Pearl of the Orient Seas

What is the Philippines? Yep. We were just there, and that explains the inactivity here. Back in September, I was too busy making sure that I was packing everything that the little boy would need. I tell you, it was no joke... especially since I was packing for a family of three and we're flying to another country. Come on now, you can relate! It's a lot of planning and work and lists. I took over the guestroom, brought out the clothes and gifts and things and more things, and got crazy filling the luggage that I lined up on the floor. Sure, we can buy essentials that we may have missed to bring or we ran out of. BUT, this is a short vacation and I didn't want to be bothered with grocery shopping when I could be in Greenhills shopping for things that I want. Haha. I wish.


This visit was really just to be with family. We met up with dear friends as well. So much to do, so little time. We made sure Andrew had his taste of the Philippine scene. We did a pictorial in historic Intramuros. We took him to Manila Ocean Park, which was amazing. A family outing to Zoobic Safari was also arranged to celebrate two of his cousins' birthday. We also dropped by the 29th Manila International Book Fair, where I got him numerous bilingual (filipino-english) books. After a family day at the farm in Pao, we did a quick side trip to the Monasteryo de Tarlac in the Lubigan Eco-Tourism Park. The view was breathtaking! It. is. beautiful. up. there. You should visit!

I'll stop now and let some pictures do the talking.

approaching Clark Airport, partial view of Ortigas

swimming with Ate , "it's all mine now"

"cool chairs" , fish spa!

MOP

Manila Cathedral , Fort Santiago

Calesa Ride "I'm shy!"

Intramuros, Fort Santiago

Juan Tamad at the Book Fair, Monasteryo de Tarlac

Today's High: My Grocery Savings

So I wanted to talk about coupon power. It started out at BJ's where I used 10 coupons (manufacturer's and in-club) and saved $26.25! I had $5 off a box of Pampers baby dry, another $5 off Pampers wipes, $4 off Pampers cruisers, $4 off Tide and Downy, $2 off Nesquik, etc. Add $11 of instant rebates, and voila, a total of $37.25 extra savings! I'm a happy camper! This is the main reason why I selectively clip coupons to complement my shopping list, and very *seldom* leave home without it.

BJ's (and other warehouse club) prices are much less compared to regular grocery store prices because of bulk packaging. To lower the *lower* price is what I call savvy shopping. 'gotta trim our outlays.

Off to Waldbaum's next, viewed the circular and weekly specials, breezed through the aisles, picked this sale item and that, checked-out, used my valued shopper club card, and ka-ching, saved $40.75.

Last stop: CVS. 'needed Infant Motrin. 'shaved $1 off with my coupon, and somehow earned $1 of CVS money by using my Extra Care CVS card.

Truly, a great day of savings for me. No matter what other people say about loyalty club cards being a ruse and not really saving you money, I don't give a hoot. I know my products and how much they're worth, and I sure know when they are priced high, priced right, and priced-to-be-grabbed.

Hi! I'm Faye, and I shop smart.

Are you a fan of Rachael Ray?

This *may* be your chance to see Rachael Ray in person and see her show live!

('got this invite from one of my mommy groups.)

**********

Send e-mail to:rrtickets@kingworld.com

You are invited to attend a special taping of the Rachael Ray Show!!!!

**THIS IS NOT A TICKET**

In celebration of Rachael's 40th birthday, we are having a special themed show and are inviting audience members who are turning 40 years of age to attend this special taping of the Rachael Ray show to help share Rachael's big day.

We are looking for Men and Women who are 39 years old (born in 1968) and /or turning 40 years of age between August- December only!

Please only reply back if you meet this requirement. Please note that this is a special one-time themed show to celebrate Rachael turning the big "4" "0". For this show ONLY, we will be admitting only those guests that meet the above requirement.

If you don't meet this requirement, we encourage you to apply to be a guest on another day, please visit our website at rachaelrayshow.com

Please reply with the following information:
Your name: ________________________________
Show Date: Thursday August 28th at 10:15 am
Number of tickets requested (4 is max): __________
Confirm that all guests meet this One-Time Age Requirement of being 39 years of age and/or turning 40 years old by the end of the year:___________________
(All guests must be 39 or turning 40 years old with valid identification for this special themed show. Photo ID's will be required for entry, No exceptions!)
Cell Phone/Daytime Phone: ____________________
Email: _____________________________________

Please include "RACHAEL RAY -"40th Birthday Show" in the subject line of your reply email.
We look forward to hearing from you soon and we are excited for you to be part of this special taping.

* After you reply, you will receive an email ticket for the showwith more information on Wednesday August 20th

PLEASE NOTE: This is a special taping for "Rachael's 40th Birthday" Only guests who are 39 years of age and/or turning 40 this year will be admitted. Even with confirmation, all Rachael Ray tapings are first come, first serve and admission is not guaranteed.

Rachael Ray
Audience Department

NY Restaurant Week is on until Labor Day

Now that we've got more time --fellow foodies, let's devour!

Next on our list (if I can get dinner reservation): Blue Water Grille, 21 Club, and Tribecca Grill. I'm disappointed that River Cafe did not participate this year. We had lunch (a first, in our RW experience) at Morimoto, and it was all right. The salad appetizer, for me, was very simple and not as flavorful as I wanted it to be. I have yet to find a salad appetizer that will rival Columbia's; it's sooo good, your palate will immediately know the difference. It's been years ago since we were in this Sarasota restaurant, but I still get a flashback of the taste, the burst of flavor, the juicy ingredients...makes we want to fly to St. Armands Circle right now. But I digress...

Here's what calmed our grumbly stomach:

I must tell you that the egg was perfectly poached. Superb! The chef's sushi selection tasted delicious. Albert also ordered a spicy tuna roll for himself, and a california roll for me. We were stuffed, for sure. Oh, and they gave me two bowls of the Beef Gyudon. :P Guess why?

For dessert, they had teeny-tiny offerings of a bite-size brownie and some candies. I don't know, for some reason, it screamed at us like "Come on, what would you expect? It's Restaurant Week, people!" We ordered tea and called it a day.

My friends rave about Morimoto ("five stars! five stars!"), but they were there for dinner and they ordered from the regular menu. I'm sure the food was excellent. As for their RW lunch fare, we've really had better.

Bronx Zoo's toyland

From August 18 to 24, Fisher-Price will be hosting Play Week at the Bronx Zoo from 11 am to 4 pm each day. It will feature a super-sized playpen with lots of toys, a driving track, a vanity station for some arts and crafts, and special appearances by costume characters. A free gift bag with activity booklet and the new Planet Heroes DVD awaits each child visiting the play area.

We've now booked that weekend for a playdate. :P

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)

It's time again for NY Restaurant Week!

Hot off the press tip from OpenTable.com!!!

Mark your calendar for NYC Summer Restaurant Week 2008:
July 21 - 25 and July 28 - August 1

Eat and be very merry! Make your reservations early (I'm serious!). As soon as I saw the email, I tried booking a late lunch at Asiate but "no tables are available within 2 hours of my 2pm request." Whatev.

For two weeks, experience NYC's finest restaurants and pay only $24.07 for a three-course lunch (or $35 for dinner). IF you stick to the menu (and drink water instead of wine or some cocktail), even with tax and gratuity, you're still paying a fraction of the usual price. IF you lack self-control like we do ("Yes, I'll have a gewurztraminer and..."), you may see a spike in the bill. Nonetheless, I still love, love Restaurant Week because we get to try out dining hot spots that are usually out of our budget. We choose our picks based on these criteria:

> $$$$ price category (which means we wouldn't normally eat there unless it's restaurant week) > place comes highly recommended
> location (e.g. River Cafe) or history of the place (e.g. One if by Land, Two if by Sea)
> we know the chef (the chef doesn't necessarily know us)

RW could be a hit and miss. Since 2002, the restaurants we've tried had us feeling good and happy about the food and the service (except at Inagiku last year). We've had...

the best time at Terrace in the Sky
the most romantic date at Josephs Citarella
the best steak at Smith & Wollensky and Delmonico's (Restaurant week aside, our personal faves are Uncle Jack's and Peter Luger)

We'll see if Morimoto will be in this special list after July 24.

And feel free to share your RW picks with me.

Note: Learn more about the NY Restaurant Week.