Baguio's Old and New

I originally didn't plan on posting about our Baguio trip during the holidays because, well I thought 'Baguio post again!'

But hey, this one’s gonna be short and sweet (I will try) :) Just want to share something new and something old to do in Baguio and some of my interesting finds from the usual go-tos.

The Zipline

This is located inside an activity area inside Camp John Hay. It’s P150 per ride. I thought the distance from point to point is quite short but It’s nice to try especially with the chill of Baguio climate.

The photo may seem like tinik tinik ka na by the time you get to the other end but no, the cable lines are pretty clear of trees :)

 

 

The area also offers paintball and a photo op with Hulk and another character I forgot for P10 (solo) and P50 (for group).

 You can also enjoy a game of golf in Camp John Hay for P180 per game, if I remember it right. It's an old amusement in the place and rarely visited now but I'm glad the kids got to try.

          Ayan winalis na lang ang bola kasi ayaw pumasok

 Another old time fave but a first for the kids is horse-back riding in Wright Park (P300 per hour for each horse). The kids kept going back here for 3 days especially since the cottage where we stayed was a stone throw away from the park. 

Cute silver earrings from Mines View

Not from Ibay store but the store across it in Mines View. I snatched this for P150 a pair; bought these because they remind me so much of Sophie and Sam. I also bought Sophie a silver ring for a hundred bucks.

Fruits Galore

When in Baguio, one has to grab the opportunity to get hold of their fresh veggies and fruits. I bought fruits for our New Year’s feast since, for one,  they’re much cheaper and fresher there. Also, some veggies like watercress, yakon (fruit or veggie?) can only be found there. Yakon is a fruit best for diabetics.
Recently, I got to try their Sagada oranges, seedless and really really sweet. Also bought Baguio tomatoes as big as the oranges we normally see here in Manila and stayed fresh and plump until last week. How cool is that?

Baguio fruits for our New Year's Eve simple feast. 

 

Oh and we got to take some photos by the Lion's head, an old landmark of the city, and The Mansion. Both first for us. We used to skip these places since they're usually overcrowded but the kids haven't had pictures taken in these places.

These trees in the Christmas Village were made of used bottles. Neat!

 Kailangan lang talagang mag-post ng ganito :)

 

She's Six Now

My little princess just turned 6 last January 16. Just the other night, I look back at how fast time flies. It seems like it was not too long ago when I was up until 3am chugging malunggay drink because my little girl wanted more milk from me. Now she knows how she wants to celebrate her birthday and was so involved in the preparation. She's a big girl now!

This year we decided to ditch the traditional travel itinerary to celebrate the kids’ birthday because our celebrant specifically requested to have a Barbie Princess and the Pop star party. She's so into the DVD movie she's memorized the lines of Kara and Tori and of course the songs!

So here are what we did for her 6^th birthday. My family and friends commented, ‘paano na kaya sa 7^th and 18^th birthday? Mas kikay I'm sure :)

January 16: School Party

We celebrated her birthday with a customary school party where we served pasta, chicken, hotdog sandwiches, cupcakes and cake – all the fun food for kids and adults alike. Played some games such as trip to Jerusalem which is Sophie’s fave and longest happy birthday. My little girl was little teacher for the day as well so she’s in charge of the bell to remind her classmates to behave even during games. 

the birthday celebrant blowing her flower cake

 the cake from Icings and rainbow cupcakes I made inspired by the lovely color of her cake

kids enjoyed a game of trip to jerusalem

 

 

 look who came to party? Her little bro Sam

January 19: Princess and the Rockstar Party

Came Saturday, we celebrated again at home with relatives and the celebrant’s friends with  Barbie theme carried over ( I just twisted it a little to make it a Princess and the Rockstar party).
I asked Sophie to make a list of her guests and after seeing the list I knew it was a bad idea. B.A.D. It was endless! I ended up buying more for the loot bags. I never realized she has that much friends from home. On one end, it was good that she’s making friends.

The birthday girl chillin' before her birthday, waiting for her hair to set.

 

About the dress, it's a dress she designed and her lola (my mom) made in time for her school birthday. This dress caused so much fuss and that is an understatement. You should've seen the whole family debate while she explained the design to her lola, she was very particular about that one shoulder and continuous sleeve design, the color and the length of the skirt. And yeah, even the flower and the belt must be there. Like she was a bride talking to her designer. My mom rushed to finish the dress in time for her  school party; the party was supposed to start at 1230pm but we got to school at 1pm because of this dress. 

from the concept

to a well executed dress

The shoes I bought from 168 mall while we were buying mylar balloons and other party stuff. They went perfectly well with her dress. 

 The cake from Deniel's cake

 Her paper lootbags (SM, P82.00 for pack of 50) with toys, M&M chocolate, Quaker cookies, filled mallows, candies, some assorted pens,etc. sealed with cute free printable labels from www.catchmyparty.com.

These printables were used to label the drinks as well.

 The food

Sweet style spaghetti

 

 Fresh Lumpia served with garlic sauce and peanuts

  

hotdogs with bear and heart mallows

  

 we also served barbeque, fried chicken, roasted herbed chicken, lumpiang shanghai. Except for the lumpiang shanghai and barbeque, I practically cooked everything on the menu it was exhausting! I'm glad the little girl has so much fun on her birthday.

After all those cooking, the little boy preferred to eat just grated cheese. Haha!

 Desserts were

Vanilla and pumpkin and chocolate chips cupcakes, served on a cupcake tower I bought from Divisoria for P150. Can I just say that Divisoria is the place to be :)

 Almond/Lychee with cherries

The kids enjoyed the parlor games and 'manual' pabitin (good thing my husband and BIL are tall)

 

but soon gave up because of the children's persistence

 In keeping with the princess and the rockstar theme, we bought glitter tattoos and the kids and adults alike were willing canvass while my sister and I (for the first time in our lives) applied tattoos on them. 

Of course the celebrant got to be tattooed first.

 

Me the tattoo artist. hehe :) I wore something rockstar-y that day, a studded Gap shirt and a black acid washed skinny jeans from Landmark

This is another one of my work

 I got one for myself too, how cute is this ladybug? You can buy the glitter tattoo set from 168 mall, I snatched a pack with 10 designs for a good price, includes the glue, brush and glitters.

My sister doing tattoos for other kids.

Lolo Rey and Mama Karol can't miss the party :)

Happy birthday Sophie! We love you always :) I think it's time to start prepping for your 7th birthday :)

The One That Got Away

That's how I best describe my recent yaya experience.

Our helpers of two years bid us farewell L One left right after New Year and the other just two days ago. It was such a pain to see them go but they have their own lives to lead and we couldn’t keep them from that. I always tell to go after their dreams especially if the opportunity knocks. Well, they followed their destiny, one has to continue studies and the other is, well, pregnant and has to stop working. I’m happy for them both but at the same time sad to see them go.

Hubby kept telling them that if they intend to work for us again, they just holler and he’ll kick out the current helpers. Hehe. That’s sort of saying, ‘you’re welcome anytime you wish to come back.’

These two especially the older one who left just a couple of days ago after Sophie’s birthday were my most efficient helpers by far. She treats my kids like her own and that doesn’t go unnoticed even with my relatives and in school. My kids’ teachers thought she’s a relative because of how much she cares and protects my kids. Makikipag-away ‘yan kapag inapi ang alaga niya (she would fight for my kids). She every now and then she’d peek into the kids’ classrooms to see how they’re doing and report to me happenings in school. She was such a stage yaya J

To think that when I first met her, I had doubts that we will get along together. She comes on too strong and I was afraid she may have little patience for kids. Well, in this case, first impressions were wrong. On top of all that, she makes mean ginataang langka, dinuguan and so many other dishes I don’t even know how to make.

I’m so thankful to have met them and so sad that they had to leave. We - my helper, kids and I - were crying ala drama anthology when the older helper left. She never wanted to go but she had no choice.

We now have a new set of helpers who came two weeks ago for the turnover and training, it’s but of course another wave of getting to know each other and I worry more for the kids. They love their Ate Michelle and Mama Cris (that’s how they call my just-left helpers) and having new Ate Mila and Mama Arlene will mean adjustment for them but I’m glad they’re getting along pretty well.

As for me, I’ve long ago learned to set my standard in housekeeping to a certain level that I know the helpers can achieve. I’ve long ago realized my OC self will have to be in check, anything they could not do, I do them myself na lang. What’s important and what we always tell the helpers during orientation is that the kids are looked after very well and are safe.  No missed meals, accompanied during outside play and behavior in check. They are extension of us and we rely on them when we are not around especially since we have no extended family that lives with us.

So there, another yaya story. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I last wrote about my yayas and I think that’s a good sign. 

Fashion: Spring 2013 Faves

In the spirit of  keeping us fab and fabulous this 2013, I'msharing with you once again what's hot (or could be flop) in fashion. www.Stylebible.com came out with a wide range of wearables and here are some of my fave picks.

Before anything else, here lemme share 2013's color palette. You must have heard that emerald is the lucky color of the year and I heard some of my friends say they're gonna hoard lots of emerald colored outfits. Haha! I hope we're all lucky and beautiful this year :)

 

 

  

 

full skirt. I'm a skirt person so this goes in on my list

the waistless dress. so comfy, perfect for moms on the go

loose pants; another comfy outfitey

navy blue. This is one of my fave colors, so vibrant and reminds me of my high school uniform!

 

 Graphic designs to add a creative flair and adventure to any outfit

Crop Top - need to reunite with my gym instructor for this

Drop waist dresses - my ultimate fave. My mom used to make me drop waist dresses as a kid and I love how it hugs the upper hip then goes full bloom from just above the tush to the knee. So sassy :)

At dahil uto-uto ako sa fashion, I can't help but grab this dress from the Mango shelf during it's sale day last week. Love the drop wait design :)

Stay fun and fabulous everyone :)