Instant Laksa

My dad went to Singapore with my mom for a business trip. I told my mom to buy an instant laksa for me. I was referring to the laksa that are bought in packs of 6. Since she don't know what brand I like, she bought me this...

My mom told me that this is quite expensive for an instant noodles. For its packaging and size, mukha naman talagang mamahalin.

Yesterday, I asked our Manang in the office to cook one for me kaso nagmukhang sinigang sa dami ng sabaw. Hindi ko tuloy nalasahan yung dapat kong malasahan. You know what I mean. Actually, ang taste niya naging tubig na maanghang. Sayang talaga. It seems pa naman na very creamy siya and malasa. Di bale next time na lang. Buti na lang I have another pack. Ako na lang ang magluluto and I'll blog about it again.

Here is the picture of yesterday's laksa. Madaya lang yan, yung sandamakmak na sabaw nakahiwalay. LOL.

Magnum Ice Cream Cravings

During the preaching last Sunday, Pastor Ariel included eating Magnum Ice Cream in one of his metaphors. He described how delicious and addicting Magnum Ice Cream is to the point that he ended up eating three pieces a day and started hoarding some in his fridge.

With his high credibility (being a pastor) plus matching exaggerated facial expression and body gestures, I could say that he can be an effective food endorser. Well, I am right. My hubby suddenly felt the urge to try one. Imagine, my hubby tried to buy Magnum Ice Cream from one store to another from Supervalue (Festival Mall), 7-Eleven, Ministop, Select to SM Southmall. Could you believe it, walang tsumamba...lahat out-of-stock? So my hubby just left a note "Kapag nakatikim ako niyan at hindi pumasa sa expectations ko, ewan ko lang, ibloblog ko yan!". Ang funny talaga. Tawang tawa talaga ko every time he'll return to the car without a Magnum Ice Cream. Mukhang kawawa na naglilihi eh.

Anyway, when we arrived home. I told my mom about it. Tawa rin ng tawa si Mama G at inaalaska pa si hubby. Mama G pretended that she has a stock of Magnum Ice Cream in her fridge at sinabi pa sa maid "Manang, itago mo yung Magnum Ice Cream ko sa freezer ha. Huwag mo ipapakita kay Doc!".

The following day naman, my mom called me up. "Anak, guess what? Ang laman ng Facebook ay yung preaching ni Pastor A nung Sunday. Yung kwinento niya about Magnum Ice Cream. Yung mga tao pala after going to Church naghanap talaga ng Magnum!"

Well, well, that could explain why naubos ang supply ng Magnum Ice Cream last Sunday sa Festival Mall. So Unilever, you must pay Pastor Ariel for a talent fee because super naging effective ang "endorsement" niya sa Church!

Carpool It Is

Yesterday, I have to take public transportation in going to work since hubby's clinic is in the south area. Hubby dropped me off to the shuttle terminal at around 7:10am. Unfortunately, there are no vans available because I think most of the shuttle vans there are colorum and they are hot right now in the eyes of the traffic enforcers.

It's 7:45am already and yet there are no vans coming. At the queue, a group of girls asked me if I want to take a cab with them and the drop off point will be at Makati Med. I agreed because I'm terribly late already. Haayyyssttt...additional 41 bux for the fare...It's an ouch in the wallet...

While on our way to Makati, I asked these girls if they want to join me in a carpool since my hubby is driving me to the office every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They just have to pay me the same fare (P70.00). At least I could save in paying the Skyway Toll Fee which is P164.00 one way. They agreed (Yehey!!!).

This morning, it is the first day of our carpool. Only two of my new-found friends showed up. Not bad huh? It is still P140.00 savings on Toll Fee.

How about you guys, how do you save in your transportation expenses?

Cooshies Diapers

I love to try on different types of diapers to my babies. I already tried so many brands like EQ color, EQ Plus, Drypers, Giggles, etc. etc.

When I went to SM the other day, I saw a new brand of diaper wherein Baby Company is carrying. The brand name is Cooshies. It is a little more expensive than EQ Plus. I bought 2 packs of 10 to try if it a good diaper.

We tried it immediately that night to our boys to see its quality the following day. The result is...NEGATIVE!!! Why:

- it is not that absorbent
- baby's wee wee leaks
- the cotton inside the diaper crumbles
- the diaper is too thin
- it ends up that you are using many diapers at the end of the day
- it irritates the skin of the baby
- the bottom of the baby is not kept dry (malagkit)

I don't recommend moms to buy this diaper. Mas mapapamahal pa kayo since you have to change diapers often. So far, the tested diapers for me are EQ plus and Drypers. I use EQ plus for everyday use and Drypers when we go out.

How about you moms, what diapers do you recommend?

The Twins Meet Jollibee

Last Sunday, we went to the 1st birthday party of Grei, the son of Louille who was my classmate in UP Manila. It was held in Jollibee, Shangri-la Mall. It was my twins first time to attend a Jolly Party.

My twins are very energetic that time. They keep on walking around and even dancing every time they hear a dance music. The time came when Jollibee, the mascot, arrived. I was very excited to see my sons' reactions. Good thing they are not afraid of Jollibee. They just stared and tried to touch him. Usually, babies are afraid of mascots eh. But... during the photo-op, when Jollibee tried to hug Chris, Chris got scared while Ian tried to go away (as you can see in the photo). Nakakatuwa kasi parang magkadikit talaga ang pusod nila kasi Ian was also affected when Chris got scared.

After some time, Chris was not afraid anymore with Jollibee kasi he was trying to touch na the foot of Jollibee. Si Ian naman, he was so bibo, he was dancing also while Jollibee was dancing.

Having kids pala is parang you are going back to your childhood ulit. You are invited to a series of children's party. And siyempre, I don't want to be KJ (kill joy) to my kids kaya go na lang ng go. In short, their happiness is also my happiness.

Cebu Pacific 90% Off Seat Sale

Early this month, Cebu Pacific had a seat sale. All their domestic and international flights are 90%off the price. Cool huh?

We booked two flights. One going to Puerto Princesa for my mom's birthday celebration and another one going to Taiwan for my birthday celebration. The ticket price is so cheap. We only paid around 14k for our Puerto Princesa trip which is already for 6 adults and 2 infants and only paid around 6k for our Taiwan trip which is already for 2 adults.

I am not really a fan of Cebu Pacific but their promo got me. =)

Naughty Lizards

Look what I saw the other night...

Two naughty lizards...hahaha...it was my first time to witness two lizards making love...sobrang babaw lang ako...

SM Southmall Grocery Paper Bag

In Las Pinas, there is a "No Plastic" campaign. Bawal na ang mga plastic bags sa department stores, groceries, shops, restaurants, etc. I really appreciate this move. However, I just hope that SM change their paper bags. Super bad ang quality. Parang supot lang ng pandesal. Actually, the paper bag used in Pan de Manila is better than theirs. Hindi pa nakakalayo sa counter, sira sira na. Kawawa naman yung mga shoppers na nagcocommute lang.

Lesson learned: always bring with you an econo bag... You'll never know if you are going to shop or do some groceries.

Free Groceries

Last night, we went to SM Southmall to buy some groceries using the gift certificates we got from Standard Chartered bank.

And here are the items that I bought using the P 1,000.00 SM GCs...

Thanks for the credit card promos!

Free SM Gift Certificate

Ye'y! We have free P1,000 worth of SM gift certificates. How? With every P25,000.00 spend using Standard Chartered Bank credit card, you can exchange it to P1,000.00 worth of SM gift certificates. Actually, there are other options. But of course, being practical, I chose SM GCs because I can use it to buy our supplies.

So what am I planning to buy? Hmmm... Diapers... Diapers... Diapers... Hehehe... Well, aside from that I'll buy some baby foods and oatmeal for my hubby.

Mama G's Laugh Trip: Mini Hamper

On the way home yesterday, we saw a small car...

Mama G: Ang liit naman ng kotse na yan, ano ba yan?

Papa G: Mini Cooper yan, mahal yan.

Mama G: Mas maganda pa rin yung sa akin. Mini Hamper.

Me: Anong Mini Hamper Ma?

Papa G: It's Hummer

Mama G: Ay, Hummer pala

Me: Ah...akala ko yung lalagyan ng maduming damit eh...

Club Astoria Invite

We were invited by Club Astoria last Friday for a dinner for two at Gumbo Restaurant MOA. They said that after dinner they will just have a 1.5 hours presentation and after the presentation they will give us a gift certificate for a free overnight stay at any of their hotel in Bohol, Bali, Bangkok, Las Vegas or Florida.

I agreed because of 3 reasons - free dinner, free gift certificate and the presentation is only for 1.5 hours.

Hubby arrived at Gumbo earlier than me because I was stuck in Makati's horrible traffic. When I arrived at the restaurant, my hubby already started with the appetizer. We ate fast so that we can finish early because I brought with me my boys (My mom brought them to my office to surprise me. She forgot that I have an engagement in the evening). We were served salad, pork chop, fish fillet, fried chicken, mixed vegetables, fried rice, chocolate cake and refillable drinks (freshly brewed iced tea for me and lemonade for hubby).

After we finished our dinner, we approached the agent and told him to start the presentation so that we could go home early. He presented Astoria Time Share and asked us questions about our previous and future travels. From there, he is trying to convince us that through the time share, we would save on our hotel bookings. At first, the offered price is 1 million. We frankly told him that we don't have a budget for that and it is not in our priority list at this point in time. Then, he called his manager in order to present us a discounted price. The discounted price is more than half a million and they offered us additional discount if it will be paid in spot cash or in 48 months wherein the lowest price is dropped to more than P200k.

At first, you will be enticed with the offer because of the big discount that they offer. But then if you compute it, it will still be more expensive if you use it. Why? Because you'll just be given one (1) week once a year in order to use your time share. You won't be able to use it during Christmas, New Year and Holy Week. Apart from that, you still have to pay SGD 198.00 for local/Asian Travel and SGD 398.00 for other international travel if you are going to avail it. There is also an annual fee of P8,800.00 for the Astoria Time Share and P5,000.00 for RCI membership.

Having this time share is definitely a no no for us. Having analyzed the benefits that you'll get from it, you'll not get the value of what you have paid for. And based on our own experience (My dad has a Laguna de Boracay Time Share), we were not able to use it.

How about you, what do you think about time shares?