Dinner @Markette

Finally we decided to try out this new restaurant in Dubai Mall just beside the Cheesecake Factory near the Aquarium- Markette. It's a fusion of so many dishes from different countries . The menu looks tempting and confusing at the same time. They have tapas for appetizers, Asian dishes and pastas for main entrees and Crepes for desserts. The price range is like dining in Cheesecake but the real test goes with the portion and the taste. The ambience and the decoration is undeniably superb. 'Reminds me of outdoor dining in Paris.

However, the server didn't really help us get the best dining experience to first timers like us. He didn't really help us sample the best they can offer. Instead we ended up playing safe with pasta and mussels. The portion is not really meant for sharing so it means it's much more pricey than the normal casual restaurants we go to. My husband didn't really enjoy what we order. He said I still cook the best pasta! 1000 sexy points for my husband!

Sadly, we are not coming back to give it another chance.

Pissed...

Warning: this is a rant post!

I should be talking about nothing but pregnancy glow and blah blah blah but right now I just can't help but rant over what happened to me today at the mall. Since it wasn't the first time and I just can't believe that I didn't trust my instinct and learn my lesson. Well, after spending my last weekend with my cousins in Dubai (after indulging in two sinfully delicious pizza and pasta and a whole afternoon of chitchat) I decided to pass by Mall of the Emirates to do some last minute shopping. I heard that BabyShop has it's crazy summer sale that I shouldn't miss. So I went there thinking it's a great time to check stuff for my bebe and compare prices. Me and hubby decided to have our precious love in the Philippines. We erased the option of delivering bebe in Ukraine or Sacramento. In the end, we chose to celebrate the birth of our first child, this year's Christmas and New Year and my birthday. As much as it's so tempting to deliver our first baby in my husband's hometown while snow is falling down but without my hubby I insisted that I'd rather have my precious bebe in the a Philippines with its unpredictable typhoon and flooding as long as I get to spend it with my husband and my entire family. Being away from my husband for three months makes me sad. I am so blessed to have him in my life and as a spoiled wife it is really hard to miss his cooking, his massages and our craziness. Anyway, going back to my story I was really enjoying shopping for baby clothes and feeding bottles. Then I remember that my aunt asked me to buy for her some fancy earrings. She's 65+ years old and never leaves the house without make up. The last time she came to Dubai she's been bugging me to give her my earrings. I normally buy my accessories while on a layover. Hong Kong and Bangkok are my faves. But whenever I buy there it becomes really hard to give what I bought. They are just so pretty and never available in Dubai. So I dropped by the accessories section to buy earrings. Lucky me they are also on sale! So I bought two. One Chanel-inspired dangling pearl earrings and one glitzy pink and blue chandelier looking piece that would go perfect with a summer dress. I hurriedly went to cashier to pay for my purchases since my husband just called to inform me about the sandstorm just happening. My oh my the long queue! Just when I thought I would spend the rest of my life there one lady cashier asked me to come to her counter. Alright I am lucky today indeed I thought to myself. Between doing her job of scanning my purchases and engaging to me in a slightly weird conversation about the color of my eyes I had this feeling that something fishy might be going on under my nose. I saw her scanned my earrings and then the baby clothes and the feeding bottles and expecting I will find everything in the bag when I get home. I didn't really check since my mind got distracted with the thought of sand dunes reaching the city. And Lo and behold once I got home after exactly an hour before I finally decided to unload my stuff I found no earrings in my shopping bag! Damn you lady cashier asking why my eyes are brown !!! I know they are not expensive but still you tricked me! I really didn't pay attention when you were putting my stuff in the bag! And mind you lady, this wasn't the first time someone tried to steal things I already paid. One lady cashier in Victoria's Secret in Madison Avenue in New York tried to pocket the blusher and the lipgloss I already paid. Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! And poor me for not paying attention to details of shopping!

Lesson learned: separate the big items from the small ones. Better, pay them separately.

In VS---- after she scanned the makeup then the big bottles of perfume and lotions she started talking nonsense things to me while putting the big stuff in the bag while isolating the small make up items in which if you didn't pay attention you might think those are not the same stuff you bought and should be placed in the bag. I needed to remind her to put the makeup twice when she was handing over me shopping bag.

This time it's the earrings. Yeah I saved a few bucks from the baby clothes and feeding bottles but damn! Those lovely are for my aunt! And I don't have the time or energy to come back to that store again !!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

Stay away from the Fridge Please! ( my pregnancy brain)

Is it the hormones , the baby or am I just really hungry?

It's becoming a battle now. I feel guilty and depressed for having that 2nd piece of chocolate crinkles. I feel bad for drinking an extra glass of chocolate milk. I should be sticking with my greens and less junk but my taste buds are screaming the opposite . This is not good.

Before pregnancy, I have no problem ignoring the red velvet cheesecake sitting in my fridge. I am fond of just lemon water but ever since my heartburn miraculously disappear on the 2nd trimester my cravings and self control changed dramatically. And my appetite too. I am becoming a little bit worried how big I am going to be. So today I decided to add extra effort with my prenatal workout routine. I just hope that my appetite will subside too without affecting my baby. Oh man... Staying away from the fridge is becoming a daunting task for me. Dear God provide me with the strength to resist that chocolate lava cake in the dessert menu.

Having so much time in my hands to do whatever I please is both a curse and a blessing. I have plenty of time to read and study but at the same time to eat and to daydream. One thing about being a flight attendant on a maternity leave is that there's no fallback once you're knocked up. I can't really search for part time jobs just to kill time. Well, I am actually baby-sitting my cousin's eight month old son from time to time. But it's not really a job I can consider since I am just practicing the up and coming in my life. It is actually hard to take care of a baby. My nephew moves a lot! Crawls and fights whenever we change his clothes and give a bath. He's actually heavy now and my baby weight and his weight are not a joking matter. I get tired easily. And so does my need to eat arises. What a first time mom ought to do? Somebody call the Diet Police!

I am thinking of re-constructing my daily chores. I need to keep myself busier and more productive so as to divert this crazy hunger pangs. I need to be in places and different time zones perhaps.

Damn... I am hungry again.

Inspiration

Yay! I am a bit under pressure to keep my sugar low. It's been a struggle now to stay away from sweets since I could put on weight in a flash. Actually it gets a little bit depressing to check the scale now because one small mistake of extra trips in the fridge can bring instant effect on my body and my baby.

I've been praying and working out religiously so I can deliver my bebe love through natural birth. I want to lose the baby weight too as soon as possible. Honestly, I am not used to being heavy. I weigh 48.5 kg before pregnancy, still underweight for my height but that doesn't mean I can be complacent with my body while it's experiencing pregnancy changes. At the moment, I started experiencing back aches, leg cramps and difficulty breathing when I do chores a lot or talking a lot. I am skinny girl. And I am doing my best to keep myself healthy for my baby.

Taking care of myself is vital for me. I guess fashion will always hold a great place in my heart. I desire to look good no matter what. So here goes my maternity inspiration ! :-)

It's been a while since we hit the beach...

We got the chance to eat for free before The Cheesecake Factory opens in The Beach @ JBR.
The sun just shine brightly, burning us . Can't wait til summer's over....

Oh no... Oh yes!!!!

There are days when I can control my unhealthy cravings. But sometimes I just go and jump the bandwagon and indulge whatever my senses are telling me.

So far.... I wish I can have these all the days of my nine months....
1. Flan
2. Moroccan couscous with lamb and chickpeas
3. Moroccan chicken
4. Sauerkraut
5. Chocolate milk/ chocolate ice cream
7. Thai mango salad / green mangoes (the more sour , the better)
8. Grapefruit
9. Ukranian borsh

Read

Spending most of my days at home being all wifey and motherly. When chores are done I keep myself busy. Oh yeah. Reading one novel every week is pure bliss!

New Chapter

   Our long-month honeymoon is about to come to an end. Yikes! and Double sigh.

    It's been the craziest and most enjoyable vacation I had this year. Last year we spent our vacation in Ukraine but since 'life" kinda gets in the way, we are somewhat left with no choice but  spend the rest of the year separately.

    I never really expected that I will get married this year. It's a big surprise.
    All along I knew that it was just his sister which is now my sister-in-law are getting married this year and my younger brother in the Philippines. That's what we're told. And I never really  had a clue that he will propose before our 2nd year of dating. But yeah, I was kinda  really praying hoping  he would, and Taddah! God is Good --- I married this wonderful man!

And other than that I never really thought that I would undergo a slightly major surgery in my reproductive bits. I was terrified beyond words. I never heard of Endometriosis. I just knew from my Dad that my Mom had it later;  years after giving birth. But I really had no idea about that disease. And most of the time that I wish she was still alive , this got to be one of the things I want to ask of her. I was grateful that I didn't spend a fortune to remove the cyst. It was taken care of by my company. My doctor is a known expert in laparoscopy. Both of my ovaries are saved and it took two weeks tops for full recovery. But I started having this gnawing fear that I will find it difficult to conceive after that.


  But look, another surprise ! I am actually pregnant now. Before I was a bit stressed about the whole idea of the cyst coming back. But God gave me a child instead to heal me! And man, I am so happy and delighted for this gift.

   I decided to quit flying. As much as I want to come to New York and Paris and Shanghai and Rome every month to shop and live the life I realized that I wanted more and the right time has come for me to finally do something I can grow even when I can no longer be mistaken as a young fresh cabin crew. Don't get me wrong, if I will land a job that will give me the luxury to travel at least once or twice a month on a 2-3 day layover I would still gladly accept it. It's just that this time, I have different priorities. I am no longer in my twenty's. It's perfect time now to settle down and start a family of my own.

   The whole pregnancy thing is like buying a house with so many rooms to explore. It was difficult in the beginning but really exciting once you started feeling the kicks and somersaults of your little one. I never felt alone anymore. My little angel is responding actively with mum's voice. Sometimes I want to pinch myself just to make sure everything is real. I am a wife and a mother-to be. This is some kind of a breakthrough year for me indeed!

    The wife thing comes normal.But I find it fascinating. Now that we share our expenses and our salaries together it's kinda new for me to be letting my husband pay for such and such in which I normally go pay. And sometimes calling him at work just to ask him if I can buy this new Chanel makeup with his card makes me feel like a small child asking daddy to buy me a new Barbie. Damn!

    But you know what, as of now I like doing things for my husband. Just the simple tasks of making sure he wears clean clothes and he eats well and on time. With his work it rarely happens that he finds time to do laundry or eat a decent meal. As for me, I love cooking for more than one person. I love grocery shopping. I love spending all night in bed watching movies and US series 'til we fall asleep. I am so done living alone.

  I am so thankful to God for making major developments in my personal life.
  Now that I am embarking a new journey I will keep my positive spirit high and let God lead us the way.
  I believe there's better things in store for us. This is just the beginning.

 If I happen to come back to flying, maybe it's gonna be different this time.
 For now, I am taking destination motherhood quite seriously...

  

Don't call me that!

I'm glad that I'm through with the nasty morning sickness. Actually in my case it was more like all-day sickness. Can't eat well, can't sleep well and my heartburn condition was reaching through the roof. I thought it would never end. At one point I started asking myself why women wanted to experience pregnancy?, because seriously it was not the best feeling to be pregnant in the first three months. It was being trapped in your own body but somehow the remote control isn't working. There was one time that I slept with a bag of soda crackers in my bed or fell asleep in the bus while going to work completely forgetting where I should be heading.

Now that I'm on my second trimester I feel much more human again! Hooray!!!
I survived it! My bebe is healthy and happy in mummy's tummy.

Although my husband told me to relax and enjoy this mini-holiday --- sans my work and the concept of a definite schedule I just can't lay all day in bed daydreaming. I have always been skinny. I work out regularly and eat healthily so gaining a few pounds really is a daunting period I would likely experience.

So far I'm gaining the right amount of weight. And my OB seems to pleased with all my tests. But for now goodbye skinny jeans and lacy underwear.
Since I started feeling well, I am getting all wrapped-up in finding the best prenatal exercise. I'm guilty with ice cream and chocolate overload the past few weeks and I can't afford to risk my bebe with all mummy's guilty pleasures lately.

While my husband is at work I can't help but go - gaga over these good-looking celebrities while pregnant.

Right now I get pissed off when some of my acquaintances tell me I'm putting on weight. Duh? I'm pregnant! And seriously you look more pregnant than me only you have that belly since you were in 10th grade or something. So please careful with the preggy ladies !!!