I started this blog as an alternative to talking to my mom who died so suddenly. It has evolved since then as an online journal for my family's adventures and misadventures - our travels, our dining out, our entertainment and so much more! Feel free to leave your reactions :)
Dylan and I don't often get the chance to go off on our own so when the opportunity to go somewhere together came up, we did!
Together, Dylan and I went to SM City Sta. Mesa. It's been a while since we last visited SM Sta. Mesa although when my mom was alive, this was where we usually shopped since it was the most accessible to us by public transportation. Lately, we've been going to Mall of Asia and Cubao because there were more shopping possibilities there and I guess having a car meant that you can really drive anywhere you want to go.
Anyway, we couldn't resist taking a picture with the Christmas display at the entrance.
This was the Christmas display at the Ground Level inside the mall.
Who could resist Gingey at the Food Court?
I was actually surprised at the new Cyberzone level at the top floor and the numerous new food choices at the Food Court. The Supermarket has also been renovated and enlarged if I remember correctly. Maybe we'll keep coming back now that we know what's new at SM City Sta. Mesa.
It is always a pleasure to discover that friends whom you haven't seen in a long time are now back in town. You would heaven and earth to be able to meet up with them just for the pleasure of being with them even if it's just a short while. Filipinos will probably agree with me that when balikbayans come home, there schedules are so hectic, it's like they're celebrities with everyone wanting a chance to be with them from here to there :) You suddenly have a lot of family to be with.
Well, when Keith and Janice came home, Patrick was ecstatic so say the least. It has been a long time since he last saw the couple and it was poignant for him too that he wasn't there when they got married. At least, this time, they were back and he didn't intend to miss the opportunity. So off we went to Keith's house in Project 2 for dinner.
It was the perfect timing too because it was the semestral break so the kids were able to come with us. Dana is Keith's godchild and he wasn't here when Dana got baptized so this will be their first time seeing her. It will also be the first time we're seeing Kayla, Jan and Keith's first child :)
So we arrived early and the kids were immediately enamored of the tree deck and were letting their imaginations run wild! The evening was spent catching up on years of news and reminiscing about fun older times. The food was superb! The drinks free-flowing. We had so much fun it was already 3AM when we all went home. :)
We all hope that it doesn't take another 10 years before we see each other again, Keith and Jan! Johann we missed you this time! :)
You know I consider myself lucky that I get to enjoy the weirdest pleasures with my family. This time, our adventure was courtesy of Axe Philippines and their promo "Axe Anarchy Island Bikini Car Wash". If I remember correctly, Patrick joined their contest and he had to post a picture of his car that really needed a good wash. Well, if you left Stanley outside on the street for a day, expect that he'll be covered in dust and grime immediately considering the volume of vehicles that pass by on a daily basis. So, in short, his photo got him registered for the event and on that Saturday, we all trooped to Mall of Asia to attend the Axe Bikini Car Wash not with Stanley but with Viktor, the Volvo test unit that Patrick had for the weekend.
The Axe Girls
Shelter from the Intense Heat
With Viktor, the Volvo
There were two batches of cars to be washed based on how early you were at the event. We were fortunate enough to be the first of the 2nd batch so that gave us time to watch how everything was supposed to go. First, there were 10 car wash bays, 5 on each side. Each car is assigned a number as they register and will go into their corresponding car wash bay. Each car wash bay is also assigned two girls to wash the car in the bay. It was really Patrick's day because one of the girls that was assigned to wash Viktor was his crush, Yassi Benitez :)
Here were some of the girls who were assigned to the other vehicles :)
The kids had a blast because they were inside the car while it was being washed which was a first for them. :) Needless to say, Patrick also enjoyed himself immensely from his vantage point in the car. Meanwhile, I just took the opportunity to have our picture taken with the hosts of the event.
On our way out after the event, there were some props laid out near the exit and we just couldn't resist taking pictures with them :)
After this fun event, we went to SM Mall of Asia for dinner and we chanced upon the Shell Ferrari Lego exhibit and the kids got their picture taken there as well :) All in all it was a really fun day!
One of the regular school activities in October is the United Nations Day. Fortunately for us, it was just Dylan who will have to invest in a costume and this year, he was saddled with Peru for his country. It was lucky that Peru has an easy native costume to replicate and all we had to do was buy a decent hat for Dylan.
The kids paraded around the school and then proceeded to the venue where they held their activities.
Now, we've come to the last part in Dylan's Field Trip. We've saved the best for last because our last destination was the Casa Santa in Jardin de Miramar in San Isidro, Antipolo City. It was funny because going there our buses could hardly fit on the road and they had a hard time making it through the curves. It's the right time to visit Casa Santa seeing as it's now the start of the "BER" months and Christmas is just around the corner. When we arrived, we spent our time eating our lunch at the great garden while waiting for the puppet show to be set up.
I just had a beef to settle with some of the parents during the trip. We were expressly told to bring packed lunches and I even woke up pretty early to manage that. Well, what do you know? Along the way, we had to wait for these parents to BUY their lunches from the Jollibee store we passed and it took a while so those of us who actually followed the rules had little time to eat!! grr! I could understand that the administration of the school wanted to please everyone but really, you have to stick to the rules because it's unfair to those of us who followed them.. okay so back to your regular programming...
The puppet show was a hit with the kids who had been recharged since everyone has just had their lunch. Their excitement was contagious and their happiness was boundless. Picture taking after the puppet show had to be contained because everyone wanted to be the first. Fortunately, Dylan was among the first.
After the puppet show, we had some time to burn because another tour group which was ahead of us are still in the Casa Santa so we were told we can explore the whole place until it was time for us to go in. So, Dylan and I just took our time walking around the vast garden. Honestly, it was such a restful place because of all the greenery. We were content to remain outside :)
Check out the pictures we took in this slideshow:
Now, if you viewed the slideshow, you may have seen excerpts of Santa's house. Casa Santa really is a small house full of Santa and Christmas-related artifacts. It's like being transported to the North Pole and you kinda expect elves to come out and show you around. The house itself is pretty small so if your tour group is a bit large, you may have difficulty going around all at the same time, which is why they segregate the groups to accommodate just the right amount of people inside. Dylan particularly liked the Star Wars Christmas toys they had on display. :)
We took our time going around since we were the last tour group for the day. There was so much to see although you have to be careful of the little items on display and some are really fragile. That was a problem with some of the kids whose "energy" couldn't be contained and they had to be escorted out hehehe
From here, we visited the Antipolo Church on the way home and we took time to buy "pasalubong" like cashew nuts and suman.
That was such a fitting end to a really tiring but fun day. This is one reason why I love going on educational field trips with my kids. I, too, learn so much from it and it's a great bonding moment for all of us because we all take away precious memories from them.
Now we come to the 2nd Part of Dylan's Educational Field Trip. To see what happened during the first part, check out this post. For the 2nd part, we all proceeded to the Dolljoy Gallery and Museum in Caniogan, Pasig to see how dolls and stuffed toys are made. They have different collections of dolls and stuffed toys which everyone loved taking pictures with and the first part of the tour involved everyone walking through their exhibits. Check out this giant panda that Dylan's hugging :)
Apart from the exhibits, the kids were asked to participate in a "Dress your own Doll" activity. Boys were given male soldier dolls to put together and Dylan enjoyed this activity :)
This was a fun activity because it was timed so the kids were really excited and were racing to finish dressing up their respective dolls.
Continuing with the tour, our next destination was the simulation room where you get to see a sampling of what goes on in the making of dolls. Everyone saw where they made the hair and how it was styled for a specific doll and how they painted the faces on. Imagine all the work that goes into one doll. Everything was hand-painted by these artists. We even saw how they put the stuffing into the stuffed toys!
Since we took a lot of pictures, I just put them together in a slideshow so you can see the other dolls in their collections.
Our last stop was at the Casa Santa at Jardin de Miramar.
Today, it is Dylan's 2012 Field Trip. Though it was hard for him to wake up so early, once he found out that today was his field trip, he got up in no time at all. They were going to have a full day ahead so it was essential to start out early. The assembly time was at 630 AM and the first stop was going to be at the Meralco Museum. Here he is in the bus looking a little sleepy and there we are at the parking lot of Meralco in Ortigas. Apparently, we arrived early and they were still setting up. That was T. Karen with us.
I honestly didn't have any idea what to expect when we got inside. But, I wasn't disappointed. There was a lot you can learn about electricity and the history of Meralco (which they showed through a film showing although I don't think the kids have any appreciation for that). The kids loved the interactive parts of the museum, like where they can hop on and off on the tram, generating power through manipulation of the exhibits and turning the light switches on and off.
The highlight for Dylan was being able to ride in the Meralco bucket truck. He also loved taking pictures with the huge trucks around the parking lot :)
Here are some of the pictures we took while we were there.
After the Meralco Museum, we all proceeded to the Dolljoy Museum in Pasig see next post.
