My World of Life’s Adventures

Yesterday, I finally had my appointment with my driving tutor for the first 2-hour lesson. He picked me up at home and drove me to a nearby school parking lot and from there, I drove around the parking lot for a warm up and just to get used to with the car. The car was the school car where I had my 36 hours classroom lecture. It was a bit old and I had to adjust the side mirrors manually. I don’t like doing it, but on the other side of it, the car has a “student driver” sign at the back so I felt more comfortable with it so that other cars would know and be considerate enough when I will be on the road, LOL.

I felt it was a good start for me, and drove for 2 hours on a long windy, hilly, some bumpy road around he neighborhood, and went as far as I don’t know where I was, lol. The instructor said he wouldn’t let me drive on the highway yet since it’s my first lesson.

Thank God, I passed. Originally, the plan was that I will pay him just for the tutoring and not a part of the free 6-hours on the road lessons from the school since I felt am not yet ready to be graded and assessed since I haven’t been driving for more than a year since my last practice :(.

My hubby was about to write a check for him, but the instructor said it’s not needed because I did good and therefore, he is crediting it from the free 6-hours road lesson from the school. I was surprised but thankful at the same time. That means I still have 4 more hours for the road lessons before I can finally get that school driving certificate to present it to MVA for my final driving test. Lots of blah-blahs needed, but I got no choice anyway but to follow the SOP’s.

Now, I felt my adrenaline suddenly went down, and I suddenly felt so exhausted and weak…and my behind is so sore!! LOL.

Gosh, how long can I be like this??

Sight Reading in piano is one of the most important skills any pianist can possess, aside from accompaniment skills. It takes a lot of practice to have these skills in order to be considered efficient. To become an efficient piano or music sight reader, there are rules that will help you improve and speed up your sight reading abilities. Sticking with these rules will lead you on a way to a better pianist. Check it yourself at yokewong.net.

You no longer have to frustrate yourself reading piano music. Whether you want to be better on your overall piano sight reading, or you are slow on piano sight reading, there is always a course ideal for you. If you are interested in getting one course to help you, call toll free 877-287-1528.

Please don’t kill me, lol! as I am really lagging behind on all my posts. But as I’ve mentioned previously, I am going to share updates on our house that we are buying in the Philippines.

It was actually a very tough challenge and a lot of difficulties for me lately one week after we arrived from the Philippines. Hubby caught the bug (definitely, not the swine flu), and passed it on to me. He had a flu shot last fall, and I didn’t, so he recovered faster and there was the poor me struggling on the most terrible cough I’ve ever had for 2 weeks.  I was diagnosed with bronchitis and pharyngitis, and had to take antibiotics for 10 days! Ha! that wasn’t as easy as it sounds because I have to swallow a tablet as big as a marble! LOL!

Anyway, I’m feeling much more than better now.

Back to the topic, here is the story. While in the Philippines, we had been visiting some houses in many of the housing subdivisions in Iloilo (my hometown). I was actually surprised to see many housing real estate companies in Iloilo this year which was a good thing for us to look for more options. We finally managed to choose one house that I and hubby thought will be a good one.

The house is a single attached 2-storey home with 3 bedrooms upstairs. We got this choice because of its unique house finishing that’s unique from the rest. The house will be made with CPAC two-toned tawny brick, much more durable than the regular hollow blocks that they put for the wall and foundation.

Currently, we are now paying the installment plan without interest for 18 months. Since we put a downpayment of more than the required DP amount, we will be paying much more smaller for the remaining loan after 18 months. We had the option to pay the remaining loan for 5 years, but we are aiming to pay it in less than that, God willing :).

More or less the house would be finished late of 2010, or early of 2011. It gives me excitement to think about the house, and I was tasked by hubby to do the interior designs and getting the things needed inside. Sounds like a good yehey next time we visit Philippines and staying on ou new home instead of staying in a hotel for 3 weeks! Of course, planning a house warming would be exciting as well :).

So far so good. I will post updates from time to time.

It’s been a good feeling to get back to the blogging world! Haven’t been around for a while. Although I have been in constant struggle to update my blog(s), many things are keeping me busy since I and hubby arrived Philippines on April 18, ‘09. I missed doing the posts, but that’s just nothing compared to the quality and quantity of time you spend with your family, isn’t it?

Weather: It’s been a rainy weather since we arrived. From Iloilo to Manila, rain is just almost daily usually in the afternoon and late evenings. There’s a good thing to that…hubby wasn’t sweating too much, LOL!

Family: Meeting with my family is the best this year! Why? I saw and was with my siblings seeing us complete. It was one of those few ones where I consider it the most memorable! We had fun in the beach, at home, at the dinner table, good chats, some more outings, etc…We’re looking forward to have one like this next year, God willing.

A place we call home: We reserved a house and lot last week in Iloilo. It was tough actually looking for a good one - nice neighborhood and flood free areas, the construction quality and good deals on the price. We have some plans now, but we kept praying for it. I am excited to share about the house, but I won’t until we start our payment midweek of this month. This is a BIG investment on our savings since we are thinking of paying the downpayment half of the total price of the house. The total contract price: 2M Php…now you got the idea how much we’ll be paying for the down. I’m keeping my fingers crossed! It’s a 3-bedroom house with a wide porch on top. ..just ideal for a couple. We can manage to accept visitors once in a while, hahaha! Oh, by the way, I got carried away, I already shared almost all about the house :)).

Meeting Friends: I guess, I am gaining more friends both internationally and locally, LOL! I can’t imagine myself being invited at the Manila US Embassy for a visit! I am looking forward to meeting some of them on Thursday.  Hubby has some co workers assigned there and wanted to meet them as well. Hubby has been a good asset of the group in relation to his job. That has been a blessing ever since :).

Two more days, and we’ll setting our feet off the Philippine grounds. It would be nice to be back home soon!

To all the mothers out there, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! Hey mom! I hope you liked the card and the gift we gave you! We love you. Mwah!

Everytime I go to the Philippines for a vacation, I make sure I’ve got to cut my hair shorter than the way it is here in the US. I love my long hair here as it is always a good warm protector during cooler times. But having my long hair in the Philippines would be a disaster for me! My hair seems to be highly reactive to warmer climate so whenever it is exposed to a tropical temperature, it becomes so nasty…I couldn’t imagine having hair as thick as a rough grass LOL!

So, here are some good news…I (and hubby) are finally done with our hair appointment last Saturday with Daisy (my friend-hairstylist). And once again, I finally was able to convince hubby to color his hair as well :). We both had been growing a “salt and pepper” hair color and many say it’s a good color for a natural hair. It was a good complement, but we wanted to have a slight change, and so it ended up a BIG change for me, LOL!

I usually have a trim for my hair (at least 2-3 inches), but this time, I told Daisy to cut my hair half. I was surprised that half was really long and hubby was really surprised with big eyes and suddenly asked me why that long! Hubby always loves my hair long, but I told him my hair grows fast. By the time we’ll be back home, it’s gonna be long again…whew! at last he accepted my reason. Besides, it would be hot there, and he knows I hate having long hair in a hot climate.

Another good news, my hair that was cut will be going into a good cause. It will be donated to a goodwill agency (forgot its name). So, not bad, right? I’m now a hair donor! LOL!

4 days more to go and we’ll be stepping the Philippine soil once again. It’s always been an excitement seeing our family first and foremost and seeing friends as well :). As always, we are requesting you to pray for our safe trip going there and back.

Happy Resurrection Day! God is alive and always be!