Michi Photostory

This Comic Birthday Card was my entry for Bee Happy Weeklies Week 12: Comic. This is a simple “print then cut"project. 

These Thank You Cards are “print then cut” project” too. 

This was the card that I made for my Father-in-law’s 70th birthday. It took me a day to cut and assemble this card. Check my IG Reels here.

I already cut this design before, but this time I prefer coloring the card, so I changed the design to draw. This Succulent Birthday Card was my entry for Bee Happy Weeklies Week 8: Something Funny

I love the Candy Greeting Card Design of Dreaming Tree, so I immediately cut it just in time for IWD. Perfect sa quote na "Confident Women, Empower Women". This was my entry for Bee Happy Weeklies Week 10: Celebrating Women 

This card was my entry for Bee Happy Weeklies Week 11: Pastel. I used my die-cutting machine to make this card.

Almost three years ago, I purchased my Sizzix Big Shot, and the package included Sizzix Floral Lattice dies. I only tested the dies and forgot about them. Thanks to Bee Happy Weeklies Week 21, I finally used them to make this "Hello Floral Card". 

There are 2 versions of this, but I only cut one design. It is a unique card, but easy to cut and assemble. I made this card for our wedding anniversary. This card is from the Gilded Stork website.

I made this card using the Flower Pot design from Craft with Sarah.

I like the Teddy Bear Design of Craft with Sarah, so this is the second time that I used the Bear Birthday Teddies. These were the cards that we gave to my husband. Hehehe! Pambata yung card.

 

I also like this Teddy Bear Card so I also cut this design. 

A ready-to-make card by Craft with Sarah. I used glitter and foil cardstock to make this Happy Birthday Tulips Greeting Card.

My youngest sister purchased a new home, and these are the cards that I made. My mom used the “New Home Door Card” 

My mom attended a Confirmation, and this is the card that I made last week before her flight. Confirmation in Norway is an important event for teenagers (15 years old). It is a transition from childhood to adulthood. It is like a debut in the Philippines. 

I like this Timeless Classic Card; you can use this for Father's Day, Graduation, and Birthdays.

After lunch at my in-laws, we traveled to Alaminos. We were supposed to stay in a hotel, but it was fully booked, and fortunately, my husband discovered Laylow Villas. It is a small boutique resort near the Hundred Islands. A thirty percent down payment is needed to reserve the accommodation via GCash. The night before our trip, we received their menu, so we needed to preorder our meals. 

We arrived around 1PM and paid the remaining balance. They don’t accept credit card payment, so prepare cash or Gcash payment. After that, they allowed us to check in. 

For an overnight stay, we only booked one room for PHP6,500, which is good for 4 persons. The room still looks new and clean. The bed and pillows are comfortable too.

The bathroom is spacious and there is a bidet but no hot water. They provided a dental kit, shampoo, body wash, and even makeup remover wipes. 

There is complimentary bottled water too, and you can also refill water at their water dispenser. There is free WiFi, but the signal is weak inside the room. 

We were lucky because the resort was not fully booked, 2 lang yung room na occupied so parang nirent namin yung buong resort kasi hindi rin kami nagkakasabay sa pool nung other guests. 

There is “One Island” near the resort, so even though we did not go to Hundred Islands, may navisit pa kami na isang island. But in order to reach the island, we need to wait for low tide so we can walk. It was a long walk and buwis buhay din kasi may mga aso sa labas ng resort, and I’m not comfortable with dogs, feeling ko kakagatin ako.

This island reminded me of Bruholmen in Norway, same kasi na kailangan maglow tide muna bago kami makatawid. 

For dinner, we preordered Sinigang na Fish PHP380, Grilled Pork BBQ PHP350, and Rice. 

For breakfast, we preordered Bangsilog and Longsilog. Breakfast is complimentary; it is included in our room package.

The resort only serves breakfast and dinner, and because of that, we decided to check out early and went to the CSI Mall for our lunch. I find it weird na from 12 - 2 PM, closed ang kitchen. Overall, we enjoyed our stay here at Laylow Villas. We liked the room, food, and service. 

I visited Pangasinan numerous times since I was a kid, but Ihave  never been to Hundred Islands. Nung nagka-outing yung family namin dito hindi ako nakasama, I can’t remember kung bakit hindi ako nakasama. And hindi rin sinasuggest ni hubby na side trip ito since nakapunta na naman daw ako sa Palawan so baka hindi ko na appreciate. 

Anyway, since we were in Alaminos already, we dropped by at Hundred Islands port so maayos naman pala, may parking area din. 

Hundred Islands Day Tour from Manila via Klook 

We stayed here for two hours. We bought some supplies and snacks. For lunch, we ate at Shakey’s. 

After lunch, we purchased fruits and dried fish sa mga nadaanan sa hi-way and dinala namin yung iba sa in-laws ko before going to Vigan.

It’s been years since our last road trip; we went to Pangasinan - Baguio - Sagada and last month, we went to Pangasinan - Vigan - La Union. 

We live in South Luzon, so our usual stopover is Pangasinan. My in-laws live in Pangasinan, so we always visit them before starting our tour. For a change, we did sleep there and decided to stay in Alaminos, Pangasinan. 

This was a last-minute trip, so we had a hard time looking for accommodation. But my husband found Laylow Villas. We stayed here for one night before we traveled to Vigan. 

It's been 13 years since our last visit to Vigan, Ilocos Sur. I remembered I booked a flight because I don’t like long travel, but things have changed, sa dami na ng expressway, hindi na matagal ang biyahe. But because of the rain, sobrang tagal ng biyahe namin from Alaminos but thank God we arrived safe. 

With our recent trip, we only stayed at Vigan and chose Hotel Luna for our accommodation for 2 nights. I’m traveling with my mom so we had a DIY Vigan Tour and ang dami na rin nagbago. I will share that in a separate post.

On our last day, I’ve been searching kung saan magandang magside trip sa La Union. I’ve been checking different tourist spots, but in the end, we went to Thunderbird Resorts. We ate lunch here and discovered na pricey pala sa resort na ito. Hehehe! 

We did not stay long since malayo pa biyahe namin pauwi. Four days is too short; we were tired but happy for a new experience.

Lunch Buffet is PHP2688 

50% off credit card promo = PHP1344 

Minimum of 2 and maximum of 10 diners 

Thursday to Sunday 

12:00NN to 2:30PM 

The promo is from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025 (not valid on holiday/blackout dates)

I informed my mom about it, and she approved, so my husband called to reserve. The staff asked for his contact number, and they sent a Viber message for confirmation, and called again, the day before our visit, to confirm our reservation. 

We were all first-timers at Cucina by Marco Polo Ortigas Hotel, so we were looking forward to our food trip. We arrived early, so we just waited at the lobby until 12NN. Cucina is on time, pagkapasok pa lang namin sa restaurant, sinabihan na kami na pwede na kami magstart kumain.

Cucina is an all-day dining restaurant that offers Continental and Asian cuisine. Their concept is an open kitchen. The buffet spread is not that big compared to other hotels that we have tried, but it is complete from appetizers to desserts. In addition, may free drinks na rin. 

My personal favorite here is the “Paluto”, similar to Marriott Cafe pero limited sa Grilled and Sauteed with Garlic and Butter lang yung choices. It is still okay for me since most of the time yung lang din request ko, grilled or with butter and garlic.

This was my mom’s despedida, but when my husband called to reserve, the staff asked kung may birthday daw ba. And hubby said yes, since 3 sa family namin ang may birthday ng June. And we received 3 complimentary cakes with candles pa when we dined. Actually, they also have a birthday promo 4+1 pero mas mura yung 50% off kaya yun ang ginamit namin.

Overall, we enjoyed our food trip at Cucina. We loved the food, and the service was also good. Mababait yung staff dito, nakasmile. They are fast in serving the ordered food, getting our empty plates, and refilling our water. 

Birthday celebrant dines for FREE as long as accompanied by 4 full-paying adults.

The celebrant gets a standard complimentary cake. 

Group dining with a 15% discount on the total bill. 

Birthday celebrant dines for FREE.

Celebrant gets a complimentary 4x4 cake. 

The discount is applicable to the birthday celebrant only. 

Minimum of 2 persons dining. 

Includes a complimentary standard cake. 

The offer is valid on the birth month only; must present a valid ID. 

Marco Polo Ortigas Hotel 

Meralco Avenue and Sapphire Street, 

Ortigas Centre, Pasig City, 

1600, The Philippines

T +63 2 7720 7777