Frozen Yogurt

We have a new addiction.

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Last week at Sfree: frozen yogurt with strawberry for Richard.

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Frozen yogurt with mango for me.

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Yesterday at Red Mango: frozen yogurt with strawberry sauce.

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I'm craving for it right now. Actually, I crave for it everyday. Hehe! It's fat free so that means it's guilt free. Goodbye muna sa ice cream.

Disney Live!

Aly and I went to Paragon Mall yesterday for three reasons: 1) to check the Samsonite sale; 2) to see if Lacoste is on sale; and 3) to buy tickets for the Disney Live show.

The third one is actually a surprise for Alyannah. She didn't know what was happening or what I was buying at the Thai Ticket Major booth until I told her that we will watch the Disney show on Saturday. Parang ayaw pa nya maniwala so I showed her the flyer. When she saw it, she gave me a big smile that brightened up the entire booth :) She was really happy and excited! She thanked me when we were going down the escalator. Then, when we were at the Gourmet Market, she suddenly reached up to me to hug and kiss me. Awww... I told her that she should thank her dad too.

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She asked me why we're watching the show. I told her because she's a good girl and that's what happens to good girls...their mommies and daddies surprise them with nice things.

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When we got home, she just kept staring at the flyer. Kakaaliw! Tamang-tama, she will be wearing a Cinderella costume on Halloween. Aly said she also wants to wear the costume when we watch the show. Haha! Die-hard Disney fan talaga!

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Speaking of Cinderella, I really wanted to watch Lea Salonga's Cinderella. In fact, I've been waiting for their show to arrive in Bangkok for months. Kaya lang, show dates are on 16-21 December 2008 and we'll be in Manila by that time. Sayang. Good thing there's Disney Live.

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Oh, and while we were at Thai Ticket Major, I saw this...

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Oh. My. God. I want to watch!!! Kylie! Kylie! Kylie!!!

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I hope Richard is game for KM. Not Krisan Manalo, but Kylie Minogue. Haha!

Another Visitor from the Philippines

Apart from Halloween preps, we were also busy entertaining one of Richard's colleagues from Toyota Philippines, Alvin, who was in Bangkok for a business trip. He arrived on Sunday afternoon so from Platinum Mall, we picked him up from his hotel and took him to MBK for pasalubong shopping and dinner.

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Richard and Alvin

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Richard, Alvin, Alyannah + Chelsea the bear

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Then we had dinner at home on Wednesday.

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I prepared...

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Baked Ribs with barbecue sauce...

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...baked penne with three kinds of cheese -- mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan.

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And for dessert, I prepared white chocolate cheesecake...

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...and carrot cake.

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I didn't do all of this in one day. I made the dessert a day before and the ribs were marinated two days before Wednesday. So I was practically slaving in the kitchen for three days. But you know what the best part is? Alvin loved the food that I prepared! Naubos nya yung ribs. As in! Sabi ko nga kay Richard, ganyan ang gusto kong bisita! If all our guests were like him, then I wouldn't mind working hard in the kitchen because Alvin showed that he really liked my cooking!

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To Alvin, we hope you enjoyed your stay in Bangkok! See you in the Philippines!

Alyannah's Report Card

Attention mga lola, lolo, tito at tita ni Alyannah, teacher Pat, teacher Dee and teacher Manette: Richard and I are proud to share with you our little girl's first quarter progress report. Heehee! :)

There was never any doubt about Alyannah's talent and capabilities because we witness it everyday. That's why it feels different when other people praise our daughter. Kasi sigurading hindi sila biased hindi tulad namin. Hehe!

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Go, Aly! Keep up the good work! Mommy and daddy are proud of you!

Getting Ready for Halloween

Halloween na bukas! They don't normally celebrate Halloween here in Thailand but since most of the residents here in Oakwood are expats, there will be a Halloween party and trick or treat for the kids.

It has been a busy week for us here. Last Saturday, we went to Paragon Mall to buy Halloween decor. My original plan was to make them from scratch, but I did not find any crepe paper. There was no black poster paper either. They had orange poster paper, but it was not the right shade. So I decided to buy the ready-made ones instead. Ang mahal nga lang! Pinili ko na lang yung pinakamura. Hehe! Then on Sunday, we went to Platinum Mall to look for Alyannah's costume. Gusto daw nya kasi maging princess kaya buong mag hapon kaming naghanap ng princess costume. On Monday, I bought candies. And on Tuesday, Aly and I prepared the loot bags and put up our Halloween decor. Whew!

Eto ang pinaghirapan namin. Hehe!

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I used orange poster paper for the paper bags. Then I drew the eyes and mouth with a black pen to make it look like a Jack O' Lantern.

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The goodies: Lay's potato chips, Mallow Blast, jelly candy, Oreo wafer sticks and mint-chocolate candies.

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My lovely assistant, Aly, packed all the lootbags herself!

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Here's our front door!

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All geared up for Halloween.

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Big, hairy spider...

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...balloons (again, I just drew the face with a black pen on the orange balloons), cobwebs and small spiders.

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Since I will be with Alyannah when she goes trick or treating, nobody will be left in the house to give away the treats so I'm thinking of adding the lootbags to the decor.

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Will post pics of the Halloween party soon. I'm sure you can't wait to see our little girl in her princess costume :)

Day Off

Alyannah had a playdate with Kit yesterday so I had the entire day all to myself :) What did I do? I went to the spa. Minsan lang mangyari to eh.

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Refresh @ 24 is at Sukumvit 24. This is the spa's Victorian themed lobby/lounge area.

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I got the Refresh Sabai Mak Mak package. It started with a 30-minute Thai Herbal scrub and ended with a 120-minute aroma relaxation massage.

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From the spa, I proceeded to nearby Carrefour to buy groceries and a quick lunch at McDonald's.

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At the spa, it was massage therapy. Here naman at Carrefour, retail therapy. Can it get any better than this?

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It would have been a perfect afternoon, but I got stuck in traffic for two hours on my way home.

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When I finally made it home, I just dropped off our groceries then proceeded to Bangkok Garden to pick up Alyannah. She greeted me with a big hug and non-stop kwento about her afternoon.

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Aly also gave me this letter. It says, "Der Mommy You I Love You". Aww...

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Wonderful ME time :)

Alyannah's Reward for Being a Good Girl

Richard and I promised Alyannah that if she's a good girl, we will buy her a teddy bear at Build-A-Bear. It was actually more like a bribe just to make her eat more and faster. So now that her eating habits have improved -- she asks for more rice, second servings, eating at record time -- we had to keep our promise.

Allow me to share our Build-A-Bear Workshop experience with you.

First, you will chose what kind of stuffed animal you want. Aly chose the Beary limited edition Collectibear friend amethyst teddy in purple.

Next step was to choose a sound that will be inserted in your teddy bear. Aly wanted her bear to say I love you.

Now, it's time to stuff the bear!

To turn on the machine, all Aly needs to do is step on the pedal and the sales assistant (SA) will do the rest.

Next, you put a heart in your teddy bear and the SA will close it up.

Then, you go to the bear bath where you fluff the bear and brush the fur to make sure it's clean.

Now it's time for my favorite part! Dressing up the bear! There were so many outfits to choose from!

We got a shirt, panties and bunny shoes.

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Let's put the clothes on teddy...

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Isn't she pretty?

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While the SA is packing up Aly's new teddy bear, we'll work on her birth certificate :)

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We named her Chelsea! And she has the same birthday as lola Aple :)

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It's time to bring Chelsea home! Thank you, daddy and mommy for my new teddy bear! I love it! :)

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Sabi nga ng mommy ko, kahit ano gagawin ng mga magulang para lang kumain yung anak nila. And she's right. I think I tried all kinds of tricks, gimmicks...even minor threats like "if you don't eat fast, hindi kita isasama mag-shopping mamaya!" just to make sure that Alyannah is eating properly. Truth be told, I think Build-A-Bear is quite expensive for a stuffed toy but the big smile on Alyannah's face was worth it! Plus, the fact that she's eating well and growing up fast is truly priceless.