Michi Photostory

We’ve been loyal to our credit card company for the last several years because they are offering different promos like free Starbucks coffee, gas rebate and I can even convert my points to miles. They even waived our annual fee for the first few years but after that, they only waived half of the annual fee. 

Leche is the Spanish word for "milk" and I have so many favorite foods that inludes leche, the first thing on my list is Leche Flan. I like leche flan and I feel so happy whenever I see this in any occasion. Cooking leche flan is not difficult but I seldom cook this dessert because nanghihinayang ko sa egg white. You can check the baked leche flan recipe here. 



I have a friend who knew that I love Leche Flan so she always gives me one whenever her cousin cook Leche Flan. This leche flan was gone in 60 seconds because my family loves it too.



And because I love Leche Flan, when I saw the Leche Flan Roll in Red Ribbon way back 2011, I immediately tried and it was love at first taste. 



Aside from that, I also love the Dulce de Leche Cake of Red Ribbon, these two cakes are really my favorite in their store. I still remember that I always buy this when we’re still celebrating my son’s monthsary and even birthdays. 



Next is Dulce de Leche, I tried so many times to make my own homemade dulce de leche, I tried cooking on stove and oven but it was an epic fail so I was really happy when I saw the Dulce de Leche bottle in S&R and I made Dulce de Leche French Toast.




And last but not the least is the Leche Puto, this is my new discovery. I bought it at Noel Discovery Bazaar at Filinvest. This puto is from Quezon and I bought it at P220. It is a combination of Puto and Leche Flan. We all love it because it is not sweet. 

Read: Leche Flan Puto Recipe

How about you, what is your favorite leche?

One of the disadvantages of a full-time mom is not having a salary and it is really hard to budget single income so we have to think ways and means to meet our needs and maybe wants. But this disadvantage could also be our advantage because we can learn new things, enhance new skills and discover gifts that we didn’t know that we have.

D.I.Y. or Do It Yourself can help you save money because you don’t have to buy stuff from the market, mall or restaurants. You will be amazed that there are things that we can do using our own resources at home. 



When I became a stay at home mom, Google became my friend because I always search and search if I need to know something. I’m so thankful that I don’t have to buy books or go to the library if I need information.

I’ll be sharing with you our DIY stuff. 

1. Homemade Play Dough 

My son loves clay and we are aware that Play-Doh is not that cheap and I was really thankful when I’ve learned that I can do playdough at home. My son knows that I can make play dough so whenever he runs out of clay he immediately informs me “Mommy, cook clay please”. 

Read: DIY Homemade Play Dough

2. Homemade Food and Pastries 

We seldom eat at the restaurant, as much as possible we eat home-cooked meals and even desserts. I try to look for some recipes and try it at home and this is one of the best ways to save money. You know that fast food and restaurants are very expensive and I guess P500 is not enough for 2-3 people.

3. Homemade ingredients

Some ingredients are not easy to find and some are not affordable but don’t be sad because you can DIY some ingredients and you can also substitute some ingredients. 

4. Party Giveaways – if you have spare time, make your own party giveaways. 

5. Sewing 

This is one skill that I really want to learn but I know some basics so if I need to fix buttons, hooks or anything that require basic stitches, I can do it. I hope I can buy a mini sewing machine so that I can enhance this skill especially now that we are spending money for my son’s costume in his school activities like Linggong Wika, United Nation, and Halloween Party. 

Update: I have my own sewing machine now, read more here.

6. Gifts and Cards 

If you are into art and craft, you can save money by making your own gifts and cards. Make your own paper bag, envelope, cards and wrap your own gifts. There are so many free printables in Pinterest. 

7. Home Repairs or Installations

If we need home repairs we don’t always hire repairman, my husband always check if he can fix it. If we need to install something at home, my husband will do it. I’m very fortunate that he can do almost everything.

8. Home Renovation 

I remember when we live in a small apartment, we painted our own apartment and my husband put all the vinyl tiles. We painted our own house too. 

9. D.I.Y Travel 

Traveling is one of our favorite bonding and to save money we don’t avail travel packages. I always look for seat sale and make my own itinerary. Click here to learn how to plan an itinerary. 

10. Homemade Gifts

This will you save you time in buying gifts in the mall. If you have the skills and talent you can do your own gifts. It adds more personal touch. 

Read: DIY Homemade Gifts

That’s it for now and feel free to share your DIY stuff.

Halloween is not a big thing in our family so I don’t really prepare any activity for my son. It was three years ago when my I printed a worksheet for my son, “Jack O Lantern” a christian pumpkin.  

This year, I saw the 13 Halloween activities in education.com so I decided to print some worksheets. Sharing to you the different activities that we did last month since we just stayed at home during our sem break. Yes, we did not have any getaway because my husband could not take a vacation leave. #boo 

Cut and Paste Activity




Reading Comprehension

Source

My son saw the cover of the construction paper so he told me to make a pumpkin. He just helped me to paste the leaves.



Cutting Practice


Reading Sight Words, Addition and Subtraction and Coloring

Source

My son doesn't like coloring activity, obvious naman di ba sa pagcolor. hehehe! But he needs to practice to improve his coloring skills. 

How about you, how did you spend your sem break?

A couple of weeks ago, I was cutting stickers and tags and my son asked me 



Ethan: What are you doing mommy? 
Me: I’m cutting paper, do you want to help? 
Ethan: No, puputol yan e, sisira. 
Me: Do you want to cut paper? 
Ethan: Yes. 

So I gave him the cutting practice activity that I printed before and it seems that he enjoyed it. 



I realized that maybe this is the best time to practice his cutting skills. I admit that I don’t allow him to use scissors because I don’t want him to cut anything or to hurt himself. I posted two years ago that my son cut our bed sheet and I don’t want that to happen again. See my post here.  




All his assignments or projects that need cutting, I do it for him. He can do the pasting but not the cutting. But I know that he needs to learn to cut because next year, he will be in Grade 1 so he needs to be independent. 

Little did I know that scissor cutting is very essential in preschool activities and it is considered pre-handwriting skills. Kaya pala ang ganda ganda ng sulat ng anak ko. lol I wish I knew this before so wala ng comment ang teacher na “practice writing”. 

I've read that 2 years old can start cutting paper. According to ot-mom-learning-activities.com “Scissor cutting, with a proper scissor grasp, will give these fingers (the thumb, forefinger and middle finger) lots of practice in working together, and will strengthen your child’s hand muscles. This will help to improve fine motor skills and to develop the correct pencil grasp for good handwriting” 

Naubusan ng yellow ink, iba na kulay ng pumpkin. lol

I search for more cutting practice worksheets and printed it so he has something to do this sembreak. So far, he can cut straight lines, zigzag and curved lines. From now on, we will cut more papers. 

Note: I always used scratch paper to print worksheets. I also gave him plastic so he can clean his mess. 

Click here to check the free cutting practice worksheets.

I mentioned in one of my posts that I received eGift Card from Munchpunch but I wasn’t able to use it because when we went to Buffalo’s Wings N Things Solenad branch, my eGC wasn’t honored. 

And because of that incident, I printed the giftaway and listed all the branches where I can use the eGC, para sure. Four months had passed and finally I was able to use it, after attending the World Psoriasis Day in San Andres, Manila we went to Glorietta to eat our brunch at Buffalo’s Wings N Things. 



It took us time to find the restaurant and I noticed that the restaurant is small. Solenad branch is much bigger. I ordered Garlic Parmesan + Fries P149 + 29 again since I don't like spicy food, my husband ordered Triple Mini Burgers P179 and my son ordered NY Cheese Cake Ice Cream (I forgot the price), we ordered drinks too so we can consume the P500. :) 







We’re satisfied with our meal again, I shared the chicken with my son. He only likes the skin of the chicken so ending sa kin na yung wala lasa. Lol My son did not like the dessert because he saw the blueberry sauce on top of the cream. But my husband was so happy with the NY Cheese Cake Ice Cream and muntikan ko ng di matikman. Lol #masarapnamankasi Next time we visit this restaurant, I will order the ice cream again.

Buffalo's Wings N' Things 
2/F Glorietta 5, Office Dr 
San Lorenzo, Makati

I was in my fourth-year college when I was diagnosed that I have psoriasis and sad to say that it has no cure yet. At that time, I had a mild case of psoriasis so I can say that I have still a normal life because people cannot see my psoriasis yet. I can do anything and I can wear any clothes, but things change after I gave birth to my son. 

I have psoriasis all over my body and I can’t even count them. I experienced severe psoriasis last year, see the story here.  Having this skin condition really changed my life and I always wish that someday I would have normal skin again. So I can do anything and I can wear anything I want. 

I’m grateful that my family and friends accept and support my skin condition. I’m also a member of Asian PsorClub and PsorPhil group so I know that I’m not alone in this battle. 

Every year, PsorPhil celebrates World Psoriasis Day and I really try my best to be part of this event. So far I’ve attended three funwalk since 2010. I attended the funwalk in 2010 and 2012 and last Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014.

Just to give you an idea “World Psoriasis Day is a yearly event dedicated to people with psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis. This is a global event wherein people around the world perform activities to give an international voice to the 125 million people with psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis. 

IFPA ( International Federation of Psoriasis Associations) would like to raise awareness about psoriasis so people won’t be discriminated. It aims to improve access to treatments, increase understanding about the skin condition and unite different psoriasis groups so people with psoriasis will get the attention and consideration they deserve.” 

Update: No more Tonkantsu by Terazawa in Solenad 1

There are so many new restaurants that are popping everywhere and now I’ve been seeing a lot of Japanese restaurants serving tonkatsu. I’m not really into Japanese food because I don’t eat raw food but since they also serve other dishes, I have reason to try Japanese restaurants. My usual order is tonkatsu or ebi tempura. 

We always visit Nuvali and I always see Tonkatsu by Terazawa, I know that it is a new restaurant in Nuvali because if I remember it right, Pig Out restaurant yung pinalitan nila. 

Two weeks ago, after we visited my grandmother in Laguna, we dropped by at Nuvali to buy tiramisu then we checked the Tonkatsu restaurant. We saw the P295 + SC katsu promo but it was only 3PM, it was too early for dinner so we just went home and I promise myself that we will go back.



So after a week, we went back to Nuvali, it was Friday night so I was expecting a full packed restaurant but we were the first customer at past 6PM. 



Upon seated, they gave us the menu and tea, there are only two choices for the unlimited promo so we order both, Rosu Katsu (Deep Fried Pork Loin) and Hire Katsu (Deep Fried Pork Fillet) at P295. The meal includes unlimited miso soup, rice and cabbage. My son who was not in the mood to eat so he just ordered French fries P125. 



I like the interior of the restaurant, mukha siya maaliwalas. They have TV and free wifi so you won’t get bored while waiting for your order.

Rosu Katsu

Hire Katsu

The katsu is good, there is a crunch in every bite but I find it dry and thin. Maybe because this is not the premium cut of pork. It is just ok for us and we still prefer the katsu of Yabu. But if you are craving for tonkatsu and you live in Laguna, I can still suggest this restaurant. 

Tonkatsu by Terazawa 
Solenad, Nuvali, Nuvali Blvd 
Santa Rosa, Laguna

Since we always go out every weekend, we have no choice but to eat outside. We don’t want to splurge on food always so from time to time we eat in fastfood or affordable restaurant. 

A couple of weeks ago, after my check-up, we went to Tummy Tons to eat our lunch because we don’t have food at home. My husband ate here before so he suggested this so I can try the mais con yelo na parang Razon’s din yung ice.



If you live in Binan, Laguna, you will notice this restaurant because it is along the hi-way before you reach the Carmona/Binan Exit. It took me time to browse the menu and we ended up buying set meals.


My son ordered the budget meal lumpia shanghai P65 and my husband and I ordered the P99 meal BBQ and Grilled Liempo (unlimited rice + iced tea). That’s what we thought but when we received the bill, P120 pala yung with iced tea. Waah! I should ordered the budget meal na lang because di naman ko malakas sa rice. 




We also ordered saging con yelo P55 and mais con yelo P45, I agree with my husband that the shaved ice can be compared to Razon’s but I still prefer Razon’s. 


Overall, we’re all satisified naman with the taste and take note, free wifi pa sila. But next time, budget meals na lang kami. Hehehe!

One more day and my son will have his school break. Yey! I don’t have to set my alarm clock for one week. I have more time to do the household chores and finish my backlogs because we have no homework and quizzes. Last review later because tomorrow is the last day of his second periodical test. We need to review for Christian Living, Health and Computer.

Anyway, do you have any plans for sembreak? Are you looking for sembreak activities where you can take your kids while they are on vacation. I know that I posted before some zoos that you can visit under Zoomanity but I’ll be sharing to you more zoos that we have visited here in Philippines.

Let me start with Manila Zoo. I’ve visited this zoo twice, one when I was 7 years old and the second time was when I went with my own family. Yes, after two decades. The elephant was still there and I saw that they offer a boat ride too. I heard that there is Kinder Zoo beside the Manila Zoo which I haven’t visited yet. 

Read: Manila Zoo



Next is Ark Avilon Zoo, we celebrated our son’s 3rd birthday in this zoo because at that time the weather is unpredictable so we chose an indoor interactive zoo. The zoo is not that big, in fact you can enjoy the place for one hour. The good thing about this zoo is, it is located in Tiendisitas so you can shop or play at the Fun Ranch if you have more time. 


Read: Ark Avilon Zoo



We also visited Avilon Zoo, the sister company of Ark Avilon Zoo. This zoo is much bigger and located in Rizal and it took us more than two hours just to tour the zoo. 

Read: Avilon Zoo



Paradizoo is the first zoo that my son visited which is located in Mendez, Cavite. 

Read: Paradizoo



The place is not that big so if you still have time try to visit Residence Inn Zoo which is located in Tagaytay. You won’t miss this zoo because it is along the highway. There are more activities and in addition, you can watch animal shows. 

Read: Residence Inn Zoo



Zoobic Safari, we have just visited this zoo this year and so far this is the memorable one because we enjoy the tram ride, the lion safari and tiger safari. I heard that they also offer Zoobic Night Safari and I’m not sure if it is the same with the Night Safari that we’ve experienced in Singapore. 

Read: Zoobic Safari

Lastly, we also visited Baluarte during our Laoag and Vigan Trip. The good thing about this zoo is there is no entrance fee so don’t forget to include this in your itinerary. 

Read: Baluarte
Manila Zoo 
Quirino Ave., Adriatico St., 
Malate Manila Luzon Philippines 
7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily 
Telephone numbers: (632) 400-1884 (Manila Zoo)
(632) 522-6179 (Kinder Zoo)

Ark Avilon Zoo 
Frontera Verde Ortigas Avenue corner C-5
Pasig City, Philippines 
Telephone No. 706-2992 
Fax No. 706-2993 
Email Address: arkavilonzoo@gmail.com 

Avilon Zoo 
Bo. San Isidro, Rodriguez, Rizal 
Tel. Nos.: (632) 941-8393 * (632) 948-9866 (63917) 899-5126 
Fax: (632) 941-8530 * 
Email: info@avilonzoo.com.ph 

Paradizoo 
Km. 63 Panungyan Road, 
Mendez, Cavite, Philippines 

Baluarte 
Vigan, Ilocos Sur 
7 AM to 6 PM - 7 days a week 

Residence Inn Zoo 
Km. 65 Barrio Neogan, 
Tagaytay-Nasugbu Hwy,
City of Tagaytay 4120 
Phone:(046) 413 1376 

Zoobic Safari 
Group I Ilanin Forest 
Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Philippines

I was clearing my photo albums in my phone when I saw this grilled cheese sandwich. I can’t believe that I haven’t posted it yet in my blog because I always cook this at home. It is so easy to make and you can eat it on breakfast or snacks. 



You only need butter, mozzarella cheese, slices of bread. 

1. Heat the grilling pan or any flat pan. 
2. You can put butter directly on the pan or spread it on your bread. 
3. I put cheese on one slice of the bread and cover it with another bread. 
4. Grill both sides until lightly brown and cheese melts. 
5. Slice diagonally and serve. 

If I’m lazy, I put the sandwich in the oven toaster. Hehehe! My husband puts cracked pepper on his cheese sandwich. 

My husband ate at Shrimp Bucket and he was telling me that he ate a shrimp dish with salted egg and he said it was delicious. He was suggesting me to cook this at home and I told him, di ko pa nga natikman e. He said, parang buttered shrimp din tapos may salted egg lang. #saltedeggrecipe

Read: Shrimp Bucket

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I love shrimp and I always cook buttered garlic shrimp. It is one easy dish that I can prepare when I’m busy or I’m lazy to cook. Lol. I love salted egg too so I always buy salted egg duck in Tindahan ng Itlog ni Kuya at Victoria, Laguna. 

Anyway, I check google for the recipe, some fried the shrimp first, some just use egg yolk and some use milk for the sauce. But I always want an easy dish and few ingredients so I decided to follow my recipe for buttered garlic shrimp and I just add the salted egg. 


1/2 kilo of Shrimp 
2 salted egg (mashed) 
2tbsp of butter 
4 cloves of garlic, minced 
Salt and pepper to taste 

1. Remove the shell of the shrimp. Deveined it if you want. 
2. Season it with salt and pepper. 
3. In a pan, melt the butter and stir in the garlic until fragrant. 
4. Add the mashed salted egg and mix. 
5. Toss in the shrimp and stir. Cook it until it changes color for about 4-6 minutes.
6. Serve. 

I tasted it and I was so happy with the result and I even texted my husband na baka di na umabot sa dinner. Hahaha! The salted egg gives more flavor to the buttered garlic sauce and I love it. I will try this with crabs.

You’ve got a ton of jewelry-making paraphernalia laying around, don’t you? Admit it. The beads, the wiring, the yard, the string, the baubles. They’re taking up space on your table. You need a way to neatly organize them without making them disappear completely. Here’s how to do that. 


Use Tupperware

Tupperware is your friend, when it comes to sorting and organizing. Figure out a few basic things like how many “categories” of stuff you have. So, for example, if you have 10 different colors of beads, you would need 10 different tupperware containers. If you have cabochon, briolettes, or focals that you don’t want stuffed into a container, go to the local crafts store and pick up some padding to protect them.

You can still use tupperware, or some other kind of plastic container-like material. You just need something that’s a bit more protective inside them is all.

Get A Label Maker

Get yourself a label-maker, like the Dymo Label writer 450 turbo. It will be a lifesaver. Making labels for everything, of course, saves you the frustration of digging through questionably translucent containers for that one special clip or pin that you need to complete your project. 

Making labels also lets you organize and sort everything on a shelf so that you can find the container you need quickly. When choosing a label-maker, there are a few things to look for. First, how much does the label roll cost? 

If you have a lot of containers, and you plan on updating the contents, and you think you might need refills or additional rolls, you don’t want to get hit in the wallet with overpriced labels. At the same time, you want to look for a decent-quality label-maker that will give you strong prints and a good adhesive so that labels don’t fall off after a month. 

Destroy Some Coat Hangers 

This is where the fun begins. If you have a lot of jewelry already made up, if you keep a lot of wiring, string, fiber, cloth, or anything that doesn’t belong in a box, here’s how you organize that stuff: destroy some wire coat hangers.

You can bend those things into amazing shapes, cut and reshape them, and customize them in endless ways so that they will hold all of your goodies. 

The best thing about this little hack is that coat hangers are cheap, they look good, and they’re easy to sort. You can either put them in an open closet, hang them on nails on the wall, hang them on pegs on a pegboard, or hang them over a door. 

You can even buy one of those over-the-door kitchen organizers and use it as a makeshift organizer for your repurposed coat hangers. 

They don’t take labels well, but, you probably don’t need to label them anyway since you have a visual cue there about what’s on them. Just make sure you file down any rough edges that you cut or you’ll be in for a nasty surprise. 

Selina Aumiller is a busy mom and small business owner. When she gets the time, she likes to share what works for her with others who could use some tips. Look for her helpful articles on many business websites today.

I saw the reminder yesterday in my son’s notebook that we should bring candies on Friday for the costume parade. It made me confused at baka trick or treat ito and need ko ng pumpkin basket so I asked my friend about it. For the last two years, I brought goodie bags for my son’s classmates so I want to make sure kung gagawa ba ko or hindi. But my friend told me that the kids will roam around the campus giving candies to students, baka umabot pa ng college building so make sure at least 3/4 full ang padala ko na candies. 

This is one thing that I dislike in my son’s new school, late notification. As in two days or day before the event ang notification. Like sa mga monthly offering, buti na lang may stock ako sa bahay ng pinadadala but what if wala di ba. Anyway, I texted my husband to buy candies before he goes home. 



My son’s pumpkin basket is too big so half full lang basket namin. Hehehe! 



Sharing with you the DIY Halloween Goodie Bag that I’ve prepared before. Click the image to check the DIY. 

Nursery



 Pre-Kinder