Holiday Rush

Where did Christmas go? It zoomed past, that's what happened. I was in a mad rush to get everything done before the big day, and guess what? It just passed me by.

I was busy cooking and making my famous 4-Noodle Spaghetti, Russian Salad and Broken Glass Dessert for, not one, but 3 parties! Yep, so busy with Christmas that... (would you believe?!) our tree's still up with about 75% of the presents still under it? Yes. Christmas morning has yet to come to my household!

Ok, ok... I didn't spoil Christmas for the kids. They opened a ton of presents at my folks'. And I mean A TON! They're all still there - in 4 huge bags from Rustan's and a gigantic Thomas the Tank Engine Storage Bag. RL insisted he wanted to take home his loot, and I allowed him to bring home the Thomas Train Set and the Mickey stuff (he will sleep with all his Mickey stuff, he says). A took home the top gift on her wish list - her Littlest Pet Shop Rescue Tails Center. Did I ever mention how big her LPS Collection is? Wait 'til we get her room all tidied up and fixed. I shall take photos!

So there. And we still have stockings full of toys and presents under our tree. I'm tempted to keep them in crates, to bring out again for next Christmas. Hahaha!

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My nanny's kids are at our place for the holidays. It is crazy, crazy, CRAZY! A's old nanny (our current nanny's sis) also came to visit with her little girls. So yes, I have a house full of screaming little ones! I bet my neighbors are wondering if I've turned my house into a zoo. Took them to Circle of Fun Sunday evening, and to Star City the day after. Tonight, we're watching RPG Metanoia in 3D - a first for my nanny's kids (actually, their first full screen movie).

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With everything happening during and after Christmas, I forgot all about 5J's Piso Fare Sale! Argh! And right when I accepted the fact that I wasn't able to catch any good deals for next year, my brother calls me up Monday night, right when we were in the middle of Star City madness to let me know that my folks are booking a trip to China. And that I should get on the net asap to book our flights. They needed our passport details, but we were over 30 kilometers away from home!

So needless to say, they got their cheap flights and I didn't. :( Guess we're spending Holyweek alone and in town. :(

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In other news, the hubby is in Manila. He went Christmas shopping with us and got A a pair of Fitflop Walkstar sandals. We also went out to have dinner and do Timezone with RL. R noticed that his son calls him "Kong". Well, he doesn't quite know you, does he? But he's pretty satisfied that RL runs to him and kisses him. I have a sweet, little boy. Ironically, he is so much like his father. Eeeps.

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So, how was Christmas for you? I received 5 things from my wishlist - the rice cooker (thanks, Pot and TutuB!), the Osterizer (thanks, Mom and K!), the knife set (thanks, A!), the external DVD writer (thanks, bro!) and my fave gift, Fitflop Pietra Pewter (super special thanks to my cousin, N, who looked all over for a US Size 6!)! I'd also like to give special mention to my li'l bro, who, in spite of making $$$ at the last bonfire, got me a Wuzzles Mug! LOL! Best laugh I had, you wait 'til next Christmas! I hope you love the Stitch stuffed toy I got for your stocking. I washed it for you! 150pesos and a Disney Store Original, all the way from Marikina Ilog ukay-ukay! LOL! I love you, li'l bro! I'm gonna beat your gift next year!

Oh and thanks, dad, for letting me realize how much I mean to you with that ONE local lollipop you stuffed into my stocking, when everyone else got Chupa Chups in 3s. Hmph!

(RL, in front of my mom's huge Christmas tree!)

Hahaha. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Maynilad Matters

Ok, so I chanced upon the corporate affairs guy of Maynilad on FB and decided to write to him right when I was composing the previous post. Yep, in desperation. Ha! Turns out we have 4 common friends. And he likes our music. Figured he'd be a good guy. And I was right.

I received a reply the following morning.

(Wow. That was quick.)

And he promised to look into the matter and asked me for more details. The next day, he wrote again to let me know that the reopening/ reconnection charges have been reversed.

(Thank you, God!)

After a couple of hours, I get a call from the top honcho of Maynilad's Fairview branch.

(Whoa!)

He promised to fix their system. He also apologized and ensured me they are looking at improving how they deal with customer problems. He also gave me his personal number!

...Now, if only they acted as fast when you go through regular channels (read: Customer service hotline).

Grrr... Maynilad!

Ok, so remember this?

Well, today I received a disconnection notice (yes, again!) from Maynilad. Surprise! Surprise! So I called their super useless hotline and found out that they were disconnecting my water once again for my unpaid balance of P457.00. This was actually the first time for me to see this amount on my bill, so I asked. What was this for?

"Reconnection fee po, Ma'am."

Waitaminute, reconnection fee for reconnecting my water last October? When I got her affirmation, she couldn't stop me from dishing out a dozen or so expletives (ok, I neither cursed nor shouted, but mind you, I was livid).

May i please remind you, Maynilad, that you made the mistake of disconnecting my water two months ago because YOU FAILED TO COMMIT MY PAYMENT INTO YOUR SYSTEM. A PAYMENT I HAD MADE IN CASH AND IN FULL WAY BACK IN JULY FOR DEBTS UNPAID BY A PREVIOUS TENANT! Yes, YOU made that mistake, and the people in your Maynilad Fairview Branch had nothing else to say but sorry, and pasensya na po. And made a promise to reconnect my water asap (which they did naman in 20 minutes or so). And that I need not pay any reconnecting fees because it was an error on your part to have disconnected it in the first place.

So what now, brown cow?

I called your hotline and spoke to a certain Jovie tonight, and according to her, she already filed a complaint on my behalf. A complaint she isn't sure will receive feedback in the next few days. A complaint I have to follow up on by (wait for it...) GOING TO THE FAIRVIEW BRANCH TO SORT IT OUT!!!

Anakngtokwa, will you reimburse my gas expenses to and fro? Will you reimburse my wage cuts because I have to take time off full-time work to get my butt to your office all the way in Fairview just to sort out a mess you had created in the first place? May I remind you, this was all YOUR fault, YOUR error, YOUR miscom with your disconnection team, YOUR incompetent encoder or whoever does the commitment of payments into YOUR lousy system???!!!

Why should I be the one to suffer, when as far as I know, and as far as YOUR RECORD SHOWS, I have always paid on time, and have even paid for debt balances I did not incur! That makes me a top quality customer! But, sadly, you treat me like shab!

So tell me, shall we bring this to court? Shall I flood forums and community pages so that my voice (and a thousand others) will be heard and action be taken on your part? Wait, suing you will mean spending an extra great deal of moolah (for what? for sh*tty service at that!)... maybe I should call on Tulfo or get on TV programs with my un-service story. Maybe that will catch your eye, and maybe then, you will get my drift. Hmph!

Bah! Humbug! You just ruined my ho-ho-ho-holiday spirit! Bah!

Yoohoo, you forgot another tag line: New Mission. New Direction. New Management. Same Old Sh*t.

Christmas Wish List #2

TO MY SIBLINGS and COUSIN, S. Here is my abot-kaya list. LOL.

STOCKING STUFFERS:

1. Sophie Kinsella's Mini Shopaholic book

2. Neosporin

3. Nyquil (LOL!) Seriously!

4. SD Memory Cards

5. A new mouse

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Christmas is 13 days away! Nyar! I seriously, SERIOUSLY need to get some Christmas Shopping done!

Dinner and Coffee with the Brus

I had dinner and coffee with my brus Friday night. I haven't been out much with my friends lately (mostly because after work, I am dead tired), but I made sure I found time to do dinner this once. V is home for the holidays, and B owed G and I dinner! LOL. So off we went to have dinner at Circles and coffee at nearby UCC.

It's great the way time passes when you're having fun. We were laughing and reminiscing about highschool that we didn't realize it was past 3am already!

I realize now how much I've missed my friends - real friends at that. Friends that stick with you through the thin.

THIS CHRISTMAS, I WANT TO RELIVE THE GOOD STUFF FROM MY PAST. REMINISCE THE GOOD AND BAD, BUT RELISH THE SWEETNESS OF ALL THINGS GOOD (including my all time fav coffee indulgence - a sinful Sumiyaki Coffee Jelly from UCC! I think I had more than 20 of those when pregnant with A, oops!).

What are the things you remember most during the holiday season?

My Christmas Wish List

This year, my sibs and I are starting a new tradition - we're giving each other a list of Christmas wishes, just so we don't give each other things we don't really need (more like... just so Kaye doesn't give us stuff from Divi! LOL!).

So for tradition's sake, here is my Christmas Wish List.

THINGS I WANT FROM SANTA THIS YEAR

1. an iPAD (I can dream, right?)

2. a new point and shoot digicam. a Canon s95! (my Nikon died, after what? 3 years? tsk.)

3. medium, long-handled Longchamp Planètes in Ebony or Clay (yup, another dream)

4. Fitflop Pietra in Pewter, US Size 6

5. Fitflop Walkstar 1 in Red, US Size 5 or 6

6. Fitflop Walkstar 3 in Lipstick Red, US Size 5 or 6

7. Fitflop Gummi in Strawberry, US Size 5 or 6 (ok, ok... I LOVE FITFLOP!)

8. a 1TB external hard drive (any trusted brand will do as long as it doesn't crash)

9. a new Oster Blender

10. a long black TV stand to put under our LCD.

11. a new shelving unit for the garage (so I can store our kalat, hehe)

12. a .5 or .6 HP Airconditioning Window Unit with Timer for RL's small room.

Haha, this is my dream-on wish list! I'll get to my real wish list next week. Meanwhile, I can dream big, right? Hehehe. Happy holidays!

Oh My!

I can't believe Christmas is only 20 days away! I haven't written a post for the past two weeks, because in between the shopping, the working and getting sick, I've lost track of time.

Last night, I got to see my highschool friends, and it was the most fun I've had in months! But yes, Christmas is near and I am panicking!

How are feeling about Christmas being a couple of weeks away? Ayayay!