Michi Photostory

When my son was in toddler years, I always buy coloring books or print free coloring pages online. He likes to color and doodles, even our white walls are not exempted. 

But now, he doesn’t like to color anymore and he prefers painting. Two years ago, we painted a canvas shopping bag and he enjoyed it.

Read: Art Time

So when I saw the Craft Easy Canvas Painting Kit last year, I immediately bought it. The kit is very affordable but it is not always available in National Bookstore. 

Read: Craft Easy Canvas Painting Kit

We also tried painting at Sip & Gogh few months ago and my son wanted to go back but I told him that we will go back pag may budget na. One session is almost 1K so it is not friendly to my pocket. 

Read: Painting at Sip & Gogh

Few months ago, I saw Art Craze - Paint by Numbers but when I checked stores, malayo naman sa min. Good thing I saw this Painting by Numbers kit at S&R and I immediately bought it. 


My son was not allowed to use the iPad last weekend because he did not finish his baon in school so that is the consequence. He was bored so he remembered the painting kit that I bought. 


The kit is P349.95, it includes canvas, 2 brush, paint and yung pansabit with screw. Actually, I find it expensive kasi kasing laki nga lang siya nung Craft Easy kit, the only difference is may numbers. Hehehe! 


But my husband told me, yun ang binabayaran mo yung numbers. In fairness, my son’s finished artwork is good because of the numbers. The numbers really helped him. Though he asked for help from me, so I painted the eyes, whiskers and flowers, mahirap daw kasi yung small. 

I will buy painting kit again so he has something to do when Ipad is not allowed. After his painting session, nauto niya daddy niya na magplay ng Pokemon Go. Sunod naman si Daddy niya at bonding daw nila. Hmmm! 

Nadagdagan na ulit. :)

Some people do not want to travel because it is hard to explore with kids. Some people do not want to travel because they feel that it is too expensive. Some people do not want to travel because they just don’t like it; they would rather shop or stay at home because that makes them happy.

For me, there is nothing wrong with that because we have our own reasons and we find time for the things that make us feel HAPPY to be ALIVE. In our case, we feel happy when we travel with our son in tow. 

For the record, we are not rich and we are not frequent travelers, but we find time and we find ways just to travel because that makes us happy.

Looking back, when I was a kid, we didn’t travel a lot, so I was really excited every time we had a field trip in school, a summer camp in church, or if my relatives had a family outing and they would invite us to join. That is the only time that we can visit new places. So when I started working and earning, I tried to save money so I could travel. 

Now that I’m a mom, we make sure that we have time to travel. I do believe that you don’t need to be rich in order to travel because traveling does not mean going out of the country or going out of town. If the budget is tight, you can explore your own city or province. I’m pretty sure that there are nice places that you can visit within your area. 

So why do we always travel with our son?

1. Traveling is the Best Investment 

We are not born with a silver spoon, so traveling is considered a luxury for us. We are happy to invest our money in traveling because we believe that...



Yes, traveling is not FREE, you need to spend money to go to different places, but it is not just an expense because you get something in return. You will learn a lot by exploring the world. 



So traveling is the best investment that we can give to our son. Cliche as it may sound, “You only live onc,e” so I wanted my son to see and enjoy the world while he is young. 



I consider traveling as the best gift that I can give to my son because clothes will fade and toys will be outdated, but the memories that we’ve shared while traveling are timeless.

When he gets an award in school, instead of buying gifts, we visit theme parks, museums, or places that he can enjoy. I don’t want to shower him with material things that will not last. I would rather spend the money on experiences that can last a lifetime.


We want to fill our life with experiences and not material things. We want to have stories to tell in the future and not stuff to show to people. 

3. Traveling is the Best Teacher 

Traveling is not always fun; there are always ups and downs. There are mistakes or mishaps along the way, but those challenges will teach you lessons in life. Going out of the country will make you more observant, attentive, and curious. You will realize that each country has its own culture and tradition,s and you cannot just do what you want; you also need to adapt. 



You also get excited to see the places or things up close and personal. I would like my son to see and experience different things because I know there is so much to learn outside our comfort zone. 

4. Traveling is the Best Way to Create Memories 

Some people say that they will just travel when their kids are already old, so they can enjoy the places. But for me, I would like to travel while my son is still young because time flies so fast, and in the blink of an eye, he is ready to move out of the house. 
Before that happens, I would like to share and explore the world with him. I want to travel with him, visit every country, every province, and every city. Eat foods, try new things, and take a lot of pictures. I would like to spend more time with him because I know time will come that one day we will no longer be his travel buddy. I would like to grab the opportunity while my son is still young and while we still have energy, because I don’t know if we can still travel in our senior years. 
I hope that when he grows old, he will remember the places that we’ve seen, the foods that we’ve tried, the things that we did, and the most important thing is the memories that we’ve made along the way. I hope that he will remember that he has a mom and dad who are always there for him because at the end of the day, what matters most is the people you have in your life. 

PS. If you love to travel, check my “Best Places to go with Kids in the Philippines” album on my Facebook page, subscribe to You Tube or visit our Pinterest board of “Traveling to the Philippines with Kids”. I will update the album from time to time 

IKEA is from Sweden, It is a Scandinavian chain selling ready-to-assemble furniture, household products, and food products in a warehouse-like space. Last summer, my husband went to Bangkok, Thailand and he told me that there is an IKEA in Thailand. He knew that I always check IKEA products online and I’ve been meaning to visit this store. 

I was fortunate to visit IKEA Tachikawa in Japan but since we don’t have extra luggage with us, I did not buy a lot so when my husband mentioned that he will go back to Bangkok, I immediately checked IKEA online catalog.

Read: IKEA Tachikawa

I noted all the stuff that I like and sent it to my husband’s phone so he can see the pictures and names. I’ve been sending pictures and my husband said, mukhang excess baggage na ko sa dami ng pinabibili mo. Hehehe! I told him that I don't know what is available so kung ano kasya.

IKEA Bangna

July 24

Last Sunday, my husband flew to Bangkok and I suggested visiting IKEA Bangna on his first day bago pa siya maging busy sa work. He’s a submissive husband so after dropping his luggage in the hotel, off he went to IKEA. Hehehe! It was also a good decision because according to the hotel staff it is Sunday so there is no traffic. 

My husband warned me, 23 kilos na daw bagahe niya so I only have 7 kilos sa aking ipabibili. So I have to say goodbye to Raskog Utility Cart because it weighs 10 kilos. The Kallax 2x2 was out of stock but even it is available, it is still heavy. The Trones Shoe/Storage Cabinet is too bulky. Waah! 





According to him, the IKEA Bangna is bigger compared to IKEA Tachikawa and hindi niya kayang ikutin. He was already tired so he has no strength to look for Pruta container. So he bought 4 Drona (storage boxes) THB149 each, Gnarp (5-piece kitchen utensil set) THB119, and 2 Glis THB129 each (storage with lid).



The Drona is for the Kallax shelves, the Glis is perfect for our small accessories, pen or pencils. The Gnarp is for the kitchen, it is not heavy and I’m not sure if it will not last enough, feeling ko madali mabakli. Hehehe! But I think I can use this in teaching my son how to cook, at least hindi mabigat and fit sa kanyang maliit na kamay. He forgot to buy the IKEA chocolates and cream sauce that we like. 



Read: Pasalubong from Japan
          IKEA Graddsas Cream Sauce

IKEA Philippines 

Few days after my husband went to IKEA, I learned that there will be an IKEA Manila soon but there was no definite place or time yet. But I’m one of those people who is excited because at least we will have another store where we can buy stuff at a very affordable price. 

Some people say that IKEA products have low quality and it will not last for a very long time. Some people say that products are mass produced so marami ka rin kapareho. But I don’t mind because I like IKEA products because it offers products that are space-saver, easy to assemble, and affordable. Maybe as a customer, you can check and choose what product that is worth buying.

There are IKEA products here in the Philippines but of course, the price is either double or triple the price. I found IKEA products at a reasonable price when we went to St. James Bazaar but I only bought picture frames. Well, I hope there will be IKEA Philippines soon. 

IKEA Bangna 
38 Moo 6 Bangna-Trad km. 
8 Bangkaew Sub-District Bangplee District, 
Samutprakarn 10540 
Hours: 10AM–10PM 
Phone: +66 2 708 7999 

IKEA Restaurant & Café 
Open 9:30 - 21:30 hrs

Our family loves to travel but of course, the budget is very limited so it is indeed a privilege for us if we can travel from time to time. We really treasure those moments and experiences when we visit other countries. Our (my son and I) last out of the country was in 2014, when we visited Malaysia and Singapore and we renewed our passports in 2015. The year 2016 came and I was itching to travel.

Last March, I saw my husband’s passport and I told him, "Nasa page 13 ka na, sabay lang tayo nagparenew and wala pa kami stamp”. My passport is really waiting and screaming to be stamped. lol

My husband just laughed at me and because summer vacation was approaching, he invited us to join his business trips. Of course, I will just choose one country because like I said, the budget is very limited and we don’t want to break the bank.


I chose Japan because it has been on my bucket list for a very long time. For some reason, the trip was rescheduled. The original schedule was first week of April, then they changed it to the last week of April and it was moved to last week of May. It was supposed to be an eight-day trip, nabawasan pa ng one day because my husband needs to fly to Indonesia after Japan. 

At some point, I was already losing hope because it was rescheduled so many times and classes were soon to resume. We had visas and plane tickets and one week before our trip, muntikan na di matuloy. But thank God, everything fell into place. 

Read: How to Apply for Japan Visa if you have Philippines Passport

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve seen Daiso on our first day in Tokyo, Japan. It is just walking distance from the hotel and you will passed by this store on your way to Sanrio Puroland. 

Read: Keio Plaza Hotel Tama
          Sanrio Puroland
          Exploring Tama, Tokyo 

I did not bother to check it because it is available in the Philippines. But since we canceled our itinerary for day 6, we had our chance to visit the store. 



Daiso is a large franchise in Japan and there are 2800 stores nationwide so I’m pretty sure you will see this everywhere. It offers a wide range of products for only 100 yen or 108 (with tax) so it is really cheap. 

And because of the 108 price, even I have no plan of buying anything, I did not leave empty handed. #wasteland Mura pa rin compared sa P88 natin dito. 








The store was big so I stopped taking pictures na and took my time checking different items. Lol 

Again, there is no bagger so we have to pack our own stuff.

You will no doubt be very familiar with the need to eat healthily in order to look after your body and stay in good shape, but it is also just as important to enjoy what you could describe as a balanced mind-diet. 

Family favorites like card games, are great for having some fun and friendly challenges against others, but they also serve a great purpose in keeping your brain sharp. 


Here is a look at some educational family games that tick most of the right boxes in terms of providing you with some good entertainment, as well as stimulating your brain and keeping that gray matter working hard. 

Seal of approval 

Mensa arguably exist in order to celebrate the achievements of a great mind and to encourage everyone to use what they have got and to test the boundaries of their brain power. 

The Mensa Mind Games competition challenges games manufacturers to put forward their ideas and to produce a game that judges will put to the test in order to find which ones may be worthy of their seal of approval. 

Previous winners include the highly-acclaimed Trivial Pursuits and as you might imagine, competition is stiff. The good news for consumers and avid game players of all ages, is that there are constantly new challenges to experience, featuring ideas for board and card games. 

Mensa have been reviewing new games for the past 20 years, and there is a good chance that you will have played some them, as they have become family favorites across the nation. 

Creative-thinking party game 

A past winner, Scattergories is described as a creative-thinking category-based game that first came to light back in 1988. 

Although the objective of the game is relatively simple, which is to score points by uniquely naming objects having only been given an initial letter as a reference point, it requires a good ability to think quickly, if you are going to emerge as the winner. 

You can also get a fast-paced card game version of Scattergories, for a rapid-fire test that ends when the deck is exhausted and the cards you hold are counted.

Great for problem-solving skills 

If you don’t like getting stuck in a traffic jam, perhaps if you hone your problem-solving skills by playing the popular Rush-Hour game, you might be able to negotiate a way out of the jam more easily in future. 

The point about this game is that it is designed to challenge beginners and experts in equal measure, so the better you get at solving the problems, the harder the puzzles become. 

Rush Hour is billed as an educational game as it aims to develop your problem-solving and critical-thinking skills as well as entertain you in equal measure.

Don’t forget the kids 

Introducing your children to educational games will not only entertain them but it will teach them some valuable skills as well.

Robot Turtles is a good example of the sort of modern game that reflects the modern childhood environment, as it is aimed at encouraging kids to learn and develop some early programming skills. 

Card games and board games alike, you can find plenty of ways to challenge your mind and develop some useful skills that could even make you hard to beat with enough practice. 

Rachael Hancock is a keen gamer, particularly of online games she can play on her phone or laptop. A Mom of two she encourages the little ones to play educational games so that they can learn whilst also having electronics time.

Rachael Hancock is a keen gamer, particularly of online games she can play on her phone or laptop. A Mom of two she encourages the little ones to play educational games so that they can learn whilst also having electronics time.

We were lucky that our hotel has a strategic location, you will really not go hungry here because there are several restaurants around the area. The only problem is we are not sure if the taste and price are good. 

My husband asked his officemate for recommendations. One evening, my husband went to The Royal Host restaurant. They have a different menu for take out and dine in food and my husband ordered this.



We were satisfied with the food so we had lunch here on our sixth day. The Royal Host, The Hospitality Restaurant is a family restaurant which serves Japanese, Western food and European food. 



The interiors look simple yet cozy, I noticed that most of the diners are families or group of friends. We took our time browsing the menu. Good thing that they have a menu for kids and just like other fastfood, there is a free toy per meal. 

The staff even asked the size of the rice, small, medium etc. I only ordered a small size since I can only eat 1 cup of rice. My husband ordered a medium, ang dami pala. Hehehe! But even if you ordered the biggest size of rice, the price is still the same. 

We were surprised with the serving, it was really huge es,pecially for the kid’s meal. My son was not able to finish his meal. 




The taste is good and the price is very reasonable. I can’t remember the exact price but if I remember it right, the total price is not close to P1500. The service is also good, the staff immediately refills our drinks even without asking.

Royal Host 
Plaza 4F on a hill, 1-44, Ochiai, 
Tama-shi, Tokyo, 206-0033

Day 6 is also our last day to enjoy Tokyo, Japan because we had an early flight the following day. Initial plan is to stay till Sunday para sulit but my husband needs to be in Indonesia by Sunday so we need to go home na ng Saturday. 

Anyway, I have three choices for Day 6 so it depends on the weather and our stamina. 

1. Hakone Free Pass Tour 
2. Tokyo Disneyland 
3. Fuji Shibazakura Festival 

We wanted to see Mt. Fuji so we planned to avail the Hakone Free Pass Tour but if the weather is cloudy, we will just go to Tokyo Disneyland or Fuji Shibazakura Festival. 

Fuji Shibazakura Festival only happens from April to May, since we were not able to see cherry blossoms, this is a good alternative where we can see lawn cherry. The ground looks like pink, white, or purple carpet because it was covered with moss phlox. Ang sarap sana magpapapicture. :) 

But on our third day in Japan, my husband’s officemate learned about our plan, he said that the entrance is already free kasi naglalagas na daw ang mga flowers. Maybe because it is already the last week of the festival so we already removed this to our choices. Sayang naman kasi baka hindi na rin maganda at may mga kalbo na part. 

On our way back to hotel after our Tokyo DisneySea trip, my husband and I decided to cancel our Day 6 itinerary. Wala na kami lakas, we really need to rest and suko na rin ang aming paa sa kakalakad. #signsofaging

Read: Tokyo DisneySea 

The Royal Host 


When we woke up, it was raining so I was really grateful to God for giving us good weather from Sunday to Thursday. It was really bed-weather so we had late lunch at The Royal Host. 

Read: Royal Host



Good thing Keio Plaza Hotel Tama is close to everything so even it was raining, we were still able to visit malls and park. Since we cancelled our day 6 activity, we have extra budget for pasalubong. 

Read: Keio Plaza Hotel Tama

We did not bother to go to Don Quijote Akihabara anymore since we will not buy a lot of pasalubong. The train fare is also expensive and ayaw na nga namin maglakad ng malayo. Hahaha!

If you like collecting bento stuff, ang dami dito. 



Side story: I bought Tomica Cars at Sanrio Puroland because I know that there are limited designs in the Philippines so imagine my reaction when I saw Tomica Cars in the mall. Waah, I bought Tomica My Melody at 796 yen and 580 yen lang dito. Akala ko pa naman nakamura na ko. I also checked Uniqlo store but there was no sale so I did not buy anything. 

Then we went to grocery, one thing I noticed here in Japan, there is no bagger so you have to pack your own stuff. The cashier gave me one plastic bag and she asked me if I needed two (sign language lang ulit) and I said yes naman. When I checked my receipt, kamote may bayad pala yung plastic. Ang hirap ng may language barrier. hehehe! Ok, next time, I will bring ecobag. 

Tama Central Park and Parthenon Tama 

We went back to the hotel to drop our groceries and off we went to Tama Central Park and Parthenon Tama. Japan likes park, I wish we also have park like this where you can unwind and relax without spending money. I’ve seen houses and residential buildings near the park, so the people are so lucky because they can just go to the park if they want to walk, jog, or kill time.



The Daiso 


I saw The Daiso on our first day in Tokyo, Japan but I did not bother to check it because we have Japan Home here. But since we had nothing to do, we paid a visit and even I have no plans to buy anything. May nabili pa rin ako, 108 yen lang kasi, cheaper than the P88 rate here. I will share my shopping finds in my next post. 

Read: The Daiso

Dinner Dan Cafe 


If you visit Sanrio Puroland, don’t forget to eat crepe at Dipper Dan Cafe. The crepe is really good, I wanted to buy pa ulit kaso tinamad na bumalik kasi umulan na ulit. Hehehe! 

Read: Sanrio Puroland

Nowadays, I seldom bake from scratch after I discovered some good instant mixes for cakes, cupcakes brownies, and cookies. I prefer using instant mixes if we want desserts at home because it is so easy to prepare and less dishes to wash. 

But when it comes to banana cupcake, I always bake from scratch because we always have bananas at home. It is the best way to use overripe bananas. Let us save banana to minimize the waste. 



Last Monday, I baked Banana Chocolate Cupcake. It is an all time favorite of my family so one batch of the recipe is not enough. I also have Duncan Hines Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting that I bought in S&R P139.95. 

The taste is almost the same with the cream cheese frosting from scratch. It is rich, creamy and easy to spread frosting. It is also gluten free. 

I don’t always put frosting on my homemade cupcake (merienda) because it is an added sugar and expense. But the Duncan Hines Frosting is not that expensive so if you like cream cheese frosting, pwede na ito. My son likes this frosting and he wanted me to bake again so we can use it again.

Read: Banana Chocolate Cupcake
          Classic Chocolate Frosting 

Pastillas de Leche is a milk candy, of course, it is made of leche or milk. We love pastillas de leche but this milk candy is not cheap if you buy this in pasalubong store so even I like this, I seldom buy this milk candy.

Yesterday, I made Pastillas de Leche after tutoring my son. I have skim milk that I haven’t used and it’s in the fridge for so long so bago mag-expire, gamitin na. I bought this because I wanted to make polvoron but I realized pastillas de leche is much easier because I don’t need to cook. 


Yes, I’m so lazy. Lol The nice thing about No-Cook Pastillas de Leche recipe is, you only need 3 ingredients. 

3 cups of skim milk (powdered milk) 
1 can of condensed milk (300ml) 
1/2 cup sugar 

All you need to do is mix the powdered milk and condensed milk. I pour the powdered milk per cup so I can mix it well. I thought mixing would not be a problem pero need mo rin ng effort because it is super sticky.


After mixing, you can already form balls or tube but I decided to chill the milk mixture in the fridge for 15 minutes. But I almost forgot about it so, mga 45 minutes siya nasa fridge so when I was forming balls, matigas na siya. Lol! 


But still I was able to form balls and my son helped me in making pastillas. He is in charge of rolling the pastillas in the sugar. 


This is a good bonding with your kids, you just need to practice self-control while shaping and rolling pastillas because you can’t help but eat the pastillas. Store it in a container or put it in a sandwich bag for baon. 


Update: 

I used powdered milk (Alaska) and I chilled it more or less 2 hours so I can form it into different shapes. My son prefers the skim milk kasi mas matigas while my husband prefers the powdered milk kasi malambot yung pastillas. 

I made pastillas again so my son will not buy in school. Hehehe!

A photo posted by michisolee (@michisolee) on Nov 12, 2016 at 6:49pm PST

Read: List of my Favorite Leche Desserts 

It’s been awhile since the last time I cooked steak at home so last Sunday I pan-grilled steak. It is supposed to be medium well pero naging well done. Hehehe! 

Anyway, I remember the IKEA Graddsas Cream Sauce that I bought in IKEA Tachikawa so I prepared this also. It is a versatile sauce that you can use for meatballs, beef or pork dish. 



I just followed the recipe at the back, you need water, cream and 1 pack of cream sauce. Mix and simmer the sauce for 3 minutes. I’m not sure what kind of cream so I just used cooking cream. 

Read: IKEA Tachikawa



We all enjoyed the Graddsas cream sauce, ginawang sabaw ng anak ko yung sauce sa kanin. Hehehe! Too bad I only bought 2 packs. We liked this sauce compared to the Gravox sauce that we’ve tried before or maybe because we prefer creamy sauce. 

Read: Oven Baked Steak + Gravox Traditional Gravy
          Roast Chicken + Gravox Herbs Gravy