Blog ni ako

Wilton Heart Candy Necklace Kit

2012-02-11T00:00:00.010+08:00

There's no denying that kids love everything about candy. What more if they can wear and eat them at the same time! I purchased this Wilton Heart Candy Necklace kit last year when it was on sale. The box contains 8 individually packaged kits for making candy necklaces. I find the elastic strings a bit short so I just replaced them with my own. I assisted my nieces in stringing their own candy necklaces. This is a fun project for kids to keep them busy and entertained. They're not only fun to make but fun to eat too!

Each pack contains candy beads, 1 candy heart pendant and an elastic string.

I placed them in this chip and dip plate

The youngest one was more interested in eating the candies! lol

Yummy candy necklaces!

Made some matching bracelet too!

Sporting their edible jewelries.

Gummy Lips

Linking to:

Apple Sandwiches with Granola, Chocolate Chips and Peanut Butter

2012-02-03T11:20:00.005+08:00

I whipped up these tasty and healthy apple sandwiches one sunday afternoon and the kidlets totally loved them! These are cored apples sliced into rings and smeared with peanut butter, sprinkled with granola or chocolate chips then topped with remaining apple slices. They're absolutely delicious and very easy to prepare! My nieces are picky eaters and would eat the same food again and again but they get more enthusiastic about eating healthy food If prepared in a fun way. I'd definitely make them again but would slice the apples thinner since my nieces had a hard time biting into them.

Recipe source: Whole Foods Market

Instead of chocolate chips, you can substitute raisins, dried fruits or whatever you desire.

Waiting for my cue. lol!

Time to eat!

Ykaie couldn't get enough! It makes me happy everytime I see them enjoying the food I prepared for them.

My share for:

The Real Thing Diner

2012-01-28T13:21:00.013+08:00

Being a coke person made me so eager to try this restaurant. It was still closed when we arrived. We didn't know the restaurant opens at 1:00 PM so we waited outside for a few minutes. First thing I noticed as we entered the restaurant were the Coca Cola memorabilia. The setting was a delight to see! This coke inspired restaurant not only offers coke infused meals but also uses Sprite, Sarsi, Royal True Orange and eight o'clock orange to add flavor to the dishes. We tried different interesting dishes and the Sarsi wings were definitely the stand out here, everything else we ordered tasted ok to me. The food was not bad but my taste buds were looking for more hint of coke flavor. Prices are reasonable for the portions and level of service. The Real Thing Diner is located at the 2nd floor of Il Terrazo Mall, Tomas Morato Quezon City.

Sis with the kids

Coca Cola Seafood Jambalaya (P229)

Sarsi Wings(P199)

Signature Platter- a combination of coca cola baby back ribs, royal tru orange pork chop and eight o'clock chicken served with rice and a pitcher of coke (P799)

Chicken tenders with Coca cola bbq dipping sauce (P169)

Kani Salad (P149)

Sprite potato cheese soup(P99)

Coca Cola BBQ Burger (P249)

Coke float (79)

Coke-drizzled Sundae (P139)

My share for:

How To Animate Photos

2012-01-20T11:00:00.015+08:00

I was supposed to post a tutorial on how to animate photos since some of you have asked me how I do the "moving pictures" or animated photos. I usually use Photoshop or Jasc animation shop but I was thinking not everyone has them and there are several steps before you can animate pictures. Here's the good news! I discovered a website where you can easily animate your photos in 2 simple steps and I'd like to share it with you. Just upload your photos to lunapic and you're all set to animate your pictures. You can also open images from your facebook account, picasa, photobucket and flickr.

Here are the screen shots

You can upload up to 10 photos. ( I uploaded 3 photos)

After uploading your photos, you can now save this to your computer.

You can use the continuous shooting mode in taking pictures while holding the camera still. What I always do is fix the camera to a tripod for perfect position and to avoid camera movement. Then I use the custom self timer mode and set the number of shots to be taken.

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What makes me happy?

Taking pictures of my nieces makes me happy! They are always ready to pose for the camera. They even suggest I take wacky photos of them. lol! Seeing them making faces and doing wacky poses makes me smile!

Taken before going to a Japanese grocery store in Makati to buy goodies for the bentos I make.

Taken before going to Children's Playgound at Luneta Park

Taken before going to SM to watch The Smurfs

The one in green is my sister's daughter while the 3 other girls are my brother's daughters.

Photoshoot before eating out for lunch and grocery shopping

My share for:

Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Cebu ( Part 2 of 2)

2012-01-13T20:25:00.006+08:00

Plantation Bay also offers a day trip package which costs Php2,000 per person. Children 4-12 yrs old get 50% discount while 3 years old and below are free of charge.

I asked my sister: Which resort did you like the most? Shangrila's Mactan or Plantation Bay?

Here's my verdict:
Food- I love the food at Shangrila's Mactan
Room- I love the soft and comfy bed at Shangrila's Mactan
Beach- I love the beach at Shangrila's Mactan. The beach at Plantation bay is quite small.

Which resort will I choose If I were to go back? I'd definitely love to go back to Plantation bay! My sister liked Shangrila's Mactan better than Plantation bay because of the elegance of the hotel and it's classy feel. I just love the laid back and cozy atmosphere at Plantation bay and I think the swimming pools are also way better. The kilimanjaro swimming pool has several water jets, jacuzzi, bubblers, sprinklers and a cave with whirpool. It can never get crowded at the resort because of the huge swimming area. The next time I go back, I'll absolutely avail the special indulgence spa package!

More photos:

The next day after having breakfast, we went kayaking.

East Saltwater swimming lagoon

Ykaie in the Gazebo

Gorgeous isn't it?

We are twitter's trending topic! We bought matching tops from Whatever.

Behind are the Water's edge rooms. I was supposed to reserve for a Water's edge room but with a hyperactive kid like Ykaie who is always excited to dip in the water, it is just not advisable.

Lunch by the pool

Want some coconut juice?

This is the beach. It's this small. What you see is what you get. ( Who needs the beach when you can also have fun swimming in the man made lagoon!)

Shot from the other side

Bought Zubu Chon's lechon at the airport

Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Cebu ( Part 1 of 2)

2012-01-07T21:22:00.005+08:00

Here's the continuation of our Cebu getaway.

After an amazing overnight stay at Shangrila's Mactan, we were more than excited to reach our second destination: Plantation Bay Resort! From SM Cebu, it took 30 minutes to get to Plantation bay by cab which cost us Php350. I reserved for a Lagoon Side room. The room features a balcony which opens directly onto the man made lagoon. You can be in the water a few seconds after leaving the room. Plantation bay is known for it's ginormous man made saltwater swimming lagoon.The grounds are beautiful and perfectly landscaped! A day wasn't enough for us to explore everything the resort has to offer. It was tiring to walk around and check out every nook and cranny but who cares, I have to say we loved every minute we spent here!

I think there are at least 4 freshwater swimming pools around the resort

The lagoon in front of our room

Time to dip in the water

picture taking first!

North Saltwater lagoon

Kilimanjaro swim up bar

Kilimanjaro fresh water swimming pool

I was having a hard time climbing up this rock for some photo op! lol!

Night swimming

Please Scroll down for more photos

Happy New Year! Our New Year's Eve and New Year's Day Celebration

2012-01-02T22:36:00.009+08:00

Happy 2012 everyone! How did you celebrate New year? Here's what happened with our New Year's day celebration.

We were out in the street having so much fun playing with sparklers. I had to take several shots of the 2012 sparkler photo since cousin Rome was writing number 2 backwards and it read 2015 instead of 2012. lol! He was having a hard time so he was replaced by my other cousin.

Sis traced cousin Rome's body using a colorful light. We were supposed to use the lights for the 2012 sparkler photo but one of my nieces broke one and we were left with 3 lights.

Outside my sister's internet shop eagerly waiting for the clock to strike 12

While waiting for New year's eve, we nibbled on chips and dip, onion rings, roast chicken and pritong baga. I'm not translating what pritong baga means as I might gross out some foreign friends. lol!

Time to celebrate 2012! Sis and I only prepared a few finger food for our Media Noche.

I purchased some fresh fruits and made chocolate fondue for the kids.

Sis cooked these flavorful wonton wrapped shrimps.

She also prepared savory Wonton Pizza bites

I made some delectable canapes

... and heavenly Raspberry Mousse with fresh raspberries and diced brownies

I was contemplating what beverage to serve but settled with this delightful non Alcoholic White Sangria so the kids can enjoy them too.

Store bought Decadent Chocolate Cake.

Our simple New Year's Eve celebration ( Zorro inspired lol!)

Sharing a lovely lunch on New Year's day. ( No, we are not on a diet!)

Nochebuena and Christmas Party 2011

2011-12-26T20:22:00.012+08:00

How was your Christmas? Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!

Here are some photos from our Nochebuena and Christmas party.

I made these chocolate coated marshmallow reindeers and chocolate cherry cookies for my nieces but 3 of them didn't make it for our Nochebuena feast.

Fresh Fruit Salad with orange mint syrup- Someone gave me 4 pieces of star fruit and I thought of using them to garnish the salad. It's not easy to find star fruits in the grocery.

Beef Pot Roast cooked by sis

Mashed potato Christmas trees

Bacon wrapped asparagus

Strawberry Santa

My plate- I got the cute Sexy Santa mug from one of the restaurants at Shangrila Mactan

Ykaie and my cousin

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Steamed Fish with mayo garlic dressing

Shrimp Thermidor

Honey lemon glazed Chicken Wings

Penne Mango Salad

Lengua Estofado

Roasted Pig!

Wild and hungry!

poor lechon!

Nieces and nephews

Gift Giving

Just goofing around

Merry Christmas to all!

Hot Cocoa Cones

2011-12-20T22:45:00.004+08:00

Four days to go till Christmas! Everyone's doing their shopping and buying Christmas presents for their loved ones. Are you done with Christmas shopping? I'm done wrapping all the gifts for my family and friends and I'm always excited for our little get together every year. I purchased some christmas themed cups and mugs and thought of making hot cocoa cones for my cousins and some friends to give this Christmas.

Here are the supplies I used:

Nesquick chocolate
mini marshmallows
candy canes
sprinkles
disposable pastry bags

I filled the bag with chocolate powder and secured with rubber band. I put the cocoa bag into another pastry bag and poured some marshmallows and sprinkles. After securing tightly with a rubber band, I added some decorative ribbon and tag.

Aren't they cute?

best paired with your favorite cookies!

Hot Cocoa Mix

Shangri-La's Mactan Resort and Spa ( part 2 of 2)

2011-12-15T20:50:00.008+08:00

Included in our stay at the resort was a complimentary breakfast at Tides featuring a buffet of international dishes. There were so much to choose from and I was astounded by the extent of the selection. I'm not really a big breakfast eater. I usually go fairly light but in times like this who couldn't be tempted when my eyes were feasting and meal was free! After having breakfast we hit the beach once again before packing our things for our next destination. The shuttle bus was scheduled to depart from the resort to Shoemart at 11:30 AM so we checked out early. There was a minimal fee of Php100/person ( free for kids). Overall, I can say that we had a lovely time and enjoyable stay at the resort. I could never say enough about the staffs who were all courteous and attentive to our needs.

Bread and pastry station

Fresh fruit juices ( watermelon, pineapple, mango, orange)

First round

Second round- I wanted to sample other japanese food available but I was already too full.

At Buco Bar

Shangri-La's Mactan Resort and Spa shuttle bus schedule

Shangri-La's Mactan Resort and Spa ( part 1 of 2)

2011-12-12T21:40:00.007+08:00

It all started with Cebu Pacific seat sale. I wanted to book a flight without a destination in mind. Then Michi's (of michi photostory) post about their Shangrila's Mactan Resort and Spa day trip came to mind. I also wanted to visit Shangrila's Mactan since I've read her post about it so I booked a flight for a 3 day trip to Cebu. ( I wanted a 4 day trip but Ykaie has to go to school!) Then I learned that Shangri-La won't accept day tours if the hotel is full. I didn't want to spoil our trip so I just reserved for a Deluxe Sea View Room. Upon arrival at the hotel, we were informed that our room has been upgraded to Ocean Wing Panorama Room. It was only 9 Am in the morning but we were allowed for an early check in. The room has a panoramic view of the ocean. The hotel is everything you would expect from a 5 star hotel. Our room was extremely comfortable, very clean and very well managed. This trip was actually a surprise birthday gift for my sister. It was her birthday yesterday! I just told her we were going to Cebu without disclosing where we would stay. It was just an overnight stay since we were transferring to a different resort the next day.

Upon arrival, we were assisted by Shangri-la's airport representative.

Our cozy room

This is the view from our room. I think the view could have been nicer if we were situated on a higher floor. We were on the second floor.

It was raining in the morning. We started exporing the place when the rain stopped and after having lunch.

Ykaie was having fun with this giant Chess board set up

Infinity pool

What I Do with Leftover Bento Food Scraps

2011-12-05T18:48:00.006+08:00

What do I do with leftover bento food scraps? Leftover food scraps never go to waste. They all get eaten. When I prepare a bento meal, I sometimes eat the fruit scraps as I go but never the bread scraps. It's my 2 little nieces ( they don't go to school yet) who eat the leftovers but I also make it fun for them to eat. I prepare them in a way they will look appetizing to their eyes. As long as there's peanutbutter or nutella everything gets eaten. But most of the time, it is my dad who eats all the scraps. lol! Poor Dad! He likes them anyway. The food scraps become his breakfast.

Here's what I do:

I only needed the yellow part of the bread

I cut the bread scraps in fun shapes or make mini peanutbutter roll ups

Here's my breakfast!

Winnie the Pooh bento

Snail bento

Butterfly bento

Rabbit bento

Crab bento

Villa Bienvenida Beach Resort -White Beach, Puerto Galera

2011-11-29T20:32:00.009+08:00

We were supposed to go to Puerto Galera in April of this year but because of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that time, my relatives backed out. I could no longer refund the down payment for the rooms I reserved. The caretaker of the resort asked me to just reschedule our trip and I just thought it would be better if we go in November just in time for Ykaie's birthday. We stayed at Villa Bienvenida Beach Resort ( aka HSL Beach Resort) which was formerly known as Lagundian Beach Resort. Did I confuse you? lol! When I reserved for our rooms it was still HSL/Lagundian so I was surprised to see they changed the name of the resort. Anyway, I got lots of pictures to share that's why I made 3 posts about our Puerto Galera getaway.

Coffee break at dreamwave restaurant

On our way to Tamaraw Beach Resort -We decided to go to the neighboring resort which was about 10 minute walk from White beach. We had to climb up more or less 70 steps before reaching this road. The stairs were a bit steep!

Yay! We made it!! Ready... set... pose!

White beach is definitely more bigger than Tamaraw beach resort but it is more peaceful here!

The resort has a playground for kids.

There's no entrance fee coming here. You can roam around and take pictures to your heart's desire just like what we did. lol!

Going through the boulders is the quickest way to get to tamarraw beach from white beach but since we got 2 kids in tow, we chose to take the road path

On our last day, we had lunch at Pizerria Ristorante Ciao Italia before heading back home. Notice the stairs to our right? That was where we climbed up going to Tamarraw beach and to our left was the route going through the boulders.

Waiting for our food

The owner is Italian who makes good pizza!

Food here is expensive but the place has a nice view of the beach.

Going home-Boat ride takes 1 1/2 hrs from White Beach to Batanggas Port. We paid Php530 for a roundtrip transfer including the terminal fee and environmental fee.

Puerto Galera Inland Tour

2011-11-25T17:30:00.002+08:00

On our second day in Puerto Galera, we went on an inland tour to Tamaraw falls, Ponderosa and Mangyan village. It was another celebration since this was the actual birthday of Ykaie (Nov.19) The tour cost was Php2,000 courtesy of my sister ( Ykaie's Mom). We bought a pot of rice from the resort where we were staying then the tour guide dropped us off at the market so we could buy some fruits and seafoods to take to the falls for our picnic lunch. He grilled the seafoods for us.

Tamaraw Falls

Swimming area for adults

below is the swimming area for the kids

I never thought I would take a dip in the water since I didn't bring extra clothes. But the water looks inviting! I needed to buy a shirt afterwards. Nope, I didn't change undies. lol! Oh well, I wasn't the only one!

The water was cold!

Ykaie I assure you next year you'll have a real birthday cake!

We had grilled squid, prawns, tilapia and liempo.

Our next stop was at Ponderosa Golf Club. I love the scenic view here!

Overlooking Puerto Galera

Mangyan Village- we were not able to explore the village since 2 of my realtives needed to use the restroom. We just took a few pictures then went straight back to the resort.

Beach Luau Birthday Party

2011-11-21T15:51:00.010+08:00

Ykaie just turned 4 and we celebrated her birthday in Puerto Galera. Sis and I helped each other in preparing the party food. The moment we arrived we already prepared the food since it was almost 3 o'clock in the afternoon. No birthday cake for her but I made some beach luau themed sugar cookies and assembled them in a tray filled with brown sugar. I just then added a candle and it served as a replacement for her birthday cake. A cousin and a niece were not able to join us but It was such a fun celebration though there were just 7 of us!

Everything was already cooked when we brought them all the way from Manila.

Bacon wrapped pineapple bites

Pineapple tarts

Hawaiian Fruit Skewers

Mini chocolate cupcakes

Pineapple cream cheese spread and crackers- Sis made this one together with the soy ginger porkchops and aloha burgers

Soy ginger porkchop with pineapple salsa

Sodas in hula skirts

Beach Luau themed birthday cookie tray

My plate

I made 4 palm tree shaped sugar cookies and only 1 survived the travel but then Ykaie tried to picked it out from the tray and it broke into 2 pieces. You can see the dead palm tree cookie laying on the sand. Poor cookie!

Happy 4th birthday!

ang laki ng tyan! lol!

with her tita- Godmother Rome

Group shot

Seriland

2011-11-15T00:48:00.005+08:00

Sis and I took the the kids to Seri Fantasy World which is located at the second level of the Manila Ocean Park. Attractions include Trick Art Museum, Mirror Maze, 3D Cinema plus, and Kid's Paradise. Admission fee for each attraction is Php150. Children 3 years old and below are free of charge. We picked out Trick Art Museum and Mirror maze among the attractions. Trick art Museum is a gallery of 3D Art freehand painted by famous korean artists. Parts of the painting are popping out of the frame and shadows are painted to create optical illusion. Lots of fun photo opportunities though kinda tiring for the kids staying put and retaining proper position. In Mirror Maze, you'll see several reflections of yourself in every directions. Your goal is to find your way out.

My sister and nieces getting drunk! lol!

I'm not sure why my niece in red loves posing this way! hehe!

Another one of her favorite pose!

Please scroll down for more photos.

DIY Grass Skirt and Drink Hula Skirt

2011-11-08T01:00:00.012+08:00

It has been a while since my last post! My computer died and my hard drive crashed! Yikes! I have an external hard drive but there were files I haven't backed up specially recent pictures I took and deleted from the camera. Luckily, the technician was able to retrieve my files but I lost my bookmarks! I was not able to use the computer for 5 days and I was so bored! I just busied myself watching movies at night with my nieces. Anyway, I'm back and will blog hop as soon as I can.

I just finished making this Hula Skirt for Ykaie's upcoming Luau birthday party! She's gonna be 4 yrs old on the 19th of November and we'll celebrate her birthday at the beach in Puerto Galera. It will just be a small party.

I did the same procedure when I made Ykaie's tutu 2 years ago. It is the quickest way to make a Hawaiian grass skirt. I only spent Php130 for the materials.

I cut several lengths of raffia straw ( knee length)

I just kept tying and adding pieces of raffia straw onto the elastic band using Cow hitch knot.

measure around waist and sew the 2 ends together.

Finished product- embellished with flowers using hot glue

I also made mini grass skirts and bra tops

Drink Hula skirts

Here's Ykaie's Beach Luau birthday party.

Ghost and Pumpkin Themed Halloween Party

2011-10-28T21:07:00.008+08:00

Last Sunday I threw a halloween party for my nieces. They've all been looking forward to this celebration for they will be able to dress up in their favorite halloween costume, play games and get a lot of halloween goodies! Everyone was excited even the adults. I prepared everything! It was tiring but all worth it seeing the happy faces of my nieces. I have never experienced this as a child since halloween is not a popular celebration in the Philippines way back. Hopefully my nieces will grow up with fond memories of this fun celebration. Everyone enjoyed the party!

Here are some of the party snacks I prepared.

Pumpkin Sugar Cookie Pops and Pumpkin Rice Krispie treats- I used marshmallow fondant and tootsie rolls for the details

Ghost Pops

Pumpkin Roll Ups- tomato and basil tortilla filled with bacon spread, bacon bits and cheese

Halloween Chips and Dips- Tostitos Salsa con queso and garlic sour cream dip. I used nori for the eyes and mouth.

Linguini Pasta Negra- Linguini with Squid ink sauce

Ghosts in the Graveyard Pudding cups- Recipe here

Ghost Punch- Orange juice and white jelly. I used black gel food color to stain the jelly for the eyes and mouth.

Popcorn Party Mix- The cardboard cones are actually party hats included in the halloween loot bag set I used last year.

Chocolate covered cherry mice- hershey's kisses+cherries+ almond slices

Assorted halloween chocolates

Ghost lollipops, chocolate eyeballs and fangs

Game Prizes and Giveaways

I couldn't seem to capture a good group photo of them where everyone is looking at the cam!

Halloween Party Games- balloon popping and pin the smile on the Jack O'Lantern

Their most favorite halloween party game which they also played last year: halloween bingo! (Printables here) Long nosed cousin hosted it! lol!

Ghosts in the Graveyard Pudding Cups

2011-10-24T18:40:00.005+08:00

We had an early halloween party yesterday since the kids will go trick or treating at the mall on the 31st. I'd like to share how I made one of the snacks I prepared for my nieces's Halloween Party.

For the ghost sugar cookies, I used the recipe when I made the Frankenstein Sugar Cookie Pops last year. This is a good recipe for a small batch of cookies.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
ghost sugar cookies
chocolate pieces
crushed Oreos
chocolate rocks- silver nuggets

Directions:

Prepare pudding as directed on the package- I made this more chocolatey by adding melted chocolate.
Spoon into cups.
Place in the refrigerator until set.

How to assemble the graveyard pudding cups:

Insert the toothpicks while the cookies are still hot

I baked and iced the ghost sugar cookies 2 days before the party.

Royal Icing mix I used. Just add water.

Insert ghost sugar cookies in the middle of the pudding just before serving. Sprinkle crushed oreos then arange choco rocks all the way around.

I made a fenced graveyard using cardboards and illustration board.

So cute!

Halloween Shadow Puppets

2011-10-15T22:39:00.007+08:00

Last month a strong typhoon hit Philippines which caused widespread power outages. Heavy rains have submerged some areas. We had no electricity for 2 days and we were so bored! We did a lot of fun things to keep my 3 nieces entertained. The kids watched movies until the portable CD player ran out of batteries, my sister and I whipped up some party snacks for a brownout inspired party, we had candlelit early dinner then told the kids spooky stories before going to sleep. These were some of the activities we did on the first day. I never expected we would wake up with the power still out. The kids were getting cranky! What else can we possibly do? Partyholic nieces wanted another party. No way! lol!

What better way to keep 3 bored kiddos entertained during brownouts than to put on a halloween shadow puppet show! These halloween shadow puppets are intetended for our halloween party but since we couldn't think of anything more to do, I just brought them out to put on a show. I made up a scary story and to make them more amused, I incorporated their names in the story which made the youngest one squeal. lol! This experience brings back good old memories when I used to make shadow puppets and put on a show for a profit. Yep! Playmates and friends were willing to pay just to watch the show! hehehe! Those were the days when I was in grade school.

I used orange fabric for the screen.

Here's how I set up our mini shadow puppet theatre

Bored kids no more!

I cut out halloween characters and attached the wooden bbq stick to the cutout pieces using hot glue.

I used 2 flashlights and a candle to illuminate the setting.

I used double sided tape to keep large pieces in place like this spider web.

When the show ended, each of them took turns in putting their own halloween shadow puppet show. They made up funny scary stories!

My Sandwich Maker for Ykaie's Snack Bentos

2011-10-08T22:29:00.002+08:00

This is another great find to jazz up Ykaie's snack bentos! My sister spotted this sandwich maker at Toy Kingdom and I purchased it right away. It can make 7 cute shaped sandwiches. I find the roller a bit hard to use so I just dissasembled it and used the template to press out a cat and dog shaped sandwiches. Ykaie enjoys having sandwiches cut into animal shapes. Her favorite filling is nutella. I also made some googly eyes using royal icing. The sandwiches look cuter with the googly eyes!

My Sandwich Maker

7 Designs- cat, dog ( not shown in the photo) pig, bear, lion, cow and heart

Dog Bento- cherries, kiwis, apple, choco crunchies, dog shaped peanutbutter sandwich, quail egg dog, dried and roasted veggies

Bear bento- bear shaped chocolate sandwich, dried blueberries, mango cubes, candies, chocolate drink

Pig Bento- pig shaped nutella sandwich, chocolate covered cookie, dried apples, grapes, strawberry

Cow Bento- cow shaped nutella sandwich, corn skewers, grapes, cookies, apple

Cat bento- corn kernels, pomelo, cat shaped peanutbutter sandwich, chocolate treat, corn churvah

Lion Bento- orange, apple, colby jack cheese, chocolate, lion shaped cheez spread sandwich, grapes

Heart bento- mango, umbrella shaped apple, strawberry, disney princess chocolate treat, babybel cheese, fruit roll ups, heart shaped peanutbutter sandwich

Acorn Doughnuts and Pumpkin Brownie Pops

2011-10-01T09:10:00.005+08:00

I made Acorn doughnuts and pumpkin brownie pops with caramel dip for my nieces' Autumn themed tea party hosted by my sister. The recipe for Acorn doughnuts is from Disney family fun website. For the brownie pops, I used store bought brownies and caramel pudding. ( Yeah I was lazy and I wanted to do it the easy way! :P ) You can check out the tea party here.

Acorn Doughnuts

Ingredients:
Doughnut holes
melted chocolate ( you can use peanutbutter or nutella)
pretzels
crushed nuts

Shape the doughnut holes into acorns by giving them a gentle squeeze then dip a third in melted chocolate. Roll in crushed nuts then stick a pretzel for the stem. Easy peasy!

Acorn Doughnuts

Pumpkin brownie pops with caramel dip

I used a pumpkin cookie cutter to cut out shapes then I inserted lolly sticks into the brownies

Panglao Island Nature Resort and Spa

2011-09-26T00:27:00.006+08:00

Our 3rd day in Bohol was spent at Panglao Island Nature Resort and Spa. It is 30 minutes away from Dumaluan Beach Resort (resort we checked in) Drop off and pick up fee is Php600. PINRS is gorgeous! The infinity pool features a poolside bar, relaxing jacuzzi and a wonderful view of the beach and man made islet. We checked out the resort's underground cave before leaving.

PINRS Day trip fee: Php 450 ( Php300 is consumable)

A pristine piece of property and a beautifully well kept resort.

Not very wide shoreline but the beach is clean.

Infinity pool

pool bar and jacuzzi

In the background you can see the man made islet and floating cottages

man made islet

time for lunch

Purple Yam pasta with Carbonara Sauce

Malunggay Pasta ( Moringa Pasta) with Pomodoro Sauce

Fruit platter, Fruit shakes, Green Leaf Salad, cassava cake, leche flan and halo halo

We were accompanied by 2 staffs going to the cave

Cambagat underground cave

Bohol Countryside Tour- Part 3

2011-09-21T23:26:00.003+08:00

Simply Butterflies Conservation Center- This is the first butterfly livelihood breeding and conservation program in Bohol. A tour guide was assigned to us and he showed us this framed preserved butterflies. He explained the life cycle of a butterfy which consists of 4 stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult butterfly. There is an area where you can interact with the butterflies.

narrow and steep entrance to Hinagdanan Cave

Hinagdanan cave is a natural underground cave made of limestones.

There's a lagoon inside where people can take a dip.

Entrance to Chocolate Hills

Chocolate Hills- the most popular tourist attraction in Bohol.

There are 4 legends explaining the formation of Chocolate Hills. One tells the story of two feuding giants who hurled rocks, boulders, and sand at each other. The fighting lasted for days, and exhausted the two giants. In their exhaustion, they forgot about their feud and became friends, but when they left they forgot to clean up the mess they had made during their battle, hence the Chocolate Hills.

Tarsier Sanctuary

Tarsiers are small animals with enormous eyes; each eyeball is approximately 16 mm in diameter and is as large as their entire brain. They are so cute!

I bought souvenirs for my nieces.

My niece Ykaie specially liked the tarsier arm band!

Bohol Countryside Tour- Part 2

2011-09-18T02:26:00.007+08:00

We started the tour at 8 A.M. and ended around 6 P.M. We were all tired by the end of the tour but we had an awesome time exploring new places and it left us wonderful memories to keep. Our friendly and outgoing tour guide also served as our photographer. He did a great job in taking photos of us specially at the man- made Mahogany forest. It was quite challenging but fun as there were vehicles passing through the highway while we were doing our wacky poses. lol! We did everything from jump shots to getting on the ground. My cousin even lay down in the middle of the road. ( yeah! He was that crazy! lol!) Our guide was quick to snap photos and would yell if a vehicle was coming so we could stay away from the road. If he wasn't satisfied with the picture, he would take another shot. He was that meticulous about taking photos. He knows the best angle to take good shots. I was very satisfied with his service that's why I promised him that I'll mention him on my blog and will recommend to family and friends touring Bohol. And so again, his contact details are at the end of this post for anyone interested.

Blood Compact Monument

Baclayon Church- Oldest stone church in Bohol

Loboc River Cruise- floating restaurant with musical entertainment on board

All you can eat buffet lunch while cruising along the river which lasted about 1 hour

Hanging Bridge- this leads to a souvenir shop.

Man-made Mahogany forest

Bohol countryside tour guide: Paul Bernard Incon
boholtour.incon45@gmail.com
09297623614
09173565898
http://inconboholtours.webs.com/
http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0214-b3d8-7409?ln

♥

Bohol Bee Farm- Bohol Countryside Tour Part 1

2011-09-13T22:00:00.017+08:00

When I was scouring the web for a cheap Bohol tour package, I came accross 2 people who I emailed inquiring about the tour price. One of them was quick to reply while the other one took forever! I availed the first one's tour package since the price was reasonable enough. He gave me this itinerary:

Tour Guide: Paul Bernard Incon
COUNTRYSIDE TOUR (12 SPOTS)

Vehicle type:
Sedan 2-4 pax P2000.00
S.U.V. 5-9 pax P2500.00
Van 10-14 pax P3000.00

Spots to be visited during the tour

Bohol Bee Farm
Blood Compact Monument
Baclayon church and Museum
Python sanctuary
Tarsier Sanctuary
Loboc river cruise
Man made forest
Butterfly garden
Chocolate Hills
Hanging bridge
souvenir shopping
Hinagdanan Cave
Loboc eco adventure park Zip Lining

If anyone is interested in this tour package, his contact details are at the end of this post.

We skipped Phyton Sanctuary and Zip Lining at Loboc Eco Adventure Park since my Aunt was not interested in Zip lining. Our first stop was Bohol Bee Farm. They serve healthy organic dishes and I wanted to try them so I asked Paul if we can have breakfast At BBF. I asked him to join us but he said he was still full. He was kind enough to wait for us even if it took us so long to finish eating. We checked out the place and had some pictures taken then we proceeded to the next spot.

I didn't tell my Aunt that breakfast was free at Dumaluan Beach Resort or else I wouldn't be able to try BBF's organic dishes. She's a bit frugal. lol! Anyway I paid for our meals coz I knew she would discover the next day that free breakfast was included in our stay at Dumaluan.

Camote Bread with Honey, Pesto and Mango Spreads ( Complimentary breakfast)

Mango Pancake with homemade honeyglazed ham and egg with herbs

This was my meal. Honey Glazed Chicken, Brown Rice, Garden Salad ( with edible fresh flowers) and Honey Mustard Dressing. I loved this one! Ok, I admit I wasn't adventurous enough to eat the edible flowers. Maybe next time! hehehe!

Putomaya and Tsokolate

Vegetarian Breakfast ( This includes assorted Organic salad, herbed bread with pesto spread and mango banana juice)

Gumamela Tea

Carrot+cucumber+banana+ pineapple smoothie and fresh lemongrass juice

The place has 2 small swimming pools.

Me and my cousin tried their homemade Ice cream. I liked the Spicy Ginger Ice Cream! He tried the malunggay( moringa) ice cream.

nice beach but too bad no shoreline

The store

I bought these for sis.

Inclusion of Bohol tour package: tour driver/guide,no time limit, pick up and drop off service

Guest will pay all entrances
You may prepare 560.00 per person for all the entrances and 1 time eat all you can lunch buffet on board floating restaurant @ loboc river

Paul Bernard Incon boholtour.incon45@gmail.com
09297623614
09173565898
http://inconboholtours.webs.com/
http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0214-b3d8-7409?ln

♥

Garden Themed Tea Party

2011-09-07T21:00:00.006+08:00

A conversation between me and my sister:

Me: Let's have a tea party for the kids.
My sister: Why? Do you have a tea set?
Me: I got 4!
My sister: Wow! For a non tea drinker like you, I can't believe you got 4 sets!
Me:( just laughing)

Unlike my sister who loves green tea, warm tea or just about any kind of tea, I only drink flavored iced tea. I have a collection of teapots, tea cups and saucers of various styles and colors. They are bits and pieces that I collected to create a set. Instead of allowing these tea sets to collect dust in my cabinet, I'd like to put them to good use and so the tea party is born!
So last Sunday I hosted the first ever mini tea party for my nieces. It was so much fun we (me, my sis and cousin) decided to have a themed tea party ( or any mini themed party on a budget) for the kids once a month. But if no budget, no party! hehehe! We will keep it fairly simple but fun and memorable for the kids.

For the Food:
In addition to marshmallow tea cups that I made, we had assorted cookies for the kids to nibble on . Sis baked some dried cranberries and white chocolate chip cookies while my cousin Rome prepared adobo flakes bruschetta. You can check out their food blogs for the recipe. Others were store bought.

DIY tiered serving tray that I made. I used hot glue to hold all the pieces together.

I made marshmallow tea cups which were a hit!

mini cupcakes were store bought

Cinnamon twistix, chocolate coated cookies( from my aunt's fridge), chiffon bites, dried cranberries and white chocolate chip cookies courtesy of sis

Adobo Flakes Bruschetta courtesy of my cousin Rome.

The kids had lemon flavored tea ( Nestea to be exact) This tea set is not expensive. I bought the cups for Php29 ( 4 cups), the teapot for Php70. The green saucers are from a different set which I will use next time.

Sis and Cousin had Apple, cinnamon and raisin tea while I had my own secret drink! hihihi!

Want some tea?

Plants strategically placed for the venue to look like a garden. hehehe! How I wish we had a beautiful garden where we can hold mini tea parties like this.

Big thank you to my wonderful sister and cousin who took part in making this party an unforgettable one. One of them will host the next tea party. I just hope my other nieces will be able to join this time. Sis made the party more fun for the kids by holding a cake decorating contest after the party. You can check it out here.

Bohol Getaway-Bohol Beach Club

2011-09-03T21:11:00.003+08:00

After an hour of rest, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Bohol Beach Club located just a few walks away from Dumaluan Beach Resort. We paid Php350 each for a Day trip. BBC is huge and has a nice stretch of beach, powdery white sand and crystal clear water and since it is an exclusive resort, it is well maintained. We spent the day frolicking on the beach and snapping lots of photos.

Php200 is consumable.

My Aunt

Food was pretty ok but I didn't like the soup.

Early dinner

Bohol Getaway- Dumaluan Beach Resort 2

2011-08-29T23:14:00.007+08:00

Because of miscommunication through text messaging, 3 of my relatives booked a flight to Bohol 4 days earlier than our flight so the day we arrived was the day they departed from Bohol. Nevertheless, we had a splendid and fun vacation though it was just the 4 of us. I scoured the internet for a place to stay and picked Dumaluan Beach Resort 2 because of its proximity to Bohol Beach Club. Actually, I tried to book at Bohol Beach Club first but since it was peak season, no rooms were available that time. I reserved 2 Deluxe rooms at Dumaluan Beach Resort 2 for Php 2,600/ night with free breakfast buffet. Rooms were decent enough and equipped with cable TV, small refrigerator, aircon, bathroom with bathtub and water heater. We stayed here for 4 days and 3 nights. Food were expensive so we had to go to Dumaluan Beach Resort 1 if we'd like to eat.

I love the relaxed atmosphere here!

We arrived 3 hours early so we had to wait for the previous occupants to vacate our reserved rooms.

Just hanging out.

We rented a Kayak but we were having a hard time balancing. I prefer the plastic one coz this wooden Kayak was a bit heavy and hard to manipulate. We just had our picture taken riding this kayak then we gave it to someone else. lol!

The beach looks beautiful in the morning when it's low tide!

More Bentos

2011-08-23T21:30:00.004+08:00

Though sometimes my niece Ykaie can't finish eating everything in her snack box specially if she had a big breakfast, she eats the leftovers when she gets home from school. One time she proudly showed me her empty snack box coz she has eaten everything but the cute food picks were also gone! Oh no! lol! She gave them to her classmate who wanted to have them. I told her not to give away her bento accessories coz most of them are not available in the Philippines. Most bento accessories I purchased online came directly from Japan, HK and Malaysia.

Ykaie in her red school uniform. She wears yellow uniform every tuesdays and thursdays.

Pig Bento
frozen blackberries, kiwi , pig shaped chicken hotdog, chicken nugget, corn, candy

Chick Bento
Stir fried noodles and quail egg chicks

Bear Bento
fusilli pasta with pesto sauce,mini ham flowers, bear shaped pesto garlic bread. diced kiwis, pomelo and a gummy bear

Smiley bento
smiley onigiri, chicken hotdog egg roll ups, pork barbecue, homemade meatloaf slice, flower shaped dragon fruit

Bear Bento
Frozen blackberries and diced green apples, grapes, strawberry chocolate candies, blue potato chips, peanutbutter sandwich

Fish Bento
orange segments, frozen blueberries, ube-keso pinwheels, fish shaped chicken nugget with chicken hotdog tail, knick knacks strawberry coated biscuits

Award Time

2011-08-21T20:46:00.002+08:00

My fellow blogger Stevehan of Artistic World has graciously presented me the Commendable Comments Award for being an honest blog commentator. I feel so honored to receive this! Thank you so much!

Another award from Witchy Crazy Mommy who was kind enough to nominate me. A big Thank you for this award!

The Rules
1. Thank and link back to the blogger who gave you the award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Pass it along to at least 15 fabulous bloggers
4. Contact the bloggers you awarded to let them know about the award

7 things about me

1. I never paint my fingernails.
2. I never go to bed when I should.
3. I love the beach but I don't really know how to swim. lol!
4. I have 2 siblings.
5. I love to sew and reconstruct T shirts.
6. I love to collect single pieces of cute tableware.
7.I'm trying to stay away from Coke Zero but I couldn't!

It's my pleasure to pass this award to these fantastic bloggers:

Shenny's Mommy of Shenny Hau Diary
Michi of Michi Photostory
Rome of Romepedia
J of Not Just a Food Blog
Mommy Razz of Welcome to my World
Stevehan of Artistic World
Genejosh of Adventures with Hyzyd and Beyond
Bluedreamer27 of Bluedreamer's Top Five
UmmiRosma of UmmiRosma
Ishmael of Before The Eastern Sunset
Love Joice of Love Joice
Pinayrichmom of Mommy's Playpen
Arvin of Written Feelings
Alice Law of My little Sprouts

Many thanks to Love Joice for bestowing me with these 2 awards. I am pleased to received these award from you!

Favorite color: green
Favorite animal: dog
Favorite number:5
What perfume am I using right now? Bvlgari Omnia Amethyste
Something you always wear with you and identifies you: shades? well... nothing really.
What’s your passion? photography and baking
Getting or giving presents? both
What was the last eyeshadow you used? none
Favorite day of the week: Sunday
Are your nails painted right now? Just the toenails.

I'm sharing these awards with the following friends:

Tine of Maarte.net
Kristeta of Kalokang Buhay ng Isang pinay sa Ukay
Peachy of The Mommy who Never Sleeps
MaxiVelasco of Ovah Coffee
Lelay of Laugh with God today
Apple of A Taste of Apple
Witchy Crazy Mommy of Witchy Crazy Mommy
SunnyToast of Sunny Toast

Ocean Adventure, Subic Bay

2011-08-16T22:35:00.003+08:00

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Ocean Adventure! There are a few shows throughout the day which are all worth a view. I personally enjoyed the dolphin friends show and we had a chance to have our picture taken with a dolphin. All the shows were quite entertaining. I hope next time we can experience the beach or swim encounter with the dolphins!

Entrance fee:
Adult-Php550
Children 12 yrs old below- Php 440

We found Nemo!

Walk on the Wild Side Show: a show featuring animals from the wildlife.

Sea Lion Marine Patrol Show

Sea Lion Photo Encounter: They used my camera and took 8 shots
1-3 pax Php 350
4-5 pax Php 550

Dolphin Friends Show

They let the kids touch the dolphin

Dolphin Photo Encounter: We got 2 photos which they burned on a CD
Solo Php 500
2 pax Php 650
3 pax Php 800
4 pax - Php 950

Camayan Beach Resort, Subic Bay

2011-08-10T00:36:00.011+08:00

Our second day was spent at Camayan Beach Resort. The beach was ok but I wasn't impressed at all. The beach was a bit rocky, so not a great stretch of sand that you can walk along. What I liked about the place was the view of the mountains in the background. There are other activities that you can do here such as snorkeling, biking in the forest, water gladiator, kayaking in the mangroves and wreck diving.

Day trip Entrance fee:
Adult-P300
Kids-P250
Cabana-P750-1,000

nieces wearing matching dress

Sunblock girls

my nephew and 4 nieces got henna tattoos for Php100- 150 each

Having fun while waiting for the fire dancers. Notice "the grudge" ? lol!

Ykaie posing with the band performing in the background

Zoobic Safari, Subic Bay

2011-08-03T20:23:00.005+08:00

Our Subic Bay adventure happened 2 months ago. My cousin accommodated us for 4 days. We arrived at 12 noon so we had lunch before heading off to our first destination: Zoobic Safari!

Some of the foods that were served:

Spicy Mussels with basil and leeks

Baked Tuna

Sauteed Shrimps

Calamares with fried basil leaves

Sporting our animal print clothes. No, we are not that prepared for this trip. lol!

Entrance fee:
Adult-Php500
Kids 3ft-4ft- Php400
Kids below 3 ft- free entrance

A tour guide was assigned to our group. We had a wonderful 2 hour tour experience though it was scorching hot that day. The kids got to feed the birds, camel, goats and bearcats.

The Zebra Tram that took us to the different Safari attractions.

At Croco Loco, crocodiles can be fed by dangling a piece of meat on a fishing pole

Nieces feeding the goats

Ykaie feeding the camel

Boarding the Tiger Safari Jeep

We bought raw chicken for Php200 to feed the tigers. The guide threw a piece of meat on the roof of the vehicle. The tiger quickly jumped on the roof to grab the chicken. We can see through the glass part of the roof. It was a thrilling experience!

One of the highlights of our tour was having our picture taken with a tiger cub. This photo was taken by my cousin. One of my nieces was so scared. So was I! lol! I wasn't even looking at the camera during the photoshoot. Oh well no one will ever notice since I was wearing shades. I made sure the feeding bottle stayed in it's proper place. The cub actually ran out of milk but was still sucking! I was like...OMG I don't want to lose an arm! lol! The handler assured me it was ok, then the photographer took 1 last shot.

This is the actual photo. The photographer took 4 shots and we got to choose one which they printed out. (Price: Php540) We truly enjoyed our visit to Zoobic Safari. I can say that it's well worth a visit!

Jewelry Making Kit

2011-07-28T23:46:00.007+08:00

I bought this jewelry making kit for my nieces and they all had a blast making bracelets, rings, necklaces and even keychains and name tags for their bags.

great fun cousin bonding time!

Ykaie's bracelet

Name tag for my niece's school bag

My brother actually helped them make the jewelries since some of them can't spell yet.

I love how colorful they are!

Sitio Lucia, Sta. Maria Bulacan

2011-07-22T20:15:00.003+08:00

Sitio Lucia is a jurassic themed resort with over 50 amazing dinosaur sculptures that kids will surely love! The resort also hosts events such as Conventions, Team Building, Field Trips, Company Outing, Seminars, etc.

Day trip Entrance fee:
Adult- Php150
children below 4 ft.- Php120

Ykaie enjoyed the pelican bird and frog slides a lot.

The resort has about 6 themed swimming pools.

This is the kiddie pool. We stayed here most of the time.

adult pool

Ykaie was scared at first to have her picture taken with the dinosaurs.

Life like dinosaur sculptures look really cool!

They were screaming when they saw the high resolution copy of this picture. They both thought the dinosaur was after them lol!

We found a great spot to chillax!

Snack Bentos to take to school

2011-07-15T21:28:00.006+08:00

I started making Bentos for my niece Ykaie to take to school. I bought her 2 hello kitty lunch bags. Hello kitty is one of her favorite cartoon characters. She is always excited to see what I made for her. I try to make 3 bentos a week for her.

Ykaie didn't wear her uniform for the first 2 weeks.

Here are some of the bentos I prepared for her:

Flower Bento
Yaki Onigiri, flower shaped cucumbers, flower shaped chicken hotdog, salmon fish cake, grapes, mangoes and a cherry

Hello Kitty Bento
hello kitty bread with nutella filling, grapes, egg chick, powdered milk candy, red plastic container contains a tiny amount of iodized salt. Ykaie doesn't eat eggs without salt.

Butterfly Bento
peanutbutter roll ups, butterfly cheese, grapes, gummy pretzels, sliced apples with dulce de leche dip ( I topped it with colorful sprinkles))

Panda Bento
Panda rice, Siomai, soy sauce in panda bottle, melon balls, raspberries, hello panda biscuits, strawberry jelly

SpongeBob Bento
SpongeBob cheese sandwich, knick knacks strawberry and chocolate coated biscuits, strawberry marshmallow, sponge bob candy, fish shaped apples, grapes, mangoes

Flower Bento
Nutella filled flower shaped purple yam bread, flower shaped apples, orange wedge, cherries, barbie chocolate

Street Food in Shenzhen, China

2011-07-09T22:00:00.002+08:00

It was almost 12 midnight we were street food hunting when something interesting caught our eyes. We happened to pass by this street vendor in Shenzhen selling soup where every ingredient was skewered on a stick. (even vegetables!)

We have to select what to put in our soup. There was a wide variety of ingredients to choose from.

seaweeds, mushrooms, noodles, fishballs, meats, sausages etc.

tofu?

Vendor cooking our chosen ingredients in a boiling pot of broth.

We only bought a bowl of soup that we all shared as we were not sure of the taste.

The soup was surprisingly delicious!

10:00 in the morning we were all ready to go back home! We wore our m&m T-shirts.

We turned our room into a photo studio and took some wacky shots.

We all enjoyed our brief stay in Shenzhen, China! Hope we can all travel together again to a different country in the near future.

Window of The World- Shenzhen, China

2011-07-02T22:08:00.004+08:00

Window of the World is a theme park that has about 130 miniature reproductions of some of the most famous tourist attractions in the world. We were only given 3 hours by the tour guide to explore the place. It was 3:00 in the afternoon we had to take a break and rest for a few times coz it was painstakingly hot! I actually enjoyed the place quite a lot though we were not able to see all the famous landmarks due to lack of time. I hope one day I can come back again without time pressure so I'll be able to see and enjoy everything this place has to offer.

Here are some of our pictures.

My niece

Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar

Taj Mahal, India

Modhera Sacred Well, India

The Dwelling Houses of African inhabitants

Lion Gate of Mycenae, Greece

Buckingham Palace London, England

Stonehenge Salisburry, England

Holland's famous Windmills

The Great Temple of Abu Simbel, Egypt

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Pyramids and Sphynx of Giza, Egypt

Pillars and relief wall ( I'm not sure where! lol! ) Looking at the carvings I'm guessing Cambodia or somewhere in Asia.

Niece Ykaie posing for me

Not sure about this one too! Aladin's magic lamp? lol!

Lunch And Dinner at a Local Restaurant in Shenzen, China

2011-06-25T21:58:00.003+08:00

Our package tour includes an overnight stay at Gorgeous Fad Hotel in Shenzhen, China. Our tour guide in Shenzhen picked us up and brought us to this Chinese Restaurant for lunch before we proceeded to the compulsory City tour. I won't elaborate about the city tour coz it wasn't interesting at all. The lunch was included in the package. There was an optional tour to Window of the World on our own account. ( I'll make a separate post about this tour.) Each of us paid US$45 inclusive of dinner. We were brought to the same Chinese restaurant for dinner. Food was ok but poor customer service! After dinner we were given an hour to shop before heading to our hotel.

Cousin Rome

Sis, her hubby and Ykaie

Some of the food we had for lunch and dinner

An hour isn't enough to go shopping!

I bought these goodies from the mini grocery just beside our Hotel

Ngong Ping 360

2011-06-17T20:56:00.005+08:00

After our half day City tour, we headed to Ngong Ping 360 to see the Tian Tan Buddha statue and other attractions. We had 2 options going to Ngong Ping Village either by cable car or bus. My cousins wanted to ride the cable car but I was scared coz it was a 30 minute ride going to Ngong Ping. Cable car ride was under maintenance that day so we had no choice but to ride the bus.( Yay!) It was just the 4 of us who decided to ascend 268 steps in order to see the Giant Buddha up close. I was carrying the tripod and camera. It was tiring but well worth it. The scenic view was splendid! We were not able to see other attractions coz it was already getting dark. We decided to just go back to Disneyland to celebrate Cousin Rome's birthday at Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. Bus ride was 45 minutes from Ngong Ping Village then we took the MTR going to disneyland. (10 min. ride)

Mickey Mouse train

Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel

Crystal Lotus Restaurant

Wishing my beautiful cousin Rome more success and happiness! ♥ yah!

Hong Kong City Tour: Avenue of Stars, Sampan Tour Point

2011-06-10T22:37:00.007+08:00

When we got back to the hotel from our Disneyland adventure, we strolled around looking for a restaurant. We had a hard time communicating with the Hong Kong Chinese as most of them do not speak english. The menu was in Chinese and there were very few dishes written in english. I had to point at the food the lady on the next table was eating; " like that, like that" I told the waitress. LOL! Sis was asking for a spoon and fork but the waitress couldn't understand. We had to eat using chopsticks. The next morning we had breakfast before our half day compulsory City tour. Yes it was compulsory coz we availed a discounted package tour and one has to join the tour weather he likes it or not. Avenue of Stars and Sampan ride were ok but then the tour guide also brought us to this jewelry factory and a store that sells local products. It was a waste of time since we were not interested in buying pricey stuffs. I think the tour guide gets commission from those establishments. After the City tour, the tour bus dropped us off at Tsim Sha Tsui for some shopping. We told the tour guide we had other plans and that we just wanted to get dropped off at our hotel. He told us he will just show the way to get to our hotel since the bus stops there. So we followed him, together with another group going to Macau for a day tour. He asked our group to wait for him coz he had to get tickets for the other group going to Macau. But then he left us without saying a word where in the hell was the way going back to our hotel. We asked the other group (also filipinos) where the tour guide was. They said he left after getting tickets for them. I wanted to kick his butt! Grrrr! We just looked for a cab so we can get back to our hotel. Good thing sis has this card that she got from the hotel counter. It was a card for ease of communication to show cab drivers when you get lost. Instruction was written in chinese telling the driver to take us to Dorsett Far East Hotel. We paid HK$ 83 for the fare. That concludes our half day City tour.

Looking for a restaurant

Having breakfast

Breakfast buffet

My plate

At the entrance of Dorsett far East Hotel

Statue of Bruce Lee

Handprints of Jackie Chan

We paid HK$50 each for the ride

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort

2011-06-02T20:04:00.013+08:00

We are back from our Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China trip! We stayed at Dorsett Far East Hotel. Though the room was clean and tidy, it was tiny and no enough space for our luggage. We went to Disneyland on the first day. After checking into our hotel room, we just changed clothes then took the MTR going to Disneyland. Travel time was 30 minutes. Food sold inside the park is quite expensive and so is the water. They don't allow to bring in snacks but I was able to sneak in a few. We just replenished our water bottles at the drinking fountains. I was quite surprised to find that the theme park is not that huge. Nevertheless, we had the best time! Fireworks display was spectacular! We were in the front row so I was able to capture beautiful fireworks pictures.

Waiting for our room key

Awesome 4D movie!

We didn't mind the long queue just to have our pictures taken with Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Goofy.

Flights of Fantasy parade

Bought a Minnie Mouse mug souvenir for myself

Tin Can purses filled with chocolate crunch for my nieces and a tin can box filled with sesame seed cookies for my Mom

Shopped for Clothes

2011-05-24T11:51:00.009+08:00

We are done shopping for clothes for an out of the country trip. We've been looking forward to this trip since february. I did some last minute shopping for myself and I also bought clothes for Ykaie. I'm sharing a room with her while her Mom and Dad share in one. Eight of us are leaving this Saturday for a short vacation. I will post photos as soon as we get back. Ciao!

Suitcase is packed! I'm also sharing luggage with Ykaie. She can't wait to meet her favorite Disney characters!

People's Park in The Sky and Bag Of Beans

2011-05-14T21:17:00.005+08:00

After having breakfast on our second day in Tagaytay, we headed off to start our half day City tour. Our first stop was People's Park in The Sky.

The park is well known for it's breathtaking view

Next stop was Tagaytay Picnic Grove for some horseback riding

Lunch at Bag of beans

Longsilog

Mr. Beans Cheeseburger

Spaghetti with meat sauce

Beef tapa

Steak and mushroom Pie

Black Forrest Frappe

Blueberry Cheesecake and Coffee Choco Banana frost

This ended our half day City tour. We were supposed to visit Calaruega but everyone was tired so we headed back to Piña Colina.

Piña Colina, Tagaytay City ( part 3)

2011-05-06T00:58:00.002+08:00

I just got back from a short vacation. I should have posted this before I left. Anyway, I just want to share some wacky photos of my nieces and nephew.They went swimming before our impromptu picnic. Sis and cousins purchased some fruits and I was left alone with the kids. They were being silly making goofy faces.

I bought the girls matching swimsuits

Who can make the goofiest looking face?

Putting the blankets into good use.

Jump shot before heading back home.

Piña Colina, Tagaytay City ( part 2)

2011-04-25T21:03:00.004+08:00

.
After a quick Tagaytay City tour, we decided to have an impromptu picnic in the afternoon. We picked a nice spot in front of our Casita, sat in the grass and enjoyed our food and a good laugh. Nothing really fancy about the food we had that time, mostly just fruits and leftovers but we had a fantastic time.

Iced Tea with diced apples and orange wedges

Amana Waterpark, Pandi Bulacan

2011-04-17T19:51:00.012+08:00

Summer family trip means swimming! We were at Amana Waterpark Resort last tuesday. We got the cottage just in front of the kiddie pool. New attractions have been added since our last visit. We were not able to use the pool with slides coz it was under renovation. The kids enjoyed the wave pool though it was jam packed with people. If you want to see photos from our last visit just click here.

Day swimming entrance fee:
Adult- php 250
children 4 ft below- php 200

Sis with the kids

Cousin Rome, Sis and I

my nephew

Jacuzzi

Calatagan cottage ( 30 people capacity)

nieces and nephews

Group shots

Piña Colina, Tagaytay City ( part 1)

2011-04-07T22:39:00.010+08:00

We had a wonderful 3 days and 2 nights at Piña Colina in Tagaytay City! We were scheduled to go to White Beach,Puerto Galera but changed plans when a 5 magnitude earthquake hits Batangas City. Paranoid of tsunami, my relatives backed out so I just suggested to go to Piña Colina and explore more of Tagaytay City. I reserved for a 2 storey unit that can accomodate 10 people. The unit includes a sala, kitchen, 2 bathrooms with hot and cold shower, dining table, beds, TV and refrigerator. We brought some food and did some light cooking. The place was clean and well maintained. The staffs were very friendly and accommodating. The gardener even gave my aunt some plants. I have lots of photos to share so I'm going to make 3 separate posts for this.

Our Casita

kitchenette complete with basic cooking utensils. We used the plates provided but I brought some disposable spoons and forks and disposable cups.

Some of the food we prepared: Pancakes with blueberries, Ciabatta bread with BBQ pulled pork, Spam alfredo and grilled cheese sandwich, cucumber and raisin salad, Fried rice, tocino, salted egg with tomatoes and dried salted fish.

Pool area. Water was freezing cold!

Chips and dips

http://www.pinacolina.com/index.html

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Special Screening of Tum My Pledge of Love

2011-03-31T23:45:00.007+08:00

Sis was invited to the special screening of the movie Tum My Pledge Of Love which was held at SM Centerpoint tonight. Ykaie and I tagged along with her. Tum My Pledge of Love is a romantic, action comedy film starring Robin Padilla and Mariel Rodriguez. It is a movie about love, solidarity, unity, culture ang religion. It is filmed entirely in India and written, produced and directed by Robin himself. The movie also stars Ejay Falcon and Robin Padilla's daughter, Queenie Padilla. It will be shown on April 6, 2011. We were so lucky that the lead stars were seated in front of us but too bad I was not able to have a photo op with them coz I was the one taking the pictures. Ykaie was the luckiest coz when Robin saw her, he lifted her up in his arms. Ykaie was starstruck!

Queenie Padilla and Ejay Falcon

early birds

Robin and Mariel

Robin Padilla Carrying Ykaie

with Queenie Padilla

S'more Day

2011-03-21T21:00:00.002+08:00

A s'more usually consists of a roasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate sandwiched between 2 graham crackers. The heat from the marshmallow melts the chocolate and makes it a gooey delicious treat. Do you love s'mores? I do! I can't seem to get enough of them! When fire isn't available and I crave for s'mores, I make them in the microwave. But I prefer the marshmallow roasted over fire for a subtle smokey taste. One lazy Sunday afternoon we got together for a wonderful Smore day! It was such a perfect day for something deliciously oozing and sweet chocolatey treat!

graham crackers, Oreo cookies, marshmallows, chocolate bars

All set up for our S'more day

I want the marshmallow a bit charred.

Roasting marshmallows over our not so pretty improvised fire pit. lol!

aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!

Oreo S'more with strawberry marshmallow. Ooey gooey-licious!

Cousin Rome wants s'more!!!!!! (some moreeeee!)

Deep Fried Fusilli and Bowtie Pasta

2011-03-10T21:49:00.002+08:00

Kids enjoy snacks! Here's an easy way to make a tasty and crunchy snack that kids will love. My mom used to cook this for us when we were little using elbow macaroni. The pasta should be boiled in salted water and cooked al dente. Cool under running water and drain well. Deep fry the pasta until golden brown. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese and toss to coat. You can use any seasoning you want like garlic or onion powder, paprika or even cinnamon sugar for a sweet version.

Deep fried bowtie and fusilli pasta

Balsa sa Niugan Floating Restaurant

2011-03-02T15:39:00.011+08:00

Two of my friends celebrated their birthdays at Balsa sa Niugan,Malabon. The place was a traditional fishpond converted into a floating restaurant. We ordered lots of food but we weren't able to finish all of them. It was a good thing the Crispy Pata and Tempura were not available at that time because the food we ordered were more than enough for seven people. We didn't order for dessert since our male friend brought a cake from Goldilocks.

floating bamboo rafts

Fried chicken, grilled tilapia, calamares, fish sinigang, sisig, onion rings, sizzling mushrooms, pancit canton and Almond Java mousse

Fire Eaters/ Blowers

2011-02-21T22:33:00.004+08:00

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Here are some shots I took yesterday during our fiesta celebration in honor of St. Roch.

Breathing fire!

Can you do this?

Ykaie was a bit apprehensive about posing with the fire eater

Once they were all gone, she couldn't stop imitating them. lol!

Homemade Photo Booth and DIY Valentine themed Photo Booth Props

2011-02-13T09:48:00.002+08:00

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Photo booths have been growing in popularity and have become one of the hottest party trends out there. Renting one can be extremely expensive. So just for fun, I decided to have a Valentine photoshoot with sis, my goofy cousins and sweet nieces photo booth- style! I set up a homemade Photo Booth by hanging up a piece of fabric for the backdrop. I also made some Valentine themed Photo booth props and everyone had fun with their own silly poses.

We were not able to use the striped fabric. I'll use a bigger fabric next time because some part of the wall was showing up in the photos

DIY Valentine themed Photo booth props

My beautiful cousin Rome just cracks me up!

Conversation Heart Sugar Cookies

2011-02-03T13:27:00.016+08:00

These candy inspired cookies that I baked turned out so cute! I decorated the cookies to look like conversation heart candies with cute sayings. Too bad I could only write a four letter word. I should have made the cookies a bit bigger. I used my cinnamon sugar cookie recipe for this but added more cinnamon powder for a stronger flavor. I'll definitely make bigger ones next time so I can at least write sweet phrases.

I filled a pastry bag with royal icing, cut off the tip and use it to cover the cookies with royal icing.

The only words I could come up with that won't exceed 4 letters.

For the kiddos

Valentine Girls!