Wednesday, July 22

A family of two

I have been observing the blogging / online world for a few months now and I realized that most of the launch that I have seen are for moms - be it first-time moms, moms of twins, super mom, second mom, work-at-home moms and more.

I admire the launches that I have seen because now, I feel that mothers are being properly celebrated for raising their children, making sure that their needs are met. There is even an online group of mommies who support one another, by giving out suggestions from what they read or based on their experience - if what they are doing is good for their child or not.

However, I notice, there isn't any blog or group that celebrates women who are just wives for now - no children as of yet. I do not know if this group falls under being a career woman?

I mean have you read an article or a blog about a wife being praised for a good meal? Or any advise being given to a newly married woman about what are the do's and don'ts when you do the laundry or when you go to the wet market?

Probably there is that unspoken rule wherein married couples need to jump to the next step almost immediately - to have a baby.

This can be a rant for some people who knows me but to be honest, I thought of writing this blog as my way of just "thinking out loud" and I guess wanting to know if there is someone or anyone from the other side of the world who agrees with me about this.

I know a family of two is only a stage of beginnings (when you are just starting out a family) and on the near endings (when the kids have all moved out and have their own lives to live) but while the transition takes place, I wonder if women in this stage (like me) needs or wants to have a group to be there for them - to hold their hand when the first steak they have cooked was as hard as a rock or when they thought they were pregnant but it was a false alarm and so many life stages that will be experienced while in the family of two.

The answer can be that the other hand that holds you is your husband but is an outside support / perspective also valid in this instance?

I wonder.


Wednesday, July 15

City Living

When we were still in Dubai, I like the city - the hustle and bustle, the lights that you see when you pass by buildings, children playing in a small community park near our area. There was a lot of open space that you don't really feel congested even if literally Dubai's population has doubled or maybe more since 20_ _ (can't really reveal how long we stayed there but it was looooong).

Before you read my rant about Manila, please note that I want to re-discover it however frankly for now, I am still trying to get used to how the routine life is. I guess it is safe to say that this was not the city that I have known when I left. The streets were not overcrowded, you can still maintain a personal space when you walk inside the malls (the only time you lose this space is when SM is having their midnight madness sale!), you can find an empty seat in the foodcourt, MRT or bus (it will be there even if you walk as if you were carrying the Ms. Universe crown). I can go on and on of how I left the city but I can never get it back.

Everything and I think everybody is cramming here - them and their families.

A few days back, I saw this article from Huffington Post about how city living may be harmful to your mental health. I was reading the article and find myself nodding to some points. How the city makes you feel stressed and sad.

One of the suggestions the writer made was to take a hike. I paused and asked myself, where can I actually do that here in the city? When we were driving about last week, I did see one or two people jogging or walking on the sidewalk of a very busy street. I don't think I am going to do that. I then realized that we do not have enough parks or a piece of property that you can just walk around and enjoy the peace and quiet of just being on your own.

Then I realized, I miss the parks in Dubai.

photo from Zabeel Park, one of the many Christmas parties held
Zabeel Park, this park is in the center of the city as you can see the metro train just outside the park 

Still in Zabeel Park, just want to show you how vast the park is 

I commend places like Capitol Commons in Pasig, Greenfield District in Shaw and the Fort development for thinking of having a green patch of land where people can sit and relax... be one with nature. Going back to that article from Huffington Post, they have mentioned that people need to disconnect from the tech world and be one with the natural world. I agree or if you cannot really contain the pressure of the hustle and bustle, you can always move to a much quieter area?

And with this, I say, that is our current plan now. There is something on the works for us to move about and see what is out there on that location. I am not saying we are giving up on the city life but it does feel great to disconnect once in a while right?

I hope that this move will also be a good start (imagine, doing two major moves consecutively - I know, crazy right?!). Well, I guess if both of you are up for it and are more than willing to take the plunge, why not right? ;-) as long as there is a lot of greenery and the air is crisper and better.

Tuesday, July 7

I just needed to

BLOG about these past few days!

It has been the best because it was raining and there was a cold breeze circulating the house (finally)!!!

Yes, I have to put in that much of exclamation points to give you an idea of how hot it is in our house. I am not sure if it is just ours or all of us here in Manila experienced the humidity and the hot air floating around.

Okay, excitement aside, I know this is not something to be joyous about most especially since this weather has again claimed lives of people who were traveling or they were just at home but were very near to the coastal area.

You can find news clips here.

I am just torn because with this cool weather, I am able to start organizing our files that needs attention. Also, I had the chance to cook again (background: I haven't been cooking for the past few days because of my cough and cold. I sweat a lot when I move around so R decided to man the kitchen and take charge whilst I nurse myself back to health. Though I have to say, R and I take turns in cooking).

I was able to whip up pretty decent dishes I have to say though I think I failed in cooking a T-Bone Steak the right way for lunch but I will get my revenge back because I will be doing it again soon until I get the right texture for it.

Unfortunately no pictures on this post because I just really want to document that yes, the rainy season has started and I am so luvin' the cold breeze! :)


Thursday, July 2

So how do you transition?

This tech world has people cramming into getting devices that they 'think' they need - yep! I raise my hand because I am guilty of this too.
I have a smartphone, a tablet and a laptop.

When I am on my smartphone, I browse through pictures most of the time (via Instagram) because it does not strain my eyes, read tweets and scan through email (if there's anything that I need to answer, etc).

Once I start getting in depth with my emails or my tweet readings, I switch to my tablet simply because it has a bigger screen and the size of the text does not make my eyes go tired easily. However when I want to respond to an email or browse through websites that I want to read, I transition to the laptop.

I think this is because I type faster when I am in front of a keyboard and can also easily maneuver Safari or Opera better when I have an actual mouse pad and keyboard to use.

At the end of the day, I don't get anything done (unless it's super super important) because of this transitions that I do. I wonder how to sort this out so that we can have a scheme. I end up having half-baked attempts on things to do and then end up transferring a file to another (I know the 'cloud' device was invented but I am still trying to avoid using it by going through a 3rd party which in the tech world is called an app).

How about you? How do you transition or do you let each device specifically do a task for you?