As part of my preparation for work abroad, I’m trying to familiarize myself with the different benefits that I have received from working here – bonuses, paternity leaves, social security disability insurance, and lots of other stuff. Andrea told me that I should remember these things so I have something to compare the benefits (I’ll be getting in Brunei) to.

I agree. The only way to determine which work place is better is to compare the benefits and the disadvantages between the two. And since I don’t know yet what the new work holds for me, I might as well try to remember what I had in the previous.

Frankly speaking, I don’t know what to hope for. Part of me still wants to go back to the place where I started and part of me wants to move on and try other stuff. Anyway, a few more months and I’ll find the answers for myself.

Due to mateo’s insistent demands, we successful finished setting up the Christmas tree yesterday. Despite the heavy rains, the mosquitoes outside, and the constant interruptions from anika, we still managed to put up the decorations before going to sleep.

However, even though the tree was securely set up, I still couldn’t leave the lights turned on the whole night. Since we weren’t using led christmas lights for the tree, I can’t help but worry about fire breaking out from electrical malfunctions in the wires. I’ve already seen and heard enough stories about Christmas lights and fires to know that these accidents are not myths… and I’m not about to risk my family because of such things.

So i told them that the lights would only stay on until it’s time to sleep. Everything else will have to be turned off once we get ready for bed. Thankfully, mateo followed.

Now that mateo has become a sucker for animated films, I can’t help but wonder how it would have been if we did not dispose of the ipod touch that andrea won in a raffle last year.

The iPhone-looking media player had a large enough screen for viewing movies and around 8 Gb of storage space – big enough to accommodate  around 8 to 10 movies. And it probably would have been a good alternative to our laptop (since he bugs us really hard whenever he remembers a particular movie he wants to watch).

Fortunately, the PSP Go that Papu gave him as a present last July is keeping him busy. It’s also sufficing as a replacement to the ipod touch since the device has a good enough screen too, plus a 16 Gb memory. Of course it’s not as thin as the ipod touch, but it’s proving to be quite sturdy. I’m happy with that already.

I was surprised to see a lot of young kids in the mall earlier. It’s a regular school school day today so I thought SM would be a little more peaceful than how it is during the weekends. Was I wrong or what?

I mean, it doesn’t really matter whether they’re wearing blac label clothing or not. Uniform or no uniform, kids are suppose to be in school and the authorities of the mall should be responsible enough to not allow these students to enter especially during class hours. They are not only disregarding the kids’ welfare but they are also promoting cutting classes if they continue to be irresponsible. They don’t have to push the kids back to school. Denying them entry to the mall would be good enough.

I’ve thought about buying lingerie for andrea on her birthday, but I decided not to go ahead with the idea at the very last moment. I figured, since she’s still hellbent on losing fat, the lingerie might only make things more difficult by putting unnecessary pressure on her.

Even though she still looks very attractive to me, she seems really focused on going several sizes down so I kept my peace. Besides, she still has a few lingeries at home and she’s not been wearing them for a long time.

If she goes back to wearing the older ones, then I’ll probably reconsider the idea of getting her more.

It has already been a week since an SM mall outside the subdivision opened, but it was our first time to visit the new mall yesterday. As expected, not all the stores inside have already finished setting up so there are still a few areas that remain in construction. However, I’m almost certain that 90% of the whole place is already operational.

We checked it out again earlier today. I figured since andrea and I couldn’t work, (mateo was all over the house playing with andrea’s 11-year old cousin), we might as well spend the afternoon checking out the rest of the mall that we haven’t explored yet.

So after getting there, we left mateo and his playmate at one of the play areas there  before going around. At the department store, I took the opportunity to look at some of the things that I might be needing once I get to Brunei – plates, kitchen utensils, and even some pillows. There were no heated mattress pads of course but there were a lot of memory foam pillows on sale. I was almost tempted to buy one but andrea convinced me not too, so I didn’t.

All in all, the new mall is a good enough venue to kill some time. It’s still far from being perfect (or complete) though, but it’s still such a joy to have, especially since it’s no more than 10 minutes away from home.

Of all the months of the year, November is probably the last month I’d consider to be the busiest. However, this year, I can’t say the same thing.

First of all, andrea and I have decided to schedule anika’s baptism on the 6th. Then, a week after that, it’s going to be our friend’s turn to have his baby baptized. Another two weeks after, we’re suppose to attend another friend’s wedding. That’s a total of 3 celebrations (2 baptisms and 1 wedding) … and I haven’t even included birthdays yet.

It’s a full November and as early as now I’m already running out of gift ideas to give the celebrants. Fortunately,  there’s a shop at a nearby mall that offers personalized gifts. Just in case I do run out of time, at least I have a fall-back plan. However, as far as free dates are concerned, I barely have some.

Andrea and I are already excited about going to Brunei and taking the kids to Disney vacations during the quarterly breaks. We both have never been to a Disney vacation before so also we’re looking forward to moving forward with everything else.

Although at the moment I’m still waiting for a few more papers, I’m quite optimistic about the whole thing. The only sad thing is I’ll be missing some important celebrations like New Year and Mateo’s 4th birthday. However, I still can’t contain myself whenever I think about being with my family in Brunei. Hope the papers come in soon.

The search for ways to lose weight is getting more and more intense. Andrea is getting more and more frustrated because it’s been two months since she’s given birth to anika and she’s still a few pounds away from her target weight.

Unlike when she gave birth to mateo, this time she has a C-section that prevents her from doing rigorous exercises. As a result, she’s confined to only a few minutes of jogging inside the house, well at least until we’re given a go signal by the doctor.

Because of this, we’re now considering supplements and weight loss programs to help resolve the issue. In fact, last week, I browsed some HCG weight loss Austin programs on the internet for some inspiration.

Currently, we’re building a solution that combines walking, jogging, and a protein diet to burn a few pounds off. Hopefully we get our experiment right so we don’t have to wait for 3-6 months before exercising.

I can’t believe why people would endure hellish traffic, unending lines, and chaotic environments just to attend the opening of a mall.

You see, last week, a popular mall opened another branch somewhere near our place. As expected, people came home ranting about how awful the traffic was and how they had to go down their cabs and walk home, and other similar stories. Andrea and I knew better so we deliberately stayed home the whole day during the opening.

Earlier today, however, I tried going to the said mall to pay some bills. It was quite a hassle free ride to the place and I found the bank inside easily, so I was glad. But, when I got inside, I was disappointed to find out that the bank didn’t even have a barcode scanner yet. The place was still inadequately built that tellers were doing everything almost completely manually.

It was perplexing. I stood in line wondering and continued to wonder what was so good about a mall opening that people would endure unimaginable chaos. They are not even fully equipped with the necessary facilities yet.