Live ...at the New York Hall of Science!

July 17 . I received an email from Mary Record of the NY Hall of Science about being on TV. They needed energetic kids of all ages to play in the exhibits and be filmed on live TV. She wanted to know if I would be interested. Would I be interested? OF COURSE! :P I can imagine it being a really fun experience for both me and Andrew. We're in!

There were two television shoots over the weekend, and I can choose to attend one or attend both. On Saturday (7/19, 8:30-10am) CBS-TV will be filming live weather segments in the Science Playground while on Sunday (7/20, 5:45-9am), ABC-TV will do the same in the Hall's special exhibition, Magic: The Science of Illusion. I emailed Mary back to let her know that Andrew and I were interested in joining the Saturday shoot, and half an hour later, I received her confirmation. Mary also made a note to "dress your child in bright colored-clothing with no logos or words" and that "solid colors work best".

Albert has a scheduled eval and won't be able to join us, so I asked Mama if she'd come with us instead. The doting Lola, of course, is available.

July 18, 10pm. 'got the diaper bag ready. Still unsure which shirt Andrew should wear the next day. Tough call!!! All the brightly colored ones had logos in 'em. Would have loved for him to wear his orange or his blue Mets shirt. My other option was to have him wear a striped shirt. Would the yellow and blue stripes look better than the blue and pink stripes? Or would I settle for the soft lime green shirt? Man, I started to think how I'm making a big deal out of this. Fine, the green shirt it is (but I will bring the striped shirts, just in case...). Stars need a change of outfit after all, right? *lol*

July 19, 7am. I was up earlier than usual. On a Saturday! Hey, for the love of TV, hahaha. At 7:15, pupungas-pungas pa ang mag-ama. 'got myself ready, then I prepared Andrew's breakfast. He seemed to wonder why his morning routine is 1 1/2 hours off. Anyway, we were out the door by 8:05 and parking in the museum grounds by 8:20. We were ushered into the Science playground, where Mary welcomed us. Free breakfast for all attendees. Nice. Andrew was all set, but I needed my caffeine and I was not sure if Mama ate something before we left.

'noted that the lights had been set up in certain areas of the playground. I was hoping to see Dave Price (my crush since his Fox5 days), but I learned that Megan Glaros was doing the whole outdoor segment of the show. She's pretty and sweet. She interacted with the families during the breaks and she was friendly to all the kids.

By 10am, it was a wrap. As soon as we got home, we reviewed the recording of the show and ta-dah... here's our few seconds of fame.

(to follow once Tatay has uploaded it on YouTube)

New York Hall of Science review

My girlfriends and I scheduled a playdate at the New York Hall of Science, and we and our children had a wonderful time. There are lots of interactive and stimulating exhibits to see and explore. My son had a blast just walking around and enjoying the sights. Not much interest in the exhibits really, but the idea of a great time for him is "people watching" and "roaming-around-to-touch-this-and-that". Fair enough. :) The "Preschool Place" is where we stayed the most, because we have toddlers. It had a market area where the kids shopped and picked fruits and veggies (and pushed a shopping cart, if they were lucky enough to find one that was available); the check-out counter had a cashier station, conveyor, and scanner. Really cute. On one end was a special padded area for babies. The "Sports Challenge" exhibit was also a hit with the older kids. The mini water park in the Science Playground entertained our children and cooled them off, but I didn't like that we had to pay an additional $4 to get in (this is on top of the admission fee).

I signed on as a member and for the next two years, we'll have:
> unlimited access to the Hall
> free parking in the on-site lot
> admission to more than 250 other museums worldwide
> borrowing privileges from the Science Technology Library, and
> discounts on subscriptions to FamilyFun and Disney Adventures magazines.

I think it's worth it.

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Rating: 4 stars
Pros: friendly staff, interactive exhibits, indoor and outdoor cafe (you may bring food)
Cons: street parking if you are not a member (or pay $10 for parking), additional $4 to get in the science playground




mirror room & bubble fun in the hall

sports challenge

preschool place

preschool place

cold mist in the science playground

The Kids

Here Kitty Kitty!

Finalleeeeh! :) The 2G was mine! I'm demystifying the kitty party, if you had not searched about it yet.

Kitty party... Paluwagan... Jam-ia... Sou sou. Whichever way it is called, it's a means to save money. Here's more:

Kitty, in India (and this is according to Tarun), means a pot of money. The Dictionary of Indian English has this meaning:

kitty party: n. a meeting of women where chits are arranged or gossip is exchanged.
chit: n. a financial scheme in which a group of people put in a fixed amount every day/week/month and one of them gets to collect the entire amount by lucky draw each time.

Note: There's 10 of us in the group. 8 women and 3 men. The promoter (and promotor) coined it kitty party...as per Tarun. So yeah, technically, it's supposed to be a meeting of women. But hey, we're all women! Chits are exchanged. Check. Gossip is exchanged. Check. Unique drawings are held. Check. Kitty party all the way!

My mom has something similar in their school, and they call it Sou sou. I went, "su... what??" :P
Fine, count me in. :) The more "diversified" I am in my savings, the better. The Urban Dictionary has this to say:

Sou Sou
A savings arrangement where a group of people each pool an equal amount of money for a period time (month, two weeks, etc) and after that time is up, one person in the group gets all that money. They keep doing this till everyone gets their turn and receives that full lump sum at least once. It's not a pyramid scheme, no one loses as long as everyone's trustworthy and puts in their share. It's just a way to hang on to money by putting tying it up into something else temporary. This is popular with 1st-gen Carribbeans, South Americans, Africans, and maybe someother people. Just a way to save money up if you can't get a small savings account, aren't in a credit union, or don't want Tha Man all up in your business.

Note: My mom's group draws the monthly "winner" in the beginning of the Sou Sou. You'll know when to expect your share. You can also request (or switch) for a slot, if let's say you need the money by a certain month. With mom's help, I got the March money pool (I needed it for Andrew's birthday party). Aren't they great?

On to our Filipino version, the Paluwagan. I say, who hasn't joined one??? Same premise: contribute money to a pool on a monthly basis, and the lucky member for the month gets to enjoy the money. It's repeated until all the members get their fair share. I was teasing a friend of mine who didn't know about the paluwagan (or is it more like, patago) that was so "in" during our elementary and high school days. I told her, she probably didn't need to do it anyway. Meanwhile, there I was... often a part of the class savings program. I even got assigned the responsibility of keeping the money safe (which, let me tell you, now that I look back at it, was difficult to do during those years). Look, you got extra cash in your possession... you're young... wouldn't it be convenient to borrow some of it to buy stationery for your collection, or to get yourself a bottle of Denenes? You tell me! Nah. Let me pat myself on the back... good thing I was the responsible class VP and I was also a legionary... no hanky panky.

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Okay. So back to my win. What do you say I now do with the money?

Love the libe

Every week or so, I make a trip to the library to borrow DVDs (usually, any Baby Einstein that we don't already have), magazines, and books. It's like going to Barnes and Noble or Borders, bringing home all the stuff that you want, and not spending a single dime (lest you are paying overdue fees for late returns). In the pic is my sample loot. :)


So yes, I do save money by yielding those tempting magazine subscription offers. Why pay for something that I can get (er, borrow) for free? Another plus, I don't even have to worry about accumulating periodicals clutter. And the DVDs, we're not into collecting them. It's borrow-watch-return. I have a seasonal interest on books, so I don't typically browse the libe's extensive collection. And if I had a particular book in mind, I can search for it in the online catalog, place a request on it, and then get an email or a letter informing me that's it's available for pick-up in my library of choice. Ain't that cool or what?! I can also borrow from and return items to any of the 70+ libraries in Queens, 7 days a week (with late closings on some days).

There are a myriad of free services for children, teens, and adults. From tax prep, to help with homework, to health screenings, to various workshops, to computer or language classes, and so on and so forth! My goodness, pag di ka naman ma-overwhelm! Hahaha. If all these don't make anyone fall in love with the libe, I don't know what else would.


Below is Butchukoy's first trip.



*The Queens Library is an independent system that is separate from the Brooklyn and New York City (Manhattan-Bronx-Staten Island) libraries.

Xin Nian Kuai Le! (Happy New Year)

Gong Xi Fa Cai. Kung Hei Fat Choi. May Prosperity be with you.

However way we choose to greet our Chinese friends, we all mean to celebrate with them the Spring Festival or the Chinese New Year. Today, there is a lunar new year parade in Flushing (our home) that kicked off at 11am and will last until 1pm. I wanted Butchukoy to see the floats and the dragon dancers and steel drummers with colorful costumes, but the weather is drab and it may rain so we stayed home. Albert left early for an 11am-1pm cooking class at Cafe Centro (my early Valentine's gift). B and I hung out with the Lolo and the Lola.

Note: The picture is the Year of the Rat stamp that kicks off the USPS Celebrating Lunar New Year stamp series for the 12 different animals in the Chinese Calendar.

'live here, 'love it

It's home away from home. The Mets rock! Flushing is the site of the US Open. Queens is the coolest borough in NYC. When in Chinatown, we get transported to Binondo or Ongpin. We can get Filipino food anytime. The city offers a diverse and rich culinary experience. The public library system works. Public transportation is highly efficient. Neighborhood parks are well-kept, and some even have Wi-Fi access. Spotting a celebrity is typical.

Five boroughs, one city = varied choices, many must-sees, countless events, scores of fun

It's a multicultural, multilingual, multi-everything experience.