Wiggles is One

I think I was already a fairly decent person when Wiggles came into my life, hence the quick acceptance to become a doggy mommy (If he had come at an earlier time, I wouldn't have been as welcoming), but there is no doubt in my mind that the last 11 months he has spent with me have made me loads better.

You know how they say no one can ever love you as much as your dog? You will never understand it until you experience it. Earlier this year, when my world was falling apart despite my efforts to keep things together, it was Wiggles alone who I felt understood me. (Okay, there were a few people who showered me  with love as well. You all know who you are. I love you all as much as I love this baby. Haha.) 

We don't allow him on the bed so during the period I was devastated, I would lie on the floor and wait for him to approach me and "cuddle" with me. He would walk towards me, put his nose under my armpit, and try to sleep. The whole process was very reassuring. 

Today is his birthday. I fed him Hungarian sausage for breakfast and got him a slice of Goldilock's mocha cake (Hey, it's Gretchen Barreto's fave! LOL). Honestly, for the unconditional love he showed me when I needed it the most, he deserves steak!

Happy birthday Wiggles, love you to the moon and back!

Nicole Goes to Church

Yesterday, Nicole attended mass at a Catholic church for the first time. After church service, she declared she wants to go to mass every Sunday. We were at my in-laws' dining room and the whole room broke into applause. CHEERS AND APPLAUSE. I am not kidding.

I will not stop her from going to church.

I stopped going to church several years ago. It's not like I was ever a devoted Catholic in the first place, but several years ago, I decided I didn't want to be Catholic anymore. These days I only step inside the church for weddings and funerals. I stopped accepting the statue of the Virgin Mary in my home for the month of the holy rosary a few years ago, to the clear disdain of a neighbor.

I am on my own journey, and to be honest, am noncommittal very lazy noncommittal about it. Do I even have a right to call myself Christian is a question I ask myself all the time. This is why I'm letting Nicole attend Catholic church services. When she grows up, hopefully, she will spend a great deal of time thinking about her spirituality, what the church means to her, what being Christian is about, and not go to church just for the sake of going.

Pop Hotel Hong Kong: Worth Staying At

Last month, we went to Hong Kong to celebrate Nicole's 7th birthday. Since we knew we were hardly going to spend time at the hotel, we didn't want to spend a crazy amount of money on a hotel room.

My uncle recommended Pop Hotel in Mong Kok. After a quick look at reviews online, we decided to book a deluxe double room. It was very easy to book the room through the hotel's website. When we got the room last summer, the rate came to about P6,000 a night (rates are supposedly lower for weekday stays).

Deluxe Room (photo credit: Pop Hotel)

Now, all reviews online say the rooms are small, they really are. We're small people so we fit right in. LOL.

I didn't mind the small room because of two things: the room's cleanliness and the free wifi. I can stay anywhere in the world as long as there's free internet. I was so relieved we had free internet because on our second day in Hong Kong, I had some work trouble I needed to fix. I didn't want to bring a laptop on this trip but Jay said I should probably bring one. Good call! That one weekend I decided I didn't want to go online would've been when I would've lost my job. Crazy. I worked for 3 hours before we headed out for a day of fun.

Another thing that makes this hotel worth staying at is the location. It's right smack the middle of a hardware district. My husband was in heaven. Right now he's totally into tools. Thing is, he decided he was going to get a power drill on our last day, but when we went out walking that day, we discovered that most of the hardware stores are closed on Sundays. LOL. We did find a small store that was open so he was able to buy himself one nifty tool. It's also very near the Mongkok Ladies Market which is great if you love shopping. It's about 5-10 minutes away from the Mongkok MTR station and an A21 bus stop. There's a 7-11 store near the hotel so that's also a plus. 

Perfect Timing

Jay and I were watching TV at home when Nicole arrived from her friend's house with this:

My husband and I, we're not into dogs. We're not big fans of pets; but Nicole was so happy to have been given a puppy, what were we to do? 

Honestly, it was a bit stressful not knowing what to do with the puppy. We didn't even have supplies! I had to send Jay to the store to get kibble for Wiggles. Yes, that's his name.

So far, house training the pup has been good. I mean as good as it goes for baby shih tzus (they're hard to house train apparently). Wiggles goes out on his own to do #2 (he's chosen a spot). He still has accidents when it comes to peeing. I have to wake up 2x in the middle of the night to lead him out so he can pee outside. On his first week at home, I had to wipe, sanitize, and wax our bedroom floor every.single.day. 

Wiggles came at the perfect time. My daughter is now in first grade and spends the whole day in school. My husband is at work the whole day too. I'd been feeling blue, about a million and one things, and about nothing. 

I think I'm best at taking care of others. I guess I feel good about my life when I don't have time to worry about myself, and when I feel needed. Now I have a pup to take care of, so all is well in my world. LOL.

My biggest problem with the pup is how he likes to bite our feet. We're working hard on stopping this bad habit. He developed this habit because when he didn't have teeth yet we allowed him to chew on our toes. Bad. hahaha. 

Years ago, I told my husband our life was exactly like a sitcom and all that was missing was a dog. Now we have one. It came at a perfect time. We're in love.

My ZALORA Wishlist

I'm back! I just spent one week in Legazpi City, Albay, where Nicole and I spent all mornings at the public beach. It was a blissful week; but Jay wouldn't stop bugging us about getting home ASAP (he had to stay in Cavite for work. hehe).

While I consider myself working class (no work= no food on the table), I have set a goal to take Nicole to as many places as we can afford; to let her know the world is a big place (and small at the same time!), and also let her know that if she has enough determination, she can live anywhere in the world, doing whatever she wants (as long as it's perfectly legal. LOL).

Our next trip: Hongkong in August. We've been planning this trip for ages, since Nicole learned of HK Disneyland from the Disney Channel. Last month, I booked our flights via Cebu Pacific and Jay has already booked our hotel.

Now the only thing we need is a good luggage. We honestly don't have one.

This is how we traveled when we went to Palawan last month, with all our stuff in random bags. Heehee.

Nic on top of our weekender bag from Pharmaton :))

If we save enough money before our trip, I'm going to get a few other items as well. I've created an inspiration board (inspiration to work harder) of all the items we need for the trip.

 

1.  Gola Harlow- Even after a pickpocket opened my backpack's front pocket at the Gaisano mall last week (and got nothing but bundled up toilet paper. LOL), I will never ever stop using backpacks. I like carrying backpacks because my daughter likes to bring random stuff when we leave the house and then hand them to me later in the day. This backpack by Gola will work great as carry-on; it is currently on sale for P976.50.

2. Flight 001 Go Clean Laundry Bag- This laundry bag will be perfect for our 3-day trip because I don't expect to get any laundry done. With this bag, I can separate all of our clean clothes from our dirty clothes and put them all in one luggage.

3. Tom's Youth Cordones in Red Wool- Comfy walking shoes for the little girl who does not enjoy walking; because we're going to do a lot of walking in Disneyland. haha.

4. Kipling K Yubin Spin 69- I'm a wiz at travel packing. The secret is in rolling every single thing and then securing each item with a rubber band (unpack all of your stuff when you get to the hotel and hang all your nice clothes). We just need one lightweight trolley luggage for our 3-day trip. This one's perfect because it's made of nylon and has a spinning case. Love the little Kipling monkey too. I seriously need to save up quick because this luggage is already on sale for P9,900 with only 1 unit left. 

5. Feiyue Fe As Sneakers- This will be for me! I intend to wear nothing but shorts, shirts, and sneakers during the whole weekend that we're there. A pair of sneakers in dark blue should work with everything. The shoes retail for P3,390. 

I found all of these items in Zalora, a new and impressive fully-functional Philippine online store, similar to the biggest online stores in the US (Zappos, 6PM, etc.).

Now enough online window shopping (Watch your time, Zalora's like a time black hole because you end up spending a lot of time browsing all the good stuff) and head back to work Razielle! haha. You need to save up money for more trips + happy memories. ;)