Pre-Christmas Shopping at Fun Ranch Mommy Mundo Sale and Metrowalk

It has been a weekend of pre-Christmas shopping for my family and me. Oh yes, I'm one of those early shoppers for the following reasons:

1.) Avoid the December shopping rush, horrendous traffic, mammoth of crowd in the malls, Divisoria and bazaars;
2.) Spending little amount each month for the christmas gifts means not having to drain the bonus come December. I quite have a number of inaanaks, relatives and friends, that's why. In the previous years, especially when I was single, come July I already have a box or giant plastic bag for the gifts I buy by installment. I would label these gifts with the lucky receiver's name before I drop them off the box then update my Christmas list. Actually for this year, I'm quite behind since I already started shopping September but, then again, a mom's schedule just gets busier each year;
3.)  Take advantage of the Clearance/Mid Year sale during July/August and the September / October. They call it so many names but year in and year out, there are sale during July and September, that's value for money and hassle free;
4. ) Also, we usually have a family out of town trip or two during the holidays so we also need to allot budget for that.
5.) So I can enjoy my Christmas bonus to the max! :) Less expenses for Christmas gifts on December simply means more money for my personal shopping during holidays! Yipee :)

So last Saturday, the whole family (with the nannies) went to Fun Ranch for our initial Christmas shopping and it was a success! At the entrance, I registered and a very nice receptionist handed me a loot bag with Lactacyd items on it and a free entrance flyer for the next sale in World Trade in think. We were able to buy gifts (mostly from Big and Small Co.) for 7  kids and shirts for Sam. All items with 50% discount each! Mall shops only tagged 30% discount last weekend.
Mommy Mundo Sale had nice shirts for boys and shorts/skirts for girls. I bought 3 shirts of different sizes with 'My MOM has Super Powers" written on it and I think these shirts will benefit the mommies more than the kids, hehe. Of course, I bought one for Sam :) I also bought Sophie a pair of black gamuza shoes from The Little Red Shoe. It was so classy and pretty! I wanted her to get the red one but Sophie prefers the black one (well, the user should get the last say). It was originally priced at P900 but we got it for P600.00, nice deal for a pretty pair of shoes. Did I mention already that she's a budding bag and shoe addict?
We got there a little before lunch and after a few minutes Sophie declared that she's already hungry so I had to take a break from shopping and ordered lunch. We decided to eat in Big Red Barn resto (by the way, this was the venue of Mommy Mundo sale) since it was just so hot to cross to Tiendesitas. We ordered chicken and fries, spaghetti and Beef Pot Pie. It was the reddest  and sauciest spaghetti I have ever seem! This is the kind of Spag that all of us enjoy. The Beef Pot Pie was great too, creamy and tasty and the chicken can go well without the gravy. My only comment during our dine their was that the service was poor :( It took them too long to get our orders, to assist customer's needs and for orders to arrive. It was obvious the staff were disorganized and seem not so used to full-table day. If it was Diner Dash, they wouldn't reach their target earnings that day, lol.

Sam's ready for his photo while Ate Sophie's forever making chika.
Sophie in her Marks and Spencer long sleeve shirt (despite the hot weather!) and Pois and Belly skirt (not in photo is her new shoes, she wont wear the shoes she came with anymore). Sam in Big and Small Co. Tie dye shirt and Basix khaki pants, socks from Mothercare and shoes from SM. 

Sam and Daddy on a yellow train ride

Sophie enjoyed the yellow train ride too! She also played the fishing game  and won prizes for Sam and herself :)

After Tiendesitas, we went to Metrowalk and I was able to buy 2 dresses for another inaanak and Sophie at a very good price. Well, the pink jeweled dress with drop waist was priced at P300 but I haggled for P250. At first the seller wouldn't give in since it's their special dress na daw but she gave in eventually. This is one reason I love bazzars, the haggling. Being raised by a modista mom and a regular of Divisoria, I was trained to be a great haggler (sometimes Stephen pity the vendors, I could've asked the item for free na lang daw haha!) Also, I know what kind of material is worth the price or not so if it's really a good material and workmanship, I don't haggle much.
After the bazaar trips, we went to visit Stephen's grandma Mommy Nilda and parents Mama Karol and Papa Rey in QC so the kids can bond with the grandparents. Mommy Nilda made Chami Guisado which was really delicious especially with vinegar.
It was a fun Saturday all in all. Tiring but fun :)