Since 2 years ago… I never get tired of thanking God for giving me the best gift I could ever imagined – my one and only little girl! We are celebrating her birthday and the more I thank God for giving her good health all these years… Like all mothers feel, nothing can compare how happy I am seeing her every milestones and today is one of the highlights. My Claire understands that it’s her birthday and even if I did not throw any kiddie party, she was so happy and so energetic seeing all the familiar faces of the whole family surrounding her.

For me, it’s still a big party at home because we are a big family and everybody is in the mood to celebrate this special occasion… It is such a busy day, from malling in the morning, buying her gifts, balloons, cakes, then preparing the food at home for dinner, and of course we don’t want to miss the Holy Mass as a thanksgiving. Then the rest of the night is eating and drinking and Claire is still up playing, running and laughing with her cousin on her same age. One thing for sure, this little girl is happy!

Happy 2nd Birthday baby! We love you!

Birthdays, Family birthday, birthday cake, birthday center piece, birthday party, cake, church, Family, love

My hubby’s lola who is also my lola of course turns 83 years old today! It is an occasion full of love and happiness… the whole family from her children to grandchildren are all thankful for she reached this golden age in good health. She is a very strong woman and that is one thing I admired her the most. Despite her age, nothing can stop her to be active, to go to the market alone, prepare delicious foods (she is a good cook!), watch movie with her friends, go shopping, collect books to read during free time, and go to church regularly.

The first time I saw her, I already see a unique and strong personality in her… she accepted me in the family, she stand by us during our wedding day… enough goodness that I will cherish forever. For all these things, I am one with the whole family in celebrating this special day. I rummaged the mall during my breaktime to look for a gift to her, and with a limited time… I decided to give her the best red wine I can think of… at least something she can also share to her friends.

She texted me this afternoon at the middle of my work and remind us for our dinner tonight, of course I will be present! Happy Birthday Lola!

Birthdays birthday, church, Family, love

I want to express how I value and care for her, how I love her and that despite of the distance she will always see how much she is meant to me… So on her birthday I extended my time even how tired from work and after a 3 rounds of jogging and walking around the usual place where I used to exercise I then managed to go to her place, bring 1 box of pizza and sing her a birthday song… it’s 10:00 pm.

I believe my mom is happy for the simple gestures that we all showed to her on her birthday. A special occasion like this need not to be extravagant in order to be happy… the thoughts and the efforts count. Happy Birthday Mom!

My Dear Mom!
Mom, I loved you yesterday, I love you tomorrow and everyday.
You were there for me my first day of school, to hold my hand and give me courage to go.
You listened to me when I needed to talk, you talked to me when I needed to listen.
You let me grow and learn from my own mistakes.
You never left my side when I was feeling down, I knew you would be there to pick me up.
I wish there was a way I could repay all the things you have done for me, but there’s nothing great enough to repay the greatest mother of all.
- Anonymous

Birthdays, Family birthday, birthday song, Family, love, mother's day, pizza

It’s Rowel’s birthday and I’m glad how this day turned out to be such a memorable occasion not just to the birthday boy but as well as to me because I play paintball for the first time… at last! The birthday party is held inside a paintball game site and everybody had so much fun, eating, singing, picture taking, drinking… until one of my colleagues suggested that the boys will play paintball after eating. How about the girls? Well, at last… I’m brave finally, I don’t want to be left out also since the other girls will play.

the game is about to start and we still manage to pose...

thats me, hiding...

When the game is about to start, I honestly feel scared thinking of how painful it is if get hit! Scared but excited… and my excitement reached to the highest level when the umpire gave a loud ready-set-go signal. What a nice feeling when I tried to run as fast as I could to find a perfect spot to hide myself at the same time find the target opponent and shoot… The best part is when the game is about to conclude and when I tried to go out from where I’m hiding to look for the enemy and… OUCH!, I’m HIT! I felt two paintballs splat on both legs! But at least we win! Happy!

Paintball is indeed a “No Paint-No Fun” game and it’s fantastic! No wonder many loves to play paintball even the girls, now I know how much fun it is! It is painful and even I go home with 2 large bruises, at the end of the day, I decided to play again! Hope I could organize and invite all my girl friends!

Thanks for Rowel’s birthday and “WebOss Paintball”… visit their website at www.weboss.ph.

Birthdays, Occasion, Travel birthday, birthday cake, bonding, paintball game, weboss paintball

I am not fond of “Tinker Bell” character when I was a kid, but when I joined my little girl watching Tinker Bell’s movie and seeing her enjoyed the colorful and beautiful faces of the pixies and fairies, and its magical stories… I find myself setting aside other important tasks and allow myself to finish the whole movie. I enjoyed it because Claire too! Hhmmm… It gives me an idea to throw a “Tinker Bell” inspired birthday party for her when she turns 3 years old.

One month to go, and it’s her 2nd birthday… hubby and I decided to throw a big party only every other year so I still have a lot of time and budgeting to prepare inorder to throw a Tinker Bell theme kiddie party for her soon… Well, while she is still a little baby, I can decide how the party will go, and by making it a point that the whole family and friends will enjoy and the most challenging part is to really grab what your baby is fond of.

My hint: she is amazed to see Jollibee, she adores her Pooh stuff toys, she shrieks and wow to see Tinker Bell, she dance and follow when the Disney princess dance and moved… and I have to choose one of those.. and I think I love the character of Tinker Bell the most… my little girl gives the sweetest smile when her dad called her “Tinker Claire” and I think it sounds good… hehe..

Birthdays baby, birthday, birthday party, cake, kiddie party, kids party, love

my birthday gift to the celebrant

I got a chance again to make my own version of ham and cheese macaroni salad today, instead of bringing a birthday cake, i thought to share my specialty during our family dinner tonight in my sister’s place for baby Gab’s birthday.

My nephew turns 2 years old today… and it reminds me that my little girl’s 2nd birthday is fast approaching too. Oh! how time flies fast! My sister did not throw a big kiddie party this year, so she invited direct family members only and treat all of us for a simple “salu-salo” with just 2 main dishes, 1 cake and 2 desserts. And it turned out to be an intimate celebration and the  2 year old birthday celebrant seems not to care that it’s his birthday and how the gathering is going. It is a simple yet a happy occasion with the family and a practical one.

Yes, i think it’s practical enough not to throw a big 2nd birthday party to your kids especially after a grand 1st birthday party, because after all… kids at this age won’t care yet. I will postpone another coming year or two for another big kiddie party for my daughter so this year should be a simple one too.

Birthdays, Family birthday, birthday cake, birthday party, cake, chicken ham, Family, kiddie party

To be able to go to the summer capital of the country, Baguio City is one of the places I wanted to go eversince and at last I am here now enjoying the fresh cold air and the city’s various scenic and historical spots. I planned our Baguio trip for 2 months, secured an early promo booking for our plane ticket, trying to look for the best hotel to stay, constructing itinerary, list of things to bring, the budget and even acquire our own personal map – my travel partner’s idea..

I just want to share how the whole trip goes and why it is such a successful, memorable and blessed trip even for a short time.

Exactly 8:25 am – A very fine weather makes our flight and arrival to Manila safe and sound. I already feel the excitement even if our craft captain announced the delayed of our arrival due to the problem of frequency signal in NAIA.

10:30 am – We ride an airport taxi to bring us to the nearest Victory Liner terminal in Pasay. Just in time we got the last ticket for the 10:30 am trip. We make ourselves comfortable bringing with us food and drinks for I’m already aware how long the trip to Baguio base on my research. But the clean and cosy bus did not give me any discomfort plus I have the comforting company of my hubby. I enjoyed the view while on our way and when we were nearing Baguio, the fog almost covered our view and I’m so amazed to see that Baguio is a city within a mountain.

6:30 pm – It drizzled when we reach the bus terminal of the city and when I stepped out of the bus, I already feel the gentle cold breeze and it excites me the more. When a man approached us and offered us a ride to our hotel and later learned he is a tourist guide, I decided to hire him for only 2,500 for a whole day trip the next day.

Burnham Hotel is the hotel I booked for our whole stay in Baguio, It is a simple, small and old hotel in the city. It is accessible and a walking distance to most of the popular tourist spots so even if it isn’t the best choice of a hotel, I don’t mind.

7:30 pm – We go out and take a walk in Session Road and trying to find a restaurant where we can eat dinner, I have no idea what is the best place to eat here aside from the common, Jollibee, KFC, Don Henricos, Pizza Hut, etc… until I sight “Solibao”, they served Filipino cuisine and it’s worth a try because I’m satisfied with the food I ordered and the service is good.

Our 2nd day in Baguio is the highlight of this trip. I’m so excited to wake up early and the rain doesn’t stop us to tour the whole city of Baguio. Our tour guide is good for he was able to tour us around almost all the places of Baguio City from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm and the rest of the day we do it ourselves.

These are the scenic places in Baguio where we spend the rest of the day (in order):

Lourdes Grotto. Early morning and I got an exercise by climbing the 252 steps, whew!

Baguio Heritage Hall and Prayer Mountain. We are so lucky to get inside this heritage hall, for this place is supposed to be restricted to ordinary travellers, good thing our tour guide has an access so the guard allowed us to see inside. It is a ruined yet historical building and I cannot state the whole history here, our tour guide is very good in explaining to us. I find the place spooky yet magical, especially when we got to go to the top of the ruined hall where you can see the other side of Baguio.

Easter Weaving Room Factory. I can’t believe I finally saw weaving in action!

Botanical Garden. The very famous scenic spot in Baguio, very wonderful place and I cannot forget the photo shoot we have with the natives. It’s perfect for postcards… hehe

Wright Park. The horseback riding in Baguio, and it’s my first time riding at the back of the horse! Haha, super fun!

The Mansion. Right in front Wright Park is another long stairs, and even how tiring it is I have to hike about another 100 steps just to add the fun! We took this way towards the Mansion, exactly a perfect frontal view even if I am still a very long walking distance towards it.

Mines View Park. The place is very cold as if you are on top of the mountain. There are lots of souvenir shops and I got confused what to buy because there are so many.

Camp John Hay. On our way to Camp John Hay, I got a perfect view of different and beautiful pine trees surrounding our way, we passed by the Golf Estate, Camp John Hay Manor, took picture at the mini statue of Liberty, and tour around the beautiful place.

Paintball Republic. I don’t want to miss to see how this famous Paintball Republic in Baguio is set up. Indeed it is a big game site, where pine trees become one of the obstacles of the game. Butterfly Sanctuary is beside the paintball game site but because I’m so hungry already, we missed it.

Ibay’s Silver Shop. After our late lunch, we dropped by the most famous silver shop in Baguio.

Burnham Park. The very heart of Baguio City! I don’t want to miss the boat riding in the park’s lagoon, wonderful experience… when we get out from the boat, the rain began to pour but it did not stop us to stroll around the park. We dropped by the Orchidarium where it is in this place I am so amazed with different kinds of orchids that I haven’t seen ever since… the more I get inspired to install one mini orchidarium at home.

Baguio Cathedral. After a short rest back in the hotel which is a walking distance from Burnham Park, we took another walk and trekked another long stairs towards Baguio Cathedral. It’s 5:30 in my watch and we have to catch up the 6:00 pm anticipated Mass.

SM City Mall. After the mass, we planned to end our Baguio tour going to SM City Baguio. I think this is the only mall I know in the country that does not have AC installed… well, the coolness of the city already serves as aircon. And indeed it is very cold inside that I had to wear my jacket on.

Classic Savory Chicken Restaurant. We had a sumptuous dinner on our last night in Baguio. The restaurant is nice and clean and the service is good and the food we ordered is delicious!

It was a beautiful and enjoyable day… an occasion that I will never forget. I will definitely go back to Baguio and bring the rest of my family and friends…

Travel baguio city, birthday, bonding, botanical garden, burnham park, love, travel to baguio, wright park

Three months before his birthday, I already thought of making his birthday a memorable one and I wanted to celebrate it in the place where both of us can have a special bonding together away from home. Our current budget and time cannot afford to go out of the country yet so I think of a trip to Baguio City… I told him this plan and he approves it, I am so excited!

The weather cooperates to the occasion, I prayed so hard that amidst the storm in Manila, God will keep us safe and let us enjoy this special day, and thank God He answered my prayer. From Baguio, we arrived in Makati safe and the typhoon is gone although we experience some rainfalls but we ignore it, I tried my best to make him happy on his day so no room for any complaints even how uncomfortable I am with the rain… hehe. But when we arrived in the Mall of Asia, the rest of the day is already his day, we have so much fun!

We have lunch in “Burgoo” – I am amazed with their unique style of having their table covers in a blank white paper and they have coloring materials ready on top, then I found out that we can freely mess the table and write anything on it… then I write a big “happy birthday” greetings to the love of my life… hehe… perfect background which reminds us why we are here, it’s his birthday! Less than 15 minute, our food is served – I tried their chef’s choice of soup for the day – the creamy mushroom soup, it’s delicious! The main dish that my hubby chooses is one of Burgoo’s best – the Shrimps and Rib’s platter, we enjoyed our lunch up to the last rib! My mango shake is perfect too… the restaurant is cozy and very comfortable, it’s one of the best dining experience.

the birthday celebrant...

the mango shake with our inspiring background

the chef's choice of soup for the day

the best shrimp and rib's platter

Then we spend the rest of the afternoon in the Science Discovery Center which we highlighted the 45-minute planetarium show Ice World. Everything we shared together this day is first time and special to me and I’m sure he enjoyed his birthday! It is such a blessed day and a memorable one!

Happy Birtdhay, mwah!

Birthdays, Dining Experience, Family birthday, birthday party, bonding, Burgoo American Restaurant, Family, love, Mall of Asia, Science Discovery Center

Every birthday of mine always turns out to be exciting! This year, I like to spend it a little more private and intimate… so I filed a birthday leave for the first time in my job history and my friend Anne is right, having a day off on your birthday is like giving yourself a special birthday treat! I feel so relaxed because there’s no need to rush in between break times from work just to celebrate my birthday. So it’s indeed a happy occasion.

I always make it a point to start celebrating my birthday attending the Holy Mass to thank God for the gift of life and for all the blessings he bestow in me the past years and to ask His continued blessings at the coming years. After the mass, the most exciting part is to have lunch in Shangri-la Mactan! Why I’m excited? Well, honestly it’s my first time to this hotel, and I’ve always wanted to be here, bear with my excitement… hehe.

The place is amazing! All the hotel attendants that we meet anywhere in the place always carry with them a smile and a greeting which makes me feel welcomed even if we only go there for a lunch. One of the lady attendants freely give me a tour guide of the place going to the restaurant I booked. I love the scenery from the parking lot, to the lobby, then to the garden, to every restaurant and bar I passed, then the view of their infinity pool and then to the white sand sea shore to the blue wonderful beach. A complete wow! – this is not a review because looking into the place is already an assurance that the hotel is indeed 5-star!

We have my birthday lunch in the hotel’s Aqua Restaurant where we are warmly greeted and welcomed by the store attendant and their waiters… the waiter who attended our orders is very accommodating! I am just an average/middle class citizen but this time I honestly don’t mind how expensive the menu list is because all the services I got deserves it. I love their Calzone and the mango shake is perfect!

This birthday is one of the greatest days because I am joined with the people who are so dear to me and who loves me, they complete my day.  It’s indeed a ‘Happy, happy birthday!’

Birthdays, Dining Experience, Hotel and Accomodation Experience, Occasion Aqua Shangri-la, birthday, church, Family, love, shangri-la hotel mactan

My own special day is fast approaching and I feel so lazy to plan… well, maybe because I’m so overwhelmed to think of the many things I wanted to achieve on that occasion.

At the end of the day, I will get back to my wish list and see how many I got

1. Hear Holy Mass – at my favorite chapel, CCTN of course
2. Lunch at Shangri-la – i haven’t got a chance to see this prestigious 5-star hotel, and I wish this time it will push through…
3. Dinner at Spice and Fusion Restaurant – when our boss treated us for lunch in this place 3 months ago, I wanted to go back, so I hope this is it… on my special day.
4. See my family and friends – as much as I wanted to see all of them on that day, I know it will not be totally possible, but I still wish…
5. File a birthday leave – I already submitted a leave request but sad to say I don’t get the approval notice yet… , well it’s ok, I still have Monday to check if I got approved.
6. Get a new laptop – … and it should be the latest ASUS model! and yes! I got it! Thanks sweetie!
7. Get a new ward drobe – I wish to get a new set from Red Logo, I love to see Donita Rose wears any of them…
8. Get a hair spa – … and a new haircut too, wanna try that new look I saw in the magazine… hehe
9. Get drunk – yeah, why not! joan is the expert, how i wish we could hang out and get drunk all night! haha… cheers dear!
10. Beautiful surprises! – well, everyone loves surprises… and I’m one of them!

I’m looking forward for that day, whether all my wishes come true or not, what is important is to thank God for good health and for the gift of life.

Birthdays, Friendship birthday, cake, church, Family, Friendship, group dinner, love