Mother’s Day Lunch Out at Red Palace Restaurant

How did you celebrate Mother’s Day? Hubby treated me and my mom (and of course with the kids) in this newly opened Chinese restaurant in SM Taytay. My eldest brother tagged along since he also had some stuff to buy in SM Department Store. We arrived at the mall just in time for lunch and as expected there were lots of customers waiting for available table. While we’re on cue, the hostess gave their menu and asked for our order. Their foods were somehow the same with Super Bowl and since hubby and I usually dine in there (Gateway Branch), he immediately chose the foods that we knew my mom and kids will like.

Before, the only family restaurant you can see in SM Taytay is Max’s and Pizza Hut. And people usually lined up in them but last Sunday, the crowd was divided. In Red Palace, I noticed that most of their customers were chinky-eyed like hubby. (Now what am I expecting, it is a Chinese Restaurant after all) Hubby tried to order a mug of beer for him and my brother but the waiter said that liquor ban was currently up because of the election. With his dismay (and with me and my mom’s delight), he opted to order a can of Coke instead.

Beef with broccoli, Yang-chow, Crispy lechon, Chicken barbecue (Ciren’s special request), Special Siomai

Because it was Mother’s day, the restaurant gave stemmed roses to mothers who dined in their restaurant. And here’s what we got:

After feasting on the food, we went up to the department store because hubby said he will buy shoes for our kids. He went straight to his favorite brand of shoes, Florsheim. As expected, it cost way too much for me and my mom but hubby insisted that price doesn’t matter as long as it is durable and can be use for a long period of time. Well, I couldn’t agree more with his statement, because our kids’ shoes are still in good condition up to now and the only time I get to store it in their boxes are when the shoes doesn’t fit anymore. Some of my Erin’s shoes are getting near to her little sister’s shoe size while with my son; some of his cousins are waiting for them.

Floreshiem shoes for Ciren and Erin, Statement Tees for my little Cien, Barbie and Ben 10 watch for my 2 toddlers, Beverly Hills Shirts for Erin and RL Shirt for Ciren

After that mini shopping, we decided to have some Ice cream before we went home.

Noticed my Cien? She struggled with her uncle and insisted on getting down the floor to walk. (Few months from now, we expect her to be running along with her siblings by then).

edited today, 05/24/2010. thanks to J for the correction=)

Why Is It Fun Shopping at Divisoria?

5 / 4 / 102 / 23 / 14

Hubby and I went to Divisoria yesterday with nothing on our minds to buy. We just thought of walking around there and buy anything that we may fancy about. We left the house before 8:00 am and told our kids that we have to go work (it’s a Monday but Malacañang declared it as a holiday in connection with Labor Day held last May 01) and that they have to stay for a while at their Mommy Lola’s place. But as usual, our ever witty Ciren and Erin protested and asked “If you are going to work, then why is Daddy on his shorts and where is your bag Mommy?”. Ooops! We’re not prepared for that questioning so we just said our usual lines to them “We’re late for work, we have to go”. then kissed the three of them and went out telling ourselves that we’ll make up to them when we return.

Before 9:00am we were already at 168 Mall and doing our rounds in each and every stall. We decided to look for lunch box for both Ciren and Erin since their Mommy Lola said that it will be much easier for the kids if they have their water container and other food stuff in one bag. Just like this one:

Unfortunately, we didn’t find anything like it but instead most of the lunch kits that we saw were separate food and water containers (with different characters on it) placed in bag-like paper cloth like this one.

Guess that’s the latest trend this school year instead of the traditional lunch kits that we knew however we’re both sure that malls still have those kinds.

So, we decided to buy their lunch kits at the mall instead. We walk and walk and finally got to buy stuff for the kiddos and here they are:

1 set of panties for Erin

1 set of briefs for Ciren.

2 pairs of slippers for both of them

3 leggings for Erin

For myself I got these:

2 pcs. of blouses (with that shimmering, shiny thingy)

1 spongebob body bag (aww! the kiddie side of me striked again!)

2 pairs of sandals (I gave the purple one for my mom)

1 purple cellphone holder

For hubby (I urged him to buy something for himself, in my other blog you’ll see how brand-a-holic hubby is)

1 shorts

1 pair of slippers

another pair of slippers (Quicksilver)

(haven’t done with the pictures yet, will post them as soon as I have them transferred from my cam to my lappy)
There were lots of nice shirts for him but as usual he made so many side comments with regards to its materials, its designs etc. Actually, I’m used to it and the bottomline is, he don’t want to buy any of them because they are not original or that they don’t have a brand, and will just buy from the mall. hayzz..

Guess how much I shell out for all this goodies.. more or less I spent only P1500! Wasn’t it great? We won’t be getting all of these for the same price if we shop at the mall.

Hmm.. made me wonder, why is it so much cheaper to shop in Divisoria than in malls?

you’ll get big discounts if you buy goods in bulk
vendors pay less for their sales lady unlike those who are inside the malls
their items came directly from their suppliers
some of the goodies are just brand imitations
the competition is tough since vendors have similar products to offer side by side

These are just few things that I can think of why Divisoria is known for cheap items. In terms of fashion, you can still be an icon even if you buy clothes from here, after all it depends on how a person carry herself and it doesn’t matter whether she is wearing a branded clothes or not.(striked one for hubby)

For sure, Divisoria will be jammed pack again before the school year starts so better do your shopping as early as this month for your kids’ school things.

By the way, we were back home at 12:00noon, just in time for the kid’s siesta and they were all giddy with the “pasalubongs” we had for them.

Pre-Birthday Treat for My Mom

4 / 25 / 102 / 23 / 14

My mom’s 61st birthday is on April 27 and since it falls on a regular day, hubby and I decided to treat her in advance today. We had lunch at Max’s with my eldest brother and our three kids.

There goes my mom.. Most of the people she knew can’t believe she’s on her sixties already because she don’t look like one (watcha think?). I just wish that I’ll inherit that “young looking” feature of her =). When people ask her what’s her secret, she says nothing! She just enjoys her life taking care of her three favorite grandchildren (those are my kids, lol!), going out with her elementary years ‘barkada” (yes, they still has a solid and constant communication) and occasional out of town get away with my family.

Guess, being happy not only makes you look young on the outside but most on the inside. My mom can attest to that.

chatting with my eldest brother

enjoying their lunch (pancit canton, spring chicken, tofu with kinchay, garlic rice)

hubby loving his Crabmeat fried rice (saw it’s name on the receipt)

hubby serving mom’s special request “sinigang na hipon”

we all love “Crispy Pata”!

After that sumptous lunch, we went to the supermarket to have our grocery (a week advance before payday)

my youngets daughter “Cien” enjoying her ride on the push cart

Around 3pm we’re back home and the kids went hurriedly inside the room and turned on the air-con. It was indeed a fun and a very hot Sunday!

Summer Birthday Celebration at Club Manila East

4 / 15 / 102 / 23 / 14

My 2nd daughter turned three last March 31st during the Holy Week Season. To beat up the scorching heat, we decided to celebrate it at CLUB MANILA EAST in Taytay Rizal just 30 minutes away from our place. Despite of its proximity to our house, it was just our first time to visit the resort. It was there for quite a long time and is one of the main attractions in Rizal.

Hubby and I filed for a vacation leave on that day while my mom and older brother accompanied us together with the kids. Other members of the family didn’t make it since they were too busy keeping up with the Holy Week presentation in our place.

Upon our arrival in the resort, hubby asked if there was still an available room in one of their Villas because according to the staff that I talked prior that day, all of their rooms were all reserved for the whole week. Well, because of his great PR ability (quite common for a person who is on the field of Sales), the staff managed to get one room for us instead of renting a Cabana as our initial plan.

Here is our room in Dona Luz Villa:

Room Amenities:
Complimentary breakfast for 2
Air-condition
2 double bed and 1 sofa bed
television
personal ref ( with 2 complimentary bottled water )
microwave ( for re-heating of food )
dining table with chairs
kitchen
aluminum dresser
bathroom with bath tub ( toiletries included )
Bible (I don’t know if its because of the Lenten Season or its there all the time )

The resort don’t allow bringing of foods because they have their own cafeteria and a few food chain booths like Jolibee, Chowking and Pizza Hut.

I didn’t got the chance to take pictures of their beach wave pool because we stayed the whole day in the kiddie pool with the celebrant of course.

We went back to our room and ordered food from the canteen then after a while the kids yanked again their mommy lola to go back in the pool and swim. Cien and I were left in the room as I nursed her and eventually we both got a quick nap ( ah! The advantage of breastfeeding! When the baby sleeps, so with the mommy.)

Around 2pm the kids were back, after their mommy lola finally convinced them to just plunge in the bathtub instead of staying in the pool with the sun all up and giving them the “nog-nog” look.

one last shot before living the resort

On our way home, we asked the kids if they enjoyed Erin’s birthday and guess what they answered.. Kelan ulit tayo babalik dito? ( when will we go back here? ) hehe.. a not so obvious answer that they like the place huh?

Birthday Girl: Heleina Erin

My verdict for this resort: two thumbs up for the place itself and so with their customer service.