Singapore Once Again Day 1

Hi Mommies, as promised from my previous post about my APEC traffic experience, I am gonna share with you our Singapore trip, from our flight to Singapore until our flight back to Manila.

As soon as I've heard that we were going to have a two day non-working holiday on the 18th and 19th of November, I immediately looked for any affordable airfare to Singapore. We've been here last year, but it was just a short vacay that left us longing for more....

Good thing was, we booked our flight on Nov. 17 at 8:15 in the evening. As there were a lot of flights being cancelled, we were so lucky that ours were not.  Had we chosen the early morning flight on Nov. 18, then that would have been cancelled. That trip of ours were really full of luck naman talaga.

Anyways, as I said in my other post, our 8:15 pm flight was delayed. Our plane flew at 9:00 p.m. and arrived Singapore at half past midnight.

Ang bagets, leading the way to the immigration :)

We were met by the daughter (she works in Singapore) of my friend/officemate as we have brought her pastries from Mary grace bakeshop. We rode the taxi from the airport and it was so kind of her to drop us off at our hotel in Geylang. We were booked at Hotel 81 Star Premier. I was not able to take picture of the actual room but below are photos  taken from  www.booking.com: That's exactly how our room and bathroom looked like.

One bed bedroom

Bathroom

Last year we booked a room at Hotel 81 Selegie, near Little India. The room was so small that when we walk to the door, we had to do it sideways because there were only little space between the two single beds.

This year, Hotel 81in Geylang was a lot bigger than last year. It was a comfortable room, even the bathroom was way bigger than that of last year. When I read all reviews and check the ratings on all Hotel 81, Hotel 81 Premier got the highest rating and has the better reviews than any other Hotel 81 branches. Just don't get intimated with Geylang, coz they say it is a red-light district.The hotel was in Geylang 18 and the neighborhood seemed quiet. I see women dressed in you-know-what but they were not harming nor offending us. Probably because we had a kid with us. Wyeth was oblivious to the surroundings, actually.

So day 1, first in our itinerary was Sentosa island. We wanted to explore it further because last year, we only went to the Universal Studios and never explored the island.

But before heading there, we went first to the Singapore flyer to reserve bus tickets to Legoland for the next day.

While waiting for Papa A to finish purchasing our bus tickets:

 

After which, we headed straight to Sentosa Island.

Upon arrival, we went to Kaya Toast to have breakfast. Their soft-boiled eggs were perfect. Wyeth liked it so much, that back here in Manila he asked me to cook eggs exactly the way it was cooked in Singapore.

Then we road the sentosa express train and alighted at the Beach Station. Our first activity was to take the Skyride and ride the Luge down the hill. We actually bought tickets which cost $25 each which gave us 3x access to the skyride and luge.

Skyride to the start of Luge ride

Down the dragon trail

After that we rode the tram to see the whole of the Beach station. Had few photos here and there:

At lunch time, we rode again the express train to vivo city.  We had our lunch there and decided to explore Bugis St. And here's what we saw:

Kung satin may sorbetes sa kanila may ganyan.

Coming from Victoria St., eto ang bungad ng Bugis st. parang Divi lang

To be honest, I don't find any cheap finds here, except t-shirts with Singapore print that sell for $10 for 3 pcs. We only bought keychains as souvenirs for our friends that when I convert to peso, sells for P13.75 each. If you want cheaper clothes, it is still best to shop here in the Philippines. Go to Taytay they sell the cheapest clothes there at a wholesale.

After  Bugis St., we went back to the hotel to rest and change clothes.  By 7 pm we were ready to have dinner and deciced to eat at Makansutra. Konti lang pala ang choices of stalls there, we ordered one viand lang, the black peppered crabs and one big order of fried rice. Because of the size of the order, we almost did not finish what we ordered. I wasnt able to take photos na coz we were hungry.

After eating, we returned to the hotel to get ready for the next day, our trip to Legoland! We will talk about that on a separate post.

Up to here muna, Mommies. I will continue my kwento on weekends.

When FAITH is tested during APEC

I don't want to make sawsaw sa issue ng mga nahirapan sa traffic during APEC. But gedlerd, hassle na hassle kami during those times. Not that we had to walk hundreds of miles just  to get home. Di ko alam if ours were big deal or not. But sige big deal siguro, if we missed our flight to Singapore. Ang babaw?!?

Early September we booked our flight to Singapore, not thinking na our flight might be cancelled.  Come APEC month, naglabasan na ang mga cancelled flights and fortunately ours were not one of those. So tuloy ang family trip.

November 17, 8:15 pm was the details of our flight. Ang yabang ko, at parang di ko nakikita sa news na ang daming nang naglakad because of road closure 16th palang of November. We left Ortigas at 4:00 PM, believing that we will reach terminal 3 at 6:30 pm.

Maling mali ako mga bakla! Meralco Ave., pa lang, traffic na. C5 papunta sa BGC, ang bagal nang movement ng traffic. San san na kami dinala ni WAZE, reroute ng reroute, looking for clear roads. Until dinala kami ni WAZE sa Ayala, gusto niya kaming dumaan sa EDSA. Sana naniwala na lang ako sa news at hindi kay WAZE, dahil closed ang EDSA until Arnaiz. We had to take Buendia, labas Skyway. Que horror! Sarado ang Skyway!

At ang ang traffic paikot sa Resorts World malala! I left the car and walked ahead to see what was causing the standstill. Wala lang, alternate route talaga yung nadaanan namin siguro papunta sa MOA. 7:00 pm na, we decided to call Cebupac to verify whether our flight is delayed. Kamote! On time pa, I was hoping na delayed. 


7:45 nung nakaikot na kami sa Resorts World, kaso ang pa u-turn sa entrance ng Terminal 3 build up nanaman ang traffic at stand still na rin. 7:50 na at take note 8:15 ang flight. All those times, we were praying, na sana umabot kami sa flight. Tested talaga to the highest level ang faith ko. We were sad na kasi excited kami for this trip.

Naglakad kami ng bagets para mauna nang mag check in. Iniwan namin si Papa A. When we were checking in I informed them that my hubby is still stuck in traffic and requested them that he still be accepted for late check in, and that was 8:00 pm na. I called him on his cellphone where he was na, and he said dun pa rin, kung san namin siya iniwan.

Goodness, our faith talaga was crumbling, I know we will be left by the airplane. Sabi ko kay hubby, Papa, wala na 8:15 na iwan na tayo ng plane. He said no, I will still try to check in. So by 8:30 he arrived,  he went straight to the check in counter while I paid his travel tax. After checking in, he walked fast, almost running na to the immigration. Nauna si hubby para ma security x-ray ang aming handcarry. Kami ni bagets, naiwan sa immigration, but the officer there was very kind. No questions asked. Tatak lang ng tatak.

We then hurried to the security x-ray, nalimutan ko na ang tanim bala, dere-deretso lang kami. After that we saw hubby sitted on the airport cart na, we rode the cart and told the driver sa Gate 112 po.  We arrived the gate and just in time, the passengers have just fallen in line to board the plane. Sabay talaga kami ni hubby napa "Thank you Lord!"

In short, umabot kami sa flight. We reached the boarding gate at 8:45, to think that our flight was 8:15. 

I said that I believe in miracles. I claimed that my faith is intact. But during those times, I almost gave up believing in miracles.  The little blessing of just being able to get into that flight, even way past the flight schedule, made me witness a small miracle and left my faith as intact as before. I just had to believe in God's will and I know that it was His will that we ride that plane to have our family trip.

I know ang babaw lang nito compared to what others have experienced na in keeping their faith. But this simple miracle proved again that God really is bigger that any of the challenges that we encounter everyday if we just believe in His will.

Sorry, I just had to share this first before I tell my stories during our Singapore/Legoland trip. Abangan!

Have you had "Eggs for Breakfast"?

Twelve Saturdays ago, I was too lazy to cook breakfast that I asked my boys where do they want to eat breakfast. Siempre default namin ay Mcdo, na walang kamatayan because of  my son.

Nakakapagod na kumain sa mga fast food na yun at yun rin ang makakain mo. Aminin yan mga muthers.

And because I have been wanting to come back to this unassuming resto, naisip ko bakit kaya di na lang kami dito na lang kumain. San ba yan? Walang iba kung di sa Eggs for Breakfast, located in Villa Cecilia Subdivision, along Sumulong Hi-way, Bgy. Mambugan.

Here is what we ate for breakfast:

Buttermilk Pancakes with eggs and bacon (P225). This is what I had.

Eggs Benedict (P285) - This is what hubby ordered.

French Toast with berries  (P190) - ang order ng bagets

The bagets had fresh cold milk for his drinks at P50 while I had my latte for P90. The hubby chose hot calamansi for P30.

When you step out of the restaurant, the  picture above is what will greet you, a garden where you can host a wedding. Ganda lang.

Prices are very affordable. The taste, average, but is compensated with the way the food was plated. The ambiance of the resto inside, cozy, outside quiet and calming.

If you have time, or going to Antipolo Church via Sumulong Hi-way, try to have your breakfast here for a change. Lapit lang from the hi-way. Pag pasok ng subdivision, tumbok lang, yun na ang compound nila. Or you could just ask the guard sa may gate kung nasan ang "Eggs for Breakfast".

Lessons from the feast of Christ the King

Happy feast day Christ the King!

We heard the 2nd Mass in the morning in our parish.  It was not our parish priest who said the mass but a guest priest who I see every now and then, whenever our parish priest has something else to do.

We particularly like this priest kasi ang bait bait niya sa bata. He likes kids and believes that the number of kids that hear mass in a parish determines the life of the parish.

Kung bata pa lang marunong nang magsimba, hanggang paglaki at magkaroon ng sariling pamilya, yan ang mai papasa nila sa kanilang mga anak. Hindi mamamatay ang simbahan sa parokya.

Anyways, his sermon, hit me straight to my heart. AS in sapul kung sapul. It was actually about being able to forgive people who hurt us in the past. He started his sermon with this story:


A former drug addict, was talking to a priest and telling his life story on how he became dependent on drugs and finally coming into terms with God.

The young man said that when he was a little boy, his father used to hurt him for no apparent reason. He hurt him for the slightest mistakes he committed, he slaps him, bang his head on the wall, insult him and say he is not worth his life. This continued until he was a teenager and for him to get over the situation, he turned to drugs. He was rescued by an organization and taught him about Christ and His works, and he slowly healed from his past.

Until one day, he heard that his father had a stroke and can no longer fend for himself. The young man went home and took care of his father. He fed him, help him take a bath and put on clothes. 

In short, his father is fully dependent on him.  This is the time when all the past came rushing back to him. How his father hurt him physically, emotionally and psychologically.  He wanted to retaliate and push his father's face into the plate, knowing that his father can no longer hurt him back.

But instead of doing so, he just continued to take care of his father, unconditionally. The young man asked the priest, "Father, why is it hard for me to hurt my father, the way that he hurt me when I was young?" The priest said, "It is because God lives in your heart. And when God lives in you, you can no longer feel the need to get back at the person who hurt you." "You see, God is bigger than any of our sins, He is bigger that any of our challenges and problems. Accepting Him in your life, freed you from all past hurts, anger and resentment."

Mga muthers, diba tagos na tagos? Father even asked us, how many of us are living in anger? How many of us are not talking to our parents? Is there a brother or sister of ours that we have not talked for so long? Meron ba tayong kapit bahay na nakaalitan? Because if you answered yes, then you are a sad person. Napakalungkot mong tao because Jesus is not in your life. Punong-puno ka ng galit at paghihiganti.

 My tears were already falling, kasi sapul. Sapul sa lahat ng sinabi nya. Pasimple ko tiningnan ang katabi ko, nag pupunas ng mata, ang kaharap ko nag pupunas din ng mata, ang asawa ko pasimpleng nag pupunas ng mata. Ang anak ko, inaantok, hehehe.

Everything came back to me. Lahat sila na nakasakit sa akin. My tears were non-stop kasi relate na relate ako and I was not ready to let go of that thing in the past. Then I realized baka sad person nga ako kasi ayaw kong mag-let go.

And I prayed, prayed hard that little by little, I will be able to let go of it all. I know that when that time comes, it already means that God is already in my life. He is bigger that any of the things that I have experienced in the past.

Two lessons learned from yesterday's sermon. The first one i can relate so much, the 2nd one, I can relate a little. And here are those:

1. God is the bigger picture. He is bigger that any of the biggest problems and challenges combined and number

2.  Being a King means serving others, it does not mean you are the one being served.

I will blog my views on the second one in my succeeding posts.

It's November! Ang Bilis!

Oh my good Lord! San na napunta ang araw? Honestly, I can't cope up with how fast the days are flying. As in flying talaga, Kagigising ko lang, matutulog na ulit ako.

Pero guys, paulit ulit na nga ang ginagawa ko araw-araw, routine kung routine, and yet, bilis na bilis ako sa mga pangyayari.

Good Lord, wait up, nadadapa na ko sa kakahabol ng araw.

51 days to go at Christmas na!!! Have'nt done any gift shopping. Wala pa decorations office and house namin. Di pa ko na kakapag polish ng mga recordings and reports ko here and our business, and then eto, patapus na ang 2015.

Parang kelan lang, sabi ko hello 2015, sa isang kisap mata, goodbye 2015, hello 2016 na!

Shoot! Hinay hinay! Dami ko gusto iblog di ko mahanapan ng oras. Kamusta naman ako?

Hayyy! Hintayy!

Rainy Wednesday Blues and Thoughts

It's raining. AGAIN.

Rains don't usually get me. I even love rainy days because of the romantic ambiance it gives. Frosted window glass because of the mist coming from the rain drops.  Cool wind outside, caressing my cheeks. Sipping a very hot cup of coffee or choco depending on my moods while wrapped in my favorite sweater to keep me warm.

Ganyan ko tingnan ang rainy days, kahit pa stormy pa yan para sa akin romantic pa rin. So, anyare!?!

Wala lang. I woke up like this. It's not the rain, definitely, kasi I woke up sunny outside, pero ewan ko ba, emo lang ako ngayon. Not in a negative way, mejo positive ng konti but more on the side of being neutral na.

Anu ba point ko? Wala lang. I noticed that parang wala na akong pakialam. Basta I will say what I want to say, regardless kung agree sila or not. Basta I said my piece.  Wala na rin akong pakialam, what others say of me. Regardless kung positive or not, lalo na kung not maganda.

Siguro tama sila, as you grow older, you learn to let go of the past. You are only focus on the now and how you are living it. You learn to choose your battles, because not all battles are meant to be fought. You learn to keep quiet and not give a damn about what they say nor what they think.  They can say anything and you don't get pissed because you know yourself more than they know you. What matters is that I am not stepping on anybody's toes.

I am  more confident of myself. Or rather I know myself more, what pisses me off, what I love, what I hate, what makes me laugh, what makes me cry.  I know more about me than 10 years, 20 years ago. In fact  I learn to love me more, me who's created perfectly imperfect by our God almighty.

Ang drama na, kakainis :) To end this post, let me share a very appropriate quote that I can relate to:

Have a nice day! May you end your day the way you pictured it to be. And when you wake up tomorrow, thank our Lord above for another day given to us. Another day to be contented and grateful for the blessing of acceptance, Acceptance of Ourselves and Acceptance for Others as well.

MARIKINA: A Haven of Restaurants

Alam nio, mga mommies, kelan ko lang nalaman na ang dami palang masasarap na kainan sa Marikina? Oo sa Marikina. Sa Marikina kung saan laging dumadaan ang school service ko dahil ako ay nag aral sa isang paaralan sa Marikina.

Dati rati ang Soliven sa Green heights ay puros bahay lamang yan, binabaha pa nga e. Pero ngayun, pag binaybay mo sya, ang daming restos na nag sulputan. Mula kanto ng Soliven at Sumulong Hi-way hanggang dulo ng Lilac St., tabi tabi na ang kainan jan.

One time, we were on our way to my friend's house, may isang restaurant sa kanto ng Soliven at Sumulong hiway that caught our attention. Ang daming naka park na cars, so it means daming kumakain. Hmmm, nakaka curious.

So eto one Friday evening, after a hard day's work, we decided to ignore our rumbling stomach and avoid the temptation na kumain sa Megamall (default namin kainan to) and tolerate the traffic along Katipunan, White Plains and Marcos hi way just to eat at that restaurant. Pag dating dun, as expected ang daming naka park. So I let hubby find a parking space, while I got out to have our seats reserved. Pang 4 yata kami. 

Teka, ang dami ko nang sinabi, did'nt I mention the name of the restaurant yet? O sige eto siya:

Ayan, sa mga taga-Marikina alam na alam nila to.  Just be prepared to walk far, kasi hirap parking dito, sa gilid lang nang kalsada.

Upon entry, bungad agad ang maliit na dining sa loob. Pero pag umakyat ka sa 2nd floor, may space pa pala, specially if you come in big groups.  The space is very humble. Walang magarbong decorations. Simpleng - simple, pati mga utensils, plates and glass bumagay sa aura ng lugar. But don't get me wrong, the place is very cozy, yung tipong gusto mo mag tagal lang sa loob habang nag kukuwentuhan with your peers.

At dahil umuulan-ulan eto ang order ko, Stamina Ramen:

Sorry, kung di na kaaya-aya tingnan. Yes, I am that hungry, that I totally forgot to take a picture of my order and hubby's order.  Sa hitsura niya, iisipin nio na sya ay isang curry. Tama kayo, lasang curry na maanghang, pero masarap lalo na ngayong panahon ng tag-ulan. Order ni hubby was ramen na veggies ang laman, masarap din daw, lasa daw chopsuye. At ang laki ng order huh! Para sakin na gutom na ang katawang lupa, di ko halos maubos ang isang bowl.

Sa laki ng order, naiisip namin, sana pala umorder kami ng isang bowl ng ramen at isang order ng gyoza at nag hati hati na lang kami ni Daddy A.  Sa susunod, i-tratry  naman namin ang mga rice toppings nila. Kelan ang susunod? Sa susunod pag inabutan ako ng gutom sa daan.

 

Sana magutom uli ako sa tindi ng traffic.

Bata, 7 years old, nag enjoy sa DREAM PLAY

Hi  blogging world! It's been a loooooooooonnnnnnngggggggggg time since I've been here.  Yung promise ko to update this blog, di ko na natupad.

So why am I here. Wala lang, naalala ko may blog pala ako na puedeng stress reliever.  Yes, tagal ko yata na stress dahil sa mga bagay bagay.

Heniiiwey, last Friday was a holiday, salamat naman kay Ninoy at nadagdagan ang bonding days naming pamilya. At dahil ang tagal tagal na kami kinukulit ni bagets na magpunta sa Dreamplay, e di eto na ang pagkakataon para gawin yun.

Actually, hindi Dreamplay ang original plan namin.  We wanted to go to Kidzania, kasi feeling ko mas maraming magagawa dun. Yun nga lang, nung mag bo-book na ako online, fully booked ang Aug. 21-23,
sayang naman ang holiday kung di kami mag bobonding nang bongga. Sa August 31 na lang kami mag Kidzania, at lesson learned mag bobook na ako ngayun pa lang para sa Aug. 31 nang makapag Kidzania na ang bata.

So eto no, Daddy A said, Dreamplay na lang. I told him to inform the bagets kasi conditioned ang brains niya to play at Kidzania. E ang daling kausap ng bagets, sagot pa nga ng " tagal ko na nga gusto magpunta dun e". O diba dali kausap basta galaan.

And because holiday, napa isip ako na baka masayang ang punta kung mahaba ang pila sa ticket booth. I read somewhere, na it took them hours before they were able to buy tickets. So dahil matalino ako (feeling lang naman) bumili ako ng tickets sa SM tickets at P880 each for 4 hours. Di ko na inalam kung magkano ang tickets sa venue mismo, wapakels basta wag ako ma-stress sa pag pila ng mahaba at mamaximize ang oras namin no. I bought the tickets sa SM Masinag, at dahil kaka open pa lang ng mall, ako lang mag isa ang nakapila. O diba wagi ako sa aking plano :)))).

So onto our venue, I turned on my Waze Apps, na walang kwenta, san san kami dinadala. Hmmm, waze ba ang problema o si Daddy A? Hahaha! Basta C5 kami dumaan, nag Mckinley kami tapus labas namin Edsa.  Umuulan-ulan pa, bed weather talaga, pero wala talagang makakapigil sa anak ko na mag Dreamplay dahil kung hindi, ma bibingi ako sa kaka reklamo  niya buong weekends!

At eto na----Hello Dreamplay! And true enough, ang habbaaaah nang pila. Those who bought their tickets from SM tickets have a separate entrance, dun kami nag proceed and entrance was easy peasy. Our names were encoded in their system and we were given this bracelets that can be used in some activities to activate it.

In front of the entrance

Wag kayo ma-bother mga Mommies kung ngiwi ang shot na ito. Hindi talaga mahilig mag smile ang bagets sa camera, "it's not his thingie daw"? Hahaha ewan lang dito sa bata  na ito.

Eto lang ang aming natutunan, ang four hours ay sobra sobra talaga para libutin ang mini park. Pero dahil merong mga activities na per reservation basis tulad ng Cooking Class, Dreamtales Library, Dream Theatre at Dream Studio, baka kulang ang four hours.

We checked-in at 12.44 pm so we have to check out by 4:44 pm.  We reserved first sa Cooking Class sa Gingy's Kitchen, 4:00 pm na lang ang available time, sakto bago kami umuwi eto ang last activity namin. Sa Dreamtales Library 5:00 pm pa ang available, e hanggang 4:44 lang naman kami, so hindi na namin pinangarap yan.

We went first sa How to Fly Your Dragon where kids will assemble a dragon and then go upstairs to put the dragon into a hook and let it fly ikanga na parang dragon na  naka zipline.

How his Dragon turned out

Happy siya nyan Muthers, ganyan lang talaga peg niya, serious type. Next we went to Shrek's swamp. Bahay to ni Shrek, inside you will see huge furnitures where you can sit and have your pictures taken.  Medyo madilim sa loob at ang dala ko lang ay iphone, so medyo labo kuha.

Yan si Big Shrek at Little Shrek, hehehehe.

Laki table ni Shrek

Next dun kami sa Dinotrux, isang racing arena ng mga bola, controlled by a tablet ang movement ng mga bola along the race tracks. Enjoy much si bagets dito kasi bago kami umuwi, dumaan uli sya dito e. Di ko pala to na picturan, sayang.

If you go up the 2nd floor of this activity area , meron dun head ng dinosaur that you can control.  You can sway the head sideways, up and down and you can open its mouth very very wide.

We also visited the cockpit where kids can pretend they were pilots:

Eto ang mga activities na nag enjoy sya ng husto:

Dreamstudio

 Dreamstudio - this where he learned how to make cartoons.  You choose a character tulad ng panda, then select the moves, adjust the speed of his actions, and then add items as props.

Whatever Floats you Boat

Eto, pati si Daddy A nag enjoy kasi gumawa rin sya nang sarili nyang boat at nag race sila ni bagets. Ending? Talo ang Daddy, hahaha!

Maraming balls dito

Eto daming balls, may fountain of balls jan, hinihigop nya ang balls tapus mag blast sya pataas so ang effect parang it was raining balls! I forgot anu name nitong activity na ito.

We did'nt anymore try the wall climbing and the parkour kasi takot ang bagets. So we just went to our final activity. Actually there were two or three other activities that we did not try pero its okay to forego na yun, nothing extraordinary naman.

Our final activity is where I enjoyed naman. It was a cooking class, and all of us three participated in baking a gingerbread cookie.  From putting flour on the table, to flattening the dough, and then cutting it in a form of gingerbread man (using a cookie cutter) to decorating it with icing, to eating the bread, e nakaka enjoy naman talaga. But you know, I think, the cookie that we ate were already pre-baked. Kasi after 30 seconds lumabas na sa "Magic Oven" e. Hehehehe.

My work

Daddy A's work

Wyeth's work

Enjoy diba? But you know honestly, the kid enjoyed so much, pero ako so-so lang. Simple lang kasi yung theme park.  But siempre ang importante, the kid went home a happy kid. That's all what matters :)

You wear this upon entry, to access other activities

Pag exit, you surrender the above bracelets, then off you go. We bought first a penguin pillow from the souvenir shop kasi gusto ng bagets.

 And that's how our experience with Dreamplay went. Saya saya lang!

Till next theme park!!!