Last week,  my children and I spent the weekend at Ridgeview Chalets.  Since SM was just a short drive away, we went there for our meals and was surprised with the new offering — 3D movies!  If I am not mistaken,

My girls and I are allergic to nuts. In fact we are allergic to so many ingredients that its hard to eat out. We tend to stick to the restaurants we like in town and avoid most of those darn dishes with ingredients I am not familiar with. Mahal magkasakit, err, bawal magkasakit.

I love books and I love reading immensely.

My love for reading began at an early age.  It started when I found an entire shelf of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys hardbound books at the school library.  No one seemed to bother borrowing them, and although I cannot remember exactly my first Nancy Drew book, I remembered borrowing all the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books in our library.  From then on, I would pester my mom and my brother Joemen to get me books every month from the local bookstore.

My brother encourage my love for reading.  Although my parents did not understand it before, and thought of buying “pocketbooks” a total waste of money, my brother– also a book worm explained the passion and the advantages of reading.  He mentioned something about widening my vocabulary and strengthening my grammar and english skills, reading truly has helped me through school.

Reading think chapters from text books and learning the art of speed reading, this has helped me through high school and college, no doubt about that.  Writing essays and book reports was easy for me and has earned me some recognition in school.  I also became good in spelling and along with the passion of working on crossword puzzles, I have learned to be quick on synonyms of words and learned how to quickly answer crossword puzzles from easy to advance level on one sitting.  There was a time that I was so into it that I even have my own crossword puzzle book in the bathroom.  lol  Some keep magazines or newspapers near their crapper, me, I have my Sudoku and my Dell Crossword Puzzles.

My favorite books range from legal and psychological thrillers.  Kellermen, King, Grisham, Scottoline, Crichton are some of my favorite authors.  I continue to horde books here.  But it has expanded to personal finance, web design and some self help books which I have used with my counselor years ago.

I wanted my love for books to pass onto my children.  At early age, my children are rewarded for good behavior with books.  We have a selection of Dr. Seuss and Nancy Drew Books.  My daughters love books and like me, they are drawn to National Bookstore and BookSale.  I have learned to allocate at least P1,000 for books each month.  Books when taken care of last for several years and can be passed on to others.

Here are some of the benefits of reading:

• Reading helps children become smarter.
• Reading encourages your children to have longer attention span.
• It helps teach your child about relationships, situations, personalities, and what is good and what is bad in the world he lives in. Fantasy books provide material for his imagination and free play. Fairy tales fascinate your kid, and help him distinguish between what is real and what is not.
• Reading helps you prepare your children allay your child’s fears or prepare him for changes in his life. For example, you can choose books about using the potty, going to school, or moving to a new house when he is about to have these new experiences.

The best way to teach children to love reading is to be an example.  Let your children see you reading.  Read stories aloud to your children and let them choose the books they wanted to read.  As soon as you show this love and dedication to learning by reading, your children will love books and learn to take care and handle them with care.

Its definitely summer.  Its scorching hot in Northern Mindanao and boy we are parch every 20 minutes.

Coke, coke, we want coke!  With ice to the brim!

The school year is over and the children are all around the house and I wonder how I can get to finish all my work this time around.  So here are some of the things that I need to do before the week ends:

1- Plan and create activities for the children everyday.

2- Look for paid activities during the summer break.

3- Plan for Pascalis’ 9th birthday.

4- Plan for a short break probably to Cebu, Boracay, Davao or Bohol.

5- Check the video store and buy tons of videos for the children to watch during the break.

So what’s on your calendar for the summer?

One of the places we liked while in Boracay was the Yellow Cab Pizza place at Station 2, Station 3.  The children simply had a blast sitting there and watching people walk by.  The Yellow Cab Pizza Branch in Boracay only has a few tables, and the place was a little cramp, but hey, the food just like any Yellow Cab was fab.

We had our all time favorite Hawaiian Pizza, Hot Wings and my favorite mouthwatering, Twice Baked Potato Halves.  For dessert, the kids had 1/2 pint of vanilla icecream each!  It was a well spent lunch, what else could I ask more, the kids as always loved it.

My family and I love to travel.  When I was still together with my husband, we used to go around during weekends and when there are longer breaks, we used to go to Cebu, Palawan and other nearby resorts with the kids.  Although money has not been an issue before, we always skip going to Boracay.  Our reason then was its too touristy and crowded.  Who would want to hang around in a place crawling with people???

Anyway, my sister, along with her husband and family decided to come to Boracay for a week.  Since I could not afford to shell out thousands for the airfare and accommodation, she offered to pay our way.  So, who cares about the crowd?  Its a free trip and I have not seen my sister for over 2  years, what the heck…

When my sister told me she is taking us all to Boracay, I was hesitant mainly because I will be traveling with 4 children.  Just imagine me in the airport lagging along small children plus a luggage.  Number 2, although I will be traveling with my father, he is ancient and has a hearing problem, so I actually consider myself traveling with 5 children.  Whew…

Anyway, since my lovely and generous sister paid for our lodging and airfare, I really have nothing much to complain about– so I decided to brave the crowd.

My children and I love Starbucks.  Despite the cost of coffee and dessert, we love to frequent Starbucks in Manila.  So after moving in Northern Mindanao, we have been missing our night prowls to Starbucks.

I found Starbucks accidentally in Boracay.  My children and I were having lunch at the Yellow Cab and waiting for my sister and her family to pick us up for island hopping when this young man approached the security guard of the place for something.

The security guard obviously had a hard time understanding the guy so he beckoned to me, and the young handsome fella approached me and asked, “Do you know where Starbucks is?”  To which I responded, “I have no idea, we just got here… you sure there’s a Starbucks here?” “Yea, saw a girl drinking her coffee earlier…”  So anyway to make it short, I asked the security guard and the security guard pointed to the left and the guy and I looked and found the oh so familiar green logo further down the street.

Aha, so there is a Starbucks in Boracay… much to the excitement of my children.  The girls made me promise to take them over to Starbucks after dinner…

When you are a webworker, the internet connection is crucial, so when Globe in our area went down without prior notice, my kids and I went on a huff to look for a place with very good wifi connection.  Since our favorite place to hang Apple Tree Resort and Hotel also has Globe, we had to find an alternative.

My requirements for a good place to hang are:

1.  Has internet connection (wifi or cable)

2. Has a Swimming Pool

3. Good and affordable food

We found them all at Cha-Li Beach Resort.

The last time I was at Cha-Li was almost 20 years ago.  Then, it was just a small place with thatch huts for day time swimmers.  They did not have a pool yet.  Once I have checked the amenities of Cha-Li using my mobile connected through GPRS, I called them to ask about the internet connection and their rates.

Ivy, the amiable receptionist confirmed that their internet is up and running at that their service provider is PLDT, I booked and we packed and left for the city.  When I got to the resort, Ivy took me around while we find the cabana with the strongest wifi connection.

We settled in at Cabana Naranja.  The cabin has 2 queen sized bed, full tub and bath, plush pillows, aircondition, cable television, and yes, my very important wifi connection at the veranda.

The children loved Cha-Li.  It has a good pool, although I would have preferred a kiddie pool, but since they only have one adult pool, the kids have to make do and wade on the shallow end.  While they are in the pool, I am at their restaurant which is close to the pool and has yes, my wifi connection!

Although I had to shell out almost $150 for the weekend, it was no biggie since I managed to stay in contact with my work and my kids had a break from the usual house related activities and they all spent their time on the pool and the beach!  A win-win situation!

To book and for more info:

Cha-Li Beach Resort and Conference Center
Zone 3, Cugman, Cagayan de Oro City
Philippines, 9000
Phones: (+63) 88-855-5941
info@chalibeach.com

I know I have neglected my blogs for awhile and the excuse is the same yes, blah, blah and blah…

Anyway, so far alot of things has happened recently.  We have moved homes and I am happy that after a quick house move, the kids had adjusted so quickly again.  This house is much closer to the school, and bigger in terms of space.  One of the nicest things about this house is the fact that it has high ceilings.  It also has several doors.  2 on the side and one on the front.  I found out that when 2 doors are opened, the house felt cozier and breezier.  One of the pluses is its location– a corner lot and even inside the house, I can feel the sea breeze coming in.

View from my work table...

Ventilation is great as well and I am looking forward to lesser electricity bill as we won’t have to use the electric fans 24/7 now.  I have also created my own work corner.  The location is good as well.  From my desk, I can see the people going inside the house and the gates.  I can also see the plants outside which is refreshing.

Thanks to the mahogany trees planted opposite the house, it has given the street including my porch a relaxing shade.  Hayy, this location is so conducive to sleeping and relaxation.  (:yawn: )

Alot of people are scared of change.  Since I have decided to move on with my life, I have adhered to the fact that the only thing that is scary about change is the fact that it is CHANGE.

It is hard to make a decision to change.  Ofcourse it is easy to utter the words, “I have change,” but come on be frank and upfront.  Change is hard and it is scary most specially to the process of change itself.  Change is good because this means another for starting over– let’s say “tabularasa.”

Change has given me back my freedom.  Change has given me peace of mind.

What about you?  How badly do you need change in your life?

Babies hanging on the doorway... how cute!

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