Michi Photostory

November 10, 2022

Styled Stock Society Black Friday Sale: A Deal Too Good To Miss

What’s on your Black Friday shopping list this year?

It’s the BEST time to snag holiday gifts for all the people on your list… BUT.

Don’t forget it’s a great opportunity to treat yourself for all the hard work you've done this year.

You deserve it, right?

And I have good news for you — because Styled Stock Society has its LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP on sale for just $600 during Black Friday!

That’s less than the cost of two years inside their stock photo + video membership… but you get LIFETIME access.

PLUS, they’re offering additional bonuses with your Lifetime Access. Get 365 BONUS social media captions AND 365 BONUS graphic templates with your lifetime membership purchase!

I’m not kidding when I say this is one of the best gifts you can give yourself (and your biz!) this year.

In case you need a *little* more convincing, here’s everything you’ll get LIFETIME access to:

7,000+ stock photos (with new images added WEEKLY)

A growing library of stock videos to use for your site, social video, & more

UNLIMITED downloads + the photos/videos are yours to keep

Over 1,800 customizable Canva templates (Instagram carousels, workbooks, Pinterest graphics, & so much more!)  Monthly caption guides so you can post something new every day of the month

TONS of bonus resources, like marketing toolkits to help your biz grow

No more designing your graphics from scratch. No more shelling out money for stock photos that don’t fit your brand. No more wishing you didn’t have to show your face on Reels. No more spending hours of time coming up with promotions and captions and marketing materials. All the marketing resources you could need forever are all right there in one place FOR JUST $600.

The Black Friday Sale is from November 21, 2022 12:01AM to November 26, 2022 11:59PM EST. After this, access to lifetime membership will be closed!

You know what to do! Don’t miss out on the Lifetime Membership.

BLUCHIC Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sale

People say that entrepreneurs, freelancers, and business owners have to “wear many different hats” all the time. I hear that a lot and it’s true, isn’t it? We have to be our own project managers and accountants and customer service reps and so much more.

But what if your web design hat just doesn’t fit right? As good as you might look in it, you’re not happy with the way it feels when you wear it. Nor how your website actually looks.

I’m betting that an ill-fitting hat is keeping you from giving your website the attention that it deserves. The attention that can help your biz grow and thrive.

You know what? It’s time to find a new web design hat. One that makes you feel confident in creating, designing, and customizing your website. And preferably, one that’s super easy to use.

My awesome friends over at Bluchic can help! You can install and use their WordPress themes in a snap, even if you’re new to WordPress. And they have tutorials and video walkthroughs that make everything a breeze. No tech knowledge or coding skills required, either.

Plus, Bluchic is hosting its annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sale from Monday, November 21 at 7 am ET to Monday, November 28 at 11:59 pm ET! You can get 30% off any Bluchic product — no code required!

Check out Bluchic’s sale now!

November 08, 2022

Day Trip at 88 Spa Resort

If you are a long-time reader of my blog, you knew that my late grandmother used to live in Laguna so we used to visit her every month. On our way to her house, we always passed 88 Spa Resort so when we are planning for a family outing, I suggested this resort because my husband already visited this resort with his colleagues and according to him, the place is good.

So the plan was pushed through but we did not join the family outing because the scheduled trip was just a few days before my son’s graduation, so ayaw ko naman may sunburn ako sa graduation. My family enjoyed the 88 Spa Resort so much that since then, they always go back to this resort, so mga nakailang balik na sila dito, both day trip and overnight but it was only last month, that my son and I were able to visit the resort.

My mom like this place so we had a Day Trip at 88 Spa Resort last month; my sister-in-law called the resort to reserve but was advised that there is no need for a reservation kung day tour lang.

Day Tour is 8AM to 10PM

PHP1500 - Adult

PHP1,150 - (3-12 yrs old)

PHP1,071.43 - Senior and PWD

Inclusions:

Access to all swimming pools

Consumable for food (lunch or dinner)

- Worth PHP450 - per adult

- Worth PHP350 Pesos - per child

Open cottages

Lockers and shower rooms

Note: Foods are allowed to bring inside the resort.

FREE OF CHARGE: Bread, water, and fruits.

CORKAGE: PHP100 per head: Cooked food, chips, sodas, and juices.

We arrived at the resort before 8AM and after payment, they gave us the keys for lockers and vouchers for food. There is a separate locker for men and women but we did not use the locker so I have no idea how big it is.

The 88 Spa Resort is huge, the lot area is more than 7 hectares at the base of Mount Makiling. It has 10 outdoor pools surrounded by palm and coconut trees. We did not bother to check the whole resort, we just stayed in one place and tried the nearest swimming pool. During our trip, there are also pools that are not working, ito yung nasa taas ng stairs. It is better to get the flyer to serve as your guide.

The resort has Octagon Pool, this pool has 8 mini pools with different water temperature ranges from 37 to 43 degrees Celsius. It is recommended to dip in the pool for 5 to 10 minutes to improve blood circulation and metabolism. If you want to relax your muscles and release physical tension, you can sit on Taeguk Pool. There are also pools with slides located in different areas. Aside from that, you can also take advantage of their healing packages, massage services, and food trip.

When you enter the resort, feeling mo nasa South Korea ka kasi may Korean vibes, as far as I know, Korean ang owner nito. So even sa restaurant, offers both Filipino and Korean dishes. I thought the PHP450 consumable per head is enough for our lunch but I was wrong, ang mahal pala ng food, drinks, and even the ice cream.

I was craving Korean BBQ pero hindi ko maenjoy kasi hindi pala unlimited ang Korean BBQ dito and may minimum order pa. So for our table, we ordered Pork Belly PHP900 (ilang piraso lang), Bulalo PHP700, Rice PHP60 per cup, Softdrink PHP90 and Ice Cream PHP120 + 12% VAT. They also have a set menu good for 4 persons ranging from PHP1900- PHP2000.

Even though the day tour is up to 10PM, we left past 3PM since dumadami na rin ang guests. Overall, we enjoyed our experience here and the only thing that I don’t like is their shower room, it really needs renovation. I did not take photo of it kasi madilim din naman.

Watch the video here.

Read: City of Springs

Update: March 2023

After our visit to 88 Spa Resort, we knew that we are going back because my husband wanted to bring his parents here so before November 2022 ends we went back. This was my husband’s treat for my Mother-in-law’s birthday. Hot spring is good for senior citizens so my in-laws enjoyed their visit to 88 Spa Resort even just for a few hours.

We left the house past 6AM and fetch my in-laws in Laguna. We arrived at the resort at half past seven. The rate is still the same and they allowed us to enter even though it is not yet 8AM.

Our consumable voucher is PHP2,250 so for lunch, we decided to order from the Set Menu, we chose Pinoy for PHP2000, which includes special bulalo, boneless bangus, chopsuey and garlic rice. They also serve side dishes. This menu is good for 4 persons pero nagkasya naman for 5 persons. We added rice and sodas and paid the balance after check-out.

After lunch, we did not go back sa main pool, doon na lang kami sa pool na malapit sa restaurant. We bravely tried the 41C degrees pool. After trying that pool even for several minutes, parang ang lamig na noong ibang pool tuloy. Hehehe!

Before we left, we explored the other parts na hindi ko napuntahan during our last trip. By the way, mas maayos yung comfort room na malapit sa restaurant kaso daanan ng tao.

November 07, 2022

Lunch at MESA

My mom is here in the Philippines for vacation so we usually have a family lunch every weekend. She suggested “MESA” for our lunch. It’s been years since the last time we ate here, we have tried the SM Southmall and SM North EDSA branches and so far we had a good experience.

It took us a long time to browse the menu because we were thinking if we would order from the MESALO-SALO Menu, Boodle Menu, or Sampler menu but we ended up ordering our own meal since iba-iba gusto namin ulam. It was funny because it took me a long time to check their menu but I still chose Inihaw Sampler, yun din yung mga past orders ko.

Since it was not our first time eating at MESA restaurant, we thought they would serve our order in 20-30 minutes, but 40 minutes had passed, wala pa rin, so we needed to follow up twice. So our experience with SM Grand was unpleasant because it took them just an hour to serve our meals. Nagutom na kami kakahintay, we were there before 11AM and 12NN na bago pa kami nakakain. I don’t know why it took them so long to serve the food and when we ate the Inihaw Sampler, hindi naman mainit.

Inihaw Sampler includes grilled chicken leg quarter, pork belly, scallops meat, river shrimp, squid, pork BBQ and a slice of Bangus belly basted with sweet soya glaze topped with spring onion.

The food is good naman kaso mabagal lang ang service, though maayos naman ang mga waitstaff nila. We are group of 11 people and we ordered the following, pero ang nakain ko lang yung Inihaw Sampler, Kare-Kare and Sinigang na Boneless Bangus. (kung ano yung malapit sa akin) And dahil sa gutom na kami, yung Inihaw Sampler lang ang nakunan ko ng picture.

Baked Scallops PHP260

Pork Sisig PHP280

Pork Binagoongan PHP370

Grilled Liempo PHP265

Kare-Kare Beef PHP550

Laing 2 Ways PHP240

Garlic Rice P50 per cup

Steamed Rice PHP40 per cup

Sinigang na Boneless Bangus PHP395

Pinatayong Manok PHP335

Inihaw Sampler PHP1295

Kamias Cucumber PHP105

Iced Tea PHP60

Fresh Buko Shake PHP150

Ripe Mango Shake PHp125

Dalandan Shake PHP125

November 04, 2022

Lunch at Romantic Baboy

The first and the last time that I ate at Romantic Baboy was almost three years ago. Nowadays, I seldom go to Korean BBQ restaurants because I can do it at home, I remember during the pandemic days, we always buy meat at Romantic Baboy if I’m craving it.

But last All Saints Day, after visiting the cemetery we dropped by SM Grand for our lunch and we ate at Romantic Baboy. I noticed that there are few changes since my last visit, before a minimum of 2 types of meat lang per order, kapag ubos na, you can order again, now you can order everything and they will serve it. The rate has been changed too, both dine-in and take-out. No credit card payment but they are now accepting GCASH payments.

Romantic Baboy House Rules

1. Minimum 2 diners per table to avail of PHP599 promo (Senior and PWD discount not applicable)

2. Unlimited pork and beef.

PHP649 - Solo diner

PHP325 - 3ft to 4ft

FREE - 3 ft below

3. Strictly no outside food and drinks allowed PHP200 pesos corkage fee/bottle.

4. Strictly no leftover and no takeout PHP200/plate.

5. No choosing of seats.

6. No vaccination card and face masks no entry.

7. Cash basis and GCASH only

The menu has been improved also so there are new dishes that I haven’t tried during our first visit. There is already a special menu and a seasonal menu. You can order the following:

Herb Samgyupsal - Herb Pork Belly

Woosamgyup - Thin slice of Beef Brisket

Moksal - Seasoned Pork Neck

Daepae Samgyupsal - Thin slice of Pork Belly

Yangnyum Galbi - Marinated Pork Ribs

Jeyuk Style Daepae - Korean Spicy Pork Belly

Bulgogi - Sweet Marinated Korean Style Beef

Spicy Beef - Thin slice of spicy Beef Brisket

Special Menu

Smokey Samgyupsal (Pork Belly)

Cheese Scallop

Bulgogi Chicken

Seasonal Menu

Smoked Duck - chewy and savory duck

Makchang - marinated grilled pork entrails

Since this is a family lunch of 11 people, madami na nag-order so I did not order any meat, so I just grilled and ate whatever is on our table. I tried the duck pero hindi ko type but I liked the combination of scallops and cheese. We did not stay long because we are going to visit another cemetery.

Romantic Baboy

3rd Flr SM City Grand Central

Rizal Ave. Ext. East Grace Park, Caloocan

November 03, 2022

Cricut Project: Heaven's Gate Shadow Box

Since last week, I’ve been doing some craft projects for All Soul’s Day but I was not able to finish my project because of typhoon Paeng. And because of the typhoon, we had no electricity and no water for 31 hours. So I can’t do anything for the past few days, good thing that I was able to finish the Angel Wing’s Memorial for my late father.

I purchased this Heaven’s Gate Shadow Box a few months ago because I planned to make this project for our loved ones. With this SVG file, you can make Heaven’s Gate project for your late grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, daughter, son, sister, brother, dad, mom, mum, dog, and cat. There is also a text layer for “glory”, “welcome home” and ‘’eternity”.

Due to limited time, I only use the “Welcome Home” text layer. For this project, I need 11 layers and I used smooth, texture, and glitter cardstock. I only cut the file but was not able to assemble it because my frame is only 6x6, I thought I have an 8x8 shadow box frame. Waah! Anyway, I’m still posting my PHD (Project Half Done).

October 26, 2022

Quick and Easy to Cook Beef in Black Pepper Sauce

Ever since I tried the Prima Taste Singapore Chili Crab Sauce Kit, I became a fan of their Best Singapore Favorites Meal Sauce Kits so it became part of my grocery list. They offer several kits and so far I’ve tried Singapore Chili Crab, Hainanese Chicken Rice, and just recently, I tried the Premium Black Pepper Sauce.

The sauce is created with the finest selection of black pepper sauce and spices. It can be used for seafood and meat. The packaging includes the ingredients and instructions, though I don’t follow all of them because I only use whatever ingredients I have at home. You can also check their website for more information and cooking video.

Prima Taste Black Pepper Beef

1 pack Prima Taste Premium Black Pepper Sauce

3 tbsp of Water

2½ tbsp of Vegetable oil

275 g Sliced beef

5 g Cornstarch

12 g Young ginger, sliced into julienne

28 g Spring onion, sliced into tubes

28 g Red Capsicum, sliced into julienne

1. Mix 275 g of sliced beef with cornstarch and stir-fry in 2½ tbsp vegetable oil on medium heat till almost cooked. Set aside.

2. Add 3 tbsp water and Prima Taste pack.

3. Mix well.

4. Add beef and stir-fry on high heat.

5. Add young ginger, spring onion and mix well.

6. Garnish with red capsicum.

7. Black Pepper Beef is ready to serve.

I have Meltique Beef so I sliced it into cubes. I stir fry the beef in oil without cornstarch, after 3 minutes, I added the bell pepper and sauce mixed. Cook for a few minutes and serve. I forgot to add the mushroom, sa kakamadali ko.

The spiciness level is mild pero maanghang pa rin for us, to think na 450g of beef na nga ginamit ko. Despite that, we still like this sauce so I will buy this again. I don’t know if it is available in the supermarket but I bought my sauce kit online. Mukhang menudo lang sa picture pero hindi tomato sauce yan. hehehe!

October 24, 2022

Lunch at Ramen Young Wasabi

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went to different places looking for aircon. My son’s aircon is broken so we need to buy a new one. We checked online and visited different malls in Cavite, Laguna, and Alabang. It was Saturday so ang dami tao sa mall so we decided to eat lunch at Verdant Square.

There are few restaurants there but we ate at Ramen Young Wasabi, upon seated the staff immediately gave us the menu. We browsed the menu but as expected I ordered Pork Tonkatsu PHP325, ewan ko ba ito lagi ang order ko whenever we visit a Japanese restaurant. My husband ordered Ton Shoyu Ramen PHP335. We asked for service water pero hindi daw available so we just ordered Bottled Water PHP25.

We were the first diners so the food was served in less than 15 minutes. My Pork Tonkatsu includes rice, miso soup, and katsu sauce so complete meal na rin. My husband and I finished our food, the taste is good naman medyo oily lang.

Ramen Young Wasabi

Monday to Thursday -12:00pm - 9:00pm

Friday to Sunday - 11:00am - 10:00pm

Verdant Square, Governor's Drive, Carmona

09167760319

October 18, 2022

How to Buy Travel Insurance for Philippines Travel Only

We love to travel but we don’t usually buy travel insurance because it is an additional cost to our budget. But after experiencing canceled flights, delayed flights, missed connecting flights, damaged luggage, and lost baggage, our perspective changed. And because of that, we make sure that we have travel insurance whenever we have international trips.

Read: Where to Buy Travel Insurance Online for Your Asian Adventure

Where to Buy Schengen Travel Insurance with COVID19

When it comes to domestic trips, we were having second thoughts because we live in the Philippines and we have insurance + health card naman. But after experiencing the global pandemic because of COVID-19 and the weather being so unpredictable, for the very first time, we purchased insurance "Philippines Travel Only" for our Cebu Trip.

How to Buy Philippines Travel Insurance Online at Pacific Cross

Just this year, I bought our travel insurance for our Europe and Asia trip at Pacific Cross so walang isip-isip pa, doon na rin ako bumili ng insurance for our domestic trip. Unlike sa Schengen Travel Insurance na one week bago ko nakabili, for our Asia and Philippines travel insurance pwede na online so I received my insurance after few minutes.

1. Go to this link

On this page, you can check the website, download a brochure, get a quote or buy now.

2. Download the brochure to check the updated rates.

Pacific Cross Travelsafe with COVID-19 has different plans, so it is up to you what plan you want. For Philippines Travel Only, here are the options.

Executive Peso

De Luxe Peso

Privilege Peso

Executive Dollar

Executive De Luxe Plan

For our 3 days trip, I chose the “Up to 4 Days” plan. Here are the rates for individuals and families. Since we are traveling as a family, I chose Family Rate to save money. The rate varies depending on the plan, destination, and days.

Philippines Travel Only/Individual/Up to 4 Days

Executive Peso PHP247

De Luxe Peso PHP364

Privilege Peso PHP573

Philippines Travel Only/Family/Up to 4 Days

Executive Peso PHP598

De Luxe Peso PHP883

Privilege Peso PHP1399

3. Click “Get a Quote” or “Buy Now”

4. Enter your email address.

Since this is my third time, after entering my email address and clicking next, it went straight to the Application form. No more validation emails.

5. Then fill out the application form for the principal and family members.

6. Read the Application Terms and Conditions. Click the tickbox and next.

7. Review your Travelsafe Insurance Coverage Summary. Click I agree to this site’s Payment Terms and Conditions

8. Pay via credit card or debit card

9. After payment, you can now view/print the OCC, Terms, and Conditions, and Application Forms.

10. You will also receive PDF files at your email address.

Our flight to Cebu went smoothly but after several hours, we received an email from Philippine Airlines.

“We would like to inform you that there are changes to your upcoming flight from Cebu (CEB) - Manila (MNL) due to adjustments in our flight operations.

We apologize for the inconvenience brought about by the flight change. Please select your new flight option."

We just chose the next available flight. Our flight schedule was moved and our flight was delayed too so I checked our travel benefits for flight delay pero may minimum of 6 hours delay or flight difference so I cannot file anything since few hours lang yung flight difference and flight delay namin. But this is one of the reasons, why travel insurance is important because we never know what will happen during our trip.

Do you also buy travel insurance?

October 14, 2022

Teacher Thank You Card

I know that Teacher’s Day is already over but I will still share the cards that I’ve made for my son’s teachers. I purchased this “Teacher Thank You Card” design but I only used it last August. For the past two years kasi, my son only sent digital greeting cards so for a change, I’ve made these cards.

This is SVG file so I just upload the file to Design Space, and change some layers to score, draw and cut. My son has 10 teachers so one design per teacher. This card is not only for teacher appreciation day, but you can also use this any time of the year if you want to thank your teacher.