Our Tokyo Trip Travel Must-haves!

It has been more than one month since our April trip to Tokyo.  I've been preparing a series of posts about our must-dos and must-visits.  But I also wanted to list down our essentials packing list, hopefully to help families in their own planning and packing, and to serve as a reminder to myself when I prepare for our future trips as well.

Sunday Slowdown at Spiral Manila

Several Sundays ago, N and I were invited to join the Mommy & Me brunch at Spiral Restaurant at Sofitel Manila (Thanks Jackie!).  I had a bazaar that day so I was yaya-less as both my yayas had to set-up for the bazaar.  E had to tag along with Achi and me. Fortunately, he cooperated.

Stan and I spent our last anniversary at Spiral Manila.  I also purchased an Accor Advantage card early this year and in fact, we will be celebrating N's graduation at Spiral this week.   Thus, when we received the invitation from Blessy and Jane of Sofitel's E-commerce group, I immediately said yes and brought both kids along.

Christmas in Whistler

Holidays this year was especially fun because we were able to have a "white Christmas".  Stan's siblings are spread out abroad and his mom turned 70 early this year.  However, we weren't to plan a celebration in time for the actual birthday.  Instead, the family decided to have a belated celebration/reunion.

Back to back birthdays!

Happy new year dear readers!  December was a very busy month - with 2 birthdays plus an out of the country trip for my family.  Let me start 2014 with a blog post about N and E's birthdays.  N and E are both December babies - which means that on top of preparing for our Christmas travels and presents, I also have to prepare for their school celebration.

Exploring Luang Prabang

When I was invited by Arugaan to join them at the One Asia Breastfeeding Forum 9 in Luang Prabang, I was very excited to say yes but also worried.  It was the first time that I would be traveling away from E who was still breastfeeding often, especially at night.  I was given the option to bring him but of course, I needed someone to tend to him while I was at the forum.  I am really thankful that Stan agreed to come to handle the kids and because N was on sembreak, she came as well.

Pofuff - Art Alive!

N takes after her dad and loves to draw. Pack rat that I am, we have folders and folders of her drawings stashed in S' office. N also regularly inserts her drawings in my bag for me to bring to office to be used as decoration for my office cubicle.

So when my college dorm mate Lei contacted me about their new project, I was more than excited to try it. Lei’s project all started last September 2012 when Lei shared with Ziggy (her husband) about how delighted Lilly (their 4 year old daughter) was when Lei used a stuffed toy to animate what she was reading from her story book.  Lei and Ziggy were also encouraging Lilly to draw to improve her fine motor skills and develop problem solving skills. Lilly eventually asked her parents to turn her toys into stuffed toys and so Pofuff was born.

Family Fun - Art with Crayola

Who didn't grow up with Crayola?  I'm sure we all did!  I still remember that 64-crayon box with built-in sharpener that I loved when I was younger.  A couple of Saturdays ago, the #SoMoms were invited by Crayola to introduce their new brand - T-Pencil.  Apparently, Amspec has been making pencils for other brands for several years but finally decided to make their own line, given their long experience in manufacturing kid-safe, quality pencils. 

The event was held in Gymboree Shangri-La.  E is a Gymboree regular and happily, the event was facilitated by someone he was familiar with - his Art teacher - Teacher Rain.  Meanwhile, since N loves art and craft, she excitedly got to work on the materials laid out.

coloring Gymbo with Crayola