Baby Lyann’s 1st D.I.Y. Fairy Garden Party

Creating an unforgettable, creative, yet cheap party for your child, away from all the relatives you can think to help you around (an OFW sigh!);  starting from the planning itself,  downloading of designs, creating all the mementos from the scratch and the knitty-gritty part of being a party planner, on top of being a working mom, is the hardest of all.

Instead of paying for a party planner and buying package of themed birthday party designs,  (which would cost triple of my intended budget), I decided to make it a D.I. Y. (do-it-yourself) first birthday party for my lovable daughter, Alyanna Francesca (Baby Lyann).

Lyann with her dad…

My daughter with her 4 teeth…

Lyann at 11 mos…

“babyrush” as what my friends call her, clapping fervently!!

trying out some gifts from Tito Carlo! (pwede na pong pangsamba!)

grinning widely! (I’m a happy baby!)

modelling the dress from ninong Carlo…

I chose to have a Fairy Garden Party Theme. It’s very easy to download a lot of free fairy party printables with the help of Mr. Google nowadays, where you can just save the designs and voila, there it is, ready for printing- starting from the birthday banner,  alphabet bunting, cupcake topper,  bottled water and plastic cup labels, napkin rings, straw flags and thank you cards.(just type free birthday party printables, and it will show you myriads of links!)

The hardest part comes upon selecting which among these fairy designs fit well together, especially for the theme fairy garden and its color (which initially, I want it all-pink). Because of the myriads of irresistible, funky, cute and free downloadable designs from the internet, you will have the urge to use all of it!

Lyann’s cluttered playroom because of mom…

Here’s my list to narrow down my choices of designs. I put them all together to see if colors match and which-one- fits another design.

the pictures of all my printables…

Lyann’s birthday was last April, but I have already started my planning  , searching and downloading surreptitiously  during my breaktime  and printing as early as February. When I came home from work at night, I busied myself cutting and pasting all the stuffs, starting from the strawflags…

These watercolor butterfly strawflags are actually napkin rings, but I think it’s  nicer to use in straws…

Finished product of my butterfly strawflags and plastic cup labels…

I made them wands of Disney characters Ariel and tinker bell, in addition to the light pink and green butterfly wands.

ariel wand printables

Tinkerbell!

pink and green butterflies

wowowee Ariel wands!

tinkerbell wands on the go!

my flippery butterflies

I also made crowns for the prince and princesses, and flowery ones for the fairies of the party.

rapunzel’s “tangled” crown printable

fairy flower crowns

my cutout printables sewed in a lacey pink ribbon

My husband and I bought packs of candies: lollipops, gummy bears, mints and repacked it with thank you tags attached to it.

assorted popsies in a shoebox covered with pink gift wrapper

giveaway goodies

The napkin rings are so simple so I decided to put butterflies, bees and ant  printables (these are actually cupcake toppers)  in its center to add an accent to its look…

my napkin rings and toothpick flags

my utensils housed in table napkins with rings 🙂

A day before the party, my colleagues/ friends went to our house and offer some help since my mother-in-law went back home a week earlier than her intended date to return in the Philippines (unfortunately, her mother died).

Sarah helped me in cutting, pasting and designing of the mementos we are going to give away for the party…

Nanay Lita (Sarah’s mom), Ronnie, Jhoram helped in cutting veggies, onions and garlic slicing the meats for our different menu for the occasion and of course, Ate Vivs, who baked the all the macaroons and cookies …

And our chef in cooking Lyann’s birthday party menu: pork menudo, chicken barbeque, seafood chopsuey, spaghetti, chicken nuggets and hotdog-on-sticks.

Meet our chef, Ate Vivs!

cupcake macaroons c/o Ate Vivs! sooo yummy!

Mama Sarah, busy as a bee…

Papa Ronnie, Lyann’s part-time nanny! hehehe!

Thank you to all our kapitbahay and friends: L-R: Jhoram, mamah Sarah and Papa Ronnie, Ate Vivs , me and the celebrant (Parang magpapadebut lang ako ah!))

Our chef! (see the partially done birthday table for Lyann that night!)

My hubby inflating and designing all the balloons

our cookie batter!

my kikay cookie cutters!

cookie bears

butterfly cookie delight!

In addition to the wand, I made some colorful fruit wand skewers.

my watermelon fruit skewers

Her birthday cake was a chocolate-vanilla flavour fondant cake from Sunflower bakery.

Lyann’s Fairy Castle birthday Cake from Sunflower Bakery

This is how our house looked like after my D.I.Y. party designs… (I just spent two hundred ringgit (RM 200) for the glittered glue, especially designed wavy scissor, bond paper, colored paper, sticker tapes, some butterfly clippers I bought from a wedding shop, a pack of glittery mini-wands, felt paper vases, a wooden tray for the utensils,fairy-themed invitations and her DIY fairy castle..

our house, after all our labor

“HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY ALYANNA!”

the D.I.Y.Fairy Castle

the bottled water in our wine holder with fairy stickers around it

ice cream candies to be given away, too

macaroons with the cupcake fairy toppers

At last the fruit of my “labor of love” for my daughter’s first birthday… (hmm..papasa na ba as party planner? Now I understand why birthday themed packages are insanely high! Each intricate design is really worth a cent to pay!)

the carriage of the queen!

the yummy cookies

our sala, with Lyann’s growing up baby pictures, and the time capsule for her

Her picture @ 7 mos, taken by our good friend, Dr. Yambao

TIME CAPSULE: messages and mementos for her to be opened when she reach her 18th birthday!

the fairy castle for my princess

The Kiddos: (L-R: Bren, Ken, ate Sofia, Lyann and Fate)

Candle blowing:

Blow the candles baby!

Cake Cutting:

cake cutting…

The Casil-Cruz Family!

The Guests:

our brethrens in the Church of Christ: Ka Christian and Ka Michelle

with Tito Ronnie

Madam Khin and son Leo

Tita Vivs

with Dr. Umali and Tito Ronnie

with Tita Wena and Tito Doc Umali

with beautiful Tita Phoo

with Tita Sarah and Tito Jhoram

Pinoy foods around! We really miss this!(pork menudo, chicken barbeque, chopsuey with quail eggs, spaghetti, chicken nuggets and hotdogs; fruits and leche flan

with Ate Ashe

beautiful Tita Phoo

Lyann’s fairy friends!!!

Lyann’s foster family in a far, far away land! heheheh

with Doc Anton and Mudir Grace!

the fairies of Lyann’s kingdom!

Tita Grace and Kuya Miggy!

with Yaya Conching!

with Ate Christine

with Ate Raquel’s family

chika2x lang with friends

with ate Bosho

Ate Bosho and Ate Ashera

so lovely fairy, Ate Bosho!

with Fairy Ate Ashe

yummy shoes!

excited to open the gifts

happy!

my piles of gifts

my crowns

hmmm….littering time!

with Lyann’s baby book from VPRINTHOUSE, MALAYSIA

my sticker flowers!

Our brethrens in the Church of Christ…

playing with Ninong Carlo

wings!!!

I believe I can fly…

my green apple with gummy worms!

thank you Tita Lolit for my Hello Kitty fan!

Thank you ate Sofia for my summer dress

Thank you ate Bosho and Kuya Julien for my sweat shirt

excited to wear my croc sandals c/o Tita Laine and Tito Dante!

Thank you for my bowl, utensils and chairs, Aunti Khin!

Thank you Tita Michelle and Tito Kristian for my toy…

wow, my bag when I go to school!

pouty lips!

tired!

I am one year old today!

Thank you for coming!

The Lost World of Tambun Hotspring and Spa

It’s been quite a while since I blogged, and it’s HARI RAYA vacation for a week, so I found myself writing again.

I have a lot of backlogs on the places we went  when I was pregnant, so now I am catching on my missed stories.

“THE LOST WORLD OF TAMBUN” is located in Ipoh, Perak, one and a half hour drive from Penang. We got a ticket from Groupon Malaysia. We only paid RM 180 for the two of us (that includes the 2 D1N stay in hotel, eat-all-you-can breakfast, and our free admission from the hot spring at night, plus our day entrance to the theme park).

All of us were excited when we reached the place. It is located at the foot of the mountain, and the cold breeze reminds me of our very own Baguio City.

the scenery in Ipoh

Welcome!

check-in at Lost World  hotel…

I was 8 mos pregnant at this time, but I still managed to go on a trip like this! no more preterm labor for me! 🙂

This is what we call “Baby-moon”!!! 🙂

After unpacking our things, some of our friends brought their own “baon” and shared it with us. (yummy “adobong baboy”!). This was taken after our hearty dinner. 🙂

(L-R): my hubby, Naning, me, Sarah, Ashera, Ate Vivs and Phoo. (Jhoram is the one taking our picture)

We tried  the Papparich delights  located just on the side of Sunway Hotel.

wanna taste Papparich delight….

which is which?

yummy “arroz-caldo’ (sorry., i forgot how is this really called…)

After eating, we went directly to the hotspring which is only open at night….

the hotspring

At the entrance, we were given free towels that we can use, then after that, we can return it back as soon as we check out of the spa.

(L-R): ate Vivs, Phoo, Naning, me, Dr. Sayao and my hubby

The hotsprings are electrically generated.  There are different temperature ranges, depending on which one can tolerate. My hubby and I stayed on 37 degrees only, since I fear of any contractions that night. The rest, tried the different temperatures.

There was even a bar at the middle of the pool. (Unfortunately, we were not able to take a picture of it since it was also raining that night). We just started to take pictures around when the rain stopped.

rainy night at Lost World Hotsprings

It closes @ 10 P.M. so we just walked around and have some wacky pics.

me and my baby…

🙂

My family: me, hubby and baby Alyanna inside my tummy…

🙂

After the hotspring experience we all went  back to the hotel and sleep tight in our cold blankets, excited to see the beauty of the theme park in the next morning. 🙂

 

 

 

Welcome to the World, Baby Alyanna Francesca!!!

At 32 weeks AOG, I am already in the Philippines for the most awaited part of my life: giving birth to my first child.

I opted for ceasarean section when I had Gestational Diabetes at 34 weeks. (Although my sugar level was controlled by DIET only without insulin, ceasarean section was the best for me, since I am also an elderly primi, so I don’t want to take the risk anymore of waiting for my labor pains to come).

My CS was  first scheduled  on April 12, but there was a Pediatric Convention during those days, so it  was moved to April 14.

But on the eve of April 9, I had already my bloody show. My contractions became regular at around 5A.M. on April 10, so my OB-Gyne opted to do the CS on that day.

It was aroud 12:08 NN when I heard the loud cry of my baby girl. Despite my blurred vision, I was able to see her beautiful face.  It was the most beautiful experience, now I am entering a new stage of my life: MOTHERHOOD.

Thank you to my OB-Gynecologist and Pedia: Drs. Tina and Mela Katapang, my Anesthesiologist, Dr. Flores; 1st assist: Dr. Dulay and my official photographer, Dr. Dea.

Doc Mela, suctioning my baby, with an APGAR score of 8,9

catching her first breath on her first hour of life .... 🙂

Doc Christina at work... 🙂

my first picture with baby Alyanna Fraancesca... (love, love, love)

On my first hospital day, the pain was tolerable. My pain meds were  shifted to oral tablets, my IV fluids and catheter was removed and I started walking. 🙂

my first post-op day...

2nd postop day, nagmi-make up na...hehhehe

with Nanay Precy, who took care of me while my hubby is still on the way home... (still onboard from Penang, Malaysia)

my hubby and I...PROUD PARENTS...

hello world, my baby...

soo cute..my little angel..

wink! wink!

we promise to give you our love, my baby Lyann...

baby Lyann...listening Mozart music...just the way she used to, when she is still in my womb...

peacefully sleeping

my sweet little angel...

 

 

 

My Baby’s First Pictorial in my Womb: the Advent of 4D Ultrasound

It was on my 32^nd week AOG when we had my daughter’s 4D Ultrasound done in Loh Guan Lye Specialist Hospital, Penang, Malaysia. A week before I go home in the Philippines.

Some might disagree on this  new technology, saying  that the surprise on “who looked like who”, will be gone, aside from the fact that 4d ultrasound  is really expensive just for “picture-taking purposes”.

But for excited parents like us having our first baby, we really couldn’t wait anymore to peek inside my womb and see the face of our angel.   🙂

4D UTZ (ultrasound)  is usually done  between 28-32 weeks AOG when there is still enough amniotic  fluid in the uterus. When done in the later weeks of pregnancy, AF (amniotic fluid) becomes smaller and image will not be that satisfying anymore.

When we first meet my baby, she was hiding her face. She’s thumbsucking. So I was put on R lateral decubitus position to have a better view of her face. But she also sucked her toes.

The OB sonologist shook a little bit of my tummy, “Hey, baby…remove your hand for a while, mommy wants to see you!” she said, that made me smile.

At last we can see her face already. She’s sooo cute. Meet our little angel, Alyanna Francesca. She did a lot of things inside for almost 30 minutes of viewing her. She’s yawning, getting cranky, swallowing amniotic fluid, opening her eyes and smiling!

And so that’s the first pictorial of my little girl, the resident in my tummy.

my cute little angel...

smiling... (napipilitan?!) ;;; 🙂

with my placenta in her forehead...

smiling again and again...

sleeping most of the time

just saying " HALERRR" ... (lol!)

oh no...my baby crying inside my womb... 😦

swallowing the amniotic fluid

Here are also some videos of my baby:

Opening Her Eyes

Crying Inside My Womb

Smiling Inside My Tummy

A Baby Shower of Love by the MD Faculty

I was not really planning for any baby shower for my baby Alyanna since I still need to save money for my childbirth. 🙂  I am also excited to go home in the Philippines on March 8 , see my old friends and stay there for almost 4 mos! (yes, I got my annual  and maternity leave for 4 months!)

But then, one of the faculty friends asked me when will I be leaving, and that would be 2 weeks from now. So Doc Naomi said, ” Let’s have a baby shower, I will give the money to “madir” (Dr. Sayao) so she can cook!  I was so surprised for her generosity of giving me one!  🙂

And so we held it last Saturday, Feb 25, in our place at Vista Perdana, Butterworth. The usual baby shower has giveaways like baby boots or baby bottles, programmes for the baby and gift opening. but two days is too short to prepare for everything. So ours was a different one. It consists of eating Filipino dishes, laughing out hearts out, and singing videoke. It was so fun.

I always remember, that if you have a good attitude towards others, they will also do the same to you. Yes, I am an orphan, but my Filipino colleagues made me feel I have a family here in Penang.

I am so fond of posting the pictures with my myriads of friends.  They are my wealth.

(How about you? Are you also the KING OF MEDIOCRITY?PRETENDING TO HAVE A HAPPY FAMILY? No other friends was able to bear your attitude? No other people talking to you but your “VIRTUAL” friends via internet? To know the person well, share a house with that person or  work with him…you will know his TRUE COLORS!

It made me angry…the raging hormones of pregnancy again. Sometimes, I think my blog as a HORCRUX. But this only shows I’m a better person than YOU. I have lots of  TANGIBLE FRIENDS. YOU DON’T HAVE!!! )

This is one of the quotations I LOVE MOST.

Can you relate...???

(So now let’s see, if you have 2 or 4 housemates you hated most, it’s okay …but what am I gonna call you, if the 24 FILIPINO doctors don’t talk to you anymore? Think it over, DOCTOR….

Okay, so much of hatred… !)

Dra. Sayao cooked a lot of Filipino dishes: menudo, ginataang manok, ginataang bilo-bilo, and palitaw. Dr. Roy brought his Magic Sing ( this can do something “magically” in our voice!).

It was so fun! I would also like to thank for their gifts for my baby!

the MD Faculty in Penang, Malaysia: Standing at the back (L-R) Conching with Polly, Miggy, Grace, Dr. Anton, Dr. Yambao, Dr. Alvin, Doc Beeboo, Dr. Carlo, Dr. Roy, Dr. Dante. Sitting: Dr. Mel with Bosho, Romy, me, Dr. Vivian. Front row: Dr. Sarah, DR. Jhoram with Ashe,Laine, Dr. Ronnie and Tita Let. 🙂

KAPAMILYA, KAPUSO, KAPATID….heheheheh! 🙂

The foods cooked by Madir Sayao:

palitaw...

ginataang bilo-bilo

spaghetti Jollibee style by Drs. Alvin and Ronnie

eto na..pag me sexy chef, of course me " macho chefs" din....

sweet pineapple

ginataang manok, pork menudo...

melon ice cream

FUN…FUN…FUN…!!!!

Dr.Yambao...

Dr. Yambao dancing with Baby Andrianna

Dr. Roy and Dr. Fidel...

Dr. Roy and Polly (son of Dr. Anton)

Dr. Ronnie, Dr. Dante, me, Laine and my hubby

me and Romy

Dr. Roy and Dr. Vivian's dancing time... 🙂

Videoke time!

Dr. Ronnie...

Thanks to Dr. Roy's Magic sing! Buhay OFW talaga! 🙂

Baby Andriana, daughter of Dr. Angus and Tina

me and the cute baby

Tina and Dr. Jhoram

Mel with Bosho, Grace with Polly, Kostik, Ate Vivs, Tina with Andrianna and me

Dr. Mel and Bogs with baby Bosho...

The gifts…

my baby carrier....

purple duchess baby...

Thank you to the MD Faculty  family who gave me the baby shower. Thanks for the food, fun, and gifts…!Now I know, I am not the one with a disgusting attitude, or else you will just find me and my “family” only in my blog! (pity!!!!)

Reminiscing Hongkong Disneyland 2010 Part 3

After our ride from the  “It’s a small world”, we passed by several disney characters near the SNOW WHITE GROTTO.

Belle...

Cinderella from afar...

a picture with Snow white...

so beautiful!

after picture-taking with the Disney princesses, shopping for pasalubong!

We rode the train to see the whole view of HK Disneyland. After waiting for several minutes, we hopped on the train!

waiting for the boarding...

my ex-BF (now my hubby) 🙂

with other tourists...

planning our next adventure

our next destination...

The jungle cruise was one of the relaxing rides we had experienced…

the jungle cruise (this is big raft w/c can load a lot of passengers)

going to the Tarzan Island...

hmmm...

the view on top of the tree

the King of the Jungle! LOL!

hmmmm...

🙂

After strolling the Tarzan Island, we rode the Jungle Cruise again and headed to the Liki Tikis. this consists of tomtem poles playing mischievous sounds. Water squirts around in your surprise!

timing lang kailangan..!

 

me in tIki land...

After our journey to Liki Tiki Land, our feet got tired and decided to look for benches around…

just looking for a chair to rest our tired legs

We visited some shops for our idle time and waited for the Disneyland fireworks….

the most awaited Disney fireworks

 

 

It was fun to be at Disneyland, not only for children but also to those young-at-heart couples like us. 🙂

MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHY in Penang

Everything comes with excitement when my third  trimester (28 weeks) of pregnancy came. For once in my life, I want to show my bump (while I still have a flawless tummy!)  🙂

My colleagues in the MD Faculty ( Doc Yambao, Doc Beebo and Dr. Carlo) went in our place at Vista Perdana to have the photoshoot, last January 29, 2012, Sunday.

We started at 5 P.M. to catch a better lighting effect in the veranda. It was fun doing the photoshoot with my friends. I remembered our prenuptial photoshoot.

Here are the edited and unedited versions of their photography.

(I know this is just their hobby, but who knows in the future, they can build their own studio, right?) Of course, I got it for free! hehehe!

serious...

with my hubby...

wacky pics.. 🙂

Serious pics …

my baby bump...

soon to be dad...

Wacky pics…

i'm pregnant!!!

Husband and wife pics…

our precious baby...

Thanks to my colleagues for making a MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHY for me!   🙂

My Second Trimester with My Baby Alyanna Francesca

My morning sickness is waining now and was able to have “eat-all-you-can” at TAO JAPANESE restaurant @ 14 weeks AOG.  🙂

me at 14 weeks AOG

I am feeling better during my second trimester, it seems I am not pregnant at all except for my enlarging tummy. I don’t feel fatigue anymore, just like the first trimester and can resume on my usual chores like cooking our meals for my “baon”. No more threatened abortion and I can bear longer “lakwatsa” time. 🙂

I can say that this is the best time of my pregnancy. So I made the most out of it to roam around the beautiful places of Penang! 🙂   🙂

I had my prenatal  checkup in Loh Guan Lye Specialists Center in Penang. And I’m always looking forward on my ultrasound. I want to see her developments every month. Aside from that, I always read in Baby Center webpage to update every week what is happening inside my tummy.

my baby @ 14 weeks and 2 days. It was caught in the UTZ that she's thumbsucking!

This is her ultrasound at 14 weeks and 2 days. She looks more of a baby now, unlike from my previous ultrasound when she still looks like a tadpole,  along with the vestigial tail, wiggling her legs vigorously.

And now, there she is, with complete arms and legs, small fingers which she used to thumbsuck! It was really a miracle from GOD! She’s moving her legs, but I cannot feel her  discrete movements yet. I’m so excited in the next coming weeks to have QUICKENING (that’s her true kicks).

I don’t have anymore cravings to “munggo”. But I realized I am becoming fond of sour fruits like ponkan, and for chocolates it should be mixed with orange flavor.

my baby @ 20 weeks and 5 days

This is my baby at 20 weeks and 5 days.  During this week, I had already QUICKENING! Her kicks are so soft like that of a kitten! I thought that somebody poke in my tummy while sleeping, the first time I experienced it. IT IS A WONDERFUL FEELING that there is life inside of me!

I know there are millions of mothers around the world who had experienced this. And this is a new experience for me. A GREAT and wonderrful one!!! I felt really blessed about  my pregnancy. 🙂   🙂     🙂

During this week, my OB requested for my bloodworks (Complete Blood Count, Blood typing, HIV screening, and Random Blood Sugar-since I have a family history of Diabetes Mellitus). Everything turned out to be NORMAL, and I am so thankful enough, considering that I am diagnosed as  ELDERLY PRIMI, HIGH RISK. (LOL).

I suffered from bronchial asthma before, but when I got pregnant, I never felt even  BETTER. IT IS THE BEST condition I ever had. My asthma is gone!!!  Thanks to our Almighty God. I never had any attack, even if I eat chicken (that serves  to be the trigger).

Honestly speaking, I already prepared 10 vials of Hydrocortisone from the Philippines, in preparation of my pregnancy in case my asthma worsens. I have packed several syringes and abocath just in case i’ll have my attack before I went here in Malaysia. Fortunately, I was spared. 🙂   I am still hoping and praying that my condition stays at its best until I gave birth to my precious baby (A baby who came into our lives despite having a Polycystic Ovary Sydrome). God is really GREAT!

my baby at 24 weeks and 4 days

My baby's side view profile....:)

At 24 weeks, her kicks are becoming stronger, but not that painful, as what I read from other articles.  I am enjoying each milestones of my pregnancy, each week and her in-utero developments. I am still praying that I won’t have complications in my next trimester like Gestational Diabetes nor Preeclampsia.

tambay in Queensbay mall near the shore at 23 weeks AOG

🙂

bonding with my husband

lakwatsa at Tropical Spice Garden in my 24 weeks AOG tummy

at 25 weeks AOG, in Burmese Temple with Ate Vivs

Always praying that I will have a healthy pregnancy and of course, uncomplicated childbirth.

GOD is GOOD, and I believe in KARMA. Those people who had done the worst to others will suffer eventually, and I can see that coming.

(Wake up, bro!(Hey, you’re not an INC, palasimba ka sa Katoliko! Ewww!)  If you will not change, forever kang walang kausap kundi mga ka-blog mo lang! I pity your situation and family…! Kaya pala wala kang history of friendships sa previous work, terible ka!  maintain your “virtual friends”…yan ang bagay sayo!)

Reminiscing Hongkong Disneyland 2010 Part 2

On the next day, we headed to Hongkong Disneyland via the MRT. It is very convenient to ride the MRT rather than  riding a cab, and its cheaper too.

disneyland mrt

me in complete summer attire (tama bang nakapayong sa Disneyland?hahaha!)

me and my fiance way back then

In this place, a man approached us and took a picture for us, for “FREE”. And gave us where to get the pictures later. It’s not free of course. You have to purchase it anyway. 🙂

We arrived at around 11am and we were able to watch the parade of the cartoon characters…

After watching the parade, we entered on the different souvenir stores…

my favorite castle

these figurines are quite expensive ...

Then, we started to stroll and took pictures around… 🙂

the ice cream relieves me from the scorching heat of the sun

This is the theme park that we strolled first…

Lilo and stitch...

with the Sleaping Beauty Castle in the background

We got tired after a while and had our lunch …

this is the food court

yummy fries, chicken and coke!

After our hearty meal, we had our rides then…we started at TOMORROWLAND. We entered the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters…

Buzz Lightyear

I enjoyed this game…killing the enemies with laser toy guns. It feels like i’m in my kindergarten days! (LOL)

After this, we went to a rollercoaster ride inside a tunnel!  It is called the SPACEMOUNTAIN… You can really feel the gravity, since there is total darkness and it seems you’re falling in a blackhole! AWESOME!

we queued going to space mountain

After the heart-pumping ride, we decided to watch a 3D show of Mickey mouse in MICKEY’s PHILharMAGIC! In this 3d, we can also smell the cake that mickey is cooking. 🙂

This is another GOLDEN MICKEY SHOW, but we decided to try others for free! (heheheh)

We headed to “IT’S A SMALL WORLD” place. I was amazed with all the life-sized dolls singing “It’s a small world” in different languages. There’s even a Tagalog version of it, while we ride a banca.

enjoying the sail...

It was so fun! Wait for my next post on ADVENTURELAND… 🙂

Exploring Penang Farmvilles: Tropical Fruit Farm and Tropical Spice Garden

On my first year here in Penang, I wasn’t able to roam around and explore it unlike some of my colleagues. My weekends were  filled before with all my bride-to-be “kalandian”, including all my slimming sessions both in Marie-France Bodyline International and Cenosis.

me inside the dimlit Marie-France room

another session in Cenosis

After getting married, I got pregnant immediately, and  had threatened abortion in my first trimester, preventing me more to have a lot of “lakwatsa”. Not until we got our own car (by God’s grace: Thanks to Naza Forza promotion: a car with free ipad 2 and a 32- inch Toshiba LCD TV with NO DOWNPAYMENT and a processing fee of only RM 250! Gee, can’t get any promo like that in the Philippines!!!). So last Sunday afternoon, after our “pagsamba”, we (Ate vivs, Hubby and I ),  went to the farmvilles of  Penang: Penang Tropical Fruit Farm  in Teuk Bahang  and Tropical Spice Garden.

me ...:)

Ate Vivs ...

me and my hubby...:) (with our baby in my tummy!)

With the help of our GPS, we were able to track  where is it located. By car, it took us around 1 hour from Rangoon road (by Rapid Bus, It will take around 1.5 to 2 hours).

GPS is very helpful during our "lakwatsa" days

Penang Bridge

The scenery going  to the fruit farm involves calming sea and grandiose villas along the mountain slopes. The Tropical Fruit Farm Entrance…

going uphill to Tropical Farm

When we reached Tropical Fruit Farm, we were greeted  warmly by several tour guides. The reception area is located in a very steep place. It has its own cafeteria where you can order mixed fruits and drinks. There is also a souvenir area for this including fresh honey and aromatic oil.

price list of fruits

at the counter ordering our mixed fruits

Outside were benches overviewing the mountainous slopes. We had our medium-sized mixed fruits for only RM 15: pineapple, red and yellow  watermelon, “balimbing”, jackfruit, guava, honeydew. It was very refreshing. If you still want to have a trek with the tour guide (riding in their van), the package  worths RM35/head for 30 minutes of roaming around the farm and the next  30 minutes to savor all the fruits that you want in their fruit banquet. We opted to stay in the benches and enjoy the scenery.

yum..yum...

refreshing!!!!

fruit diet...

honey and different aromatic oils

dried fruits ...

the big aloe veras

the patio....

After an hour of strolling and filling our lungs with fresh air , we headed  to Tropical Spice Garden.

At the entrance, we paid for self-guided tour (RM 14), and had Citronella oil in our body to protect us against insects.

our self-guided tour ticket

There were labeled trails along the way…

these signs helped us find our ways...

we captured a picture of this snake while we were walking in the trail...

me and my baby @ 24 weeks AOG

the giant swing in between two giant trees

Happy swinging!

The beautiful flowers along the trail…

where is the tree house?

spice garden map

the beautiful scenery from up afar

At last we reached the tree monkey. I grabbed some pics from them, because during this time, all our cameras were lowbat. (This “lakwatsa” was on the spot… so we did not have a time to prepare and charge our gadgets! )

These are some of the pics from Ms. CK Lam‘s website:

a picture of the tree monkey entrance hall.

This is what I ordered for a snack:

yummy sticky rice with ripe mango

This is what Ate Vivs ate

For the souvenir, I bought a key chain :

What a tiring Sunday but our “lakwatsa” day is really worth it!