Michi Photostory

Not a lot of people know that I’m wearing eyeglasses because I don’t always wear my eyeglasses especially when I’m going out because I’m not comfortable with it.

I started wearing eyeglasses when I was in college, I feel and look so old if I’m wearing it so I only use it if I need to read or take an exam. When I started working, I only use it at work then after office hours, I will remove it. When I became a full-time mom, I only wear it if I will read or use the laptop. Yeah, I’m so weird about not wearing my eyeglasses, I tried contact lenses but I’m also not comfortable wearing it. And there are so many do’s and don’ts to follow.

I know that I need to have an annual check-up but I did not put it on my priority list. I have always been in the hospital for my check-up and lab test (psoriasis or UTI) and sawang sawa na ko to go to different doctors so pati itong sa ophtha, kinatamaran ko na. I always say to myself, I will go to ophtha next year but it never happened for the last several years. I’m definitely sure that going to my ophtha is an additional expense that is why I’m delaying it.

Wake Up Call

I mentioned before that my son is now wearing eyeglasses and I told him, always wear your eyeglasses ha!. But my son asked me. “How about you mommy, why are you not wearing your eyeglasses?” Toinks! It was a wake-up call that I’m not a good role model. How I can convince my son to wear his eyeglasses if he sees his mom not wearing eyeglasses. So after 8 long years, I finally went to Ophtha. I asked my friend for a referral so after watching my son’s Grade Level Assembly, off we went to Eye Clinic.

Check-up 

There are different tests that I’ve experienced like visual acuity test and refraction testing to know my correct lens prescription. I was advised that my eyeglasses no longer fit my eyes. The doctor showed me my present grade (eyeglasses) and asked me if I can see or read the letters. Imagine, blurred lahat. From 100 and 25, now 175 and 100 na grado ko. Ang laki ng tinaas dahil ang tigas ng ulo ko.

Then she passed me to Glaucoma-Ophthalmologist, the assistant drop fluid in my eyes, anesthesia daw, I'm not sure if for glaucoma testing. I was advised that my eyes are ok, I just need to use the correct lens para di sumakit ulo ko and she prescribed eye drop to prevent dry eyes. Then I need to go back after one year.

So lesson learned, take care of your eyes. It took me a long time to realize that my eyes are very important to me, kailangan ko pa ba mapanood ang “Ningning”. I just remembered that my late grandfather is blind, natakot na agad ako.

A regular eye exam is very important in order to know if you have signs of getting glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and especially if you have a family history of eye problems. We have eye problems in our family, both sides, halos lahat nakaeyeglasses.


Lastly, there are different lens na pala noh. I just discovered it when my son had eye check-up so nakiuso na rin ako. I’m now using a Crizal Prevencia Lens. It is a lifelong benefit of eye protection against harmful blue light and UV.

The Complete Protection 

For your eyes: UV
For your vision: reflection, scratches, smudges, dust, and water.

Crizal Prevencia Lens 

1. Repels water
2. Resists smudges
3. Anti-reflection
4. Resist scratches 92x more scratch-resistant
5. Repels dust
6. Harmful blue light protection. Reduced risk of AMD
7. Light scan technology. Protects against harmful blue light.

Read: Crizal Eyezen Complete Proctection

I was in hiatus last month so until now I’m not yet finished with my backlogs. My mom went home last month and whenever she’s home she wanted to eat Filipino foods so when we went to Trinoma we checked the different restaurants and we saw Dekada. 



We’re all first timers so it took us time to browse the menu, the name of the meal is very unique. I’m sure you are familiar with the name because you learned that in History class. 



We wrote all our orders in one piece of paper and gave it to the staff. The staff informed us that some of our orders were not available, nagpapalambot pa daw so we changed it. We ordered Sizzling Pork Sisig P218, Beef Salpicao P328, Binusog na Pusit P278, Aligue Rice P328, Suam na Mais with Squash P128, Crispy Tilapia with Salad P298, Inihaw na Liempo P298, Bulalo P408, Sinigang na Salmon Head P328, Leche Flan P88, Boneless Bangus P248, Calamansi Juice P128 (each) and Pandan Rice. 



We were informed that it will take 15 to 20 minutes, so we said ok. After 20 minutes, they served the Crispy Tilapia with Salad so we thought parating na rin yung ibang orders, after few minutes wala pa rin lumalabas. So we asked the server to serve 1 cup of plain rice so my mom could eat her food.



My mom almost finished with her meal before our order came. We liked the Bulalo because the meat is very tender but not the Inihaw na Liempo, ang kunat niya. 





We’re so busy eating and my sister said, nasan na yung ulam namin? Waah! Hindi pa rin pala complete, so we follow up again the Sinigang na Salmon. To think na ang bilis lutuin ng salmon di ba. 

Ang layo sa picture sa menu, nagshrink dito ang beef salpicao. Taste is ok.

My sister in law asked for the refill of calamansi juice and the staff said, hindi po bottomless yung calamansi juice, dalandan lang po. What? It is clearly stated in their menu Calamansi juice/Dalandan juice bottomless P128. They should change that, nakakaloko or they should inform na regular drink lang yun pag inorder ang calamansi. 



We’re already paying our bill, when we have to follow up again na kulang pa ng isang leche flan yung naserve. Hayz. We’re really disappointed with our experience, very slow service. The 20 minutes became 45minutes and kulang kulang pa rin order. I was not able to try the other dishes so I don’t know if they liked it or not. The interiors is nice, the price is reasonable but they need to improve their service and update their menu.

We had staycation in our home last holiday break, no grand vacation for us but at least I had time to finish my “things to do” list before the end of the year.

After Christmas, my husband told my son that they will swim in our Clubhouse but when he went to Admin office, walang pumasok na staff. So nag long vacation na rin sila. He was so disappointed because there was no notice that there will be no office on December 26. And because nagpromise na siya, we need to swim. #trustissue 

Since it was a last minute decision, we were choosing from the resorts that we have tried in Batangas. Check it here. We chose Canyon Cove again because both pool and beach are nice. Nasugbu is also near, paglagpas lang ng Tagaytay. 

He called the resort and asked if they accept day-tripper and the staff said yes. He called his mom to ask if they want to join and off we went to Canyon Cove the following day, December 27, 2015 at 5:30AM. At the gate, the guard told us na fully booked na daw sila but we told him na day trip lang kami.



After parking, the guard ushered us to the Day Tour Counter and he even helped me in carrying some of my stuff. Medyo malayong lakaran siya ha, dati may kiosk lang sa labas, now nasa loob na ng building. I did not bother to check the rates because we just went there last March 2015 so I was really surprised when the staff told me, Ma’m P4500 lang po itong cash. P5500 pala ang total. Toinks! 

Day Trip Rates in Canyon Cove 

P1000 - adult (300 consumable)
P500 - kid (200 consumable) 
FOC - 3 years old below 

You can read my old posts for more information 

Day Trip in Canyon Cove
Staycation in Canyon Cove
Kainan sa Dalampasigan

Most of the time, my son prefers the pool because may shark daw sa beach. Hehehe! But after we went to Acuatico Beach Resort and Hotel, love na niya beach. 



So after several minutes in the pool, he wanted to go to the beach na. He enjoyed playing in the sand.



Then we ate in Island Cafe (Max’s) for our lunch, we ordered Chicken and Spaghetti for my son because he likes the chicken, Chopsuey, Kare-Kare, Pork Binagoongan and Halo-Halo for dessert. 



Then we spent most of our time at the beach so it is better if you bring a blanket so even you do not have a cottage, you can stay under the trees. 



If you prefer pool, there are tents there where you can stay beside the restaurant.

This was our last travel last 2015.

I received my son’s Annual Physical Examination (School) last November and there was a note that we need to see an ophthalmologist. I immediately asked my friend for the contact number of their pedia-ophtha because I knew that it was not easy to get a schedule. There is only a limited number of pedia-ophtha here in the Philippines.

My husband called and the earliest we got is December 22, 2015. So aside from preparing for the holiday last year, we’re so busy going to the hospital, I mentioned before that we went to pedia-dentist last December 18.

When I saw the result of my son’s APE, I felt sad because I knew that he needed to wear eyeglasses and he was only 7 years old. Wearing eyeglasses is not easy because you have to take care of them and it might limit you to do some activities.

Fast forward to our check-up, the first step was this. You have to look at the picture inside the machine.

Next, the doctor called us, I gave the result of APE and he checked my son. He let my son read the letters. There was a time when we were repeating the instruction of the doctor because my son was not reading the letters. We thought that he was not listening to the doctor so we had to repeat it but the sad truth is, he can’t see the letters, that is why he’s not saying anything.


My husband was so silent at that time because he couldn’t accept the fact that there is something wrong with my son. At his age, my husband has 20/20 vision while my son needs to wear eyeglasses.

Then we went out for some tests, the assistant dropped liquid in my son’s eyes to relax the eyes, one drop in each eye. Three times yun, I’m not sure kung every 15 minutes. Then check up again in this machine.

My husband is a frequent diner of Dayrit’s because this is near in their former office in Makati. So before going to Manila last December 29, we dropped by in Magallanes just to eat here so I can try their dishes too. 



Read: Yummy Crepe at Cafe Breton

This is the interior of the restaurant, there were few diners that time but I noticed na marami nagtake-out order. While perusing the menu, I learned that they also offer frozen food to go, family party trays and cold cuts (per kilo). 



Since that was my first time, I asked hubby what are the specialties and he said masarap naman lahat but his usual order is Roast Beef Plate (w/baked potato topped with cheese, bacon bits, vegetable and choice of bread or rice) P340 and Macao. 



He told me na malaki yung serving nila so I suggested yung short order na lang kami. So we ordered plain rice with Tocino P145, Chorizo Macao P160 and Roast Beef P195. The serving of short order is still big so I wasn’t able to finish my roast beef so I shared it with my husband. 




My son ordered Tocino but ended up eating the Chorizo Macao because he liked it very much. 



Good thing that they are selling this per kilo so we bought one pack for my son’s baon. I just sliced it and put it in food container. (one chorizo per container) The Macao did not last long, three days only to be exact. He ate this breakfast and lunch (school) walang kasawaan. Now, he is asking this and gusto nga niya na baon sa school. The problem is, it is located in Magallanes, so kelan naman kaya maliligaw ang hubby ko dun. lol 

June 10, 2016 

I love traveling to different places but if I’m going out of the country, one thing that worries me is food. I’m not adventurous when it comes to food and I’m really loyal to Filipino foods so I really miss it when I’m out of the country. 



So after our 7 days trip in Japan, we ate in Dayrit’s Burger and Roast Beef House. Oh, I really miss these foods and busog sa sarap. I ordered pork binagoongan and I was happy because there is green mango on the side. I love their pork binagoongan and it is good for two persons so I take-out the leftover. 



My husband ordered corned beef and so-so lang daw taste but my son is a happy camper because, after a long time he ate Chorizo Macao again. I bought a pack of this again because back to school is near and favorite niya itong ibaon. My son likes Leche Flan so he ordered this dessert. 

February 2018 

My husband messaged me that he is going to Magallanes and asked if I wanted to buy chorizo. I said yes, because it is my son's favorite baon in school and I also told him to buy banana bread (P130). It's been more than a year that I'm not baking so I miss eating banana bread. 



We tried the banana bread and taste is good. My son was looking for chocolate chips because whenever I baked banana bread, I add nuts or chocolate chips. Well, I think miss na nila luto ko. I need to buy new oven na. :) 

September 2018

On our way to Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila, we dropped by at Dayrit’s Burger and Roast Beef House so we could eat our lunch. Food at Sofitel is expensive so para tipid maglunch na kami before check-in. Hehehe! We ordered Pork Binagoongan, Chorizo Macao and extra rice.


This is always my default order because I like the green mango, unfortunately, wala na naman green mango. I’m not sure kung inalis na nila yung mango kasi 3rd time na ito nangyari na wala green mango yung Pork Binagoongan. Maybe next time, I will change my order na lang.


This time my son enjoyed the tocino and after one week, he asked me to buy the tocino for his baon. Oh, napalitan na favorite niya! So my husband went back to Dayrit's to buy a pack of tocino P190 (I think 1/2 kl) and banana cake P140. Nag-increase na ang price ng banana cake.

August 2019

On our way to Sheraton Manila, we had lunch first at Paseo de Magallanes. Every time we eat at Dayrit's, I always order Roast Beef Plate or Pork Binagoongan. I like the combination of green mango and shrimp paste. Unfortunately, hindi lagi green mango ang side dish, most of the time kasi tomatoes lang ang nilalagay nila. So I was happy na may green mango nung last na kain namin. My husband and I shared on this meal while my son ordered tocino meal.


Aside from the meals, we also take out some foods here like banana bread, meringue and my son's favorite baon "Chorizo Macao".

Dayrit's Burger and Roast Beef House 
Unit 4 Mega Center Bldg. 
Paseo de Magallanes 
Magallanes Village, 
Makati City

We went to Manila last month because my husband will get the stuff that he needs to install our CCTV camera at home. The traffic was bad and my son and I wanted to pee. We saw UST and I told him that we will just stay in school and balikan na lang niya kami. 

UST is a memorable place for us because this is our alma mater and we became a couple a month before we graduated. Tee...hee... 

I was sharing our story with my son and showing him our school. 

Ethan: Mommy, look at the church. 
Me: (insert smile) That’s not a church, it is called Main Building. 

Miguel de Benavides

Monument Replica of arch door of the old university building in Intramuros erected in 17th century as it survived the war of 1941-1945. Arch of Centuries gateway to history of the finest breed of Filipinos. 


There are so many changes in the school, when we are still studying there is no fastfood inside the university. I remember that we had a bazaar here during our Commerce week but now kainan na siya. 


We stayed in McDonalds while waiting for my husband and dahil nahihiya na ko at ang tagal na namin dun, we transferred to Krispy Kreme. 

Trivia: 

- University of Santo Tomas is also known as UST, Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas or The Catholic University of the Philippines. 
- founded on April 28, 1611 by Archbishop Miguel de Benavides. 
- one of the largest Catholic universities in the world (terms of enrollment) 
- largest university in Manila. 
- this is the only university that have been visited by different popes. 

Pope Paul VI November 1970 
Pope John Paul II February 1981, January 13 1995 
Pope Francis January 18 2015 

- was declared a National Historical Landmark on May 24 2011 buy NHC of the Philippines.

My son had his first dental check-up last July 2014, he was already 5 years old when we were able to convince him to go to the dentist clinic and have oral prophylaxis. Last June 2015, we went back to the clinic again for our scheduled cleaning. The dentist informed me that my son has no permanent teeth yet and advised me to have an x-ray if by 8 years old wala pa rin permanent teeth.

November came and my son gave me his “Annual Dental Examination” result in school. I’ve read that there is no tooth decay, no cavities and there are already two permanent teeth. Then I just kept the paper without checking my son’s teeth.

After few days, I noticed the two permanent teeth of my son, I was surprised because the two teeth are at the back of his milk teeth. Then I began to worry about his teeth so I told my husband to schedule an appointment for a Pediatric dentist and the earliest we got is December 18. So after his Christmas Party, we went to Asian Hospital for his scheduled appointment. It was our first time with pedia dentist, the last two visits kasi sa dentist lang.


A pediatric dentist is dedicated to the oral health of kids from infancy up to the teenage years. Pedia-dentist provides comprehensive oral health care which includes risk assessment, diagnosis of oral conditions, preventive dental care, counseling, treatment and many more. They are not ordinary dentist so they know how to examine and treat kids that will make them comfortable.

I really noticed the difference between the dentist and pedia dentist, the way they talk, handle and treat my son. Mabait and mas mahaba ang patience nila talaga sa bata. First, she interviewed my son, she asked a few questions then she checked my son’s teeth. She assessed and informed us about my son’s teeth.

She said that we need to remove the two front milk teeth to give way to the permanent teeth or else hindi magiging maayos yung tubo. But she is giving us one-month pa para hindi mahirap tanggalin. As of last month kasi super intact pa yung milk teeth. Normally, the milk teeth will just fall out on their own. She told my son to wiggle the two front teeth every day.

Then she cleaned my son’s teeth, she was teaching my son how to brush the teeth properly, my counting pa each side of the teeth. After cleaning, she put fluoride and advised us do not eat and drink for 1 hour and do not brush the teeth before bedtime (one night only) para maabsorb yung fluoride.

Lastly, my son chose his prize for being a good kid, he chose a balloon. Hehehe! And because this is not the usual dentist the fee is not cheap, I almost fainted when I learned that I need to pay P1950 for cleaning + fluoride treatment. Hehehe!

It is not a secret here that my son loves dinosaurs so last year he asked me to make a dino plush toy. I said yes but I was busy and lazy last year so it really took me a long time to fulfill my promise. 

My son asked before we watched Jurassic World. We’ve been to Dinosaurs Island and nagshowing na lang ang The Good Dinosaurs hindi ko pa rin nagagawa. #lazymom 

The last time I sew was July 2015, I sew one dozen of pillow cases and after that I forgot to make any sewing project so yesterday, I push myself to sew again. My husband was teasing me when he saw me preparing my sewing machine. 

Hubby: Gumagana pa ba yan? Baka kinakalawang na. hehehe!

My son saw me sewing the dinosaur and he asked me, 

Ethan: Mommy, you want to be like Wowa?
Me: Why? 
Ethan: because you’re making stuffed toy. 

I smiled because he remembered the handmade doll that his Wowa made for him, you can check it here and here.  

Anyway, here are the steps of DIY Dino Plush Toy 



Cut the pattern and fabric. 



Pin, sew the fabric (opposite side) and leave a small opening. 



Turn the fabric inside out and put the fiberfill inside. 

Then hand sew the opening. Glue the eyes. 



You can do this by hand but I wanted to use the sewing machine, hehehe! I realized that it is not easy to make a small plush toy and marami pa curves so medyo matagal. Not a perfect dinosaur plush toy but my son was very happy and he even said. “Galing ka mommy!”

But after few hours.

Ethan: Mommy, this dinosaur cannot stand, it needs four legs. 

Waah!

Ethan! Mommy, you need to put ribbon at the back (spikes)

Okay, so I need to improve this dino plush toy pag sinipag ulit ako. hehehe!

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. 

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!