Kids enjoyed making their own pizza at Amare La Cucina in Baguio

26 September 2016

Before we even went to Baguio, I already made a list of places that we wanted to dine at and on top of that list was the Amare La Cucina which was famous for having their own brick oven and they also let kids make the pizza they ordered.  After Mines View Park, we headed straight to Amare La Cucina which was fortunately in the same vicinity, located at the EGI Alberto Hotel near Wright Park.

Food: Papa John's 2 Family Pizzas All-In for P495 treat

Last August 19, the kids and I decided to order pizza for dinner.  We settled on Papa John's Pizza because they were offering this Duo Saver - 2 Family Pizzas for P495.  Now, considering that most pizzas cost P400 each for a Family-sized pizza, this deal is a bargain.  But, you do have a certain selection of flavors to choose from:  Italiano, Cheese Trio, John's Special, Cheesy Margherita and Bacon Cheeseburger.  We chose Cheese Trio (the kids love cheese) and Bacon Cheeseburger (because it was a new flavor).

Dylan's 2011 Christmas Party

This year, the Little Sofie Learning and Development Center held their Christmas Party at Shakey's Espana.  It's quite a bittersweet moment for us because we remember Teacher Dory and her presence from last year's Christmas party which was also held in the same venue.

Anyway, the party was filled with gifts, prizes and activities which the kids loved.  There were prizes for the parents who did such an amazing job with their Christmas parol.  There were also appreciation prizes for all parents for their support of their kids and of the school.  The kids also had their exchange gift as well as gift giving from their teachers.  There was also a "Bring Me" game which Dylan participated in but was not fortunate enough to win in hahaha  Parents also participated in the games which were a lot of fun.

 Pictures with his teachers:

Teachers Kaye and She

Teachers Karen, Kaye, She, Cath and Ma'am Sheila

Dylan with Teachers and Classmates

Dylan and Rhian

Dylan also participated in their song and dance number:

Finally, it was eating time! Pizza, Spaghetti, mojos and chicken

Teacher Dory's special kids (Shiela May)

 A special dance number by Captain Shakey's to end the celebration!

Dylan's First Christmas Party

December 17, 2010


Today is going to be a hectic day.  I can feel it.  Today, my two kids are celebrating their respective Christmas parties and as much as I want to be at both, I can only choose one.  I wish I can do Naruto's Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Ninja Art Technique) so I can be in two places at the same time but alas, that's not to be :)

I had to attend Dylan's Christmas Party because he's also participating in their Christmas dance and I know that they've been practicing so I wanted to see how Dylan would do :)  Armed with gifts for his teachers, gifts for his exchange partner, a video cam and a digital camera, we went to Shakey's Espana where they held their Christmas party.


We were one of the first attendees to arrive so we took advantage of the time to take pictures with Dylan's teachers.  Teacher Karen (on the left) is Dylan's Teacher and Adviser.  Teacher Dory (on the right) is Dylan's Principal and was responsible for initiating Dylan into preschool.  I owe a lot to these two dedicated teachers for my son blossomed and learned a lot from them.  It takes skill and intelligence to teach kids.  But it takes love and patience and kindness to really build a rapport with them.


Dylan participated in the field demo.  As you can see on the right, he's trying his best to follow his teacher with the right steps and keeping the rhythm.  But, as you can see on the right, he certainly dances to his own beat :) and has resorted to following his own instincts with the dance steps :)






After the performances, naturally kids will be tired and hungry so they were served their food - a slice of pizza, mojos, spaghetti, garlic bread, fried chicken and a drink.  There was a bit of confusion when the food was being served because there were so many of us and only a few servers but eventually, everyone got straightened out :)  Dylan got quite a number of gifts and he was very pleased and excited :)

After his party, we went to Dana's school to pick her up as her own party was also finished.  Dylan then proceeded to his other school, Core Skills (note his shirt!).  There, he gave Teacher Amy his gift and continued with his speech therapy :)

Dylan's First School Field Trip

September 9, dawned bright and early though too early for Dylan who was used to waking up at 8am :)  It's his first school field trip, and let me tell you, he was really excited for it.  He didn't give me a hard time when I had to wake him up at 5:30AM because they had to be in school at 6AM :)






Their first stop was at the SM Megamall branch of Pizza Hut.  Here's Bus #1 and Dylan walking on the overpass to get to the other side :)  Obviously, he was very excited and can't stop jumping while walking on the way! :D

At Pizza Hut, they were told the story of how Pizza Hut started and what other food chains are its sister companies (of course, that's more food for thought for the adults hehe).  The kids can't wait to start making their own pizzas although the organizers also planned a few games, like "Bring Me"and the "Longest Line" to get the kids in the groove :)  Participants get to win prizes too!

They got really amped up when they were given their chef hats and their aprons which signaled that they'll be cooking next!  It became even more chaotic when the servers brought out their ingredients.




They were making Hawaiian Pizza and those who can make it as close to the sample pizza will get a prize ;)  Dylan was so focused on  putting his ingredients that he was really oblivious to what's happening around him.  He was doing it slowly but surely despite other kids (and their parents) were rushing to finish the job :) I let Dylan do all of it by himself! :)  Next, they fell in line to put their pizzas in the oven and went back to their seats to wait.  Drinks were distributed so that the kids can eat their pizzas as soon as they came out :)

After Pizza Hut, we all headed straight to Goldlilocks along Shaw Boulevard.  Here only the kids and their teachers were allowed to tour around the cake factory.  They were instructed to wear hair nets and they were able to see how the cakes were made.  After that, they all trooped to another part of the building where they experienced decorating their own cake.  Unfortunately, I fell asleep in the waiting room (I must have been really tired, imagine having to wake up so early when we slept so late), and didn't have a chance to see how Dylan fared.  He did good though when I saw what he did and he must have been hungry still because the box was already half-empty LOL The funny thing was, we almost got left behind because Dylan had to poop! LOL It's kind of a ritual with him that after he eats, he poops hahaha Fortunately, the others were taking their time buying some Goldilocks products so even though they all left the building they still hadn't boarded the buses.  Whew! LOL

The last stop in the field trip was the Fun Ranch playground at Tiendesitas.  Though we had plenty of time to go around and have lunch at the Tiendesitas food court, we brought our own lunch.  But Dylan wasn't really hungry (blame it on the pizzas and cake) and he was more interested in getting to the play area.  He's been here before so he knows what to expect hehehe

Since we finished early, we took our time taking pictures and just walking off our lunch :)  Here are more pictures:

They had 2 hours of playing time in the Active Fun indoor playroom.  I can guarantee that it was tiring for him but more so for me!!  See, with as many as 40-50 kids running around and bigger kids having a tendency to bully their way through the area, you want to protect your kid, right?  Of course! So there I was following Dylan wherever he wanted to go.  I climbed, slid, crawled, got my butt stuck in a small crawl space, got stepped on by kids and that was the last straw.  I left him to his own devices and just monitored him from a safe distance LOL  After about an hour of playing, he soon got tired and wanted to leave.  So, I thought that was good because perspiring that much wasn't really good for him.  I changed his clothes, got him refreshed and we went outside and strolled around the area.  He rode the bumper cars, the plane ride but I drew the line on the carousel because that's a scary one!  It spins so fast you're going to get dizzy! LOL

It was a very fun but tiring day but it's a day that I don't regret because it gave me a chance to bond with Dylan.  It gave me lots of wonderful memories to look back on.  We took a lot of pictures not because we're required to create a scrapbook out of the experience but because I would have done otherwise even without that requirement :)  It's good that kids get a chance to play because they're kids!  It's also a chance to get to know your classmates to have fun with them!

I hope to have more of these as the kids grow older :)

Two days out!!

After we went shopping for a car, we got a call from Ferdie that they'll be in Megamall the whole day so if we were going to be finished earlier than our schedule, we might want to drop by and meet up with them. Well, we did finish up early and we did meet them in Megamall in the afternoon! LOL Stevie, Toni, Lance and Hannah met them for lunch so they were already there too :)

Naturally, I had to change the kids' clothes and freshen up because we were all so sweaty! LOL After all that we went to meet them in Toy Kingdom where Tita Flor was kind enough to tell the kids to pick out whatever toy they wanted. We actually didn't want to anymore because she's given us and the kids so much. But, still we ended up with 2 Cars toys for the kids, they're really addicted to Lightning McQueen! LOL

After that, we all trooped to Shangri-La Mall to watch Charice Pempengco perform. Turned out that Ferdie and Barb were fans of hers and it was good timing that they'll get to see her for free :) We watched Jay Cayuca perform too as he was the opening act. Dylan loved it!! Dana was saying "Bravo" after every song !

We didn't get to watch Charice sing though because the kids were getting fussy and hungry so Tita Flor, Patrick, myself and the kids all went to California Pizza Kitchen to eat. It was just a few steps away so we can still hear her sing haha We went home around 11pM I think LOL

The next day, after doing the laundry and those mundane household chores, we still went to Cubao because Patrick needed to buy a coat for an event he had to attend the next day. We ended up buying one in SM, after much searching. We also bought white shirts for Patrick's dad's burial on Wednesday. Man, were we so tired LOL and I think the stress and the fatigue is catching up.. I think I have a cold ...

Pizza! Pizza!!

Yesterday was Patrick's payday so as a sort of treat, he had pizza delivered to the house. It's our all-time favorite, Shakey's Belly Buster Pizza!!!! It's loaded with a lot of toppings like olives, green bell peppers, pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, sausage, ham, etc. All on a crunchy, thin crust.

But as you know, I have been suffering from toothache the whole day but that didn't stop me from eating the pizza hahahaha We have a joke in the Philippines where when nothing is left of the food on the table, the people eating it are probably experiencing tooth aches LOL

Well, in our case, we did polish off the whole pizza plus the Mojos (deep fried potato slices) a Shakey's specialty!! Even with my toothache!!!

That's how much I love pizza!