Mommy Diary

Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

We have been so busy yesterday and today for the renewal of our car’s registration.  I thought the process was smooth and easy.  There were so many steps to do but they were quickly done.  After applying for car insurance, successfully passing the emission test, and finishing the required stencil process I thought we’ll just pay and we’re good to go.  But oh, I was so wrong.  We have just passed the necessary documents to the evaluation officer when they suddenly stood up in their seats and announced their system just went offline.  We were positive that it was just a temporary glitch in their system and would last an hour at most but an hour already went by and they’re still offline.

So with a heavy heart we went home.  The next day we went there again almost 100% sure that everything is already fine but we got the shock of our lives when we went there to find that they have been offline for almost 24 hours.  So we just went to SM to eat.  Good thing we called their office after an hour.  We were informed that their system is already up and running.

We hurriedly went there and submitted our documents.  My eyes grew big when I saw that the documents needed to be processed was about an inch thick.  So we just resigned ourselves by waited the whole afternoon.  The first 2  hours of waiting was super slow.  The LTO officers were super slow and we thought we wouldn’t get called within the day.  Fortunately, when it was already 4 pm they must have woken up from their stupor and began working quickly.  All of a sudden they were calling more and more names at a lesser interval.  The thought of going home at exactly 5pm must have motivated them to work fast.  Thirty minutes before 5pm our names were called and we got our stickers.  Yehey, finally we were done with our first ever car registration and was ready to go home.

Waiting game at LTO

At last, we rode the PNR train for the first time ever.  I’m happy the previous administration pushed through with  the rehabilitation of this railway.  Take note that I’m being super positive on this one.  At least there’s something the government did that makes my life easier.

Z was as excited as I was.  Little boys just love trains!  The train stations are hot and not something to boast about but at least the trains are squeaky clean and the airconditioning is even better than MRT’s.

Inside the PNR Train

It's my first time here.

No seat for me. huhu

From Bicutan to Blumentritt we paid P15 each. Children 3 feet and below are free but Z is already a little over that so we had to pay for his fare. We still don’t mind as it’s so affordable. Our train ride lasted only 40 minutes and we’re already on our stop.

The reason why I’m so excited with this train is because we plan to visit my Dad often.  He lives in Caloocan and without this there’s no way we can visit him as often as we want.  We have to wait for hubby to drive us there and since I’m already guilty of taking away some of his precious rest hours for my errands then it means I won’t ask him to drive us there as often as I want.  But with the train so accessible from our place we can visit him after Z’s classes and be back at home just in time for hubby’s arrival from work.  Talk about convenience!

We were only at my Dad’s for 2 1/2 hours and we had to hurry back home again.  Next time, we really have to go earlier.  At 3 pm we were already at the train station going back home.  We waited for 10 minutes before the train arrived.  In order not to wait too long you have to time your arrival.  Be sure to check the PNR Train Schedule before you go on a ride.

Take a picture of me, Mom, so that I don't forget I rode the train!

Of course, a picture inside too.

Standing only

We're home. Thanks, PNR!

Here is the list of the PNR Train Stations.

List of PNR Train Stations

If you’re looking for the PNR train schedule then maybe you’re one of the hundreds of people who are discovering its convenience.  We are yet to try it but I heard it’s a practical way to travel from Manila to Alabang and vice versa.  I heard that the trains are already air conditioned and there is a train schedule twice a hour.

The PNR train schedule is below.  If you’re looking for a faster and convenient then maybe this is the answer for your transportation problems.  It’s cost effective too.  The fare ranges only from P10 to 30.

source: www.pnr.gov.ph/

The Pep Boys offers retail and automotive repair.  It was started in 1921 by three guys, Manny, Moe, and Jack, who opened the first Pep Auto Supplies in Pennsylvania.

Now after nine decades Pep Boys has grown with over 570 stores and 6,000 service bays all over the United States.  It offers repairs, full vehicle service, and delivery of auto parts.  I find the last one really useful.  What if you were stranded in the road and you know what to do to fix your car but just don’t have the necessary part?  Wouldn’t it be convenient if the auto part was just delivered to you?  When our car broke we needed rubber bushing.  My stepfather came to fix it but the problem was it was a Sunday and all auto retailers are closed during Sundays.  So we had the mechanic but no replacement for the broken part.  During times like that I wish we have Pepboys in our place.  If we do I wouldn’t have hesitated to get their services.  With over 25,000 auto parts on stock I’m sure they have everything that  I would ever need even a replacement tire for tire emergencies.

Now Pep Boys has an added gift to their customers.  You will now earn rewards for all your purchases.  They will do the tracking for you and the best part is the rewards are sent automatically to you.

A little bit of history for you.  If you’re wondering how they got their cool names then here is the story.  The three friends who started it all named it Pep Auto Supplies after noticing  a Pep Valve grinding compound on the shelves.  But the Pep boys stuck when a policeman would stop cars at night without for not having an oil wick burning (remember this was in the 1920s) and would tell the owners to “go see the boys at Pep.”  He must have referred so many customers that the name soon stuck and until now they’re known as Pep Boys.

Hubby is going to rely on our car more than ever now that we’re moving.  We’ll be moving to Taguig and he works all the way to Eastwood which could take a little less than an hour without traffic and who knows how long with traffic.  Well, the nice thing about his schedule is he goes to work way before the traffic builds up and he goes home a few hours before the time when traffic starts to go slow in the afternoon.  Which reminds me that the car is due for tune up and change of oil which means we have to postpone buying body kits for now because of the extra expenses we have to pay for this month.  We also have to allocate for gas expense in the budget starting next month since he’ll be using the car every day.  Good thing he found a free parking near his office which is really rare considering where his office is located so we don’t have to worry about parking fees anymore.  Anyway, I think that is still cheaper than paying for rent every month.  Even if it’s more expensive I think hubby’s overall health is more important so it’s an extra expense we’ll gladly shoulder.

Owning a car is a great responsibility.  We were ecstatic when we were given a second hand car and we thought it was just as easy to maintain it.  We didn’t think of the cost associated with it at first because what’s foremost in our minds was how convenient it would be for us to travel from then on.  Having a car means no more commuting which then means no more transferring from one public vehicle to another to get to our destination.  It’s not easy to commute with a child in tow much less two children so I’m really thankful we have one already even before my second child is born.  However, pretty soon we learned how hard it was to maintain a car and how many things could go wrong.  In five months we already had our car scratched by people and then the worst of all was it refusing to start in the middle of Ortigas and then being pushed to a pole by the MMDA who helped us.  Yes, we had some crazy times with our car and we had learned a lot.  We also learned that we ought to be always ready because we will never know when we will need to have it repaired.  Aside from the gas expense that we have to shell out every week we also have to pay for  its maintenance.  Of course we can’t have our car looking ugly so  I’ve been searching online for accessories and found this website that provides car accessories like chevy accessories, toyota accessories and so on.  I was delighted they also have accessories for mazda which is the car that we have.  Hubby said since John Mayer’s concert was rescheduled in October we might just refund the tickets and use it to buy accessories for our car.  The decision is not yet final but I’m already looking just in case.

I’m so happy my husband said we’re going to Zoobic for my birthday. We have not been anywhere out of town since we got together. I’m sure he’s a bit nervous of the long drive but it’s still months away so he can still practice driving. Also we have more time left to save for this trip. I’m so positive that 2010 will bring us lots of blessings and money to spend.hehe Yes, that’s positive thinking for me.
One thing I want to do for my birthday is have my hair rebonded. My hair is not curly but it’s frizzy. I always have to use hair clips and hair pins to put it  in place. I have been wanting to do it for a long, long time but either it’s too expensive or something goes wrong. Like the last time I was absolutely determined to have it done the salon refused because I just got my haired colored. They said it’s an absolute no-no to have it rebonded after it’s colored. So I guess I have to grow it out first and that could take months. Anyway, I don’t mind. I can wait and time flies pretty quick.

We went out during the weekend and it was one of the most tiring weekends I had. Imaging going to Binan, Bicutan, Antipolo, and finally back home in Rizal? We did it while the weather was crazily changing from sunny to rainy to sunny again. We were so tired from all the traveling. All the time I was longing to be in front of the laptop instead of being outside. I’m really such a homebody or a real blog addict. I am so contented just being here and working on all my blogs. Anyway, here is a snapshot of our trip taken from Antipolo.

It was the height of Manny Paquiao and Ricky Hatton’s fight when we decided to go to Tagaytay for a joy ride. As expected there were only a few cars on the road and we enjoyed a smooth ride to Tagaytay. It has been years since I last visited this place. I remember I was only a teenager when we used to frequent here with my family. We went to the Palace in the Sky and it was at noon when we got there. The sight was amazing! The only not so good thing was the sky was full of clouds so we weren’t able to see it all.
What I enjoyed during our trip there was of course the shopping! We bought a nice wall decor for our apartment, jewelry boxes, and lots of buko pie from Collette’s. Their buko pie is really tasty and full of buko tidbits. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. When we go back to Tagaytay I’ll make sure to buy more pies.