Sunday Under the Sea

How was your weekend? Mine was exceptional. On Saturday, I had another afternoon off, the first one being last week for my monthly waxing of unwanted hairs and mani-foot spa-pedi after a loong time. Since these beautifying activities already took 2.5 hours, I just promised to return the next weekend for my haircut. My last haircut was in November last year. Anyway, instead of just a haircut, I managed to have a hair and scalp treatment that comes with a back massage. I loved every minute of the massage! I wish they massaged my arms and legs as well. Thanks to my husband for looking after the little one while I got myself pampered and prettified. I should do it more often.

The following day, we had an impromptu trip to Manila Ocean Park with my sister. It was our first time. I have always wanted to go but found the prices too high. When we got there we spent a good few minutes asking ourselves if its really worth it to spend 550/head including the kids. We decided to do it and splurge a little on family activities such as these. When I was already in line, I saw that they had an even better deal: the 5+1 deal for the Oceanarium tickets. That's a mere 2,000 pesos for the 6 of us which is like Php 334/head. Yay! We couldn't care less about the shows because we figured the kids are too small to enjoy the fountain or penguin shows and won't be sitting still for five minutes to watch. Anyway, the Oceanarium was fantastic and even us parents had so much fun. Our photos weren't that spectacular but I know we have achieved some special memories there for the kids. Here are my favorite takes:

After the tour, we watched the sunset at Whitemoon Bar whilst drinking beer and chasing the kids.

My son wouldn't stop doing this:

I don't think we're ready yet.

Band-aid

"Experience is the best teacher", they say. Last weekend, when we were just getting out of the house, Inigo scraped his knee on the pavement just outside our house. As it was just a scrape, it was not anything deep so we felt no need to be alarmed. In the car, I just cleansed it with a moist towel and applied some medicine. When we got back in the house, I took him to bath and washed the wound altogether. I've asked him several times if it was painful and he said it wasn't. Brave boy, I thought.

I remember that I too had scraped my knees several times in my childhood. The cleansing part was always a torture but as days passed, I kinda get excited watching it heal and finally picking on the dried skin. Eww. It's so funny and gross now that I think about it.

My son was exactly the opposite though. He went nuts over his wound on the second day and resisted when  I washed it or applied medicine on it. At bath time, he screamed for me to blow his wound the whole time I washed him. So I had to keep blowing until he gets out of the bathroom, dried and dressed up. Oh, and he'd always ask to wear pants, the long kind, to cover his wound. He wouldn't let me put a band-aid on it neither. LAst night, I put on a slightly short pajamas on him and his wound kept on peeking. He'd pull his pants down again and again just to hide the wound. I had to hide my giggle. I guess he was just not used to having a dark spot on his knee and finds it ugly to look at. Whenever I ask him if he has a booboo under his pants, he'd just say "No!" and pretend to laugh. He's still in denial. And I thought it wasn't until three years old that toddlers get weird.  

A Weekend in Naujan

In some summers during my childhood, we would tag along with our Mom to the province where she grew up and where my grandmother lives until now. I realize just how lucky I was to have even those short vacations and experience provincial life, not to mention sniff the country air. Don't you just love the smell and feel of the cool air of the province? I think we're addicted to it.



Anyway, since February is also my birthday month, one of the "gifts' I asked from my hubby is to agree with me to go to Mindoro on one weekend to visit my Lola and my balikbayan Titas staying there. It was a bit sad that my Mom should be in the states at this time but we pushed thru with the plan anyway. And so off we went last weekend. The total travel time was around 4 to 5 hours like Baguio but was different because we had to transfer from one mode of transportation to another. It was great that my brother became our instant travel companion. I tried to pack lightly but I just can't fit all our stuff in one suitcase. We brought three bags and one medium-sized suitcase, by the way.

My least favorite part of the trip was the afternoon boat ride to Calapan, specifically, the last 15 minutes of the ride. It was my first time to get seriously seasick. Even the little one got sick. I cursed so much in my head and promised that there's no way I'm going to take a late ferry ride ever, again. I was so relieved that as soon as we docked, everything was ok again and the little one was back to his normal self again.

All that sea-sickness was forgotten when we arrived at my Lola's house. My son loved every bit of the place. He loved the food there as we all did. He ate everything I gave him, fish, vegetables, crab, suman, fruits. etc. My Titas who babysit their apos in the states were amazed at how well he eats. Well they were also surprised and asked loads of questions when they found out I'm still nursing I. The next morning, we went to hear mass, and mostly just relaxed in the house. We hit the beach in the afternoon to watch the sunset. There was a nearby resort so we got us some cold beer.















We head home at dawn the next day. Before noon, we were back in the city.

I. @ 31 Months

Today, we were at the mall for a quick lunch and a grocery run after and I had to give in and get you a glass of Lemon Yakult from this stall because when you saw their logo image, you said, "The lemon is squinting her eye". You said this so completely as if you were older that you actually are.

I must add though that I wasn't hallucinating although when we asked you to repeat what you said for your Daddy to hear, you said "No!" but relented afterwards, refusing to say the word "squinting" and insisted it's squishing (followed by your small laugh). Adults can be crazy and I hope that at this very young age, you really are capable of taking things lightly and not succumbing to pressure, and yes, laugh at your parents a little.

You know how kids these days can be little tornadoes in their homes? You are at that stage now. And no matter how much we show and teach you how you should take care of your things, you just woudn't be bothered. Until last week that is. I was glad I was able to take photos of you actually packing away some of your toys.

I love you, bulinggit!

Cuppy Cakes 101

Motherhood somewhat boosted my confidence in accomplishing things, domestically speaking. Before I got pregnant, I was intimidated by the thought of baking. I love desserts, cupcakes, among them and I never realized how easy it is to make my own cupcakes until I dared to take baking lessons and practice at home for several months to a year. The Christmas of 2011, I had the guts to bake cupcakes to give away to my officemates. They were low-fat red velvets with cream cheese frosting. They were low-fat because instead of oil, I used mashed pumpkin. They turned out great and because I'm lucky to have a husband who's very generous in giving compliments, I immediately felt like Martha Stewart. After two-days, we were still eating leftover cupcakes which turned out to be hard as rocks. I felt guilty about giving them away and was terrified for those who did not eat the cupcakes immediately. Some of them were even burnt inside. Hay.

The Christmas of 2012 was a bit different though. I was more prepared and didn't risk on trying anything new or beyond what the classes or my own experiences have taught me. This time, even if they were still far from being perfect, my cupcakes were yummier and prettier. I must have baked around five batches of cupcakes during the Christmas season and all I can say is that all of them turned great, except for a very few burnt ones that I was able to detect beforehand. Since I am already working from home, we just gave the cupcakes to my husband's officemates. I was happy to hear compliments from them, too. Maybe this year, I will be working on my frosting swirls and designs. Who knows, I might venture into a business soon. Hehe. Just dreaming.

Carrot cake arranged in the chic-looking cupcake tower bought from Shopwise (about 300 pesos, buy one take one!)

Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Recipe to follow...

Our Baguio Family Getaway

Happy 2013! I've been so lazy to squeeze in my busy schedule updating this blog so just to keep the ball rolling, I will blog about the most fun thing we did during the holidays. Sometime in November, while the three of us were having dinner at home, I blurted out from nowhere that I wish to be able to spend Christmas in Baguio. Well who would have known that an opportunity to go there has already been planned for us! Last December 26, my husband, the two-and-a-half year old Inigo, and I were running late for our 11:15 am scheduled trip to Baguio. Good thing the bus terminal was just a few minutes away from our place so we made it. We remembered to pack everything---clothes, toys, accessories, etc. even our home-cooked lunch and snacks while on board. Since we were taking the Deluxe Victory Liner bus, I thought the latest we'll get to Baguio was at 5pm. Due to the traffic in EDSA and up north, we arrived at 630pm. Inigo slept twice in the bus for an hour each and in between, we just looked out for cows and goats, trees and mountains. Oh, and they also provided android tablets for passengers so we took advantage of those + free WiFi.

In Baguio City, we got stuck in traffic and that's when Inigo went a bit fussy. He asked for his toys and kept on dropping them. Imagine us having to look on the floors, and asking our co-passengers if they've seen an angry bird toy as small as a calamansi! haha. That was funny. But we survived the trip and didn't lose any of his toys, thankfully.

We checked in at our hotel and headed out for dinner. It was freezing outside! And we had to walk about 300 meters to get to the restaurant. It was a charming old house that they renovated and they served really good and comforting Japanese food. We ate salad, ramen, tempura, sashimi, california maki (Inigo's favorite), and finished off with green tea ice cream. It was delish.

The next day, we went to strawberry farm in La Trinidad. To get there, we took a cab and paid around 150 pesos. I would have paid more for the driver's skill considering all those zigzag roads we passed!  In the farm they don't charge you entrance fees but their strawberries are much more expensive. We paid 400 pesos for one kilo of strawberries that we ourselves picked. Inigo had so much fun picking and eating strawberries. I had to wash several strawberries using the water from our water bottle because he wouldn't stop asking for more strawberries to eat. After the picking, we went to look for strawberry taho stationed just outside the entrance to the farm. We also had strawberry ice cream. The taho sold for 25 pesos while the ice cream for 20 pesos. My husband had to go for a second serving of the taho. It was that yum.

From La Trinidad, we got a cab back that took us to the Bencab Museum. There my husband got our 2013 calendar. We enjoyed the trip because aside from the art works, the gallery had an amazing background of lush green mountains. We had lunch at Cafe Sabel --- organic spring rolls, adobo rice, tinapa rice, and organic tea.



We had to meet a friend in Cafe by the Ruins so off we went via a jeepney. It was quite a long ride and Inigo dozed off. They serve really good coffee there, which was a refreshing change from the commercial coffee shops in Manila.



We had dinner lovingly prepared by our friend T. at his place. The theme was Mediterranean so we had gyros, couscos, tabouleh, salad, etc. We played Monopoly, drank beer, and told stories like we always did before. It was nice to have friends look after Inigo and see them playing games with him. He was happy to tag along to Mommy and Daddy's parties. Thankful to the little one for letting Mom and Dad have a break from the usual routine at home.

On our third day we stayed in the hotel for half of the day just to pack our stuff. We were to leave that midnight. We checked out but made sure to leave the bags in the hotel so we could still tour around. We went to Camp John Hay. Had lunch at Le Chef and hang out a little at the hotel's garden & playground.  Our friend kept on wishing we stayed there instead because it was so much nicer. The playground had animal statues that Inigo loved. We sang "Wild Animals" almost the whole time we were there. He also couldnt get enough of the wooden train there. We sat in the train and chooed away! They also had tents and we made use of one of them for a quick breastfeeding session. Hehe. We also bought our Good Sheperd Ube Jam & Peanuts from one of their shops at the back. From Manor we walked to the Mile-Hi Center where they sold more pasalubong items. We didnt shop much as the ube jams were already heavy. I wish I had time to choose nice bonnets and hand gloves and scarf. But we were already tired from walking. We went back to our friend T.'s place for some dinner and wait for midnight. Inigo was already asleep when we went to the terminal. Hubby went back to the hotel for our stuff and we just met at the station. The ride home was fast and Inigo was asleep the whole time. We were in Manila by 5am and back at home even before the sun came out. We were so tired and we got sick...as in the three of us, but that's another story. I was just happy we recovered quickly and out and about again the next day.

Iggy Tweets

At 30 months, my son speaks a lot of words. This started as just me understanding what he's saying, then his Daddy. There are times we'd still translate what he's saying to others but most of the time, even strangers understand him. He doesn't just speak words or phrases but full sentences. I am still amazed at how he does it. Last night, he said something that made us laugh. He likes asking questions and answering them himself. This is what he said verbatim: "Is that the kitchen?" (pointing to the bathroom door) "No, it's the banyo." Haha. At least he knows Spanish.

I noticed he also knows how to add "s" or "es"  for plurals and possessives. 

Best of all, my son knows how to say "Thank you" and "Please" now.

The other day, while we were going downstairs to eat, he said clearly and completely, "Thanks for cooking, Mommy". This momma is forever thankful for being given such a wonderful and gracious child.