coffee break #9

Some carry just their essentials. While others seem to carry their lives in their handbags. While most women don't leave their homes without a bag, I know quite a number who would rather be bag-less and just carry a lipgloss in their pockets. In this week's coffee break, let's talk personal.

What's in your everyday bag?

As a devoted (wink,wink) SAHM, my everyday bag is probably the trusty Graco. Inside are the following:

6 diapers
2 feeding bottles
1 milk powder container
1 bottled water
baby feeding utensils (spoon, fork, and bowl)
2 changing clothes
1 sweater
1 blanket
1 hat
2 pair of socks
3 bibs
1 nursing wrap
2 extra plastic bags for soiled clothes/diaper
a tube of teething gel
Tylenol drops
Mr. Apple (Andre's favorite toy)
Nuby teether
an extra toy (for a surprise in case he gets fussy)

Yes, when you have a baby, going out means bringing half of the nursery room. But on occasions when Mommy must be a real lady, i bring along another huge bag (which used to be my everyday carry). Inside are a lip gloss, house keys, wallet, passport copy, marriage certificate copy (in case Dubai Police asks for identification), powder, sunscreen, sunglasses, cellphone, pen, comb, notebook. No make up kits because i wouldn't know what to do with it haha.

Bill Gate's Rules of Life

Hubby shared me this e-mail. I think it is a very interesting reminder to people of all ages so i am posting it. Read on.

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair -- get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

my music

Given the chance, i'd love to visit a jazz bar, watch a pop concert, and listen to soulful session on a roadtrip.

What Your Taste in Music Says About You

Your musical tastes are reflective and complex. You are intellectual to the point of being cerebral. You are very open to new experiences, and even more open to new ideas and theories. Wisdom and personal accomplishment are important to you. You are naturally sophisticated. You are drawn to art, especially art by independent artists. You are likely to be financially well off... and not because you were born that way.

What Does Your Taste in Music Say About You?

tipping point

My sister in-law, a nurse, is coming over on Tuesday. Ceasar and i decided to buy a sofa bed for her use while she stays with us. So we headed to Ikea for the purchase. It was very compact and heavy but still, Ceasar decided to load it to the Fortuner so we can bring it home with us. I could not help him because i was carrying Andre but it was a good thing one of the cart guys help him with the load.

Ceasar gave him AED5 and the cart guy broke into a huge smile before walking away. It is always the same amount, even if they just help us push the grocery cart ( and yes they do sometimes insist on helping us maybe because of the large tip) or deliver our food.

But with the soaring prices of everything, I started to think what reasonable amount should be given to services. I came across with the article this morning on Emirates Business and here is the amount they suggest for good service.

What to Give

Supermarkets

• Bagger - Dh2
• Car loader - Dh2

Hotels

• Room Service - 10% of the bill
• Concierge - Dh5 to Dh10
• Valet - Dh10
  

Restaurants

• Waiting staff - 10 to 16 percent of teh bill depending on service
  

Fuel Station

• Attendant - Dh2
  

Hairdressers

• Stylist - 10% of the final bill
  

Taxis

• Not expected but 10% is appreciated

1930's Marital Scale

I snagged this from a fellow weekender. Except for being prudish and a-la stepford wife, there is not much i know how wives are back in 1930's. But it's been awhile since i did a meme so i decided to take the test.

Here is the result:

84 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Hehe. I guess i scored high because i let hubby sleep as much as he wants on weekends. We take turns pampering each other. Sometimes i prepare his bubble bath and in return, he gives me a foot scrub while I enjoy my vanilla bath. Compromise is really a must in a marriage.

weekend snapshot #12

Two things that make this picture smokin' -- this is the first time my six-month old son was able to stand on his own while holding on to a 1681 canyon.

Thank you for the visit and for your comments. I will be bloghopping later. Have a great week ahead!

i heart breakfast!

Hoooohum! I was glad to join hubby again for breakfast. Andreas is teething so he wakes up several times during the night. Either I rub him gently or feed him before he can go back to sleep. That leaves me almost sleepless so i am tired and drowsy early in the morning. Ceasar patiently prepares the breakfast but by the time he asks me to join him, i am fast asleep. It's been going on for more than a week so i told him last night i was going to join him for breakfast - no matter how sleepy i may be.

I think our own little time in the morning is very important. It's when we talk about how and where are we going to spend the day. Andreas usually joins us for dinner so morning is the only time when we can spend our meal with just the two of us.

Oh, it also happens that today is our monthsary. Thank you for the greetings, darling. I love you, I love you.

weekend snapshot # 11

We headed to Wafi City over the weekend to see the exhibit called The Collectors. There on display were collections of rosaries, antiques, Do-Not-Disturb signs, rare photos of the Maktoum Family but what caught our attention most are the following display.

These snowglobes belong to Queen Snovari, a 2007 Guinness World
Records Holder for having the largest collection of mini glass
snowglobes with over 18,888 pieces.

The collector is Frank Develva, and is awarded for having the largest
bookmark collections in London with about 17,000 pieces.
Some of these dates back as early as the 1800s.

Have a great week ahead and thank you for the visit. Till next weekend!!!

feeding my Prince

I introduced solid food to my little boy at 5 months, 2 weeks. I started with iron-fortified whole grain oatmeal from Earth's Best. I mix it with breast milk and feed him the oatmeal during breakfast. When he turned six month, I introduced Milupa and Cerelac, yoghurt, and cheese along with fruits and vegetables such as banana, apple, avocado, kiwi, carrots, broccolli, and spinach. He likes them all so far except for mashed potato. I noticed too that he doesn't like his food runny, so everything is prepared like the texture of a feta cheese. Well, i hope when we move to chunkier size, he will love some potato wedges.

Also i have started to mix his feeding with Promil. He likes drinking it straight from his cup but not when i put it in a bottle. He does not complain but he ends up chewing the nipple instead of sucking it all. Hubby says i should not be worried since Andreas is still drinking mostly from my breast so he is not deprived of any nutrients. Yes, until this day, our little prince has is not taking any vitamins. A lot of people recommended but we opted not to give him unless he is really sick.

weekend snapshot #10

The heat is on and temperature is soaring to 49 degrees celsius. Beaches and parks are impossible to visit these days so people are all heading to shopping malls to cool off. The city made extra effort to keep locals and tourists coming back to the malls by creating Dubai Summer Surprises. Aside from retail therapy, there are shows, games, exhibits, and concerts all for free to keep young and old alike entertained everyday until August.

And we feel extremely lucky last Friday when we visited the Mall of the Emirates and chanced upon water-borne ballet. Swimmers from the famous Aquasync group splash it out in a specially constructed pool. Take a peek of their choreographed movements and athletic leaps.

Thank you for the visit everyone and for your comments. It will be my turn to visit your entries later. Take care and enjoy the rest of the week!

coffee break # 8

A bright Tuesday morning everyone!

I am trying to make up for my missed coffee break sessions so bear with me for another entry. Andreas will wake up anytime now for his next feeding so i don't have enough time for another meme to break the posts.

I guess it's innate for us to somehow have a liking for songs that speak so much of love, whether it's returned or unrequited. Let's talk baduy in this week's coffee break!

What baduy love song do you like listening to?

Hehehe. Nice topic. I still have to meet a girl who doesn't like a song lamenting on relationships. I i like any heartbreak song no matter what genre. Yes, even Dixie Chicks' You Were Mine hahaha!!!

My all time favorite album is Come Away With Me by Norah Jones and all the songs are about loving and letting go. But that is a jazz/pop album so perhaps it is not baduy enough. That leaves me to pick one from OPM. My choices include Akap by Imago, Torete by Moonstar88, or Ikaw Lang by South Border (the soundtrack of Mulawin). But i guess nothing comes close to the first heartbreak song that struck me in high school. My friends then were going gaga over Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls and i was stuck with a casette tape of Color It Red. In between watching Bret Hart and his pink tanks on World Wrestling Federation, i was listening to Cookie Chua's Paglisan. Yay! And yes i still love hearing and singing the song to this day. Click the video below and join me for some karaoke time.

Join us for a weekly Coffee Break. Visit Jan's Bits and Pieces for more info. Till next entry!

coffee break # 7

While eating is something we all do, cooking definitely is a different matter. Some enjoy doing it. While some would prefer to simply eat. They say you have to be gifted to be able to cook great meals. So this week coffee break asks

What dish have you been dreaming to prepare?

Sushi. I would really love to know how to make one. Hubby and i love anything Japanese but boy they are so expensive and many times we have talked about preparing our own sushi that we even bought a sushi mat. Maybe when we get the chance, we will pick up japanese rice, avocado, crab meet, seaweeds, and just roll em all in the kitchen and hope it will end up like these...

Before i sign out, for those Japanese foodie addict like us, there is a nice little Jap restaurant called Ichiban in Bank Street (very near ABN AMRO building). You can choose from their sumptuous authentic Japanese menu and pay AED35 including a miso and iced tea (don't cringe, it doesn't taste like Lipton so you can bet it is Twinings haha). I say authentic because when we visited last Friday, there were a couple of Jap customers too enjoying their meal hehe.

If you wish to Join Coffee Break, head on to Jan's Bits & Pieces. Thanks for the continued visit. Ciao!

summer look

Happy Monday everyone!

I just finished our laundry and boy it is scorching outside. Andreas is watching Barney home video while munching Barney's stuffed tail so i grab the chance to make a quick post. My prince can now sit on his own at 6-month, 1 week.....and taraan he had his first haircut last week. I think my heart cried when we let go of his long hair. I miss combing and clipping them haha. Now he looks a little more grown up.

Well first, his Dad cut his bangs...

Then we took Andreas to his Dad's barber and this is the result..

Oooh he is growing so fast!