

Now, stop converting to Peso. Be factual. Minimum daily wage in France amounts to 60.79€ (1321.02€/month) for a 35h/week legal duration. A yearly fee at a private pre-school would represent less than 7 days of work.

Minimum daily wage in the Philippines amounts to P345 - P382 (~P10,000/month). Did I hear P100,000 yearly fee at a private pre-school still considered cheap in the Philippines? Well, at that rate, a yearly fee at a private school would represent 10 months of work in the Philippines.

Logical? Think again.

The Long Road to Being French

2008-09-02T08:26:00.002+02:00

Quite a lot of people around me ask why I don't request for the French nationality yet to which I reply I dont feel the need to be French.. ~~yet~~. At work, I could go to most of the destinations without a visa. Or if needed, visas are easier to obtain from here anyway. I already used my 10-year US tourist visa to go to work without any problem.

But vacations start to be restraint because of my green passport. I need to prepare everything in advance (in destinations where I need a visa) whilst I could play my luck with last minute reservations which are cheaper most of the time.

So I fixed my objective. I need to file my application for naturalization during my maternity leave. And so I went yesterday. With me is a 1-cm-thick file comprising:

- Cerfa n°12753*01 : Request for Acquisition of French Nationality by Naturalization / Reintegration in 2 copies
- Photocopy of valid Resident Card
- NBI clearance : legalized and translated by the Philippine Embassy in Paris at 20€/page
- 2 ID pictures 35x40 mm with name and date of birth written at the back
- Birth Certificate (moi + my parents) : Original + photocopy, legalized and translated by the Philippine Embassy in Paris at 20€/page
- Photocopy of my passport + all pages with stamp
- PACS certificate : latest from Tribunal des Grandes Instances de Paris
- Birth Certificate of Louna
- Photocopy of Passport: Louna and Frenchguy
- Health record of Louna (vaccination)
- Certificate of Ownership (Acte de propriéte) + EDF/GDF bills
- Academic Certificate - Louna
- Job certificate
- Job contract
- Payslip for the last 3 months + payslip for the month of December for the last 3 years
- Diploma which I obtained here in France
- CAF certificate : any monthly financial aide obtained from government organizations
- Certificate of Tax on Revenu for the last 3 years
- Fiscal Situation Statement (revenu, propriétary and resident taxes) for the last 3 years obtained from trésor Public

But married individuals have other requirements to file. Please check out this site if you're interested.

As for my application, I was told that my file won't be opened in a few months. No surprises. My colleague has just obtained her French nationality after 2 years. She was interviewed prior to the obtention of her papers but apparently, the questions were the same as what I had during the obtention of my 10-year resident card which I wrote here. And future applicants, don't worry, you won't sing La Marseillaise.

PS: Ma Crèche Privée has just been updated - 8th Month Visit.

Finally, I'm on Maternity Leave

2008-08-30T08:44:00.004+02:00

It was my last day yesterday. Though my colleagues couldn't believe their eyes, seeing me near my playstation (the machine which I designed, the reason why I was always in Milan last year and early this year) up to the last day, I was still 100% on work mode yesterday. Frenchguy told me that in the history of the company, I was probably the only one who worked up to a month before D Day. Most future moms take their leave 8 weeks before D Day.

But that machine is my baby too. I defined it. The processes which would be installed in it are the processes which I master like no other in our department. No wonder, the management trusted the project to me.

But well, there's more to life than work. I'll be taking care of my kids. I'll be a SAHM, finally, at least for 4 months. Louna will be starting pre-school on Thursday. I had checked some activities for her since there'll be no school every Wednesday. I'll be enrolling her to Music and English for kids. I'm getting excited to see her mingle with other kids. She's been doing baby gym last school year but it was the nanny who's accompanying her. Now, it will be me. Her mom!

The second baby could pop anytime now. I'm preparing all necessary stuffs for the D Day. From maternity bag to baby announcement card.

My maternity leave has just started but my calendar already started to fill up. I need to see my OB Gyne for my monthly check-up then my midwife for my birthing classes. I need to go to the laboratory for a blood analysis. I need to enroll Louna to different activities at the center. I need to file my application for naturalization at the prefecture. I need to go to the pharmacy. I want to have a massage at the newly-opened massage center. I need to plan a visit for my Mexican friend who will be coming over for a week vacation with us. I need to change the design of the baby announcement card because pregnant women change their decisions every second (And hey, haven't you noticed? I changed this blog's layout and Louna's blog's layout too! Call that a milestone because I'm a techno-bobo! And please tell me, the new layout rocks!)

Who says I'm on vacation?

Preggy Pix

2008-08-23T10:07:00.004+02:00

Feng once tagged me to post a preggy picture of mine to which I replied no because I post my monthly preggy photo and development at the other blog. I have my pictures all over both blogs. Doing the tag would be one picture too much.

Then after two weeks of vacation, my colleagues were surprised not only to see me back at work but also because the bump had taken ample proportion. I already gained 14 kg from the start of pregnancy. But what amazes them the most is the fact that the enormous 14-kg weight gain is concentrated on only one point - my belly. My back view has remained unchanged (well, at least that's what they said).

Since I only see my front and side views, I asked Frenchguy to take a picture of me this morning. So what do ya think?

Preggy Update

2008-08-19T18:37:00.003+02:00

The counter displays that I'm 33 weeks and 4 days pregnant, only 45 days to go. And I tell you, I start to count the days. Just received an authorization from my OB Gyne allowing me to work until end of August (my maternity leave officially starts on August 22). Barely 2 more weeks of work and I'm off for a long vacation. Well, at least that's how my colleagues call it. I strongly doubt it tho. D Day means L A B O R and it's not labor for nothing. It's hard effort. And it marks the beginning of a long but sweet engagement between me and my daughter - through good and bad times, in sickness and in health.

I met the anesthesiologist yesterday and yes, I opted for epidural. I had it on my first pregnancy and I kept an agreable experience so why deprive. I also did all the necessary reservations at the same private clinic where Louna was born. My mutual insurance will cover all room charges and my social security will cover all maternity related expenses. So that's checked out of my list.

I also received a letter from the social security informing me that, like for Louna, our financial situation deprives us from enjoying the more than 800€ cash incentive for each newborn child. I'd like to think that we're earning too much but that would be wishful thinking. Hmp. But well, anyway, I've got another advantage. I would still receive 100% of my salary during my maternity leave (4 months). Though social security's maximum limit is less than my salary, our company will top up the necessary amount to complete my salary. So ok, alright, I'll content myself with that.

I started to prepare my bag for the D Day too. All necessary documents already signed and tucked inside the bag. Maman and baby clothes washed, ironed and carefully arranged. All the other gadgets like camera, camera charger, toilet necessities and a book to read (in case I find the time) already in place. I still have some stuffs on my list to add and I'm ready for D Day.

Since Louna is still on vacation at her grandparent's place, we will take advantage of her absence to prepare her room. We will buy a new bed and a cabinet for her so the new baby could take her crib. Since she will enter school this September, we also prepared her school stuffs so everything's ready. That too was already erased from my list.

So far so good. Still can't believe that D Day is just 45 days away... or earlier!

Fidelity Cards Make Me Travel for FREE

2008-07-30T15:39:00.003+02:00

I have always been a fan of fidelity cards and I love the advantages. I have 3 active cards:

1. Lufthansa Miles and More where I'm a Frequent Traveller (silver member). Since Lufthansa is a member of Star Alliance group, I could earn miles even if I always travel with Thai Airways. My cumulated miles could get me 3 round-trip tickets to the Philippines. But well, I still need to wait before I could use them.

2. KLM Air France Flying Blue where I'm an Ivory member (Skyteam member). Since I seldom travel to our US sites, I hardly cumulate points. But Frenchguy's raking quite a lot because of his frequent stops in the US. We already travelled to the US for free. We even offered a vacation to La Reunion (French Department) to my SIL, for 4 person! Not bad, right?

3. SNCF Grand Voyageur where I have the très grand voyageur status. It's a fidelity card offered by the fast train network here in France (and some parts of Europe). And just like the previous fidelity cards, this one is also a member of a big group, my favorite supermarket included. So I cumulate all the s'miles (that's how they call their point system) in one card and enjoy the advantages at an accelerated pace.

I just ordered 2 round-trip train tickets for my coming vacation this Saturday and had them the next day at my mailbox. Efficient! Free! And mind you, I just saved 180€ in just one click.

In fact, my OB Gyne discouraged me to take the car for a 6-hour drive so we decided that Frenchguy and Louna take the car (since we have quite a lot of stuffs to bring) and I take the fast train. At least I could change position, walk from time to time, and travel time would be much lesser. That's cool.

That is to say, I'll be on vacation starting this Saturday. For two weeks. So this not-active blog will be much less active in the coming weeks. Ciao!

PS: Check out my 7th Month Update at Ma Crèche Privée.

He Did It

2008-07-28T21:47:00.007+02:00

Frenchguy finally hit the start button. He officially debuted his triathlon dream last Saturday at the Lac des Settons (~100 km from Dijon). An hour, 29 minutes and 28 seconds was the time he took to finish a total of 500 m swim, 21 km bike and 5 km run - pause to change accessories in each step included. Not bad for a debutant. Well, at least he wasn’t the last one to arrive and Louna was overly proud of his Papa.

Swim - At the starting block, Frenchguy lost among the participants.

Bike - Frenchguy aiming for the dangerous curve at the last uphill slope before the finish line – bike category.

Run - Arriving at the finish line with Louna (notice the cumulated time on the right side of the finish line). She joined her Papa around 5 meters away from the finish line. She was then interviewed by the announcer to which she willingly replied.

Next destination: Hawaii, USA for the Ironman Triathlon Challenge (just dreaming, lol).

More pictures below (click on the icon to access the album):

Triathlon Lac de Settons

A Tragic Death for a 3 Year Old

2008-07-24T14:10:00.002+02:00

I was listening to the morning news on my way to work yesterday and I was again caught by this disturbing incident seemingly propagating like a plague across France. It's the 3rd incident I heard in less than a year.

A father forgot his daughter inside the car leaving her for a day under the scorching heat of the summer sun. The little girl died of dehydration. Worst is that, the father left his son at school that morning, then drove his way to the nanny's place to leave his daughter. He passed infront of the nanny's house but did not stop. He continued driving till he arrived at work. At midday, he took his car for a quick lunch nearby without noticing his daughter. Afternoon came and his wife called him up to check if he already fetched their daughter as she's not at the nanny's place. The father then realized that he forgot his daughter inside the car. He quickly ran to his car only to find his daughter dead.

Such incident would surely change a man's life for forever. I wouldn't like to blame or to judge that father. He surely didn't do that on purpose. Who would, anyway. I would just like to share the story to all moms and dads out there. To warn them that such incident could happen. Be careful with your little ones. At that age, they're not capable to open cars yet. And with car security measures nowadays, they couldn't open it anyway. And to those who see babies and toddlers left alone inside the car, that they call proper authorities for intervention.

Thanks.

Sunday Getaway

2008-07-21T21:35:00.010+02:00

Summer is timidly starting here in Dijon and it starts to be tiring. Though I already arranged our winter clothes, a pull-over each morning is still a necessity. So each time a sunny weekend is announced, we make sure that an outdoor activity is planned.

Arnay-le-Duc was the chosen destination this weekend (~45 km from Dijon). The initial plan was for Frenchguy to debute his career as a triathlete. In fact, he just bought a road racing bike which he wanted to test but unfortunately not delivered this weekend. The seller lent him another one which evidently was not customized to his size. So he half-heartedly abandoned the plan and contented himself in watching the participants.

To those who, like me, are not into sports at all and have no idea what triathlon means, it's simply a ...swim, bike and run kind of sport. Easy for me to say but imagine this: you swim 700 meters in a lake at a temperature around 21°C, then bike a total of 24 km with of course an up and down slope, then run 5 km up to the finish line - with a quick halte at a common platform where participants change, take or leave their bike and other accessories related to the activity.

It was an interesting triathlon watch as we were able to observe the experts. In fact, after swimming, they just remove their overalls and caps, then slip on their bike shoes and off they go. Just before arriving at the platform, they already removed their shoes (right picture) so they just wear on their running shoes (most of them without socks!) without changing to their running clothes (right picture shows the champion that weekend. He's in fact France's champion - junior category). A stop at the platform only takes them a few seconds!

Loads of professional racing bikes at the platform, each probably averaging to 2000€! Frenchguy suddenly felt tiny with his undelivered bike, lol. But he's a neophyte afterall and not seeking for national competition.

I was teasing Frenchguy because he planned to swim without the overalls (meaning he would consume all his energy just by swimming alone), then change from swimwear to his biking clothes (which he bought the day before!) and finally, change from biking clothes to his running shirt and short! And why not add the Ipod to the package while we're there, don't you think so?

Well, he learned a lot of tactic and he would surely be more prepared when he finally debute his triathlete career. In the meantime, he still needs to wait for his bike, lol.

During those time, Louna had only one objective in mind - play with the water. She was able to persuade me to dip his feet into the lake (swimming wasn't in the initial plan so I didn't bring anything). Then seeing that she would eventually soak her skirt, we removed it before any accident happens. But the playful kid finally end up wearing but her undies.. so she went home with her skirts.. without her panty!

On Pregnancy, Maternity Leave and Everything that Goes with It

2008-07-18T14:38:00.002+02:00

Third Trimester Ordeal

The curse of the third trimester started to hit me.. real hard. Sleeping pattern had been a sort of lottery. Sometimes I win (which means I sleep well). Most of the time, I lose. I was like a walking zombie at work yesterday so I asked Frenchguy to sleep on the other room last night so I could sleep better. Lo and behold, I had a relaxing sleep and I was on a better mood this morning (which didn't last till this afternoon).

But even sleeping presents an inconvenience. I'm obliged to sleep on one side (preferably left side.. but I'm used to sleep on my right side :( and with the weight of the baby bump, I end up having backaches. All that cumulates with the baby actively kicking me, the shortness of breath, leg cramps, and all the inconveniences that go with pregnancy that even writing this entry already makes me tired.

Birth Classes

I already started birth classes, to at least sooth the pain, but that one hour session of sophrology only gave me.. but one hour of relaxation. And since I'm not that much of a fan of yoga and zen stuffs (because I'm a cool person by nature), I didn't really appreciate the benefit that class offered me.

Aqua Gym

So I do aqua gym on my own with a small dose of jet massage from time to time. This exercise really relaxes me. It gives me a moment of calm and lightness, a moment where I commune with my baby without feeling the inconveniences. But I couldn't stay floating on water eternally, lest I want to transform myself into a mermaid.

Work

All these feelings of fatigue leave me intellectually and physically drained. I lost my usual energy. I'm a result-oriented person. And a stubborn one. I hate leaving things half done. I've heard that the big boss jokingly recounts how he's incapable to chase me out of the office because I wanted to do a lot of stuffs before my maternity leave. But that would most probably change. I start to be more convinced that I'd leave sooner than I wanted.

I started transferring my projects to some of my colleagues. With a heavy heart. I hate starting something and leave it half done. Yes, I already said that, alright. But that's how I feel. I don't take engagements lightly, and that's causing me problems at times.

Maternity Leave

I'd be on vacation August 4-15. But I've always told my boss that I'd be back and would try to work till end of August. If I would follow the old system wherein expecting moms are obliged to take their maternity leave 6 weeks before D day + 2 weeks of pathology leave, I should normally stop on August 8.

With the state of fatigue I am in right now, I'm afraid my OB Gyne wouldn't allow me to work till end of August and force me to stop earlier. The bump is heavier by the day. I've checked my first pregnancy pictures and my current bump size corresponds to my 8th month, Louna time. And geez, I'm only on my 6 and a half month of pregnancy!

New Experience

I've written that second pregnancy is a sort of déjà vu. But what I'm experiencing right now is totally new to me. I'm a strong woman – never sick, could adapt to any kind of environment, never cries. I hope Frenchguy believes me when I say I'm tired and not take that as an alibi. He's not used to hear me complain about difficulties of pregnancy. But it's been 2 weeks that I'm in a bad mood so please, don't force me to smile when I don't feel like it. Got that?

Innocently Sweet

2008-07-16T21:17:00.001+02:00

The doting Maman had just chronicled some of her sweet Louna's innocent remarks at the Crèche Privée. Read it here.

Less Vacation Time for the Frenchies?

2008-07-10T20:14:00.002+02:00

June to August is a very busy period in France. .. Errr, I mean, the Frenchies are busy with their vacation. But not for long. A new reform has been adapted recently to pass from 218 working days per year to 235 days !!!

Ano daw?

Well, to be clear, let's take my case. I'm on a daily rate. I'm not subject to the famous 35 h/week rule. I work a lot more than that. And I'm not paid for overtime. But I have a flexible time. I manage my time. I could start at 9am and finish at 7pm on one day. Then work 8am to 3pm the next day. As long as I finish my job as planned, then no problem.

With this system, I enjoy a total of 36 days of paid leave for a 218 working days/year distributed as follows:

- 25 days Congé Payé - paid leave
- 1 days Pont Payé - Normally taken once a legal holiday is situated on a Thursday, for example, to have a longer weekend. Additional day which we could actually take anytime.
- 2 days Congé d'Ancienneté - linked to length of service
- 8 days Réduction de Temps de Travail - declination of 35h for employees on daily rate

With the new system, it seems that we have to give up our RTT and some official holidays if we want to keep the 25 days CP! To think that they allowed encashing RTTs to boost the buying power just this year! What would happen to that? How could we encash RTT this fiscal year, for example, if we won't have any?

Let's say we would increase the productivity of industries and all the other sectors with this measure, would that also mean increasing the salary of employees since we would be working more? Or better yet, daily rate employees pass to hourly rate and we tax the companies for overtime?

Hmmm, strange that I haven't heard any possible strike/rally regarding this matter. Is it because the main victim of this measure is at the executive level and nobody cares because most work more than the legal number of hours anyway?

Hay buhay. But if this measure could really boost the economy, then go, even if it only answers to the question of productivity and counters the measure on improving the buying power. Let's give change a chance.

She's Biking!

2008-07-05T22:35:00.004+02:00

I'm a proud mom. Please bare with me. I just can't help it. Every little bit of new skill is chronicled in this and Louna's blog. Well, only parents could probably understand me. Know what? My daughter just learned how to bike on her own! See her live here.

Not My Lucky Day

2008-07-03T21:54:00.002+02:00

I was in our Paris office last Tuesday and Wednesday and I think I had the unluckiest day among my travel days. After work, me and my colleague headed to the RER station (metro train serving the outskirts of Paris) to go to our respective destinations. He's headed back to Dijon and me, to my hotel. Taxi wasn't an option at 5pm. Too much traffic. Metros are more efficient.

Not that day. Apparently, a metro employee was agressed the day before and they decided to go on a surprise strike. It was a hot day and there were no taxi available. I was stranded for over an hour. (Well, I was able to work with my laptop nevertheless).

Arriving at my metro destination, I thought the hotel was just a kilometer away (I checked their website before), so I thought, a bit of walking would surely do me good. But after an hour of being stranded in a not-so-cozy place, all I had in mind was a cold shower, a quick dinner and a wifi connection to send the emails I prepared during the wait.

The one-kilometer walk became more or less 3 kilometers and the tired and impatient yours truly started to get irritated. Arriving at the hotel, I quickly reserved the taxi for the next day and a table for dinner that night.

7:30pm. Pronto. I was already sitting at the restaurant, alone, sipping my heavenly fresh-squeeze orange juice. I thought This should be a quick dinner, I still have emails to send before I doze off. I checked the menus, 37€ minimum for a complete dinner. Not bad. But I need to do it quick and anyway, I have less appetite when I dine alone. So I just ordered for the main meal and dessert. I should have known it's a chic restaurant. And when they say chic, it means loads of protocols (and less quantity, of course). And the protocols led me to finish my meal at 9:30pm!

Next day, Wednesday, I was already waiting for my taxi at 8:30am (I was hoping to be able to work before the seminar starts because the goddamned wifi at the hotel didn't work!). And the taxi arrived 15 minutes later because of too much traffic jam. The unlucky day continues.

Arriving at home, I tried to connect again to wifi, and hélas. Still, it didn't work. And since I already prepared my emails on my laptop on my way to Dijon (on the train), I hated the idea to re-type them all over again on our home pc. Kainis.

It turned out that it was my laptop which had a problem that's why I didn't have wifi connection. Hay naku, gusto kong sabunutan yung computer technician because of that. Hirap ng buhay buntis!

The Little Mermaid

2008-06-29T22:33:00.002+02:00

I have been boasting about our little girl's love for water - how she jumps without fear. She's been learning more and more tricks each passing week - without us teaching her.

Find out her new tricks at Ma Crèche Privée.

6th Month Visit

2008-06-25T22:04:00.001+02:00

I have this impression that this pregnancy goes faster than my first pregnancy. Or am I just a little too inattentive? My gynecologist asked us to get an appointment with the anaesthetist at the maternity clinic. Then with a midwife for my childbirth preparation courses. My reaction was - Déjà? That sounds too soon.

Continue reading here.

Costly Education - How Much Does It Really Worth?

2008-06-19T11:16:00.002+02:00

I was chatting with my cousin this weekend and I've learned that her nephew just entered MIT. Not Massachusetts tho - Mapua. Former Mapuan as I am, I've always been interested to any news related to my alma mater. I've always been proud being a part of this huge family.

But did you know that students from this institute are subjected to a kind of stereotyping? Most of the time, when folks learn that we're from this school, the common remark would be Ang talino / galing mo siguro no? To which I reply, Grabe naman, understatement yan, sigurado naman. Lol.

I don't know if current students / graduates still suffer from this same stereotyping. Graduates from this school normally enjoy a relatively high market value. I never wrote a motivation letter, companies were calling at home to get an appointment for an interview. I had choices. But I probably graduated at the right moment too.

Mapua had been known to be pang-masa. You get quality education without ruining your parent's pockets. I'm not the first Mapuan in the family. My Dad's cousin who is 4 years my senior paid P3,500/semester from year 1 to year 5 (older Mapuans in the family paid much less than that of course). I entered year 1993, paid P7,500 for the first semester then finished my studies 4 and a half years later with P12,500 tuition fee. Batch 1993 started the yearly increase system implemented by Mapua.

But did this increase go at a reasonable pace? I'm sure a lot of entities, from pre-schools to universities joined the bandwagon. Everything had gone at a gigantesque proportion. I've learned that they pay around P40,000/semester now (not really sure, but around that amount anyway), and they're practicing quarter-mester. That's a huge P160,000 a year!

Now. If you consider education as an investment, how much is the entering salary of a fresh grad nowadays? How long is the ROI? Are there still jobs in the Philippines? Are the Mapuans nowadays, with the amount of tuition they pay, still get the same prestige as what we, the former Mapuans enjoyed? Ain't that a kind of discrimination? Because by practicing such prices, the target market had been marginalized to a certain social class. Does the government do something to control prices? Or they just let private sectors exige their prices so everything would be inaccessible to lower class citizens?

No. This isn't a black propaganda against Mapua. As I said, I'm proud to be a part of its graduates. It's better to invest in higher education than spend too much money at playschools. Because I also learned that pre-schools could cost even more than P50,000 a year. That's too much money and when you know that during job interviews, employers don't really care if you did kindergarten or not, that's part of the investment going to waste.

Well, if you have the money, why not. Every parent wants the best for their kids. But should best be evaluated through pesos all the time? If you already struggle to make ends meet, I think it's better to explain to your child that you could get good education in public schools too - that you better save for the more important step which is college.

I graduated from Tubotubo Elementary School (no kindergarten, oh yes!), a public school situated at probably the most rural barrio in my hometown. A lot of people smile or laugh when they hear Tubotubo. Cute or baduy, it's up to you to judge. Laugh all you want but it's there where I learned how to write, count, socialize, build the kind of person I am right now. And yabang aside, look at where I am now (o sige, yabang na nga, lol).

Anniversary Treat

2008-06-15T15:16:00.002+02:00

We had a double celebration this weekend. We had a lot of fun at daytime to celebrate Father's Day - please check out Louna's blog, she took charge in updating the blog since it's father's day - then had a romantic dinner without Louna.

We went to this rather chic restaurant in Marsannay-la-Côte where a complete dinner was delicately served in 3 hours. In France, it's almost a rule - the more you pay, the longer you wait and the less you get on your plate. But each serving is worth the euro you pay and the minutes you waited. So after 2 and a half years of no dinner en tête-à-tête with Frenchguy, we decided to call last night, our night.

The menus were mouth watering. And to not to spoil the evening, the prices were not indicated in the menu. The list of wines was overwhelming so Frenchguy let the sommelier (wine-waiter) decide for him, depending on the meal ordered. He had a glass of Marsannay 2001 and Nuit-St-Georges 2000, both Grand Cru. They were just so tempting that I took a sip on both. Geez, that was heaven! Alcohol-deprived pregnant women would of course understand me, lol.

3 hours of dinner gave us a lot of time to look at each other and talk. That's probably one thing we don't do that often lately. Of course we do talk. But everyday conversations don't take us that much reflection on what our future holds, etc. We almost always talk about work. Last night, discussions were focused on US. A sudden realization that our daughters are Bourguignonnes (natives of Burgundy) almost shocked us. For me, they're simply French. For him, they're Belloprataines (natives of his hometown). Not a big deal? Not quite. But that would mean they would have Burgundy accent, the adjective that would best describe them would be snob or bourgeois, and a lot more. But well..

Then, while checking out the list of wines, we suddenly thought about the wines we need to buy for Louna (as a symbolic birthday gift). 2005 wines should start to commercialize this year. Then I thought we need to do the same for the 2nd baby. Frenchguy thought we could probably find another good idea. But I vetoed explaining it would be extra special that during special occasions, our daughters could open a bottle of their birth year from the province where they were born. And honestly, Burgundy wines are not nothing.

Then we talked about Louna. It's her first time to stay with somebody else at home. It was our first time to eat in a restaurant without her. It's a new experience and we didn't know how she would react. (Apparently, everything went well. She asked once where Maman and Papa went and that's all. No fuss.)

A lot of topics had been tackled within that 3 hours. We didn't even notice that it was too long. When it was time to enter our pincode, we nearly choked. We looked at each other and without uttering a word, both understood that it's not everyday and we need a break, and it was our night. But like in a comic strip, another bubble message came out. It reads: McDonald next year.

Tough Schedule!

2008-06-11T22:28:00.003+02:00

It will be our 6th year anniversary tomorrow (that’s 9 years of knowing each other and over a year of long distance relationship!) and though we’re both here in France, we will be celebrating the day apart. I’m on the fast train going back to Dijon at the moment (from a 3-day seminar in Paris) while he’s surely driving to join his colleagues for a 2-day team building seminar. Yes, we won’t see each other this week.

What about Louna? She will be spending the night at the nanny’s place (because I’ll arrive too late) and I promise not to work too late tomorrow so I could be with her earlier. Tough schedule!

Well, we have the weekend for the 3 of us to enjoy. I need to find an idea for Father’s day!

Too busy. The 3-day seminar in Paris was great though. It’s a seminar for newly-hired executives in the company (hehe, moi newly-hired after 4 years?). The objective of which is to know the company better – know the strategy, its goals, its market, and the role of different departments to attain common target. 80 participants from different corners of the globe were there. The speakers, including the PDG of the group assured impeccable presentations which kept all participants all-ears from Day 1 to Day 3. Interpreters were there too to ensure that everybody’s getting the same message, but then, switching from French to English was inevitable. A workshop was also initiated - mixing employees from different departments then presenting the other department’s job through a stage play. I normally hate seeing myself in front of audiences but I find that experience pretty fun.

All 80 participants (even Parisians) were required to stay in the hotel to create real synergy among us. Dinners were animated and we really had fun. They organized a kind of casino on the last night with each participant holding 1000€ play money to begin with. Geez! It only took me an hour to lose that amount of money to poker. Now it’s sure, my future is not inside a casino!

It was my first time in my 4-year career life in this company where I travelled and I didn’t work (well, except for reading emails before and after dinner). Ang sarap pala, lol. Our department organizes an annual meeting outside of the company premises but then, it is held in a day so there’s no real synergy being formed.

Frenchguy’s team building seminar is a first in their department and playing golf is apparently included in the agenda. Not to mention that it will be held in a castle somewhere in the Alpes – in a mountain village located far from Dijon!

My big boss just sent a meeting invitation to the whole department and a lunch date was included in the package.

I just have this impression that something is changing in our company. Team building is in the air. Great! Especially when everybody's demotivated with decreasing buying buyer, increasing oil prices, the unpredictable weather, low satisfaction survey on HR department (probably why they boost team building, lol), etc., etc.

And oh, before I forgot, I need an idea for Father's Day. Any suggestion, hmmm?

Le Congé Maternité

2008-06-08T14:48:00.005+02:00

Paid maternity leave in France stretches from 16 to 46 weeks depending whether it's your first or third child or you're carrying a twin or a triplet. A pathological leave could even be added - 2 weeks prenatal and 4 weeks postnatal, if the attending gynecologist judges that a mom needs additional rest. A mom could choose nonetheless to take only 8 weeks of maternity leave with the approval of her gynecologist.

In my case, I'm supposed to stop 6 weeks before and 10 weeks after the D Day. This rule has apparently changed since February 2007. Now, moms could choose to take a minimum of 3 weeks prenatal leave and the rest of the weeks not taken before the D Day would be added on the postnatal leave. That's cool! That would give me more time with my 2 girls.

The end of the year announces a lot of roller-coaster ride at home. We need a breather and this news is really a great one. Louna will start pre-school this September. We will need to change our nanny (we will look for somebody not far from our place). Then the coming of the little girl.

All that looks simple but if you know how it works here in France, you would surely wish me goodluck. Great nannies are rare gems here in France. Much as we wanted to keep Louna's nanny, her place is just too far from our place. Louna's pre-school is just 4 blocks away from our place and it's just logical that we search for a nanny (for the 2nd baby) nearby. The nanny should be able to fetch Louna from school too, in case we're blocked. Thus the necessity that she be just around the area. Louna's pre-school have a nursery which could keep kids from 7am - 7pm so that's pretty comfortable.

Well, all that talks about logistics. But the real big change is that Louna will be a big sister and will start pre-school. How will she react to that change? Nobody knows.

We would certainly need to take a closer look on our time management. Work travels should be organized carefully. I would certainly ask not to travel till the little girl turns one (I did that for Louna) and we should find a nanny who could offer a lot of flexibility.

Well, I know that everything will fall at the right place at the right time. There's always a solution to every problem, right?

Breast Cancer Awareness

2008-06-08T09:48:00.003+02:00

Help spread the awareness on the Breast Cancer Awareness month of June. Please help convey the importance of regular examination and early detection of breast cancer in order to catch this disease when it first erupts, maximizing the chance of survival and recovery.

These are the some information/symptoms that I’ve got upon searching the net regarding Breast Cancer.

A change in how the breast or nipple feels
A lump or thickening in or near the breast or in the underarm area
Nipple tenderness
A change in how the breast or nipple looks
A change in the size or shape of the breast
A nipple turned inward into the breast
The skin of the breast, areola, or nipple may be scaly, red, or swollen. It may have ridges or pitting so that it looks like the skin of an orange.
Nipple discharge (fluid)
Early breast cancer usually does not cause pain. Still, a woman should see her health care provider about breast pain or any other symptom that does not go away. Most often, these symptoms are not due to cancer. Other health problems may also cause them. Any woman with these symptoms should tell her doctor so that problems can be diagnosed and treated as early as possible.

Source: MedicineNet.com

Help spread awareness. You can help the lives of many women by spreading the word about The Breast Cancer Site. If The Breast Cancer Site receives 8 million clicks on the pink button in June, their premier sponsor -Bare Necessities- will donate $10,000 for more free mammograms. CLICK the pink button today!

Please click. Or better yet, do the tag for the whole world to know ;). My nanny's mom has been diagnosed with breast cancer just recently and though we're not related, it was just too painful to learn such bad news.

Bientôt SAHM

2008-06-05T13:52:00.003+02:00

Ruth's entry on being a SAHM hit me hard I think. I still have it playing and replaying in my head. Here's an excerpt:

when i hear someone say she'd love to just be stay at home mom if she could, i often find myself thinking that if she really did feel that way, she would. so why doesn't she? if one delves deep enough, i suspect many (not all, of course) women choose to not to stay at home not because they can't, but because they don't want to.

and that's fine.

don't want to be tied at home, tending to the household and kids 24/7. don't want to give up the second income. don't want to lose out on career opportunities. don't want to lose the sense of self they've built over several years. don't want to be intellectually stagnant. don't want to be considered less productive. don't want to lose self-worth. don't want to be financially dependent on spouse. don't want exchange the glamour for the hausfrau lifestyle.

You probably noticed my profile. It says I'm a SAHM wannabe. But all the time I talk about this topic, I can hear myself loud - I sound DEFENSIVE. And I don't know why. So when I read Ruth's entry, I suddenly came to a realization. It hit me bull's eye. She was describing me!

There are certainly a lot of factors why SAHMs choose to be SAHMs and WMs as WMs. There's the influence of the environment where that mom was raised and the society she's in right now. There's the economic impact. There's her personal values that plays an important role. And a lot more..

I was raised in an environment where both my parents worked full time and I don't feel I missed out on something because my mom was at work. Honestly, I don't feel the need to stay at home. I hardly cook and I hate housechores. Needless to say that Frenchguy does almost all the housechores till we hired a cleaning lady. Call me lazy but I could be productive too - not at home but at work.

And what would Louna and I do the whole day? Learn ABC? I'm afraid I would just transmit the wrong values if she sees me doing nothing the whole day. I assure you, I'm capable of doing nothing the whole day! At least, with our current set-up, she could see me active and responsible, juggling between work and family life with ease.

I told you. I sound defensive when I talk about being a SAHM. I'm probably not cut to be such. Well, in fact, I'm quite sure about that. And that kind of frightens me out. I'm approaching my maternity leave which will officially start on August 22. At that same time, we will terminate our nanny's contract. That would mean I'll be a SAHM for the first time (at least for the whole duration of my maternity leave which is 4 months). Now that I think about it, I don't know if I have to be excited or what. I hope Louna will enjoy her time with her boring maman. And who knows, I might enjoy it and reconsider being one. Ayan na naman ako. Wishful thinking.

All moms are working moms, I know. But my CV is just not fitted for the job. Well, at least for now.

Not Her!

2008-05-31T17:57:00.002+02:00

Medyo na-bad trip yata ako kahapon. Nalaman ko kasi na yung proyekto nung katrabaho ko e hindi pa maayos ayos at kailangan pa nyang tumigil sa Tsina. So sa madaling sabi, magiging mas okupado pa sya kesa sa naka-plano. E sya pa naman yung papalit sa akin sa proyekto ko naman dito sa Dijon habang ako ay naka-maternity leave. And mas masama pa, parehong makina yung trinatrabaho nya sa Tsina at yung makina na itinatayo dito sa Dijon sa ngayon (as in yung makina ko). Magkaiba nga lamang ng proseso. Gagana naman kaya yung makina dito sa Dijon? Lagot ako pag hindi, ako kasi yung nag-design ng makina.

So sabi ni bosing kaninang umaga, since busy yung isa, baka yung isang katrabaho ko na lang yung papalit sa kin kasi mahirap iwanan sa baguhan (kukuha kasi sila ng papalit sa kin - contractual) yung proyekto ko lalo pa at nagiging mainit na sa mata ng mga big bosing tong proyekto na to dahil nga sa experience sa Tsina.

Heto ang problema ko sa ngayon. Yang isang katrabaho ko din kasi na yan yung pumalit sa kin nung naka-maternity leave ako kay Louna. Na-hire din sya pagkatapos kasi nagkataon na me umalis na katrabaho namin. E hindi ko sya feel. Heto kung bakit:

- Isa syang fashion victim. Sya ang nagpa-uso ng high heels, palda, make-up, alahas, at susmaryowsef, kung makadamit, kita na ang cleavage! Magkasama nga kami nyan minsan sa Barcelona, kinabukasan, sinisipon na. Kung di ba naman sya magkasakit e ang baba ng damit nya. Sabi ko sa kanya, e pers taym nyang magbyahe, pano pa pag sa Asia o US sya pinadala, e Europe pa lang, di na sya maka-adjust sa klima, lol. - Sa awa ng Dyos, di pa sya bumabyahe mula nung na-hire sya, ngek.

- Masyado syang magastos. Biruin nyo, kilala na nya lahat ng driver ng taxi sa Paris! E karamihan sa amin e nagmemetro lang. E ikaw ba naman ang naka-heels palagi. Minsan, nagco-compare kami ng gastos. Sya, di nga bumabyahe di ba, hanggang Paris lang. Ako, galing ng Bangkok noon (kasama tiket sa eroplano ha). Aba, halos pareho kami ng gastos. Kaya siguro di pinapadala sa labas, ang gastos e.

- Masyado syang pa-epek. Lam nyo yun, nasa meeting e hindi mahiwalay ang mata sa computer. Hello, respeto lang po sa ibang tao no, kung di mo maiwan ang laptop mo, e di wag kang umattend ng meeting. Minsan naman, kung makaporma sya e parang alam nya lahat. Hay naku.

- Parang wala akong tiwala sa kakayahan nya. Minsan kasi, may gusto akong ipakitang litrato na kuha sa mikroskopyo sa kanya. Gusto kong malamang kung ano ang opinyon nya tungkol sa problemang yun. Sa panahon kasi na yun, me problema din sya sa proyekto nya. Aba, di pa daw sya nakakita ng litrato ng partikular na bagay na yun na kuha sa mikroskopyo. Hello?

- Medyo sipsip lang naman sya. Aga yang pumasok pag andyan si big bosing. Ganda ng chika lagi kay bosing. Samantalang sa amin na ka-level nya, wala kang makukuhang impormasyon na galing sa kanya. Feeling ko tuloy, extract lang sya lagi ng kakayahan namin, kami, walang mapala sa kanya. Sabi ni Frenchguy, it's either ayaw nyang mag-share ng info, o kaya, di sya ganun ka-confident para mag-share, o wala syang alam.

- Feeling ko, di sya seryoso. Minsan kasi, magkasama kami sa training sa Paris. Di pa tapos ang meeting, nagpaalam na sya at maiiwan daw sya ng tren. Ganun? E meron pa namang tren pagkatapos nun. E trabaho nya yung pinag-uusapan. Ako e consultant lang kuno. Nung Martes, ganun ulit. Umalis sya bago pa matapos ang training.

- Hindi ko rin sya ma-imagine na humawak ng makina. E tumingin na nga lang sa mikroskopyo, di pa nya magawa e. Yan ang problema sa mga bagong inhinyero sa amin, lagi na lang nakaharap sa laptop. Ang sa akin lang, paano ka magiging epektibo kung ni hindi mo alam kung ano sinasabi mo?

- Ang pinaka-ayaw ko pa sa kanya, hindi sya honest. Or ewan ko kung ano tawag dun. E di ba nga sya yung pumalit sa kin nung buntis ako kay Louna. So sya humawak ng mga subjects ko. Then merong award yung isang subject, pero yung pinakamalaking trabaho, syempre ako ang gumawa. E hindi naman alam ni big bosing yun kasi bagong dating lang sya sa service nung panahon na yun. Aba, ang loka, taas noo sa pagkuha ng award, nakalimutan ang pangalan ko. As in ang sama ng loob ko nun.

So ayun. Ako ang nag-design ng makina. Feeling ko, iba na naman ang mag-aani ng itinanim ko. Bakit ba naman ang aga kasi ng maternity leave dito sa Pransya? Hay naku. Bad trip. Kakausapin ko talaga si bosing pag confirmed na sya nga ang papalit sa kin. Laki ng problema ko no?

Last Week's Blahblahs

2008-05-25T14:42:00.007+02:00

Dealing with Administrative Stuffs

I'm barely two and a half months away from maternity leave and my mind couldn't stop listing all the necessary procedures I need to do while waiting for the D Day. I'm not talking about maternity stuffs though. My expiring passport starts to annoy me and I can't drag myself to renew it at the embassy in Paris. There's just too much papers to present and I don't have all of them. And I hate myself for not asking for naturalization earlier to avoid such a headache.

So stubborn me thought, ok, I need to get on with this. I need to be French. Just for the sake of my passport! Darn.

I took my Friday off. There's just too much to do. I just can't sneak off the office to do all that.

First rendez-vous was at my gynecologist for the 5th month visit (first portrait as shown on the left).

Then after a quick lunch, I went to the Préfecture to get the updated list of requirements for the Naturalisation thing. Jeeez! The list was long. It was almost okay except that I need to have my Philippine documents legalized by the embassy - the birth certificates and the NBI clearance. I hope they won't ask me for red ribbons everywhere - I mean, I only had mine stamped, but not my parent's.

Then I went to the Mayor's office to ask for the Attestation d'Accueil for my sister and my Mom. I hope they could spend Christmas and New Year with us. The same, the list was long but since I already asked for my parents two years ago, I already prepared all the papers before going there. Surprise! I can't put both of them in the same document, so I paid 90€ for two Attestation d'Accueil. 2 years ago, it was only 15€/person.

After my stop at the Mayor's office, I went directly to Trésor Public to ask for a Bordereau de Situation Fiscale, a paper needed for the naturalization thing. It's a document stating that I paid my taxes - revenu, proprietary and resident taxes.

Whew, I was never that productive in my entire life! I think it's a hormonal thing, lol.

Frenchguy Got Back from the US..

.. and he brought my new toy! It's sleek. It's black. It's sexy. It grows longer when you play with it. Here it is:
The euro-dollar rate is so interesting nowadays that US became our favorite boutique lately. And since Frenchguy gets to travel in that part of the world quite regularly, I bought that new toy there (thru internet).

The shopping addict (read: Frenchguy) also bought some stuffs for Louna - clothes, toys and books. Prices here in Europe just got too expensive lately that having this shopping mall alternative is a welcome treat to our pocket.

If only I'm not pregnant, I would surely organize our summer vacation in the US - to visit families and friends - and of course, to do some shopping. And you hear that from somebody who hates shopping!

It's Tax Season, Arrgh!

Have you declared your 2007 revenu taxes (residents in France)?

I was probably hallucinating. I saw more than 2000€ difference from our 2006 taxes. Didn't they promise lower taxes? I checked again this afternoon, even re-simulated the computation, but still the same, we will pay an additional of 2000€ this year!

Nope, we didn't really have huge salary increase. I know that they changed something in the computation (removed the 10% deduction and 20% abattement before the application of QF). I also know that they changed something on the computation pertaining to travel incentives. But the heck, that's 2000€ (+ the base of 2006 revenu tax which also increased compared to 2005!).

So the government talks about measures on how to increase buying power? Are they really serious?

My Hometown Under State of Calamity

2008-05-20T11:39:00.001+02:00

So you probably heard the news. Mang Cosme has hit Northern Luzon and left thousands of families homeless. My hometown is apparently the most ravaged in Zambales - Sta. Cruz. Indeed, I saw the news, saw familiar landmarks, even saw my cousin's internet shop with computers drenched, all houses roofless, no electricity.

I was trying to call up my parents for no particular reasons this weekend. I wasn't informed, I hardly keep up. But they were unavailable. Apparently, their mobile phones have no charged batteries anymore. And with the damage Cosme had caused, it would probably take them a month for electricity to go back to normal.

My sisters in Manila just informed me that our parent's house lost its roofs, our car was hit (Don't know if the insurance would handle the reparation expenses), all trees were broken/fallen (Including those mango trees that my Mom planted ages ago. They just started to bear fruits.) and our ricefield was flooded, and so, damaged (Meaning all investments washed away, no harvest this season). The only good news is that my parents are safe. Which is the most important news.

As far as I could remember, we already had the same calamity ages ago (I was probably 7 years old) but we only lost our roofs. It was during the night and we woke up floating on our instant swimming pool. We in fact slept in the basement, on a bamboo bed, so it floated. I could remember how happy I was playing with our swimming pool.

Rip-Current Deaths

Raqgold's entry about a drowning incident in one of the beaches in Zambales disturbed me. It's a story which is a déjà vu for me. I felt a certain familiarity to it. Aren't these the kinds of incidents where oldies would say Marami talagang na-eengkanto dyan. Taon-taon may kinukuha dyan. Aren't these the kinds of incidents why my parents always warned us against going to the seashore?

There was never any scientific explanation to it. Province people has always relied to kababalaghan, sa sabi ng matatanda, sa tadhana. But as I said, I was kind of disturbed. Me and my siblings, inspite the warning from our parents, are beach lovers. Philippine beaches are there to indulge to, and lifeguards are almost nowhere. We need not rely our lives to life security which is not there. We need to be responsible. I found this link which explains what this phenomenon is and how to avoid it. And why not, save lives. Please do me a favor. Read it.

Deux Ans et Démi

2008-05-18T16:36:00.000+02:00

Check out Louna's update at 2 and a half years old here.

Italian Getaway

2008-05-14T18:37:00.006+02:00

We’re back from our Italian escapade. All three of us are beautifully kissed by the Tuscan sun. We’re slowly starting to get things back on track but loads of pictures are still waiting to be sorted, retouched and downloaded. Oh by the way, I met Michelangelo's David in Tuscany (left photo), tumaba na. Naober yata sa pasta, lol.

A nice weather greeted us upon our arrival in Pisa. The 8-hour drive was quickly forgotten once we saw the Leaning Tower. Did you know that I came to this place like 5 years ago but was not able to see the tower? It was because Pisa was not included in our itinerary. So I, together with an Estonian friend decided to take the train from Florence and go there. Unfortunately, or should I say, stupidly, we missed the fast train because we were caught by the beauty of the Uffizi Museum. We stayed longer inside without caring for the time. So instead of the fast train, we took the regional (slow) train, unknowingly. Upon arriving in Pisa, we only had the time to take another train back to Florence because our bus was already waiting for us. Luck!

After the visit, we headed directly to Florence for a two-night stay. Museums were full-packed (and anyway, I already visited them lol) so we just contented ourselves to a walk around the city and appreciate its architecture, visit churches, eat ice cream, pasta..

We visited the Science Museum (just near the Uffizi Museum) where works of Galileo Galilei and other scientists were exposed. There’s generally less visitors here so for science fanatics like me and Frenchguy, it was haven. I already visited it but I didn’t mind re-plunging myself to these great works. Even Louna appreciated peeping on Galileo’s telescope!

Our next stop was in lovely Rome. There’s just too much to say about this place. I’m speechless. I let the pictures speak for themselves.

We took the Roma Pass which gave us access to public transportation for 3 days, free entrances to 2 museums, and discounted entrances to other museums. With that, we had direct access to the Colosseum which was a bonus because there was too much tourists at that time.

But well, anyway, we did not visit a lot of museums because Rome could be considered as an open-air museum. You could just walk around the city and church hop..

We visited the Vatican City on a Sunday, May 4. Big error. Incidentally, it was also the 140th anniversary of Santo Padre Benedetto XVI. Could you see the number of people over there?
After the intensive city visits, our next getaway was at the relaxing countryside of the Tuscany region. Our first stop was at Pienza (Siena Region) - a UNESCO-protected site. We stayed in an Agriturismo where Louna had the privilege to collect eggs every morning. A morning walk around the farm was a relaxing way to unwind from our busy lives.

The last stop was at Volterra (Pisa Region) - again in an Agriturismo. We mixed between visiting old villages and sunbathing by the seaside.

We visited a lot of typical hill-top villages but you need to note these sites: Pienza, San Gimignano, Siena, and Volterra. A walk in the farm and old villages or a road-trip is the best way to enjoy the Tuscany region. Its beauty is simply captivating and extraordinary.

Tips: I did all reservations via booking.com and reserver.it. Great sites. Lots of choices and you could also read feedbacks from former users. I highly recommend BBSavoia in Rome simply because the owner Augusto is really nice. I had all needed information before my vacation and he even updated his site for me ;). Another one is Agriturismo Il Colombaiolo in Pienza. Nice room, nice view, good breakfast and really accommodating owner Lucia. She wanted to keep Louna with her.

More pictures here.

Spring Tease

2008-04-28T21:59:00.006+02:00

A teaser. We had a taste of spring this weekend. Sunny at 23°C. The lawn mowers around the neighborhood were out Friday night perfuming the atmosphere with this cool spring breeze. Plants and trees, despite the sudden decrease in temperature early April were displaying their flowers and leaves with pride.

Days like these don't pass unnoticed. We had our weekend fully booked. We invited some friends over for lunch Saturday afternoon.

Louna enjoying the afternoon sun with new-found friend lil K.

Frenchguy did a 10-km run Sunday morning.

Louna waiting for her Papa then showing the flowers she picked afterwards.

Then we attended a birthday party in the afternoon.

Louna learning to blow her new toy.

Today. Inside my office. Looking outside my window. Gray and raining outside. 12°C. End of Spring.

So before I get depressed with this uncomprehensible Dijon weather, I'll go pack my stuffs and enjoy the Italian sun this weekend. Leaving on Thursday morning. On the itinerary: picnic at the park viewing the Leaning Tower of Pisa before we indulge ourselves with arts and culture (and pastas, and gelatos, and limoncillos (with moderation, svp..) in Florence and Rome. We will end our escapade enjoying rural life under the Tuscan sun.

PS: Mahirap ng ma-depress si buntis.

Régime de Solidarité

2008-04-24T19:17:00.001+02:00

Like most, if not all of the EU countries, France takes social solidarity at heart. And the Frenchies would go on strike on all the streets of France metropolitan to keep all their social benefits intact. But France is spending more than it earns. A social reform is more than necessary but the Frenchies just won't let go.

Left-wing parties and supporters would criticize today's government as pro-rich because they reformed taxes so as these chosen fews wouldn't give 50% of their income to the government. Considering that revenu taxes comprise 20% of the total revenu, they need to smoothly lighten the burden to keep the remaining chosen fews in France. It's not uncommon to hear that a certain rich kid had transferred its fiscal address to Switzerland or Monaco because of fiscality reasons. Because aside from tax revenus, these rich kids are also liable for solidarity tax on wealth (assets amounting to 760,000€ on January 1, 2007). So why stay in France and pay a lot of taxes when they could go elsewhere and keep their moolahs?

So it's a fact. These rich kids are financing the majority of revenu taxes. They fund monthly allowances for kids, daycares, retirements, etc. They're cash cows. We need to keep them. Underpriviledged populations should slow down a bit on their whining and think a bit. The real victim of this social government are the middle class - like me.

So ok, I'll rant. Our household income falls on that painful 30% bracket and we get almost no financial assistance from the government. Not even the 800€ government gift for each birth. When we searched for a daycare, we learned that it will be more expensive for us to leave Louna there rather than hire a nanny (who takes care of 2 other kids). And that's because of our salary bracket.

So whatever we get from the government: monthly nanny allowance and free medications (vaccins for Louna, all pregnancy expenses, etc), we deserve every single euro of it. We pay 30%!

FYI. I normally laugh at them when I hear them complain. Spoiled brats. I always compare their social advantages to what we don't have in the Philippines. But the heck. They pay and they just want more from their money (though most of those who really complain are those who don't contribute). But I'm open to compromises. I know that we're on deficit so an intelligent reform is more than necessary. And I said intelligent reform!

Family on the Limelight

Talks are on going on the reform of family allowances. The government proposes a one-time increase of allowances for teenagers starting at age 14 (+60€) as opposed to the old version wherein, a first increase is given at age 11 (+50€) then at age 16 (+60€). The savings which will be gathered from this reform would be used to increase the number of daycare centers and to increase government assistance on nanny pays.

I was starting to get excited on the news when I heard that it will again be indexed on the household income. Darn!

4th Month Visit

2008-04-22T18:58:00.000+02:00

Our visit to the gynecologist is always an exciting event. She's got a 3D doppler machine (or is it 4D?) so we get to see not only the black and white images, but the 3D image as well. She's even saving the images on a CD, great for sharing with family and friends.

Continue reading.

Buying Power

2008-04-18T20:09:00.002+02:00

I was discussing with a friend a week ago and she informed me that the price of rice she normally buys increased by 1€. Me who doesn't really pay attention to this detail shrugged. Anyway, I consume my 10 kilo sack of rice in a span of probably 4 months.

My father cultivates a small piece of land, enough for us to have a supply all year round and a little amount to sell for extra income. My family won't be hungry. I have my peace of mind.

But what about those who eat rice three times a day? Those who regard it as a sort of means of survival? Those who prepare it as a porridge so every hungry mouth could have a taste of dinner? Like for a lot of poor families in the Philippines, for example?

I don't even have the courage to ask mercy from God - like most of the Filipinos do. We could always pray but rice will not fall from heaven. Nasa Diyos and awa, nasa tao ang gawa. Does the government have any measure to save our nation from starvation?

I was actually about to blog how prices soared high here in France. The skyrocketing price of gasoline is taking its toll. It's effect starts to reflect on our everyday lives. Like a disease slowly propagating in our system, it's now attacking to our basic needs - food.

But in France, the government distributes financial aid to less-priviledged families. They apply some measures to control prices. Prices are indexed to the average wages of the people. I mean, one could still live a life - probably close to survival - but they survive.

I've read that even NFA rice has joined the bandwagon. But in the Philippines, everything is expensive. Clothing, jeepney fare, rice, galunggong, probably even kangkong..

An example: My sister's paying P1000 for a monthly subscription on DSL internet connection. And that includes phone line. I pay 30€ (P1950 at P65 to 1€) for my DSL (with Wifi) connection which includes phone line with illimited calls to France metropolitan and to over 70 countries worldwide plus cable TV. And I was told that her connection was a good deal based on what's being offered there. Hayyy.. and I complain that prices are too expensive here..

Dalaga Ako Ngayon

2008-04-14T21:42:00.004+02:00

No daughter. No hubs. Just plain pregnant me.

We braved the long 6-hour drive last Friday night, amidst the rain to bring Louna to her grandparent's place. It's her cousins' spring break so we decided to bring her there. That way, she could spend quality time with the family, escape the monotonous everyday life in Dijon, breath fresh air and sleep longer hours.

She's apparently enjoying her time there. And the family's really having great fun with Louna's new tricks. She suddenly became the clown.. and she's loving it.

It's also great for the family to get to know Louna personally. I mean, beyond what they hear on the phone and what they read on her blog. At least now, compared to what I had as a feedback before, they know and even heard how Louna talks.. a lot even. She's not talking like a 4 year old, alright, but she's NOT 4 years old yet. No rush.

Frenchguy and I took the same train to Paris this morning. Then took separate Metros (underground Paris train) afterwards. He took the airport direction (off for work travel this week). I took the lakwatsa direction.

I met a friend in Paris. We ate out, talked a lot, then watched a movie. Tagal ko na kayang di nakakapasok sa sinehan. And to add to the fun, the movie was in VO, as in version originale. That's refreshing. I mean, I don't really care if it's in French. But hearing the movie in English was like a breath of fresh air.

Back to Dijon now. I know, I haven't been bloghopping lately.. and I know you understand ;). This week, the buntis will strike again. See you around ;).

Oh Merde!

2008-04-09T21:05:00.000+02:00

Rule #1: If you want to effectively educate your child, don't forget to educate yourself first.

Continue reading here.

4 Months On the Way

2008-04-05T17:28:00.001+02:00

Check out my latest preggo pix at the Crèche Privée. Click here.

Confort de Vie II

2008-04-03T17:27:00.003+02:00

Please read this link first before reading this entry.

I'm a woman. A pregnant woman at that. I'm allowed not to go direct to the point. Feel kong mag-inarte. Buntis e. My last entry was destined to attract compassion - a tap on the shoulder sabay sabing Wawa naman si buntis. Sige, pahinga ka na pala. Gusto mo ng popcorn at orange juice?

And what did I get? Aba, pinagalitan pa ko ng aking mga blog friend mommies. Reklamador daw ako. Ouch. Napaiyak tuloy ako kagabi. Lagot kayo sa bébé ko.

Kidding aside, I focused too much on the housechores when what I really had in mind is that - Louna will soon be sharing that 6-9pm precious time with her sibling. I'm being selfish. To really get to the point, I think I'm having mommy blues. 28 months had gone by too fast and now, Louna's a toddler, soon to be a big sister and a pre-schooler, and Maman's guilty for not spending too much time with her. Spending time with her is never enough. And I remember, we were even criticized because we put her to bed too late at 9pm. Naman, bitin na nga sa kin yung 3 hours a night e.

Oh, and by the way. I don't do all those chores alone (except when Frenchguy's on work travel), every housechore is being shared at home. Even Louna is helping us arrange the dishes in the dishwasher or putting back boxes of milk and fruit juices in the fridge. If there's one person who is not really working a lot at home, it's me. Lakas ko pang magreklamo. Buntis nga di ba?

And yes, independence is one thing my daughter has mastered early on in life. She wears and removes her coat and shoes on her own. She could remove all her clothes when it's bath time. She could even wear her swimsuit alone, she loves the pool. She eats and drinks alone. She goes to bed alone. She switches off all lights when not needed (she's even environment friendly!). She does the potty alone at daytime. She could get out of the car alone (so we implemented the car lock system). Sometimes, she would even take her bag and tell us bye. When asked where she would go. She would say le pain. Oh yes, she wants to buy bread alone now. And she's not even 2 and a half years old! Though I'm really proud of her, I'm having this selfish impression that she doesn't need me anymore. Can you blame me if I want to baby her more just before the baby arrives?

And oh by the way, to console myself, I'm buying myself a Canon EOS 400D (Rebel XTi) with Sigma Wide Angle AF 17-70mm f2.8-4.5 Macro Autofucos lens to congratulate myself for the pregnancy. Frenchguy agreed to pay 50% of the price. I'm sad and I need a new toy :(.

And if you have a US-based internet site to recommend which offers international warranty, please do so. Why US? Obvious and simple. 1€ = $1.57. Those who already know me knows that I'm not kuripot, just a wise spender. Thanks in advance. Ayan, masaya na si buntis ;).

Confort de Vie

2008-04-01T18:07:00.003+02:00

Having a second child had been a hot topic at home. Frenchguy had been wanting another one since Louna blew her first candle. I was on the other hand taken into a whirlwind of work and was enjoying it. I was given more responsibilities, given a challenging project.. and I'm the kind who respect engagement at work.

Close family and friends started to ask for a little brother or a little sister when Louna blew the second candle. I always answered with a shy smile, justifying my indifference with reasons like : Louna's still too young or life in France is difficult. Frenchguy thought I wasn't interested. Then the topic died a natural death. Frenchguy not daring to ask avoiding disppointment, afraid of my negative answer.

Then my project had taken a lot of delay. And Louna's now approaching her 3rd birthday. I thought, there's more to life than burning my ass off at work...

Frenchguy was teary-eyed upon learning about the good news. It came as a surprise. Finally, he talked about his sentiments about my reactions when we talk about having a second child. He thought I would never be ready.

Announcing my pregnancy at work was another exercise - I hate to leave my job half-done - but it's time to set priorities. My boss wished me a healthy baby boy with a little survey on the side - What if it's a girl?

The question caught me unprepared. What if it's a girl? Without too much reflection, I told him that we only plan for two kids. Then adding that Life in France is difficult.

The last sentence surprised him. How on earth could life in France be more difficult if the only reference I have is life in the Philippines? He removed his glasses and looked at me inquisitively.

So I explained.

In the Philippines, it's just normal to have stay-in all-around maids and yayas even in lower middle class families. Families are always around to give us a hand especially in taking care of our kids. School buses are available to take our kids to school.

In France, it's another kind of lifestyle, thus another type of comfort. Both engineers in a multinational company, a leader in its domain at that, we cannot really claim that we receive a miserable salary. But all we could pay is a househelp who works 3 hours a week, cleaning and ironing included, and a nanny who takes care of 2 other kids aside from Louna, 8:15am - 5:45pm Monday to Friday.

With that, a load of houseworks still awaits us before and after work:

- Prepare breakfast / dinner.
- Clear the table (Even this tiny bit of housechore counts when you know Louna has to be at the nanny's place at 8:20am and on bed at 9:00pm. And yes, sometimes, it's left unclean in the morning.).
- Bring / fetch Louna at her nanny's place (Check the time. Avoid paying overtime.)
- Teach Louna ABCs and car colors while on the road. Time is gold.
- Bath time for Louna. Oh and yes, we still do baby massage till now. Tho it takes time, it sure gives us more bonding time.
- Prepare clothes for the next day (I loss a lot of time thinking about what clothes to wear in the morning so I prepare it the night before).
- Play/DVD time in between other housechores. Story time before going to bed.
- Breakfast / Dinner. Good thing Louna's independent in this aspect.
- Wash clothes if needed.
- Do some groceries once a week.
- Please don't ask about the bed. It's quite a mess.
- Add more minutes when I need to scrape off snow from the car in the morning.

All that are simple chores but certainly entails time. We normally arrive at home around 6:00 - 6:30pm so I need to shrink all those listed above up to 9:00pm.

A typical pinoy employee working in the Philippines would watch TV with his kids upon arriving at home (or other activities, of course) - oh well, that's what I would do. This typical pinoy employee working in France would prepare dinner and/or bath her daughter and dress her in pajama during that same time. (Imagine having two kids and a husband on work travel!)

No, I'm not complaining. Grrrr. Errr, am I not?

Life in a Suitcase

2008-03-30T09:20:00.005+02:00

Long overdue. Started writing during my work travel in Milan last March 17-20 till today.

I’m pretty much appreciating this short work travel as I left cold and rainy Dijon to switch to 14°C sunny Milan. I was preparing my stuffs last Sunday night and I realized how packing my luggage became close to ordinary. That is to say, it only took me less than 10 minutes to stuff my bag with all the essentials that I need for a week.

What’s the secret of my *ehem* efficiency? Simple. I have my toilet set and phone charger permanently residing in my suitcase. Yes, I have 2 toothbrushes, 2 sets of shampoos, conditioners, creams and what-have-yous – one at home, another in my suitcase. So, in fact, I only pack clothes.

Travelling has been and will always be a part of my job (unless I change of course). Best bars and restaurants in town, mileage accounts, hotel tales, plane misadventures or even best bargains are regular topics in my entourage.

In my domain, dealing with men is nothing but ordinary. I was trained during my Mapua days where almost 90% of the student population ticked M on the gender case. I’m in my best form when I’m wearing jeans. I only wear high-heeled shoes on special occasions. I can handle very dirty jokes. I can drink beer and not visit the toilet every single minute.

This work travel in Milan is somewhat new to me – different from my normal travels where I go to our production plants and work with my co-employees. Here, I deal with suppliers who have their specific budget to please customers. I think I loved Milan because of that. I was able to eat in great restaurants and taste the best gelatos and espressos in town without swiping my American Express. Anyway, our travel officer won’t appreciate a bill of 90€/person for one meal.

Milan is the biggest industrial zone in Europe and apparently the biggest port in Italy. Funny when you know that the sea is still miles away. In fact, all fresh sea foods arrive first-hand in Milan. Once they’ve chosen what’s best, the rest would finally be delivered to the rest of Italy. Well, that’s what the Milanese claim, lol.

Most hotels in Milan (or probably the whole of Italy??) are coupled with motels. In the hotel where I stayed, a 4-hour stay in the motel costs 40€. Now I understand why I didn’t sleep well. I thought the couple next door were simply on honeymoon. Now I know, Italians are simply hot, lol.

Life on work travel is longer. Errr, I mean, I work longer hours. So I don’t really visit. It’s far from being a tourist. So don’t blame me if I visit but bars. But lately, I was just contenting myself with glasses of non-alcoholic beverages and a drop of red or white wine. Boring.

When I arrived back in my office the week after, I finally announced my pregnancy to my boss and my colleagues. My boss, after scratching his head and forcing himself to be happy for me, asked me his most delicate question of the day: Until when will you be able to travel?

Probably until my 5th - 6th months of pregnancy, depending on my condition.

That said (I was just being polite, lol), I think I'll arrange my suitcase at the most inaccessible part of my closet for the moment...

Frozen Babies

2008-03-25T21:38:00.003+01:00

I was again shocked to hear that a body of a dead baby, enveloped in a plastic bag, was found in a freezer of a young couple living somewhere in the north of France. After the autopsy, the baby apparently had bruises around his neck. It wasn't a natural death. And it's the 4th incident in 2 years in France!

Psychologists could explain all they want, but my little brain just wouldn't cooperate. This news just goes beyond my comprehension.

All kinds of birth controls are available in France, and they are mostly covered by social security at a good rate. Abortion is legal, and again, covered by social security. If they don't want the baby, they could leave him in some institutions which would take care of possible adoption. Solution is not a problem. So really, I don't understand.

Louna wants to tell you something..

2008-03-24T16:40:00.001+01:00

Find out here.

Blogging, My Reliable Friend

2008-03-13T18:34:00.001+01:00

Does that sound sad? Probably..

I have been contemplating last night and finally came to a realization that well, I have no friend here. I mean, somebody I could call and meet up at a café in 5 minutes. Really. Of course I have my colleagues at work but well, it's as if, I didn't get out of my office, right? We will surely talk about our jobs and criticize big bosses non-stop.

I've met some Filipinas who live in this same city. But like a school girl who attended class in the middle of the school year, these ladies already formed a circle of their own. They tried to welcome me but I was probably too young for them, too formal, not always available.. well, I had this impression that I gave them a hard-to-reach aura. I don't know why. Probably because of the two Filipino gatherings I attended, I brought a bottle of wine while the rest of the girls brought pansit, ginataang bilo-bilo, adobong manok.. (I just arrived from a work travel for that two times I met them!). While they talked about how they learn French and how scarce job is in France, I hesitantly and timidly talked about my job while fighting a jetlag. They probably thought I was too boring. I thought they were too Frenched. Inspite the adobo, the ambiance lacked pinoyness. Or simply because we weren't at all at the same wavelength. Ewan. I'm tempted to send a message to one of them but I'm afraid of refusal. Communication after that was exceptionally rare. But well, in France, not sending a message for more than a month even to their closest friend is not anormal.

The pinoys I've met whom I totally appreciate are unfortunately living too far from Dijon. Not a 5-minute drive anyway. Occassional phone calls and once-in-a-blue-moon interrupted chats (between cooking and tending to our kids) keep me going.

Yahoo group email is great. My highschool friends started one. We exchanged stories, experiences.. my, we've gone a long way. We had very seldom meet-ups simply because we're scattered in the 4 corners of the globe. But lovely at it may seem, busy lives has got over it nonetheless. Now, it looks like it's slowly succumbing into a natural death. Physical contact is all that's missing.

Friendster is a great social network. I found long lost friends (or rather, they found me)! I sent a message to one of them, informing her that Hey, I'm just around the corner. We could probably meet up. and Know what, we will be around your area this coming spring. Care for a coffee somewhere? I didn't get any response and I know, she logged-in several times after my message. I thought, it would have been better if she didn't find me. At least, I wouldn't know she would ignore my messages.

Am I scaring / intimidating everybody? Honestly, what (first) impression do I leave you ?

Since nobody wanted to sip a good coffee with me while chit-chatting with what's happening around the world, I end up writing my thoughts through this blog. And honestly, I get more comments here than all my friends and family combined. Just a thought, when I was in NY last year, I met a HS friend and a blogger friend. Now that I think about it, I'm sure I knew more about my blogger friend's life than my HS friend's. That's what blogging could do.

Before I end my rants, if you don't want to drink coffee with me, I could also go with beer, wine, rhum, different cocktails, martinis, tequilas, whatever. Tea? Pwede rin. Do I sound desperada? Medyo hehe.

Egypt: The Pharaonic Experience II

2008-03-08T15:00:00.025+01:00

Visiting Egypt had been in Frenchguy's wish list eversince. He wanted to experience hiking and camping with the camels in the middle of the Sahara desert, let alone the excruciating heat. I was reluctant. I can't support 40°C. I would literally melt down.

Then the idea of Egypt came back again this year. We wanted something different. I thought, why not. I checked Egypt climate and it said 25°C average on the month of February during daytime. That's end of winter in Egypt. Perfect for me.

So I packed light clothes. Finally, I could show more skin. But why the heck were we on winter jackets?

The Travel

Luxor, the world's greatest open air museum, is just a 5-hour plane ride from Paris. The travel with our active toddler was a breeze. She had her own seat, knew how to buckle up her seat belt, and was relatively calm for the whole duration of the flight. She was always looking out the window and was raising her hand to tell us, we're still là haut, up there.

We were welcomed by French-speaking guides who worked on the visas and informed us which bus to take. There were 3 flights from Paris to Luxor that morning, equaled by a long line of buses in Luxor. That was a clear picture of mass tourism.

The bus took us to our cruise ship which became our itinerant residence for a week.

Life on a Cruise Ship

We arrived at a port where cruise liners were parked one after another. Each of them displayed a banner of travel organizers, as if I just googled for Egypt travel and there popped up the list - live. We crossed 2 ships before arriving on our resident. Our cruise ship catered exclusively to French tourists so crews mostly spoke French and menus were close to French cuisine.

We had a suite with two bathrooms, one with a tub, another with a shower. Though the ship was visibly old, we nevertheless had all the comfort we needed - rooms made up twice a day, friendly crews, bar, swimming pool to chill out. They even have this way of transforming the towels into crocodiles or ducks which added to the fun.

We even had animated soirées, with crews who transformed themselves into singers and dancers, and Louna who actively participated all throughout the evening. That was a lot of pure fun.

The first navigation was done during daytime which was cool as we had the opportunity to marvel at the landscape along the Nile River and at the same time observe its people. Otherwise, the rest of the navigations were done mostly in the evening.

Left to right, top to bottom: A man praying after a day's work, fishing, the dromedary camels, typical houses.

The Temples

We had our first stop at the Edfu Temple of Horus - the major Ptolemaic temple, built between 237 BCE to 57 BCE, into the reign of Cleopatra VII.

Next was the Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world and to the falcon god Haroeris, also known as Horus the Elder.

Then we visited the grandiose Abu Simbel (picture above), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BC, as a lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari, to commemorate his alleged victory at the Battle of Kadesh, and to intimidate his Nubian neighbors.

Back to Luxor, we visited the Temple of Karnak, a vast open-air museum and the largest ancient religious site in the world.

Then the Luxor Temple, made particularly popular because of its appearance at the movie Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie.

One of my favorite stop was at the Valley of the Kings (pictures not allowed) where 63 tombs had already been discovered (and some still hiding!). In modern times the valley has become famous for the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun (with its rumours of the Curse of the Pharaohs), and is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world.

Other stops were at Deir el-Madinah, an ancient Egyptian village which was home to the artisans who built the temples and tombs ordered by the Pharaohs and other dignitaries in the Valley of the Kings during the New Kingdom period (18th to 20th dynasties) and Medinet Habu or the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III.

Are you still with me? I know, that's much of an adventure already but the best is yet to come.

Egypt Profonde

A day with the Nubian population of Egypt was the cherry on the cake. We started the day with an hour ride on the dromedary camel which took us to the Nubian village. There, we were served with local delicacies and allowed to visit local houses and schools.

Louna with the kids at the pre-school, local products on sale in the middle of the desert, Louna taking a bite of the local delicacies (honey made from sugar cane), Frenchguy and Louna on the camel.

Le Souk

The commercial quarter in an Arab city, the Aladdin's cave where local produce could be bought - from different spices, to Hibiscus tea, to papyrus artworks, to belly dancing costumes to different souvenirs. Though I'm quite used to local markets from the different countries I've visited, I find vendors here a little too aggresive. The approach makes tourists run away from them. To the point that I refused to look at their products because a glance could fire up a long negotiation.

The systematic asking for 1 euro started to fed me up too. Even the teacher who played with Louna at the pre-school we've visited even ask us for euros! But well, that's part of tourism, right?

Frenchguy and Louna, pretending to listen to the tourist guide. Even listening started to be tiring at the end of the week, lol.

More pictures here. I added more pictures. Be sure to click on Diaporama for better view.

*Citations about Egyptian temples from Wikipedia.

8 Facts About Louna

2008-03-06T19:31:00.000+01:00

Deye just tagged Louna to reveal 8 facts about her. I think these two girls know each other pretty well, not physically, but through their respective blogs. But we will nevertheless join the fun. Here we go:

1. She slept through the night at 3 weeks old. Mellow and easy. She would then wake up with an angel smile.

2. She was never a cry-baby. She would throw tantrums every now and then but not the typical toddler who would cry out loud, kicking and biting all people around him, throwing toys at his parents and all those full action drama. She's the kind who would sulk for minutes. If you try to approach her, she would suddenly turn limp voluntarily and we end up finding our daughter lying on the floor. Not a sound. Not a look. Her I-dont-exist attitude. Then, after several minutes and after saying us sorry to her, and her sorry to us, everything goes back to normal. She only cries when she's being scolded and she knows that she did something bad.

Continue reading here.

Egypt: The Pharaonic Experience

2008-03-04T20:17:00.002+01:00

There's too much to say about Egypt that I don't even know where to start. I'm speechless. I won't bore you about Egyptology or ancient civilization - I'm not an expert and you could google it up anyway. I would rather share pictures and talk about the travel and the experience that goes with it.

The travel package I bought from the internet was a steal. I couldn't have appreciated the Nile River Cruise if I had to plan and negociate prices all the time. Everything was organized, from plane ticket to different transfers - from buses to the boat where we stayed for a week. Visits to important sites from historic Luxor to Aswan were also included in the package. And I tell you, they're affordable. Site visits (without the guides of course) ranges from 3€ (185 PHP) to 8.4€ (518 PHP) - for that price, you could already visit the tomb of the legend Rameses II!

More interesting stories next time. I'm still working on our pictures. Here's some of them (click on the album below).. Pictures are more on Egypt's lanscape and its people. Temples coming next. Yours truly is dead tired and needs to sleep. Enjoy viewing..

Egypt

We're back from Egypt

2008-02-24T18:26:00.003+01:00

Here's an appetizer.

Guess who's riding the camel.

More kwentos next week. I'll be leaving for Milan tomorrow for work. Need to pack my stuffs. Ciao!

I opted for B&B

2008-02-13T18:20:00.002+01:00

Julie’s comment on my recent post made me smile (tho I didn’t get what R and R is, lol).

Ana, this seems to be exciting. Ok ang problema mo, where you would spend your vacation. Well, you work hard and you definitely deserve R and R.

Indeed, I’ve got a good problem and I’m not complaining. I have been hiding behind my computer lately, discrete, invisible, no sign of life – no blogging nor bloghopping (sorry for that). I am in fact lurking around the net, reading travel forums and blogs, comparing hotels and prices and checking for great destinations.

Our May vacation has finally been defined. It will be a road trip around the Tuscany region up to Rome. Ok, I know, I have already been there but that was like 5 years ago and we’ve changed the Pope eversince. That’s a whole lot of difference, ain’t it? And we’re planning to do more than visiting big cities. We’re thinking of checking on cooking lessons Italian style, take a walk in small, typical villages, observe wine or olive oil making, stay in a farm..

If only I was rich and I could spend without thinking, I could have reserved whatever is there (or ask somebody to reserve for me) without looking at the € sign. But no, I don’t have that luxury.. and luckily, because I enjoy reading those comments, bargain with prices and plan the itinerary myself.

My objective is to finish all the reservations this week. I have booked for Florence and Rome – both in Bed and Breakfast (Chambre d’Hôtes in France). And I’m definitely booking B&B for our stay in the Tuscany region.

Why B&B? I don’t know. I’m probably and unconsciously fed up with hotels (reminds me of work!). Let me tell you why I love B&Bs.

- Welcome is personalized. You get to be greeted by the owner of the house like you’re a long lost friend.
- If you’ve chosen your B&B well enough, you could have yourself served with marmalades made of fresh fruits from the owner’s backyard. (well, this could not be the case in big cities like Rome and Florence but it will be another experience altogether).
- You could take your breakfast without meeting hundreds of faces without anybody greeting you good morning.
- Rooms are decorated with a touch of personalization and not for commercial purposes only.

Prices are comparable to hotels and sometimes, even more expensive. But you get first-class accommodation. I have tried a lot of B&Bs in France and all of them got my two thumbs up. I also tried B&Bs in England and in Wales (oh, they’re expensive!), but I tell you, for the same price, I would go to B&Bs rather than hotels without hesitation! Now, Italy, it’s your turn.

*There are some other types of accommodations which I find exciting but in the impossibility to do so. Couch surfing and home switching. They’re both internet-based and free. All you need to do is register in some available sites, create your profile and off you go.

Couch surfing is easy (mainly for students lol), you check for the city you plan to visit, surf for members with an available sofa (or even a little space on the floor!), and ask for permission. If it’s ok, then you visit the city without paying for accommodation. And if you’re lucky enough, you get a free tourist guide too.

Home switching is kinda different. The owners should be on vacation too while you invade their abode. I’ve heard that you could even borrow their cars! Cool, huh?

What about you? Are you ready for such kinds of travel accommodation adventures or are you the no-risk traditional traveller?

*Bed & breakfast is a term, originating in the UK, but now also used in North America, for a place that offers bed accommodation, and breakfast in return for payment, but usually does not offer other meals. Typically, especially in the UK, bed and breakfasts are private homes with only one or two bedrooms available for commercial use.

A boarding house is different from and has a longer history than a bed & breakfast. The boarding house was for longer term stays, bed and breakfast was for people travelling through the area on short stays.

Source: Wikipedia

Did I hear it right? My daughter is correcting me!

2008-02-06T19:20:00.000+01:00

Maman: Louna, fini ton verre, s'il te plait. (Louna, please finish your glass).
Louna: Non, non, non (while shaking her head). Ca, c'est lait. (No, no, no. This is milk.)

Well, okay. How in the world could I ask her to finish her glass?

Continue reading.

The Art Of Vacationing

2008-02-03T18:20:00.000+01:00

It was a lazy weekend. Though it was sunny the whole Saturday and Sunday, the below-freezing temperature outside was not inciting enough to prevent us from being couch potatoes. So couch potatoes, we were.

Another reason of not going out was that, I'm quite worried that Louna catch any sickness outside. I initially planned to go to Jura, the mountains, to catch a bit of snow. But we will be leaving for a week-long getaway to a country we've never been so I'm taking all necessary and not-so-necessary precautions. Maman's instinct maybe, but better be careful than sorry.

So the whole weekend was focused on preparing for our next vacations. And I'm not talking solely about our vacation this February, we also talked about the Labor Day weekend this coming May and our summer vacation.

Summer Vacation

I have received travel/vacation catalogs at home early this year and have already bookmarked some interesting offers for our summer vacation. Like the past two years, we will again book for a week stay in a Villages Vacances where meal is served from breakfast to dinner and a multitude of daily activities are organized by TOs (travel organizers). (We normally take 3 weeks - the other 2 weeks will be spent at the seaside with my inlaws).

I know, I know. You might think that we're lazy and we lack adventure and such vacations are reserved only to oldies. But I tell you, after a day of canyoning, kayaking or hiking, you would certainly wow the comfort. Pre-Louna time, we were the the kind who wouldn't even mind reserving a hotel:

- we once planted our tent somewhere in the middle of Corsica because it was already late and we haven't finished our hike yet. Unfortunately, we couldn't continue the hike because .. we forgot our flashlights. And yes, we've done this in almost all corners of France for divers and various reasons, lol.
- we slept in cheap motels on our way from Death Valley to San Francisco.
- We slept in tents at the Yosemite National Park and the Grand Canyon because we wanted to start a hike at the first hour of the morning.
- we stayed in a Youth Hostel in Barcelona (oh that was great! we felt young again!)

So you see, we've been to an enormous change already - we're responsible parents. Yey!

I'm eyeing on a Villages Vacances somewhere in The Alps where activities range from water sports to, well of course, mountain hiking. Facilities include sauna, hammam, heated pool for adults and kids... - a great reward after a day of physical activity. And since rates vary per month, I think I'll book for the month of June - Louna is not going to school yet anyway, so we have no constraint.

Labor Day Weekend (May 1)

I have invited my friend's sister to spend this weekend with us. After knowing how much moolah she spent for a one-day-one-night stay in Paris, I thought, I have to take charge of this little girl (Jean, wag mo ng pagalitan, babatukan ko na lang pag nagkita kami, lol). I willl have to show her how to get the most out of her hard-earned money. Why pay more when you could pay less, right? Right. Apir.

I have a problem though. I still don't have any destination in mind. Any proposal of an exotic destination within the Schengen states, do-able in a 4-day weekend?

Winter Vacation

The nanny asked for a one-week vacation this February. Her family will ski in The Alps. The first question we had in mind was What will we do with Louna? If you're a regular reader of this blog, you would know that the nearest family we have lives a long 6-hour drive from our place. But since we still have a lot of paid vacation to take this year, we thought, Why not take our vacation too? *ting! light bulb switched on*

Frenchguy: So were will we go?
Me: Hmmm, what about somewhere in the Schengen States?
Frenchguy: What about Egypt?
Me (after searching the net): I need a visa. But to get it, I need to go to Paris and release date is unfortunately, the next day. Don't you have any other destination in mind?
Frenchguy: I'll take my plane on Monday. Before heading to the airport, I could submit your visa application. What do you think?
Me: Great. I need to go to Paris on Tuesday. I could then take my passport back. That's good timing.

So there you go. Our vacation was planned and scheduled just like that. Without too much ado.

We're responsible parents, but not quite. After booking everything online, I started to read travel forums and it seems that visits start too early in the morning and this and that. I have a list of what to bring now: from mosquito repellent to drinking water. But if you have any tips on what to expect from a toddler on a river cruise and how to explain what a pharaon is, that would surely be appreciated.

Photo credit here.

Tag: Recent Movie the Family Enjoyed

2008-02-01T18:48:00.000+01:00

Lovelyn started a family-oriented tag which is pretty interesting because you get a good and personalized review of kid-friendly films. And that's all I need for now. I start to run out of film ideas and this sure would help me out.

My family has been overly indulging into Dora the Explorer, Noddy (Oui-Oui), Tom and Jerry and Finding Nemo. Louna would normally start with Dora, then minutes later, she would take our DVD case and would look for Noddy, and so on and so forth. She still has a limited concentration span so we never finished a whole film in one day.
Louna wiping the tears of Little Star, then seconds later, she's already asking for Oui-Oui

We've been introducing english DVDs to Louna for her to be able to capture and learn the English language early on in life. I have other girly DVDs like Cinderella or the Little Mermaid but she's not into the princess thing yet. She would prefer to see the car of Noddy bumping into a dog, or Swiper following Dora and Boots all the time or even Tom and Jerry chasing each other.

I have a Tagalog Song DVD which I would surely show to Louna later on. Who knows, she might learn to sing Sampung mga Daliri and Bahay Kubo, right?

So now I'm asking these kids to ask their mom to do the tag: Basti and Mimi, Annika and Deye. Syempre yung mga ka-age ng anak ko, lol.

Rules Of This Tag:

1. Link back the person who tagged you and write what was the movie his/her family enjoyed watching recently.

2. Now your turn to tell about the movie your family had just watched.

3. Tell something about the movie and spoilers are accepted (hehehee).

4. Lastly, write anything that has something to do with movies: Trivia, your top choice or favorites and why, your family's story about your favorite motion pictures, the first film you watched with your husband, any traditional film the family 's been keeping etc...etc...

5. (Ooopps, I almost forgot) Copy and paste the rules of this meme on your blog and pass the tag to as many friends, bloggers and movie lovers you want. Don't forget to tell them they're tagged and leave a comment here if you're done with the task.

I Just Refused a Roundtrip Ticket to the Philippines this Morning

2008-01-28T19:00:00.000+01:00

I was chatting with my colleague this morning and I was informed that the process she's setting up is not working well. What a starter for a sunny Monday! It was the same process I validated with her when I was in Bangkok before Christmas. We knew that we will have a problem though - we identified the causes and consequently drew an action plan. The problem is, the client wouldn't agree to any compromise.

At that same time, my boss and her boss were actually talking on the phone. And at their level, they thought that sending yours truly to the Philippines was a great idea.

So my boss talked to me this morning and I was surprised to know that he was already updated. Bilis. So he started off by asking me about my views and proposals on the problem and ended up by checking if I could add a short trip to the Philippines in my agenda - asap.

Naman, big deal.

I only have 3 weeks left before my vacation and I find it hard to schedule a business trip in-between. That would be too tiring. Add to the fact that I have to go directly to Milan after my vacation.

So I told my boss that I can't. As simple as that. A conference call is scheduled next Wednesday. Then we'll go from there. That sidekick of mine should learn to troubleshoot on her own too. Ano ako, yaya?

Travel Forum

2008-01-23T19:00:00.000+01:00

I have been reading travel forums for the past few nights in preparation for our next vacation getaway this February. I of course read French forums because Frenchies have different expectations and demands compared to Americans or Germans, and more so with Frenched Pinays. Add to the fact that we’re travelling with our active toddler. Better prepare my frenchies on What to Expect rather than be sorry.

Travel forums have loads of information which should be filtered according to your needs. Take them or leave them. Some comments could make you irk, some could make you laugh and some could even make you dream.

So, ok, I’ll just talk about a comment which really made me laugh. The commenter was complaining about:

- TVs don’t capture anything. And so? You’re there to watch TV or what?
- They don’t speak French. If you’re one of those 80 million tourists who visited France last year, you should have noticed that most of the Frenchies don’t really speak another language other than French.
- They don’t adapt to the French culture. Hello. You can’t ask the whole world to bake French baguettes for you, can you?
- It’s a third world country. You’re not obliged to go there, you know.
- That it’s noisy. You should have chosen another type of vacation, sweety.
- That visits start very early. You can choose to stay in your bed too.

All that in only one comment. Too sad that he forgot to talk about how great the place was.

In italics: My comments on his comments.

¿Habla Español?

2008-01-20T11:49:00.000+01:00

The doorbell rang again this morning. I wasn't expecting anybody so I wasn't surprised to see strangers infront of the gate. The short discussion went like this:

S: Buenas dias. ¿Habla Español? (Good morning. Do you speak Spanish?)
Me: Non, désolée. Je ne parle pas l'espagnol. (No, I'm sorry. I don't speak Spanish)
S: Pero su apellido parece español. (But your name sounds Spanish)
Me: Oui, mais je suis Philippine. (Yes, but I'm a Filipina)
S: Oh.. (doubting?)
Me: Les Philippines étaient une ancienne colonie de l'Espagne, c'est pour ça. (Philippines was a former colony of Spain, that's why)
S: Ah.. Perdónenos. ¡Adiós! (still doubting?)
Me: ¡Adiós! (smiles)

I doubt it if they believed 100% of what I said. Firstly, I undertood everything they said and answered them correctly. Secondly, I might not look Spanish at all, but my accent do sound, well, Spanish.

Speaking of accent, it's funny to note that this accent of mine has gone a long way. When I just arrived here in France, my French instructors thought I was a native English speaker (with the American accent, not British). Then my friends in the US thought I had a French accent. But my friends in the Philippines thought otherwise - they're sure that I have a Bisaya accent (I'm from the north of the Philippines, so my original accent is far from being Bisaya).

Now, 7 years after, the Frenchies think that I sport a lovely Spanish accent even if I tell them that it's a Filipino accent, nothing else. But hey, after thinking about it, what is a real Filipino accent anyway?

PS: Check out on Louna's 26th Month Update here.

Passport Renewal - Update

2008-01-17T19:10:00.001+01:00

I called up the Consular Section this morning and you wouldn't believe this - I had helpful and kind employees. That is a real picture of To the service of the Filipinos. I spent like 20 minutes on the phone with Mr. Helpful explaining to me why we need such a list of requirements. In fact, it's to track illegal aliens and was implemented since 2005, the arrival of the new Ambassador.

So to recap:

1. BC with red ribbon authenticated only by DFA.
3. In the absence of voter's ID, an NBI clearance could do the deal.
4. Yes, baptismal certificate is required.
6. Sworn statement is also required.
8. Valid visas will be spared in the cancellation of the old passport.

Additional info: Passport issued would still be in the old format, not the brown with microchip.

In fact, with people like that, I just realized that I wouldn't mind providing them with the necessary papers. It's really how we convey the message that counts.

I have a bad news tho. After the conversation with Mr. Helpful, he transfered my call to Mrs. Kind so I could verify the status of Louna's registration at the embassy. I wrote something about this here. After minutes of looking into her files, she was still calm and not mataray at all. But it seemed that Louna is not yet existing on the list. They received the mandat cash but not the documents (They should have informed me, right?). Darn. Now I have to check the bank if the fee I transfered was withdrew by the embassy or not. If so, I have to go through all the paper thing again, but without re-paying.

Are your kids registered or do they have the dual nationality? How important is it to you?

Passport Renewal

2008-01-14T19:57:00.000+01:00

My passport is expiring end of this year and I'm so glad that I started the inquiry this early. My goodness. I still can't believe the list of requirements.

The paper says - Issuance of Passport : Requirements for Passport not Issued in Paris with Schengen Visa. I asked for a Passport renewal.

Here are the requirements:

1. Birth Certificate (with red ribbon) - which means it should be issued by NSO and authenticated by Malacañang and DFA. Wow. Can't I present the NSO certificate without the authentication? Anyway, NSO's using a particular paper to avoid copies, right? So why the double authentication? And do I really have to send that? I'm just asking for passport renewal and not a new passport.
2. Marriage Certificate (with red ribbon) for married woman applicant
3. Certified true copy of voter's registration record or certificate of non-registration as voter issued by Comelec or Voter's ID. I don't have this. Where will I get this? Comelec? Would they issue such paper to a family member for example?
4. Baptismal Certificate or Certificate of Dedication - ??? What's the link?
5. Identification card with photograph - Errr? A passport is the best ID to testify your identity, right?
6. Sworn Statement - They sent me the paper to be filled up. It demands information on my true identity and the identity I used to enter France, including the agent's name and address and the amount I paid to falsify the documents. What if I entered legally, do I have to fill this up and pay 32.50€ (below)? I know this is a stupid question but who knows.
7. 4 copies of new photographs
8. Original Passport

Now, on with the Consular Fees - 123.50€! Ano daw? Ang sakit nun a. 65€ for passport fee, 32.50€ for sworn statement fee and 26€ for passport verification fee. Do I really have to pay all of that?

Ok, ok. I'm not that naïve. I know that there are Filipinos who entered illegally to France, thus the security check. But ain't this too much?

I still doubt if they sent me the right list of requirements. If I remember it right, I even talked in Tagalog on the phone. Di kaya nila ako naintindihan?

I actually inquired in the Philippines and it seems that they need the original passport (and not just the copy) and they also require personal appearance because of the new electronic system. I was actually planning to send my passport to a colleague and ask my sister to renew it, then send the new one back to France.

Now, if only a work opportunity that would require me to travel to the Philippines opens, I'd gladly comply. If only I knew, I should have worked on it last September when I was there.

Honestly, this list just motivates me to work on my French naturalization application. Hay buhay!

I'll be going to Paris tomorrow. Do you think it's intelligent if I go to the embassy and apply personally? I have documents 1 (not authenticated), 5, 6, 7 and 8. O baka matarayan lang ako? You know, I could hardly handle that.

If you have renewed your passport in France recently, kindly give light.

Careful With What You're Saying

2008-01-09T22:42:00.000+01:00

One day, during one of her bath times, she started to look at her nipples and asked C'est quoi? (what's this?). Without really thinking, I said suso (Tagalog translation of nipples). To which she repeated chuchu. Then she raised her arms and pointed to her armpit saying C'est quoi ça?. Kilikili. She pronounced it in a very cute accent - kéké.

Continue reading here.

Lazy 2008

2008-01-07T18:28:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year everyone ! Better late than never, right? 2008 for me starts with a lazy blogging lifestyle. I have too much to blog about and honestly, I don’t even know where to begin. I wanted to continue my Bangkok stopover, even thinking of giving some travel pointers to those who have a weekend to spend in Bangkok.

Then it was Christmas.. New Year.. and then I thought, Bangkok could wait, I have to have a holiday entry instead.. Laziness settled.. Before I knew it, holidays were over and work got in the way. Work suddenly changed my mind and thought of blogging about how I start to hate its environment.

Then the eco-tax system (taxing new vehicles with high CO2 emission) they’re about to implement here in France started to interest me - thinking that saving the planet doesn’t necessarily mean saving my pocket. And just as we finalized our financing scheme for 2008 at home, we had a little car accident which cost us 380€ (talking about saving for my car!)- just because the roads were still iced over when we left home Thursday last week.

Too much topics to blog, no real inspiration to write, a book to finish, a toddler to tend to and step aerobics to master – how in the world could I blog? Excuses! I was simply lazy.

Instead, I dragged Frenchguy and Louna to Ikea and bought my cool lampshade at 49€ to add ambiance to our living room. Out of topic. Wala lang.
So that’s how I will start my 2008. Welcome to my hideaway – I mean, the real one. Just knock. Louna is already waiting for you ;).

PS: I'll visit you guys, one at a time. No rush. I'm still hibernating. Zzzzz.

Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn)

2007-12-09T08:46:00.000+01:00

Wat Arun, located on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River can be reached by boat from Tha Tien Pier - cost 3 Baht (near Wat Pho - Reclining Buddha). The decor, like all the other Buddhist temple in Bangkok is grandious.

I was greeted by this temple with superbly decorated temple guards. Who am I to say no to a quick pose?

Want a closer look? Lol. I look like a real tourist! Who says I'm here for work?

Inside this temple is of course a series of golden Buddhas. There's one detail which I didn't notice the last time I visited - the pictures of, I suppose, dead people displayed at the bottom part. Is this their cemetery? Really don't know. I'm a bad tourist, you see, lol.

The 79-meter high pagoda is of course the biggest attraction. Tourists are allowed to climb for a 50 Baht fee which I didn't pay. They probably mistaken me for a Thai. The beautifully-decorated-attractive structure is being carried by hundreds of Thai dancers and and is being watched closely by temple guards.

It's a sunny Sunday and the weather is really nice. Not a suffocating journey to visit and pictures come out as I want them to be.

Climbing the pagoda gives a good view of the east bank of Chao Phraya river. On the right is the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo view from Wat Arun and below is Wat Pho followed by the colorful roofs of the temples of Wat Arun.

Here's more lovely pictures around Wat Arun:

That last picture made me laugh. That's probably the reason why vendors don't entertain me when I buy baby clothes. I look like a highschool student, lol.

So that's it for my Sunday morning adventure. I still don't know what I'll do this evening tho...

Travel Blahblahs

2007-12-08T15:07:00.000+01:00

Departure

Last September, I was still able to travel with my cabin luggage in the plane with me - which means, I had my cabin luggage, my computer bag and my shoulder bag - in economy class. Not today. It seems that cabin luggages shouldn’t exceed 8 kg. Mine weighed 12 kg. I’m just wondering if these cabin luggages around me (from other passengers) weigh 8 kg or below?? Parang mas malaki pa ang mga bagahe nila kesa sa kin. Hmm.

So now, I’m obliged to wait a minimum of 30 minutes at the airport for a 12-kg-luggage. Darn!

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My I-Pass connection isn’t working! Not that I want to blog while waiting for boarding (lol), I just want to check my emails before going to the battlefield (read: work) – kuno!

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I’ll be arriving early in the morning in Bangkok tomorrow – that’s Saturday. A quick shower and I’ll be off for work. .. Hmm, a need to blog is starting to itch my fingertips, really.

Bakit ba ayaw gumana ng i-pass dito?

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I start to believe that my lucky charm doesn’t work when it comes to hotel room designation. The last time I was in the Philippines, my neighbour had this bad habit of clearing his throat very early in the morning - and very loudly at that. Then I had this loud-moaning-Italian-lover in Milan. I wonder what Bangkok reserves for me.

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Uy, boarding na daw. Ciao!

Arrival

Aw, I just love this hot and humid feeling I could only get in Asia (no sexual connotation please). The thought that I'll be meeting my sisters this Saturday just excites me all the more.

The 12-hour flight seemed to be too long. Probably because I didn't sleep a single minute. And probably because the in-flight movies presented were all boring. The residence hotel which would be my 2-weeks getaway is actually a BIG appartment with a king-size bed, 2 TVs and a more-than-necessary living and dining rooms. I just can't complain.

And since I wasn't able to sleep in the plane and the king-size bed was simply inviting.. Saturday work was quickly forgotten. Bad me! I nevertheless called up my colleague and ended the conversation with an I count on you comment. Ang taray ko pang magpasa ng responsibilidad. Really bad me.

At 3pm Bangkok time, I found myself still enjoying the comfort of the king-size bed. With a bit of hesitation and a lot of bad moods, I hauled myself up thinking, I had to move my butt if I want to overcome jetlag.

Since I need to buy some toiletries, I decided to go to MBK Shopping Mall. What I love about Bangkok is that, even if taxi drivers try to drive you around the city before directing you to your destination (and honestly, there are very few of them), the fare still remains cheap. I paid 60 Baht from Soi Suanplu to MBK (it's normally cheaper), not bad.

I love the Siam zone of Bangkok because it's lively. I have never been to this place without crossing to a street show like the one shown.

So from the initial plan of buying only toiletries, I ended up buying some clothes for me and a Winnie watch for Louna. I'm a shopping addict when I'm here.

It's Sunday tomorrow and I still don't know what to do/visit. But jetlag is slowly taking over me.. signing off.

Sunset / Sunrise Tag

2007-12-01T17:06:00.000+01:00

Life has been too busy lately, I have a hard time coping up. Blogfriends know that blogging is not in my priority list so when life gets in the way, blogging is set aside. Lately, as a way of getting away from reality, I have been indulging myself with our old pictures - trying to add colors to them thru Photoshop. Photography is a hobby I want myself to get addicted into. I don't have a top of the line camera nor the professionalism that goes with it. I only have eyes attentive to beauty, and that I think, is already a good start.

MegaMom tagged me to share sunset or sunrise pictures to which I am willing to oblige with gusto. Now, if you could allow yourself some constructive criticisms, that would be highly appreciated. Just be careful tho, you have an affair with an un-professional camera mom.

Sunset at the Chambord Castle, France

The inside architecture of the castle is loaded with what seemed to be the works of art of Leonardo da Vinci. One of the favorites is the spectacular double-helix staircase which is very ingenious. The two helixes ascend the three floors without ever meeting, avoiding the possible meetings of the King's wife and his mistresses. Galing no.

Grand Canyon

Taking a sunset picture in this legendary site was quite an event. Professional photographers and tourists alike crowded the place to capture what that particular sunset had to offer. I had loads of pictures but this one became my favorite. Trust me, the Grand Canyon is just at the background, lol.

Baywatching at Venice Beach, LA

I was a fan of David Hasselhoff, what else. It was a lazy afternoon at the beach and this cabin became a model for my sunset picture.

Fishing Cabin, La Vendée

Typical fishing cabin in the west of France, La Vendée area. Love this picture.

Bangka

At my hometown in the Philippines. Here is where I spent most of my childhood. Funny it may seem but I live just a few kilometers from the beach but I don't know how to swim.

Marseille, France

Hmm, mas malaki pala ang araw sa France kesa sa Pinas, what do ya think? lol!

Father and Child

Christmas last year. After a grand feast with the family, the two Frenchies asked for a quick dip at the beach. It was a quiet and relaxing family getaway. There was almost nobody at the beach. Look at how sweet my mag-ama were..

Business with Pleasure

2007-11-28T18:15:00.000+01:00

I’ll be boarding the plane again next week. To Thailand. For two weeks. Alone. Buti na lang.

When Frenchguy knew I was going to Thailand just before Christmas, he eagerly suggested that I hop and spend the holidays in the Philippines - and bring Louna with me. At first, I thought it was a wonderful idea. My eldest brother, who never met Louna in person, will be in the Philippines for Christmas too so it will be a great occasion.

But bringing Louna with me would mean:

- Managing a toddler on a long-haul flight - alone!

- Asking my sisters to join me in Bangkok so they could babysit Louna while I work (which means they have to ask for vacation leave and two weeks is quite a lot)

- Buying 4 air tickets: 2 for my sisters (MNL-BKK-MNL) and 2 for Louna and I (BKK-MNL-BKK). This is quite a mess considering I changed the dates twice (because of work constraints). And since I buy the tickets at the last minute, I was offered the highest price!

- Buying another ticket for Louna (CDG-BKK-CDG). Our travel agent proposed a huge 850€ enfant ticket on waiting list. I should be insane to accept that!

- Worrying about my daughter while I work. Not that I don’t trust my sisters. It’s just that Louna is quite hard-headed and doesn’t want to give her hands when she’s outside. And though she understands English, she expresses herself in French. Not to add, what if she fells sick while in Bangkok? I just can’t justify an Enfant Malade while I’m on work assignment outside of France because my daughter is sick.

- Spending Christmas with my family back in the Philippines, but leaving Frenchguy alone here in France.

That’s just too much to manage. And too much to pay. So after weighing things out, we finally decided to cancel Louna’s trip to the Philippines – and mine too. Finally, we will be spending Christmas together as a family here in France. There will always be next time.

But my sisters would still go to Bangkok for a week. That’s a promise of great fun and shopping. Girls just want to have fun!

Cebu Pacific E-Tickets

Anybody who tried buying tickets online? Is it normal that I have received the e-tickets by email but no payments have been collected so far (3 working days after)? I’m quite used to online reservations here in France where payments are collected in no time. I hope my sisters won’t have any problem boarding the plane.