Archive for the ‘Crazy Ramblings’ Category

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Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar Day Tour

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Before we bid goodbye to 2011, my family thought of making a quick out-of-town trip. Originally, we planned to go to Vigan. Vigan is heaven for photo-enthusiasts such as my hubby. I, myself, is dreaming of strolling and maybe posing ala-supermodel along its cobblestone streets laden with ancestral buildings reminiscent of colonial European and Oriental architecture. But this dream of ours is not yet in for the taking, well, at least not at the moment. For now, it will be extremely difficult to do a 10 hour++ travel with our barely a year-old baby around. Thankfully, there is a nearer and a more convenient substitute to a blast-from-the-past adventure. Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan is merely a 2 hour drive from Angeles City via SCTEX.  This genesis heritage resort is one of its kind- highlighting the architectural pieces of a bygone era and bringing to life the customs and traditions of long ago.  It is a truly magical and wonderful place to see.  Right there and then, you can give your children a quick lesson in Filipino history.

Bahay na batos are restored in a picturesque setting reminiscent of a Juan Luna or Amorsolo painting.

How to get here. From SCTEX, take the Dinalupihan exit and drive along the streets of Hermosa, Orani, Samal, Abucay, and Pilar. Along Pilar, you will see the road leading to the majestic Dambana ng Kagitingan in Mt. Samat. Just a few more minutes from here and you will finally reach Bagac. In Bagac, there are signages all over directing you to Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar.

The journey through history begins by the time you reach the gates of the place. You will soon find yourself being greeted by serious looking guwardiya sibils. Actually, all their employees are geared up to match the place- wearing the traditional barong tagalog and baro’t saya. True enough, Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar is indeed a living museum of Philippine customs and traditions.

A real blast from the past adventure.

The guwardiya sibil greets you at the gate and surveys the number of passengers in the vehicle.

A closer view of the restored stone houses.

 

Picture taking time:)

take a dip into Las Casas' batis inspired pool overlooking the sea.

What not to forget. Last time we went, it was sunny but windy. I could just imagine how hot the place would be during the summer. Anyways, better gear up for long walks under the sun. Dress lightly and apply sunblock lotion. Also, bring a hat and umbrella. I had to buy a hat for Php500 in one of their novelty shops out of desperation. Last and most importantly, prepare yourself financially, especially if you are going to stay overnight. Accommodations here are pretty dang pricey. For you to have an idea about this, read on.
Day Tour Packages: Entrance Fee Only-650/adult,4 yrs.and below free; Entrance Fee with snacks-850/adult, 425/child; Entrance with set meal 1200/person; Entrance with buffet meal 1500/person.
Hotel Accommodations. Fees range from 3825 to 8500 pesos.
Heritage Houses for Rent. Fees range from 15750 to 45000 pesos.
Contact Information. Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar, Bo. Pagasa, Bagac, Bataan. (63 2)332 5338, (63 2)332 5286 (63 917) 8729361, or email them at reserve@lascasasfilipinas.com.

Old school fountain.

Take a romantic walk with your loved-one along Las Casas' cobblestone streets.

Street names

Another majestic view

Signage at the Registration area

Posted in Crazy Ramblings, Uncategorized, Whims and Wants | 4 Comments »

Tony Moly Backstage Gel Eyeliner

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

From my first BB cream back in 2009 to my recently acquired Skinfood goodies courtesy of chicsassymom.com, I could say that I am gradually developing a cosmetic love affair with these amazing Korean products.  My new love- Tony Moly Backstage Gel Eyeliner in Black.  From the moment I set eyes on them on ebay.ph, I knew that it was the one.  Oh, I so love eyeliners.  I consider them, my special occasion make-up.  I don’t put eyeliners everyday- I feel it’s such a waste because I’d just hide my eyes behind my thick-rimmed glasses.  But on instances where I have extra time to wear contacts instead, I do make it a point to leave the house with more dramatic eyes- hence, the need for a really good eyeliner.  For the longest time, I have only patronized Bodyshop’s Liquid Eyeliner.  I’ve tried others and none of them are, in my opinion, at par with Bodyshop’s excellent product.  Now that gel eyeliners are seemingly in-fashion, I thought why not try it out.  I am truly glad to know that my first option for a gel eyeliner turned out to be great.  Tony Moly got it all right for me- the packaging was classy and cute, the brush was perfect- especially for a fine-motor challenged person like yours truly, and most importantly, the gel itself was great- it’s creamy and easy to apply, yielding out a very prominent color.  I am so saving up right now so I can buy Tony Moly gel eyeliners in other shades from my favorite Korean cosmetics seller- bhappywithme!

The white cover prevents the product from drying out. Because of the very good pigmentation that it offers, you don't need to apply lots. I think I will be using this eyeliner for a very long time.

The packaging allows for an easy and sanitary storage of the brush. Also, the gel does not dry out easily like others.

Korean products are never boring! Check out the cute packaging!

 

Posted in Beauty 101, Crazy Ramblings, Ebay Finds, Whims and Wants | 1 Comment »

Blogging via iPad 2

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

At last, we have finally joined the hordes of people who went gaga with iPad. Our new ipad2 has joined its other apple relatives in our household-all the more pushing us to consume… consume… and consume anything and everything in the Internet. But of course, as hubby would endlessly say, the Internet should not entirely be about consuming… Most importantly, it should be about contributing.. What can we contribute to make the Internet more productive? What can we share to its increasing database? How can we take part in its evolution and progress? Ok, enough being overly dramatic lol… My simple way to make the net a better place is to simply blog. Thanks to this WordPress application for iPad, this gadget will not be entirely used for games, Facebook, twitter, and eBay. I will (hopefully) try to maximize it’s potential and usage by blogging.. blogging … and blogging… I just hope that my articles would indeed by contributory in making the internet a better place to surf.

Posted in Crazy Ramblings, Uncategorized, Whims and Wants | No Comments »

Clinique All About Eyes Serum De-puffing Eye Massage

Saturday, November 19th, 2011

According to my dear ol friends, I am one of those lucky few who have been fortunate enough to have small pores and dry to normal skin. I rarely… as in rarely have pimples. I do not do or use anything special on my skin. Just recently, I came to the realization that I am not getting any younger and at 33, I should start using some kinda moisturizer on my face. I’ve been interchangeably using Olay age defense and Skinfood omija whitening serum (a gift from a friend)on my face… Just for the sake of delaying aging. However, if there is something that I would really want to get rid off that would be the seemingly permanent dark circles under my eyes and irritating eyebags. That’s why I am extremely thankful to come across such a great product from Clinique. Clinique’s all about eyes serum is heaven sent! Besides targeting dark circles and eye puffiness, its rollerball extemely relaxes tired eyes… Especially my contact-lens-tortured eyes. Seriously, after a day of wearing contact lenses, my eyes feel like they want to fall off from their sockets. It’s like they are the most tired part of my body. A good friend of mine recommended this product to me and it really does wonders!

Posted in Beauty 101, Crazy Ramblings, Mommy Thingies | No Comments »

Preschoolville’s Spooky Fun Party 2011

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

It’s that time of the year again when oldies like yours truly get to relive fond childhood memories, wear costumes, and eat tons of candies. Yep, it’s Halloween… Halloween is undoubtedly one of my most favorite programs that we organize in the school. Though it is something that entails tons of preparations, it is definitely worthwhile because kids enjoy every minute of it. For this year, the teachers decided to go for the popular gypsy look. We did not want to stress ourselves much with costumes that’s why we went for something that is easy, affordable, and hassle-free. We’ve worn gypsy costumes before that’s why we knew what items of clothing to pick. Now the best place to pick out gorgeous and bold-printed skirts is none other than the local ukay-ukay shops. So we headed for Robinsons Angeles and patiently sorted racks and racks of clothes to pick out the best outfit for a gypsy wannabe. The pictures would tell you that our efforts were a success! To complete our outfit, we headed to Vente store in Marquee and got ourselves super affordable accessories. Thus, the finish product!

Of course, I also needed to worry about the costume that my daughter is going to wear. Last year, she was able to successfully impersonate Lady Gaga. We were hoping to transform her into Mystique of the X-men or Smurfette but our attempts to dye her clothes blue failed. We had to make last minute changes to our plan and decided to go simple instead. With an old frilly dress, a few tubes of face-paint, and a white wig, she emerged a beautifully creepy living china doll. Here she is.
At a very low budget, we were able to pull of quite impressive costume results. Can’t wait for next year’s spooky fun party!

Posted in A Preschool Venture, Crazy Ramblings, Mommy Thingies | No Comments »

DFA Passport for 1 yr. old and below: No Appointment Needed!

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

In my quest to fully maximize my one week vacation, I decided to finally get a passport for my youngest daughter- Padma. I was racing through time because in less than 4 months, she will be 1 yr.old and the ‘No Appointment Needed For 1 yr. and below Rule’ will not be applicable anymore. I did not really know that infants have this kind of privilege. Actually, I have attempted to get one for her months before but her birth certificate was not yet available in NSO. NSO needs like 6 months to update their records and if you are in a hurry, then you should expedite the process yourself by writing a request to the municipal office of your child’s place of birth. I did not want to travel to Xevera, Mabalacat just to do this and besides, we do not really have an overseas trip planned so I decided to forego Padma’s passport application. This short sem break we have is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for and so I immediately scheduled a trip to DFA San Fernando. However, lazy me woke up late and when we were ready to go, it was already 3pm… 2 hours to go before government offices close shop. My hubby was hesitant to leave… he was sure that it’s going to be a useless trip because it was already so late. I, however, insisted and so we left. About 10 minutes in our trip I realized that I left my passport and so we had to go back- my unpreparedness so evident at this point. I was now so restless because we had to stop by NSO first to get an NSO certified birth certificate. Thankfully, our NSO trip did not take long. At about 4pm we are ready to go to DFA. I’m glad because people seemed innately kinder to mommies with babies slung on their hips and so I got off pretty easily– breezing through the whole process hassle-free. The only little problem we had was when Padma had to have her picture taken. She kept moving and so they can’t get an appropriate shot of her. Anyways, at about 4:45, we are all done! Wasn’t that great? Our next DFA trip will be on Dec. 14- this time for the releasing of my daughter’s passport. For everybody’s info, DFA now utilizes the appointment system for the processing of new passports as well as for renewals. Nobody is exempted from this rule except for those who are:
- 60 years old and above (they can tag along one companion who also gets an appointment free passport processing)
- 1 yr. old and below
Hope this post helps!

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Purple Pad Thai

Monday, October 10th, 2011

My food escapade continues… read all about my Purple Pad Thai experience in Travel and Gobble!

Posted in Crazy Ramblings, Whims and Wants | No Comments »

Blogging for Travel and Gobble

Sunday, September 18th, 2011

I’m loving dining out all the more because this time, I get to write about my food experiences and share them to the world!  Do check out my first article in Travel and Gobble:  Dining at the Old Spaghetti House.

 

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My Entry to MFO’s Anniversary Blog Breastpump Giveaway from Babymama

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Recently, manila fashion observer tied up with babymama for its Anniversary Promo. For this, they have given away an Ameda Purely Yours Breastpump- a really cool breastpump that I would have wanted to give to a pregnant friend of mine. The mechanics were simple–1) like babymama and MFO’s facebook pages, 2) add Cd_mfo on twitter, and 3) answer 3 questions about breastfeeding.
Silly me, all the while, I thought it was an essay writing contest. I spent my entire National Heroes’ Day composing an essay to answer the three questions… fervently hoping to win the pump. Come september 7, the results were out and I found out I didn’t win. I accepted defeat because I was no sore loser.  I just wanted to check out what the winning entry was and lo and behold- I found out that the winner won via a raffle draw… All I can say is LOL… Never in a million years would I ever win via raffle haha.. I guess, I was not born that lucky in life. Well, just so my efforts are not wasted, I am posting my answers here in my blog… As I’ve said countless times before, breastfeeding is something I am so fond of.  At least, this contest made me love breastfeeding all the more! 

(more…)

Posted in Breastfeeding, Crazy Ramblings, Mommy Thingies, Uncategorized, Whims and Wants | 2 Comments »

Post-Pregnancy Hair Loss

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Seriously? It’s been 7 months already and I am still shedding off hair like crazy!  It’s not only me who’s going gaga about this- the whole household’s bugged coz I unknowingly drop a strand of hair here and there… The only thing that’s keeping me from going straight to a hair restoration doctor is that I’ve had three pregnancies and I know that the whole thing is normal.  However, hair loss until this time may sound a little bit off.  Right about now, hair loss should be dwindling a bit… but in my case, it’s just not so.  Could it be because I am still purely breastfeeding my baby?

According to The American Pregnancy Org, Telogen effluvium is the excessive shedding of hair that occurs one to five months following pregnancy. This is not uncommon, affecting somewhere between 40 to 50% of women; but like most changes during pregnancy, it is temporary.  From this fact, I should have been seeing improvements already since my baby is now 7 mos… but unfortunately no.

Good thing The American Pregnancy Org provided some valuable tips on how mommies like me can deal with hair loss.

  • Consult with your health care provider to ensure a proper balance of hormones
  • Avoid pigtails, cornrows, hair weaves, braids and tight hair rollers which can pull and stress your hair
  • Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables, which contain flavonoids and antioxidants that may provide protection for the hair follicles and encourage hair growth
  • Use shampoos and conditioners that contain biotin and silica
  • Hair is fragile when it is wet, so be gentle; avoid fine tooth combs
  • If you need to use blow dryers and other heated hair instruments, try to use the cool setting
  • Supplement your diet with the following nutrients:
    • Vitamin B complex
    • Biotin
    • Vitamin C
    • Vitamin E
    • Zinc

Of course, since I am a lactating mommy, I have to be extra careful in what I actually digest– specifically, drugs and other vitamins that might affect the milk I am producing.  Amongst the choices, I am drawn to the ‘eating healthy stuff’ suggestion.  Yup, that I can definitely do without the guilt!

Posted in Crazy Ramblings, Mommy Thingies | No Comments »

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