A Tour of Hyatt Regency Dubai's Unique Staff Office and Dinner at Miyako

When you think of hotels, more often than not you think of comfort and luxury, where everything is beautiful, clean and organized, and all your needs can be taken cared of just by calling Room Service. When you think of the hotel’s backroom, on the other hand, what comes to mind is usually the complete opposite. The corridors, kitchen, and cafeteria used by the backroom staff are hidden and aren’t places you would really be interested to see, because, well, these aren’t exactly pleasing to the eye, right?

However, when the Sales Manager of Hyatt Regency Dubai invited me and my family to visit their hotel, I couldn’t resist. He promised a tour of their one-of-a-kind staff area, and since I’ve never actually seen the hidden side of a five star hotel, I agreed immediately.

My Alden Richards Story

Alden Richards. Who in the Philippines hasn’t heard of him? He and Maine Mendoza (aka Yaya Dub) made practically the whole country crazy with their tandem that started on Kalye Serye back in July last year. You can guess I was one of those who became a big fan of AlDub when the phenomenon started. I would watch their episodes every day, joining the AlDub Nation in tweeting about them, participating in the Pabebe Wave Day, cheering them on during their trials on-screen, appreciating the lessons Lola Nidora taught, loving all their commercials, and hoping they would end up together in real life.

When Alden came to Dubai for a show last January, I really wanted to go, but that was the night my sister and I flew out to Switzerland. So when my former colleague who works at GMA posted on Facebook that Alden was coming back in March, I was ecstatic! Here was my chance to finally see the Pambansang Bae up close!

A My Little Pony Party at Chuck E. Cheese's

Right after she had turned 6 years old, Caila was already looking forward to her 7th birthday. She must have enjoyed her Play-doh themed birthday so much, she couldn’t wait to start planning for her next party. Which is why, as early as May last year, our eldest daughter told me that she wanted a My Little Pony themed birthday party when she turned 7. Yes, that was just 3 months after she turned 6! Talk about excited! ☺  Of course we didn’t start preparing for the party that soon, though. That would have been too early!

After scouting around for fast food restaurants that had party halls, we attended a birthday at Chuck E. Cheese’s, Oud Metha…and as soon as the party was over, Caila told us that that’s where she wanted to celebrate her next birthday. I admit it is a great place. It has a wide variety of machines that kids and kids-at-heart can enjoy; and the best thing is, you only need 1 coin per game! However, I was hesitant to have the party there; mainly because the packages were just too expensive! Hubby and I tried to look for other options, but in the end, we gave in. After all, it was her 7th birthday...a special age to be celebrated (at least, that’s what almost everyone we know tells us)…so we blindly booked the hall in January and started preparations.

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.

Hiatus Break

Hi everyone! I'm back! Well, not quite, though.  This post is just to update you guys that I'm still here, but I've just been really, really busy.  Well, at least you can be sure that when I do find the time, I'll have a lot of things to blog about, right?

Why have I been quiet since February?  Well, first there were the preparations for Caila's 7th birthday, then Hubby's side of the family visited for 3 weeks.  Of course during that time, there were places to take them to.  Then there was the excitement of getting my photo taken with the Bae himself!  In between of course, there have been the plannings of the monthly KFC activities.

A week after the in-laws left, my side of the family arrived, and they'll be here for a month.  Mama's 75th birthday is coming in a couple of weeks, and we're planning to give her the happiest birthday ever.  So again, life is busy, busy, busy!  Still, it's all good.

Couple Time at Zen the Spa

Hi everyone! How was your Valentine’s Day?

Mine wasn’t anything other than normal. Since early this month, Hubby has been working at their site office somewhere in Jumeirah, and he’s been working longer hours than usual, so he usually arrives home late, hungry, and very tired. Naturally, you can expect that yesterday wasn’t any different. I didn’t mind though, because he more than made up for it the night before. I was still on a high from what the KFC hubbies did and the lyrics of their harana kept playing in my mind, anyway ☺

And fortunately last week, we were able to get a little bit of couple time when we went to Al Ghurair Rayhaan to attend Zen the Spa’s Pre-Valentine event. We were late and, to my dismay, we practically missed the entire program because I had gone somewhere earlier and traffic was really heavy; but luckily, Ferry was nice and understanding. Later, he called Anna, one of the spa’s therapists, and they gave Mauh (of Blessed Days in Dubai), me, and our hubbies a private tour around.

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? ☺”