Geneva Switzerland

Switzerland is known for its luxurious watches and breathtaking mountains, however, being the chocoholic that I am, it is surprising that Geneva has never been on my list of cities that I would want to visit since they are famous for their chocolates, among other things. So I was really thrilled that this year’s Couples for Christ European Conference was held in this city. This gave me an excuse to explore the city that I have overlooked for so long.

A warm and breezy summer day welcomed us to Geneva. The city is clean and quite modern. From the airport, we needed to take a bus to go to our hotel, which was to our pleasant surprise, free of charge. People are nice and very helpful.

After we checked in, the concierge of our hotel gave us trip tickets, he told us that we can use the public transportation for free our entire stay. Isn’t that a great deal.

One of the things that always fascinate me in a city is their architecture. I must say, I am partial to Gothic, Romanesque and Baroque architectures. That is one reason why I fell in love with Prague. The buildings in Geneva are more modern and looks quite new. After all, they are more famous for their ski resorts rather than their architecture. My favourite spot in Geneva is the lake. It’s so refreshing to look into the lake. We even explored the lake by taking boats. We aimlessly took several boats just to cover the entire lake. The cool breeze was such a welcome relief to the very warm day.



One of my favourite meals in Geneva was from a restaurant called Les Relais del entrecote. They serve steaks (as the name suggests). They only serve one kind of steak and they will just ask you how you want it done. The steak is split and served twice, I think so it won’t get cold, and you’ll get two portions of fries as well. The meat is perfectly seasoned, the sauce that comes with it is to die for and the fries are yummy, even Charlie loved it!



The word that stuck into my mind when after we’ve been to Geneva is “expensive”. I have lived in the Netherlands for quite some time now and a lot of people told me that this is an expensive city, but I already got used to it. I wonder how those people who told me Amsterdam is expensive if and when they visit Geneva would react. I was really surprised that the prices there are two or three times more than the prices in Amsterdam.

I’m sure we’re not coming back to Geneva anytime soon (as I’m still saving up for the watch I want to buy honey…. Maybe we’ll go back when I’m done saving :D) but it was a lovely city.

Charming city of Prague

OMG! I’m so guilty of neglecting this blog for the longest time, it’s almost a crime!

Oh well, will really try to make amends *keeping my fingers cross*. Let me start making amends by blogging about our recent trip to one of the places I’ve been dying to visit for the longest time….. the charming city of Prague.

This trip was booked on impulse. I have a colleague who receives these notifications on all sorts of things they offer on discount prices and he told me he just booked a trip to Prague and its cheaper. Since we were supposed to go to Prague last year but it didn’t push through, I’ve been eyeing a chance to reschedule the trip and what better opportunity than a discounted trip. So after a quick call to honey, I asked my colleague to book us as well and we’ll all go together. However, after coming down from the exhilaration of booking a trip that we’ve been wanting to make, I’ve decided to look around and book on my own and realized that I could have booked it at the same price at better accommodations. Darn, that’s one mistake I’ll never commit again.

Prague and I started on the wrong foot. We arrived in Prague at around 9:45pm and we were at the hotel at around 10:30pm. The biggest mistake we have committed is not having dinner before the flight thinking that we can grab dinner when we arrive. Such a sorry mistake, although there were restaurants near by the hotel, they close at 10pm. We were starving! Bee started getting grumpy because it was a bit warm inside the room. It's not like its a dodgy hotel or something, its actually a part of a chain of hotels. Honey and I were so tempted to pack our bags and search for a better hotel but it was late, good thing soon enough it started to cool off. Honey was so hungry that he tried to scout for anything he can buy to eat outside but his efforts were futile, he returned empty handed. Bee was the only one who had dinner, good thing I brought some baby food for her for just in case situations. Combine hunger with discomfort, we were fuming, but now that I can look back it was so funny coz honey started to eat Bee’s cookies LOL!

Prague completely redeemed herself to us the following day. We went to the town square and it was just breathtaking. The city has so much to offer. Beautiful architecture, charming cobbled streets, historical castles and such a rich culture. We walked for 6 hours straight and at the end of our 1st day of exploring the city, our feet couldn’t stand another second but our eyes have never gazed on something so wonderful and our spirits were soaring.

1st of the many Glorious years to come

I am really puzzled when I realized that I haven't even blogged about my little one's 1st birthday party. Being a first time mom and being someone who is always thrilled to organize a party, I have started whirling ideas in my head about Bee's party as early as February 2010 (her birthday was in November :D). I have specific ideas how I want the party to turnout. From start to finish, I tried to be as hands on as I can sans the many miles that separates me and the venue of the party.
I am so grateful that I have found a partner to create the dream party for my little one. Here is a supplier rating that I posted in a forum to for the details.

Charlize Jaeden's 1st Birthday
Date: November 20, 2010
Venue: Corinthian Gardens (South Hall)
Party Planner: Kathleen dela Merced (Hi5 Parties)
Caterer: Passion Cooks

I'll rate my suppliers na rin 5 being the highest 1 being the lowest rating

Venue (rating: 5): the venue was very nice, it has a high ceiling kaya maganda lagyan ng decors, very spacious, clean comfort rooms. It was a plus that we were the only party that day coz otherwise, with the glass walls, we would've seen everything that was happening in the next hall.

Party Planner/Stylist: Hi5 Parties - Kathleen dela Merced (rating: 5+++)
from the moment i started planning my baby's party, i already had a picture of what i want to transpire specially when it comes to decorations. I wanted it to be festive yet to be very classy at the same time. I've read before in some of our thread that there is a kind of PP who decorates parties in such a way na "mailagay lang" or malagyan lang ng maraming maraming decor" and there are those kinds of PP who carefully plans and executes so that every detail is coherent and the wow factor is not from the sheer volume of decors but from the quality. Kathleen is such the PP, i'm really very satisfied and more! Grabe talaga yung attention nya to details, and she is very hands-on, tapos she is very accomodating pa sa requests ko and she considers my comments. She is really a huge help specially for me who is a first time mom planning a party from abroad.








I love the backdrop, talagang pinag isipan, pati yung backdrop dun sa buffet and the design of the dessert buffet, oh pati yung entrance.... everything! ang galing talaga! I really got what i paid for and much much much more! Super love ko talaga si Kathleen! i'll recommend her to anyone.

Caterer - Passion Cooks (rating:5+) in the beginning of my party planning, i almost didn't get Passion cooks coz from the menu, hubby preferred the food of another caterer, that would have been a huge mistake, buti nalang naconvince ako ni Kathleen and ng mga reviews here in GT. super yummy ng food nila, and the presentation is awesome, added to that is the great customer service, very nice si Maja, very accommodating, when we had our food tasting nga she served us something that is not in our menu and when we liked it sabi nya gusto nyo ichange, pwede naman if you really want. ang bait! super!



Cake: Concept by Hi5 executed by Les Sucreries Rating (5): when Kathleen and I were discussing details for the party and she provided me the package, i asked for a cake upgrade coz i want the cake to really be one of the attraction during the party, and an attraction it really was. Galing galing ng les sucreries grabe! the flying fairies, the castle with blinking lights! wow talaga! and the cake was super moist and yummy, just the right sweetness!

Dessert Buffet - Sugar & Spice c/o Hi5 (rating 5+): I love that the dessert buffet was according the theme as well, it was very well executed and the kids really loved the treats!




Food Carts: c/o Hi5 (rating 3): we had fish balls, ice cream and corn dogs, i wasn't able to taste everything only the corn dogs which were super yummy! but i heard really good feedback from the guests. Actually it was hubby who commented on the presentation of the carts. It was served on tables just outside the hall, sabi lang ni hubby, he thought it would be like food carts talaga yun parang may booth, not on the table lang, para daw mas maka dagdag sa ambiance nung party. Next time daw sabihin ko na ilagay talaga sa mga carts at lagyan ng konting design din (talagang nagpplano na for next year ang stage daddy! lol).

Photographer - Richie dela Merced of fat boy studio (Rating:So far 5) The rating that i gave is partial coz i haven't received the finished product yet, so rating is for the quality of service that they gave, super nice si richie pati yung 2nd photog nya ang bait bait and ang sipag sipag nila, they never stopped taking pictures, sabi nga nung cousin ko "ang sipag nila ha bigla nalang silang sumusulpot" haha, first batch of pics na pinost nila sa FB are also great! I hope dun sa iba pang pics na hindi ko pa nakikita marami pang shots nung mga details ng party

Videographer Thor (rating 5++) - again the rating is for their service kasi wala pa naman akong narereceive na output. grabe super professional sila, ang aga aga nila sa venue, tapos super nice pa si Thor and Carmela

Photobooth Poof (Rating: 5++) - the staff manning the photobooth were really nice, they had a lot of great props, the quality of the prints were superb, ang cute ng mga bag tags, the leather guest book was awesome, need I say more? everything was great talaga sulit toh, everyone at the party loved this

Entertainment/Host Symond (Rating: 5) galing sya talaga, even the adults were very entertained. hindi corny mga jokes nya and very witty. Age appropriate din yung mga games nya and he kept the party lively at all times.

Outfit (2nd Party Dress ni baby, mommy's and daddy's)- Dan Cadiz (Rating 5+++) actually he was the one who made my sister's wedding gown and I was impressed with him kaya I recommended him to a friend who was also very happy with him kaya when i planned for my baby's party sabi ko i'll ask him make our outfits and hindi naman ako nadisappoint, he's very good, magaling sya sa bead works and very very nice pa, very reasonable pa ang price nya, sa itsura nung mga damit ang mura na nung quote nya sakin, uulit talaga ko sa kanya



Outfit (baptism dress and 1st party dress ni baby) Baby Fashionista (rating 5) - the dresses were really pretty and the details were great, un nga lang i specifically requested na i wanted the exact same wing na nandon sa picture sa site nila but hindi ganon ang binigay sa min, nonetheless ang ganda ganda ng mga dresses from them.

Hair and Make up - Archie Tolentino (Rating 5+++) galing nya talaga, he did my make up sa wedding ko and everyone liked it kaya sya ulit kinuha ko and just the same everyone complimented me on how i look during the party. tapos super early pa sya, sya pa nagsabi na agahan natin para just in case may kailangan ka asiksuhin hindi ka mashort sa time. bait bait bait pa. pati hair ni hubby inayos ayos pa nya.