Picture Collections

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!

Thanks ;)

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.

Hosting 101 for Preggy Moms

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!

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.

Fidelity Cards Make Me Travel for FREE

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.

Last Week's Blahblahs

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?

Spring Tease

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.

I opted for B&B

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

I Just Refused a Roundtrip Ticket to the Philippines this Morning

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

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?

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.

Lazy 2008

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.

Awards, Tags and Whatnots

During my 3 consecutive blogging years, I have been noticing that the more I keep myself silent, the more I receive fabulous awards from blogger friends. Is that a sign that these friends prefer when I’m not talking about my nonsense life? Or is it to say that even during my absence – read: dealing with my busy life, they still think of me? Uhum, I personally prefer to think of the latter.

Want to know more about the awards? Visit Rachel, Feng and Mitch, my fellow PMN mommies for details!

And oh, MegaMom hinted it right and wanted to see what makes me real busy. She wants evidence that I’m indeed busy and wants a peek of my workplace. Ok. Here it is. No cleaning or arranging whatsoever. See the whiteboard on the left? It has already witnessed a lot of brainstorming and starts to be not-so-white.. board, lol. My laptop is of course, my best buddy. The old telephone (yes, it’s old!) gives me direct access to our plants worldwide. And the heater right next to the not-so-comfortable chair helps me beat this early winter we are experiencing right now (yes, the thermometer already displayed freezing degrees!).

Well, if you’re expecting a stylish office French-style, really sorry to disappoint you guys. But engineers generally do dirty jobs in dirty workplaces. Oppps. That’s not a general rule, by the way. That’s probably just me.

Whatnots. Well, nothing. I’m just.. well, smiling less and less. Hmmm, that’s what Frenchguy told me. And he’s probably right. I don’t know. Probably yes. Ewan. Winter na kasi.

I will be going to Bangkok next month (or later) and he thought a little stop-over in the Philippines would do me good. I could bring Louna with me, ask somebody from my family to do babysitting in Bangkok while I work, then go home with them to the Philippines for a little pre-Christmas holiday. That would be a lot of organization to do but..

Why not? Bibili ako ng maraming smiles sa Pinas, promise. (that is, kung matutuloy ako syempre).

Les Bleus vs All Blacks

Allez les bleus! The French Rugby Team has just been qualified for the Rugby World Cup semi-finals, 20-18. They will be defending the title next week against England at St. Denis, France. Whew, that was a steal considering that New Zealand's All Blacks Team had always been crowd's favorite. I have always been fascinated by the All Blacks Haka craze which they perform before every match. Watch the video here.

The French President and the Prime Minister were present during the match. What a way to give support to the French Team. I'm sure everybody's proud to go home with the trophy. I could still hear noises outside, people celebrating this victory.

Here's a video of the winning dive which gave way to France's 18th point. Galing!

Check for more action here:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Well, if you think these rugbymen look trash and push like bulls, check their 2008 calendar here and think again.

Job Applicant - French Style

The engineer trainée in our department is currently applying for a job and is chaining interviews one after another. One day, she would be somewhere around Paris, the next, she would be somewhere in the south. She have a rendez-vous with ANPE next week, for her to have all her travel expenses be reimbursed.

Sarap buhay!

*ANPE - Agence Nationale Pour l'Emploi (National Employment Agency)

Note: New graduates have to register to Assedic (National Unemployment Insurance) as job applicants. Assedic will then study the applicant's case to evaluate the amount he is entitled to. Most of the time, almost 95% of the travel expenses related to job-hunting is being shouldered by this government office. The papers will then be transfered to ANPE. ANPE will then provide all the services available for the new graduate, from job propositions to trainings with pay.

Labor Day Tidbits

Our Labor Day weekend to Prague has finally come. Our itinerary includes a 6-hour walk tour, drinks and meals included for 32€/person. We don't normally bite such kind of tours because we're more of discovery and adventure buffs and we hate following bunches of people, but after reading feedbacks about Prague, our 3-day stay seemed to be bitin. This tour would be a sure way to get a good load of what Prague could offer - history overload guaranteed.

Thanks Haze for all the suggestions. Everything noted.

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To mark history, this coming Labor Day marks my 3rd year as an official taxpayer here in France. Funny to start a job with a national holiday. Happy Labor Day everyone!

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Speaking about work, I was trying to block June 12 on my calendar and mark Business Travel-Philippines. The French expat in the Philippines then reminded me by email that June 12 is Philippine Independence Day and it's a national holiday. He ended up the email with a Kalimutan already? Argggh.

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I was checking on our shared calendar this afternoon and discovered that my boss will be in Bangkok at the same time as me. Darn.

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Browsing through Mitsuru’s NY adventures, I’ve learned that Lea Salonga’s playing in Broadway. And yes, he’s got a picture with Lea in person. I’m so green with envy. I so love this Victor Hugo’s grand classique Les Miserables and would like to watch Lea’s version (I’ve seen the American movie starring Uma Thurman as Fantine (1998) and the French version starring Gérard Dépardieu as Jean Valjean (2000). Les Miserables is the first book I’ve read in French – that’s how I’m in-loved with this book. Watching it in a theatre, with a Filipino Fantine should be something else. Now I should really mix business with pleasure.

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That is to say, I finally fixed all my schedules. Yes, I'm busy, but I'm organized.

Work Tidbits atbp

I received an envelope yesterday containing a letter informing me that a certain amount of euros will be deposited on my account as part of the company's profit-sharing scheme. But before I could even plan on how to spend the euros, Frenchguy already told me that I have to fax the accompanying paper to our head office. The accompanying paper is the go signal for them to transfer the moolah to my PEE or simply put, to buy company stock-options. In fact, PEE is so advantageous as it exempts the capital and the revenu (appreciation of its value) from any taxes and social charges. The sum is then inflated by a mouth-watering amount by the company but it will be blocked for 5 (or 7) years. So what will you do? Instead of giving probably 30% of it to the government (tax on revenu), I better keep it for myself and have it available in 5 years, right? Anyway, I don't have any to-buy list at the moment, so ok, document faxed.

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The long-awaited email has finally arrived. A colleague informed me that the subject we are working on will finally push through.

In fact, I have a pending request from our Philippine site for a week-long job. But since it's not an urgent request, I've told my boss that I'll go there if I have another business in Asia. To which he agreed, but not after July.

So there, if everything works into place, I'll be in Bangkok with a side trip in Manila...hopefully soon.

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I've stopped business travelling since my pregnancy till Louna turned 1 year old. With that, I've lost my Lufthansa Miles and More silver membership and turned back to the basic blue card. With the coming travel, I think I'll have enough mileage to shift back to silver. Great. I just love VIP treatment during travels hehe.

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Frenchguy's donating his Flying Blue mileage tickets to his sister and her family this summer. At first, it was a round trip ticket to the Wild West but they backed-out at the last minute, frightened by the language barrier. Final destination became La Reunion. After discussing about it with me this morning, he suddenly realized 'it could have been for us'. Naipamigay mo na kaya.

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I'm off for a soirée choucroute. Happy weekend everyone.

Autumn Atmosphere

Autumn is in the air. The season has changed. From hot, sunny, festive summer, now it's more of a gray, foggy weather decorated with a colorful surrounding and a crunchy carpet.

I've been accompanying this season since the beginning, from adapting an autumn color at home to even changing my blog template. Isn't this new kick-off look cool?

If you're wondering who's behind this amazing change, follow him here. It just started with a mignon message on my tagboard:

jeff: my gift to you and your baby... contact me at zchizzerz @ yahoo dot com for details. thanks!

Hmm, not even out but bébé's receiving gifts na...good start hehe..

So, ladies and gentlemen, with open arms, welcome to my newly-decorated house, breath the burgundy atmosphere ;).

Extra Money Management

With Francesca's queries on her new project, questions on investment have suddenly reverberated on my sleepy mind and my idly pocket. Am I doing the right thing? Am I investing my money wisely? Are there other fruitful ways on how to keep my money from dizzing off?

Let's talk business. Well, I don't have million euros to invest, let me assure you, just some extra euros (and I mean, just extra euros!). I'm a newbie in this game with just a coin in my pocket so if you have bright ideas in mind which won't require thousand euros on the table at once, I might give it a second thought.

First, here's how I manage to get by with my finances and how I invest, I might give pointers to other fellow bloggers (as if naman, ang galing kong mag budget...):

Investing on solid grounds: I'm hitting two birds in one stone here. I bought a townhouse in Manila at the same period when we bought our house here in Dijon late last year. Ambitious move. Utang po yun. But instead of buying the house in Manila in an installment basis, I preferred to pay it cash to escape from the high interest rate being practiced there. Imagine if I pay in an installment basis, my bank will be overly happy with the sending charge I'll be giving every month!

So where did I get the money? You don't expect a young engineer paying cash, right? Since we're buying a house in Dijon, frenchguy deblocked some of his stock options and part of it went for the payment of the Manila townhouse and the other, for the DP of the Dijon house. By so doing, I didn't pay any interest at all. Brillant?

So how do I pay frenchguy and the Dijon house? For the first 3 years, the monthly payment taken by the bank from my account is actually destined for the Manila townhouse (thus paying frenchguy), that gives me 30% ownership of the Dijon house. Fair deal, right?

FYI: We are paying a little over 3% fixed interest rate for our loan.

Investing on PEE (Plan Epargne Entreprise): Company stock options, that simple. It's one of the best ways to invest your money, well, if everything turns out well. There's always a risk in this game. The best way is not to keep all your savings in only one company.

I put a meagre amount monthly in our company since late last year and it has grown almost 50% eversince. Not bad, huh. Bad news is that it will be blocked for 5 years! Will it grow 50% at that time? Nobody knows.

FYI: When frenchguy deblocked his stocks, the gain was estimated at 250%!

Saving on Livret A: A safe and flexible way to keep money in the bank as it is always available and non-taxable. My bank offers 2% interest. It is limited to a certain amount tho..maximum savings shouldn's exceed 15,300€.

I put some extra money from time to time...I'm searching for a better deal, ya know, higher interest rate with no duration engagement ;)

Here are my two top of the list future dream buys:

- A small car with air conditionning plzzzzzzzzz... I start to be tired with my ever so lovely pawis-steering Peugeut 106. During a hot summer day, I have this impression of entering into an oven. I'm already overbaked! I don't dream big, a small one which I could park no-sweat will do just fine.

- A beachfront lot for our retirement. Opo, I'm dreaming of having a little family restaurant facing the sea with frenchguy as the chef. We will serve crêpes...reservation will open in the future..

Just curious on how my fellow kababayan bloggers deal with their money. Any pointers?

Color Coding

A friend of mine just had her former ex-pinay-now-Amgirl mother-in-law here in France and this morning, she was so eager to finally tell me her inis and relief that her mother-in-law finally left. She was so fed up as her mother-in-law went overboard by being so mayabang, and most especially, as she was told to be tsimay look-alike for having that baluga color.

After doing everything to be as hospitable as possible, that was what she gained. Honestly, when she told me about her adventure with her mother-in-law, I just couldn't help myself from laughing. I was just knocked by the idea that after long years of being in America, this poor mother-in-law still have the same standard of color / social discrimination - branding morenas as lower class citizens and fair-skinned as socialites. Oh well!

Here in Europe, we could trace back this kind of social classification in the Medieval Ages where tanned population were mostly the farmers while the noble families stay as pale white as they could. They even apply talc powders all over their body to get even whiter.

Now, the trend has completely inversed. If you've got a tanned skin, that would mean that you could pay yourself a vacation. If you've got a perfectly uniform tan all over your body, that would mean that you could even pay yourself a vacation in one of the European Nude Beaches. Sosyal ka day! And finally, if you've got a tanned skin all year round, that would mean that you've got a lot of bucks to pay yourself an artificial tan (tanning cream, tanning bed, sun lamps). O di ba.

In my present entourage, everybody envies my natural tan. Hehe, i don't have to pay expensive vacations to have that.

Well, is stereotyping normal? Ewan. The last time I was in Pinas, I was really nognog as I just came back from a long vacation, and most of my colleagues had the same remark: Ay, nakakaitim pala sa France. Buti na lang, I'm not really affected with such remark, proof, I never used whitening creams.

There's one remark which affected me though: Ano ba yan, hanggang ngayon, di ka pa rin tumataba. Well, it's past tense now, no more vitamins, appetizers, food supplements, etc. I just learned to love and accept who I am, and who wouldn't, lahat sila dito, inggit sa kin. I could eat anything I want without worrying about my weight :).