Paolo is 10

Valentine's Day is a very popular day all around the world but for me, it was made even special for I became a mother on this special day.

That was 10 years ago and now that baby is 10!

Paolo is 10!
This is indeed a memorable birthday for the little man for this is his first 2-digit age.

He had a pizza party in school.

Everyone had fun even though it was only for a short period of time before they were off to their next class.

After school, it was his turn to be BOSS for a day.
He and papa Garcia played in Timezone to their hearts content.

While we girls on the other hand enjoyed our little shopping spree. hihihi

To cap off the day, we had a nice Valentine's birthday dinner as a family at Chili's.

Family is LOVE and LOVE is Family....

It's ASH WEDNESDAY

It's Ash Wednesday today, the start of the Lenten Season.

photo grabbed from the web

We heard mass this afternoon and while in the church we decided to make a pledge as to what each of us will be giving up for the Lenten Season.

phot grabbed from the web

For hubby and me, it will be a NO RICE SACRIFICE..

How about you, what will you be giving up?

A Party fit for a Princess...

February 2, 2013
McDonald's BF Southpark Branch

When we were in Singapore, birthday means sharing a cake with classmates in school, dining out or traveling out of the country.

Since we moved back to the Philippines, we have been invited and have attended numerous birthday parties and this made the little princess dream of having one too.

So...wish granted...A princess-themed party at McDonalds.

McDonald's have the license for the disney princess themed party so it was a no-brainer for us on which party venue we will be enlisting. And, it was a hassle-free party preparation for me indeed.

They took care of everything from the decorations to the food. I was also able to customize the menu for the birthday. 
  

The cake...
As for the cake, you could either ask them to also include the cake in your birthday party package or bring your own cake. Other branches don't allow any "outside food" to be taken inside the party venue but I was able to work out with them. There was only one condition, the cake can't be consumed/eaten at the party. Well, ok then...as long as I get to have a cake fit for the princess party.

Browsing dozens of blogs and a number of party services providers online, I was able to find SIDs Party Favors. Moms have been raving about them...they have affordable packages... so I decided to check them out. 

I called them up, told them about my ideas for the cake as well as the cake flavor. I decided to have a cupcake tower too so that guests can easily "bring" and enjoy the cupcake when they get home. 

The cake was A-ok. It tastes good. And I was very happy with the design concept.

Loot Bags...
a children's party wouldn't be complete without a loot bag. Although the loot bags are part of the package, I still decided to add. It feels great to see happy kids when they get their loot bags.

The party went well...from the food , the games, to the cake...and it was made extra special because people who are dear to our little princess were with us when she celebrated her birthday here in the Philippines. (for the first time...)

My Princess is 4!

January 31, 2013

My little princess had a simple celebration in school. She has been waiting for this day to come, even her classmates were doing a countdown to her birthday.

Papa Garcia took a leave of absence from work as per request of the birthday princess.

A birthday wouldn't be complete without a cake. For her celebration in school, we ordered a cake from Aggy's Bakeshop. It  as a chocolate moist cake, their best seller and it didn't disappoint. The kids loved it that they gobbled it all up. 

We also brought in some popcorn, cheese sandwiches and sausages.

 

For the popcorn, I bought Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn in Original Caramel flavor and I was able to find cupcake liners/cupcake cups with a princess design. I decided to put the popcorn in the cupcake liners for added presentation and it was a hit with the kids.

As for the cheese sandwiches, I decided to cut the sandwiches into different shapes using cookie cutters.

We also prepared some loot bags for the kids which we sourced out from Divisoria. 

The kids really had a lot of fun and of course our birthday girl was very happy with her party. That makes me a happy mom.

FUN FILLED BIRTHDAY AFTERNOON

Since it was the little girl's birthday, technically she was the BOSS for the day. She basically decided on what to do and where to go for the rest of her birthday day.

First stop, ACTIVE FUN in Bonifacio Global City. She has been asking us to take her there for so many times...so this time, we granted her wish.

And for dinner, actually an early dinner...we headed South to sinced she requested for some noodles and soup. The birthday girl just loves her noodles. 

We have been reading great reviews about this new ramen joint so we all agreed that this one the right time to try it out. You can read our dining experience here.  

Ramen Yushoken.

It was a great birthday indeed.
Happy Birthday princess!

Ramen Yushoken

We have been craving for authentic Ramen for the past months and have been reading about write ups by food bloggers about places where you can get your ramen fix. 

One blog I follow and love is Our Awesome Planet. It is my go-to blog for information regarding places to visit as well as popular and new dining destinations.

I was so happy to chance upon his blog post about must-try Ramen places in the Philippines. Though most of them are in the Makati area, one place caught my attention, RAMEN YUSHOKEN, which was very close to where we are staying. Based on his review of the place, he said it was the Best Ramen in the South. And that alone made us want to try it out.

So for our little girl's birthday, we headed to this so called Ramen joint. It wasn't hard to convince the little girl because she just loves anything that has to do with noodles. 

And so our gastronomic adventure in this Ramen house begins.

Ramen Yushoken is located in Molito Center in Alabang. Since it's still in its soft opening stage, it is open for lunch (11-230pm) and dinner (530pm-10pm). I suggest you go early if you want to try out the place since they only serve limited number of ramen bowls per day. If it runs out before closing time, then they will turn down customers.

So what did we try...

Of course, the Ramen...we had the Shio Tonkatsu Ramen, which has a milky broth.

 

Then the Tantanmen Tonkatsu Ramen, which is the spicy one. And it's the right amount of spiciness that we have been craving for in a ramen. worth a try! 

The best complement to a bowl of ramen is the Gyoza. And their gyoza is indeed good. We never liked the taste of gyoza from the other Japanese Restos we have tried but this one, we give our thumb's up!           

Then we also tried the Chahan, (japanese fried rice) as well as Karaage (crispy fried chicken bites).

 

RAMEN YUSHOKEN didn't disappoint our search for the best ramen. 

Truly OISHII!