Food Trippin' with Kids

My husband and I love to eat. Obvious naman sa mga katawan namin di ba? Haha! We love to try new restaurants. Tipong dadayuhin talaga namin yan kahit san lupalop pa man basta matikman lang namin. Ganyan kami ever since na mag-BF-GF pa kami.

Before, napakadali pumunta kahit saan. Walang ka-stress stress. Malalasap at ma-eenjoy mo talaga ang food at tipong mabibigyan mo talaga ng tamang judgment.

Pero ngayon, sobrang CHAOTIC and STRESSFUL! Imagine us, with 4 kids. 3 boys and 1 girl. Tapos lahat 6 and under. Haaayyy buhay talaga. 

Do you want to picture it?

- Messy table

- Food everywhere

- Utensils falling on the floor

- Drinking water / Beverages spilling

- Noisy kids

- Kids fighting over some petty things

- Kids moving and running around

- Changing moods of children

- Kids throwing things

- and many more...

As a result, hindi na namin ma-enjoy ang pag-food trip. Nandiyan yung namaster na namin ang pagkain with one hand (if there's no high chair), yung mamadaliin mo na ang pagkain para matapos na at makaalis na kaagad and yung feeling na instead na ma-satisfy ka sa pagkain ay yung napagod ka lang. Kaya minsan talaga mas gugustuhin na lang namin ang kumain sa bahay.

Hindi ko alam ha, minsan naman ok ang pagdine-out namin. Pero minsan talaga super to the max ang gulo. 

Sa aking pag-assess, may mga factors din siguro na nakaka-affect ng behavior ng kids. Like kapag sleeping time na nila (around 3pm and around 9pm). Mga kids kasi namin, hindi nagtotopak kapag inaantok. Ang senyales ng pagkaantok nila is nagiging hyper sila masyado. Another factor is the restaurant's ambiance. Kapag medyo maingay at magulo ang place, magulo din sila. Lastly, if pagod din sila, it's either nagiging hyper or tinotopak sila.

Though nakaka-stress, wala naman kaming choice di ba? Haha! Pero part na yan ng aming life as parents. I'm sure na mamimiss namin ang stressful and chaotic food trippin' namin with our kids when they grow up. =)

Food Trip: Container Turf

Last night, we decided to eat at Container Turf. Na-curious kasi kami eh, so gusto namin ma-try sabay maki-usi. Haha!

It is located inside BF Paranaque, along Aguirre street. It is a new establishment kaya marami ang taong pumupunta. Maswerte lang kami kanina dahil may parking na available. Plus na rin na may kids kaming kasama kaya binigyan kami ng priority ng parking attendant. Limited ang capacity ng parking area nila so swertihan lang talaga. Pero ang alam ko right now, may partner establishment sila na pwede kang magpark tapos may free shuttle sila. O di ba, bongga?

So here is the facade of Container Turf... basically, mga container siya na pinaganda ang setup...

Parking area...

Here are some pictures that I took inside...

1st floor...

Second Floor...

Meron pa silang veranda area eh. Pero I didn't go there na kasi umuulan.

Anyway, remember Street Life? Parang ganun siya dahil maraming food stalls inside pero minus the passport. Aside sa mga food stalls, masasabi mo rin na gimikan siya (Sorry for the term, tita na kasi ako eh, gimikan kasi ang tawag namin before. Hahaha!). Ang daming mga bagets! Naalala ko tuloy nung kabataan ko. Haha!

With the food choices, hindi siya yung tipikal na pang-real meal. Ummm... Real meal? Yung kanin levels ba. Feeling ko kasi more on pica pica  halos ang choices ng food na pang-match sa alcoholic beverages eh. Buti na lang at may Italian food stall, at kung hindi todas na naman kami sa mga kulilits.

Here are the food that we ate last night...

We got Four Cheese Pizza and Ayan's Carbonara form Ayan's Food Stall...

Chicken Potato Volcano from Tyler's Food Hub...

Ebi Tempura from Tokyo Tempura Unlimited...

Hash Brown Sandwich from Zig-Ah-Zig (complimentary from the owner who happens to be my schoolmate) =)

Chicken Wings and Bagnet Rice from Bagwings...

Got this Bubble Waffle from Bubble Wraps...

Pricewise, some food are reasonably priced and some are not. Pero generally for me, reasonable naman. Ang labo ba? Haha! Eto na lang para medyo clear... For the 6 items that we ordered, we spent around P1,250.00. Ang hindi lang talaga matanggap tanggap ng asawa ko ay yung inorder niya na Chicken Wings and Bagnet Rice. Yung P200.00 daw, 2 chicken wings lang, kapirasong bagnet and mukhang wala pa raw atang 1 cup yung rice plus hindi pa raw masarap, lasang Tupperware daw yung Chicken. Sobrang di worth it daw. Sana nag-burrito or nagshawarma na lang daw siya.

Siya nga pala, isa lang ang stall na nagtitinda ng drinks. Medyo mahalia ang mga drinks ha. For instance, yung bottled water is P50.00 and yung isang fishbowl ng iced tea is P180.00. Dahil makunat kami, sa Ministop na lang kami bumili ng drink after namin kumain. Bawal kasi magdala ng outside food and drinks sa loob eh.

For the taste, pasado naman sa panlasa namin. Naubos namin eh. Hahaha! Except, of course, sa order ni hubby na sobrang pinagsisisihan niya.

If you were to ask me if babalikan pa namin ito, I'm really not sure. Parang kasi tama na ang na-experience namin ito. Feeling ko kasi, hindi pang-family ang ambiance, more on pang-bagets siya... gimikan ba... or hang-out... Pero if you just love to try new and unique food, ok naman ang place since maraming food na kakaiba.

So that's our experience at Container Turf! =)

Gastos na Naman

Kahit anong iwas mo talaga sa gastos, kusang lumalapit ito ano?

This morning, sa lahat naman talaga ng masisira, yung telephone shower pa. And guess who broke it? 

... Oh yes... Mr. Roy Christoff a.k.a. Cheryll Jr. (Mana raw sa akin sa kalikutan at pagiging destructive! Hahaha!)

How did it happen?

Well, while Chris and Christoff were taking a bath this morning, napikon itong si Christoff sa kuya niya kaya hinagis ang telephone shower sa floor. So I went inside the bathroom...

Me: What happened?

Chris: Christoff, wants to go out the bath area and he doesn't want me to wet him.

Me: Then?

Chris: Then he threw this... (showing the telephone shower)

Me: Christoff, how many times did I tell you to stop throwing things whenever you feel bad? Look at this, what if you broke this? We need to spend again just to fix this right?

Then, when I turned on the water, water came out of the handle too. All the while, I thought the connection was just loose. May padrama drama at mega-explanation pa ako na what if kung nasira niya... Yun pala, basag na talaga!

Oh my Roy talaga! Kamot ulo na lang ako...

Piso Piso

Teaching Filipino is kinda challenging to my kids. As in effort to the max! Their mother tongue kasi is English. Ewan ko ba at bakit mga naging Inglisero ang mga yan. Bigla na lang nung lumaki, nag-E-English kaya kinausap na rin namin ng English. Haha!

Anyway, hinayaan na lang namin that they speak English. First, kapag lumaki naman sila, English naman talaga ang ginagamit sa conversation sa business or professional world di ba? Second, in terms of subject in school, isa lang naman ang Filipino subject and the rest of the subjects English ang means ng pagturo. Third, I think madali lang naman matutunan ang Filipino language specially if they hear us talk it.

Going back sa pagtuturo...

With all of the subjects, ang dali nilang turuan. Very attentive and kaya namin ng take 1 lang ang isang topic. Kaya naman ang bilis ng phasing namin. When it comes to Filipino subject, ayan na... Naghihikab na ang mga yan. They find it boring. Haaayyysstt... Pero, in fairness naman sa mga anak ko, kapag itinuro mo sa kanila, naiintindihan naman nila ang concept. I-eexplain ko lang sa kanila yung counterpart nun sa English and voila alam na nila and madali na for them. If you talk to them in Filipino, they can understand you. Yun nga lang, sasagutin ka ng Ingles. Haha! Pero right now, kahit papaano, nakikita ko na nagtry try na sila sumagot ng Filipino kahit pilipit. Hahaha!

Recently, nakakuha ako ng idea kung paano sila magiging attentive sa Filipino subject. Since they are saving up for a new Nerf gun, sabi ko every correct answer nila sa akin, may Piso sila. So ayun, na-excite ang mga kulilits! Naging attentive and naging very competitive sa isa't isa. Yun nga lang, may napipikon kapag nakakalamang na ng sagot yung isa. Hahaha!

So far, effective naman ang new strategy ko. Kaso nga lang, ang drawback nito ay mamumulubi ata ako. Hahaha!

How about you mommies out there? How do you effectively teach Filipino subjects to your kids?