Michi Photostory

Bee Happy Weeklies' theme for this week is mental health. I researched it and discovered that there is Mental Health Awareness Month and World Mental Health Day.

Mental Health Awareness Month has been observed since May 1949 in the United States. The theme for this year is “Where to Start”; “For anyone struggling with the pressure of today’s world, feeling alone, or wondering if they can feel better, this is Where to Start”

October 10 is World Mental Health Day and the theme is about Mental Health at Work. According to WHO, poor working environments - including discrimination and inequality, excessive workloads, low job control, and job insecurity - pose a risk to mental health. 

I experienced excessive workloads when I was working, yung kahit holiday papasukin ka, wala naman bayad yun. Sa BPO naman, yung nakavacation leave ka tapos icacancel nila, sayang ang plane ticket ko. Parang bawal magholiday. Anyway, past is past. 

For my Mental Health craft project, I planned to use Printable Iron-On Vinyl but I can’t decide which design I will use in the Groovy Mental Health Bundle that I got. So in the end, I made stickers so I could use all the designs. Hehehe! I printed and then cut using a Glossy Sticker Sheet. 

Just this morning, I found this quote on my Facebook Memories, 11 years ago na pero still very helpful.

This is the reason why I had limited time to blog because I was preparing for my son’s birthday. I made a banner, cake topper, and birthday mini album. 

For girls, they always say “Sweet Sixteen” but I had no idea about boys. While browsing Pinterest, I stumbled on “Superb Sixteen” so I used it for my cake topper. I made two cake toppers using Thinker and Bright fonts.  

This Happy Birthday Banner has been on my list for a long time. I told myself that I would make it for my husband’s birthday and then for my birthday but it didn’t happen. Finally, I made it just in time for my son’s birthday. 

This is the biggest project that I have done so far. It took me 2 hours of cutting and 3 hours of assembling the project. I was tired but happy. I plan to use this banner for our future birthdays. 

Last June, I joined Card Making Countdown and there are two projects that I did not do because of limited time. But I knew that I would make the mini album card for my son’s birthday. I finished the mini album card in 3 days. Installment ko ginawa, first day yung card template, then yung box and last yung mga pictures and message na ilalagay ko. 

Natagalan ako sa pictures because my son has thousands of pictures so imagine, I browsed his pictures since day one of his existence. I chose pictures, edited and printed them. I attached them to my card template. Buong araw ko talaga ginawa. 

Even though it took me 3 days to finish the album, I felt satisfied after finishing my project and enjoyed looking at his pictures since birth. Kita ko talaga yung transition from babyhood to teenager. I miss those childhood days, iba na kasi kapag teenager na at may sarili na buhay. 

For the birthday celebration, we can really travel because my son has two days of asynchronous class but unfortunately, my husband has a business trip so we decided to have lunch buffet na lang. We looked for different credit card promotions but when we checked the date, hindi na naman aabot. 

Good thing, I saw The Westin Manila promo of “50% off Lunch Buffet and Weekend Dinner Buffet from October 1 to 31, 2024” so I told my husband about it. My husband already ate there so he warned me na maliit lang daw restaurant ng The Westin Manila. But I said, okay lang kasi 50% off naman. Mas okay na yan kaysa sa Yurakuen natin last year. Hehehe! 

After our lunch buffet, I invited my husband’s family to go to our house for merienda. I bought cake and my husband ordered pizza. My husband ordered the Triple Cheesy Pizza Craze for PHP1549. This package includes 12 inches of Pepperoni Pan Pizza, Triple Cheesy Burger Mega Crunch Pizza, and Hawaiian Supreme Stuffed Crust Pizza. 

I did not eat kasi busog ako sa buffet pero naubos agad yung Triple Cheesy Burger Mega Crunch Pizza kasi masarap daw so nacurious tuloy ako so next time, bibili ulit ako para matry. I don't have picture of the pizzas, late kasi nadeliver.

That's our 16th birthday mini-celebration. 

So off we went to the Diamond Hotel for his advanced birthday celebration. We arrived 30 minutes before the opening time so we just waited at the lobby. Before we went to Yurakuen, I checked their menu online and saved it on my phone so I already knew what to order. 

A few minutes before 11AM, the staff allowed us to enter and on our way to our table, my husband asked about the ongoing credit card promotion but the staff said, wala na daw yung promo, kakatapos lang last week. Toink. We were already there so we had no choice but to eat. 

The staff informed us about their promo meals, there are 3 choices which are Saga Beef Taitaki PHP950, Beef Sukiyaki (Solo) PHP333 and Gyu Tan Oden PHP255. Unfortunately, wala doon yung gusto ko kainin. My husband said, just order what we wanted to eat so we ordered Guresu Set PHP2,390, Shinju Set PHP1,750 and Beef Sukiyaki PHP333.

My husband ordered the cheapest meal because he said, for sure hindi namin mauubos yung order namin. Well, in our mind kasi, since the price is not cheap baka malaki naman serving but we were shocked when our food arrived after 25 minutes. Malayo siya sa experience ni hubby kapag nag aala carte order sa mga Japanese restaurant ng hotel like Kogetsu of The Saujana Hotel and Resort and Edo Japanese Restaurant of Hanoi Daewoo Hotel. Dito kasi isang tray lang talaga and nandoon na lahat ng food except sa fruits.

As of this writing, I can no longer see their menu online, good thing that I still have the photo of the set menu. 

Guresu Set Menu includes appetizer, stewed dish, grilled gindara teriyaki, beef shogayaki, shrimp tempura, chawan mushi, steamed rice, pickles and miso soup and fresh fruit slices. 

Shinju Set Menu includes appetizer, maguro tosazukuri, grilled salmon, mentaiko mayonnaise, slice grilled beef teriyaki, salad, steamed rice, pickles and miso soup, fresh fruit slices. 

Individual Sukiyaki hot pot. 

My husband said, sulit daw yung order niya for PHP333. Kung may ongoing promotion sana, pwede na yung price sa kinain namin pero dahil regular price siya, naisip namin sana nagbuffet na lang kami. My son even said, sana sa Teppanya na lang. Anyway, charged to experience na lang. Lesson learned, icheck yung date ng promotion.

It was weekend pero 2 tables lang occupied or baka mas gusto din nila sa buffet or teppanyaki. And because of this experience, for my son’s 16th birthday nagbuffet lunch na talaga kami para sulit sa gastos. 

11AM to 10PM

I don’t have Halloween Pattered Paper so I used Digital Halloween Background for this project. I print and then cut all the card elements except for the card base. 

This week is also Teacher’s Day Celebration. I finished the Teacher’s Appreciation Cards two months ago but last week, nagcracramming na naman ako because I made these magnetic bookmarks. 

This is the fourth magnetic bookmark project that I have done so far. The other bookmarks are the Love Bookmark, Faux Leather Bookmark, and Minimalist Bookmark.  

For my fourth craft project, I used two designs “C is for Coffee” and Teacher Educator, Compassionate, Dedicated, and Motivator. I attached and flattened the designs using basic shapes. You can manually cut the design and magnetic sheet but I used my Cricut Maker. 

Materials: 

Photo Paper 

Glitter Phototop 

Magnet Sheet 

E7000 Glue 

For my display card, I used this Back to School Digital Paper Textures. I printed the design using White Glitter Paper and manually cut the cards. 

It was funny because when I posted this on my Facebook Story, some people thought that it was my grandfather’s birthday. Hehehe! We had a huge age gap kasi. Actually, his first grandchild was my classmate when I was in Kinder. Oh di ba, ka-age ko lang pamangkin ko sa pinsan.

The invitation said 12 to 12:30PM yung waiting time but we arrived past 11AM so nag-ikot ikot muna kami sa mall before we went to the restaurant. We just went to the restaurant past 12NN na and konti pa lang visitors. 

I also heard that my one of my uncles was there at 11:30AM pero hindi pa daw pwede kumain. So I don't know kung same sa Cabalen na may time limit yung buffet. Yung difference ng Cabalen and Cabalen Plus is, that there are additional Asian cuisines on their menu. 

We started eating around 12:30PM nung dumating na yung pinsan ko na nagpareserve. As expected, konti na lang servings ng food so hindi ko na kinunan ng picture yung iba. Nagkakaubusan nga sa dessert station. Buti na lang birthday party ito at hindi ako nagbayad kasi hindi ko talaga nasulit yung buffet.

But I am happy naman sa nakain ko, I am satisfied naman sa lechon kawali, kare-kare, dinuguan, bopis, biko and sweet saba. Pero yung iba na food na nakita ko sa vlogs, hindi ko nakita sa buffet spread or naubusan ako. My husband likes the sisig meal. Anyway, if ever we will eat here again, aagahan namin ang punta.

I brought cake and a birthday cake topper for my uncle. Unfortunately, wala akong picture nung cake + cake topper during the celebration but here is the 90th birthday cake topper that I made.

Monday to Thursday: PHP598.00

Friday to Sunday & Holiday: PHP628.00 

Below 3ft: FREE 

Below 4ft: 50% 

Above 4ft: Regular Rate 

Ayala Malls Manila Bay