finally, a dose of sunshine

the sun was out, and we had nothing much to do around the house so we decided to go to the Lonsdale Market and walk around there. we took the Sea Bus for the first time... 15 minutes and you're on the other side of Vancouver!

apparently, on a weekday there's not much to see in Lonsdale. it's similar to the Granville Island Public Market, except for the shipyards nearby and the Sea Bus terminal. but as in Granville, there's always fish & chips, and ice cream to sit down and watch the ships and sunset with!







*the sun makes a huge difference on Vancouver's skyline - today we saw more colors than just good ol' gray!

tuesday and wednesday nights are off limits

i've ignored American Idol since it started... back in Manila, i never got to catch it - heck, i never really watched TV in Manila since i was always stuck in traffic. but now it's official - Tuesday and Wednesday nights are now American Idol nights... Aldo and i are hooked!

half of the people who make it to the auditions are just plain looney. our favorite to-date... the European girl who almost strip-teased to the Bohemian Rhapsody. that was pretty hard to beat. makes me wonder though... where do these people get the nerves to even audition? must be an awful need for attention. LOL.

oh and March of The Penguins is awesome!



it's definitely something worth keeping... there's always something about Morgan Freeman's voice that makes things more interesting (him and Sir Anthony Hopkins). wish i really had his storytelling skills!

Maternal Serum Screening

We're 16 weeks in and it's officially time for Maternal Serum Screening.

Here in BC, labs are pretty convenient - you find one that's accessible, hand in your doctor's request form and Health Card, sit down, close your eyes, and walk out of the lab.

Luckily, yesterday was one of those rare sunny days so walking around downtown was quite a treat. I must be getting used to giving away blood - I can now look directly at the needle in my arm without flinching. LOL. The technician got 2 test tubes worth, stuck my name to it.. and that was that.

So what exactly was it for?

Maternal serum screening is a part of a comprehensive program of prenatal care accessible to all pregnant women in British Columbia. The program serves the entire province, processing 15-20,000 serum samples each year.

The maternal serum screen, offered between 15 and 20 weeks of pregnancy, estimates a woman’s chance of having a baby with Down syndrome, Open spina bifida and Trisomy 18.

Results will be in 3 agonizing weeks, keeping in mind that there are a LOT of false positives for this test. Talk about raising paranoia and worry.

adventures of the domestic kind

our friends got us a pretty box of saffron when they got back from the UK so we put it to good use last weekend.

not bad for a first-time paella... aldo, anthony, and mako wolfed it down for dinner.



mental note: next time, look for chorizo before planning to cook paella... as this one only had mussels, chicken, and pork. sorry, paella in this house will never have shrimps or crabs hehehe.

observations from the couch

there are apparently a lot of weird tv shows here that i bet won't even pass the MTRCB in the philippines. ok, so weird, and un-MTRCB are 2 different categories.

in the Weird (and Pointless if you ask me) Category would be Daisy Does America... which, i think, has no point other than to insult either the american or british cultures. see it's a reality show where daisy, a brit, tries to immerse herself in the american culture - even if it means trying to be a r&b star, or a wedding planner.

in the Weird Category, is a sub-category of Weird But Interesting. there's Wife Swap and Trading Spouses where 2 completely opposite wife types are swapped. funny, entertaining, and makes you realize if you're the crazy sort of wife or the free world sort. and then there's Exchanging Vows - again, a reality show slash contest where 2 engaged couples literally exchange weddings - they guess the other's style and give each other the wedding they think fits their style. in the end, the one who gets a sad and sucky wedding gets a free honeymoon. of course all the couples end up wanting the free honeymoon rather than the wedding.

in the more interesting un-MTRCB Category... The L Word is a drama about a group of lesbians. lots of lesbian action here, and interesting situations i personally have not thought about. next up... The Book of Daniel. it's a pretty controversial show right now which had its freakishly-long 2-hour debut last Friday. episcopalian minister with pot-selling kids, a sex-addict daughter, and an alcoholic wife. truly Seventh Heaven gone mad. it can turn any conservative catholic's face bright red on the first 15 minutes.

there are way more interesting shows but lest you start thinking i'm stuck to the tv, those will do for now. LOL.

happy viewing!

hair affairs

a friend of mine getting married here told me that she's having trouble looking for a hair & make-up artist for her wedding in april. apparently, it's quite a challenge (not to mention costly too) to look for a good one who can actually put your hair up in a pretty bridey bun (which is extremely common in the philippines). she had shorter hair for my wedding but eddie bruan's team was able to tuck her hair neatly in a bun... and now that her hair is 3 inches longer, the hairstylists here have apparently told her that her hair's too short.

if only flying in a make-up/hair stylist from manila was cheap and easy, i'd put my friend out of her misery.

*****

i miss the salons and beauty parlors in manila. walk into any and tell them you want layered hair and they get it. try it anywhere else and you'll end up with a hairstyle that's less than desirable.

ugh. i need a haircut badly but am too chicken to go to a salon here. i'm crossing my fingers that i find one with an asian stylist at the very least.

a hundred fifty beats a minute

amidst the chaos that was christmas, boxing day, moving, and unpacking was a glimpse of a miracle... listening to our baby's heartbeat for the very first time.

the fetal doppler looked like one of those My First Sony radios with microphones my sister and i had when we were kids. much to my surprise, it was extremely powerful - in a flash, dr. p found the baby's heartbeat and placed the sensor/microphone thingy on my tummy and voila... a thumping heart pumping a hundred fifty beats per minute, with my own heartbeat acting as the bass melody.

now i technically have 2 hearts in me!

aldo was even more excited during the procedure. he curiously peered over dr. p's shoulder to get a good look at what was happening, and when he did hear the heartbeat, it had seemed that he had just received the best christmas present ever (his smile even bigger than when we went aboard his lolo's sailboat for the very first time). hmm, the beginnings of impending fatherhood.

now that was a great way to end an even more blessed 2005. here's to more adventures, blessings, and an even more fantabulous 2006!