Lunch at RSM Lutong Bahay

My bestfriend, Mhy, came home from Singapore last Wednesday for a quick vacation. They will also be bringing their son to his Dev Ped for his scheduled assessment. A year ago, Ethan was diagnosed with Autism, he's undergone speech and occupational therapy since then and they're really looking forward to his second assessment with the Dev Ped. After the assessment, Mhy and her husband Bong were really happy with the results. According to the doctor, Ethan's mental age is that of a 23.5 month old child, which really is not that far from his actual age of 30 months.

To celebrate the good news, they decided to go out of town and check in at the Taal Vista Hotel last Friday. Mhy called me to ask if we can go there by Saturday so we could meet up even just for lunch so we could see each other before she heads back to Singapore.

Well, Tagaytay is my favorite place after all and it's only 30 minutes away from home, so I really couldn't say no. :)

We met up and had lunch at RSM Lutong Bahay. The place has been renovated since the last time my husband and I went there. Additional dining areas have been installed in what used to be an open area at the back of the restaurant.

Here are what we ordered:

  

Everything tasted great! For our drinks, I ordered the Calamansi Juice with Honey as I wanted something refreshing, Mhy and Bong ordered fresh Buko juice and my husband ordered Mocha Milk Shake which he shared with Johan.

While eating, we talked about a lot of things - Ethan's development, Johan's funny antics, plans for the future. It was just a short date for both our families but I am just as glad that we got to meet up and catch up even for just a few hours. 

Before leaving, Johan saw this Lion wooden statue and he just wouldn't budge until we allowed him to ride and had his picture taken. Here he is showing what sound the Lion makes:

I know there are now far too many Tagaytay entries on this blog and there'll be more to come because Tagaytay truly is my happy place.

Happy Weekend!

We're off to my favorite city today, Tagaytay!

Yes, I know, again. But, with this heat, who can ever say no to the little bit cooler climate of Tagaytay? We'll be meeting up with my bestfriend, Mhy, who flew in from Singapore last Wednesday and who'll be flying back tomorrow.

Time to unwind, relax and catch up with good friends, good food and good times.

See you later!

Daydreaming

On my way home from work, I usually pass by this very pretty view of a classy subdivision in Dasmarinas. It looks very dreamy and cut straight out of a magazine.The houses are super nice with their pastel colors and cement roof tiles.

source

I saw this again today and it just makes me dream of our future home. I know it won’t happen anytime soon as we’re still paying for the car loan up to year 2016 but I know it’ll happen. Whether we purchase our own lot and build our home or renovate the one we’re living in today and make a comfortable living set up for everyone, it doesn't really matter as long as my family of three is together.

Someday, someday, I know I'll own you.

Comfort Food

Weekends are the only time I can actually cook for my son. I usually take the opportunity whenever it's just the two of us that's left at home because I get stressed out when hubby or MIL looks over to what I am cooking. I feel like I am being judged for my cooking inability. :)

So, yesterday when they all went to Manila and I chose to stay home with Johan, I looked at what we have in stock and cooked.

Yeah, I know, where's the effort there when all I really had to do was mix everything together. I chose to cook Carbonara since it won't take so much time, which I don't have given that Johan won't let me out of his sight for more than 5 mins. Plus, I don't get to eat this too often as the people I'm living with favors spaghetti over this dish.

When I was done, I was scared Johan won't like it since that'll be the first time he'll be having Carbonara. But, boy, was I surprised when he finished the entire plate I laid out for him and kept on pointing his finger at me, saying, "A best!" which translates to "You're the best!".

As evening came, something stressed me out too much I almost had an asthma attack. I had to get out of the house into the backyard to cool off and calm myself. When I went back in, I thought I needed comfort food. 

So, I made this:

My own version of Banana Split had two Bananas, scoops of Ube and Cheese Ice Cream, Condensed Milk instead of Chocolate Syrup and chunks of Cadbury Fruit and Nut. 

I was in sweet heaven! Comfort food did the trick and I was feeling a whole lot better when I finished the treat.

Thought of the Day

Easter Egg Hunt

When we were still kids, Easter Sunday at my parents' house usually includes having a money hunt. This is a staple in our household that every time Easter comes, all six of us kids, will be locked inside one of the rooms while our parents hide money all over the garden. We would all be fidgety, anxious and overly excited until we hear Papa shout "Go!" and we would all run outside to look for peso bills.

I wanted to have that same tradition with my son but since he's too young to be holding money and his cousins who joined us for Easter Sunday lunch also aren't old enough to be given money, I chose to just stuff Easter eggs with treats and hid them all over my mom's garden.

Easter Eggs Galore! 

Treats! All for less than Php 150.

Gold coins, nips, Jelly Ace

All squeezed inside one egg!

I only a dozen of eggs initially because I thought we won't have guests on Easter Sunday and only my son will be looking for eggs but when it was confirmed that Johan's cousins will be joining him for the egg hunting, I crammed and went to our local market a day before in search of more eggs. The additional eggs already came with treats inside but since I am not sure where these treats came from, I took them out and replaced them with more familiar, more safe ones.

While my son was busy reading a book upside-down, I asked my sister to help me out in hiding the eggs. The two other kids were already excited, each holding their own basket and bag where they'll be putting their eggs. My son soon joined in the riot and the people inside the house had to restrain each kid from going outside before we're done hiding the eggs.

As soon as we were done, all three kids ran outside and searched for the eggs. It's a good thing my mom has lots of plants in her garden and we were able to scatter the eggs all over. Some were hidden, others partially so but mostly were just sitting out in the open since the kids were too young and we don't want them having a hard time searching.

Here's something funny, when my son found his first egg, he accidentally dropped it on the ground causing it to break and revealed the treats inside. When he saw the treats, Johan was already content with just that one egg, enjoy the treats and didn't want to search anymore. Matakaw lang talaga! We had to take the opened egg and treats from him just so he'd keep on looking for more.

I'm sure all three kids had fun even though they were all sweaty when the hunt was finished. My godchild, Jared, son of my cousin Leslie of the blog Got to Believe, kept on thanking me for the Easter Egg hunt. He enjoyed it thoroughly that we had a repeat of the hunt, hid the eggs again sans the treats because they already opened their eggs and took out the treats. The kids still enjoyed looking for the eggs again even though they knew there'd be nothing inside.

Seeing that all kids were happy with this simple tradition, I would gladly do it again next year. 

Road Trip to Liliw, Laguna

Liliw is one of the 27 municipalities in the province of Laguna. It is well known for the shoe industry where most of the sellers get their stocks from if not from shoe capital of the Philippines, Marikina.

I have been to Liliw, if I'm not mistaken, 10 years ago with hubby (then boyfriend) and two of our closest friends. We planned on staying at  the Liliw Resort for three days and two nights but the eerie forest fronting our cottage and the incessant falling of fruits (?) on our roof freaked me out and sent me (with hubby) running home just after a night of stay. Hehe!

Back to the present, my sisters and I have been talking about getting on a road trip to Liliw, Laguna just to hoard pairs and pairs of slippers and shoes. Initially, our cousin's family was supposed to join us but plans changed just a day before our trip and it ended with just our family proceeding with our plans.

We all squeezed into my sister's car and left home around 10 in the morning. It drizzled a bit while we're on our way but a slight drizzle didn't dampen our spirits. We went on with the trip, missed our turn a few times, asked for directions, shifted in our seats, looked for a place to eat and before we knew it, we have arrived.

St. John the Baptist Church or Liliw Church

We weren't able to go inside the church as all of us except our parents were wearing shorts. After we took some souvenir shots, we walked out of the church grounds and looked for a place to eat. My sister was right when she said there are no fast food chains in Liliw. We were lucky we were able to find a roadside eatery that serves decent food. We ordered Pancit Guizado, a whole Roasted Chicken, Chosuey, 7 cups of rice, a 2L bottle of Coke and 1 Halo-halo for my father. Our bill was cheaper than expected, just a few pesos over Php 500.00!

I was happy I was able to save a few hundreds during lunch because that meant I have a few extra hundreds to splurge on what we came to Liliw for - shoes!

I was a bit disappointed though as most of the shops sell identical pairs of shoes and I wasn't able to find a lot of pairs that were worth buying. I was only able to buy two pairs of sandals and one pair of flats. :(

Prices from left to right: Php 200, 230, 270

We also dropped by Liliw Bakeshop to buy Pianono. My sister said they make the yummiest Pianono. And she was right.

Aside from the shoes, there are other stuff you can find along the roads of Liliw. We saw an old lady selling live baby crabs and tasty-looking longganisa. Johan was too scared to go closer to the baby crabs and I, in true senior moment fashion (I blame it on the epidural!), forgot to buy some of the longganisa.

After shopping, we all got in the car and drove the short distance to Liliw Resort. I only remember the resort as having plenty of trees, the cold water of the stream and the rows of cottages. So, we were really surprised when we entered the gate to the resort and were greeted by this steep, muddy road downhill. My mom and my two sisters even had to walk their way down to the resort to make the car lighter and easier to maneuver.

Their muddy walk and our bumpy ride were made worth it by the scenery that greeted us when we entered the resort.

Johan wanted to get into the water right away but the water proved to be too cold and I was scared he'd get sick if I allow him to swim. So, I just made him sit at the river bank and made him throw stones into the water, gave him leaves and made them float.

Even if Johan didn't get into the water, I am sure he still had a grand time bonding with his Tito A-san (how he pronounce my youngest brother's name, Lian)

We walked around the resort and took pictures, lots of it.

Our Liliw road trip sure was tiring but it was a lot of fun. We didn't spend too much during this trip but we all enjoyed the cool shades of the trees and the relaxing sound of the flowing water. We just absorbed the beauty and serenity that only nature can bring and basked in the wonderful company that only a family can provide.

Here's to looking forward to more road trips with the fam in the coming years!