The last time I heard about it in the news, the approximate winning amount for lotto is P180 million and though I don’t buy lotto tickets, it just occurred to me what would it be like winning the jackpot. My son would always ask me what I plan to do just in case I won millions of pesos and without giving it much thought I would always give him this answer, “I’ll buy whatever I want.” He would then ask me with a wide grin, “Aren’t you going to give me some?” I can imagine my son day dreaming about the toys, books, psp games and a lot more that he plans to buy just in case his mom won millions. And that gave me an idea of making my own wish list just in case I won the P180 million jackpot price.

Here’s my list:

1. I’ll buy my parents a condominium unit – P5M

2. We’ll build our dream house in Pangasinan where we already bought a land – P10M

3. We’ll settle the remaining payments that has to be made in our condo – P2M

4. I’ll buy Gary his dream car (The Hummer) – P5M (I really don’t have any idea how much it costs but maybe P5M is enough… hehe)

5. Hello Dra. Belo (hahha!) – P1M (This is not a one-time visit though…)

6. I’ll buy myself an SUV – P2M

7. Budget for Around the World Travel – P10M (Do you think this is enough?)

8. Shopping, shopping, shopping – P5M

- watch out LV and RL stores for my bags!
- I’ll buy a new celphone (haha… babaw)
- I’ll let my kids get all their dream toys
- more watch for Gary
- La Coste and RL Shirts in all colors… haha!
- Books!
- Laptop each for my kids
etc. etc.

9. Charity (For Children who are sick especially of Cancer) – P5M

10. A million each for my parents, siblings and In-laws – P10M

11. I’ll buy our ancestral home in Cagayan de Oro (they are selling it now) – P5M (Is it?)

This is getting more and more exciting…

12. I’ll deposit P10M each for my children’s savings account – P30M

13. I’ll buy a parlor and fast food franchise – P10M

14. We’ll get a town house in Mahogany Place in Taguig – P10M (including home furniture and interior design)

15. Another Church Wedding – P1M

16. Balato – hmmm… bahala na magkano. (haha!) But for sure my yayas will get their share.

The rest will still be on investments and savings. Huh! I just realized it’s tiring to be too rich, but I am not complaining.

Last year I celebrated my 30th birthday and it was really worth celebrating because of milestones I have set for myself and successfully achieved, not to mention the blessings that God has showered us with – big and small alike. And now, celebrating my 31st birthday, I would just want to make a list of all the major things that happened to me while being 30.

1. I left International Container Terminal Services Inc. (the last company I was in) to become a full time mother and wife.
2. Few weeks after I resigned I learned that I was pregnant. (And six months after, I learned that we are having a girl this time)
3. While being jobless and pregnant, I was reviewing for CISA (Certified Information Systems Audit) Certification. I finished the review but I postponed the exam.
4. I started getting busy blogging for money… and inviting friends to write reviews as well.
5. I finally learned how to drive.
6. We paid all our credit card dues and other liabilities in full, except for our condo which we still have to pay for monthly.
7. We bought a land in Pangasinan where we could build our dream house in the future.

Looking back, it was indeed not a boring year for me. Being jobless and all, I realized that I – together with God and my family – still had a fruitful year. It is really true that dreaming together as a couple could make wonders. It did work for us and I thank my husband for being a great dreamer dragging me where we are right now and where we will be in the future… heheh.

Let me do a restaurant review this time.

Last week my family and I decided to have dinner at Serendra since we haven’t tried eating there as a family. Well, I have tried Conti’s, Duo and Mary Grace already so I was hoping none of those will be my husband’s choice. I was somewhat hoping we could try Polu Kai Grill but I was actually open to any of his suggestions. Luckily, it was also his choice, without me saying anything or giving out clues. Hehe…

So we ordered the following:
(1) Seafood bucket which includes lobster tails, fish fillets and fried calamari served with tartar sauce.
(2) Giant Squid Steak
(3) Aloha Rib and Chicken, and
(4) Hawaiian Keiki Pizza for Zach

I don’t know if it’s pure luck or this restaurant just serves all good food because I have to say I loved everything we ordered. The squid were soft and easy to chew, while the ribs were juicy and very tasty. The chicken though was not as fabulous as the rest but still good, so maybe you can order just the ribs instead. The iced tea tastes good and not the usual Nestea flavored served in other restaurants. The place is not intimidating and is really good for bonding with family and friends. I must say I would want to go back to this restaurant and try the other food on their menu. I suggest you do the same.

It was in 2004 when I was finally approved by a credit card company to own my very first credit card. It took me years to finally convince HSBC that I am financially capable enough to maintain a credit card and since then, several credit card companies has been calling and bugging me to have one of their own. I ended up having 2 HSBC credit cards, 1 Red and 1 Mabuhay (because of my greed to accumulate miles). The rest of the credit cards that were mailed to me (without my consent) remains to be inactive.

At first I was in control of my purchases, being able to pay the dues on time thus avoiding interests. But as the years passed by, I was not able to pay my dues in full for the simple reason that my salary cannot afford to do so. So what has been my purchases then? Mostly went to groceries where each time I fall short of my budget on food, I depend on my ever reliable plastic card. It has also been our saving grace each time an emergency happens, like for instance sickness and hospitalization. Also, instead of applying for a loan, it has been very convenient for us to just withdraw from an ATM through their cash advance facility. Worse, my credit card was used to pay for our wants that we could not afford at that time. In short, I was slowly drowning in debt and all I was able to pay for is just a little above the minimum payment required. And thanks to the interest and annual payment, they were an added weight that pulled me down. Well, I have to admit that life hasn’t been that easy at that time that even if we wanted to have as much savings as we would want to, expenses are soaring high. I reached a point where all my bonuses went to HSBC and all I could pay for monthly is the interest. I felt helpless at that time… and hopeless.

Not until last year when I and my husband decided to settle all our credit card dues. That means spending a material amount of cash just to finally close my accounts. At first we felt hesitant because we could have saved the money or spent it on other important things. But we realized that if we want to improve our financial status, we really have to invest on our liabilities thus zeroing in our debts. It took us months to finally settle everything but it was all worth it because I am not paying any interest anymore plus I don’t have to allot any amount on credit card payment from our budget.

And now that I have learned my painful lesson well on credit card use, I only use my credit card for online transactions and paid everything else in cash. I may still maintain two credit cards for emergency purposes (the one has no annual fee and the other one has a large credit limit) but I make sure that each time I use any of them I already have the cash to pay for it in full.

As I aged 10 years more, Enchanted Kingdom has surprisingly maintained its features, rides and attractions. It was the very same place I saw a decade ago, except for the kart track, paintball and some additional food stalls. I was a month pregnant then, though it was not a disadvantage because I don’t really like those rides much due to my motion sickness. Funny how the baby in my stomach at that time turned out to be my opposite. I can’t help but feel dizzy and really worry as I watched my 10 year old son ride the Flying Fiesta 4 times, Anchor’s Away 7 times, Jungle Log Jam twice and all the other rides once. Yes! He even tried the Space Shuttle and was really relieved when he learned that he was tall enough to be allowed to. Huh?! As for me, being 7 months pregnant this time, I was again saved from the pressure that my husband, kids and siblings could have given me just to try those attractions that I won’t dare ride even in my wildest dreams. All in all, though we missed Mabelle and her family, it was a fun experience and I am just glad that EK has successfully preserved their park grounds and attractions so that my children were able to see, experience and enjoy them more than I did a decade ago.