Marriage and Beyond

posted by Jennie on Jul 3

My little guy and I had a wonderful date last night as TriNoma unveiled its very own Digital 3D Cinema via its newly upgraded Cinema 4 created by no less than Dolby ® the global leader in movie technologies. It would have been sweeter it the hubby was able to join us but he had to teach a couple of classes over at the Bible school. But we enjoyed the special screening of Ice Age 3 just the same.

Special thanks to Geiser Maclang for the invites! You sure made my 4 year old guy one thrilled boy. It was a school night all right, but it did not get in the way especially so that we are home schooling. There was no way we could miss this, this little guy that we have loves both installments of Ice Age and there is just no better way to watch the third one than via Dolby’s surround system and TriNoma’s plush Digital 3D Cinema.

TriNoma 3D Cinema’s dynamic ambience made my date night with my son extra special. It sure is set to deliver enthralling movie experience for movie goers with its state of the art theatre systems and top notch amenities. We hope to try out the luxury recliners on our next visit. What I love best about this 3D cinema is this is way closer than the one in Pasay.

But tickets and access TriNoma’s cinema schedule via http://www.sureseats.com

TriNoma Mall
4th Level EDSA Corner North Avenue, Quezon City
901.3694

posted by Jennie on Jul 1

Hubby and I are attending the 33rd Pedia Talk Live! in the Grand Ballroom of Dusit Thani, Manila this coming Saturday, July 4, 2009. It has been years since we last attended a Mommy Academy’s event and we are thrilled to be a part of this.

posted by Jennie on Jun 30

My son and I are currently in the middle of our second week of homeschooling. We’re happy to report that we breezed through the first week and we actually enjoyed every minute of it. Okay, I have to admit that I have to do better at being a more animated storyteller/preschool teacher. But so far so good, we are reaping the benefits of the kind of curriculum School of Tomorrow has provided homeschooling families like ours.

One drawback of having your school in your home is the heat. Two days ago when temperature was probably more than 35 degrees Celsius, even when the stand fan was on high, steady and facing where we were, the humidity can still be very unfriendly. It would be nice to get our ceiling fans replaced or better yet get an air conditioner installed in the living room where we hold our classes. The only AC unit we have is in the master bedroom and so much so that I hold my office in the living room, as well as our homeschool classes, then it should make sense to install one in the future, if not soon. To think that summer is over, how much worse it would be when summer is here again, right? We’ll see, we’ll see..

The hubby took this picture above I think a couple of days back. Although our son has the tendency to be restless sometimes, it helps a lot to remind him about the visualized instructions for each lesson that we have.

Eye means “find” or “look”
Crayon means “color”
Finger means “trace,” “point,” or “place your finger on”
Marker means “draw”
Ear means “listen carefully”
Mouth means “say”
Stop sign means “do as Ace is doing” (the picture of Ace handing Miss Content a PACE will serve as the instruction to turn the PACE in to the supervisor for scoring)
Scissors means “cut”
Glue means “glue”
Question mark means “think”

I only had to explain the visualized instruction to him once on our first day and he got everything by heart. Of course, he already know all these things and we are more or less just reviewing the lessons that he already knows. What he is definitely benefiting from Preschool with Ace and Christi program is the development of his fine motor skills. He knows his past and present tense way before we started homeschooling. He already even knows his numbers and can add simple numbers. What we are working on is his writing skills, which admittedly, I have taken for granted to focus on. But right now his lines are less crooked, circles are more of circles than otherwise.

The curriculum uses letter sounds and not letter names to teach toddlers, for which, I am really glad. This validates what we have done from the start. We are just beginning I know and it will be more fun as we go along. We are really grateful that the Lord has allowed for us to home school.

posted by Jennie on Jun 29

A lot of people will agree with me when I say that the most endearing and appealing subject for photography are children. This is especially true when the child that you take pictures of is your own. Like this little guy, instance.

As a hands on mom from birth, I have seen my son’s different expressions. But it was only yesterday that I found out that his face is most expressive when he eats (exactly like his father’s). It fascinates me how my husband eats. I would often tell him that he eats with his eyes. You would have to see for yourself to understand what I mean. Now, I will not be surprised if all eyes will be on my dear hubs during the next food event we go to. He is very forgiving, so I know he won’t take that against me.

My son eats exactly the way his papa does. It’s so fun to discover this after being with him all his life. You’d think he does not like what he eats in these shots. On the contrary, after he cleaned everything on his plate, he jumped to mine and finished everything that I was not meaning to eat anymore. I was full and I did not exactly like the garlic mushroom burger I had over at Chef d’ Angelo’s yesterday. This little guy has a big appetite. He literally eats more than I do.

posted by Jennie on Jun 29

I am so lovin’ my new baby, a Nikon D40. After deliberating what I needed (the nature of my job requires me a decent facility) and studying the specifications of netbooks, particularly which are Intel Atom and got my laptop checked by a technician- I was convinced that we will have more use for a DSLR than an Intel Atom netbook. Who knows, I might just venture into stock photo selling of sorts, in the future. Besides, we will not just make use of this in our internet marketing business but especially in the ministry.

We will just have my laptop checked in the service center (it has a tendency to overheat).  The technician mentioned that it could be that one of the fans is busted. The techie also said that the specifications of my laptop is way higher than any particular netbook available in the market. Now that I have a 1TB external hard drive, a netbook should not be a priority for now.

While we were torn between D40 and D60, we opted to go for Ken Rockwell’s recommendation. And what do you know, it is not only me who’s enjoying this new toy. Jeff has been snapping away and this is one of his first few shots of my D40.

posted by Jennie on Jun 28

We left home at 3:45 A.M. last June 16. I was a little stressed over the fact that at 11PM the previous night, the little guy was still awake despite tucking him to bed earlier than usual. Maybe he was as excited as the hubby and I were. Jeff came home around midnight from a night out with our guys barkada from church. We decided that we both will not be sleep anymore, besides we were not done packing yet.

Our little guy was super sleepy as we dressed him to get ready to go. We planned to carry him to the car so he could sleep through while traveling, but he was up as soon as he knew where we were headed. It was sweet that we have a next day neighbor carbarn that we had a previous agreement with. Mang Ross took care of our transit from home to the airport and back again after three days.

Jed took this picture. We were killing time as we arrived the airport, done with checking in our baggage (just one for us three-traveled light). We tried going online via our portable broadband but it was no use. The connection is super slow, nothing like the Qwest high speed Internet connection I have read of. NAIA 3 is huge and nice, though. Our overall experience with Cebu Pacific was excellent. We arrived Caticlan 20 minutes ahead of schedule and landed on Manila soil half an hour earlier later that week. I hope they would press on and continue to provide their passengers consistent quality of service.

This is our first boat ride from Caticlan, after having transferred from a tricycle ride to another port. It was our little guy’s first boat ride.

We happily treaded the shores of Boracay before 9AM and this is my first shot of the white beach shore. The weather was perfect and I knew I was going to love it there. The sun was not scorching hot and the wind on our faces was glorious. Loved it!

We did not have a hard time looking for our accommodation place, Taj Guesthouse. We were pretty pleased when we got there and look what the lovely owner, Joewana, left in our room to greet us with – a bunch of fruits with a thank you note for putting a blurb in this site of their place. Sweet!

The private balcony of our room in Taj Guesthouse. I love it. This is where we spent time with my boys having cereal and milk for breakfast for three days. The wooden rack on the far left is where we hang our wet stuff fresh from the beach. It’s neat that we do not need to bring in wet stuff inside the room. The place is elevated, that’s why the likelihood of experience flooding in this accommodation place is very remote. Unlike that of other places in Boracay we have heard of.

You can very well guess what I first did when we got settled – get connected to the internet via the portable Smartbro broadband that we have with us. The speed was worse than dial up to say the least. Definitely a no match to the Qwest connection a former officemate would rave about. With the Qwest phone service that they bundle their package with, I would have to say that we are really shortchanged by our local internet providers. I loaded our broadband twice with over a hundred prepaid credits and we never had a decent connection. It was crazy! So we ended up going to a café and get connected. No, we did not do entirely business during our vacation. There were just a few deadlines we had to sort out for a few hours and then we were all vacation mode.

We did not hit the beach until the following morning, we slept after lunch and headed to talipapa, roamed for a bit and had our lobster dinner there too. I am so happy to have experienced Boracay better this time. No more muddy tricycle ride like the one we had in 2001. Boracay has definitely transitioned to better, busier and more fun place!

fresh water pearl shopping

desserts over at Halowich

posted by Jennie on Jun 28

After a couple of months of not being able to play soccer because of so many things on his plate, the hubby was able to join his team, Marikina United last night as they played against Lourdes highschool’s varsity team during a tune up game. Marikina United won: 5-4. Yey!

posted by Jennie on Jun 24

Marriage and Beyond has always been my primary blog. With at least four updates a week, the number has gone down to two. As soon as we came back from Boracay a week ago, we all went right back to business. We officially started homeschooling last week and as we were on it, I was also posting articles across our web pages and beating deadlines in between. The housework and everything else are always part of the package, as usual. I really am just thankful for a healthier me this year that I am able to do what I am now doing and some.

Some? I have been pretty distracted with some applications over at this particular social network. That’s just on the side whenever I get to do the “alt-tab” exercise, which can become frequent if I do not watch it. I might be speaking jibberish but I know a lot of my friends (online and otherwise) who are into these online games can so relate.

Undeniably a distraction, which I also consider a pretty silly diversion. But truth to tell, it has this certain way of destressing me of sorts. Now that I’m back to regular programming, I have been pretty busy with online assignments and looking into articles I could write to post in my niched blogs. It occurred to me that it has been a while since I last wrote about TULA handbags over at my beauty and fashion blog, Kikay Corner. I love that the designs of tula accessories give a fresh and equally fashionable alternative to the public. Other pricier brands are not exactly the most practically things especially in this time of economic crisis. Tula has been around for over 30 years, keeping to the philosophy of designing fab leather handbags at prices that are definitely affordable. I love providing regular readers of my beauty blog alternatives to branded stuff that are simply overrated.

Aside from the updates in my beauty blog, I am also constantly adding up articles in my healthy blog and brand new personal blog. I know I have not posted my photo essays on our Boracay vacation. That will be next in line, due next week.

posted by Jennie on Jun 23

My groovy mama just got herself a new toy yesterday. She confesses to be an old school as an old school is, that is why she never budged to my convincing of her getting laptop instead. We accompanied her to Gilmore yesterday morning, canvassing through possibly thousands of desktops available within the tech area.

For no more than P19,000, she is happily typing away and browsing through the net with her brand new toy - a desktop with a 19″ LCD monitor.

posted by Jennie on Jun 23

Mommies very well know how babies and toddlers tend to smell rather sour after a few hours, or even minutes (during extra humid days) after we have given our little cutie pies their baths. I happily report that my son has been sweet smelling practically all day since he started using GIGA baby soap. He would still sweat all right, but nothing like how he used to. I love it so much that I use the soap on his hair too.

The GIGA brand has been a staple in our household since 2005. And I wouldn’t even start telling you about NO ITCH. It magically clears away any trace of itchiness. They both have a permanent place in my dresser. NO PAIN replaced my former pricier Origins’ Peace of Mind. When migraine attacks, my instinct would be is to grab NO PAIN.

I have recommended GIGA to friends and relatives.I remember getting hold of a handful of GIGA products for my bestfriend, Gina who is in London, a few years ago. This is just about the neatest thing so far GIGA has come up with. My baby and I love GIGA’s brand new baby line (baby soap, insect repellant spray, cold rub, baby balm, baby cologne and baby oil) Everything caters to pampering your baby. The cologne is formulated just right, with its own original scent. My son loves it, I do too.

The baby balm is made to help soothe and protect baby from diaper rash and minor cuts. But since my son has been over his diapering years for more than half of his life, I use it to prevent chapped cheeks or lips and moisturize dry skin. It can also be used to hydrate lips, hands and feet. It’s a multi purpose balm, that it has become mine and baby’s. But if you have a baby, this will be perfect to soothe diaper rash and treat cradle cap. I’m currently using this fantastic tub for my son’s sunburn and mine too from all those beach sprawling we’ve done in Boracay last week.

Another favorite that I have from their baby line is the Insect Repellant Spray. We even brought this with us to Boracay last week. Our household has been practically bug free because of this JML pest shield that we have had for more than a year now. But the thing is, as soon as my son steps out of the house, we’ll never know what’s out there.

I always make sure he gets sprayed all over first with GIGA’s Baby insect repellant spray and it has been very handy even in our trip to Boracay. He already knows that it’s part of the routine. It’s funny how kids get themselves into a routine quite easily. Now, whenever he wants to go out to the garage and ride his bike, he’d hand me this spray bottle and he would instinctively close his eyes as I spray it over his body. Very effective. Not one insect bite whenever he gets sprayed on. Prevention is so much better than cure. After having heard the cases of Dengue not exactly dwindling down, there is no way I am ever going to get my guard down.

And because it’s from GIGA, this insect repellant spray I speak of is formulated with all organic ingredients, just like their other products. It’s gentle enough to be sprayed directly on babies’ sensitive skins. Our family so loves GIGA!

posted by Jennie on Jun 22

SBC-Makati, the church that the hubby pastors, is located right smack in the country’s business district. When you are in Makati, it almost always follows that everything around the vicinity is expensive. This is the primary reason the church was not able to move addresses as previously planned.

Everything is expensive and for a small church that we have, it was not the wisest to commit to a monthly payment that we cannot afford. We did not have much of a choice but to stay put and prayerfully wait. There should be a good reason for this delay. While it is true that almost everything in Makati is expensive, there is a high quality, within the budget and good accommodation that I found in Jupiter Suites. At least now I know where to stay in any event that we have to stay within the vicinity of Makati. Jupiter Suites - a budget hotel in Makati City. Even a place that we could recommend of.

For updates you might want to be a Facebook fan of Jupiter Suites. This budget hotel in Makati City has recently been upgraded. Now, fully loaded and equipped with internet access. Which has become a non-negotiable feature for us, especially now that I have to be virtually online twenty four by seven. This is what we make sure of whenever our family checks in a hotel. The last time being (aside from last week’s vacation in Boracay) was when our village had a power outage and power interruption that lasted almost twenty four hours. It can be the next most convenient thing to staying at home.

posted by Jennie on Jun 21

posted by Jennie on Jun 20

Two days since we got back from Boracay and we are still not over it all! I heard once that sometimes a place can change you, I guess this time Boracay has me. I cannot recall ever enjoying Boracay this much. I can’t even recall ever enjoying Boracay at all, except of course for its white sand beauty. The time we were last there prior to this trip was in 2001, for our honeymoon. The so-so accommodation that we had then, plus the hassle of traveling from the port to Station 1. The endless bus ride from Kalibo to I don’t what that place is called (just when I thought the plane ride was the longest ride we were to have) I cannot even begin to put words into the discomfort of having to bathe in water that seem to come directly from the ocean. The water that was supplied in the hotel room we were in was just like salt water and it got my skin and hair so out of sorts. All the incovenience of our honeymoon trip in Boracay in 2001 were all scratched off in this trip.

How was I changed, you might ask. I was never a beach person before this trip. Like, N-E-V-E-R. I would rather stay indoors. If I was to go dip in a pool, I would rather do it at night. I don’t like the sun so much, let alone bathe in it all day long without an umbrella, at least. Despite the very bad delivery of the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer SPF55 sunblock lotion we brought with us, I did not mind at all. (Watch for my review to go live in my beauty blog anytime next week) I am now a tad darker and my skin hurts. Bad, Neutrogena, bad! Honestly, even then, I don’t care. I would gladly choose Boracay in a heartbeat if I were asked to choose between Manila and Boracay.

And FYI, I am not just speaking for myself. I never knew that separation anxiety can even apply to a place. But that is exactly what I would call it when my son refused to ride back to our home from the airport. It didn’t stop there, he went sobbing and begged to go right back to Boracay. We all know how resilient kids are. So now he’s back to normal.

I will posting some photo essays in the coming days. It would be a challenge to choose from all the 1,099 shots we took from our vacation.;-) From the lovely accommodations, to the islands, the resorts that are similar to the Outer Banks rentals that we visited, and a whole lot of snapshots of the fun we had during our four days, three nights stay in Boracay.

posted by Jennie on Jun 15

Early tomorrow morning, my boys and I will be flying to the island of Boracay and avail of the accommodation of Taj Guesthouse, for our long awaited break. We have perfectly timed it just before my son and I will officially start home schooling. After several weeks of going around asking people from the communities we are in, some two months back, the hubby and I narrowed down our options to two places that we read a good review of. One of which is Taj Guesthouse Boracay.

Thanks to Joewana of Taj Guesthouse for the discount on our accommodation. We purposefully chose the off peak season and I am convinced that we did right. Aside from choosing not to stay where we honeymooned in 2001. We stayed in Pearl of the Pacific and we weren’t very happy with their accommodation. We agreed that we just need a decent and clean place that does not need to be as pricey for our next Boracay visit. For one, we won’t stay indoors most of the time. We plan to explore the island. That is, if the weather permits. The weather can be too unpredictable these days to have our schedules depend on it. It practically rained throughout the month of April, right? And April is supposed to be the peak of the summer season. You will find Taj Guesthouse/Taj Boracay in Station 2.

This will be our first time to check in with Taj Guesthouse and we hope to come back to Manila with a good report. For our friends over at the social networks we belong to who were asking about Taj Boracay’s accommodation rates, here is the list:

LOW SEASON - June 1 to November 30
Room Types
Standard P1,500.00
Deluxe P2,000.00
Extra Person P300.00

HIGH SEASON - December 1 to May 31
Room Types
Standard P2,000.00
Deluxe P3,000.00
Extra Person P300.00

We will be staying in the Deluxe Room, quadruple occupancy. It features two double sized bed. air conditioning, cable tv, ref, safety box. Private balcony with coffee-table set. Hot and cold shower. I especially love that our accommodation includes private balcony. Our former accommodation the last time we were in Boracay wasn’t able to give that despite their pricey rates.

*photo courtesy of Nina of justwandering.org

Taj Guesthouse
Balabag, Boracay Island
Malay, Aklan, Philippines
CP No. (0920) 919-6509 / Tel. No. (036) 288-4628
FAX (036) 288-5695
tajboracay@gmail.com

posted by Jennie on Jun 9

Saizen, the P85 store got me into this whimsical shopping journey last week. Who would have thought anything so affordable could count for anything anymore. Sure, I have heard a handful of happy people stepping out of Saizen. But like every other thing, you have to get into it to actually experience its “cheap thrill.” Everyone could make use of a bargain in this time of economic crisis, right? It is almost certain that majority of the population’s spending habits has adjusted a great deal since the era of recession stepped in.

As a practical person, a mom at that, Saizen, the P85 store is the “it” store for me. You will find functional things that are hardly available in your regular store and the amazing finds are countless! Saizen’s Group General Manager, Mr. Bobby Go told us about Saizen’s the store which was launched here in the Philippines last April 29, 2009- pioneering with the present sole branch in Robinson’s Galleria.  Here’s hoping for more branches across the metro.

No sub standard items in here, especially so that nearly everything were developed by Daiso-Sangyo, Inc. in Japan especially for Saizen. The hubby got a handful of great finds for the church office and the ministry. He also got hold of a couple of magic tricks packet at P85 a pop! He recently incorporated magic tricks during youth service. Me? I got stuck in rows upon rows of children’s toys, household stuff and fashion accessories.

If there is anything that you might need in the house or for just about anything, you might want to swing by and see for yourself tons of choices you have for such affordable price. It will actually make you feel good that you spent less than you would have in your regular store.

It’s practically a one stop shop. From practical and functional household goods, hobby materials, school and office supplies, toys, lifestyle, quality fashion and apparel, home decors, Japanese interiors and ceramics, kitchenware and supplies, home improvement, gardening tools and pet accessories. What’s more fun is they come up with over a hundred of new items every month. Visit Saizen for authentic Daiso products located at the 3rd level, East Lane of Robinson’s Galleria.