Ten Years of Blogging!

Happy 10th Blogversary to me!

Wow! 10 years, 777 posts and countless friends made just by sharing glimpses of my life...or as I called it in the beginning, my blabbers and thoughts.

I Have My Reasons

It's been a year since my last post?! Whoops! My bad. However, I do have a valid reason why I've been on hiatus this long. Well, two reasons actually.

If you read my last couple of posts, you'll know that I was pregnant then, and ergo, I gave birth. And everyone knows how having a baby keeps you busy and tired. So much that even though you have a nanny to help, all you want to do when you have free time is sleep, right? Well, right now is one of the rare moments when I pushed myself to stay awake and update this blog while the little prince is sleeping and this laptop isn't being used, so here I am 😊

My 40th Birthday and Baby Gender Reveal at Jollibee Burjuman

Ever since I attended a birthday party at Jollibee in the Philippines many (many, many) years ago, I knew I wanted to have one as well. No, not for my future kids (because I was still single then), but for me. I didn’t care if others might think it would be “too childish” or “not appropriate” because I was way past being a child. I wanted to have a birthday at Jollibee. So you can imagine my delight when they opened the franchise here and put up branches that could hold parties.

Meeting Jeff Kinney at the Dubai Lit Fest

The past weekend kicked off the 11th Annual Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, and fortunately, my family and I had the chance to attend one of the sessions at the InterContinental Hotel Dubai Festival City. Even though it was already sold out, one of my good friends managed to give us tickets for Jeff Kinney’s session. Yup, he’s the famous author behind the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I didn’t tell my daughters where we going that evening because I wanted it to be a surprise. It was only when we were standing and waiting in the queue to enter the hall when they finally asked why we were there and I told them. Caila loves the Wimpy Kid books and Jeff Kinney is her favourite author, so you can guess she was ecstatic with my news. She actually had to ask me twice if she would really get to see the bestselling author.

Sophie's Happy Day

Yesterday, Hubby took Caila to an event she won through Ejunior. Unfortunately, the invitation/prize was for 1 kid and 1 adult only. So just to help Sophie from feeling bad and left out, I told her I would take her to Sparky’s, Al Ghurair so that she could ice skate. She’s been wanting to go ice skating for a long time (the last time was August last year at The Galleria Ice Rink) so you can bet she was very excited.

How to Get a Papal Blessing Parchment

Years ago, I told Hubby that I wanted us to have a renewal of vows for our tenth wedding anniversary.  I wanted to have another wedding, complete with an entourage, with me wearing a beautiful wedding gown and hubby wearing a tux, and reception dinner, Unfortunately, we never set aside any budget for it nor did we actually sit down and plan anything, and since our anniversary is in three months, you can be sure that that idea won't be pushing through.

My Elite Experience at Ed Sheeran's Dubai Concert

I had been looking forward to a long overdue massage at home last Thursday night; my shoulders and back needed it and my appointment had already been scheduled.  But just before lunch, my sister called saying that she was invited to watch Ed Sheeran’s concert that night and if I wanted to join her.  Hello?! Free tickets to watch the sold out concert of one of today’s popular and amazing musicians?  Of course I said yes, even though it meant I had to (very embarrassingly) cancel my massage session for the second time.

Mama’s 75th Birthday (Part 3): Desert Safari

Wanting our guests to experience Dubai as much as they could during their brief visit, my sister and I decided to take them on a desert safari the day before Mama’s actual birthday. After all, it’s one of Dubai’s famous activities to do when in town, right? Since they weren’t fussy and our group was a big one (11 adults + 1 kid), we availed of Yalla Banana’s Dhs55 per person deal online and called the company to schedule our group once we received the vouchers via e-mail.

Caila's Trolls Themed 8th Birthday

Since my sister treated Caila (and the rest of us) to a luxurious weekend stay at the InterContinental Dubai Marina as a gift for her 8th birthday, I knew I couldn't top that... material-wise, at least.  Thankfully, my eldest daughter had already told me how she wanted to spend her actual birthday and it didn't include a big party so we didn't have to dig too deep into our pockets this time. Whew! 

However, it did include giving away goody bags to her close friends and classmates at school.  It would have been an easy task (just buy treats and put them in bags, right?), but since she was so used to having a theme every year for her birthday, she insisted that there be a theme as well this year...yes, even though it would just be for the lootbags. This time it was Trolls. 

Downtown Slide and More at the Burj Plaza

Bored at staying home almost everyday last week (because our nanny is in the Philippines for vacation and it's my turn to be the stay-at-home mom until she returns), I begged Hubby to take me and the girls out last Friday.  Although we needed to buy some groceries, I didn't want to just visit the mall and go to the supermarket; I wanted a change of scenery.

Fortunately, Caila remembered seeing a giant slide at Downtown Dubai when we passed by the area a week before and asked if we could go there.  I agreed, and we convinced Hubby that that would be the place we would go to that afternoon.

The Moment "Love You Forever" Became My Favorite Children's Book

One of Sophie's assignments at school is to have someone read to her regularly.  Earlier, like all the other nights, I told her to look for a book.  This time, though, she couldn't (or didn't want to) find one that she liked.  So looking through all the books we have, I pulled out one that I was sure she would enjoy.

Me:     This is a nice one! It's a very nice story and it was Ate Caila's favorite.
Caila:  No it's not!
Me:     It was when you were very small.  You even couldn't go to sleep without it.
Caila:  I don't remember. Can you read it to us?

Celebrating Little Manila's First Anniversary with a Yacht Cruise

It was a few days after our visit to Little Manila for their Chef's Table. Hubby was simply browsing through Facebook when he saw the restaurant’s post for their Treasure Hunt contest that would be ending in a few hours. Just for the heck of it, he joined.

The following day…
   Hubby:          Mahal, nanalo daw ako!
   Me:               Saan?
   Hubby:          Sa Little Manila. Yung contest nila sa FB.
   Me:               Ano daw napanalunan mo?
   Hubby:         Yacht cruise for 2 daw. Ito, check mo yung message nila sa akin.
   Me:               Weehh? Talaga?!
True enough, that’s what it said. And you can imagine we were both thrilled to find we would get the chance to experience something luxurious like this.

Sisters in Switzerland: Mt. Titlis and Lucerne

Augh! I am so behind in my Switzerland posts.  Bear with me, please.  Life has just been really busy lately. Anyway, here's the continuation.  Just a friendly warning though: this is a photo-heavy post ☺.

The following morning after breakfast, Ate Ning and I headed to the pick-up point of Gray Line Tours that would take us around the tourist spots.

Originally, we wanted to go to Mt. Pilatus; but upon checking out the flyer and talking to the guide/driver, we changed our minds and decided to visit Mt. Titlis because it sounded more fun.  And I'm so glad we did because it was absolutely amazing!

Mama's 75th Birthday (Part 2): Family Dinner & Dubai Mall

After everyone had gotten enough sleep after the early morning surprise, we all sat down for a hearty late breakfast/early lunch.  Since they haven't tasted Mama's cooking for a long time, our guests from Canada made a special request for her to cook her delicious igado.  As Mama and I walked to the nearby supermarket earlier to buy the ingredients she needed, she kept asking me all sorts of questions as to how we had planned everything, and how thankful and happy she was that all her children and their families were finally all together with her.

You can expect she was really teary-eyed while I was doing my best not to get too emotional (Syempre, nasa supermarket kami eh. Nakakahiya!).  Even when we arrived at home and while enjoying our delicious meal lovingly cooked by Mama, we could see her just looking at us smiling as if she still couldn't believe her eyes.  She said she felt like she was simply floating with happiness and joy.

Thursdate With Sis at J&G Steakhouse

My first experience with St. Regis was back in 2012 when we spent a night at the lush resort in Saadiyat Island. From the special service we received, to the grand suite we stayed in and delicious food we enjoyed…everything was amazing! Since then, I’ve always thought of the brand as luxurious. When news came out that it had opened its doors to a new property in Dubai, I knew that I wanted to visit the place. A night's stay would be great, but since that wasn't likely in the near future, a chance to set foot in St. Regis Dubai and see how elegant it really was would be enough for me.

Which is why, when Ate Ning called me with an invitation for dinner at the hotel's J&G Steakhouse last week, I cleared my schedule for Thursday. Bonding with my sister over a free dinner at a luxury hotel…you can’t say no to that, right? ☺

A Fun Kiddie Sleepover

Not counting the ones with family friends who my parents left me with, I think I experienced a typical sleepover only once during my childhood days in elementary. It was my friend’s birthday, and she had invited a bunch of us to spend the night over and try their new pool. It was only after I answered Papa’s long list of questions, gave him the names and number of my friend’s parents, and promised that I would behave and be polite did he reluctantly allow me to go. Although it happened only once, I recall we enjoyed ourselves immensely the entire time, wishing that I would get to do it again (I did, but that was after several years when I was in university, and again only after more questioning and when my friend’s mom assured Mama she would take care of us).

#GPinCanada: Cousins Bonding

Whenever they were together, the four cousins would bond together every chance they could get.

There was one afternoon when Elaine and Nicole showed our girls how to make Oreo balls dipped in chocolate. The young ones had a fun time getting their hands dirty while molding the balls!

#GPinCanada: McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, Tim Horton's, and Montana's

Aaaccckkk! It’s already June and there’s still so many things I haven’t blogged about! Well, I guess I better get started then, huh? So let’s begin with one of my pending posts about our Canada trip, shall we?

The day after our family day, Hubby and I took the four girls (2 nieces and 2 daughters) to McArthur Glen Designer Outlet which is located near Vancouver Airport. It was a pretty long drive and our nieces didn’t know the way, but thanks to Kuya’s GPS, Hubby managed to take us all the way there and back despite the heavy traffic.

Mama's 75th Birthday (Part 1): Complete Family

And I’m finally blogging again! Hurray! ☺

I know I owe so many stories from January (plus the pending kwento of the rest of our Canada trip), but first I want to share Mama’s 75th birthday week. Why? Because even though there were so many great things that happened during the past 4 months, this was simply the best. And you’ll find out why later.

It all actually started last year a few months after Mama turned 74. My siblings and I wanted to do something special for her next birthday, and since she’s never had a grand birthday celebration her whole life, we started planning for a bongga kind of party…you know, like a debut. But we wanted it to be a surprise because if she knew about it, for sure she’d say things like “Hindi na kailangan!” (There’s no need) or “Sayang ang pera!” (It would be a waste of money). So we started looking around the internet for ideas, caterers, venues, and other suppliers.

A Cheesy, Yet Sweet Pre-Valentine’s Day Surprise

Days before yesterday, I knew our group of Kids for Christ coordinators was going to have a pre-Valentine’s dinner on Saturday night (some wives didn’t, though), but I didn’t know where. But then I saw this tweet from Asiana Hotel yesterday afternoon 

and for a reason I can't explain, I immediately felt or knew that Manila Grill was where the dinner was going to be. Originally, I thought “What will happen to the husbands’ plans if the hotel is closed off?” But after I shared the tweet to our group on WhatsApp, all the wives kept teasing and increased their expectations. The wives who didn’t know anything were saying things like
“Dyan ba ang surprise nyo sa amin?”
“Kaya pala nagpapasama ang asawa ko sa Deira mamaya.”
I even joked “Ang bongga ha! Napasara nyo ang Asiana?!” and “Formal wear ba? Kailangan bang naka-dress? ☺”