Weekend Story: Ordinary but Never Boring

With the hubby attending classes at graduate school on Saturdays, I get to have more time in my hands to sleep longer and bond more with family members who live just across the street. It’s fun and I’m enjoying every minute of it. This temporary setup makes me happy.

Like last Saturday, for instance. I woke up late again and after having breakfast, I started reading this book titled “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin. (I have the e-book version,though.) It’s a nice book where the author herself talks about her own happiness project. She’s already happy but she wants to be “happier.” At first I thought she was weird, wanting to be happier and all, but as I continued reading, I found myself relating to her stories more and more. I like that she’s a smart lady and the book is peppered with a lot of facts based from various studies as well as quotes from the authors and philosophers that she looks up to.

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Our First Chinese New Year Experience in Binondo

Yesterday was epic. For the very first time, I thought of going to Binondo on Chinese New Year to check out how this auspicious occasion is celebrated there. Yes, I was just curious. So I dragged the hubby with me and off we braved the traffic and the crowd to experience our first Chinese New Year in the oldest Chinatown in the world having been established in 1594.

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We reached Jones Bridge at past 3:00 p.m., left the car at a safe parking area somewhere there, and walked our way into Chinatown while watching the ongoing parade participated in by various groups. My SIL Albie joined us as soon as we arrived at Lucky Chinatown Mall. She actually went to Divisoria in the morning to shop at 168 Mall with her friends Grace and Angie.

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Weekend Story: Post-Valentine Celebration with Family

Last weekend turned out to be hectic but memorable and fun. It was the Valentine’s weekend that people were looking forward to, after all. And speaking of that, how did your celebration go? *insert a sugary sweet smile here*

Just like in the past years, I had work on Valentine’s Day which fell on a Saturday. La Cocina de Tita Moning was full house and if I remember it correctly, we had a total of 30 groups as guests. There were two groups that cancelled their reservations, though, either due to heavy traffic or some kind of an emergency. We were able to close the restaurant at almost 12 midnight already.

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On Gratefulness

I have to admit there are times when I forget to be grateful for the blessed life I happen to have. This is especially true when good things keep coming into my life. I tend to get overwhelmed and preoccupied and eventually, feel a sense of guilt. Somehow, I feel that by forgetting to show gratitude, I am letting God down. For is it not from Him that everything I get to have in this life come from?

Gratitude
Image Source: http://www.littlemiracles.com.au/blog/speaking-life/the-importance-of-gratitude

Is it just me or does this happen to you as well? That’s why I thought of saying thanks first thing in the morning and before closing my eyes at night. Sometimes, I feel that it’s insincere, though. Or pilit lang. Recently, I’ve decided to say thank you to God whenever I feel like it and wherever I may be. Aside from the basics (e.g. life, family, marriage, job, food, shelter, clothing, etc.), it could be for a simple task I finished, a surprise I received (like this one time when I got a cute little ring from my brother similar to those class rings from joyjewelers.com), a small favor I got from someone, a big blessing that came my way, a kind comment from a blog reader, or just about anything that has made me happy. I like how it’s spontaneous and genuine. No pretensions, no exaggerations. No routines, no timing.

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Weekend Story: Rest and Recreation + Tagaytay Meetup with Relatives

Last weekend was relaxing and fun! I had a restful Saturday (I slept until 1:00 p.m.) and on Sunday, the hubby and I drove up to Tagaytay to meet up with my aunts and cousins from my father’s side. My mom was with them (two of my aunts are her BFFs!) so we were able to see her, too.

If there’s something that a balikbayan wants to do upon setting foot again in his/her motherland, that’s to touch base with his/her relatives and friends. I was glad that my balikbayan aunt Laura (she’s my dad’s first cousin) did just that and also went out of her way to see places she had missed most while abroad. One of those places was Tagaytay and so yesterday, she went there with her group and invited us over. She even brought her two nieces (my second cousins) along so I could meet them. They would be coming from Sta. Rosa City in Laguna where she currently stays at her two nieces’ place.

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Lessons on Stock Market Investing, Vol. I

It’s been seven months since the hubby and I became direct stock market investors (through COL Financial) and so far, I’ve been enjoying the experience. I said “I” because the hubby has left the Herculean (exagg lang!) task of managing our stocks portfolio to me. He just helps put money into our account and I just report to him every transaction I make.

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a glimpse of our stocks portfolio

When 2014 ended, I tried computing our profit and was amazed to find out that we earned 7.55% from our original investment in just six months. I think we just got lucky because I bought mostly blue chip stocks like BDO, JFC, ALI, etc. For this year, I set a realistic target of 8% profit. If I could achieve a bigger profit percentage, I’d gladly take it.

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