Manila Peninsula Buffet

Bear Hug!

Montalbo Family with the Peninsula bear

Dessert Overload big Oscar

Kangaroo Ice Sculpture

Kiara cooking at their children's room

Their famous sun ceiling deco

Astoria Plaza One Bedroom Suite

Bedroom

Door to the living room looking from inside the bedroom

dining table and chairs the mirror made the room look big

living room

ONE BEDROOM SUITE

• 60-72 sq. meters
• Living room, dining and kitchen area
• Electronic stove
• Refrigerator
• Microwave oven
• Coffee / Tea maker
• Cookware

We stayed here last November because my sister bought an Astoria voucher that will expire, that should have been redeemed at Astoria Boracay but since we were not able to come back for the family travel, my sisters opted to stay here for two nights and 3 days. 

Chili's Bar and Grill Greenbelt 5

Triple Play 450.00

Chili Con Carne Soup 340.00

Grilled Pork Chop 405.00

Kiara and Daddy Irwin

Me and Kiara

Hanging Chili

We celebrated my birthday by hearing mass at the Greenbelt chapel and eating here at Chili's Greenbelt 5. Food is not cheap it is quite expensive compared to other restaurants with similar serving.

You're My Number One

The lyrics of this song can be found at  this site
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/sharon_cuneta/youre_my_number_one.html

Look at me mom
Shining like the sun
Bright as the day
You're my number one

And there's no treasure
That I will cherish like you

And when I smile
They all see you glow
And they all know
You're my number one
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/sharon_cuneta/youre_my_number_one.html ]
My one and only joy
Is to give you my love

(Bridge)
My one love for you
I give through and through
I see you and the signs that bring joy
That all the world can see so clearly

Look at me mom
Shining like the sun
Bright as the day
You're my number one

I used to sing this to Kiara when she was still very, very small. We even placed them in the

PSP so she could listen to all the Mozart songs and this is the last song of the playlist.

I was surprised one evening when I arrived home from work, Kiara called me "mama, look",

she pointed at the TV where Sharon's commercial was playing. "Mama, di ba sing mo yan sa akin

nung baby pa ako?". I was surprised because she remembered.

This is a link to my old post http://irwinagnes.blogspot.com/2008/08/youre-my-number-one-sharon-sings-nido.html in August of 2008 and that indeed was almost 4 years ago. 

ACE Water Spa in Capitolyo

It must be thrilling to stand in that semi-circular pole with water splashing all over your back and your body. It must be the ultimate relaxation. This picture was taken from the event room at the 3rd floor of the Ace Water Spa in Kapitolyo, Pasig City. We attended May's 7th birthday party at their venue room. The food served was great! I loved the food if the buffet food taste like that I would try their buffet. Buffet consisted of spaghetti with meatballs, buffalo wings, java rice and buttered vegetables with 3 kinds of desserts. Drink served was ice tea. I would recommend having your party here at Ace Water Spa because of its new facilities, good venue and free parking.

What Do We Look For in a Pre-school?

Kiara is turning 4 this June and we are looking for a pre-school, as a teacher and researcher this is what we look for or ideas in choosing a pre-school for Kiara:

Proximity - because we do not want her to waste time traveling and being stuck in a traffic

Schedule - class should start between 8-11 am because she still has to sleep in the afternoon,

research shows that as children start going to school they lack sleep, we do not want her to lack any sleep,

at 3 and 8 months she stands 3 feet and 5 inches. We want her to be really tall, more sleep, more height as research also shows.

Teacher-student ratio- the best ratio for me is 1:5 or 1:6 but to find this ratio, you have to pay high like in gymboree classes, some schools have at the most 20 students with 2 teacher and a teacher aid. With a big class of 20, there is a big tendency that some student will be left out, because teachers will either be busy looking after children causing trouble or making noise or disrupting the class. Kiara is soft-spoken, you know what happen if you are quiet. Teacher tends to forget you because you are not hard to handle. I know this I was once like this and I am a teacher, really, being quiet does not attract attention.

Curriculum- I am not a fan of any curriculum because I believe that learning really depends on the student, it should be individualized. Any curriculum will do. Research also shows that if you enroll your children at a summer program or advance program, there is little impact when these children start going to school as compared to those students who have not enrolled in a summer school. Both students, at some point get the same grade, learns the same things etc. Being in school is advantageous, being out of school is not.

Price:  you get what you pay for: pay small, sometimes you learn big, paying big does not necessarily brings big learning. I will stick to pay small and learn big. I can pay small and maybe hire a tutor, the combined expenses can

equal the amount of a regular pre-school. At least there is individualized learning.