Michi Photostory

I’ve been trying to cook lechon kawali since last year but it took me few tries before I was satisfied with the result. The taste is good but I was looking for a crunchy skin that I was not getting when I baked it in the oven. 


So last December, I tried to cook it using the turbo, and voila, it came out perfect; soft and tender inside and crunchy on top. I served it during our Christmas lunch and my in-laws liked it too so it is a confirmation that I cooked it right. Turbo oven lang pala ang need ko. Hehehe! 



Cooking lechon kawali is so easy. 

First I brine it (salt and water) for few hours. 1/4 cup of salt per 1 liter of water.
Boil for 40 minutes or more (depends on the size of the meat) with garlic, laurel leaf, and whole peppercorn. 
Air dry for few minutes. 
Make a few cut on top so it will be easy for you to slice it.


Cook it in the turbo oven for 30 to 40 minutes at 200C

Some people were busy looking for resorts or hotels to spend their long weekend last week while I was busy checking the room rates of St Lukes BGC. Check the rates here. 

My husband underwent Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy so we had hospital staycation last week. I will share the story on a separate post, for now let me share with you our experience in St Lukes BGC. 

I was thankful because my son has no classes last Friday so he was not absent. After his school, off we went to the hospital last February 4 as advised by the doctor, the operation is February 5 at 7AM so we need to be there, the day before. There are some preparations that need to follow like fasting at 11 PM. 

Admission Office 



After we parked the car, we went straight to the Admission office. Just get your number and wait for your turn. The staff gave us the folder with Philhealth forms, reminders and patient/visitor guide. Don’t forget to inform them about your parking ticket, the charge is P50 flat rate per day for in patient. 

Regular Private Room 

Then we were ushered to our room. We’re supposed to get the Small Private Room but it was not available so we settled in Regular Private Room. I was surprised because the room is big, I’ve been in different hospitals before and so far this is the biggest room that I’ve seen (regular private). 



The room has a bed, TV, DVD, fridge with a water bottle, telephone, cabinet, side table, couch, safety deposit box, hangers and slippers. 



The Admission Kit includes toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, face towel, glass, and spoon and fork. 



The bathroom has one towel too. 



Checking the facilities and amenities of St Lukes BGC, there is no doubt that it is also called a hospital hotel. My son even said, “mommy, this is like a hotel”. He doesn’t feel that we are in the hospital because he is so comfortable with our stay. Well, hotel rate din naman kasi ang rooms nila. Hehehe!

Food

Salmon for dinner

I’ve been reading good reviews about their food and I agree with the reviews, gourmet ang food nila. I’ve stayed in different hospitals and ito lang yung time na I was looking forward to hospital food. As if ako yung patient noh! Hehehe!

Breakfast

While my husband was in the operating room, we were eating his meal, “Food for Companion”. You don’t have to go out if you need to buy food because there are so many restaurants at the ground floor. 



Expect your meals to be delivered to your room at

Breakfast 6:30 - 7:30 AM
Lunch      11:30 - 12:30 PM
Dinner     6:00 - 7:00 PM

Service

My husband is the one who chose this hospital and so far we’re all satisfied with the service, from parking, admission office, doctors, nurses and other hospital staffs. 

Since I was staying in the room, I’ve been calling the O.R. to check my husband. After my husband’s operation, they called to inform me that my husband’s was already transferred to Recovery Room and when they will transfer my husband’s back to our room.



If you need anything, just press the button and someone will go to your room to attend your needs. 

The staffs are going in your room to inform you or if they need information like the staff from Infection Control. They even ask you if you need anything before going out. We requested for a medical certificate. 

With regard to billing, they were the one who process everything and they just gave me the papers that I need to settle. I attached our CF1 (Philhealth Form). One thing I like, I can pay the bill on the same floor, imagine kung baba pa ko sa lobby di ba, e nasa 11th floor kami. 

Note: Free wifi

We went home last February 6, so it was 3 days and 2 nights stay in the hospital. The rate of St Lukes Global City is not really budget friendly but if the service and food are good, I think it is still worth it. Kung may health card naman, why not.

International House of Pancakes, also known as IHOP has been in the Philippines for few years, three years if I remember it right but it was only today that I’ve visited this breakfast restaurant.

I’m not really fond of pancake because I know I can cook this at home. But when I learned that they have P25 per pancake promo, I told my husband about it.



After the school service picked up my son, off we went to IHOP Filivest City branch, parking is P25 We already ate light breakfast at home, kasabay ng aking student so we just went there to try the pancake. 



We ordered 4 pieces of buttermilk pancakes P25 each, hot choco P75 and pork sausage P85. 



The buttermilk pancake is just ok, there is nothing special about it. I was a bit disappointed because there were only two syrups available, strawberry and blueberry. There were no butter pecan and old fashioned syrup. The hot choco is just ok too, mas type ko pa yung sa fastfood. Lol In fairness, we like the pork sausage. 

Service is good. If you want to try their pancake, the promo is from February 8 to February 12, 2016 in all branches. IHOP branches at Bonifacio Global City, UP Town Center, Century City Mall, SM Mall of Asia Official, The Araneta Center, Filinvest City, & Fairview Terraces!

IHOP Filivest Alabang
Spectrum Center, Block 28
Filivest City, Alabang, Muntinlupa
7AM to 12MN

When I had my son, I have no idea that I will be having a hard time teaching him the Filipino language. My husband and I speak Filipino in our home while my son is learning The English language because he always watches educational videos so even we talk to him in Tagalog he will not understand so we ended up speaking in English too. #nosebleed 


When he started going to school, that is the only time that his Filipino vocabulary increases because of his classmates. We have no problem with school until he reached Kinder Level.

It is really a challenge for us to get good grades in Filipino and Araling Panlipunan subjects. Whenever we study or review these subjects, the calm mom became a monster mom in the end. hehehe! #stressdrilon He dislikes those subjects because he can’t understand all the words and sentences. He is having a hard time composing a sentence in Filipino. 

There are limited resources that you can find in the bookstore and even online so I was really happy when I learned about Buribox last year. I was planning to subscribe this summer but thanks to May of fullyhousewifed.com for the invite to try Buribox. 



What is Buribox?

Buribox is a monthly subscription box that will help you in developing kids literacy, critical thinking and gross and fine motor skills. It is designed for Filipino child so expect that the materials are bilingual and refer to Filipino culture. 

There are 2 subscriptions that you can choose from. 

Toddler Buribox P799 

Recommended age: 3-5 years old 
4-5 New preschool books every month 
Multiple activities/worksheets and art materials every month 

Young Reader Buribox P799 

Recommended age: 6-8 years old 
5 New storybooks each month 
Multiple activities/worksheets and Art Materials every month 

Young Reader Buribox 

My son is 7 years old so I subscribed to Young Reader Buribox, I lived outside Metro Manila so I paid P150 for shipping fee via Paypal. 

We received our first Buribox last month and my son was really happy with his new stuff. The box includes 5 books, worksheets/activities, and art materials. There is a Parent guide to guide you in the different activities. We started our activity after his periodical test but until now we haven’t finished all the activities because we are so busy with homework and quizzes.



I’m planning to continue my subscription after school year so at least we have something to do this summer. I wish this subscription box is available when my son was still in Preschool years because we have more time. Anyway, if you are homeschooling, if you are looking for additional activities or if you are having a hard time to teach Filipino, try Buribox. 


Likes 

1. We like Buribox because it is a nice way of teaching Filipino. I like the bilingual books because it makes my life easier in translating the story. The box includes worksheets and activities that will help kids in understanding the story. The art materials are already included in the box.

2. If you want to cancel the subscription, all you need to do is log in and unsubscribe. 

Things to Improve 

1. The only payment option is Paypal. 

2. I hope there is an option for me to put comments regarding my delivery. In other online shopping sites, I can put weekday delivery only. So when they shipped the package last January 15, hindi ako makaalis ng bahay ng weekend waiting for the package. I can’t even track the package because there is no tracking number. Lol I received the package January 19. There is a note of 2 -3 days delivery but I want to make sure that I'm home. 



3. Make sure that the activities or worksheets are correct. We’re supposed to receive carabao but we received cat.

Buribox 
Facebook
Website

I lived in the Metro Manila for so long so there were so many adjustments when I moved to the province when I got married. Malls and restaurants are very limited. Malls here are not big. 

In our place alone, the only fastfood here are Jollibee and Tropical Hut. As in for years yun lang pagpipilian so I was really happy when I learned that we have Classic Savory and Shakey’s here.

Two weeks ago, we’re hungry and we have no food in the house so I asked my husband to buy pizza for our merienda. He did not know the number and we had not so good experience with Shakey’s Delivery so we decided to go to the restaurant na lang. 


We ordered Mojo’s and Dip and Pizza, I did not know na pwede pala yung half-half. Sometimes, it really pays to peruse the menu. My son likes pepperoni kasi and di ko naman siya trip so win-win yung half-half. Hehehe! 

P15 for gravy

The staff was offering Shakey’s Pizzanatic Supercard but we were still contemplating if we will get a card again.  
______

After a week, my friend and I went to Shakey’s to have our lunch before going to the bank. We asked for the lunch set menu and I was surprised to see the menu, our favorite “Bunch of Lunch”(chicken, spaghetti, garlic bread, a slice of Hawaiian Delight and Mojos) was no longer there. 

All combo meals have salad, We ordered the 2 Super Platter Meal, Mojo’s and Dip and Rice. The meal includes two slices of Hawaiian Delight, one piece of chicken, mojos, chicken and corn soup and garden fresh salad, spaghetti and garlic bread.


They served the mojo’s and dip and soup first. It took them a long time to serve the platter meal and kulang kulang pa, so no picture yung garlic bread and pizza. 

I do hope they will bring back the bunch of lunch set or kulang lang kaya yung nabigay sa min na menu? Any idea?

Our family loves Yabu ever since we tried it in 2014, it is our go-to restaurant if we are in ATC and Southmall. If the waiting time is so long and we’re hungry, that’s the time we go to another restaurant. 

My son loves Tonkatsu too, during our first visit he did not order Kid’s Katsu Set so every visit he always shared food with me. But last month, nagbago ang ihip ng hangin. He ordered his own meal.  The Kid’s Katsu Set is available for children 10 and below only at P255 per set. You can choose from Tonkatsu, Chicken Katsu, Cream Dory, and Menchi Katsu. My son ordered Tonkatsu which includes hire, potato croquette, edamame, Japanese rice, cabbage, and a bowl of fruit. Served with your choice of curry or honey mustard sauce. The potato croquette was not available kaya siguro ang daming edamame. 




My son just ate the rice and katsu. Our usual order here is Rosu Katsu, we tried other sets like the Chicken and Menchi but we prefer the Rosu Katsu. We like Yabu because you can refill the rice, soup, cabbage, and fruits so sulit. The service is good too. 


What’s your favorite in Yabu?

Yabu: House of Katsu 
G/F SM Southmall, Food Street, 
Alabang-Zapote Rd 
Almanza Uno, Las Piñas 
(02) 551-3511

The hospital food is known to be bland so whenever we’re confined in the hospital or if we are going to have check-ups, it seems that you are on diet because you don’t enjoy the food. 

Most of the time we eat somewhere before going to hospital but last month when my son had check-up at pedia-dentist, we decided to eat in the hospital just to make sure that we won’t be late. 



There are few options in Asian Hospital food court so I was surprised to see The Cafeteria by Chef Florabel, hmmm may bago kainan. My husband ordered Ensaladang Talong P75 + Rice P35, Pork BBQ Meal P185 and Country Style Liempo P175. 

The foods are not bland but I cannot say that it is affordable because I know that you can order meals in fastfood with drinks and the price is still cheaper. Softdrinks in can pa lang is P50 na e. But this is a good option if you don’t want to go out in the hospital anymore just to buy food. 

Update: March 2016

We ate here before my son's eye check-up and I noticed that they have the same menu lang pala sa Market on 5th Avenue in St. Lukes BGC. My son ordered his favorite Pork BBQ P185 and I tried the Porkchop with Egg P185.



The Cafeteria by Chef Florabel 
Asian Hospital and Medical Center 
Civic Dr, Alabang, Muntinlupa

Last month my son visited the pedia-dentist, she advised my son to wiggle the milk teeth in front of his permanent teeth. Unlike other kids, my son’s teeth were so intact na parang ayaw ng umalis. The two permanent teeth were out already but the baby teeth are still there so we have no choice but to remove it to give way to the permanent one. 



A few weeks ago, my son told me that his tooth is already moving so I kept on reminding him to wiggle the tooth so we don’t need to go to the dentist anymore. But of course, he’s so scared of the pain. Though he doesn’t believe in Tooth Fairy, I told him I will be his tooth fairy so I sew Tooth Pockets where he will put his tooth and I printed Tooth Record and Tooth Fairy Receipt. Check my Pinterest to know the source of free printables. 

Sewing this tooth pocket is so easy if you don’t want to sew you can use glue. My son was so happy when he saw these tooth pockets. 


January 16, 2016 

Finally, after several days, he agreed to remove his tooth. My husband showed him a video where the tooth was tied in Nerf Dart. We tried it but the tooth was still there so my husband just pulled the tooth using the thread. 

The first tooth was out so I was able to save P1,800 for this. I was praying that the other tooth will fall out soon so no more trip to the dentist. But unfortunately, ayaw niya umalis. It was moving pero matigas pa siya para bunutin. 

January 23, 2016 

Simple Tooth Extraction by Pediatric Dentist

Last Saturday, we went to the dentist. We’re running late already because my husband informed me that our schedule is 1PM. Waah! According to my calendar, our schedule is still 4PM, binago pala nila and my husband did not inform me. 

The staff informed him the day before but he forgot to inform me because he was in Brunei working and went straight to the airport to go back to the Philippines. Anyway, we’re 10 minutes late and waited for another 5 minutes so they can prepare the room. 

The pedia-dentist asked me kung bubunutin pa ba, mga two weeks matatanggal na daw yung tooth. I asked my son kung masakit na ba yung tooth and he said yes so the doctor said, we need to remove it na. 

So she explained to my son step by step, the doctor applied anesthesia then after two minutes, injection naman ng anesthesia. I was holding my son’s hand to let him know that I’m just there. 

He cried during the process, sino ba naman ang di masasaktan di ba. Pulling the tooth was easy as 1, 2, 3, matagal pa yung sa anesthesia. The staff gave him yoyo and a tooth holder where they placed his tooth.


I was already paying the bill when his dad came, ganun kadali lang and mas matagal pa naghanap ng parking ang daddy niya. My son experienced two ways of removing tooth, so I asked him kung sino mas type niya, si Daddy ba o si dentist. Si Daddy na lang daw, hehehe! Sana nga, so I can save P1,800. 

I know that I can still save money if I will visit other dental clinics but I don’t want to risk the experience at baka matrauma sa dentist. 

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.