gupit

Have you ever experienced getting all wrapped up with hair when you wake up in the morning? Well, I do. So I had my haircut a few days ago. My hair gets its once a year cut every summer. I like it short every summer so that when I get back to work, people gets a little surprise. Maybe it’s the KSP in me rather than the adventure seeker which prods me to cut my hair from long to really, really short. Anyway, I know it will grow back the way it was after a year.

And since Jaims had his haircut before summer, I also wanted Sofi to have her haircut. We decided to trim her bangs and let her hair grow before because it’s so hard to clip her hair. If it’s long then we’ll just have to ponytail it. But Sofi’s hair is straight and smooth that when you tie it, the band falls off eventually. Besides, THE daddy is really poor in tying and maintaining the hair, so bye bye long hair.

Notice that her hair is not that perfectly trim. It’s because Jaims was the one who cut it. Since salon for kids are way too expensive and we don’t expect Sofi to behave well then we opted to resort to the home barber.

Oly's water test

Had my Olympus Mju Tough 8000 for 5now and  months now.  To be honest I wasn't brave enough to submerge it underwater.  Yeah, yeah I know... it's meant to be dipped, dropped and even covered with snow but 14,500 is still 14,500.  That's more than half of my monthly salary.  I couldn't just say bye bye to Oly in such a short time.

Last Holy Week, Oly got her first beach tan.  Here's the video taken by my nephew.

missy's new skin

Missy's almost a year old now.  And other than her memory deteriorating causing the boot up to slow down because of the files I have accumulated in her, she has not given me any major problems at all.  In fact, I'm so grateful I have her with me when we were in Singapore.  She helped me get connected with Jaims and Sofi because my phone did not cooperate well.

With that, I decided to get her something new.  Since the plastic film covering her top was already peeled, I got her a new skin from CD-R King.  Jaims bought the 15" skin so we can make use the excess for other gadgets.  It costs P150.00.  Character skins and plain skins are also available for 100 bucks but I prefer this green skin more.

pre-school

Been spending the last days researching about preschools. Sofia is now 2 years, 9 months and finding a school to keep her active mind working seemed to be the next step. I wanted her to attend the preschool here in our barangay but the ladies there told my mom that this coming June they will only accept enrollees who are at least 3.5 years old. Sofi will only turn 3 this July, that means she didn’t make the cut-off. My next resort is to find resources online. Of course there are lots of frantic moms online who are scouting for preschools, too. Their inputs are a big help to those who will send their kiddos to school for the first time but somehow a lot of infos are left unexposed. I would say I have read 3 major threads on parenting and schools but I couldn’t find what I’m looking for…or maybe there isn’t any.

I wanted to find something that says how much a first-time mommy or daddy should save to send her toddler to school. Some websites tell you upfront how much, others would require that you call and some others would want you to visit the school and let the kid try first before they tell you how much. Really, there is nothing wrong with trial schools. It’s the best way to get to know the “curriculum”. But as a mom, I hate it when I have to break my little girl’s heart. I mean, letting her try an environment and when she enjoys it, you tell her…sorry, sweetie we don’t have money for this school. And then she wails and you couldn’t do anything but drag her back home.

I tried calling the schools I have in mind but their responses were a bit disappointing. The two schools I particularly like, AHeadStart and Mulberry, have tuitions above 50k. I was hoping I could find a school whose tuition is around 35k. Red Apple and Sea and Learn’s seemed promising, with around 41k tuition. I kinda like the homey image of Red Apple but they only accept students who’ll turn 3 this June.  Plus, they have a cute uniform :)

I'm still not sure where to enroll Sofi.  I might pay a visit toAheadstart and Sea and Learn within the week to check them out.  For those interested, here are the schools' contact info.

Aheadstart Child Development Center
Webby: http://aheadstartpreschool.com/index.htm
e-mail addy: info@aheadstartcdc.com
Addy: 72 San Rafael st., Brgy. Kapitolyo, Pasig City
Phone: 631-9548
Tuition Range: roughly 50k (according to the one I talked to)
Teaching Style: Developmental, Progressive, Interactive
Contact Person: Teacher Mica
DepEd Permit: P-168 2007

Comment:  The school is near our vicinity, the school looks homey to me.  When I called them yesterday, the one who answered was very accommodating -- not as if they just woke up.  Similar to Mulberry they also do not divulge too much info over the phone regarding tuition but she was the one who offered to give a range.  I might visit it this week.

The Red Apple Playschool
Webby: http://www.redappleplayschool.com/
e-mail addy: inquiry@redappleplayschool.com
Addy: 100 F. Manalo Street, Malinao, Pasig City
Phone: 748-1155
Tuition Range: visit site for the complete breakdown
Teaching Style: modified-progressive, research-oriented preschool; mixture of trad/non-trad
Contact Person: Clyde Villegas / Joyce Reyes / Jasmin Lao
DepEd Permit:

Comment: website has a lot to say about the school and the pictures look homey to me.  I think Sofi will enjoy the class here and will prepare her to a big school since their style of teaching is a mixture of tradition and progressive.  I'm also interested how they go about their research-oriented curriculum because being a librarian i knew how important these skills are,,,except that these are preschool kids and i'm not sure what approach will they do to achieve this.  It's a pity that it's not near our place and minimum age should be 3 years old.  The uniform looks cute for Sofi. :)

Sea and Learn Development Center
Webby: http://seaandlearn.webs.com/
e-mail addy: seaandlearn@yahoo.com
Addy: 2/F Fun Ranch, Frontera Verde Estates, E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave, Libis,Pasig City
Phone: 583-7765, 0922-8387765
Tuition Range: 50k (or you may read this blog entry from fedhz.com)
Teaching Style: Progressive
Contact Person:
DepEd Permit:
Comment: Their website has lots of information about the school, their programs and their tuition.  I like it that it's witin the vicinity and that they are very transparent.  I hate it that they are inside Fun Ranch.  Sofi has this tendency to drag you to amusement parks and I know for sure that if you enroll her here she will always ask you to bring her to the rides and stuff.  The school is quite small too unlike the others who used up their entire house to build a playschool.  But their tuition is among the lowest so far within my area.

Mulberry Kids Preschool
Webby: http://mulberrykids.multiply.com/
e-mail addy: mulberrykids_ph@yahoo.com
Addy: 25 Gen. Malvar St., Brgy. San Antonio, San Antonio Village, Pasig City
Phone: 6877024, 09173669338.
Tuition Range: 60+ (according to the person I talked to)
Teaching Style: focuses on the physical, intellectual, emotional, aesthetic, personal and social needs of the child
Contact Person: Meg Mariñas
DepEd Permit:
Comment: hard to look for feedbacks on the web, multiply site provides little info – PM them about tuition but they don’t want to share info. They instead offered a Trial class, if you’re interested, it’s on the 19th and 20th of this month, but you need to reserve a slot. They said they'll email me more info but I haven't receive any as of today.  I called them and the one who answered is not too accommodating, although I was able to squeezed out a few info on tuition range, 60+. I wanted to enroll Sofi here since it’s walking distance but I don’t think I can afford it.

PS.  I just got an email from them...same stuff and she called me Ms. Santos :(

 

10k

I've read somewhere that running is the new badminton.  On a positive note, it could mean that more and more people are getting into the fitness world.  Negatively, people will eventually get tired of it and leave it for another FAD sport.

More and more local companies are banking on the idea of running as a promotional gimmick.  There's the Century Tuna Superbods Run, UNILAB Run United for Wellness 2010, and Timex Run 2009.  The shortest of which is 500m for kids and 3k for adults/beginning runners.  Though I haven't been lured to join any of these, I'm planning to join them in the future.  We have our own marathon in XS, the Xavier-ICA Family Fun Run, and I failed to join this year.  The iLRC kiddos -- Reagan, Neri, Jane and MC -- joined the fun run last time and I begged off to what was supposed my first run ever.  Anyways, Reagan and Neri continued running.  Both of them run at the Marikina Sports Center.

I promised Neri i'll start running when vacation kicks off and I'm sticking to my promise.  To motivate myself I bought a new running shoes yesterday.  I went to Olympic World - Robinson's Pioneer in search of the ultimate running shoes.  What's the IT factor?  It has to be cheap and it has to look good.  I've attempted to look for running shoes in different mall sale but the price almost always turns me off.  I almost bought a World Balance shoe in Market Market but they don't have my size.  Come to think of it, that shoe isn't a beauty after all.  What I had is the Accel RN Deena White/Mint Color.  Website says that SRP should be P1699.75 but I got it for P1360.00.  There's also a royal blue, black and pink accents if you prefer a less bold color.  I've seen the royal blue and it's a beauty, but they don't have my size too.  But the green one is cool enough for me.  It may not be a love at first sight case but the longer you look at it, the more beautiful it becomes.  Plus, it's proudly Philippine made.

Now that I have my shoes, I'm looking forward for my next purchase -- a realiable sports watch and a music player.  The music player's the least of my priorities but the watch, I must get it.  And I'm eyeing the Timex Ironman 50-Lap Mid.

Money should grow on trees ...

nap time

Nap time has always been a part of Sofi's routine.  When she's a lot younger, Sofi even had two nap times, one after bath which is around 10AM and the other one is around 2PM.  Jaims and I always made sure she gets a nap because she gets cranky a lot of times when she failed to do so.  The naps last for two hours and then she's back to her usual mood.  Since it is part of her routine, we didn't have much trouble sending her to sleep.  Milk after bath had always worked for us except on rare occasions that she has someone to play with.  When she turned a year old, her nap time was pushed after lunch.  She'd sleep for 3 hours straight and would sometimes go beyond it if nobody wakes her up or if she's feeling a bit down the weather.

Now that she's almost three, sending her to bed becomes a challenge.  Oftentimes she would make excuses like "mommy, poopoo ako" or "daddy, watch ako dora".  Sometimes she would pretend to vomit or cry until we give in.  She also uses food as an excuse --  "mommy, crackers ako",  "kain tayo rice" or "mimi pa".  She never runs out of excuses.

And today, as I was sending her to bed, she told me: "Mommy, ba't tayo sleep, di naman nightime ah!"

Haaaaay, Sofia!

new toys

i'm not a gadget freak (according to one article i wrote months back)but if i have the money and i had to buy something other than the basics...i'd go for the techie stuff.

after missy, comes Oly.  oly is my new toy, short for, Olympus.  Oly is the new Olympus µ TOUGH-8000 -- a 12 megapixel, waterproof, shockproof, crushproof and freezeproof digital camera.  Pretty tough for a digicam, this beauty can be drop off a 2m solid ground and still take pictures perfectly.  for more of its features you may check this site.

the main reason why i bought this is because our old baby digicam -- Canon Ixus i5 can't take pictures under the bright sun anymore.  It has a waterproof casing when we purchased it that's why buying an ordinary digicam won't give justice to the tradition.   Sofi and i are both beach-addicts too that's why a waterproof digicam is definitely a good buy.

Mall price is  around P24,000.  I got mine from St. Francis Squre, the tiangge mall right across Megamall from Kimstore for only P14,500.  Though they have a package which that includes memory and casing, I opted to buy the unit only.  It's cheaper and since i have an extra memory from my cell phone I decided not to buy another one.

I got it a few days after we went to Zamba.  It's a pity that I wasn't able to get it before the swim but it's okay.  I'm pretty sure there'll be another one.

Another toy I got after Christmas is  the Myer Desk Lamp.  It's a lamp with a dimmer switch, good for my night reading and homework preparation.  I've been asking Jaims for a night lamp because I can't read in the dark every time I bring home a pocketbook or if i have to write a paper that requires reading a book or magazine.  the only time I get to read a book is when Sofi is asleep and that meant lights off.  With this new toy, I can brighten the room and dim it, too. Got it from SM for P195.00 with orange tag.  Can't wait for school to start again :)

buffalo wings

tis another season of leftovers that's why when kuya told me that we have fried chicken in the refrigerator i thought of recycling it and transforming it to another dish. i intended to cook chicken in lemon butter sauce but when i check the stocks we don't have two of the main ingredients. the dish turned out to be good as Daddy seemed to enjoy his buffalo wings. Sorry i didn't put the exact amount since this was done from scratch and based on trial-and-error theory i don't remember how much i placed.  just do the math :)

Mommy's Buffalo Wings from Scratch
ingredients:

leftover chicken wings (chop into smaller pieces)
cornstarch
tomato sauce
soy sauce
cane vinegar
sugar
pongkan juice
pepper
salt
water

Instructions:
In a pot, put diluted cornstarch and tomato sauce. Let it boil then add the soy sauce and vinegar. Put sugar and pepper according to taste buds' desire. Squeeze the half pongkan and mix. Allow to boil. In a separate pan, re-fry the chicken pieces to add crunch. Add the chicken to our sauce and mix until all the chicken pieces are coated. Boil until sauce is thick.

If you prefer your buffalo wings spicy, add hot sauce before adding the chicken.

Merry Christmas everyone!