Montemar Beach Club

I've lost my blogging mojo. (Urgh. Sorry for the late 90s reference. If I had been more creative I might have thought of another way to describe what I'm going through instead of using an old cliche: Which. Further. Illustrates. The Point.) 

(Note: picture formatting will be a little weird. Please bear with me as I am only blogging using my phone. If I blog using my laptop, it would require me to sit upright which I am just. too. lazy. to. do.)

Anyhoo putting my ennui aside it's been a rather pleasant couple of months. What do you know it's almost half a year into 2014. Which brings us summer! 

Hot humid lazy days. I used to equate summer with books. Because as a student I couldn't indulge to read the books that I truly like during school season. Summer was when I would read almost a book a day till my head hurts like crazy. But I am mom now. I can't just sit inside my room depriving my kids of the glorious weather. 

The first destination this summer is Montemar Beach Club in Bagac, Bataan. I Initially wanted to go south meaning Batangas. But all the resorts that I liked were fully booked. All things considered, I think it was a lucky thing that we ended up here. Let me give the pros to you in a bullet-ed format since I'm too lazy to construct full sentences (see first paragraph why). 

Pro:

- Road going to the resort was an easy drive (no rough roads)

- The beach was not crowded considering that it's peak season

- The sand was fine and did not hurt the feet (compared to some Laiya resorts I have been to)

- The resort was well maintained, clean, and the staff friendly 

- Another pro is that I couldn't really think of a con (haha!)

Ohbutwait, for those who are thinking of going here just be warned that bringing of food is not allowed. Mineral water is free and breakfast is already included when you pay for the accommodation. The rest have to be ordered through their kitchen. The meals cost around P200-400 per person. So budget will be a consideration if you plan to stay a bit longer. Plus there aren't really outside restaurants nearby so eating out might not be the best option too. 

So there, let me tell you about our stay through pictures. :D

Daddy and Sam tired after the trip

We requested 2 additional mattresses for the yayas

Our balcony view

Some pictures of the resort facade. I loved that there's so many greens and trees. Did that sentence make sense? Haha.

The beach. Oh the beach!

There are 3 pools at the resort. One was exclusive to the resort members (or what Jp and I call "the-haves" pool hehe). But we were more than happy already with the blue pool (otherwise known as "the have-nots pool :P). It was surrounded by trees which protected us from the sweltering sun as we swam. :)

Some collage of what the food/kitchen looks like.

Jp and I decided to have a few drinks by the beach. This is what the resort looks like at night.

Next day, there was mass celebrated at one of their function halls. It was one of the best homilies I have ever been to. Hats off to you father! :-)

This is afterall my blog. Hence, some family pictures.

See how clear the waters are:

My favorite picture of the entire quick vacation. Too adorable. :)

There, I almost didn't want to blog about this place as I want to keep it to myself. Haha! As if, that's possible (I am not even a member). Feeling. Seriously though, it's a good homey friendly place. Very ideal for family gatherings and nature-lovers. I'm already planning our return on January. This time with both of our extended families to celebrate our joint (Sam and myself) birthdays!

Hope you are having a great summer too. XOXO.

Contact

Montemar Beach Club Resort
Sitio Pasinay Brgy. Pag Asa Bagac, Bataan
http://www.montemar.com.ph/
Phone: (+632) 811-5496 
Email: mbci.online@gmail.com

What a week that i just had

See, I am no rockstar, or a reigning beauty queen, or a head of state. For me to have that much activity crammed in one week left me disoriented with the flurry of events. Now I will enumerate what I did last week below and you might tell yourself: "nah, that's a pretty standard week for me!"

Having implied at the beginning that I am a nobody an ordinary employed mother of two with routine like clockwork so these things events rarely align themselves in one week. Or perhaps I've had had other days with consecutive stuff happening but none as many awesome events as what I did last week. So yeah, you can pretty much deduce that my life's boring. But heck, I love how ordinary and simple things are in my life. I am in love with my life. Hence, I am blogging this away now to remind me that everynow and then I do get to be the rockstar that I truly am. :-)

Prepare to be bored because this is more for me than for you. =P

Right, let's start with Monday. Me and my teammates decided that it shall be a carbo loading day. We stuffed ourselves with pizza and pasta like there's no tomorrow. Normally, I am very conscious of my carbs intake however, we ate like hungry marathoners then. It was fun to let go just like that. Then that night the whole support group had a telepresence meeting with our boss' boss. Allan who is at New Jersey suited up and met with us to tell us about what has happened and what to expect in the coming months. He recognized our efforts as well as the exciting times ahead for all of us.

Tuesday is to be known as the day I spent in bed and our bathroom in equal parts of the day. Too graphic for me to expound so let's just leave it at that. Oh I got the chance to catch up on my reading though (was I bluer than blue? Not really ha!).

Wednesday was just a truly productive day. Learning-wise I was blown away with what coach Chot Reyes shared with us. One of the best learning sessions I attended in years! He left me totally awestruck. I even got to personally ask him a question. :) This was the day that I also attended a short briefing session because I was one of the few chosen employees (out of 2000) who will attend cocktales with the richest man in Canada. Our company chairman himself! Read below.

All right, then came Thursday which was like one of the highlights of my employment history in Thomson Reuters. Everyone suited up because our Chairman -- 3rd Baron of the Thomson Fleet, Lord David Thomson himself has graced us with a visit. There was an executive townhall attended by at least 700 employees. To say that everyone was moved, inspired, and proud after that event was an understatement. Then about 30-40 of us had the chance to personally meet him at a more relaxed and informal setting. There was good wine, food, laughter, so many group selfies, and even show stoping performances. Truly one of happiest parties I've been to lately.

Friday, was all day strategic planning with our Transactions team at the office. We were rewarded with a buffet at Spirals Sofitel for dinner. Too many food! There was an epic conversation with our Global Head to cap the day.

Saturday morning was spent with the kids at Gymboree, having lunch at Eastwood, then doing the grocery. This is a usual weekend routine. My officemate Mae brought her family at home for a much needed play/swim date. We had impromtu picnic/merienda. They brought so much food. I made egg salad while my sister bought Pancit from a well-known Chinese resto. After stuffing ourselves full it's now time to attend another party! After taking a bath and changing to party clothes we Mae & I headed to Tony Romas. It was another night of good food, wine, and laughter. Truly a time well-spent. After the party I had another few round of drinks with my husband at our favorite little bar called Black Olive.

Early Sunday was spent attending two consecutive masses just to make sure we had a good seat when his Emminence Louis Antionio Cardinal Tagle celebrated mass. It was the feast of Divine Mercy. We headed straight to my in-laws to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday. Another event with overflowing food! Haha. 

Afterlunch we were so beat that we were already tucked in as early as 8pm. What can I say, a rockstar's life is not easy. But amidst all, my heart is truly thankful. Moments like these validates how blessed I am to have my family, friends, collegues, in this journey. :)

On marriage and having kids

I have other more 'fun' blog posts in my drafts. Why did I choose to start my morning today on a rather contemplative mode?

Hmm..maybe it's the hormones? Maybe because a very good friend just woke me up to give me a surprising (and happy) news? Maybe it's the APO song playing on the background? 

For whatever reason it got me to thinking... Does having children define a great marriage? When I was in college (true story) I had my Values Education teacher walk out on us in class because I engaged her on a debate when she said that the sole purpose of marriage was pro-creation.

I am not trying to offend anyone. This is me thinking out loud. If you have your own set of beliefs which happens to be contrary to my own, I respect it. So I expect you to respect me by not taking anything that I say too seriously (haha!). I mean I am just rambling so if I happen to irritate you feel free to change the url with impunity. Hehe. :)

Alright, I got derailed again. My point is, for three and a half years we were trying to get pregnant. (I know I know 3.5 years is not a long time but if you know how impatient and baby crazy I am then you will understand that it IS a long time :))  I remember going to confession one time and I asked the priest how come hubby and I are still not blessed with a child yet. He said: "The happiest couples that I know don't even have children, my dear."

What followed after that conversation was acceptance. We realized, we'll do whatever means possible medically to get pregnant and if the Lord decides to bless us in another way then so be it. You see we were given less that 10% chances of having a baby by the very first doctor that we went to.

But that story is two parts: First was unwavering faith and acceptance. Second was a deliberate decision from us to take control of the situation and seek medical help. Just like with how everything that life has blessed me so far it's always two fold: The Lord's grace blessing me and my own will taking steps to get closer to what I want.

Now back to my question at the start. Do kids define a great marriage? Yes they can but ultimately they don't. 

They give meaning and test your partnership like no other life changing event in your life can. Kids have their own way of turning your world upside down! In a good way though. Totally perplexing and happy way! I can say marriage would require more effort since you don't want to just get stuck on the parenting aspect of your life. I say this because motherhood was very natural for me. Being a great wife, now that takes decision and commitment. But I what makes things easy (and realistic) for me is I don't try to be perfect at these roles. I am not a perfect wife nor mother but I'm sure as hell that I am a fun one! :)

I started picturing a childless marriage back then when we were still trying to concieve. And I was okay with it too. I was happy if things were to stay forever the same. That was weird for a baby-obsessed person like me. But here's how I came into acceptance: God gave me a wonderful life partner. Really, and that's what marriage should be about companionship. We are complete baby or no baby.

Marriage is an institution that should be defined by a mutual decision to accept things that life has to offer together with your partner. Marriage has struggles but don't forget it's supposed to be fun also. So just find the right partner (a faithful, kind, and funny one). And stay committed. :D

Mongolian Stir Fried Rice ala nanay Love

Okay let me blog this now before I forget. It's one of my cooking experiments that turned out pretty good! 

I wanted to cook something very savory since my two babies lost their appetite while they were sick with stomach flu (I mean who wouldn't?). Mongolian is just the right dish for that. They always seem to have entrees that seem to burst in your mouth and punch you in the face (oops maybe delete that second description :P).

What is it about Mongols that seems to err.. Be so feisty! Rawr! Genghis Khan! Rawr! Lands to conquer! Rawr! Spice! Extra rice pa! Rawr! Okay maybe you get the picture na. Heehee.

Let me go straight to the recipe before I get distracted again by my own wit and humor. Ahem! :)

Ingredients:

Around 4-5 cups of cooked rice

400 - 500g of good quality beef tenderloin strips (cut into bite sizes)

Red onions thinly sliced

Red bell pepper thinly sliced

Carrots thinly slided

1 can of corn kernels (I only put half of what's in the can since I ate the other half haha)

1 small can of button mushroom

1/4 cup: honey, oyster sauce, sweet chilli sauce

Cayanne pepper (optional)

Beef bullion

Salt & pepper to taste

Procedure:

1) Boil the beef in a small amount of water (just enough to slightly cover them - read: hindi naman pang nilaga levelz - just enough water para lang lumambot)

2) Let the water evaporate and add a bit of oil to brown the beef. Set aside.

3) Saute the red onion, carrots, and red bell pepper in the oil. Add the beef bullion 

4) Add the mushroom and corn kernels. Saute for 2-3 minutes until they get happy together. :)

5) Then add the equal parts: honey, oyster sauce, and sweet chilli sauce. Add a little bit of salt and pepper (para masaya!)

6) Add the rice and mash it with the sauce like there's no tomorrow! (My hubby kindly volunteer to pre-mash the rice prior to it being added to the pan - this is what you do to the rice when you prepare sinangag)

Note:

Mothers, another optional ingredient pala that I used is sesame oil. I used about a tablespoon of it mixed with a few drizzles of olive oil when I sauteed the veggies. The sesame oil adds that extra oomph. Although be careful not to use too much of it because it can be quite overppwering on the dish. :-)

Happiness yan friends. Trust me. Try na! Sorry I have no actual photo of the finished product. Na excite kameng lahat masyado to eat it. The rice just smelled so heavenly!

PS:

Why don't you cook this recipe and take a pic so I can add it to this blog entry. Hehe.

PPS:

I decided to make this dish again this weekend since hubby liked it so much. So I now have photos to show yah! :-)

Pictures below:

Some of the ingredients from my pantry- 

Finished product (it tastes better than it looks!)

Toodles! :D

For Sam

You know what if there's one person na lugi because I have not been blogging anymore... it's really Sam.

 

My always happy 2nd baby. This blog was started out of pure love slash obsession for our son Eli. I wanted an avenue where I can freely shout to the world how much that boy makes my heart melt.

 

And then I fell in love all over again when our "surprise" baby came into this world. And then life got so busy. And then I got lazy.

 

So lazy that I was content to just keep sharing my thoughts over facebook or instragram. But man! I'm missing out. Really the fact that I have not been recording my thoughts recently kinda makes me wish I can time travel and document everything right after they happened. Just because so many fun stuff happened last year. But yeah, I just became lazy.

 

But document now I will. There's me and hubby's 6th wedding anniversary. Sam's 1st birthday. So many wonderful ordinary days ought to be relieved and retold not for anyone else's benefit but just solely for me. Yes just me. (The cruel world does not care about the adventures of an ordinary mom but whatevs someday I know I will re-read my words with a smile.)

 

You see, another thing is I have not over expressed yet is my love to our baby daughter.

For Sam:

Hi anak. The moment I saw you I said to myself: Yes! May bago na akong best friend! Haha. You see your mom is a secret introvert. It's a secret since I'm loud so peope automatically assume that I make friends easy. On the contrary, I only have a few handful (really super great) people whom I consider true friends. They are the ones I truly trust. I don't have a big barkada or posse (or whatever you call them these days). 

So nung nakita kita alam ko na agad. Instantly sabi ko I've gained my lifelong bestfriend. You we're so cute with lips so lucious and red like a princess! You were the nicest baby. Motherhood is hard anak especially in beginning but you made the journey easy for me.

All you needed was to smell mommy, my milk, and you're a happy camper. Now, you just turned 1. You made life so happy for me, daddy, and your kuya. You can get a bit hard headed especially right before you go to sleep. Alam mo yun, papikit ka na and you will purposely shake yourself para mawala antok mo. Hay!

You have so many endearing qualities. Anyone who meets you immediately knows na you're a happy baby. You are very generous with your smile and laughter. Keep on growing lang baby. Never ever lose that spark. Never stop believing that this world is a paradise because whatever it is you decide to pursue we'll support you promise yan.

I love you Sam. I am so blessed to be your mommy.