Iya's 1st Korean BBQ!

I guess the title says it all ;-) Today is our first night in Astoria Plaza (Pasig) after 3 days in my bro's condo. Its our first time to be in this part of Metro Manila (we usually stay in Makati CBD) and thus we're unfamiliar on where to eat, what to do, etc, etc in this area. Luckily for us, there was a Korean BBQ eatery in front the Astoria, a MiniStop (that serves Pinoy hot meals) on the side, and a Red Ribbon nearby. We won't go hungry for sure ;-)

For tonight, as you might have surmised, we had dinner in the Korean BBQ eatery. Labsie and I last ate in this type of resto way back in 2007. We had so much fun grilling stuff + making our own lettuce rolls then. And tonight was no different :-) Our Iya, who is normally very active, sat through the entire meal! A miracle we say! My guess is she found the food very colorful (brown grilled pork, green lettuce, orange sweet potato, red sauces, yellow steamed egg) and can't wait to put it in her mouth, hehe! :-) All in all, we had an awesome and very satisfying family dinner. Til the next Korean BBQ cookout!Ü

DIY edible fingerpaint :)

Aside from music, Iya also loves the visual aspect of arts. I already bought her washable markers for coloring stuff and making art but it didn't seem enough for her. I thought maybe Iya needed to 'get down and dirty' to truly enjoy the art experience. And so this fine Sunday morn, I made her edible fingerpaint ^__^ If dipping her fingers into bright colors won't make her shout with glee, I'll go back to my medical career and forget being a mom. LOL!Ü

Anyway, here's how you make edible fingerpaint:

1. Mix 1cup flour with COLD water (variable amount, just add little by little). Mix until there's no more lumps.

2. Slowly add HOT water to the flour mixture until desired consistency is achieved. If you want it more runny, add more water and vice versa.

3. Separate the mixture into different containers and add food coloring to each. I used my mom's Wilton stash and the colors are absolutely brilliant! :)

4. Now you're ready to fingerpaint with your toddler! Remember that it will be messy so just relax and let the good times roll, hehe!Ü

lil red riding hood in Buda!

Yep, that's Iya in the red jacket :-) We're currently in Seagull Mountain Resort in Buda with my family. I've passed by this place since the early 2000s but it's only now I explored the resort. Highlights: new restaurant that serves affordable and tender steaks, freshwater pools (waterfalls run off), pretty chapel with a view, the cold climate!! :-) Right now my parents and bro are in the pool area while Labsie and me (with Iya of course!) are resting in one of the resort's wooden swings. We're enjoying the cold cold wind slapping our noses red. Hehe! Anyway, we were walking towards the pavilion at the edge of the resort and got tired- the result of thin mountain air + our aging bodies- thus we rested for a bit here in the swing (and I live mobile blogged) ^__^

all pink in Panabo! ;-)

We are currently here at my in-laws in Panabo City as Labsie had a rare weekend off. Normally his rest days are Mon/Tues but we don't go to Panabo coz most of his family are working and thus couldn't bond with Iya. Which is, of course, the reason why we go visit them.Ü Our lil girl had a full day today. She rode a tricycle (first time!) which she enjoyed very much and went malling in Gaisano. Yes, they have malls here, hehe! And the best thing? It's less than a 10min trike ride from Labsie's family home! Super convenient! :-)

Anyway, the photo above was taken this afternoon when we went out to buy ice cream. Iya was wearing her usual pink getup- fuschia yoga tank top and pink fairy pants :-) To my utter delight, Labsie bought Iya a baby pink Magnolia popsicle which perfectly matched her pink outfit! Of course I had to snap their picture and mobile blog about it, hehe ;-)

P.S. If you noticed, the pic above is vertically oriented with a frame to boot! Would you believe that it's only now I knew that my 3.5yr old phone can do this when I'm mobile blogging?? Go check my moblog posts since 2007, all the post pics are horizontal. Not a single vertical one! I'm such a n00b really :-P

Iya's HappyBaby organic snacks are here! :)

Got free 2kg US to Philippines shipping from HopShopGo.com again, and as usual I used it to buy Iya's stuff :-) If I had this free shipping before she came into our lives, I would have bought tons of Victoria Secret products to sexify myself, heehee! But having a kid really does change your priorities. And my top most priority right now is Iya's health- as much as possible I only want her to eat organic stuff. Not an easy feat if your toddler is a picky eater, organic food choices are limited (haayy Davao!), and people surrounding Iya are giving her not-organic stuff.

When I had the free shipping last time, I bought lots of toddler clothes and shoes for Iya from Old Navy and GAP. The online prices were at least 50% cheaper than store prices. HUGE savings I tell you! :-) I also bought baby safety items, baby health products and feeding stuff from Amazon.com- saved a lot again!Ü

This time around, I bought 3 boxes of HappyBaby organic finger food products to last Iya a year :-) I got 1box of organic yogurt melts in berry flavor, 1box of organic munchies in kale/cheddar flavor, and 1box of organic apple melts. These are all snacks so Iya can't eat / be given junkfoods in between meals.Ü I also bought her a stainless steel cooking set coz she always plays with our heavy metal pots- very dangerous if it will fall on her feet :-( Iya's cooking set includes 5-in diameter frying pan and 2 pots, 1 lid, 1 soup ladle and 1 frying ladle + wooden fried egg, chicken leg, brocollis and carrot. Ready, set, cook! :-)

Anyway, I rarely see HappyBaby products here in Davao, even in Healthy Options-- they have the organic Earth's Best product line though, which I also buy. EB snacks are cheaper than HappyBaby's but has much more salt or sugar (bad! just like junkfood) so I limit Iya's intake of it too. Organic food doesn't automatically mean healthy food through and through, YOU HAVE TO READ THE NUTRITION LABEL so you'll fully know what is *really* inside the food.Ü

P.S. Super, super thanks to Ma Pattie for paying the customs tax! :-)

When your CebuPac flight is delayed..

..do an International food contest! :p I'll tell you the contest mechanics later as I'll share first how I came to 'invent' this contest.Ü When we came to Manila last Monday, our Cebu Pacific flight was delayed 30minutes. It was annoying but bearable. Today, for our 12nn flight back to Davao, we arrived early in NAIA3 to check-in. To our horror, there was NO specific lines for different destinations. The result? Super long and slow moving lines! Add a super kulit toddler (yes, our very own Iya) to the mix and you have the recipe for a toddler tantrum / meltdown :-( The only thing that kept Labsie and me sane was the thought that we'll be in Davao soon (2pm!)..

But, as you must have known from the blog post title, us arriving in Davao by 2pm was not to be :-( When we *finally* received our boarding passes, we were told our 12nn Davao flight was pushed back to 4pm! That's four FREAKIN hours of entertaining Iya! Hayy.. But the Lord is good- its 230pm (May21) now and Iya is finally asleep after traipsing through gates 130-134 and back, over and over and over again. Labsie is now able to relax and I'm now able to mobile blog :-)

As for the International food contest, it goes like this- buy food from different cuisines and let your toddler eat from the selection. The food s/he eats or chooses wins! ;-) The picture above was our batch1- Vietnamese spring roll, French basil quiche, Japanese assorted maki and American Slurpee (not pictured). WINNER: Slurpee! LOL! Since Iya didn't eat any solid food, we were forced to have batch2- Italian tuna pesto penne (pasta), Aussie meat pie, Filipino Jollibee Chickenjoy (CebuPac's 'compensation' for the delay). WINNER: pasta and Chickenjoy!! Iya really enjoyed the olives from the pasta and of course, the famous crispylicious chicken of Jollibee. Happy Iya = happy Mommy and Daddy! :-)

off to Makati! =)

130pm, 05/16/11

Currently waiting for our 230pm flight to NAIA3 here in Gate Lounge 8. As usual, Iya is busy walking everywhere with her Daddy on her heels, hehe! :-) Our Makati trip is unplanned but since an opportunity presented so that Iya and Euna can play with each other this summer, we grabbed it. These 2 kids adore each other and it really warms our hearts when they're together :-)

Needless to say, our CebuPac tickets were (relatively) expensive as we got used to paying PISO fares the past several years :-P Two hours more and we'll be with my bro's family na- can't hardly wait to take pics of Iya and Euna playing together! Summer = Family Fun!Ü

meet our new cook ;-)

Quite young eh? In fact, she just turned 13months old a few days ago. Yes, months! Coz the young cook in the pic above is our lil Iya! :-) Our baby girl first expressed interest in housework when she was 11months old. Iya would accompany my mom in doing laundry + washing the dishes, having some water fun while doing 'work' :-) As the days progressed, Iya took to watching us prepare and cook food. She would smell the ginisà, taste the stew, and watch the fish fry.

Finally, last night, I let Iya prepare dinner- not on the stove but on our sofa ok? Hehe! She shredded some wheat bread, put it in the pot, added meat and stirred the entire 'mess' :-) In the pic above, she is transfering meat (right) to the pot- the bulalo meat was actually our dinner last night, hehe!Ü Well done chef Iya! Next time we will bake yummy cookies :-)

Holy Week in Panabo

While others are spending the Holy Week in Boracay, Puerto Galera and other fun spots, we are spending the week with hubby's family in their quiet hometown of Panabo in Davao del Norte :-) I'm thankful that this Holy Week, Labsie managed to arrange his work sked such that he has 5 straight work-free days. This means more bonding time for Iya and his family :-) Anyway this will be my last online update for the week. As per my Holy Week tradition, there'll be no computer + no phone (where I can blog or check FB, hehe) from Maundy Thursday eve til Easter Sunday morn for me.Ü Have a blessed Holy Week everyone!

P.S. The pic of Iya above was taken just now (yes, I'm live mobile blogging again) in hubby's bachelor room, hehe! And the plush toy she's holding? That's Tito Ninong Gogo's pasalubong from Subic. THANK U Tito! Now Iya has a dolphin in her growing collection of animal stuffed toys :-)

peek-a-boo! :)

Iya was 9mos old when she started hiding behind curtains and playing peekaboo with us. When she was 7mos, she loved playing this on our shoulders and backs. And now, with Iya at nearly 13mos old, we've progressed to playing hide-n-seek among our furnitures :-) Her joyous baby laughter when she's 'found' is, IMHO, the best sound in the whole wide world! ^_^

iYa LoVeS eLmO!

Sometimes our baby (toddler!) girl just needs her plush Elmo doll to fall asleep :)

Yes, this post is sent thru my (ancient) SE k800i- I'M MOBILE BLOGGING AGAIN! My last moblog post was 3yrs ago o_O Will be reviving this blog through my phone as our laptop is hijacked by Iya. Labsie and I are only able to use it when she's already asleep, hehe!