Baby Announcement

There were atleast some good news through the Birth Announcements I received this week. One of my friends who had her baby shower last week gave birth over the weekend. Gladly, she, the baby and their whole family are safe and spared from the wrath of the Typhoon, Ondoy. They are based in the South where not much concern about flooding were reported. It was really good to receive some baby announcements in the middle of a calamity. It provides new hope and new beginning.

Now, my friend is already asking about birth announcement cards. She’s pretty excited since its their first-born. So she asked me for my recommendations as she knows how much I prepare for my kids’ events. I told her to check some free invitation cards from http://www.birth-cards.com/. She could even get some free shipping if she orders in big quantity. Since she is a bit rushing, she could have the cards printed and ship to her the same day that she approves the proof. I’m pretty sure she could get what she’s looking for from the site of the Birth-Cards.

was affected by flood over the weekend.  It was chest deep high that entered their first floor.  In our longest stay there for more than 20 years, it has never happened to us.  I could imagine how it could be if we were still staying with them that time.  We had so much stuff on the ground floor.  My files, my work, my home office then was practically at the first floor.  I felt the sadness of my parents on what happened but I told them that furnitures and appliances can be restored and replaced and what is more important now is that they are safe and still healthy.   I am concerned more about their health actually.  It would probably take weeks to finally clean up the place.  They still do not have electricity and clean water from MWSS.   I do bring food to them everyday as they really cannot cook due to lack of utilities.  We are also helping them clean up the mess, the sticky mud that Ondoy had left.  This calamity have taught us a lot.  Most of us have picked up a learning from that experience.  It is really necessary to be prepared always and even those senior life insurance should really be considered for our parents.

Thank God! Our house was spared from flood. It was knee-high deep in our street but the main streets of the village were waist and chest deep still up to now due to the heavy rains brought by the storm, Ondoy! I practically walked through the flood from Masinag to our house. I came from the market together with the househelps. We were stranded there from 11am. Was able to arrive home at 530pm already. The husband and the kids were so worried. No choice but to leave the car infront of one of the buildings in Marcos Hi-way. We braved the flood which was waist-deep to chest-deep. It was indeed a scary experience.

As per our neighbors, it was the first time that our street got flooded. This is indeed a calamity for the whole Luzon especially Metro Manila. I hope relief and rescue arrives soon to those in need. Next to this calamity would be diseases spreading. Let’s all pray for safety and health of everyone. I hope we would all be spared from these concerns. All help we could get even those Mesothelioma lawyers might be needed.

Party Easter Invitations

I know, its just about 90 days before christmas and I am talking about Easter now! Well, I just came across this cute Easter Invitations from http://www.holiday-invitations.com/. I was actually on the look out for some christmas cards when I got directed for some easter party invitations. I remember my kids enjoying easter celebrations much as they enjoy christmas season because of the number of parties we go to particularly those with easter egg invitations. My kids love this game.

Since we moved to the new house practically after easter already, we didn’t get the chance to actually participate to the celebration in our village. But next year, I am even thinking to host and send out easter hunt invitations to the kids of our neighbors, whom my kids love playing by the way. The invitation on the left could be one of those options I could have. I should order early from Holiday-Invitations so I can even get free shipping and some free invitation cards. I am thinking to probably just request to modify some colors to the designs I saw from their website.

Gee, so many celebrations I am thinking now!

At last, writing about our final day.   I would have wanted to go to HongKong Island via Star Ferry but we woke up pretty late.  Dicky suggested not to go there anymore, instead spend time in Tsim Tsa Tsui.  I have fixed our stuff already the night before so we didn’t have to cram packing for check-out.  We went out of our hotel to walk along Nathan Road.  We figured to stop in some stores but wasn’t really able to buy anything.  At almost 11am, Dicky (him and the kids) suggested that they should just go back to our hotel room and let me have my time to quickly shop.  He told me to go back by 1pm in our room.  It wasn’t really easy to shop actually if you have toddlers in tow so I agreed.  

I actually just moved around Harbour City and crossed the street to check on H&M.  I was looking for a particular item but to no avail.  After careful thought, in the end, I was able to get myself something nice.  

Went back before 1pm in our room and our family went out to eat for lunch.  We decided to eat again in City Super so it would be quick and easy.  After lunch, went back to the room and checked-out.  Since Dicky wasn’t really able to shop at all. (but got him a perfume along Nathan Road), we headed to the airport instead to have the final shopping before boarding. 

We were in the airport before 3pm, we left the kids in an airplane play area at the 2nd floor, while Dicky and I took turns in moving around.  Dicky got some casual tees from Bossini.  We boarded the plane by 530pm in time for our 6pm flight back to Manila.

We were home sweet home before 930pm.   

Some pictures on our final leg…

It was indeed a family-fun trip.  Would love to do this yearly! But for now, I’m off to plan for the Guam trip on November!

Party Invitation Cards

I was too relax and didn’t realize that I also need to order Birthday Party Invitations.  It just dawned on me that we got a number of birthday part invitations as early as now.  I realized that Bianca is already going to a playschool so it would be appropriate that she celebrate her birthday in House of Little People (name of her school) instead.  I am in panic mode that I haven’t done anything from party theme, souvenirs, food orders, cake and even the party invitation. 

I need to decide for a birthday invitation for Bianca and the theme first.  I’m torn for High School Musical or about Hannah Montana since the little girl really loves singing and dancing.  Good thing ordering from http://www.cardspersonalized.com is easy. CardsPersonalized can allow me to view my personalized invitation before I buy it. They have a unique feature of using their patented Instant Preview. And if I don’t find it exactly as what I have envisioned for the invitation, they can even create a Special Design for me. Got to figure out really the birthday theme of Bianca now as she turns 3 so I could start ordering invitations.

So I’m finally on Day 3.  It was our last day in Hollywood Hotel so had to make the most of it.  It was kinda cloudy that morning so we weren’t sure if we could go swimming in the pool.  We bought some breads already from the park the night before so that actually worked for us as our breakfast that morning.  After packing some of our stuff, we went down around 9am to take a look at the garden part of the said hotel.  We brought our swimming gears just in case.  We had few shots but sad that we didnt find the cute cars there like what I saw last year.  

Even if it was drizzling, the kids still want to dip in the pool!  The husband agreed to let them swim anyway.  Good thing, it also stopped after a while.  They really love swimming, no inhibitions (unlike mommy! harharhar)

After swimming, we went back to our room to take a bath and pack as well. We checked out almost 12nn and left our luggages in the concierge first as we were TungChung outlet mall bound right after. We had last few pictures from our hotel room…

We had our lunch in the fastfood area in TungChung and then tried to move around for shopping. We took a train ride going there. But luckily or not so luckily, Dicky and I wasnt able to buy anything for ourselves. I never had a chance to even look at the Pedder Warehouse for some shoes. Instead, we got crocs for the kids so as new adidas rubbershoes.

We went back to Hollywood Hotel to get our luggages.  That was around 3pm already.  We took a cab going to Marco Polo Gateway.  It was at a hefty price of 250HKD.  There were charges for the luggages.  We arrived in Gateway almost 430pm already.  Will post separately our room in Marco Polo.  I heart it, the room and the hotel’s location!  We rested a bit then we were off to Harbour City.  The hotel is right inside the mall!  We ate in City Super (fastfood) at the 3rd level.  We were supposed to walk to the Clock Tower to watch the Symphony of Lights after our dinner but it was drizzling so we just stayed in the balcony side of the mall to watch the show (minus the music!)

Went back to our room in Marco Polo Gateway almost 10pm since we tried to window-shop around as well after the show.  We were able to buy few shirts/blouses (especially for changing clothes of Margaux for school) from Mothercare.  We rested for the night as it was our last night in HK!  I was looking forward for the following day for last minute shopping!

we spent most of the days lounging around the house.  I did a number of cooking after I went to the market last saturday.  Then I finished some writing assignments as well so I was glued to the internet.  I must admit, I also did some online shopping since Christmas is also just around the corner.  I’m due to shop this week for the parties we would be attending in 2 weeks time including the MBAP advance christmas party.  I am also still due to post the wishlists of the kids. 

But over the long weekend, the husband and I did some talking as well regarding our plans.  We sat down to review our starting objectives for the year and checked as to how we have fair with our goals as of this time.  We are happy to know that we are on the right track.  In fact, looks like we would really manage to get ourselves a nice christmas gift for the family.  We also have made initial plans for the year and even two years form now.  Well, aside from including travel plans, we are also toying with the idea of the husband taking an Online masters degree. His friend was actually taking one through Gonzaga University, which has been ranked as one of the best universities in the US, ranking numer 3 actually based on US News and World Report. It has also received recognitions by the Princeton Review and Forbes Magazine since it offers several masters degrees online without sacrificing the quality of education. They are known to be a premier choice for online programs since they value the time of professionals who cannot really attend physically to school because of professional and personal commitments.  Given these information, husband is highly considering taking on some masters degree online.  Got to do some more research about it.

We were advised by the reception and a letter was inserted in our room that morning that it was at Signal number 1. There was a storm that day. Well, ironically, even if its at signal number 1, the sun was still up that day so we had a great time again in the park. We rode almost all rides except the jungle river cruise which was close due to storm We also watched most of the shows since those were the ones that were really open. Come afternoon, it became cloudy already but still not raining. We again watched the parade at 4pm and good thing the fireworks still proceeded in the evening.

We also had a great time having pictures with the characters in the the FantasyLand area. We took all our chances to really line-up as the trip to Disneyland won’t be complete without those actually. We also did some shopping in the stores for the kids. They got pens, notebooks, toys, candies, shirts and all you could think of! They enjoyed the loots so much!

Sorry…pictures overload again…

It was our last day in Disneyland so we really had to make the most of it.  The kids were very very happy.  So even if its tiring it was all worth it for me and Dicky.  We were glad to give them such happiness.  Last few shots inside the park after the fireworks before heading back to our hotel…

So it’s time to have our Character Breakfast Buffet in Disneyland Hotel.  (Tip:  Do reserve in your hotel’s reception for the coupons for this breakfast since it would be cheaper by few dollars rather than a walk-in guest in the restaurant) Cost of the buffet breakfast was at 196HKD per adult and 99HKD for child.  Kids from 0-3 are free of charge. 

On this buffet breakfast, saying that Bianca had a blast is an understatement.  She was ecstatic, super happy actually.  She loves the disney characters so much that she really wasn’t able to eat since she has been running around after Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, Minnie and Daisy.  The ate (Margaux) seemed not to care at all.  She doesn’t even want to have pictures with them as she was only concerned to see the Disney Princesses.  Oh well, the Princesses didn’t go down that time.  They were preparing for a show in the lobby instead.  So notice that all pictures with characters are mostly with Bianca only.

Wasnt really able to take pictures of our food but it was all good.  I think I returned a number of times getting their friend noodles and dimsums!  Yum, yum, yum.  The husband was of course very happy too!  We managed not to have lunch anymore since we were so full from that breakfast. 

More pictures…

I wasn’t at all concerned that Bianca have been really holding the characters.  I know how much the Disneyland Company are paying special attention to the use of safety products on the suits of their characters, so I feel safe.

Finally, Snowhite was in the lobby so we also had a picture with her.

It was almost noon when we went to the park for our 2nd day.

Note:  This post is picture overload…

We went to Disneyland Hotel to have the character buffet breakfast.  We took the 2nd serving from 10am-1130am.  So while waiting for our turn, we took advantage to take pictures within the hotel lobby and garden. The kids loved their maze garden.  It was a nice spot to take pictures.  We also tried to come inside and let Margaux led us the way.

More pictures at the back of HongKong Disneyland Hotel…

Margaux so love the jumping shots so she recommended that we do it again and again and again…

And she wants a solo shot this time…

Arg, I was too tired after those jumping shots.  (nakailan kaya ako no!).  I think I have lose weight after it, like 5lbs! *harharhar* so I don’t need to  buy diet pills But the 5lbs have all been recovered right away after taking a sumptuous great buffet breakfast.

Oh my, Margaux was still jumping on the picture above even though I told her that it’s time to rest already. I can’t even walk already after those jumping shots!  

Afterwhich, it was time to eat with the characters of Disneyland…coming up in next post!

At around 130pm, (yes at the peak of the sun) we went to enjoy the park on our 1st day.  We took the shuttle from the hotel lobby and the kids were pretty excited on what would they see inside Disneyland.  Of course, the dad was taking pictures every step of the way.  Its our way for the kids to remember that happy vacation.  We took some jumping shots as well before we boarded the bus.

Off from the bus, a picture in the arc of HongKong Disneyland shouldn’t be missed and to the surfing Mickey.

Then to the Mickey Mouse Flower Garden…

First ride, the Disneyland Train.  Bianca loved the train so much.  We took off in Fantasyland and watched the 4d Magicshow. This time it was Margaux who had a blast in the show.  Bianca didn’t quite get why she had to wear the glasses inside the dark movie theater.  She ended up  watching it without her magic glasses. 

We proceeded by taking all other rides like the Winnie the Pooh (Bianca’s favorite), Dumbo Elephant (Margaux’s favorite) and the Carousel of course (Bianca’s favorite also).

We then realized that we were hungry so we ate in one of the al fresco cafe’s which has nice patio furniture covers along Main Street. It was timely after taking our snacks that it was time for the Disney Parade.  Oh, the kids had a blast waving at their favorite characters.  Margaux was “kilig” when the Disney Princesses waved their hands and even blew kisses on her.  While Bianca was shouting on the glimpse of Pluto, Goofy and the most popular couple in town, Mickey and Minnie Mouse! 

After the parade, we took our chance to take pictures in front of the magical castle…

The kids enjoyed watching also the High School Musical show in the main ground.  Then we tried Autopia and the Astro Blazers (which is Margaux’s most favorite).  I think we took that ride for like 8x for 2 days!  ;)

We were in the park till evening since we waited for the fireworks display.  I took this pictures of Dicky while we were waiting for the fireworks…

Although the fireworks in Disneyland Anaheim is whole lot better, we still enjoyed the final attraction in HongKong Disneyland.

We headed back to our hotel through the Resort Shuttle.  The kids were already low-bat this time.  We ate quickly in the lounge since the restaurant only offers dinner buffet.  We felt that it would be such a waste if we would take that.  The kids just had their kiddie meals while Dicky and I had noodles for dinner. Margaux was already sleeping in the couch even before we finished eating.  We capped the night early as we were prepared to take another long day in the park on our 2nd day.

We are back! We arrived home Saturday evening. I was dead tired tending to the kids. They were so playful, at times rowdy but was able to manage them still.

We left the house wednesday morning before 5am to be in the airport early. Oh, I lacked sleep that night since I finished last minute packing at 1am.  We took the first flight to HK via PAL. The kids were so easy to wake up during the time. They were so excited. They were up until we boarded the plane till we landed in HongKong. (ibang energy level! ) We were the first one to board the plane.  Yes, super excited lang naman! 

Some pictures while in NAIA Terminal 2…
  

They were  behaved all throughout the trip.  I was happy cause they were easy to manage on the plane.  Its a test if we can go for long haul flights next time.  Bianca was so obedient when I told her to put on her seatbelt.  She didn’t took it off all throughout the time that we were on flight.  The Ate (Margaux) was just busy with her writing books.  When it was time to eat, they both ate the food that was served.  

The flight was on time so we were in HongKong by 10am. The checkout from immigration only took few minutes and we were off to get our luggages.  We took a cab going to Disney Hollywood Hotel where we stayed for 2 nights. It was a breeze during check-in and we were allowed to come in to our room already as early as 11am. It was hot when we arrived in HongKong. The sun was up and so we were so glad. But we were informed by the reception staff that a storm might come the following day based on their forecast so instead of going to TungChung first based on our IT, we decided to rest for a while, freshened up and proceeded to the park right away.

Next up, our 1st day in Disneyland Park.

currently here…

Kids are having a blast so far!

One day to go…this is the planned “Itinerary” for the trip…

Day 1 – Wednesday, Sept 9
8am – Depart Manila via PAL
11am – (hopefully) in Disneyland Hollywood Hotel already
– check-in and drop luggages
12nn – travel to TungChung outlets for lunch and quick shopping
2pm – be back in Disney hollywood hotel to freshen up
3pm till closing – Disneyland in time for the parade

Day 2 – Thursday, Sept 10
8am – breakfast in Disneyland Hotel
10am – Disneyland again
* could go to TungChung again in case the kids are sleeping in the afternoon

Day 3 – Friday, Sept 11
8am – breakfast in Disneyland Hollywood Hotel
9am – swimming in the pool of Hollywood Hotel
12nn – check-out, move to city
130pm – check-in Marco Polo Gateway Hotel
3pm – take Star Ferry to go to HongKong Island (for kids to try this so as the tram in HK island)
330pm-5pm – move around Causeway Bay, Central
5pm – back to TST via MTR, shop and dinner
730pm – go to Avenue of Starts to watch Symphony of Lights at 8pm
9pm – back to hotel, rest

Day 4 – Saturday, September 11
8am – breakfast in Harbour City
9am-1130am – last minute shopping
12nn – check out; leave luggages in concierge
1pm – lunch and move around TST area
3pm – off to airport, airport shopping!
6pm – flight back to Manila

We are hoping for a good weather! Can’t wait to be back in HK again!

Got to find time to make our IT in Hong Kong next week. I haven’t done so. Need to maximize time in the city after 3 days of staying in Disneyland. Will definitely squeeze in a trip to the outlet in TungChung to get some sporty items. And hopefully see something nice in Pedder. As for the trip to the city, a careful plan on how to move from one store to another to find my “new love-s” now. Aside from looking, (just looking) for some jewelries as well with certified diamonds, my main purpose is to look for a Balenciaga Giant Part-time or a YSL Muse. If everything on my plan fails, I’ll go back to my own true LVoe. Got to get myself one in azure. Let’s see. I might still change my mind when I get there.

Hosted a dinner in the house with some good old friends last saturday.  These were our friends from Ang Lingkod ng Panginoon, a catholic community for single professionals, where Dicky and I were members before.  Cooked something italian for them that started off with a mushroom soup, then fruity italian salad.  For main course we had, pan friend dory in cream pesto basil sauce.  We also had grilled T-bone in gravy.  We had our favorite Selected Gold Chocolate Truffles for desserts.  

We had a long chat that lasted until 12mn.  It was a lot of catching up actually.  The dining table is really perfect for such kind of occasion where we stayed most our time.  And while we were having our good times, the kids also had a blast with their new playmate, Cate, the daughter of my friend Mai.  They stayed in the playroom for quite a while and then moved down to the ground floor to run around in the kitchen and the living room.  They were practically very much active almost until midnight.  

I am so happy we are finally hosting gatherings in the house.  I am actually fine with it.  I love entertaining so much!  I’m sure we would be hosting some more in the next couple of months especially that christmas season is so close by.  

Here are some pics from saturday…

And for the pictures to see as how much the kids had fun, check here.

our family went to Active Fun in SM Annex North Edsa.  The kids actually woke up early since they are pretty excited about it.  Active Fun is something not new to them as we are always been frequent visitors of their branch in Fun Ranch in Tiendesitas.  So Margaux is really expecting to try the giant slide.  And playing on the pool of balls is Bianca’s favorite.    We joined other mommy bloggers including (Thea, Joy, Mai and Toni).  We arrived almost 11am since we parked on the wrong side of the mall.  Forgot to print the email of Thea for the directions so I just assumed that it was in SM Main.  But it wasn’t a long walk after all since there are bridgeways within the mall. 

We were accommodated and greeted by the pretty manager named Apple. My kids were very eager to enter the play premise when they saw this…

Margaux tried it with Mikee which Thea posted as well.

The kids surely had fun playing also in their pool of balls. Look here…

We saw Sandy playing with Bianca…

We also had a chance to chit-chat with each other while the kids were happily playing inside. Afterwards, we were treated for a merienda. The kids loved the hotdog sandwich and iced tea, while I on the other hand like the panini sandwich served for adults. My kids can’t get away with an ice-cream. Good thing there’s some for sale inside. 

Apple, the manager was even generous to give the kids some lootbags.  

Indeed, the place is another venue to consider when we are on that side of the Metro. We can just leave the kids there while we also enjoy shopping within the mall. In fact, the husband was able to have his facial treatment while waiting for us!

Our final picture before we left the place…