Lady in Red and Pink Umbrella

We went to Quiapo couple weeks ago, about half an hour from Makati to visit the church Basilika Ng Nazareno, a 400 years old church. It's one of the famous church in the Philippines.

While there, we bought Nina an umbrella, a mini umbrella which was her first umbrella, pink in color. This was her playing with her umbrella in front of the church. She can say the word umbrella already, by the way.

Typhoon Xangsane

Today, we experienced our very first encounter with typhoon in our life. Thank God we were well protected at home, eventhough it was pretty scary staying on the 19th floor when it happened.

I was in the office at 7am for our morning conference call with US when I saw an advisory email that the Metro Manila will be hit by the typhoon Xangsane by noon. We could be asked to go home, they said. By 10am, it got worse. The sound of the winds which they said gusting up to 160 km/h was pretty scary. My local Filipino friends in the office seemed very calm. I was not as it was my first experience with typhoon. I touched the window glass panel behind my workstation (on 35th floor!!) and it was vibrating!! The power went off and we were then on genset. By 10.30am we were told that work has been suspended for the day and we were all advised to go home.

To cut the long story short, I managed to get home safely. I saw a number of trees on the street and roads have started to be messy with debris. From my apartment, I saw zinc roof flying.

By about 4pm the typhoon has passed Metro Manila and headed toward Vietnam and was expected to make a landfall on Sunday. Thank God again, we're all safe and protected. But the disappointing thing is ... the typhoon has gone .. it's a working day tomorrow.

Sunglasses

Nina knows sunglasses now. She can say it correctly too.
Few weeks ago, she insisted on putting on her mommy's sunglasses which were actually her mommy's mom's sunglasses. :-)

Thinking hard

.. but don't forget to smile.

After a good night's sleep

My favourite time to photograph Nina is when she just woke up. Either in the morning or after her afternoon nap. She always looks fresh and cheerful after warming up for few minutes. This is Nina under the blanket.

Happy Birthday Heidi !!!

Hello Heidi ... happy birthday to you !!! When are you coming to Manila?

Nina's calling

Nina can pick up the phone and pretend to talk. Sometimes, she will really 'talk' and will end 'the conversation' by saying "bye bye" and she hangs up.

There was one time, she picked up the phone and accidentally pressed 8 four times. And guess what, 8888 happens to be the Emergency Hotline number here. Few minutes later, the Security people called back and asked why we called them. I was puzzled.

Nina is well now

Nina is well now. She apparently had Roseola Infantum that caused high fever and rashes after the fever broke. But, it's not dangerous at all, the doctor told us. She still has some rashes especially on her back, but she is pretty much OK now. Active, playful and eat well.

"Turtle Terbalik"

Nina saw this picture on her mommy's t-shirt and guess what she said. She said, "turtle terbalik" and then she said, "turtle upside down". She now understands that terbalik = upside down.

Nina is better now

Nina is now better. She still had slight fever today, but not the entire day. Her temperature was okay most of the day.

But last night was bad. She developed allergy to one of the medicines she took. Her lower lip was swollen suddenly and there was red and thick itchy patches on her neck. We consulted her doctor and was told to give her antihistamine immediately. I had to go out to buy it last night.

The swollen lip and the red patches are gone now, but it did create panic last night.

Nina is not well

Nina felt sick. She has had high fever since Monday night plus mild diarrhoea. We gave her Progesic and Restore that we brought from Singapore and they did help.

But on Tuesday, her temperature went up again, so we decided to bring her to see a pediatrician at Paseo de Magallanes, recommended by a friend of mine. Nina was given another medicine that should be taken if her temperature is above 38°C. Her temperature went up to 39.2°C last night, so we gave her the additional medicine.
Her temperature came down to 36.7°C this morning and she felt much better.

But we had to bring her to see the doctor again earlier this afternoon because there was an irritation on her right eye and it's a bit swollen. She was given another medicine for that. Poor Nina.

Her temperature also went up again earlier today. We gave her the new medicine and it has since came down. We were told to do a blood test if the fever continues until tomorrow. Hope it's nothing serious. We are afraid because there is currently a dengue outbreak in Manila.

Exploring the Baywalk

These are the photos taken last week when we were at the Manila Bay. Nina was walking, exploring the baywalk.

At Manila Bay @ Sunset

The famous Manila Bay sunset. It lived up to its reputation.

At Villa Escudero again

More photos of Nina taken at Villa Escudero. Taken at the walkway that connects the museum and the main entrance.