Michi Photostory

October 10, 2013

DIY Mickey Mouse Party Theme

Last year my son had Lightning Mcqueen birthday party and this year he wanted Mickey Mouse birthday party so a few months before his birthday I was surfing the net for possible ideas.

It is not easy to look for Mickey Mouse party materials here in the Philippines so I have to DIY everything. Thanks to Pinterest for leading me to a free Mickey Mouse printable.

1. Mickey Mouse Invitation – my DIY invitation.

Read: DIY Mickey Mouse Invitation

2. Guest Frame - Guests will leave their thumb mark

3. Bottled Water/Spoon and Fork - water only because the school doesn't allow softdrinks.

4. Giveaways - chocolates, cookie, notepad and puzzle.

5. Banner - I used the template of my invitation for the banner and printed Happy Birthday Ethan letters.

6. Cake - I order the cake from “Say it with a Cake”

7. Food - Jollibee

I got my free printables here.

A repost from my old blog Michi's Home Sweet Home

October 07, 2013

Last Friday, my son had dress me up activity again in school and good thing I had ready costume for him. This scrub suit was a gift three years ago and now lang niya nagamit. Buti kasya pa! hehehe! What a coincidence too because my son celebrated his birthday on that day so parang costume party pa.

October 04, 2013

Happy Birthday Ethan!

I know I have to accept that I can’t stop you from growing too fast. Time flies so fast and now you’re already five years old. I do not regret choosing you over my career because I love growing with you.

I did not know that I could love more until you came. I did not know how to become a mom but you taught me how to be a better person each day so I can be a role model to you.

God knows how much we love you and there are no words good enough to express how thankful we are for having you in my life. Always remember, we are always here and there for you. Happy birthday Ethan

A Prayer for my Son

Dear Lord, your gifts are many.

I’m grateful for every one.

One of the greatest gifts You’ve given

is the gift of my dear son.

Thank you for his life dear Lord.

Watch over him each day. May he

be safe and free from harm,

as he goes about each day.

Bless him through life trials.

help him choose right

from wrong. An example be,

for all to see, standing tall

and proud and strong.

-Ron Tranmer

October 03, 2013

Top Dishes to Eat in Asian Cuisines in Australia

Asian Cuisine is a mixture of different varieties. They mostly refer to East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian cuisine. The wide variety offered in Asian cuisine is what makes it a favorite among people. There are many top dishes of Asian Cuisine which is very famous due to its taste and variety.

Australia is one destination where we all love to go. Australia is generally known for their fresh ingredients. These include seafood, beef, and lamb. You will also find their native cuisine ‘Bush Tucker’. All in all, Australian food is a mixture of ancient and modern cuisine.

But sometimes when people from Asia travel to Australia they find it difficult in adjusting themselves. The main issue is the food. Though the seafood is very popular, the tourist finds it difficult sometimes to adjust with.

But if you are a lover of Asian Cuisine, then you don’t need to worry. Asian Cuisines are also famous in Australia. Many restaurants in Australia serve top dishes of Asian Cuisines in Australia.

Yes, Australia’s number one online shopping group takes care of Asian takeaway at EatNow in Australia. Eatnow is a famous online food/takeaway site which gives you the top dishes to eat in Asian cuisine and other cuisines. You just have to open the site and find your favorite dish available in your area. After selecting your favorite Asian cuisine, you can place your order online through their user-friendly system and get your meal delivered to your home directly.

The delivery of your food will be from local Asian takeaway restaurants who offer Asian Food. You will find delivery menus, reviews about takeaways/restaurants as well as some exciting meal offers. The service is offered in all across the Australia with which includes main cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle, Brisbane, Canberra, gold coast and many more.

You can search by entering a suburb or the postcode of your city to find the delivery menus. You can pay for your order through your Credit card, Master card, PayPal account or cash. The system saves your previous orders so you can re-order your dishes too. There are no service charges for this wonderful online food ordering system. You can even order the dishes at the same prices and the service is absolutely free.

At Eatnow, you can browse the reviews of dishes before selecting a dish. This way you can identify the quality of your food and choose the best one. Currently, the top dishes are Wok Express which is an Asian Thai food, Thai Vintage – Sylvania which is also Asian Thai and Dontack Reborn which is Asian Japanese. They give you a list of special menu also with your main Asian Cuisines such as Octopus Wasabi, Takoyaki, Okra Tempura, Tomato Tempura, Agedashi Fishcake, and counting.

Eatnow gives many offers too. If you are ordering for the first time at Eatnow, then you may get a discount up to 10%. If you order some dish worth more than $50 then you also get a 5 % discount. Isn’t it a great deal to try once…!!! Eatnow is delivering a superb service by offering Asian Cuisine restaurants home delivery in Australia.

Top Board Games for Kids Entertainment and Learning

Board games are the best way of entertainment and learning for the kids. There are many board games which are highly popular among kids. Board games are those games that require some counters or pieces to move on a marked surface or board. Rolling dice is one of the important things that is used in many games to decide the chance or progress in the game. Earlier there were few board games. But nowadays we are having so many games that it is difficult to choose the best one for your kids. Chess, Monopoly are few common board games which are highly popular among kids for entertainment and learning purpose. You can easily buy board games either from a shop or online.

You can order your favorite board game or the latest board game at Big W. At Big W, you get the list of different types of board games depend upon popularity, rating, ascending/descending order with respect to price and alphabetically. The total specification about the game is available on the site. Related games and reviews are also there for each game.

You can get the discount too at Big W. The prices are very much affordable at Big W. There are so many games that it is difficult to choose which one to buy. To help you in deciding what game will be better for your kids, some top board games are listed here for your convenience.

Monopoly Millionaire

Monopoly Millionaire is the modified version of monopoly. In this game, you will live your dream lifestyle. The number of players is not limited in this monopoly Game. You need to earn money in this board game with the help of different ways available in the game. You can play with fortune cards too which is included with this game. This is a mind strategy game where you can make a million dollar. This game is available online. You can buy it from an online gaming site.

Cluedo - The Classic Mystery Game

Cluedo is a very classic popular game. This is a mystery game. It is a mystery game that involves a murder and six suspects. The mystery is to find the murderer. With this game, you will get all the essential parts to play the game. It includes Mansion game board, clues, black Cluedo cards and many more things. It is a very interesting game. You can buy these games online very easily. Stare! Junior Edition This game is good to improve your memory power. In this game, you need to stare a picture for some duration say 30 seconds. Then some questions will be asked to test how much you remembered about the picture. This game comes with 160 image cards carrying more than 900 questions.

Rush Hour

This is a game which teaches your kids to use logic and reasoning ability, in this game, you will find complex traffic jam scenarios. You need to take the red car out of the traffic jam. This game puts some pressure on your kid’s brain to think a little harder. There are 40 cards included in this game with different difficulty levels.

Scrabble

Scrabble game is a word game. This is a very famous game where you need to create words with the pieces you got which is embedded in an alphabet along with a number. This game is very good to increase the vocabulary in your kids. This is a way to learn new words and improve your language.

October 01, 2013

DIY Mickey Mouse Invitation

My son is fond of Mickey Mouse so there is no doubt that he chose this theme for his 5^th birthday party. But looking for ready-made birthday party invitation was not easy. I really had a hard time looking for an invitation unlike last year “Lightning McQueen Cars invitation was available."

Thank god for Pinterest, I was able to get some inspiration and I got the idea in Oopsey Daisy site.

Materials

Black cartolina for Mickey Mouse head

Red Cartolina for Mickey Mouse pocket

White Linen Paper for the buttons

Cardboard for pattern

Circle Invitation to be placed inside the pocket

Glue

Scissors

Steps:

1. First I trace the Mickey Mouse head in a cardboard to make a pattern. Then trace it on black cartolina.

2. Then I get one Mickey Mouse house head, folded it in half to make pattern for pocket.

3. Then make two small circles for buttons.

4. Paste it all together.

5. Finished product.

A repost from my old blog Michi's Home Sweet Home

September 22, 2013

When Will This Stop?

Note: Not a happy post.

For 31 years of my life, I always try to be strong to solve my problems, to fight my own battles and to face challenges of life. But this week, I feel so low, every day I feel so depress and stress. It is not a secret here that I have psoriasis since I was 20 years old but this week I experienced the severe case of psoriasis. This is the worst case that I have experienced for 11 years of having this skin condition.

I won’t be a hypocrite because I’ve asked God so many times, why me? Why Do I have to experience this? What did I do to deserve this? And when will this stop? Honestly, I’m so tired, I’m so stressed, I’m so depressed and I’m about to give up.

I feel that I’m just existing but not living the normal life. The physical, emotional and financial stress is already too much and I don’t know if I can still hold on. I started my phototherapy last Sept 14 but I feel that I’m just wasting money because I can’t see the improvement yet and like I said it’s getting worst.

I went to my doctor yesterday and she was also shocked because she saw me last Sunday and I was still fine, I can still cover my lesions but now even longsleeves and pants can’t cover it because I have it on my neck, feet and hands and few on my faces. I really prayed that God would spare my face.

I’m so tired visiting hospitals, just like yesterday we went to Victoria, Laguna to visit my grandmother as early as 5AM because I have to be in Asian hospital for my son’s check-up and for my phototherapy at 9AM. Then we transferred to Alabang Medical because my dermatology was there every Saturday. After that, we went to Healthway Clinic for my lab test because it is cheaper.

Dealing with this skin condition is so time-consuming, I really want a normal life. I accepted the fact that I will have this for the rest of my life but I’m praying I will experience remission or at least mild psoriasis just like when I’m not a mother.

My only consolation is, my family loves me. They are always there to support and accompany me every check-up, even though I know na napapagod na din anak ko just like yesterday, he kept on saying “let’s go home”. Napagod na siguro sa biyahe and pila sa hospital. Kung ako lang, I wanted to lock myself at home until I’m ok but I can’t because my son needs me, I need to accompany him in school and I need to go to hospital thrice a week.

I’m trying to be strong because I know my husband and son need me. I’m trying to believe that I’ll be ok after therapy. I’m trying to understand that there’s a reason for everything. I’m trying to hold on!

“O God, when I lose hope because my plans have come to nothing. Then help me to remember that your love is always greater than my disappointments and your plans for my life are always better than my dreams.”

September 17, 2013

When I grow up, I want to be

Last July, I mentioned in my “I want to be” post that my son wanted to become a chef so when I learned that they would be having a Dress Me Up Activity, we immediately went to the market to look for costumes. It was stressful because we only had three days to look for a costume. I haven’t confirmed with my son if he wanted to become a chef but since he mentioned it two months ago, I searched for ready-made chef costumes. It wasn’t easy, I was planning to look for a tailoring shop but time is very limited and I’m not sure if they will accept rush orders. I only bought a toque and apron.

After school, I asked my son what he wanted to be when he grew up and he said chef. I was convincing him to be a nurse, doctor, or engineer like his daddy so I wouldn’t look for costumes anymore but he said “No, I want chef!” so I showed him the toque and apron that I bought and he said, “Thanks mommy, wash it na”. #inutasanagadako.

After dinner, my husband was also convincing my son to be an engineer or president but my son really wanted to become a chef so what can we do. My son is only in preschool how much more if he will enter college. hehehe! But deep in my heart, I felt so proud because as early as now, he knew what he wanted and he had an ambition. I should be happy because he doesn’t want to be a janitor, bagger, or a dump trailer driver. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with these jobs but I’m just happy that my son has a big dream.

Last Saturday, we were still searching for the costume, I saw a ready-made chef costume but unfortunately, it is too small for my son and no more big sizes. I can’t find checkered pants so I just bought black pants. Then last Sunday, we looked for a shop to personalize his toque “Chef Ethan”

September 16, 2013

Stories + Mochi Cream

Honestly, I have so many stories to tell but I just can’t find time because my life is getting busier every day and if I have time my internet connection is not cooperating at all.

Well, just to give an update, I just started my phototherapy last Saturday, we have approaching World Psoriasis Day next month so we need to practice for our presentation, I’m preparing for my son’s 5^th birthday, I need to review my son for first trimester exam next week, I need to help my son memorize his poem for poem recitation this Wednesday and I was looking for costume for community helper activity today and next Monday. Wala pa diyan ang household errands chores and personal challenges.

Anyway, as I was saying I started my phototherapy last Saturday so I will be in Asian Hospital thrice a week and hoping my psoriasis will clear up. My psoriasis is getting worse again due to super stress.

Then after my therapy we went to Festival Mall to pay bills and scout for my son’s costume. Before going home I saw Mochi Cream kiosk, I’ve been meaning to try these Japanese Sweet Deli but the branches are too far so when I saw the kiosk I immediately checked the prices.

As usual, I was having second thoughts because it is so expensive. The price ranges from P75 - P100. But because I was curious I bought 2 pieces, I wanted to try three flavors para tig-isa kami pero di ko type yung available. I bought Mango P90 and Caramel Pudding P75.

Thaw 10-15 minutes before eating

The taste is good and we prefer the caramel pudding than mango. My son and I liked it but my husband prefers macarons. We’re cheapskates so this mochi cream is too expensive for us; it is not something that we will buy every mall visit but I still want to try the chocolate flavors.

Washi Tape Project

When I finally received my washi tape, I immediately tried it and check how it works. So I got my ipad charger and phone charger to start my easy project. A simple white charger turned into kikay charger. Washi tape can really enhance the look of simple stuff.

1. Charger

Update: Posting other washi project

2. Binder Clipper

A repost from my old blog Michi's Home Sweet Home

September 09, 2013

Coins vs Candies

We went to my friend’s house blessing last Saturday, our timing was really perfect because we’re just in time sa paghagis ng coins. #hehehe! My son was picking all the candies and I told him don’t get the candies; you must get all the coins. I stopped taking pictures and helped my son. #stagemother.

My son doesn’t know the value of money yet. If someone gave him money, he will give it to me and he forgets about it. He doesn’t even know that he has savings and time deposit account. I opened his savings account when I got his birth certificate; I think he was only 1 month old. So all the money he got from birthday, Christmas, earnings from junk shop goes straight to his account. Then just this year, I transferred part of his savings in time deposit but this one is under my name, I’m not sure if he can open his own time deposit. I just applied online.

fruit of our labor

I don’t know how and when the right time to teach him about money. any suggestions?

How to Get and Renew Happyplus Card

How to Get Happyplus Card

Jollibee staffs went to school, they gave us some flyers and convincing us to avail the Happy Plus Card and I was sold. I paid P100 for the card. The card includes one-time discount coupons.

P50 off Jollibee Coupon
P50 off Chowking Coupon
P50 off Greenwich Coupon
P100 off Red Ribbon Coupon

Happyplus Card is JFC’s loyalty card that rewards members to earn points every time they eat in Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich and Red Ribbon. Membership is valid for three years from the date of application. P100 for the renewal fee.

You have to take care of the card because it is good as cash. If you lost it, points and load will be lost as well. If the card is damaged, points and load will be forfeited.

Card Benefits

1. Earn points when you use your card and you can use the points to get free food. P50 = 1 point, 1 point = P1.

2. Register and reload for a chance to win up to P100,000 every month til December 2013.

P100 = 1 raffle entry

P300 = 5 raffle entries

P500 = 10 raffle entries

P1000 = 25 raffle entries

3. Cashless Payment System

No need for cash or wait for change. Just tap the happyplüs card to pay for your food. When you run out of load, simply reload your card for a minimum of P 100.

I’m planning to use this card for my son’s birthday.

Read: Happyplus Points

Update: March 2017

How to Renew Happyplus Card

I received an email notifying me that my Happy Plus card is about to expire and gave me the steps on how to renew my card.

As of March 1, you still have a remaining balance of:

HAPPYLOAD : XXXX
HAPPYPOINTS : XXXX

Your happyload and happypoints can be transferred to your new card once you renew.

Happyplüs Renewal Envelopes

1. Go to any participating Jollibee store and buy a new Happyplüs Card for P100.
2. Ask for a Renewal Envelope at the Cashier.
3. Completely fill-out the Envelope, place the expired Happyplüs Card inside and submit to the store.
4. Processing Period is 15 days from the date of submission.
5. The cardholder will receive SMS Notification when happyload and happypoints are ready for HP Transfer.

Happyplüs Renewal Devices

1. Go to selected Jollibee stores with Renewal Devices.
2. See the list of selected Jollibee stores here.
3. Buy a new Happyplüs Card for P100.
4. Request to transfer your balance from the Old card to the new card and surrender your old card to the store.
Note: Available at selected stores only. Applicable before the expiration date.

Happyplüs Online Renewal

1. Buy a new Happyplüs Card for P100.
2. Log in to your account at www.happyplus.com.ph.
3. Go to My Accounts and click on Card Renewal.
4. Fill up the necessary details and click on Submit.
5. After 48 hours, go to any participating store and request for HP Transfer/HP Charge.
Note: Applicable after the expiration date.

September 02, 2013

Birthday Staycation: Acacia Hotel

If you still remember, last year I celebrated my birthday in Acaci and this year we had staycation in Acacia Hotel.

Read: Acaci

I saw the “The Long Weekend” promo in their Facebook page so I inquired and asked if they have promo for Friday since my birthday falls on Friday. Fortunately they have Friday Madness so I immediately reserved the date.

Days before my birthday, I’ve been contemplating whether to cancel or not my reservation because of the Typhoon Maring and Habagat but my husband insisted that we will celebrate my birthday in Acacia Hotel rain or shine.

But God is so good because He gave me good weather last August 23, 2013. We had lunch in Outback Steakhouse and I bought my birthday cake in Contis and off we went to Acacia Hotel.

As expected, the service was good from parking, reservation and they even ushered us up to our room while informing us the facilities, amenities and location of the pool, gym, restaurant and others. You have to tap your key card every time you use the elevator.

I can see the pool from our window so my son was so excited to plunge but my husband didn’t want to swim, “mainit pa daw” so my son swims in the bathtub muna. At 4PM, we went to the swimming pool and stayed there for almost two hours. There’s a complimentary drink so no worries if you’re thirsty.

At 8PM, we received free cookies.

The most exciting part of staycation is the buffet breakfast. Upon seated, they will ask you if you want hot chocolate or coffee. Good thing that my son has no charge yet because he only ate one roll and silken tofu aka taho. We took our time in eating our food para sulit. =)

Then my son had last minute swimming before we check-out. Actually, my son doesn’t want to go home anymore. He wanted us to extend our staycation but of course we have to go home at baka mapambayad ko pa pang tuition niya. Hehehe!

Like

1. Service is good.

2. Bed and pillows are comfortable.

3. Location is good because there’s fastfood, grocery and restaurants around the area.
4. If you want to go to malls, there are free shuttles.

5. Free wifi.
6. There's bath tub in the bathroom.

Dislike

1. No bidet and exhaust fan in the bathroom.

2. Children swimming pool is too small.

Related Post

Lunch Buffet at Acaci Restaurant
Staycation in Alabang

Acacia Hotel Manila

5400 East Asia Drive corner Commerce Avenue,

Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang,

Muntinlupa City 1781

Telephone: 720 2000 / 588 5888

Email: enquiry@acaciahotelsmanila.com

Klook.com

August 30, 2013

Birthday Celebration at Outback Steakhouse

When I started working, my ex-bf (now husband) and I always eat out every payday and we wanted to try different restaurant that we haven’t tried when we’re still students. Since I work in Makati we went straight to Glorietta after office.

We always see the Outback Steakhouse outside the mall building so we tried it out of curiosity. I can still remember while browsing the menu, lumalaki mata ko sa nakikita ko presyo. But since we wanted to try the food, we still order, pikit mata na lang sa pag-order. Ending we paid almost P3000 for our meal; it was too steep for us but charged it to experience. Since then never na kami bumalik. hehehe!

After 10 years, we tried this restaurant again because we saw the 30% discount promo if you will use your Citibank card and since it was my birthday, we have reason to splurge.

We’re the first customers, upon seated the staff gave us the menu and asked if there’s any occasion. I said, it’s my birthday and she greeted me “happy birthday”. I thought meron slice of cake or presentation pa like other restaurants pero wala. #feelingkolang.

yummy complimentary bread

Anyway, I did not order steak anymore; we ordered Grilled Pork Chop P599, Baby Back Ribs P699 and Kid’s Pasta and Fingers Combo P249.

The serving was big, my son just ate one piece of chicken and I only ate one slice of pork chop so my husband has no choice but to help me. Take-out na lang namin food ni Ethan because he was busy coloring and playing in this corner.

Well, the taste is just ok, you can eat this meal in other restaurants at a lower price.

Outback Steakhouse

Parking 6 Theater Drive

Alabang Town Center

Ayala Muntinlupa City

August 28, 2013

Washi Tape Holder

I’ve been seeing washi tapes all over the web and since then I became curious but it took me so long before I decided to buy. According to Wikipedia, washi is a style of paper that was first made in Japan. Washi comes from “wa” meaning Japanese and “shi” meaning paper.

I received my washi tapes order yesterday and I put them all here including the two fabric tape. I bought this glass holder seven years ago but I did not use it. Good thing that I did not throw this away because it is now my washi tape holder. I guess, I need to buy more washi tapes.

I can’t wait to start my own washi tape project.

A repost from my old blog Michi's Home Sweet Home

Lemon Cupcake

I baked lemon cupcake last week using the recipe of calamansi cupcake. I don’t have calamansi so I used lemon instead. But I think, the recipe needs ½ cup lemon juice because the taste is not lemony.

Lemon Cupcake Recipe

1 cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup lemon juice

Lemon zest from 3 lemons that I used

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350F

Line muffin pan with paper cups

Sift flour and baking powder

Cream butter and sugar until light and smooth

Add eggs one at a time to the cream mixture

Add the flour mixture a little at a time

Add the vanilla slowly

Add lemon juice and lemon zest

Incorporate all ingredients

Pour batter into muffin pans

Bake for 20 minutes

August 26, 2013

Plants vs Zombies 2

Since Aug 17, 2013 up to now we’re on vacation because of the bad weather and holiday. It was really a long vacation so I need to adjust again starting tomorrow. We will be in school for 3 days and another long weekend for us starting Friday because we have no class, it’s Montessori Day.

Well, we enjoyed the “art of doing nothing”, we just eat, sleep and watch movie. Of course we did some household chores but because of the #bedweather, we took advantage of it. It is time for us to relax and recharge.

From August 18 – 22, we’re just at home so we have nothing to do except watch movie and play. We finished Resident Evil movie from 1-5 and we became addicted to Plants vs Zombies 2. My friend texted me to download this free game and now we’re hooked.

I still play candy crush pero nakakainis lang because it took them more than a month to update the levels, right now I’m stuck on level 410 so I don’t know when it will be updated again. So right now, killing zombies muna ang peg ko.