Mommy Moment

While copying some notes from Yuan's classmate,  I witnessed one mommy (also copying notes) scold her son.  It went something like...

Mommy:  Ano ka ba, natalo ka pa ng babae! blah...blah...blah...blah...blah...blah...
Son:  Mommy, eto  pambura ng ballpen, bili mo ko...
Mommy:  Hwag ka na magballpen! sabi ko sa 'yo hwag ka magbo-ballpen eh!..blah...blah...blah...blah...
then the son mimicked his mother...

At that point, I realized that with so many disappointments I've had with Yuan (unfinished notes to the point that he's not aware which subjects have homework, not paying attention when we're studying, so messy and unorganized with his things, etc..),  I'm still lucky that in so many cases that I've scolded him, not once did he mimic me, shout at me or even cover his ears.  He would always just keep quiet, listen and say "sorry mommy".  It's frustrating that he never seems to improve on his ways, but at least he never lost respect for me.

Truly, God has his ways of showing us that we have a lot to be thankful for. :)

Craves and Faves

This is nothing but a list of food I like in no particular order or preference.

Best Catfish Salad - Dusit Thani @ Glorietta 3
Best Iced Tea - Red Iced Tea @ Tokyo Tokyo, Lemon Iced Tea @ Wendys, Rasberry Iced Tea @ CPK.
Best Lemonade - Northpark (fresh), Auntie Anne's (concentrate)
Best Fried Chicken - Chickenjoy, Wings @ Hooters
Best Potato - KFC Fries, Potato Corner BBQ fries (deep fried), Tony Roma's Potato Skins
Best Popcorn - Taters Texan BBQ
Best Cheese steak - Elbert's (Powerplant)
Best Pasta - Spaghetti Shrimp Garlic and Mushroom (Pizza Hut), Tutto de Mare (Don Henrico's)
Best Dumpling/Siomai - Siomai (Chowking), Pinsec Frito (North Park), Fried Shrimp Wanton (Oodie's)
Best Ice Cream - Haagen Dazs Choco Choco Chip
Best Lechon Manok - Mang Bok's / Kevin's
Best Green Mango Shake - Abe
Best Popiah - a kiosk @ Singapore Expo
Best Cereal Prawn - Hawker @ Marine Parade Community
Best Pearl Shake - Zagu chocolate with extra pearl and crystals

hay, kakagutom! :)

The Summer That Was

This is a long overdue post. I was planning to write about every place we've visited last summer but never had the time to do so. So I decided to just put everything in a single post, and here goes....

Lent @ Tagaytay

Our first out-of-town trip was an overnight stay at Residence Inn, Tagaytay last Good Friday. We chose this place because it has a mini zoo and a small playground within its compound so the kids will not be bored during our stay. As for me and Paul, all we wanted was to stay out of the city. I bought a voucher which included an overnight stay, free lunch, entrance to the minizoo and Paradizoo, 4 free entrance to Zoobic Safari and two 50% discount on overnight stay in any of their different accomodations. Not bad for 4kPhp and that means we will be going back to Subic before March 2011 so as not to waste the Zoobic safari tickets. :) The room is pretty comfortable, it has 2 beds, a coffee table with chairs, cable TV, ref and hot/cold shower (no tub). Rooms are overlooking the Taal Lake. Apart from the mini zoo, they have an in-house restaurant and souvenir shop. Paradizoo was a disappointment, a waste of time. No wonder entrance fee to the mini zoo includes a free ticket to this place. But I believe that place has potential, but a lot of work really needs to be done. What's unique about Residence Inn? The 2 white lions.

Family Outing @ Amana Waterpark

Our family have been a yearly patron of the resorts in Bulacan. We've been to DJ Paradise, Villa Concepcion and Sitio Lucia. One requirement when we have our family outing is that the resort allows outside food to be brought in, so we've skipped 8 Waves resort. This year we went to Amana Waterpark, the newest one in the province. The resort was big. There were lots of cottages but only three pools - a huge wave pool, a kiddie pool and a not-so-infinity pool. The huge character statues were a sight though. There was Shrek's swamp of course with Shrek, Fiona, donkey and baby Shrek. There were also the characters of LOTR, Dragonball Z, Hulk, IronMan, Kingkong, SW Trooper, Mickey Mouse, Spiderman and Sandman, and the Justice League. Visitors are allowed to bring in food but not bottled beverages. Softdrinks are for sale inside @60Php per 1.5L. Other food and beverages available are Zagu, Fruit shakes, Jollibee, Selecta Ice cream, etc. Prices are reasonable. They also offer horse ride around the resort for 200Php/hr.

Outing with In-Laws @ Virgin Beach, Laiya

Going to San Juan has been a yearly thing for us as my father-in-law is from that town. We've been to Kabayan, Sabangan, Sigayan Bay and this time to Virgin Beach. Laiya has a long stretch of not-so-white-and-a-bit-rocky beach lined with different resorts, quite like Puerto Galera. I think Virgin Beach has the biggest beach front among the resorts there. The place is relaxing as the cottages are spaced comfortably from each other, and with the wide beach front, it doesn't look too crowded. Guests are allowed to bring in food provided they pay the corkage fee. For daytour guests, there's an entrace fee of 250Php/pax apart from the cottage rental. The resort is very clean...there's a trash can in every cottage and the shower rooms and CRs are well maintained.

Paul's Post Birthday Celebration @ Canyon Cove, Nasugbu

I would say this is the best trip we've had this summer. Canyon Cove used to be an exclusive resort but now has a hotel open for public and also accommodates daytour guests. As for us, we rented a fully air conditioned studio unit furnished with 2 double deck beds, a kitchen, ref, microwave oven,TV and CR with bathtub. The swimming pool is very accessible from the unit's backdoor. The place is very relaxing and not too crowded. There's a beach, 3 swimming pools, a restaurant and kids' playground. The studio unit we rented was at 5K per night. Not bad, considering a hotel room is @5.2K/night. We would definitely go back there someday.

Enjoying Yuan's Extended Vacation @ La Virginia Resort, Batangas

A picture would probably be the best description of this resort. It's a very big resort with lots of landscaping. It's a photographer's haven for those who don't mind taking shots of man-made structures. There's still a lot of construction going on but so far they have an infinity pool and 4 other pools. They have a variety of accommodation options, just visit their website at http://www.lavirginiaresort.com. We stayed at LV2 which has a living room and air conditioned bedroom, ref, TV, CR with hot and cold shower. They have a restaurant but you are allowed to bring in your own food. Beds are not very comfy though and siince the place is quite big, there's a lot of walking in between pools and cottages.