Our Boracay Trip 2016

Our short stay in Boracay was all about rest. Lol! Since we arrived around 4pm in our Hotel, our main goal was to take a good rest (physically, mentally, emotionally etc) since we all have a very short sleep the night before. 

I would have to consider that Jami felt so tired as well so I opted to stay in our hotel for almost half of our time there. I will blog about Royal Park Beach Resort in a separate post for sure. 

We arrived late in the afternoon on our first day since our flight was behind the schedule for one hour. Our transfer was great (except for the van) so I got no problem with that. I made an itinerary for the entire duration of our stay but failed to follow it through since it was scorching hot and that Jami wasn’t really fond of beaches and the sand. Since our hotel is situated in Station 1, we have to walk our way going to Station 2 for 5-10 minutes to look for a restaurant for our lunch or dinner. 

Although we had the chance to try the hotel’s menu, I wasn’t really happy with their Sinigang kasi hindi malambot yung meat. Yun pa naman ang pinaka ayaw ko sa lahat. Lol!

We ate in several restaurants in Station 2 although I forgot their names! I think one of them was in Hapag? We also tried one near D’ Mall pero nakalimutan ko talaga ang name ng resto. Lol! So next time, I would really have to blog about them at least 1 week after no?! Hehehe. It’s just now that I had the time to do so. Anyhow, what I can tell is, ang mahal talaga ng food in Boracay. For two person with a minimum of 1 main course with 3 cup of rice, you’ll spend Php500-700 for it. So expensive! Well yes, I always try my best to cook food at home so alam ko kung magkano ang prices ng ingredients sa palengke. Hahahah! Well, I would have to accept that traveling costs money so you really have to make sure meron kang enough on your pocket. With that, we won’t travel for the next couple of months. Probably next year na lang ulit if our finances allowed :D

Anyway, our stay was filled with happiness in dipping into the sea specially in the early morning and the late afternoon to avoid the dangerous heat of the sun. 

Jami loved the sea later on since the waves weren’t that strong compared to previous beaches we’ve been too. We stayed indoors and enjoyed each other’s company. 

I am so glad that we had this chance to at least relax and have a family bonding. I am looking forward to more of these (in a year’s time). I am really glad that our experience wasn’t as stressful as I thought. With a toddler in tow, Boracay is definitely a place to be. 

 You know, I realized that we don't have so may pictures when we were there. Honestly, sobrang lazy ako mag take ng picture because I have to mind Jami and our things. I am also in charge on our transfer and where to eat so I really don't have the energy to take pictures anymore. Wala pa naman akong talent in photography so I can't take kahit snapshot lang na maayos. Lol! Add in the fact that phones camera wasn't that good either. =( But then, I know these memories were captured by the best camera and film in the world - my eyes, mind and heart. Lol! ;P

The Importance of Budgeting

For a new Mom like me, budgeting can be a real challenge. I am working in a BPO industry although my salary wasn't huge like those who are working on a graveyard schedules. I basically chose an afternoon schedule since mother heart needs to cuddle with my baby at night. Having that said, I don't enjoy the full night shift of 20% that could add up to my take home pay.

It was odd that money management isn't part of our school program. That's maybe one of the reason most people doesn't follow a budget for themselves or for their household. As I aged, I realize the importance of creating a budget and the most challenging part? Sticking to it.

photo source

When June came, I started a new goal regarding our finances. I have created a goal that's mainly good up to 2020. Although the coming year's goal isn't as planned as what I have in the remaining months of the year, at least, I have started. So why planning where your money will go is very important? Here are the things that I have learned last month.


Savings 

I am sure you are aware of the formula Income - Savings = Expenses? This is mainly how I now budget our money. As you might already know, we are a one income household at this stage so money only comes from one source alone. For sure if you don't have a budget, you wouldn't know how much you need to save to achieve your other financial goals and end up not having any savings at all. You might ask, paano ko pa naba budget ang money with savings given all the expenses? We are being paid every 2 weeks which makes planning easier. Before I pay all the bills I make sure that the very first thing on my list will be our savings. I know I have mentioned it before that I am putting at least P500 on Jami's passbook to keep it going and later on decided that the money placed into it will be our emergency fund. Yes, that's another essential that I have learned as well and that deserves another post. At this stage, I allot 20% of my salary to our savings. Given that it is at the top of my list, whatever that is left, yun na lang ang pinagkakasya. We have also decided that whenever there's an extra money (from relatives, commission etc), 20% will go to our savings regardless how big or small it was. I even created a budget for the remaining months of 2016 and that made me figure out kung kailan ako magtitipid at kung kailan ako may extra money to add into savings or maybe for shopping or eat out.


Consumer Loans 

From time to time, I am sure you would borrow money from friends, relatives, officemates just to buy certain things. Or maybe in my case, my officemates are very much into business, almost everyone is coming up into selling something tapos babayaran na lang on our next payout. Oh! That could be really tempting, ang makakain ng masarap na Leche Flan without paying for it, get hold of products from Direct Selling companies because mainly, pinapautang and you could get the product without even paying for it upfront. That's the same with credit card, you charge it to your card and get away with the product in a snap. You later on realize when the next payout comes, almost 25% or more of your salary goes to paying your consumer loans. Yes, I fell in this trap too, multiple times. But then, it's never too late to go back up. At the moment, paying those loans are part of my budget too.


Paying Bills

Not having a budget may lead you to pay your electricity or water bills late. Since you don't know the due dates of your bills, you might feel that you have this amount of money to spend where in fact, you forgot to pay a bill. You'll figure it out after you spent the money on something that's not important. The result of not budgeting our money lead me into being behind my apartment rent. Since I was able to budget our money in the remaining months, I was able to figure out now that there will be no eat out or entertainment of that sort until next week so we'll be updated with the bills.


Groceries, Food and Work Allowance 

Budgeting our money also gave me an opportunity to look into the food that we'll eat until the next payout. I didn't realize that having too much of consumer loan lessens the amount that goes to our groceries since I have to make adjustments to surely pay those borrowed money. Now that I have a good budget plan, I am also able to plan the food section and the things that should go in the cart while doing grocery shopping. Having that said, I am also able to bring food for lunch at work which saved me a lot. I won't need to allot more money to work allowance because my food will be coming from our groceries. I am trying my best to be able to cook food for our lunch so I could bring some too. Talk about hitting two birds in one stone. =)


Entertainment and Unplanned Expenses 

The very last on our budget is our entertainment budget. This comes with dining out, movies, travel etc. Since we are behind of our bills at this point and consumer loans were left and right, we cut the entertainment section to zero. Although this doesn't mean that we completely deprived ourselves of eating out, there were times when Daryl would have some spare money so we'll use that to our advantage. We tried our very best to limit the dining out at this time to make sure that we are sticking to our budget. I also allot an amount named "Unexpected Expenses" just so my budget won't be ruined in case something that isn't included in the budget comes up (Gas, (which is usually shouldered by Daryl's Mom), new toys and unexpected cravings of Jami). As much as possible, we are avoiding malls to make sure that we will not get tempted to buy stuff that's not necessary at this point.

We were still lucky that we get little help from some of our relatives although I wished that one day, we will opt not to. Budgeting really taught us a lot including our goals in the next 5 years of our life. Planning could really be fun but sticking to it is your real challenge. I had my budget created at the start of last month and following it was really painful. But as the days go by, I was able to contain the overwhelming emotions and looked positively on my goals.

Boracay Transfers To and From Kalibo International Airport

Boracay is a small  island situated in the province of Aklan. It was a very known island because of its fine white sands. I tell you, this place is very much a kid friendly place to visit. That's the main reason I chose this over many beautiful places here in the Philippines. The very next was, it was what I found as the easiest place to travel to with a toddler in tow. We could just lounge all day and swim to our hearts content.

Source

Well, there were two ways for you to consider when visiting the island. Boracay can be reached thru plane rides to Kalibo International Airport and Caticlan (Boracay) Airport. These is one of the things that you have to consider planning your itinerary or before booking your plane tickets. Of course you want to be prepared with all the pros and cons while traveling with your kids.

Caticlan Airport is a lot closer to Boracay. From the airport, it will be 10-20 minutes ride from the port where you would get on a boat to bring you to the island. On the other hand, Kalibo requires a land transfer from the airport to the port then a boat to Boracay. You have to bear in mind that going to Boracay thru Caticlan is a lot expensive (airfare) than in Kalibo. So what did I actually chose and why? Well, for the sake of airfare, I chose Kalibo. During a seat sale, I was able to score a plane ticket for the three us (including Jami) for only Php3,500. It was a very good deal I guess since it would take the same amount for one person per way if we'll take Caticlan.

Now the Why's.

Well, Jami is 2 and a half years old and is very used in long drives. He can be easily told of what he has to do so it wouldn't be so much of a hassle  for us. I anticipated that Jami will wake up very early and that would mean that he'll be sleeping in the entire time of travel. Alas! That's what happened on the day of our travel, lol!

The first time I've been to Boracay, we took Caticlan going there while we tried Kalibo to Manila route on our way home. It was a long time ago and even hired a private van from our hotel since there were many of us back then. Now that we were only three, I'm sure I can't afford to pay the whole van just to take us from Kalibo to Boracay and vice versa. Although I was told by my sister that there were travel company outside the airport that offers transfers to and fro, I just don't want to risk ending up without a transfer at all with Jami in tow. Of course I am up to convenience too somehow. I know it could cost me fortune if we didn't get a transfer ahead of time.

I also google'd some options that I found online and even tried a mock booking at Southwest Tours Boracay Webpage. I hesitated somehow so I have decided to call the hotel and ended up choosing their mode of transfers so I would only be paying at once. The transfer that was quoted to us by the hotel was Php600/pax/way. So that means, it's Php1,200/head which was actually the same fare that the Southwest Tours has. Kids 2 years old and below are free. Oh well, one of the perks in traveling with younger kids - they are free. lol!

The day that we were waiting for came. We arrived in Naia Terminal 3 at least 45 minutes before our scheduled flight just so to make sure that we have ample time. Jami was so energetic at this point although he had a very short sleep from last night. We had our web check in in one of their kiosk and lined up on one of their counters to change Jami's seat allocation. Everything was a breeze including our check in baggage. Oh I forgot to tell you that I bought a baggage allowance of 15kgs for almost Php220/way. I bought for each flight since I am not sure how much baggage allowance we have and to avoid the hassle of over baggage for carry on baggage. Besides, I would rather have our luggage checked in so we don't have to worry about it while waiting for boarding than chasing toddlers while carrying a baggage. hahaha!

It took almost forever before we were called for boarding. No, the flight wasn't delayed yet at this point, we were just there really early. I was so excited for Jami's first airplane ride, I can't keep myself from smiling. I have been telling Jami that; "sasakay ka kay airplane, seatbelt ka lang kay airplane." In that way, he'll be ready and knows what he's expected to do. True enough, he was sitting the whole time. Take note, our flight was delayed for 1 hour.

Waiting for our take off

We spent an hour seating inside the cabin for that long because of air congestion in Naia. We have done so much at that moment, taking videos, pictures, looking in the window and ended up on the lavatory kasi he pooped na. Grabeng delay yun! So sad, good thing that when the plane took off, Jami fell asleep! Lol. We were all asleep until we landed in Kalibo. Yess.. No drama! =)

Knocked out! :p

Taking back our luggage was a breeze too. We waited outside the airport and was waiting for our hotel to pick us up. Yun pala, they have arranged another tour bus to pick us up buti na lang, we checked those tables across the exit. I saw my name listed as one of the guests although wrong lang ang last name. Hahah! We ended up riding a SouthWest Tour Bus going to the port. The bus was like an airconditioned bus here in Manila but way cleaner and has a better AC unit. I was so glad that the bus didn't have to be full packed before leaving. We were given a sticker stub to be placed on our shirt to be recognized by their staff.

We arrived in the port in schedule and there were staff who assisted us. We were asked to fill up a form and was directed to take a seat. I was so glad that they are very efficient and organized. We waited not very long until we were ushered to the port and rode our boat to Boracay. It only took 5-10 minutes and we have finally set foot in the island! Almost there.. but not.

Just woke up look! :)

We waited for couple of more minutes (around 5 minutes) before our land transfer to our hotel to be ready. What I didn't like though is that the L300 van that was used in transferring the passengers are quiet old, airconditioning is worst! We have to open the windows dahil mas malamig pa sa labas kesa sa loob ng van! That's the only part of the transfer that I didn't like at all. But then, thank you for driving us to our hotel safely.

The transfer going back to Kalibo was kinda same. This time, we have learned that we should open the windows of our van so we'll feel a little presko. Well, that's aside from the fact that we just took a bath diba? Lol.

My final thought was, I actually don't have any complaints if the Van has a great air conditioning unit. People are sure tired from the long travel so it is better to make sure that you get what you paid for. Overall, I'll rate Southwest Tour Transfer a 7 out of 10. That was because feel na feel ko talaga ang summer during our van ride hahaha! But I have to commend the staff for being efficient and friendly. =)

A Message to the 21 Year Old Me

 Yes! I turned 26 last week and I was quite happy and sad at the same time. Well, happy that I have all the blessings that every person could wish for - a family. Sad because yes, I am getting old. Don't get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong about getting old, I just feel that I have to do a lot of things before I turned 30. Yes, because I always have a feeling that when I reached 30 years old, my life is shorter and will die anytime soon. hahahaha! Ang morbid lang but yes, that’s always what I feel and I make sure Daryl knows that. He gets mad all the time, sino ba naman ang hindi eh napaka negative ng thought but we'll get there sooner or later, una-unahan lang.

Anyway, I think this is the first time that I am doing this but I am writing a message to the 21 year old me. Yup, that's exactly 5 years ago. I just thought that I was so young and carefree at that point and comparing the before and after me? Hell, I have learned a lot, some of them are learnt the hard way just like everyone else. I am so happy that I have the mindset that I have at the moment and felt that I have matured somehow. Well, this is it what it takes in becoming a Mom, your mind have to adjust because someone is relying on you. You can never be weak or hopeless. Regardless how the situation was, you have to deliver TLC to the highest level.

I would like to recall the days that I am still young and carefree but then, I have some advices from the matured side of me. =)

Love – At this point, your head has been turned and your heart has been stolen from you (since you’re 16 years old by the way). You love wholeheartedly and that’s what I admired you the most. You tried your best to process everything that’s going on with your love life and that’s pretty cool, you just have to make sure that you won’t forget to love yourself either. You are so excited to be with the person you love the most and you started creating a dream of having your own bundle of joy together. That sure is fine, but don’t forget that building a family is a HUGE responsibility. You have to think multiple times if you’re ready to take this dream into action because surely, there’s no turning back. You can no longer say that you don’t want the life you did when it’s already there. You have plenty of time ahead of you and sure you’ll have a very good time. You have to realize that your life doesn’t end at 30 so take a step back and enjoy your dalaga life as long as you can. Let your man grow up without you on the side, he needs it from time to time so he could also learn how to become the person he wants to be. Trust is one thing you can ever give, and that he was really truthful to what he was saying. Believe me, he was.

Financially – You started working in a company a year ago that gave you a lot of kaching-kaching really. You get to eat all the food you want, you can go wherever you like because the money that you’re getting. With that, your body is always tired because you’re working on a night shift. That’s what you get with the money that you have. There are no responsibility lined to you except with a little help that you could extend to your family, I am sure budgeting your cash won’t be that hard at all, of course including savings. If there’s something that you would regret the most when you reached 26 year old is not having a cent for savings. Savings doesn’t mean muka kang pera. Living each moment of your life with what you want and can afford to buy is fulfilling. But being able to save and see your money grow over the years is very much self-motivating and inspiring for you to confidently start your life ahead when you are ready to build responsibilities. When you are old enough, you’ll realize that being financially smart is cooler than wearing that corset dress you were eyeing for.

Travel – You have been influenced by your sister to travel and it was one of the best experience you’ve ever had so far. Your first airplane ride, your first time to see the dolphins swimming in Panglao and your first time to brag about the place that your friends haven’t been to. Oh dear! It was really cool! Yes it was! Although, traveling often requires a fund that you could use on your travel. Remember, you travel because you want to take a break from waking up in the afternoon, working at night and sleeping in the morning, not to get worried about how are you going to pay for those debts you have incurred from traveling when you aren’t prepared that much. You have a lot of travel plans coming ahead so better be prepared. Take two steps back and review your finances before you agree on those travel.

Friends – You are confused as to who your real friends are. You don’t know which ones are very willing to take you during the shittiest days. You can’t remember having best friends that you could rely except your younger cousins who’s been there for you. Well you’ve saved a lot from there, relative na, best friends pa. But then, you have been separated and no longer see each other often. They would have their slumber party which you used to do and you missed it because your slumber party now is 8am in the morning and they are all ready to go to school. Oh well, nothing would change over the years. You still speak shit with each other, you go out once in a blue moon and would still have the same good laugh you had when you were younger. Sooner, you’ll regain those high school friends because you now share the same situation – having a family. So every now and then, they would invite you in Christening and wedding. Be prepared for that and don’t envy. Yours is just around the corner. You’ll gain more friends from work, try to filter those who could teach you a thing or two about life and eliminate those that would just drag you down. You have met Lara and Brian, two happy people that always make you laugh. Look at them, they look at life differently and learn from it without disregarding your own. Always be eager to learn.

Career vs School – You have always been focused with a part of your life that doesn’t do you any good. Since you have no responsibility at hand, I recommend that you try to go back to school. Don’t listen to people who says it’s hard. Success comes only when you try, fail and learn from it. You will never know what will happen if you don’t give it a shot. People who says it cant be done since the other person tried it and somehow got a really hard time doesn’t mean it will be the same for you. Don’t be afraid to try. Don’t listen to negativity and trust yourself that you can do things when you put your heart to it.


Well, these are the 5 things that I want the 21 year old me to realize. Although I can no longer go back to amend some layback decisions that I made, it was the same reason why I was the person I am today. I have my own little family and that’s all that matters to me now. I have goals only up to this year but I should get more ready in the coming months. I want to amend some that aren’t really very useful at present and make do of what I have at hand. I have yet to create a time line from this goals and wishing from high heavens a guidance that my family needs to accomplish those goals.

Again, happy 26th Birthday to me! =) 

Planning our Boracay 2016

Last summer, My family went to Boracay for our "yearly getaway". I actually want to make this a yearly tradition where we could go to different places. It's a goal I listed last year which never happened because we replaced it with our Photo shoot. I then listed it down for this year since I have plenty of months to get this to reality.

In January, I saw a seat sale at Cebu Pacific website and alas! I still have spare money to use to pay for the fare. I paid a total of Php3,500+ for the three us. I was thinking kids can get a discounted fare pero hindi pala. Lol! Maybe because they sure are occupying a seat and can't be sitting on my lap. Uncomfortable yun for sure and for our safety na din. Anyway, I think I got a good rates for the three of us. Oh! I forgot to mention that our flight was Manila-Kalibo and vice versa so it was really a lot cheaper. Although seat sales were out during weekends, I have decided to get the weekdays since its 4 months before our flight so surely, I have plenty of time to file for a vacation leave. Which I did. Yey! So we’re going ahead with our trip!

I was pretty excited honestly. What stressed me out was finding a nice but not that expensive hotel. I have been aiming for the wonderful hotel around the island but then, I can’t spend Php 4,000 per night for a hotel room. Being the frugal me, I have kept on checking on line with the best deal so far. One of the safest site that I felt was Agoda.com. I have been checking all the hotel in the island but still find them expensive even after the discount. Luckily, after couple of days of looking, I found Royal Park Resort that’s situated in Station of Boracay. I looked in to Google Map to see if the area was crowded or malumot. I was so glad to see that it wasn’t where the lumot stays (because there was a part of the island na nadaanan namin that has a lot of lumot. As in ang lansa na ng hangin because of that). Although there can be a lot of small boats in front, the bigges part was allocated to swimming area. =)

For our transfers (coming from Kalibo), I’ve read blogs about it and found some Do-It-Yourself. I wasn’t just ready with all the hassle since may kasama nga kaming toddler. I checked online and found Southwest Tours Boracay that has plenty of options for transfers. They could transfer you Door to Door (meaning to your hotel), Bus only, Boat only or both where you’ll be dropped of in D’Mall. I made a mock booking and got a total of almost Php1,250/each to and fro. I also called the Hotel and checked the price difference which only was about Php100. I have decided to book from our Hotel so to make sure that we don’t get lost. Our scheduled of arrival in the island is at 3pm and I don’t want to be left in the dark with Jami with us. The hotel charged us Php1,200/each to and fro. Jami was free of charge for transfers.. yes!!.

Initially, I have set an itinerary to follow. With a toddler in tow, I have to make sure that scheduled trips will be comfortable for him somehow. Well, this is lame that I can't find the itinerary but I'll sure update you with that on my next post. Lol! =)

Well, that's pretty much how our Boracay plan went. I'll update you as much as possible of our stay there. =)

Hoping you are having a wonderful start of the week.

*credits to Ate for always helping me with the itinerary =)

Our First Family Run at Nickelodeon Slime Cup Run

Early this month, we were so lucky to be invited by Que of Takbo.ph to the Nickelodeon's Slime Cup Run that was held on Mall of Asia grounds. I was really excited since it will be our very first family run. I have never joined one so I was excited myself, I know it will be a new milestone for my family and for myself too.

I had Daryl to go on a 3k run since he's into sports. He could play basketball for a really long time and since that sports requires a lot of running and agility, I know sisiw lang sa kanya ang 3k run. Jami and I had the 200m run. I am really not sure how far the 200m was pero I was told really short lang daw so I agreed. I don't want to end up having a long run with Jami kasi for sure, magpapakarga lang to along the way. Eh hindi pa naman ako sporty, so no chance na matatapos namin ang long run. Hahaha!

I failed to check the 3k run's assembly time. All I know was, 6am dapat we'll be there na. When we got there, there were people getting ready to run. I realized they're the 3k runners! I actually have no idea where to go dahil sa sobrang excited ko, I never asked Que. Hahaha! I went to their registration booth and was so disappointed that one of the lady there was really not helpful. I asked if they knew my contact person and her answer was. "Ay hindi namin kilala!". Just that-so no intentions of helping me whatsoever. I sent a chat to Que and was told where to go. Buti na lang, we were able to get our kit seconds before the start. Although Daryl ran at least 2 minutes after the gun, he was (I think) at the 10th-15th to finish. We were waiting for him kasi on the finish line so Jami could see him running. Grabe, iba yung feeling ng achievement. I was so happy for Daddy! Yun lang, mejo nabitin daw sya after the run. I told him we'll join the 5k next time. Of course one step at a time lang. =)

3K Finisher

The 200m run was the very last which was even divided into 3 parts - all girls, all boys and the parents and kids. It was a good thing though because it became really organized. I enjoyed it so much although Jami wasn't on his playful mode during the run. Sobrang aga pa kasi for him but at least we get to try. Personally, mejo bitin din ang 200m for me, Nevertheless, I enjoyed it so much because Jami was there too. We skipped the part of being slimed because we don't have towel with us.

Waiting for the start

The sponsors prepared games and prizes for everyone. I wanted to see what the games were about but we decided to go home immediately. Sobrang init kasi, walang ka hangin hangin. Jami perspires a lot konting init lang, tulo na agad pawis so we went home to Pasay to freshen up and catch some sleep before going back home to Las Pinas.

Thanks so much Que of Takbo.ph for inviting us and to Nickelodeon for a wonderful Family Run. It sure was worth the waking-up-early part. =)

Smart Parenting Baby Shower Event

Last month, I was so lucky to be part of the Smart Parenting Baby Shower event held on Discovery Suites in Ortigas. Just like any first time moms who doesn't have a clue on parenting relies on internet aside from our lovable parents, relatives and friends.

From the Press Release "Smart Parenting, the largest parenting news and lifestyle brand in the country, celebrates the joy and thrills of the first stages of being a mother with its annual Baby Showe. "A lot of expectant mothers look forward to the Smart Parenting Baby Shower as it has become a venue for interactive and hands-on learning, as well as fruitful dialogues among mothers about the wonderful and exciting journey of pregnancy," said Lei Dimarucut-Sison, Smart Parenting Managing Director.

I arrived with Coi of Heymamacoi.com just before the event started. I was surprised to see a lot of Preggy Mommies who spent their time in the event. I was so afraid to bump with them kasi baka tamaan yung tummy nila. Lol! We saw Nheng of Nhengswonderland.net too!

We roam around the place and check each booth.

We were greeted with a very kikay set up.

The giveaways

The event started with welcome remarks by Smart Parenting's Managing Director, followed by a talk with Dr. Jaime Isip-Cumpas regarding the Importance of Gentle Softness on Baby's skin.

Raffle Prizes and games was of course one of the fun part. Of course the games have to be gentle to give way to preggy mommies! I was so competitive I won a nursing pad. Lol! Feeling ko naagawan ko pa yung mga soon-to-be-Mom. hahaha! Sorry po. I was thinking of giving it away na lang. =)

We were also treated by a sumptuous buffet for our lunch.

After our filling lunch, the talks continued with different topics that's really helpful to Moms. They also answered questions from the crowd which made the talks more interesting. Ms. Betty San Luis talked about Birthing Methods, Ms Sharon Agoncillo Galang discussed about Baby Sign Language and even showed videos of her own child using their own sign languages at the age of less than a year! The last talk was about Breastfeeding with Ms. Zenaida Feliciano.

Smart Parenting also offered yoga for participants c/o Urban Ashram or a crafting segment by Coni Tejada. Of course I have to choose the Crafting segment kasi I am too shy to do yoga! Lol. But I loved to try actually, wala lang akong outfit hahaha!

Scribble Onesies/Bib

We were given each a bib that we could use to design and the best won a prize!

Our special guest finally revealed herself. None other than Bianca-Gonzalez-Intal. She had a talk about her journey as a mom to her cute little girl Lucia.

The Mommies were so lucky some of them won a crib, stroller etc.. Very lucky Mommies I would say! Bakit parang I am not aware of this things nung buntis ako kay Jami?!.Hahaha..

We all went home with samples from their generous sponsor including Downy Baby Gentle which I liked! Sobrang smooth sa damit perfect for baby's delicate skin. =)

Our takehome

Thank you Smart Parenting for the wonderful afternoon of fun and learning. =) Visit www.smartparenting.com.ph or follow them on Facebook via facebook.com/smartparenting.ph, and @_smartparenting on Twitter, and @smartparenting on Instagram.