All I Want For Christmas 2013

It's such a blessing waking up this early although I was able to go to bed last night very late because my sister arrived from Australia yesterday and we had a quite long chat up to around 1AM.  Anyway, i saw the post of mommy joy of Joy's Notepad and learned that i was tagged with this virus from the PBO.

Here's the mechanics:

1. Make a post entitled, "All I Want For Christmas 2013," and please use the photo above.
2. List 6 things that you want to receive as a gift.
3. Tag 3 friends who will make the same post (no tag backs).
4. Send me the link so I could check it too (optional).

And here is my wishlist this Christmas 2013:

1.  That I'll have a very happy marriage with my very soon to be hubby. 

2.  That our hearts will love no other else but the one we promised to love in this lifetime.

3.  A healthy baby soon (honeymoon baby sana)

4.  A family that is full of joy, happiness and guided by God's love and protection.

5.  Good health to my family, friends and loved ones.

6.  A prosperous life to everyone i know.

And I'm tagging:

Jackie of Lucky Jackie

Casey of Sooo Blogging This!

Balut of Balut Manila

Have a Happy Christmas Everyone!

DIY Misalet

It's 11 days more to go before our big day... And we are just finalizing some more little details for the wedding.  The one we've missed is the misalet.  The church provided us the template for the misalet as early as I could remember but I think i prioritized the other bigger details and thought the misalet will be just easy to accomplish.   When I had the time and started to read the instruction for the misalet, I found that we are the one who will be deciding for its content.  I am lucky I have mommy joy of Joy's notepad who helped me on the bible verses... Thank you again mommy joy.

When I finished the content, we seek for supplier who could do the misalet.  The one in the mall has again a 100 pieces MOQ for 85pesos each... It's a big NO-NO, i don't really need 100 pieces of misalet you know, i just need at least 35 pieces. Our wedding coordinator Kate found another supplier, for 65pesos each but the leadtime is 2 weeks, di na aabot and we need to pay additional kasi rush na daw. :(

So, we opted to do it ourselves.  I thought it will be very easy but I was wrong.  The challenge was arranging the sequence into a booklet form back to back.  The pages should finish on even number so there will be no blank pages and be sure that every turn of pages will lead you to the next right page, took me half day to figure out the correct sequence.

We prepared the following:

1) board letter size paper for the cover (P33.50 per pack, 10 pieces each) - cost: P134

2) Printing on the board paper in Netopia (P10 per page, 35 pages) cost: P350

3) Printing for the content in Netopis (P10 per page, 6 pieces back-back) - cost: P120

4) Photocopy of the content in National Bookstore (P1.50 per page, 420pieces) cost: P630

5) 1 roll of Gold ribbon (30 meters, P4.25/m) - cost: P127

Total Cost: P1,361 for 35pcs (still a great saving versus P2,275 from the supplier with 2 weeks leadtime)

We had an option to photocopy in copytrade for P0.75 each but we opted to do it in National bookstore since we no longer want to drive to another mall.  It will be a great savings if we have a printer... Pero di na kami students kaya di na naginvest sa printer ulet.  So there are really other options if masipag ka para you'll have a much greater saving. 

So here is our finished product... Mission Accomplished!

Prenup Pictures

Hello everyone!.. I've been missing for quite a long time because my wedding is just few weeks from today.. 3 weeks to be exact and I am still occupied by work on weekdays, wedding preps at night and on weekends.  I couldn't actually start composing blogs anymore.  I am happy that I arrived in the office so early today and still have some little time to blog.

I just want to share some of our pre-nuptial pictures taken last November 17 in Intramuros, Manila. We've gone a lot of stress getting a permit and almost gave the place up because of the crazy requirements of the Intramuros Administration.  I still chose the place because it was where our love begun and it is in sync with our theme... Vintage.

PICTORIAL / VIDEO REQUIREMENTS
(PRE-NUPTIAL SHOOT, POST-NUPTIAL SHOOT, PRE-DEBUT SHOOT, PERSONAL PORTFOLIO AND THE LIKE)

 1. Letter of Request address to: ATTY MARCO ANTONIO LUISITO V. SARDILLO III
a. Purpose
b. Date
c. Time (8:00 a.m. to 12:00 n.n only)
d. Specific areas: (choose only 3 areas)

1. Casa Manila Patio
2. Plaza Moriones and Fort Santiago Gate (bricks area)
3. Puerta Real Gardens
4. San Diego Gardens
5. Baluarte de San Andres
6. Baluarte de Dilao

e. Specify in the letter that pictures/videos to be taken will not be use in any commercial purpose.
f. Client complete address and contact nmber.
g. Props / model (if any)
2. Pictorial fee is P2,000.00
(Free of charge for client who has booking / scheduled function at the venues of Intramuros Administration.)
3. Subject to payment of entrance fee (Fort Santiago and San Diego Gardens)
___________________________________________________________________________

** For Inquiries please call:
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT DIVISON
Telephone No.: 527-30-96 and 527-90-12 (Telefax)


I highlighted the basic requirements and they're seem easy to accomplish. Submitting a letter of request is not really a problem, we can only choose for 3 locations and specify them to the letter, we chose:  Casa Manila Patio, San Diego Gardens and Fort Santiago, the couple should not forget to both sign the letter.  P2000 peso for the pictorial fee is expensive but manageable, but either of the couple should pay this amount to the Intramuros Admin office and get the permit.  Ang hassle kasi you need to spare time pa just for this permit.

On the day of the shoot, we started in Fort Santiago.

Fort Santiago (Spanish: Fuerte de Santiago Tagalog: Moog ng Santiago) is a citadel first built by Spanish conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpifor the new established city of Manila in the Philippines. The defense fortress is part of the structures of the walled city of Manila referred to as Intramuros ("within the walls"). Source: Wikipedia

To our dismay, we were only allowed to take pictures within the gate of Fort Santiago.  The reason that they gave us was because Fort Santiago was sacred... What?!!! If only they know I spent 5 years in Intramuros for college and Fort Santiago was just our TAMBAYAN and practice area whenever we had dance or presentations in school. I also wanted take picture with Kalesa, pero bawal din, naman! Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

Good thing, our photographer, Sir Chito Ignacio is very artistic and has really an eye for good views. It's a matter of framing the areas where we thought there's nothing to see.  So here are some of the photos:

Then, In Casa Manila Patio

Casa Manila is a museum in Intramuros depicting colonial lifestyle during Spanish colonisation of the Philippines.

The museum is the imposing stone-and-wood structure circa 1850, one of the grand houses in Barrio San Luis (one of the four original villages) of Intramuros is located across historic San Agustin church and bounded by Calle Real, General Luna, Cabildo and Urdaneta streets. The other two are the Los Hidalgos, circa 1650 and Cuyugan Mansion, circa 1890.

Casa Manila is a copy of a 1850’s San Nicolas House that was once located in Calle Jaboneros. The architect and urban planners of IA was Ramon Faustmann.[2]^[1] It was constructed by Imelda Marcos during the 1980s and modeled on Spanish colonial architecture.^[2]  Source:  Wikipedia

And in San Diego Gardens

We finished the photoshoot in time... 12noon, we needed to wear shades because the sun decided to shine so hot and bright on that day.  I just got the copy of the pictures last Saturday and we are happy with the results .... and I still love Intramuros.

Special thanks to my make-up artist Teajay Nonato and his sister for my hair and Sir Chito Ignacio for the beautiful photos. Mahirap pala maging models pero the experience was so much fun!  We really had a great time. ^_^

Wine Tasting

When it comes to wine, regardless if it's red or white, sweet or vintage, Italian wines are the best.  But because we want our guests to experience the best wine in our wedding, we chose to give them the bests of the Italian wines.... Disclaimer: the best taste that we can afford... ^_^

Mid of this year, when we were searching for a place in Tagaytay where the family could stay the day after the wedding.  We bumped into Ms. Kristina, a sole distributor of the authentic Italian wines in the hotels here in the Philippines.  I didn't know that we will be needing wines in my wedding because honestly, I am not fond of drinking wines.  The wines I've tasted so far are the common wines that we have here which everyone of us know has bitter taste or 'mapakla'....Yaikz!

Fast forward to November, we are almost done with the preparations and we're just finalizing some little details including the wines for the wine toasting ceremony.  During our food tasting, we were able to try one of the wines Ms. Kristina offers: the Quercioli.  It is the best wine that I ever tasted that time.  So we decided to get few boxes for our guests for a very good price.

This week, we got our orders of the wines and together with my coordinator Kate, we went to Ms. Kritina's house in Imus, Cavite.  We just planned to pay and get the orders but we had a very good host and she let us try different kinds of Italian wine.  Among all of the wines we tasted, Brachetto was best.  I have learned it is the same wine Cleopatra was having before going to sleep..wow! Really?  The price is really expensive though but because she is very fond of us, we got a very good deal.  

Boyfie is really not a drinker, this was just his 1st glass and he was already very red and blushing.  He let me then finish his glass and did not take any other else.  While Kate and I had few more rounds of different wines.  Afterwards, Ms Kristina gave us 1 bottle of Unique, a Rosi' wine (combined white and red wine) as her gift for our couple's wine toast.  The price per bottle when you buy this wine in the hotels is ranging from Php 4k to 6k depending on their markup. We were tipsy and happy babies saying goodbye to Ms. Kristina.  Wine tasting is really a fun experience... Salute'!

Ms. Cristina, Kate and me

Mama Chit's

Marikina is one of the places were you can find the best food houses in the country, it was just unknown to everybody until Kris TV featured several restaurants that they think the best.  I know that the people from Marikina are very thankful to Kris Aquino for the exposure because every restaurants she featured when you visit them nowadays are so packed.  Kris' taste is unquestionable and many of us look after her, yes, including me, ha..ha..ha..(Kris' version of laugh)... she has a lot of followers and we can't really deny her influence to the Pinoys.  Your resturant once featured by Kris will definitely be an instant hit.

Mama Chit's cafe is one of the featured restaurants in Kris TV.  We used to visit the place and we were surprised when we saw the crowd queuing up waiting to be seated and some were also queuing for take outs. Our recent attempts to dine-in in Mama Chit's failed and it's always the same scenario when we go back.  I saw some pictures from Mama Chit's in my archive and I think they deserve a slot in my blogsite.. If fact, this is my 200th post since I started blogging last year.  

When you visit Mama Chit's restaurant, it will be as if you turned back time, everything in the place is vintage.  I'm not sure how they were able to gather them all but it was just so amazing to see old things that were kept for several decades. Mama Chit the owner of place can be charged guilty for hording things from as big as a jukebox and as small as the soda cans, hehehe!

But the people don't visit the place for its design but for their food.  They offer western food for very affordable prices: ~P100-P200. Their best sellers are their burgers and sandwiches.  The only pictures that I kept were the hungarian sauge bun and a phillycheesesteak sandwich, and oh the yummy salad. #sarap! Two thumbs up for you Mama Chit.

Mission Accomplished

To start our day, we checked out from our hotel at 6am. Although the hotel is just behind Jollibee, I asked boyfie if we could have our breakfast in McDonalds instead (araw-araw ako sa Jollibee eh).  We got the happy meals para pasalubong sa kids next time we will visit them.  Toys that they have are ninja turtles for boys and strawberry shortcake digital watches for girls.

We started our journey at 6:30am, we thought we were already near the church but St Francis Xavier parish in Nasugbo Batangas is 42KM away from our starting point.  We arrived at 7:30am and although the schedule of interview is at 8am, we were already 6th from the queue.  Few minutes after, another couple arrived, and we were surprised to see an old friend from college Markus and his girlfriend Maureen also there to submit their requirements and have their canonical interview for their December 5 wedding in Caleruega.  Afterwards, we both went to Caleruega to settle the payment for the church in full.

We bade goodbye to the other couple since they still want to explore Caleruega and my boyfie and I want to already submit our wedding banns to our respective churches, mine in Paco and boyfie in Antipolo.  But before we went down from the highland, we grabbed our lunch in Rowena's Cafe.

We normally buy pasalubong from Rowena's but it was our first time to dine in their restaurant which is located behind their store.  Surprisingly, the cafe has a very good ambiance.  There's swimming pool and mini chapel at the back and the very elegant house of the owner is also beside the restaurant.  

We chose to sit at the garden area and enjoyed the overlooking view.  We chose beef steak tagalog, mixed vegetables, 2 garlic rice and ripe mango shake, all for P670 only.  

We also bought some pasalubong for our families.

Finally, we were able to submit the marriage banns to our respective churches... It was mission accomplished!

Food trip and joy ride

In a catholic wedding, there are pre-requirements that we need to fulfill and one of those is the marriage banns.  Marriage banns is the announcement of the couple's wedding date in their respective churches for 3 consecutive Sundays.    In order to proceed with the other requirements, we need to undergo canonical interview before we can get the marriage banns.  Tomorrow, we are scheduled for our canonical interview in St. Francis Xavier parish in Anilao Batangas, this church is the main church that supervises Caleruega.

We searched the location of the church and it is located before you go uphill going to the Tali beach or Club Punta Fuego.  The only schedule is at 8am, so it will be very far if we will both come from Antipolo .  Imagine how early we need to wake up just to be there at 8am.  That is why we decided to spend the night in Tagaytay.

After office today, boyfie picked me up in the office.  Since we will be travelling, we grabbed our merienda in Wicked Waffle.  It is the newly opened stall in Mckinley Hill, located in the stairs of 3 World Square building.  There's a long queue of customers curious to taste their waffles.  We got the usual flavors (P60 each) like what we are buying in The Original Belgian Waffle: banana chocolate and banana hazelnut.  Verdict, I still prefer The Original belgian Waffle in the malls. 

In Slex, we stopped over to access their restroom.  We saw the Kiss - King of Balls stall that offers fish balls, kikiam and other street foods.  It is our favorite stall inside our campus when we were still in college.  We ordered 2 sets of Kikiam for P25 each and every bite is like reliving our younger days.

Upon reaching Tagaytay, we grabbed our dinner in Tootsie's.  I saw this posted by Michi before and for a change, we tried it.  We ordered the Tinoyong Bangus and hubad na lumpia, 1 small and 1 big sago't gulaman for P685 only.  Sulit sa price and we loved the food.

With bulging tummies, we drove ourselves to Tagaytay Haven Hotel to spend the night in preparation for our activity tomorrow.  Will give more details of the hotel on my next post.  For now, my eyes are already dropping and is telling me sign off.  Goodnight everyone!

Officially Engaged

I know that you know my boyfie and I are getting married this December but there was no wedding proposal like those we see in the movies,  I didn't even got an engagement ring but I am still happy because for the longest time, we are finally getting married. We are just 2 months away from our big day but i am still hoping to receive a wedding proposal... I thought this will never happen as I don't even see a sign from him.  

Today, we went to the jewelry store to buy our wedding rings.  We got the latest design, a two tone (white gold and gold) with 5 diamonds for P48K.  We got a big discount and only paid P38K.  We both loved our chosen design and we felt they are really meant for us to wear.  After paying, we went back to the car.  He said he wants to pee so he told me to wait in the car for a while.  It took him several minutes before he was able to come back.  

Then, he handed me a box and said to try it on.  I said, we already tried them in the store so why would I try it again? To cut the story short, I found an engagement ring inside the box.  He said, he really wanted to give me an engagement ring, it's just that he didn't know my size.  For 12 years, we never had a couple's ring because I am not fond of wearing jewelries.

And today, I can say I am officially engaged.... Yehey! ^_^ #sohappy

Wedding Souvenirs

Is it a must to still give souvenir to your guests? Many suggests that since I already have a photobooth in my wedding reception, that can already serve as our suovenir.  But for us couple, we still want to give something our guests can bring home.  But of course, we want something that they can appreciate or consume, not like the usual souvenirs that everyone is giving like the figurines, display items, ref magnets (with the couple's picture?!!!... no way!) that we know the guest will just dispose afterwards.

We decided to give something edible as our give away so we considered several:

(1) French Macaroons - we love french macaroon but the cheapest that we know already costs P45 per piece.  We can't just give 1 piece per guest because it is too small.  3 pieces is the minimum that we can give.  Imagine P27,000 just for souvenirs?  (P45 x 3 =  P135 x 200 guest = P27,000)... So we scrapped the idea.

(2) Cupcakes - the cheapest that we can get for a personalized cupcake is P75 each.  This costs lower than the french macaroons and will cost us only P15,000 (P75 x 200 = P15,000).  We already wanted to settle for this but the cupcakes need to be stored in a chiller to preserve the frostings.  Since I have a destination wedding, the cupcakes should be picked up a day before so we can already bring them to the venue.  Without the chiller, the frostings will melt... Scrap!

(3) The Lollicake Factory - this store is owned by the actress LJ Moreno, she personally creates the items by herself and one of her bestsellers is the lollicake, a lollipop cake.  Who will not love this very unique idea? Plus, she can customize to your preferred design too, just perfect for souvenir, right?  I grabbed some of her creations in her facebook page: The Lollicake Factory

The Lollicake Factory is located in Unit 103 Westdale Residences Bgry. Kapitolyo, Pasig.  Store opens Mondays (2pm to 8pm), Tuesday (10am-8pm), Saturday (10am-8pm) and Sunday (11am-5pm).  I believe the cost of the basic lollicake is at P40 each and P55 for characters.  A great saving for us:  P55 x 200 = P11000 only.  We had few attempts but we failed to visit the store since everytime we want to go there, we were always stuck in heavy traffic on Mondays and my car is on coding scheme on Tuesdays and the store is already closed when we arrived.  As you know, almost all our weekends are already booked so we decided to make time to visit the store come November.  We still need to get a quote and know the logistics and storage requirements.

Funny though, after our appointments yesterday from the florist and my designer, it was almost 12MN and we still have had not taken our dinner... We were looking for a place to eat and we happen to pass by Banchetto in BGC.  While roaming around the food shops, we happen to passby 1 stall for desserts.  A lightbulb popped out and we thought that we can make them as our souvenirs.  We inquired and it was a coincidence that  Chef Rene, the one who's making those delightful desserts came from Cavite which is way nearer in Tagaytay. They can also deliver so we will have no worries for storage.  I got the contact number and gave it to my wedding coordinator this morning so she could visit and huggle for the price. 

We really liked the lollicakes so we think that we can get them for the baptism or the birthdays of our future babies.  But for now, we will settle for Chef Rene's delightful desserts.  It has already a good packaging so an additional ribbon, a tag or sticker will already make them a great souvenir.  Surely, the guests will like them too. ^_^

Tick tock....tick tock

Time flies really fast.  Now, we are down to more or less 10 weeks before our big day.  Every weekend we are out for different appointments and I think this will go on until end of this year.  Whew! I know it is a bit tiring but every accomplishment means a fraction of our dream becoming a reality.

There are few flaws however, but we are glad it happened earlier at least we can fix them instantly. Like for the case of my invitations.  We rushed making the invites since we needed to send them to our relatives in the other parts of the world.  Almost all of the stores that we inquired, the minimum order quantity is 50 pcs.  We initially needed 10 -15 pcs only but decided to get the full quantity and made it 75 pcs to save us time. I just wanted a simple invitation but also wanted it to have a glam so we chose an envelop type that is gold with silver lining (gold and silver are our color motifs, weird? I know).  The process of validating the wordings and the spelling took us more than a month before they got it all right (almost, I still found one error on the finished product.. Grrr! ). Then, we finally got the 75 pcs last month but they were not enough to cover the guests as there are more names coming up our list along the way.  So, we ended up getting another 50 pcs more.  

Last Saturday, since my car was on repair and we don't want to make plans that will involve travelling and a need to gas up, we decided to finish naming the invitations.  During the process, the first set that we ordered were all broken and peeled off, the adhesives no longer hold the cards in place, so we really had no choice but to repair them.  We already spent almost P13K for the invitation and spending for even another cent is not in our option.

I honestly have no passion for art but in times like this, i have no choice but to help.  Using the 3M double sided tissue tape, this made our life more easier rather than using glue guns. Our art attack project lasted until 3AM.  Imagine the back pain and the eyebags...waaah! #pandaEyes

After the tiring evening, we finally finished repairing the invites.  Thankful that there were no traces of damage, they are as if they are freshly out from the store.  We are really so proud of ourselves... Our job for this week and the succeeding weeks is mainly for the distribution and a door to door delivery for our sponsors.  

This is it for now, my schedule is getting tighter and tighter but hopefully I can still update you and give you some glimpse on some my wedding preparations...  ^_^

Eat Street in the Philippines... For real?

Are you a fan of the Eat Street show in Nat Geo Adventure HD Channel?  Well, we are.  Boyfie and I love watching this show as this showcases different food trailers in the US.  Yes, you read it right... food trailers are trailer trucks that are converted into mini stalls and for some are mini fast food stores.  We really love the concept and we're thinking one time to bring the concept here in the Philippines as there is no one doing this kind of business yet here except for the jolly jeeps in Makati.

On our way to boyfie's home while we were avoiding the heavy traffic in C5 and in Edsa, we passed by Capitol Commons in Pasig (near Ynares Coliseum).  We saw a caravan as we were nearing the area.  We then saw a couple of food trailers and a video camera (just like the one that is being used in filming movies) covering the happenings in the area.  We thought they are just made just for filming or commercials, but when we saw some cars are parking on the sides, we did not hesitate finding a parking slot too.  There are over 10 food trailers offering different menu selection.  Their individual food trailers were designed with a colorful and artistic concepts to attract the customers.  

Boyfie was craving for a Philly cheese steak since last week and when he spotted the 'The Cheese Steak Shop', I already know that was the one that we will try.  This food trailer as stated in their logo offers Original Philadelphia Steak Sandwiches since 1982, really? I'm not sure if they are a franchise from the US, but I haven't seen them featured in the show yet... Or maybe i missed it.

We ordered the 7" Philly Cheese Steak for P280.  We chose beef over chicken and a Jalapeno as an additional topping. Jalapeno is like chilly pickles (i really don't know how to describe it) and has a strong flavor that will really make your meals to have a twist.  The food is great, i'm just looking for more cheese. :)

We also had gelato for dessert.  I normally order pistachio for gelato but this time I chose the Ferrero flavor for P100 as I will be sharing it with boyfie and there was no regret...  Sarap!

If you want to experience the food trail caravan, catch them at:

Capitol Common Ground

Kapitolyo, Pasig City

Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays (4PM - 10PM)

Fridays and Saturdays (4PM -12MN)

Coming soon!

Loyola Marikina

Sundays (morning)

Cold Stone Creamery in the Philippines

The first time I heard about Cold Stone was from my sister when she went to the US few years back. No wonder when my runningmates talked about Cold Stone in Serendra, I already know it is the same ice cream parlor that my sister was telling me before.

Cold Stone is the most talked about ice cream in town and of course I insisted on trying it out although I should already be on diet. #cheatday.  The company history is already posted on their walI when you enter their place, so I guess there's no need to retype. #tamadmode.

I will be sharing though my thoughts and hope you'll join me in reliving my few minute experience in this place.   The moment we opened their door, we were welcomed by the very enthusiastic staffs.  The energy level of the staffs are so high as if we were the first customer they got.  They assisted us and explained their offerings.  Cold stones' best sellers are already labeled as their signatured mixes but you can always create your own mix.  After choosing your flavor and mixes, the staff will start mixing them in a granite stone.  Wonder why they use a granite stone?  Same here, I am also curious so I did a little research.

Based on the website I saw,  ice cream is like granite... How?  Both ice cream and granite start out as liquids which when cooled became solid, and both will melt again if the temperature gets hot enough.However, ice cream freezes at temperatures below 0°C, while granite freezes at temperatures below ~650°C.  It is also true that as both granite and ice cream increase in temperature to near their respective melting points, they get softer, as those of you who like to microwave your ice cream can tell.  So the properties of both ice cream and granite are indeed correlated.

To continue, after mixing all the ingredients in the granite stone, the staffs will surprise you with their stunts.  Your ice cream will be tossed in the air and throw it to another staff and capture it with your ice cream cup in precision. It was so cool!  I was so amazed so I wasn't able to capture the stunts.  
I got a pistaccio mixed with almonds and boyfie got one of the signatured mixes: the peanut butter cup perfection, it is a mix of dark chocolate ice cream (P158), peanut butter, reese's peanut butter chocolate and chocolate fudge (P168)

Well, my taste buds are not really a very good judge for food because I appreciate almost everything but i can tell what's not yummy for me.  For Cold Stone ice cream, i'll give 2 thumbs up for the taste and a standing ovation for the staffs' performance. So, here I was enjoying my ice cream.  Enjoy your evening everyone!

Cold Stone Cremery

Serendra, BGC

Taguig City