The Twerp & I

The adventures and misadventures of a working Mom and her toddler.

Breakfast Buffets

Written By: admin - May• 17•12

What is it with breakfast buffets in hotels that make me forget my good intentions about eating moderately, choosing the right food, etc. We spent the Mother’s Day weekend at Edsa Shangrila. This was our office outing which coincided with Mother’s Day. Great timing, huh? We get two choices for our outing, an out of town/beach resort outing or an overnight stay in a hotel. I always, always choose the hotel. I don’t really like the beach with the sand sticking to my skin and the heat and the water is itchy, anyway, I don’t like the beach.

Edsa Shangrila is a little old now compared to the new hotels like Marriott and H2O. I use the bathroom as gauge. If it’s not glass all around or at least one wall should be glass, then it’s old. However, the service is always good. I’ve never had bad experience with Edsa Shangrila. The only thing though, I wasn’t able to use the internet. I don’t know why but it didn’t matter that much to me anyway. Thanks to free android apps, which I tinkered with as I was falling asleep. We mostly spent our time in the swimming pool anyway.

Via enjoyed swimming. We stayed in the pool until our skin wrinkled from the water and Via’s teeth chattered. I guess even with the sun shining, she felt cold after staying in the water a long time. The life guard gave her a life vest which made her very brave swimming all by herself, pretending to be a mermaid.

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For me though, the highlight as always was the breakfast buffet of any hotel stay. I just love hotel breakfast buffets that offers up everything I could ever think of. I got a little of everything I wanted.

 

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Believe it or not, I ate all of it too.  I didn’t eat the rest of the day. I was still full at bedtime:)

Linking up with Food Trip Friday!

Happy Weekend!

Posted in Food, Living Well, Miscellaneous, Restaurants, The Twerp, Vacation and Travel | 4 Comments »

Becoming Social

Written By: admin - May• 14•12

Since the Twerp is an only child, I’ve been thinking about her social development. I’m an only child and I’ve always been very shy. Even now I prefer a small group rather than an big crowd. I would like for Via to be more outgoing than I was. I was glad she had regular playmates when she turned 2, a boy and a girl. They live in the same building we do and they’re all close in age. Only a month older than Via, both of them. However, the little boy had to migrate with his family last December. Now, the little girl will be moving away as well. It’s a good thing she’s going to pre-school now and she has a friend there.

Last weekend, we met up with relatives at the mall during a three-day sale. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere near the sale but we hardly ever get to see our relatives and it beats the heat at home. This summer heat aggravates Via’s allergies which she seemed to have inherited from me. I think she has my allergic rhinitis. I need to buy da buddha vaporizer for our home to help with Via’s breathing problems at times. Anyway, Via got to see her cousins, a 6-year old boy and a 2-year old girl. She latched onto them and walked around the mall with them, especially Kuya. It’s great how kids get together and understand each other in their own way. They had fun and a lot of loud laughter from all of them.

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So far, she’s not showing any of the shyness that I had for which I’m really happy. She does have moments of crying when she can’t express herself but for the most part she communicates well. It’s really the right time to start pre-school.

Posted in Family, Parenting, The Twerp | 1 Comment »

Regent Sandwich Cake

Written By: admin - May• 11•12

I was buying this for Via’s snacks and she loves it. One day I tried it because I needed a dessert and there was nothing in the house but this. Now I know why it’s one of Via’s favorite snacks. Sarap! Sarap!

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It’s messy to eat for a kid, especially since she eats the filling first. She sticks her finger in to get the filling and licks it off her finger. It’s my favorite now too. I have a stock at my workstation for when I get hungry. Each cake is 95 calories by the way. Worth it!

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Linking up with Food Trip Friday!

Happy Weekend!

Posted in Food | 9 Comments »

Diet Fail!

Written By: admin - May• 04•12

The problem with dieting is sometimes you choose the healthy food like veggies and end up getting hungry after an hour or like I do sometimes, I watch my portions but my food choices are not really that good. This was my lunch the other day. From the Mongkok concessionaire at our cafeteria, spinach dumpling (good!), lobster rolls (not good!), and chocolate crinkle cookie for dessert (bad, bad, bad idea!)

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I was happy though :)

Linking up with Food Trip Friday!

Happy Weekend!

 

Posted in Food | 13 Comments »

A Visit to Avilon Zoo

Written By: admin - May• 03•12

We planned this trip to Avilon Zoo on Labor Day, May 1, with my bestfriend’s sister and her daughter. Via would surely enjoy seeing the animals. I actually had no idea where the zoo was. I thought it was near Tiendesitas but that turned out to be an indoor zoo called Ark Avilon. Ark Avilon and Avilon Zoo had the same owners but Avilon Zoo, we were told is located in San Isidro, Montalban. We were stumped. That’s really far. But since we planned a visit to the zoo that day and it was still early, we decided to go on to Avilon Zoo anyway. How to get there since we went to Ark Avilon by taxi? There was a line of taxicabs at SM Hypermart and the driver, after consulting other taxicab drivers where exactly Avilon Zoo was (they all had sketchy ideas of the location and how to get there), decided to take us anyway. Good thing for us. It was a slow day for taxicabs and he did not even haggle. He used the taxi meter. I have to commend 24/7 taxi by the way, I always use them when possible.

So off we went and indeed it was far, far away. It took us an hour and a half because it was a holiday, and lots of asking around. On a regular day, the trip would most likely take more than 2 hours. We were excited once we finally got there.

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As soon as we were there, Via kept asking, where are the animals? Where are the animals? She wanted to see elephants and giraffes and kangaroos. The first place we came across was the animal feeding station where one can feed the guinea pigs vegetables like carrots, beans etc.

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From there, we came across the birds. There were so many different species. Some were very colorful. I marveled at how clean the zoo was and the animals were healthy. They were very well looked after. The zoo itself had several buildings where construction was going on. They really created it as close to the animals natural habitat as possible. Hardwood Flooring was probably used for the huge gorilla’s, or was it an orangutan, habitat who was all by himself high up on a structure made of wood.

Via enjoyed the big cats like the tiger, puma, cougar and the snow leopard which she recognized from watching Diego.

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I loved watching her watch the animals :) She wasn’t scared at all and even had her picture taken with this orangutan called Trixie, holding her hand. She was really curious that she touched the tummy, face, mouth and the hair.

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We enjoyed our visit to Avilon Zoo and hope that we can visit again. The entrance fee is P300 for adults and P200 for children 3.5 feet and below. Tour guides are available if you want one for P400. Picture taking with the orangutan, owl and eagle were P50 for two shots.

 

Posted in Parenting, Philippine Life, The Twerp | 1 Comment »

There’s Nothing Wrong with My Eye Mommy

Written By: admin - Apr• 30•12

I took Via to a pedia opthalmologist to get her eyes checked. She’s been squinting and closing her left eye when pointing at something in a distance. My friend K told me about her nephew who watched TV from the corner of his eye and it turned out he needed glasses. I took time off from work to bring her to the opthalmologist. I didn’t know there was a pedia opthalmologist. We were referred to one instead of the regular opthalmologist. Gee, the medical profession is getting very specialized.

I didn’t really think there was anything wrong with Via’s eyes but it’s better to be sure and catch it early if there is something wrong. Good eyesight is very important. I started wearing glasses when I was in second grade. I don’t want her to wear glasses at young age like me. I guess that’s why I don’t drive. I don’t want to miscalculate distances on the road and end up having an accident. Getting a license is easy especially with a dmv drivers manual. It’s driving in real life with all the traffic and crazy motorists that worries me.

Via’s check up went well and as always, she was a good patient and was able to read all the letters she was asked to read.

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Tests were done which all turned out normal. So nothing to worry about.

Posted in Health, Living Well, Miscellaneous, The Twerp | 1 Comment »

Cafeteria Verde, Robinson’s Galleria

Written By: admin - Apr• 26•12

I learned of this restaurant from Techa’s post and finally got to try it yesterday.  I got off work early because my boss was out of town. So I took the chance to have some mommy and daughter time.  Via wanted to go to Austin Land, the playroom at Tom’s World and I agreed. But before that, I had to eat. I was ravenous. Since I was counting calories I thought it was a good time to try Cafeteria Verde at Robinson’s Galleria. I am so predictable when ordering. If there’s spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce on the menu, that is what I’ll have. I got Veggie Burger and Apple Shake in case Via wanted to eat as well.

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After checking out the bun, Via didn’t want to eat it after all. I ended up eating both the Veggie Burger and the pasta which was fine. The calories was not the high. The best thing was the meal only cost P230! So if you’re ever in Robinson’s Galleria looking for a cheap and healthy place to eat, try Cafeteria Verde.

Linking up with Food Trip Friday.

Happy  Weekend!

 

Posted in Food, Living Well, Parenting | 12 Comments »

Going to School

Written By: admin - Apr• 23•12

The Twerp will be going to pre-school this June. Yay! I’m so excited. She’s attending summer school now, her second time. Next year, she will start in the big school. I haven’t yet decided where, but out of all the schools I’ve been considering, I’ve narrowed it down to two. Those two are very different from each other and one will require us to move. I’m putting off choosing for later. Let’s see how she does in pre-school.

While searching for suitable schools for Via, I can’t help fast-forwarding to college. Maybe other mothers do this as well. So thoughts about gmat prep and other tests she will need to get into a good university are also in my mind as well. I find everything so competitive these days.  I’ve heard of some pre-schoolers getting tutored in Mandarin because their parents want them to attend Chinese schools.

So like I said, I’ve been looking at universities for when she goes to college. I’m just having fun looking, comparing fees and programs but I want her to go to college abroad actually, like her Daddy. Just in case she gets an opportunity to study abroad, we need something like Veritas Prep to help her get ready.

So, I went with Via on the first day of summer school. I stayed the whole time to watch how she would behave and participate because she was the youngest in the class. Well, I should have no worries because she was very active.

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I noticed that the girls were mostly more responsive than the boys. It was so much fun to watch them. Times like that make me wish I were a stay-at-home mother. I wish. So these will be her classmates in June as well. Some of them were her classmates in last year’s summer school and she remembered them. I’m glad she’s having fun in school.

Posted in Parenting, Preschool, The Twerp | 3 Comments »

Bad News Comes in Droves

Written By: admin - Apr• 23•12

I’ve had a lot of bad news these past few weeks. They did not directly affect me but my closest friends and I can’t help but feel sad. A co-worker’s daughter, the same age as Via had Dengue; a high school batchmate’s son had, I forgot what the illness was called, but it was serious and affected his kidneys. Apparently he was eating too much processed food like hotdogs and spam and not drinking enough water. The sad thing is, it’s going to take months for him to recover and take a lot of expensive medicine. It reminds me once again how important it is to have really good medical insurance. The to compare insurance before making your decision and be sure to read all the fine print. The exceptions to the coverage are easy to miss.

Other sad news were that two of my closest friends eldest brothers passed away. The circumstances in both cases were very similar. Both were 50 when they passed away and they did not take care of their bodies. It’s just so sad. Fifty is too young to die and both of them had so much talent. One is a stage actor who works with big names in the industry. I watched a stage play he was in, playing opposite Jackie Lou Blanco. I think it was Cyrano. We got free tickets of course :) The other one was a Chef who had great potential. His accomplishments were very impressive. I keep saying he could have been one of the judges at the Pinoy Junior Masterchef. It’s just so sad. I hope they find peace wherever they are now.

Posted in Blogging | No Comments »

Army Navy, Ortigas

Written By: admin - Apr• 20•12

There are so many good hamburger places that I have  a long list of it to try out. Finally, got to try Army Navy, which some of my friends have been raving about. There actually have a wide selection on the menu. Not just burgers. They had fried chicken and burrito but I was there for the burger.

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I had the regular burger. My first bite, it was sooo good, juicy and tasty.

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Cheese Quesadilla, one of my all time favorite food.

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Their iced tea was humongous but I didn’t like it. It was too sweet and had a bitter aftertaste.

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But never mind the iced tea, everything else was delicious. We also had their french fries which was thinner and crunchy. I’m surely going back there again. They deliver too!

Army Navy, Strata 2000 Building, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Pasig.

Linking up with Food Trip Friday. Happy Weekend!

 

 

Posted in Food | 12 Comments »
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