Valentine's Day Gifts for Allan

Since I already received my early VDay gift, I scoured the mall one time and also checked some online shops to buy possible gift/s for hubby that he can use when he gets back at his overseas work and here's what I've got.

1. The North Face Bag Electron 40L

He already have a black 50L of this bag and since he finds it too bulky for his things sometimes, I decided to buy him a smaller version. Wala pa ko time i-wrap so I decided to hide it in our closet pero di ko lam kung saan pinaglihi asawa ko at ang linaw ng mata, nakita na nya sa cabinet namin while I'm at work,ending hindi na surprise gift.

he already used it when he went to Manila last Monday ( he dropped by at my workplace then we we went at the mall afterwards to buy some tools at Ace Hardware and do the grocery)

2. Black Adidas Jacket

My recent loot for him. I left this at my workplace so there's no way for him to find this at home. So feeling ko naman masusurprise na sya.Hehe!  

4 Days to go and it's Valentine's Day already! What's your plan,mommies? About us,we still don't know siguro dinner after our school activity that day or he'll cook my favorite dish for our simple dinner as soon as I got home. Anyway we have an scheduled family gala tomorrow.Sabi ko nga,kung di pwede lumayo gawan ng paraan kahit sa medyo malapit. So ayun,excited na ang Xian!

Aside from the occasion that it's Valentine's Day, Feb. 14-15 are also our 11th anniversary as bf-gf. Yep two days ang date of anniversary namin! it's a long story to tell no wonder our bf-gf anniversary will never slipped our mind,kami na ba naman ang makisabay sa Balentayms Day :)

It's a Casa Rap Afternoon!

Last Saturday afternoon on our way to my in-laws place, we had an impromptu stopover at Casa Rap to have our snacks. They're just our neighbor town and only 20 minutes drive if we use the expressway.

Casa Rap is an organic garden restaurant located at San Jose Batangas and owned by Sister Emma Alday, an advocate for the environment. Proof of this can be seen in the restaurant's earth-friendly designs and color. At first, it just looks like a house covered with trees. It is not easy to find if you're not familiar with the place. Hindi sya masyado pansinin, unless pumasok na mismo sa loob. 

As soon as we enter, the whole place feels like a secret  garden. Bigla ko tuloy naalala ang favorite show ko nung bata ako na Mary and The Secret Garden! :D

The Place!

I heard they serve really good food for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Based on experience, it's better to go there early pala because they're only open until 5:00 PM. 

When we arrived there, it's 4:00 PM already so we only had an hour to enjoy the food and the place,  plus we're the last customers na ata that time so we had the place all to ourselves! 

When we were seated at our choice of table,too bad some of their menu  for snacks like their grilled sandwiches are not available that time. So go lang kami dun sa available. Hubby and I tried their lomi, the husband having lomi as one of his comfort food love the taste of Casa Rap's version. When we ask Xian what he wanted to eat, the little man quickly replied "mommy,fries atsaka burger!" Patay! So we told him that there's no available fries nor burger there and we'll just drop by at the nearest drive-thru after that.Okay naman kay bagets.He just chose what he want and pointed Casa Rap's Salad.Okay, so we tried it too.Then for dessert,we had their famous Casa Rap Halo-Halo. I super love it! The best thing about their halo-halo is that instead of using ice, they use buko sherbet.
 

According to the articles which you'll find there, Sis Emma personally designed the place.  They were even featured in some lifestyle television programs because of the popularity the gained through the food they served by organic farming. Since she also has an innate love for art, you'll find a lot of interesting pieces inside her restaurant:

 

framed write-ups about Casa Rap

 books

some recycled pieces you'll find at the place

 the owner's handwritten note on the menu book

Some Family Snapshots

 Xian love this aquarium thing that is fish-deprived that time.hehehe.By the way,did you know that it is made from the truck's windshield? Talking about creativity,huh?

They have different tables and chairs there. One of them is this wooden table and bench which is Xian's favorite spot.

Hello, ako Xian!

Up for something? ngitian pa lang nila nagkakaunawaan na :)

kulitan of my two boys while waiting for our food.

may textmate na ata si Xian at mukhang kunsintidor pa ang tatay. 

My two babies: Baby Allen and Daddy Allan 

moi

mommy and my baby no more.

 Mukhang nalugi yung isang bata sa tabi.hihi.

The Food

 Xian's Choice: Casa Rap's Salad.Xian love the okoy. I love the sour dressing.I'm not sure if those flowers are edible.lol.

Yummy Lomi! Since andami pala ng serving and we both order this, hubby finished my leftover lomi since Xian only got to taste a few spoonful.

Meal is better kapag may Coke! #cokeaddict

Casa Rap's famous Halo-Halo. The Best!

Happy Customers

The C Family!

One thing is sure,we will definitely go back again at Casa Rap for lunch to try their other yummy dishes,I'm craving for their Sinigang na Gindara and Halabos na Hipon and their ice cream with lambanog! :P

 *Casa Rap is in Km. 90 in San Jose, Batangas. It is open daily from 7am until 5pm. For dinners, contact them two days in advance for arrangements. You can contact them at 043 726 2873.

 

My New Cam: GE Power Pro X500

Happy Monday everyone!

This is quite a busy day for me at the office,we'll be having another major activity a week from now. This activity is one of the major highlights of our department every semester kaya imagine nyo na lang kung gano ako kangarag lately. Imagine naman friends, the event will be held on the 14th of February! Kamusta naman yun, unless they don't have a date kaya plan talaga nila i-boycott Valentine's Day. lol. No wonder the possibility of having an out of town trip is not feasible nowadays (Bye for now, Bohol!) because of my tight schedule at work, besides I already used  all of my leave credits last time. Saklap di ba? Pero sabi nga, if there's a will, there's a way. Kung di pwede sa malayo, eh pwede na din naman sa hindi masyado malayo and that's what we're planning to do.  I feel recharged since my little family came from a super sulit bonding weekend. We spend the past few days  kase at my in-laws place.More of that on my upcoming posts.


Anyway, this is supposedly my post yesterday but I wasn't able to publish it because of some connection problem.

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I've been reading some reviews about some affordable camera since my trusted digital camera of 3 years broke down 2 months ago.

Allan asked me what camera I like. Since I'm not a professional photographer or anything close to one,my only priority is just to have a camera that I can use anytime to take decent shots compare to my phone. I want something to be handy and can fit perfectly in my bag when we're out since I'm with an active tot most of the time.

Pero kung like din lang (aside from the DSLR of my dream),here's my first choice kung sa totoong buhay.meganun?!

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ 100 @ Php 16,900 (Kimstore's price)

 

The very nice Sis Em mentioned about a trusted online gadget store. Unfortunately when I inquire about the product of my choice last week, there's no available stock that time and I have to wait for a couple of weeks. 

That time also, I came upon Sis Cha's blog about her camera review of her  GE Power Pro X500, so I googled more about it and after reading  a lot of reviews from other users,that became my second option plus it's more affordable with its equally good features. (Read between the lines: I can still use for shopping the remaining money Allan allotted for the supposedly budget for the cam.Ayos!)

 
GE Power Pro X500  (I also chose the Black one)

photosource: Image from Google

I've read that the GE Power Pro X500 is a bridge camera since it's a crossover between a digicam and an SLR. It has an SLR-like feature plus it's compact compare with the true DSLR. I believe that it's a good deal especially for people like me who doesn't have any background about photography.

  
So last week since it's a working day,hubby and I met up at Robinson's Place Lipa during my free time just to buy a camera. We headed to Picture City. Obvious ba na di ako masyado makahintay? :D

We bought the camera for an amazing price of Php 9,995 plus additional Php 100 for the screen protector and Php 550 for the tripod. 


By the way, the GE Power Pro X500 comes with a pouch, 4 GB SD card, 4 disposable batteries, 4 rechargeable batteries with charger, USB cable, CD-ROM drive and shoulder strap.
 

With the technical details, it is a 16 mega-pixel sensor, with 15X Optical Zoom,27mm wide angle lens. What I love about it are the different shooting programs.

 

So that's the story behind my GE Power Pro X500. Sample photos on my upcoming posts. For now, I'm really satisfied with it because of the quality pictures! :)


Thank you again hubbylove for the advance V-Day gift.love you loads!♥

Kiss,Kiss!

Because they just can't get enough of each other,here's another sweet moment of my babies caught on cam.

Never mind the husband's depressing hairstyle, wala syang chance magkaroon decent haircut while he was there.That's why early morning the next day, barber shop first destination nila ni Xian! :D

Howkey fine,kayong dalawa na ang sweet. hehe! 

Anyway, here's what happened on the past few days while the husband is here.

Day 2 of Hubby's Vacation: Since it's Wednesday and I go to work, he dropped by at my workplace so we could eat our lunch together eventhough I only have 1 hour lunch break. The school's cafeteria is jam-packed with students,so lunch out is our option. Funny thing is, we can't decide kung san kami kakain plus it's traffic so we had no choice but to park Azul near my workplace and under the scorching heat of the sun, nilakad na lang looking for a place to eat. It's either wala ng table or long queue. Finally we ended up @ Chow King and had a quick lunch then managed to get back at the school 5 minutes before our time.hehe.

 goofing around.imitating Xian's favorite pose lately.now you know kung kanino nagmana si Xian :)

Day 3 of Hubby's Vacation: I already got my new cam,yey! Since it's a working day again,we met up at the mall during my free time. I'll do a separate post about it soon. Then when I got home that evening from work, he cooked my favorite dish for dinner.

excited na ko gamitin ka! hubby,gala tayo :)

I know,I know..  you've seen this dish a lot here in my blog! :P

There you go,sana lang maganda weather this weekend ano?

'Choose Happiness' Blog Giveaway

My fellow SP Mom Nuna of 'Choose Happiness is celebrating her first blog anniversary and will be giving fab giveaway. Here are the prizes.

Head on over to her blog to join and to know how you can win these great prizes! 

Look Who's Here!

Yesterday, around 4:00 PM exactly 3 days ago after I had this post, we fetched Allan at the airport. This is what we look forward early this year, his 20 days vacation! :) He's lucky to have a very good employer who allowed him to extend few more days even though the usual allotted vacay for them is only 2 weeks.

As expected, Xian is super excited from the first time I told him the news weeks ago.Lagi nya ko tinatanong kung ilang tulog na lang daw bago sila magkita ni daddy.Since we don't want to preempt hubby's anticipated vacation since he told me not to tell the news to our family para daw surprise so I kept mum about it kahit kating-kati na talaga akong iblog, pero secret daw muna since mahirap ng maudlot.Pero wag ka,couple of days after he told me the news, ang mahal kong asawa na ang nagpopost sa fb wall ko already starting the countdown.Ayun,di rin nakatiis.hehe!

Contrary to the last time we're there 2 months ago, ibang-iba ang feeling ngayon. Together with my in-laws,hubby's 2 nieces,and my Inay, we left our house after lunch then we arrived at NAIA around 2:30 PM so we had our snacks first to kill time. After an hour, we proceed to the arrival area. While waiting, can't help but notice na wala pa din pinagbago ang Terminal 1 Arrival Area from the last time we were there 2 1/2 years ago and as far as I can remember.Kakalungkot lang.

Anyway moving forward..  Xian with his cousins positioned themselves in the barricaded area patiently waiting to get a better view of the people arriving, inip na inip ang bagets always asking me "Mommy asan na daddy?" "tagal naman.." with his eyes glued kung saan lalabas si daddy nya. Finally after a few minutes he saw his dad,and for the little man, happiness is an understatement! Di na ko nakapicture kase from that moment sinalubong na ni Xian si daddy nya while happily shouting "daddy! daddy ko!" and immediately Allan held him in his arms,then they kissed and hugged like there's no tomorrow. From that moment, parang gusto kong maiyak sa galak seeing them reunited once again.Of course we also had our own moment,pwede ba namang mawala yun? :D

This is the only matinong shot I got after their mag-ama moment kase puro blurred (sorry naman,excited din eh!) 

Nagti-twinkle pa eyes ni Xian dyan,see the grin? 2 months pa lang di nagkita lagay na yan.

hmmm,ano kaya pinapagusapan nila...

dropped by @ Duty Free for some pasalubong.feel na feel ni bagets ang cart ride nya na si daddy nagtutulak.

On our way home,we headed first to Calamba to drop off my BIL and Xian's Ate Venice then we also had our dinner there courtesy of Ate Lanie,my BIL's wife before heading home. I noticed that Xian became super duper extra clingy to hubby,super pa-baby talaga to the highest level! We arrived at our house around 9:00PM although we had some family bonding afterwards. t'was really a nice feeling to sleep once again together with the two most important people in my life.Sobrang saya ng feeling that we're a complete family once again.

Bago ko pa makwento lahat-lahat,babush na muna! :)

As of today,Day 1 of hubby's vacation: Xian and hubby had a haircut bonding moment. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go with them since pumasok ako sa work today :(  Looking forward to weekend,we really need to make the most of these precious days!

T.H.R.E.E

I've mentioned on my first post for this year that there are lots of things I look forward to 2012. As of today, #3 is connected on the top of my list.

 photo source: image from Google

..and since I don't want to preempt the plan,you'll know about it in the next few days!

Happiness on a Friday afternoon with me smiling ear to ear.Ayyy,para lang akong timang dito.

Happy Weekend! :)