Mommy Corner: Preparing for your Child's First Birthday

Your child's first birthday is probably one of the things that a mom is looking forward celebrating. To tell you the truth, we were quite late in preparing for our child's birthday, our first option for the venue has already been taken. Parents nowadays book their parties quite way in advance, that's why it is highly recommended that at least for the venue, book at as soon as your child is born and have finalized the day he/she will be celebrating. 

Here are some of the suppliers that we chose for our child's birthday. I will be posting a separate review on each of them later on.

Venue and Food: Quezon Hall, Quezon City Sports Club

If you are a member, this is probably one of the best places to have a party - why? Because the rental of the hall is free provided that you are able to consume the amount that is required. They also welcome authorization so if you have relatives who are members, you can ask them to sponsor your party by providing authorization letter. Because you book it with QCSC, meals should be ordered from them, there are a lot of dishes to choose from, you just have to ask which of those dishes are good.

Event Styling: Patry Magic

We couldn't be happier with what Michelle gave us. Honestly, I'm not an artistic mom and I rely heavily on suppliers. Michelle was able to give us the simple styled party that is very very elegant and mind you, even the seniors loved the decors!

Photographer: Little J Photo

It was actually recommended to us by our stylist. Her tip was to get a child photographer because wedding photographers are different from children's party photographer. 

Videographer: Lemon Three Films

It is important to have a videographer because only this can of service can make you re-live the moments through watching the video clips. Just like weddings, video is the best medium that your children could enjoy their first birthday when they grow older to watch it.

Cake: Bethany Dream Cakes

We were given 2 designs to choose from: the defying gravity or the classic 3-layered cake. We decided to choose the first one because we wanted something different. My husband was a bit disappointed though, it was quite expensive for the outcome. Good thing that it looked good in the photo - at least the price was justified.

Photobooth: Photoman

We wanted everyone to have their souvenir shots so we decided to book Photoman. I've had my set of rants because they came late (should have come 2pm but arrived past 3) They've tried to make up for lost time but you could never rewind lost moments.

Party Carts: 

We had 5 party carts which were sourced from different suppliers, haha! Taho (soy pudding with caramel syrup and tapioca balls) and manong sorbetero (dirty ice cream) was in-house from QCSC. My NYFD fries cart sourced from second supplier, and Fuitas/Jamaican Patty cart I got from a third supplier. If you ask me why, its because I canvassed the cheapest one for each! I had to do this because I still had to pay additional on the corkage and electricity for QCSC.

Dessert Buffet: My Sister's

I was really blessed that my sister was good in making cakes and cookies. When asked, she agreed to make the dessert table spread for her nephew. Revel bars, cookies, red velvet and chocolate cupcakes made the dessert table worth going back. It was also a good way to introduce her sweets to our guests.

Host: Amazing Arnold

Because we wanted our host to be 100% wholesome with gospel sharing, we decided to get Amazing Arnold. I've actually seen him in my cousin's party so we know how he does his hosting. We also got additional entertainment from him - golden show (balancing show). We had to add this because we had a lot of adults and a few kids and wanted the adults to enjoy the party as well.

Invitations and Giveaways: 

These 2 items are the ones that can cost much but can be minimized. One of my sisters who is good in vector and photoshop did the layout of the invitation and I had it printed at Fuji. We bought envelops and a calligraphy pen from National bookstore. I also ordered embosser from The Best Impressions to make our envelops more personal. I started learning calligraphy while writing names in the envelop and got the hung of it in no time.   

With regards to our souvenir loot bags, we sourced our containers and then checked the grocery out for the items that would best fit and complement one another. This may sound tedious but I enjoy doing them so its not too big of an effort on my part.

I will be reviewing some of the items later on and share with you some of our son's birthday party experience.

Photo taken from sxc.hu

Lanna
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Tips and Reminders for your Balesin Trip (Villas, Food, Transportation, Airport, Activities, Etc)

Your Balesin trip is near! Are you planning to do some sports? fun in the sun? or simply jetset via golf cart to different famous cities like St Tropez or Toscana? It doesn’t matter whether or not this is your first or tenth trip to Balesin. We’ve compiled some tips to make the most out of your stay there to make sure you don’t forget anything OR you do not over bring stuff you might not need at all.

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Pinoy Vinegar Variants: Which "Suka" is for You?

As a fan of sour food, all my life, my favorite vinegar variants are the Chinese black vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and the traditional white vinegar. I never knew other variants existed. This was until last December when NutriAsia sent over a box -- yes, a box of vinegar variants placed in tiny bottles in a gift-worthy presentation manner.

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Blood Test: When All Else Fails, Go Fish!

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Contest Alert: Gardenia Cream Roll Text to Win promo

Gardenia cream Roll is the perfect snack that is both affordable and delicious. Your kids will surely love it as their baon because it has 6 cream-filled cream roll varieties:
Cheese
Chocolate
Cookies and Cream
Ube
Choco Strawberry
Rocky Road

Just last night, I was fortunate enough to have a couple of these rolls as I got hungry around 12midnight. It was the first time I tried it and find it really filling! Not only that, it’s already tastefully convenient because it was the creamy fillings inside depending on the flavour you want. It’s easy to carry so you can make it as a baon and it tastes good as well!

Here’s another plus… It just costs 10 pesos!!! You can buy it in "barkada packs" which consists of 4 different flavors for P40!

And…another bonus part. Cream Roll Barkada Pack will be giving away awesome gadgets such as the Samsung Galaxy S5, GoPro Hero 3 Cameras, Samsung 7.0 Tablet and Samsung Dualview Cameras plus other exciting prizes like GCs and bread packages!

To win one of those; Join Gardenia's "Gardenia Cream Roll text to win promo", from October 15 - November 30, 2014. Buy your Gardenia Cream Roll barkada packs to join the contest and text the promo code to 2948.
To find out more about the promo, do visit the following pages:
o www.facebook.com/gardeniacreamroll
o www.gardenia.com.ph
o www.twitter.com/gardeniaph
o www.instagram.com/gardeniaph

You may also visit www.facebook.com/gardeniacreamroll for the full mechanics of the promo.

Cheftonio
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Food: Protein-Craving from Meat to Fish

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Bawai's Vietnamese Restaurant

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My First Bronuts during Manly Eats

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Yam Cha Lunch at 利利 (Li Li) Hyatt Hotel

We just can't get enough of Dimsum and honestly, being Chinese doesn't make me an exception. Just last Sunday, we were able to try 利利 (Li Li) located at the 5th level of Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila. At 1,650.00, you get to enjoy unlimited quality buffet with great service.

Here are a few things that's a plus factor in this restaurant: (for me)

1. Even though it's a buffet place, the only ones served in the buffet station are the  appetizers and sweets. This means that you will be able to sit down, relax and enjoy your meal with friends and family compared to rushing to different stations and queuing to grab your food.

2. Specific Drinks are included in the buffet price. (Calamansi Iced Tea, softdrinks and local beer). Of course, Chinese tea will always be best paired with dimsum, you can ask for it with no charge.

3. Quality service. Since we were booked in a room, there was a specific wait-staff that was assigned to us. I highly commend their training because even though she's alone, she was able to manage our orders and requests at a breeze.

4. Buffet doesn't only include dimsum but they offer a wide variety of Chinese dishes as well.

The Food:

Since we arrived around 1+ in the afternoon and we were very hungry, I wasn't able to take pictures of all the food and appetizer section. But here are a few shots of the actual food that I ate.

Food I got from Appetizer Station

You would find quite a number of food in the appetizer section but please don't get too much because you should save space for the the dimsum and entree. My recommendation? The tea-egg and the beancurd roll are the must-try ones and the maki contains "lechon kawali" meat inside with it's skin on the outside. Soup and congee is also available but there'e nothing much special about them.

My Dimsum Plate 1

Their dimsum is served on a bamboo container and even though it is eat all you can, it is only served when you order. Their Xiao Long Bao is good and the Asado Sipao as well. They have unique dimsum like the one on the upper left (forgot what it's called but it contains fish).

Honestly, You wouldn't be able to eat a lot of dimsum BUT if you will be eating with friends/family, it is always best to only order a dish per kind and then order more of those ones that you liked best. In this way, you wouldn't be forced to eat a lot and you would be able to enjoy it.

Below are some of the entree we ordered. If I remember it correctly, you can order it in small, medium and large. I suggest that you order the small size first and order again you wanted to eat some more of the same as left-overs will be charged ala carte.

Fish with Butter and Cheese

Tofu with Scallop: A must order entree!

What I love about this is that the main entree that they offer is served with the best ingredients. Be it seafood or poultry, you know that they have quality in it.

Fruits on one side and sweets on the other side

Chocolate Fountain with Candy Jars

For their dessert, they have a room that's literally filled with goodness - a wide array of fruits, cakes, sweets! What I love about this is that they actually have a wide variety of sweets other than the traditional Chinese ones.

利利 Li Li Sunday Yam Cha Brunch Buffet is Priced at Php 1,650.00 per head
This is from 11:30 am to 2:30pm as it becomes ala carte afterwards
They are located at the 5th Floor of Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila
Parking is available at the Basement level of the hotel and fees are waived per car on a minimum spent of Php 1,000.00

LaNnA
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Family Lunch at Din Tai Fung, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Since we only had light breakfast and had a lot of walking in the Harbour City, we decided to eat lunch earlier so we could have a relaxing stroll along Tsim Sha Tsui area before we head to the airport. We decided to go back to Silvercord Just across Ocean Termical since we were planning to check on H&M after lunch. Din Tai Fung had just opened a few minutes earlier and was just starting to accommodate diners into the restaurant. We hurriedly queued up and we were blessed as we got the last round table good for 6. Because we were one of the last people to be seated, our table was located at the far end of the restaurant near the kitchen. Since it was all our first time, it was actually a good thing because I got to peek at orders of other diners as we passed through their tables.

After we were seated, We were given the menu which includes an order sheet and a pencil so we could mark our orders to be submitted to the kitchen for preparation. Self-order cards is actually a good practice in Hong Kong (especially for those establishments that has a fast turn-over of guests and huge headcount) because guests need not to be attended to all at the same time by the wait staff and also to avoid misunderstanding of orders as some staff may not be well-versed in English. Order sheets are in Chinese with its corresponding English translation. 

Other than the menu, there is also this card that teaches you how to eat Xiao Long Bao properly. 

Because Din Tai Fung is famous for XLPs, they teach everyone how they should handle the XLP to prevent bursting it's skin and for diners to fully enjoy the soup inside.  

It didn't take long for our orders to be served, we ordered the following:

Although it's a bit spicy, this appetizer is really good. Almost all tables ordered this dish before they started their main meal.

One of the highlights of our meal was Xiao Long Bao and we really loved how they prepared it. The skin is thick enough to hold the yummy soup but not too thick to overpower the meat inside. You could also taste that the meat is freshly made. They do have a various kinds of XLP but we decided to try Shrimp Dumplings for a change. The combination of Luffa (aka Chinese okra) with Shrimp was good and we got to enjoy it very much.

Our first fried rice - Shrimp. Normal fried rice for me, except that they didn't chop the shrimps probably to show diners that genuine and good quality shrimps are used in the preparation of this dish. 

On our second fried rice, we chose the ordinary egg fried rice with deep-fried pork chop. There was nothing much special about this dish except that the meat in the pork chop was good as there was not much fat. 

Our last but definitely one of the best dimsum - Steamed glutinous rice with pork shao-mai. I'm not much of a sticky rice fan but I had my second piece because it was just so good! Perfect combination of pork and sticky rice.

Below is the complete menu of Din Tai Fung. If you could notice, they have a vast selection of food and for easier ordering, they made separate tabs to group them together per same category/kind. In addition, they also placed an icon just beside the name so that diners would know the key ingredients of the said dish.

Cold Dishes Tab

Xiao Long Bao Tab

Steamed Dumpling Tab

 

Buns and Glutinous Rice Buns

Soup

Wonton Tab

Specialty Hot Dishes Tab

 

Vegetable Tab

 

Dry Noodles Tab

 

Noodle Soup

 

Fried Rice Menu

 

Desserts

Fruit Dessert

Beverages

They do have gift sets that you can purchase as pasalubongs!

Din Tai Fung is located inside Silvercord

20 Canton Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui

LaNnA
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