A Day in the Life - Favorites: Toyota 86, Lego and Charlie's Burgers

01 April 2017

When you have a car as awesome as the Toyota 86 delivered to your home (in our case, as a test drive vehicle) what will you do?  Well, of course! Take it for a spin!  I remember the last time we had a Toyota 86 for a week, Patrick really did take it for a spin - drifting it at a parking lot no less!  But, we're not doing that again. Instead, we just went for our favorites - Lego and great burgers at Charlie's Grind and Grill (Pasig).

The simple joys of Dylan's birthday

18 March 2017


Dylan's birthday came bright and early.  We all had a hand in choosing the activities for Dylan's birthday and everyone was just itching to get on with the plans.  It was rather hard to narrow down the choices because, after all, we just wanted Dylan to have what he wants but due to time and financial constraints, naturally we had to compromise.  The following post tells of what we ended up with.

Dana's Graduation Day and Dylan's Birthday

18 March 2016

Today marks the end of Dana's elementary school life.  I can't believe that time has flown so quickly that Dana is now finished with elementary and will now be embarking on her High School journey.  Still, this is a milestone in our family's life and we're just so proud of her for making it this far.  Congratulations Dana! :)

On another note, today is also Dylan's birthday so it's a double celebration for our family! :)  Happy birthday Dylan!

Happy 21st Anniversary!

15 November 2015

Patrick and I reached our 21st year of togetherness last November 13.  Yep, Friday the 13th yet again! But that didn't bother me except for the fact that our DVD player went kaput that time haha But that was more coincidence and inevitability than anything else :)

21 years! You've gotta give us credit .  That's 10 years of being a couple and then 11 years of being a family.  With no breaks or cool off periods.  Of course, just like any other relationship there are ups and downs and we've had our fair share.  We just go with the flow.  Do we fight? Heck yes! But do we decide to let go? Hell No! Arguments, discussions and disagreements are as much a part of being together as the good times.  The bad parts actually make you stronger for being able to overcome them as a couple, as a family.  The kids are right there with us. We don't hold anything back.

You know that you've been together long enough when you're in sync.  We often think about the same things at the same time.  It happens more often now, I've noticed.

Patrick has also gotten more grumpy and I teased him about it saying he's beginning to be like the man in the movie UP haha He actually acknowledged that observation and agreed with it! hahaha

But anyway, here we were on Sunday eating at our favorite burger joint, Charlie's Grind and Grill.  We've been craving for this for so long! (finances have been tight recently so we consider this bit of luxury).  This was our Anniversary Special ! hahaha

After a very filling lunch, we headed to Cubao to do some grocery shopping at Shopwise.  While walking around the area, I told Dana that when they're older, they'll be the ones telling their kids how they used to walk with us in Shopwise just the way that we tell them how it is with our parents.  Patrick and I have that in common - going to Cubao for shopping and entertainment when we were kids and we often tell Dana and Dylan what we used to do with our parents while in Cubao.  Dana remarked, "There might not be a Shopwise by then Mama" hahaha She may be right hahaha

We also went in search of a new DVD player and there's really not a lot now, funny enough.  But we did also find great toy bargains at the Farmers Plaza.  At the ground floor, there's a Toy Kingdom sale.  We were able to buy some for Christmas gifts but ssssshhhh no one's supposed to know yet hahahaha'

We went home after, and nobody wanted dinner yet because we're all still full.  Near Sta. Mesa, near the Illumina condominium, we got caught in traffic which was unusual since it was a Sunday and normally the traffic wasn't so bad.  Finally, we found out that there was a fire and that further on, traffic wasn't moving and we were advised just to turn around and go back which we did.  The route that Patrick took, the Kalentong way, was also at a standstill and we had to make a U-turn again and he decided to just go the Aurora Boulevard route.  It took us around 1 hour and a half to get home.  Dylan was already snoring in the backseat haha

Well, so ended the day.  Tiring but fun because we're together.  Here's to more years!!! :)

Jaws: A mean great white of a Subaru :)

Over the weekend, we were thrilled when Patrick brought with him "Jaws" the great white Subaru Outback from Motor Image which he had to test drive as part of his duties for Top Gear Philippines.  As usual, the car can hardly fit in our cramped garage which he had to share with a Mitsubishi Lancer and a Honda Civic (both of which are my cousin's cars).  Seeing it in the dark only gives you a glimmer of its size, just like a Great White.  It's huge, it's sleek.  You wonder how it'll perform on the road. We found that out the day after when we took it for a spin along Metro Manila's busy roads.


 First, we went to SM Megamall, to visit the Asus Service Center where we're supposed to pick up the laptop battery of Den's Asus shell netbook.  After a month of waiting, we found out we ordered the wrong battery! LOL My mistake! Becoming senile at my tender age hahaha

It's really cool that Jaws is slightly smaller than an SUV but bigger than a regular car because it fit snuggly into the parking lot at Megamall.  That's a big deal because on a weekend, you'll probably wait a long time to get to a parking space.  And if you're a big ol' SUV, you're limited to parking in the middle areas where there are no pipes to hinder you.

With nothing else to do in Megamall, we drove straight to Shopwise in Cubao to do our grocery shopping.  You ask why in Shopwise when there's already a supermarket in Megamall?  Well, it's simple.  The goods that we want aren't there!  It's a pain to go around the supermarket only to find that they don't sell the brand that you're looking for.  So, it's off to Shopwise for us :) Anyway, the kids don't mind the change in venue because as you can see form the pictures they're very comfortable.  You just have to be patient with them asking for a cup of drink to put in the cupholders hahaha

After buying the necessary (and not so necessary) stuff we drove from Quezon City to San Juan where we had dinner at Charlie's Grind and Grill near Greenhills.  The kids love their hotdogs, while Patrick and I are fans of their buffalo chicken wings and Black Angus burgers with fries :)









DAY 2

Since Patrick was able to test drive in the city, he wanted to test Jaws' powers on the highway and so off we went (just the two of us this time) to Tagaytay.  Along the way, Patrick decided that we'd go "house hunting" (like we had any money ) and check out the residential developments along Daang Hari.  He said that since we had this awesome car, they'd (sales agents) probably entertain us more since we appear to be loaded hahahaha  We only had time to visit one project and that's Ponticelli.  Their houses were huge and expensive (something in the range of Ph3Mn upwards).  I liked their designs but I wanted bigger lots.  It felt cramped to me seeing houses too close to each other and the roads can only accommodate 2 very narrow lanes.  I did appreciate the agent's spiel.. He wasn't they hard sell type and was simply showing us the different layouts available.  

After that, we headed straight to Tagaytay planning on having lunch there.  On the SLEX, I knew Patrick was fiddling with the controls because car-newbie that I am, I can sense some changes in the engine.  When I asked Patrick what he was fiddling around with, he gave me this mischievous smile and said, "Cruise Control" ;) It was a novelty to him to be able to finally, actually get the chance to drive a car with Cruise Control hahaha and he loved it! :) Oh and I can't forget that little button called the SI-Drive (Subaru Intelligent Drive) that shifts your engine's mode from Intelligent, to Sport to Sport Sharp :D There's also the Sportshift thing that lets you shift control from automatic to manual.  Oh and since I was only a passenger I loved the fact that I can customize the position of my seat in so many ways as to give me comfort while driving. :)

Anyway, after lunch, we headed back to Manila, met up with Den and Philip at the Asus Service Center in Megamall to finally get the correct laptop battery.  From there, we went to the Samsung Mobile Phones sale at the Market, Market in Fort Bonifacio where Den and Ate Mel (through me) bought their Samsung mobile phones.We bought Krispy Kreme Donuts to take home for the kids and then we had a late dinner at Chic-Boy.

While at Chic-Boy, there was a couple beside our table who when they were finished with their food, moved to a different table (now at the back of us).  We were all wondering what they're up to when we overheard their conversation.  They were talking about Jaws who was parked directly in front of us and can easily be seen from inside the restaurant.  The guy was really amped about Jaws' size, apparently it's the first time that he's seen a Subaru Outback.  Even his girlfriend/wife liked Jaws and if they knew that we were the ones driving Jaws they'd probably ask to have their picture taken with him hahaha

So that's kinda long (I can get chatty, sorry!).