Greenbelt Fashion Show

Since moving to the Philippines, our lifestyles have changed a little. With 2 kids and no car, we've given up our lives of outdoor hiking and adventures and have in place a new hobby - Mall hiking! Just like we used to explore and conquer new peaks and trails, we now explore new malls.

But obviously between naps and meal times, we only have a 3-4 hrs of window in which we have to hike there, find the right shops, eat and maybe hike back! So, i can't say i've conquered any malls yet.

Anyways, you do see interesting stuff sometimes. This weekend all of us(alan, tyler, cody and I) sat down for our first fashion show.

You know, models are REALLY tall and some a little too skinny(not like i'm jealous or anything). Tyler was a little intrigued by all these women(and men) walking up and down wearing all kinds of clothes, in different states of undress and had all kinds of comments like "Mommy, women funny..." but my favorite was what he said about these models:

In all excitement, he yells and point, "No pants!! No pants!!!"

Anyways we sat thru a few changes of clothes and after a while soon we couldn't take anymore ridiculous clothes anymore, so we left(not really, but we do have a 3 hr window!).

Some of the clothes being modeled.

I must admit there is something about long legs and lots of attitude. You can pull off a lot more crazy clothes that normal people can't. I think all of us enjoyed the show and had a good laugh... even little Cody..

Cody stuck in the back seat trying to figure out what's going on

New Sling

I've always wanted to buy one of these cool baby slings and have been contemplating for a long time. A few weeks ago, i finally bit the bullet and got one. Cody seem quite content to sit in it while i walk around with it, but man, do I hurt after a short walk. I must be a wimp!!

Cody looking all content

Seeing his brother in it, Tyler of course wanted to be in it too

I'm still not convinced this is the best invention yet but maybe i need to practice with it more and try to figure out if i'm wearing it wrong coz it hurts my shoulders!

Things that Tyler says that makes me happy..

Mommy's pretty!!
Mommy's no fat!
I love you, Mommy.. (though it sounds more like i-o-u mommy)

My boys and their Tiggers

For Easter, the boys got a special package from England filled with all kinds of goodies and melted chocolate!! Tyler was particularly excited about his new scissors(my MIL must have telepathy because i was WAS just thinking about getting him one) and his Thomas stickers and books and was also claiming Cody's Tigger. We had to explain that it was a baby Tigger for baby and he needs a bigger Tigger and i of course, landed myself into getting him one too.

So, here they are with their Tiggers

Our stuff's here!!

Woo hoo! Our stuff is finally out of storage and it's here! Thank goodness for moving guys, it's all unpacked and roughly sorted out in the right rooms!

Tyler is rediscovering all his toys and it's funny when he goes to his room, he always gasps and says "So many toys!!" and it's like it's brand new to him and he even calls them "new toys" or "new bicycle" ha!!

Cody finally got his Bumbo although it's a little late as he can already sit on his own!! So, it's no wonder when i put him in, this was his expression:

Get me out of here!!!

Am I nearly out yet??

With the arrival of the Bumbo and all my tools, i can finally start Cody on his solid food which is about 1.5 months late! So, here are some of Cody's first solids. He seemed to like it and had no problems. I'll have to expedite the amount and thickness a little to try to catch up!

Codes and his first solids

It was finger licking good..

And to celebrate one of our friends' recent birth of their beautiful twin baby boys, I did a twin special!! Congratulations Matt and Elaine!!

Hello!!

Ahh.. it's you again..

Memories from the past

I was tidying up some pictures and videos of Tyler a long time ago and found this video that i particularly liked. I've been trying to share it for some time but didn't know how to upload to youtube. Lame excuse, I know, especially for an engineer!!!

I seriously can't remember him so young and so innocent which makes me sad to realize that it's like what everybody says "They grow up so fast!"

Anyways, here it is:

Tyler's first day at Cambridge

haha! It's every mother's dream, isn't it?

Anyways, we've signed Tyler up with a International preschool just around the corner from our house. It seemed quite popular with the mothers around the park, so, i thought sure. All of them were exclaming how spacious it was and what nice facility. So, imagine my horror when i saw that the entire school was on 1 floor and each classes were divided up by bookshelves!! Coming from America, i guess there is a different perception of space!

I also had to laugh when they showed me their programs and the longest program there was 3 hours!! (Wow!!). They probably thought i was the worst parent to send her kid from 9 - 6 pm!!

But Tyler seemed quite excited about going to school and we even bought him a new pair of shoes for the special event!

Mommy had to wake up extra early to walk Tyler to school

He insisted on carrying his own bag and had to wear his hat and glasses!

The rest of the support crew

And off he went without a backward glance.. mommy must have been a boring play mate!!!

Smart alec in the making?

Tyler's been on potty training forever and i'm sure he knows it, but he just can't be bothered to do it. So, it frustrates me sometimes when i'm changing him and we get into this conversation:

Me : Tyler, did you poop in your pants?
Tyler : Nooo..
Me : Are you sure??
Tyler : My no poop in pants, my poop in diapers!!! (my == I)
Me : *roll eyes*

Tyler's dorky days

As most people know, kids can be quite funny sometimes. And here are some of Tyler's dorkier days. He will probably sue me in the future for these damages!!

Dork second runner up: sun glasses sitting between the eyes and eye brows, complete with Gilligan's Hat and a funny pose

Dork Runner Up - Entertaining baby brother with "drum" and shaking his head and laughing like a crazy maniac

Dork Champion - Looks like a runner in diapers, complete with I-shuffle attached to diaper!

Cody random shots

Since i've been doing lots of blogs on food, i thought i'd better put some of the kids too! Here are some of Cody's recent pictures and some updates.

Cody's sitting is getting better and i noticed he can actually correct himself when he's about to topple over when he's sitting.

He seems to be interesting in what is going around him and is constantly grabbing stuff around him and putting it in his mouth.

Like most breastfed babies, he is a true Mama's boy. It seems a little early to me that he's having stranger's anxiety, but he does cry when somebody else carries him.

Oh, he weighed in at 15 lbs 6 oz at his last weight check. And his grey eyes are on its last legs i think as i can see brown creeping in. Another pair of grey eyes bites the dust.

Anyways, here are some of the pics, I know you guys are only interested in the pictures anyways!

My little grey-eyed cutie

Due to the heat here, it's not often he gets proper clothes on.. only when he's indoors! haha!

Big drooler

Hat on a hot day

He's actually wearing Tyler's pants.. not sure whether i should be sad or happy that my 2 yr old toddler is sharing clothes(not hand-me-downs) with his 5 months old brother

Life without chores...

is a life worth having! :)

Our maid finally arrived this week and i've been quite happily enjoying more of my free time. It's like a god-sent good feeling everytime I walk into the kitchen, it's clean! Maybe i'm weird like that, but i hate it when my kitchen is dirty. My room can be a walking disaster and it doesn't bother me that much but my messy kitchen just puts me in the bad mood.

Anyways, Rhose is a quiet lady and seems quite good with the kids. Tyler bonded with her almost instantly which is a change from his usual aloof attitude. She's been helping me out with cleaning and cooking and sometimes entertain the kids. I still do most of the stuff with the kids like feeding Tyler, bathing and stuff.

I've been requesting for her to cook some Filipino food for me and it's been interesting. I can't say it's like awesome good, because i feel like i'm eating poor people's food! For example, i bought meat just to make spaghetti bolognese and she only used a little of it, so our spaghetti sauce was little sad and to Alan's dismay, had hot dogs in it!

Anyways, it's been a nice change since she's been here as i don't spend every bit of my spare time cleaning. Every night i even get to go for a walk in the park after i've put Tyler to bed. I figured i'd better burn off the extra calories that i didn't burn. It was crazy but i managed to get rid of my last pregnancy pounds in the last 2 weeks from just staying home with 2 kids and doing all the crazy chores. I sure don't want it to come back

So, there you go.. here's an alternative. If you didn't marry a filthy rich man, move to a poor country!

Banana Leaf - Greenbelt 3

Alan surprised me by suggesting we eat at a Malaysian restaurant this weekend. It's been 1 month since my last Malaysian meal, so i said, "Let's go!"

The restaurant was in Greenbelt(another Mall) which was a beautifully landscaped shopping paradise. I'd like have spent more time there, but with only 3 hr windows between Tyler's meal, we focused on matters at hand.

The restaurant was a clean looking restaurant with simple designs. I dove into the menu at first chance and started on my complicated meals comprimising plans. You can only eat so much in one sitting. Darn it! Alan, with his predictable selections, was done in 3 seconds, while i was still pulling my hair trying to figure out how i can eat everything i was craving, 10 minutes later.

Anyways, here's what we had and my reviews.

Alan : Chicken Satay

The chicken satay was suprising tasty and tender though i have a strong suspicion that they fried the skewers to cut down on cooking time and maybe finished it on some fire to give it the charred look. The peanut sauce was little too sweet. But over all, passable.

Mine : Penang Char Kway Teow

This dish failed it's look and smell test from the start as it didn't have the charred look and smell that Penag Char Kway Teow must have. However, the taste was actually not too bad except for the slightly sweet taste which i think from the cook adding sugar to the dish.. what the heck??!

Mine : Sambal Kangkong

This typical Malaysian dish was probably the best dish they had that night as the kangkong was tender and the sambal of good flavor. But if you want to be picky, you'd say it lacked belacan. But again, it didn't say belacan in the name, did it??

Mine : Hainanese Chicken Rice

If HCR tasted like what they served, it wouldn't be famous in Malaysia! :) I'm not saying it was horrible, but HCR is a comfort food of certain standards. The chicken has to be tender and juicy and rice fragrant and for me it has to be a chicken leg. I asked for a chicken leg and the waitress said, if you want a specific part, we'll have to charge you extra. So, i ask her what part does it normally have? And she said, "I don't know". I was like "HUH????" Anyways, my chicken came both in leg and breast(yuck!) meat and no, i didn't get charged extra!

Alan : Prawn Toast

Alan never fails to order this dish if it was on any menu(except when i make it!!). But the people at the restaurant must never expect anyone to order it as it took the longest and ended up looking like this. They probably said, "Prawn toast?? That was a joke dish!! Now, how do we make this thing??!" Alan seemed to think it was not bad even though he too was laughing at how it looked. But i didn't think it taste good at all.

Alan : Roti Canai

Roti Canai, even the most pickiest eater would love it. However, this restaurant managed to butcher it. BAD! The Roti Canai was dry and tasteless and what kind of Malaysian restaurant serves roti canai with no curry sauce?? You have to pay extra for curry sauce.. shame on you!

Anyways, so, my take is, as a restaurant, most of the food except Roti Canai, was quite tasty and passable. But as a Malaysian restaurant, it wouldn't be a place I'd immediately think of for delicious Malaysian food.

Happy Easter

Since last year's Easter Egg Hunt with Tyler was such a disaster, we decided that we'll give it another go this year. We saw that the local park was doing one and we woke up bright and early, fed Tyler and headed at slightly after 10 am because Alan said it started at 10 am. We got there and were a little confused when we saw that the crowd was dwindling and people were packing up and of course, no Easter Eggs. We were thinking, it's supposed to go till 4 pm. Maybe this was another weird Filipino thing with time.

Anyways, the only thing available was a photo booth which we happily went to pose for. Tyler was being his 2 yr old self and didn't want to try on anything.

So, here's our Easter Photo..

I actually thought i look quite good with pink curly hair and Alan said my Versace glasses went well with the rest of the joke glasses.

In the evening, when we went by the park again, i read the sign again and guess what it said?

Time : 8:30 - 10:30 am

Ohhhh... right...

A day out on a quiet day in Manila

Manila would probably not be described as quiet. But on Holy Week when everything is shut, it is practically a ghost town.

Alan suggested that we went for a evening stroll to take some pictures. Here are some pictures of the surrounding area of Ayala Triangle a usually very very busy area.

Tyler watching and laughing with his silly mommy in the middle of the street

Tyler busy taking pictures too

Our little photographer with his camera.. i think it's cute he hangs it on his shoulder

Fountain near Peninsula Hotel

The Shangri-la

 No cars on Ayala Ave.. unheard of.....

Park at Ayala Triangle

Testing out some night shots.. wish i went with Snehal for her photography class!!!

Hot news on Tabloid! Tyler's new interest caught on film!

Just a mere few weeks have passed and Tyler has been spotted with a new bird. The couple was sighted awkwardly holding hands during Chinese New Year! When asked about this new development, Tyler denied it and claimed that Sienna still holds that special place in his heart. "Not a day goes by when i don't think of my Angel Face..."

Definitely some hand holding!!!

However, evidence clearly shows maybe Tyler is also thinking of other faces!! 

Sienna on the other hand, who is cool as cucumber as always waves it off as silly talk and says "besides, plenty of fishes in the seas anyways"

Will the lovely couple stand the test of time??

Apt 1B - Salcedo Village

Apt 1B is actually a restaurant that boasts of comfort foods. Alan and I wanted to beat the lunch crowd but with the 2 kids, we got beaten instead. So, when we got there, we were told that the restaurant is full and was turned away.

What? No waiting list?? Waiting list is a very American thing that i've gotten so used to. In other countries, i guess if the restaurant is full, it's full. People just move on with life.

We were however not so easily deterred and so we asked for a take away/out/togo(i still can't remember which word this country uses, it confuses the wait staff) order.

And i was tingling with excitement as i took the dishes out from the boxes and tried my best to make them look nice on my own plates.

I had ordered some baked samosa which were delightfully flaky parcels filled with cheese, mushroom and spinach. But shouldn't they be called spanakopita or borek?? In my mind, samosas are usually either filled with potatoes or meat with some spices.

Alan ordered his usual french onion soup with were very flavorful and thick topped with a soft cheesy crostini. As he said, better than most places, but not outstanding. There is a lot of BAD french onion soups out there.

Since i have a weakness for pasta, i went for Spaghetti Vongole which was delish and had a generous serving of Manila clams. It was perfectly seasoned though i think i prefer my tomatoes in little pieces.

I would like to give them a little extra credit just because i'm not sure how many restaurant can produce food that will survive a take away journey that well. Makes me want to go beat the crowd again!

Tsumura - Salcedo Village

My friend Hish should never go to this restaurant as she will never be able to decide what she wants to eat as the menu is 40 pages long(no kidding!). And each page has like 20 items or more on it. It's got more stuff than people in Japan eats!

After browsing the menu for 15 mins, Alan ordered his usual white-man dishes which consisted of gyoza(*roll eyes*), koroke(come on, it's potato croquets!) and tempura shrimp. I on the other hand went for a spicy scallop hand roll and a Chirashi.

The service was very fast and i was impressed by the size of the servings and even gave thumbs up to the white-man dishes. Gyoza skin was thin and well flavored and the potato croquets didn't taste like they came out of a box. And the tempura shrimp batter was light and fluffy.

My spicy scallop hand roll was merely OK and maybe just a tat soggy as the seaweed got a little chewy.  But i was definitely bowled over by my Chirashi. The nicely seasoned rice was covered by all kinds of fish and even had uni(sea urchin) in it!! What a treat!! It was such a big portion that i was so sad when i had to leave some behind.

On another trip, i ordered a shrimp tempura roll and a grilled tile fish. Shrimp tempura roll had a clean crunchy taste to it and my tile fish although good, left me wanting for more as it was only the size of my palm and no rice!!

So, Tsumura is definitely somewhere i would go back(coz i already did) but not a daily occurence as it's not too easy on the wallet.

Bento Box - Salcedo Village

Horrible horrible horrible.

I went in there for a quick order of their safest bet which is beef bowl. How can you screw up beef bowl? All you have to do is take some meat(beef obviously), put teriyaki sauce, fry it real quick.

But they did because i think they are trying to skimp on the beef which made my dish look like a big bowl of rice sprinkle with some dried black *ahem* .. sounds like curd.

Anyways, won't be going back which was too bad because i did like the atmosphere in there.

La Boheme - Makati

It's Holy Week and apparently it's BIG in the Philippines. So big that everything shuts. Restaurants, shops, malls etc. And what do I get? A big craving for some good food(OK, i admit, i crave for good food everyday) and my leftovers didn't sound so appetizing.

But my all-knowing husband was kind enough to tell me that La Boheme around the corner was actually open and even offered to take me there. So, here's the low down of it.

Nice atmosphere. Classy, quiet and serene. Looks expensive too. But a quick glance at the menu reflected otherwise. Prices were very reasonable.

We were seated promptly but i'm not sure if it's because we had 2 kids or just we were dressed in shorts, i have to say though the waiters were very professional, we didn't exactly got outstanding service. We had to flag them to get their attention most of the time. Other patrons seem to get good attention, though.

But anyways.. their food..

Seafood Cioppino - nicely plated

I ordered Seafood Cioppino which was quite thick and tomatoey and quite delicious. Though unlike other Cioppinos that i've had, it had a pleasing and almost homely taste. But if you were looking for big pieces of seafood, you will have to look quite hard!

For entree, Alan ordered the fish and chips. Fish and chips both were crispy and had the right crunch. It however was fried in palm oil or something(i have to find out) which make it smell like palm oil(??) which i didn't particularly like. But it is not the first time i've had food taste like that here in Php. So it might be a local thing.

Fish and Chips

I on the other hand went for the Salmon Dill Spaghetti which was creamy and rich. Bite size salmon pieces sprinkled among the spaghetti spares the dish from getting too heavy. It was a creamy, hit the spot delight.

My creamy delight

For dessert, I ordered their Crepe with Mango Flambe which was more for entertaining value for Tyler who got plenty excited by the fire created by the flambe. The dish itself though had a blazing start was a let down as the flambe was too sweet and drowned my teeny bit of crepe to a point of inedibility.

All in all, i think La Boheme was a good place and i would definitely come back to try more of its menu.

Our new home in Makati

Here are some pictures of our new apartment in the Philippines. We're living in an area called Salcedo Village in Makati. It's quite a nice little area that is close(nice 1 mile walk) to the mall area and seems to be quite international. Till sometime this week, i haven't actually even met a real Filipino(that is not a maid or domestic help)!!

The house came furnished though the furniture is probably older than me. But it was probably one of the nicer ones we saw as at least everything matched. Should have taken pictures of some of the really funky ones but i was too busy running out of that house probably!! ha!

Anyways, should have posted pics of the apt earlier but to get the entire house clean and tidy to be photographed was not always an option!! Had to eventually take them in different sessions! When we moved in, everything was covered in a layer of black dust though we told them to clean. But after living here for 2 weeks, i realized that it's because of the pollution and not the lack of cleaning. Every 2 - 3 days, everything that is not cleaned daily is coated by that layer of dust. Nightmare scenario!

Soft light to make our living and dining area look cozy

Check out our grandfather rattan furniture

Our dining area

Tyler's room - which has its own bathroom

Master bedroom

Guest bedroom

Kitchen is nice and roomy though i still can't work the oven

Laundry and maid's room(every house has a maid area)

This is the view from our living room

View from living room - nice little park across the road