Mommy Irene

A: It really depends on what book I am reading. I can read two different books at the same time as long as they're from two different genres. Like I can read a novel by Ken Follett then stopped for a while, and then read an inspirational novel. Just taking a little break, but the problem is when I forgot what happened to the story and flip a few pages back for me to remember it. :D

     It is a rainy day today so I thought of something to do with Meg. PAPER BOATS! 

     We used papers from her old notes and I helped her with the folding, she did the coloring. 

      Perfect! Just a little drizzle. I went outside to place the paper boat, the water is just shallow but it's enough to keep the boat moving for a while.

      I let her play with the boat in a basin. She really had fun!

     A simple activity but can be enjoyed together with our kids. This for me; her smile, laughs, and giggles; is once again a BLISSFUL moment and a breather for me. 

     My daughter attended ballet class when she was 3 and now we're thinking again of enrolling her. 

  Not that I can't afford to send her again to a famous ballet school, but I was thinking I could save a great deal of money if I look for less pricey ballet classes since she too is in school now unlike before that she's not yet studying. So, I did a little researching and here are some alternatives:

     Liebster Blog Award is given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers. If you have given this award, you must state seven to ten things about yourself, tag 7 people, and tell them you tagged them. Got these rules from Michi also.

     So here goes:

     My name's IRENE.

     I am a Filipino.

     A well-rounded person which reflects my current job as a Private Tutor for English schools, Math and Science Instructor in a Review Center, Content Editor and Evaluator for Grade school and Highschool textbooks, and an Entrepreneur.

     I'm a mom to a 5 yr old pretty girl.

     I love to EAT. :D

     I usually crave for milk tea, coffee, pizza, and ice cream.

     I'm a late bloomer when it comes to fashion, make up, etc. 

     I love reading books in all genre.

     Certified KAPAMILYA.

     And now I'm sharing this award to:

     I seldom buy make-up since my Aunt usually gives us Clinique, L'Oréal, and Lancôme products from US. But when I ran out of powder, I went to the Department Store to look for cheaper alternatives. I did find something from Etude House but it's too expensive for me. :D Looking around, I saw Nichido True Colors Liquid Foundation (True Natural) with sunscreen. I bought one and a Final Powder. 

     I want a liquid foundation now since the powder I'm using tends to cake up and leave my face a mess at the middle of the day. 

     Price: ₱268.00/30 mL

          I tried it the following day and it's not sticky, I used my finger and just a small quantity of it is enough already for my face because of its light texture. It's smooth and it matches my skin tone. Also, it already has sunscreen so I need not buy a separate product. After application, I used the Nichido Final Powder in Creamy Glow to set it. 

Price: ₱150.00/25g

    

      It's a loose powder, a little bit fine but easy to apply. Plus, the lady gave me the shade that suits my skin tone. It smoothens the face after application leaving it matte finish.

     

     Out of my 7 students, I feel closest to Lexie, Grade-1 from St. Scholastica's College. Actually, I have two students from their school but I like her because she's funny, just a little hard-headed and brat, but always jokes around with me.

     During my last days with her, she asked to take a picture of us together. She thought I'll never come back as her teacher on June.

     I never thought I'd end up enjoying my work now. Whenever I saw good grades from my students, there's an overwhelming feeling that I did something right for them. Dealing with these kids from different English schools makes it harder for me because they have different moods, combination of brats, but kids who also have good hearts. I told myself I'll never get emotionally attached to any of them, but I can't help it. Especially now that I'm a mother. Somehow I wanted to help them not only in their studies but also emotionally. Some needed attention, appreciation, encouragement, and guidance from their parents.

     Having an impact on other people's lives makes the job meaningful for me. When I had the chance to talk to their parents and say everything about their kids, and I see the changes from them, it's amazing. It's like my insights mattered to them.

     A combination of a strict, cool, and hands-on teacher, I will still choose this job not just because of the perks I get but I owe to my students the self-esteem, happiness, and the feeling of worthiness that I'm feeling now. I'm not just teaching them, they too, taught me to look at life in a good context: for me to be a better person and a better MOM.

     I have been very curious about this Magnum thing that's been flooding my Facebook and Twitter wall for quite a time now so I decided to taste all flavors. (Haha! :D)

     The Magnum Classic is a bar of vanilla ice cream covered with Belgian chocolate. Yes, the chocolate is luscious but too sweet! Nothing special about the vanilla; it's creamy and smooth just like the usual vanilla ice cream.

     The Magnum Almond is Vanilla ice cream covered with Belgian chocolate and crunchy almonds. I savored the nuts since it's my favorite but still the same, too sweet for me.

     The Magnum Truffle is a Chocolate ice cream with truffle covered also with Belgian chocolate. Unlike the two flavors, it's not too sweet and has the bitter taste to balance everything.

     Yes, these three are all delicious. Who doesn't love ice cream, and Belgian chocolate? Put it together, then everyone will absolutely enjoy it! But I guess the whole marketing thing did a great job in promoting this. A little exaggerated I think. Will I buy this again? Maybe. But will I crave for it? NO.

     As a mother, my recent dilemma now is asking my daughter to say sorry. Should I force her? Whenever she did something wrong, I would make her understand that she needs to say sorry for it. But she always says "AYOKO!" and this disappoints me a lot. I told her what she did was wrong. I don't know if she did understand but at least, I let her feel that I'm sad about it. After a while, she would say, "Sorry, di ko na po uulitin." But then repeats the same thing over again. So, I assume that at her age, she doesn't understand completely. I read articles about it and for now the first thing I should do is to be an example to her. That when I did something that would upset her, I'll say sorry and from then, explained why is it necessary to say sorry, that I hurt her and that made her very sad and the only thing to make her happy again is for me to say sorry to her. I guess this will make her be aware of the feelings associated in saying sorry. Also, I found a prayer in the book I'm reading, The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian and I pray a part of it everyday and added my own prayer in the last part. 

     Lord,

               I pray that You would give (name of child) a heart that is quick to confess her (his) mistakes. May she (he) be truly repentant of them so that she (he) can be forgiven and cleansed. Help me to make her (him) understand the value of saying sorry. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 

     I didn't know there's a branch of Serenitea at Bel-Air Village, only when my student brought home a Yakult tea with aloe vera sinker. I went there after work and ordered Hokkaido milk tea. (It is listed top 1 in their choices) Not realizing that it's a caramel based milk tea, I still had my sugar level at 100%. Yes, turned out to be so sweet but I love the flavor. Not minding the super sweet taste, I delighted myself again to my new found addiction: milk tea. But I will clearly put the sugar level on 50% next time. :D

     Compared to the other milk tea stores that I frequent, I commend Serenitea for its cleanliness and the way they handle orders. Certainly, I will try other flavors, also in their other branches.

     AVeneto Napoli Pizzeria Ristorante (SM San Lazaro Branch) has been one of our favorite restaurants since last year.

     For starters, we always order the aVeneto Family Platter (P300) which consists of Chicken wings (highly recommended! There's a separate order for this also for P170), Crabsticks, Cheddar munchers (P160 for separate order) that my daughter loves, and French fries.

     Pasta choices are Nut-Pesto Pasta, Oil and Garlic, Puttanesca, White Sauce, Baked Ziti, and Marinara Pasta. Baked Ziti with Meatballs is a must try because of its creaminess and the mozzarella cheese makes it yummier. 

     They also have several choices for salads, hamburger, cold and hot sandwiches, calzones, desserts, and side orders. Aside from their pizza choices, it can also be customized by choosing two-four flavors for different pizza sizes. The largest pizza size is 16" good for 5-6 people. 

     This is a combination of Four Cheese and Double Pepperoni 16" pizza. I will surely be back again to dine but I hope they will improve more on their service. Just that, because for me, the food complements my taste. Check here for other branches.

  

     Ever since my daughter used Eskulin shampoo (Princess Jasmine, Cinderella, and Mulan variants), I knew that she will be using it for a long time. But when I browsed the SP forum for shampoo alternatives, I came across Suave and I decided to let my daughter try it. The first variant we tried was Cowabunga Coconut, her hair was smooth and even until afternoon, it smells good! My daughter has wavy hair, sometimes it tangled but with Suave, it doesn't tangle at all. 

     After finishing a bottle of it, I bought Eskulin again since I really wanted to alternate two shampoos for her.

     It has a new packaging now and the consistency of the shampoo is not the same with the one we used before. It felt like it doesn't bubble easily at all, and even if I rinse her hair very well, the sticky feeling is still there. The scent is still the same, even until afternoon, I just hate the sticky feeling and her hair tangled. :(

I then bought Suave again, this time a different variant Fairy Berry Strawberry. Still the same, Meg's hair felt very smooth. The scent is good. Its consistency fair. 

     Yeeeeee what's with this Super bass craze? I googled it and watched the video on YouTube. (Note: I won't let my daughter watch the video. :D)  Nicki Minaj's Super Bass. 

     The lyrics:

                         Boy you got my heartbeat runnin' away
                         Beating like a drum and it's coming your way
                         Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom
                         Boom, badoom, boom bass?

                         He got that super bass
                         Boom, badoom, boom
                         Boom, badoom, boom bass
                         Yeah that's that super bass

              Now I understand why its title is Super bass. The thumping of the heart. The dance is slow and sexy. Vice Ganda's version is exaggerated, haha! (I only found a video with Iza Calzado doing the Super bass.) Vice Ganda and Izza's Super Bass

     My daughter LOVES it! When I got home from work, she showed me the dance and it awed me! Yay! my daughter knows it. I didn't realize she did familiarize the dance since we love watching SHOWTIME. Haha! :D

       Yesterday, me and my sister went to see MV Logos Hope at Pier 15, South Harbor. The line queue was long but organized. It took us 30 minutes to get to the entrance but the crew made it a point to entertain the people with their mascots. (There was a clown too but I wasn't able to take a picture of him.) The entrance fee is 20 pesos and free entrance for kids below 12 yrs old. 

     We were greeted by friendly crew members inside, they were very accommodating. Upon entering, a brief introduction about the ship and the pricing for the books were explained too. The books are priced in units, meaning 25 units = 25 pesos. We were also reminded not to rearranged the books since they will have a hard time looking for it. Actually, the funny crew member, referred to it as, "Don't halo-halo the book." (He's Malaysian, funny, bubbly, and favorited by the crowd.) Everyone did pay attention to what he said! :)

 

  A wall on AIDS awareness.