These Days

I always look forward to Neil's school presentations. They have 2 big ones every year, the Christmas program and closing ceremonies in March.  It just makes me so grateful and proud as a parent to see him perform on stage with his classmates.  I know they practiced for weeks and I root for the whole class to succeed!=) I was present during the final practice for his previous programs but not this time. Only Rich accompanied him while I took care of some errands.  So the whole program was a "surprise" to me.  His class sang "Star ng Pasko" and "Hush, There's a Baby." Neil did great! Proud mommy moment.=) (A look back at his presentations from 2011 and 2012 )

We took Neil to watch Frozen last Sunday.  I've read/heard only positive feedback about this movie and it certainly did not disappoint.  There was a Mickey Mouse short in the beginning which I found weird but Neil found it really funny.  He was laughing out loud.  Must be an age thing.=) We really enjoyed the movie.  It's about sisters, mixed with classic Disney elements including music, a love story, animals, and lovable funny character in Olaf the snowman.  I didn't recognize the voices during the movie so I was really impressed when I found out Anna was Kristen Bell (of Veronica Mars, a favorite!).  She can really sing and she held her own against Idina Menzel who voiced Elsa. Great holiday movie! These photos were taken using my phone, thus the low quality. I should stop relying on it so much and go back to using a real camera.

XO46 Bistro G/F Le Grand Condominium Valero St., Makati City I got Deal Grocer vouchers for XO46 Bistro a few months ago and as of Thursday last week, I only had 4 days before the redemption period ends.  Good thing Caloy and Charm were available for dinner on Thursday and we used the extra voucher yesterday for dinner after watching Frozen. I've been to XO4 a few times now and I really like the food, ambiance and the fact that servers address diners as senorito/senorita and speak in 100% Filipino.  It's like a mini-performance.=) I just wonder why it takes them soo long to process the bill though but aside from that, I highly recommend this place. Lechon Sisig Apan-apan Dumaguete Express Seafood Sinigang Salabat. Soo good but could do with less sugar.

Photo from Rappler.Com Rich and I watched The Addams Family musical at the Meralco Theater last Sunday. I got the tickets at 50% off from Groupon. Awesome deal! I've wanted to watch this show since finding out about it from Atlantis Productions' Facebook page and the deal was just in time.  The Addams Family has a popular cast - Arnell Ignacio as Gomez Addams, Eula Valdez as Morticia and our neighbor Jaime Wilson as Uncle Fester.:) The show was at 3PM but we made sure we got there a little early to get good seats. We were assigned to the second row of loge left side. Good seats! Rich and I really enjoyed the show. I'm glad to have someone who I can drag to watch these things with me.=) My earliest exposure to The Addams Family was the movie with Anjelica Houston and Raul Julia and I really liked that movie.  The play was funny, but dark and morbid so it's definitely not for very young audiences. They cast great actors and everyone had moments to shine. I was es

Race for Life is a fun run that is staged annually for the benefit of Real Life Foundation.  This organization supports underprivileged but deserving students but giving them scholarships, allowance and personal development training in important areas, not just limited to academics.  Real Life is affiliated with Victory, our local church.  I have always wanted to join this run and we finally made it happen this time and Neil participated, too! We signed up for the 3K Buddy Run. I was up before 4:30AM, woke the family up and were at the assembly area at BGC by 5AM. Our first family fun run With Isa Fabregas of The Voice And we're off! Neil on break. All done! Bitin ang 3K.=) We had breakfast at McDonald's and went home to sleep.=D

The 4th Balik Bukid country fair happened on November 24 at Santa Elena, Laguna. We've gone twice before ( 1 , 2 ) and we're big fans of this event so we worked out the family schedule so we can go again this time.  We're glad that some of our friends were able to come as well. Saya! The kids enjoyed the activities, I guess the sandhouse most of all.  The usual activities were still available - zipline, animal feeding, carabao cart ride, horseback riding, fishing, merchants selling earth-friendly products and a concert in the evening.  I really just enjoy being away from the city, being surrounded by greenery and spending time with family so I would always support Balik Bukid. Photo from Balik Bukid Facebook page. Everything stops for Manny.=) Neil enjoyed playing with Moy!