Memories Preserved

The moment we’ve learned that we’re having a baby, the ecstasy, excitement and that amazing feeling that borders between nervousness and anticipation are just too much and I wanted to preserve them somehow. So once those wonderful emotions have subsided a bit, I started jotting down ways of how I can create a memorabilia that our growing family can cherish for years to come. It was like a light bulb flashed on top of my head…. What better way of preserving memories than to make a scrap book!

I’ve never really been into arts and crafts and all those cuteness so I cannot tell whether or not I have an apt for it but it’s never too late to try right? With this project in mind, while vacationing in Manila, I scoured bookstores, novelty stores and paper shops for the base scrap book that will hold all my little treasures. After combing the biggest malls, I still couldn’t find the right one. Then while we were in Megamall, I remembered this shop that I adored some years back, Papemelrotti, I checked their store out and found several charming scrapbook, but none of them really grabbed my attention, so I decided to look in some other places and if there is really nothing else out there, I’ll get one from this shop.

Our last few days in Manila came and I’ve decided to just by the scrap book we found in Papemelrotti coz that was the only thing missing, I’ve already bought the all the other paraphernalia I think I’ll be needing (like stickers, buttons and other accessories) to be able to create my very first scrap book. The very same day, I met my sister for dinner and she handed me a gift, guess what it was? It was a scrapbook, none that I’ve ever seen in my previous search for this elusive book. It was cute and brightly coloured and was everything that I was looking for. Apparently, she bought it that afternoon in a small stall while strolling in Robinson’s place. Oh how wonderful, now I have two.

The moment we got back here in Amsterdam, I started creating the scrapbook. Since this is the first time I’m doing this, I decided to just put in anything that I feel I would want to see again that would trigger happy moments. I just try to document, through bits and pieces, the stages of our pregnancy and the important dates and events.

So far there are still a few pages that I’ve filled up but I’m still collecting the rest of the stuff I want to squeeze into this tiny treasure. I’m hoping that I would be able to tap into my creative juices and create a jewel that we could keep.

If you have any tips or suggestions on how I can make this keepsake even prettier, by all means, I’m (wide) open for suggestions.

Dessert Discovery

A couple of weeks back, while browsing through blogs, i chanced upon a post about Estrel's caramel cake and how good they are. Being a dessert fanatic, I got curious and googled some more and found out that all hits refer to this cake as nothing less than remarkable. I can't believe that anything this good has escaped my radar for a long time. I told honey that once we're here in Manila, we have to drop by the shop and make sure to grab one of these caramel cakes everyone is raving about.



Last week, after accompanying honey and his cousin for a hair cut, we finally decided to look for the famed cake shop. It is a quaint space in the corner of a very busy street. The homey feel of the this shop adds to the charm of the desserts sold. Upon entering, there were several boxes lined up in the shelves so I immediately asked the nice lady for a box of their famous caramel cake. She told me that all the cakes are sold out all the rest of the boxes still in the shop are just waiting for their owners to pick them up. I was about to get so disappointed when the other person in the shop told the lady that they have one more box of cake to sell because there was a mistake in the order taken earlier in the day. The lady told us that we were quite lucky because normally, there are no more cakes for sale at that time of the day. We greedily grabbed the box and bought a box of food for the gods as well and went on our merry way home.

We immediately served the cake once we got home and everyone enjoyed it thoroughly because it's very fluffy, the sponge cake melts in your mouth, nothing I haven't had before but I believe that the best thing about this cake is the frosting, it was quite unique something I haven't tried before although it reminds me of cajeta, i can taste condensed milk in it but it is delicately sweet, not the uberly sweet kind. The food for the gods was a winner as well. I think i'll try my hand and make this caramel cake on my own and see how it turns out.

One should definitely try this cake, this can be a favorite during special occasions but it can get old after a while because this is the only cake that they make.

Dilemma

via

I know it’s still like a gazillion months away before we go back to Manila, but honey and I are already trying to make arrangements for the trips that we want to make when we’re in the Philippines. The reason for this is because we wanted to take our entire family to a trip. This is where our dilemma begins. I really have two destinations in mind for our family holiday, Ilocos or Boracay. I’ve been in both places before and I remember having a grand time. I was leaning towards Ilocos because honey has never been there but honey is inclined to choose Boracay because he knows that the kids and the kids at heart would have all sorts of stuff to do.

Since we’re talking of a very big group here (around 20-25 people) and of different age brackets, honey and I would have to consider a place where everyone would have something to enjoy. Another factor to consider is the package deals that are offered, since we’re a big group, might as well make use of the purchasing power and make sure that we’re getting the best value for our money.

I know that honey and I are looking at a big project but I’m really hoping that we pull off this entire shebang coz I know it’s gonna be a lot of fun.

If you have any suggestions on where best to eat, stay or any spots that is a must visit in these two places, it would be greatly appreciated as it will help us make the final decision. Thanks

Knots are getting tied

Last week has been one hell of a busy week. I was buried with tons of reports to produce for month end, quarter end, year end and all possible fiscal-period-end anyone could ever think of. This is why I’ve been slacking on my blog for the past couple of days.

This morning, when I finally got to read my personal emails, I was stunned, there were several emails from several friends updating me about the status of their wedding preparations. All of their weddings are happening this year. How could I have not noticed how many of my friends are getting hitched this year? Six of them to be exact, 4 of which are very, very close friends (of honey’s and mine). All of them invited us to be a part of their celebration but how on earth would we manage to go back to Manila at least three times this year? When I told this to my sister, she said, “your age group is really the marrying age, that explains why you have lots of friends getting married in a year.” I can buy that explanation. One of my best friends, actually, she’s also one of the bride-to-be, told me that maybe, there are a lot of our friends getting married this year because according to feng shui, this is a good year for a year-of-the-rooster born to get married, which most of the people born in 1981 would be. I can buy that as well, coz I know a lot of people consulting feng shui before tying the knot.

Whatever reason it may be, honey and I are looking forward to a very festive and momentous year for a lot of our friends. I am so excited to see all of them get married as I’m sure they were when they attended ours. Since we decided to celebrate honey’s birthday this year in Manila, we’re sure to be able to attend to two weddings which happen in the same week, what joy! Birthdays and weddings are perfect combinations after all. Now, we have to make a crucial decision, what other month are we going back to Manila? Ninuninuninu…. We really have to decide soon if we want to save on ticket costs. One of the disadvantages in living far from home, you have to choose some important dates, you can’t be there in all.