I guess 2015 is a year that has so many long weekends and holidays but we were not able to take advantage of it because of budget constraints. Travel took a back seat because we invested in solar panels to lower our electricity bill, replaced stuff with energy-efficient appliances, and installed CCTV for security. Though we still have a few staycations but no long vacations. When Christmas break came we wanted to have a vacation in Baguio and Sagada but we could not find accommodation so still no long vacation for us. But there is nothing to be sad about because we enjoyed our holiday break. Read: 24 Hours in Baguio 4 Days in Sagada with Kids in Tow Christmas celebration in our family is very simple, we only have a family reunion at lunch, a simple dinner for our family of three and before we sleep, we will open our gifts. We always wake up early for mass, it’s been years since we travel to Tagaytay just to attend mass para maiba lang kasi malamig. Hehehe! This year, we went to Taal Vista Hotel for a buffet breakfast at Cafe Veranda. Read: Stacaytion in Tagaytay
There is really a big improvement in Taal Vista Hotel service, I heard “Welcome to Taal Vista” when we entered the hotel and the staffs were all approachable and friendly, epekto rin siguro ng holiday spirit. :)
We went to Cafe Veranda but we were advised that they no longer have vacant seats but we can proceed to Grand Ballroom. Wow, ganun kapuno ang Taal Vista. I did not experience that when we had a staycation during Mother’s Day. Anyway, we went to ballroom, there were several buffet stations in the room, medyo nakakapagod lang mag-ikot kasi malaki yung place. Buffet breakfast rate is P858 for adults and half rate for 7 years old and above.
There is nothing special in their Christmas buffet breakfast, the food choices are ordinary. There are bacon, sausage, tocino, picadillo, dried fish, baked potato, and scrambled egg. There are arrozcaldo, champorado and taho. Of course, there are omelet station, bread station, salad and fruit station. Since there were so many people and we were located in the ballroom, medyo matagal ng slight ang refill. Nagkakaubusan ng coffee, hot chocolate, and fresh milk. But overall, we’re satisfied with our meal.
After breakfast, we strolled around and we learned that there's Mass in the ballroom at 10AM so dun na kami nagmass, hitting two birds with one stone.
After mass, I asked my son if he wanted to see Santa Claus but he was not interested so we went home immediately to avoid the traffic. There's Meet and Greet Santa Claus Activity at 12NN in the hotel kasi pero ayaw so wag pilitin. Papicture na lang kami kay Lady Santa Claus. How about you, where did you celebrate your Christmas?
December is a month when everybody was super busy, there are gift lists that needs to finish, gifts that need to be wrapped and there are parties from left and right. That’s why December is not my favorite month because I feel so tired. So this year, I’m planning to buy gifts as early as possible, dapat as early as November tapos na gift list ko. :) My plan of buying gifts last APEC holiday did not push through because my husband was in Singapore, so sayang ang holiday. Then my mom decided to go home for vacation so my three consecutive weekends were reserved for her so I have no time to finish my gift list. Good thing I started buying gifts online as early as November pero few days before Christmas, bumibili pa rin ako. It was stressful because of the traffic and crowd in the mall. Despite the stress, my December is still a happy month because I was able to attend different parties. So what happened last month.... December 12
My mom was home so she planned an early Christmas get together. It was something new because it’s been years since we had family reunion. Though we were not complete but we had fun. December 18
This is my son’s Christmas party in school but parents are not allowed to join anymore so after accompanying my son in their classroom, we went home. But I was glad that my husband was able to make it even he has few hours of sleep from his business trip. We fetched our son after the party because he has an appointment with pedia-dentist. Then we went to my husband’s office because he needs to get something and off we went to Sambokojin-Megamall for my get together with college friends.
While feasting with my friends, my husband and son watched “Star Wars”. They were supposed to watch “The Good Dinosaurs” but it is no longer showing, sayang di nila naabutan yung last show.
It’s been two years since the last time I’ve seen my friends so I did not have time to take a lot of photo for food review. It was time for eating and chatting. December 19
Christmas party with my mommy friends, it was raining hard that time but rain or shine tuloy ang party. I prepared some party games, thank God for Pinterest so I just printed Christmas Bingo, Christmas Word Scramble, Christmas Guessing Game and I made a Pin the Nose of Rudolph. December 20
Christmas party in our village but I did not join anymore. But I won a Noche Buena Package, thanks to my friend for getting my raffle ticket and prize. December 24
Christmas get together with my husband’s family. I cooked my easy to prepare dish because I only have few hours to prepare for Christmas lunch. I ordered lasagna, prepared fruit salad, cooked lechon kawali, roasted chicken and salted egg buttered shrimp. December 25
We went to Taal Vista Hotel for breakfast buffet and mass. I will share it in a separate post. December 27
We had a day trip in Canyon Cove, the resort was fully booked but I was glad that they still accept day tripper. Unfortunately the entrance fee is already P1000 (P300 consumable) per adult and P500 (P200 consumable) for kids. December 31
There was a Block Party in our neighborhood while waiting for New Year’s Eve. It was raining pero tuloy pa rin ang party. Hehehe! That’s it!
Happy New Year! Finally, after 18 days of missing in action, I find time to blog again. I intentionally took a break from blogging last month, some say “offline is the new luxury” and indeed it is rare to have a long holiday break. My husband was on leave since December 18 and that was the last day of my son in school too so it was really a long vacation for us. It is a good time to have a vacation but we did not have any grand vacation, we just had a staycation. Literal na staycation sa bahay, we just had one day trip at Canyon Cove. We wanted to go to Baguio and Sagada after Christmas but when we checked the hotels around the first week of December, fully booked na lahat. I got tired of checking so baka di pa time na umalis.
Anyway, back to my supposed to be year-end post; 2015 is a challenging year for us when it comes to health. As early as January, I’ve been going to the hospital for my check-up and laboratory test for UTI and June came, and I’m battling with severe psoriasis. Last month of December 2015, we went to pedia-dentist and pedia-optha for my son’s check-up. We received his annual physical exam last November so we made an appointment for a check-up. 2015 is a year of adjustment because of my husband’s business trip. I always say that I can’t be an OFW wife because I’m so dependent on my husband and I feel so alone when he’s not at home but slowly I’m adjusting to his schedule and learning to do the things that I need to do when he is not around. 2015 is a year of learning, I started joining a webinar and my husband attended seminars for personal and work-related. 2015 is a year of realization. I realized a lot of things like life is so short and we never know when God will call us home so let us enjoy life to the fullest. Be thankful for the gift of life so even though life is so hard because of my severe psoriasis, I’m still trying my best to live for my husband and son. My son is no longer a baby, he is in a stage where he is so curious about anything so I really need to be a good role model to him. I need to watch my actions and words because someone is watching me. I have to remind myself that “I’m not only raising a little boy but I’m raising someone’s future husband and father”. Change is the only permanent thing in the world, we can’t predict the future so we need to prepare, save and invest for the future. Well, bago humaba pa intro ko, let me reflect on what happened in 2015. January As I mentioned earlier, as early as January we are going to the hospital. I had UTI and need to undergo KUB IVP. In the same month, my son had a fever so we went to Asian ER. He had lab test like urinalysis, CBC and platelet test. He has been absent for 4 days, good thing that it was a preschool week so no classes, only activities. We also renewed our passport in DFA Alabang. February
We had a short vacation in Pangasinan, and we had a side trip in Bolinao. June
We celebrated my husband’s birthday in Crosswinds Resort Suites. Before June ends I started my phototherapy and until now I’m still under medication but I’m thankful that my skin is 60% okay and I’m praying that I will be healed soon. July
I celebrated my birthday at Four Seasons Hotpot and DreamPlay. September We received the card and my son got a gold eagle seal so we treated him in Lazerxtreme. October
We celebrated my son’s 7th birthday in Manila Hotel and had a simple party at home. We had a short trip in Bataan and Pampanga. November My mom came home before November ends so we spent our long weekend in Valenzuela. December December is a super busy month because of holiday preparations and Christmas get together. We went back to Canyon Cove for our last travel for the year 2015. I will blog about it soon. Despite all the challenges, 2015 is still a good year for our family. But I’m hoping that we could have a long vacation this 2016 kahit ang konti ng long weekend. Highlights of 2011 Highlights of 2012 Highlights of 2013 Highlights of 2014
Our day 4 Advent activity is “Make an ornament or decoration” so we made salt dough ornaments last December 4. I’ve been meaning to make this ornament but I just couldn’t find the time, as usual December is a very busy month. Ingredients and materials are always available in your kitchen, all you need is flour, salt, and water for the dough. Bowl, rolling pin, cookie-cutter, straw or paint if you want to color. Preheat the oven to 325F. Mix 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, and 1/2 cup water and knead the dough.
Roll the dough and cut shapes using a cookie cutter
Place on cookie sheets, make a hole using a straw and bake for less than an hour.
You can paint the ornaments or use food coloring while mixing the dough.
Our salt dough ornaments are not that successful because some puffed so it didn’t look good. But I will make this project again and reduce the thickness and hoping it won’t puff again. We enjoyed doing this activity even it is not that successful.
Christmas is fast approaching and we only have two weeks from now to prepare for the season. Honestly, I haven’t finished my list yet even I started buying gifts since last month. I just could not find time to go to the mall and buy everything that I need, nakakapagod din. Maybe next year, I will start my shopping as early as October. Hehehe! For the last few years, I’ve been following this gift giving philosophy in choosing gifts for my son. It really helps me in buying gifts.
Something they want... This is very easy because my son will always tell me his wants so I just take note everything so he can get it on his birthday or Christmas. But I don’t really buy everything on his list, of course, it still depends on our budget. Something they need... I buy something that I think my son needs but it is not in his “want list”. Just like his 7th birthday. I feel that he needs to replace his rubber shoes but he is not asking for it. You can also buy things for his hobbies, school or everyday need. Something to wear... I buy clothes, shoes, watches, jewelry or anything that he can wear. This is easy because every year, we really buy clothes for him kasi mabilis lumaki. Something to read... My son is not fond of reading books but I want him to like books so I make sure that he will read a book before going to bed except for days that we are not at home. Last year, I gave him 365 bedtime stories so he has no excuse not to read a book. This year, I bought Children’s Bible Stories. Every year, I buy 3 gifts so I just choose from this gift-giving philosophy. One from my daddy, one from mommy and one from Wowa since my mom sends cash gift and I will be the one to buy. Care to share your gift-giving philosophy.
I believe that all moms want to have healthy children, we want them to be active, strong and away from sickness. We believe that having food supplement is really a must to protect our kids. Our doctor is not a believer of food supplement. He believes that if a child is healthy, no need for vitamins. But I know my son well so I still buy vitamins for him. If my son is not a finicky eater, I will not need vitamins but my son is not eating enough veggies and fruits so I really need a food supplement. For the last 7 years, I have tried different vitamins, I asked for suggestions and feedbacks from friends, families and sometimes I checked for different reviews online. There were times that I wasted my money because my son doesn’t like the taste of the vitamins so we will go back to the old vitamins. My son has two vitamins, one is vitamin C + zinc and the other one is CGF vitamin. Last month I received this Nutri 10 Plus Syrup and my son is taking this for more than a month already. I’m glad because he likes the taste so no violent reaction.
Nutri10Plus contains CGF (Chlorella Growth Factor), Taurine, Lysine. Vitamins such as A, D3, E, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12 and C which help in boosting immunity, enhance brain development and increase physical growth. CGF (Chlorella Growth Factor) - helps children to grow at an accelerated rate and increase healing of damaged tissue. Taurine - is for brain development. It is an anti-anxiety agent and it protects cells from harmful effects of ultraviolet light. Lysine - helps boost appetite. Zinc - stabilized the molecular structure of cellular components and membranes. It contributes to the maintenance of cell organ integrity. Amazing right? There are so many vitamins and minerals that your child can get in 5ml of Nutri10Plus. One thing I like about Nutri10Plus is I can save money because I don’t need to buy two vitamins anymore. How about you? Have you tried Nutri10Plus? #aktibotmalakas
After church we went straight to SM North for family bonding, this is used to be my go-to mall when I still live in Valenzuela. It’s been 10 years since I moved to South Luzon and now there are so many changes and improvements. Nakakaligaw na talaga siya and almost half of the population was inside the mall. Sobra sa dami ng tao who were busy shopping for holiday. We had early lunch and as usual, my mom wanted Filipino food so I asked my brother what are the choices and I told them sa Mesa na lang. We dined here several months ago and we were satisfied with the food and service. Fortunately, they have a function room that can accommodate a big group like us (12 persons). We ordered Crispy Boneless Tilapia served with Four Sauces, Inihaw Sampler, Pork BBQ, Pork Binagoongan, Pork Sisig, Kare-Kare, Crab, Seafood Mix in Chili Sauce, Rice and Drinks.
I haven’t tried the Kare-Kare and Crab so I have reason to go back again. We all had a happy tummy. Related Post: MESA Southmall
We’re so busy these past few days because my mom just came back from Norway. We were supposed to go to St. James Bazaar last Saturday but the traffic was so bad so after wasting our time in Commerce Ave, nag U-Turn na lang kami and we decided to go to the airport to pick up my mom at baka matraffic din kami. We were so early so we waited for 2 hours.
Of course, there is always pasalubong for the grandchildren. Aside from chocolates, my mom brought her handmade doll. I don’t know how to knit or crochet but we’re blessed to have a mom who has this skill. My mom made these dolls, rush order since biglaan ang uwi. Hehehe!
Two years ago, my mom gave a handmade doll to my son but he was so curious so he cut the yarn to see what is inside the doll. Check it here.
But I hope he will not perform any surgery on this doll. She is selling her craft in Norway and I told her to open an online shop. Hehehe!
A trip in Abe’s Farm won’t be complete without visiting Abe’s Museum. Yes, Abe’s Farm is not just a restaurant, it is a resort with spa and museum. So after eating our meal, off we went to the museum. It was a long walk from the restaurant, parang natunaw na agad ang aking mga kinain. Hehehe!
My husband already visited the museum and he said free lang naman but we were surprised that the museum is no longer free, P30 per person. We gave our payment to the staff who ushered us to the museum. No receipt or ticket for that.
About Abe Museum
“The Abe Museum contains collections on the lives of two men who have influenced the way Manileños eat, think and live”. Artists, designers and writers benefited from the experiences of father and son Abe (E. Aguilar Cruz 1915-1991) and Larry (1941-2008). Their Capampangan-Tagalog ways shaped a number of generations in the process. It is only fitting to return their remembrances to Magalang, where Abe was born, where Larry returned to late in life and the Cruzes notions of graceful living began.”
Just like that November is about to end and we are going to start our Christmas countdown next week. Since I will be busy this coming long weekend because my mom would be home for vacation, I finished the Advent calendar and Christmas countdown yesterday.
Since I have no much time to prepare, I just reuse the DIY Advent Calendar that I’ve made last year. I have to replace the two wrinkled envelopes and listed treats or tasks for 24 days.
1. Today we decorate the Christmas tree 2. Listen to fun Christmas music. 3. Learn about the Legend of the Candy Cane. 4. Make an ornament or decoration 5. Read a new Christmas story 6. Go for a drive to see the Christmas lights. 7. Make a Christmas card. 8. Learn about holidays in another culture 9. Make a Christmas card. 10. You get to play an iPad game of your choice for 40minutes. 11. Make a gift for someone special. 12. Record yourself singing a favorite Christmas song. 13. Adding one item to the grocery list. 14. Call someone you love just to say hi! 15. A Special Christmas treat. 16. Hot chocolate made especially for you. 17. Write a letter to Jesus. 18. Staying up 20 minutes past bedtime. 19. Watch a special Christmas movie with treats. 20. Bake Christmas cookies. 21. It’s a family game night. 22. Playing a game of your choice. 23. Unwrap one present early 24. Read Luke 2, 1-20; A Christmas Story. Then I printed a Santa Claus Christmas countdown.
I’ve been meaning to visit Abe’s Farm for the longest time but it is located in Pampanga so it took me a long time to visit this place. Good thing that there is Abe’s restaurant here in the metro, which we have visited several times already. Abe’s Farm is not just a restaurant, they also offer room accommodation, spa services and a museum. It is like Nurture Wellness Village in Tagaytay but a bigger version. We really wanted to eat in Abe’s Farm so even we were hungry already because it is past 12nn, we still went to the farm, tiis gutom na lang. It was a long drive from Dinosaurs Island.
But it is worth the wait because the place is really nice. The house is also the restaurant. It is big and it has different rooms which can accommodate more guests.
The staff gave us the menu, I was surprised to see the menu because they have more choices here compared to the restaurant. Price is much cheaper too, our bill is less than P1k for food and drinks. :) My husband suggested the monggo so we ordered Grilled Liempo P250 and Monggo Bean Soup P95.
While waiting for our food, we went out to check the farm.
We went back after a few minutes and they served the food. The looks of the food are not appetizing but don’t judge the look because it is really good. The monggo has few ingredients (smoked fish and chicharon) but it is flavorful, the serving is so small, good for one person. I hope they have a big serving, mura lang naman ang monggo. Hehehe!
We also ordered Leche Flan P75 and Sikreto ni Maria P165 for dessert. The menu will not inform you what is in Sikreto ni Maria so it is really a secret unless you order it. Hehehe! Anyway, this dessert is a combination of sticky rice, ripe mangoes, semi-frozen macapuno ice cream and grated panutsa. We liked it.
After eating my husband said that there is also a museum, he asked the staff if we could check it and they said yes. I will share it on my next post. :) Abe’s Farm Resort, Country Cuisine and Spa 98 Livestock Village, Barangay Ayala Magalang, Pampanga Business Hours: Open daily, 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM For overnight accommodations, pre-booking is needed Contact: Phone: + (02) 506-8140 Mobile: + (0917) 808-5187 Read: Abe Abe's Farm 2017
Get 1 year of All Access for just $47 and enter daily craft prize giveaways. Extend multiple times for more chances to win!
Haute Stock Membership at 15% Off
Stop stressing about what to post on social media! Sign up for Haute Stock. You'll have access to thousands of beautiful stock photos, videos & Canva templates so you can post consistently & with ease! Save 15% with my code: michiscape
Start your Free Trial
Instant access to our pool of 867,156 Exclusive Fonts and Designs
Free Stock Photos for Women Entrepreneurs
25 free stock images perfect for social media, blog posts, online marketing and so much more!
$1 Deal
Grab a Bargain! 30 Top Rated Products for $1 EACH! - Limited time event only.
We’ve been to different travel expos already but this was our first “Great BDO Travel Sale” experience. Actually, I had no plans of going to...
The Perfect Paper Textures Bundle
Introducing 'The Perfect Paper Textures Bundle', a fantastic collection of digital backgrounds that mimic a wide range of materials! We have carefully curated a selection of high-quality images that imitate the textures of paper, metal, glitter, bricks, wood, fabrics, and more.
Say Goodbye to Boring Fonts
Get 5% off
No minimum spend and no discount cap when book travel activities for Europe through KKday Application. Book Now! Promotion discount code : "APP5OFF”
Themes and Templates
WordPress theme + Add-On Templates Kit + Sales Funnel Templates Kit = EVERYTHING you need to build your dream website. But for a lot less money than buying them all separately, and WAY more gorgeous than anything else you’ll find out there