Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Mother-Daughter Day at the Mind Museum

Mama and I had our mother-daughter day at the Mind Museum when they opened to the public. Never mind that I'm married and in my late-twenties. =p

Aedi the robot welcomed us.





They have interactive games.















There are A LOT of things they have to work on. Some of the exhibits felt random (too many toilets on display and arcade games on the second floor) and some of the signs were too wordy for young readers. It was a bit disappointing and underwhelming but it's still worth checking out especially if you have children. Children do not over-analyze so they'd probably have fun here. I've been to the Science Discovery Center in Mall of Asia and in my opinion, this place is equally enjoyable for the young ones. 

For more information, you could visit their site here.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

International Women's Day: Phenomenal Woman (Maya Angelou)

Picture stolen from C's blog

 I dedicate this poem to all the phenomenal women in my life:

Phenomenal Woman
(Maya Angelou)

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.



Tuesday, March 6, 2012

20x200: Everyone Needs Art

One of the misconceptions people have about art is that only the rich can afford it. Jen Bekman, the founder of 20x200 ("20 by 200") came up with this formula:

(limited editions x low prices) + the internet = art for everyone

That's when she started 20x200, a site which sells affordable limited-edition archival prints. They made art accessible to everyone! It was easy browsing through the site, you can filter your choices according to different categories (for example, you only want to browse through photographs then just select photographs). 

While browsing through the site, I saw these prints I'd want for our house:

Jericho. From the Series the West Bank by Philip Cheung

A Map of the Open Country of a Woman's Heart by D.W. Kellogg & Co.

In the Library by Tatsuro Kiuchi 

Shinjuku, 6:43 by Joseph O. Holmes
ny.11.#2 by Jennifer Sanchez

Despair by Yuji Yamada


Art should not only be seen as a financial investment. Art is an expression of yourself. Even if you're not the artist, you are attracted in a piece because you see a part of  yourself in it. But that's my personal opinion :)

For more information about affordable art, you can also look at my entry about the Art in the Park.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Book Report: February Edition


I can't believe it's already March! I can already feel the summer heat creeping up my limbs and going under my skin. I'm looking forward going to the beach, lying down under the shade, a good book in my right hand and  frozen mango shake in the other. *insert dreamy stare*

For now, I present the books I've finished for the month of February. Note that my monthly book list does not include books that are part of my daily routine and those I've read for work, thus the short pile.

6. 500 Time-Saving Hints for Every Woman by Emilie Barnes


Our house is very cluttered because we don't have spend much time at home. This book gave a lot of tips I have yet to adopt but one very helpful advice given was spending 30 minutes per day de-cluttering will go a long way. I try to time myself for 30 minutes every day and have a go at putting back things in their proper places, throwing away things that we no longer need, or setting aside stuff we can give away.

7. & 8. Guys Read Volumes 1 (Funny Business) & 2 (Thriller)


It's a fact that boys read less books than girls. Jon Scieszka, the author of some of the funniest books such as The Stinky Cheese Man & Other Fairly Stupid Tales and Math Curse, made a collection of short stories from different authors targeted at boys' interests. I might be a girl (nay, an adult woman) but I really enjoyed reading them and had a couple of laugh out loud moments while reading Funny Business.

Read more about Guys Read here.

9. The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde


I've been a Jasper Fforde fan ever since I started reading the Thursday Next series in the wrong order (Lost in a Good Book first). This book felt less absurd than his other series (Thursday Next series and Nursery Crimes series). Yes, I don't know why I feel that magicians stuck at doing blue collar labor is considered less weird...

In other news, C gave a mandate that we are not allowed to buy books until we've read all the books at home... Let's see how long this lasts =D

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Crepe Party!

make your own crepe combos
My friend, Kitsie, hosted a crepe party at her home last weekend. She came from Melbourne and will  be going to Babuyan Islands tomorrow for a month. We've been talking about having our a crepe party through Skype for a couple of weeks.

C and I also slept over at her place afterwards since he didn't want to feel left out, haha. Slumber party!

Kits prepared everything (I helped sautee), made crepes and lángos (the fried stuff in the photo above).  Lángos originated from Hungary and it's deep-fried dough topped with sour cream, garlic, and shredded cheese. I'll try making it myself soon!

Crepes are very versatile. You can put in anything you want (in our case, we had sausage, all kinds of cheese, ham, spinach, capers, sour cream, bananas, jam, Nutella, maple syrup, and different kinds of condiments) and can be a main entree or dessert, depending on what you put in it. You can also fold your crepe in different ways - folded in half, fold over the edges to make a rectangle ala Cafe Breton, or just roll it like a shawarma wrap!

Pretty much anything goes during a crepe party and making your own combinations adds to its appeal. Just add drinks, good music, and fun friends!

Friday, February 24, 2012

{weekend files} Art in the Park


Last Saturday, my friends and I went to Salcedo Village to check out Art in the Park, an annual event where different art galleries, colleges, and foundations sell art pieces for Php 30,000 or less. It's a mix of known and up-and-coming artists using different mediums.  Here are the photos I took there, I wasn't able to note down some of the artists' names to give them credit but leave me a comment if you know them :)



not part of the fair, but beautiful nonetheless

 

One of our ninongs, Pete Jimenez, displayed his works. He makes sculptures out of scrap metal he found in junk shops. We love the playfulness of his works and I can imagine them springing into life just like Autobots.


See what I mean?











I only got to buy a bunch of postcards from the Ang I.N.K booth. The ones above were twenty bucks each and are made from scrap paper. I asked the girl who made this to sign them at the back :p


postcards = instant art


All that art made us hungry and after dinner I made my own "artwork:" dark chocolate gelato with salted caramel macaron from Bar Dolci! 

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

{travel files} Tips for the Philippine Travel and Tour Expo


Last Friday, I took a half-day leave so we can go to the Philippine Travel and Tour Expo in SMX. It was our 3rd time attending the expo but I still got overwhelmed by the volume of people and variety of promos to choose from. We arrived at 9:30 am (gates open at 10am) and the ticket line already snaked around the building! Good thing C's client gave us free tickets so we were able to get inside and line up in front of the hall entrance. 

Since I had to be in the office by 1pm, we only lined up in one of the airline booths and booked two flights. We didn't have enough time to go around and compare prices since it took us almost 2 hours to go through the whole process. Although compared to last year's experience, this year was less of a hassle because we already had a rough game plan and a list of places we want to visit. The only boo-boo we had was we forgot to book a flight to Cebu so we can finally get to use one of our wedding gifts! 

Going to the expo is only half of the battle. You should already be prepared at least the day before going there because you need to have a strategy or else you'll just end up with a pile of flyers and no purchases.

So here are some tips for surviving the travel expo next year:

At least 1 day before going to the expo

  1. List down the places you want to visit - Have a top 10 list of your preferred domestic and international destinations. 
  2. Visit airline websites to check their flight schedules - Knowing the flight schedules to your preferred destinations helps you plot out travel dates.
  3. Prepare the things you need to bring to the expo:
  • Passport - or note down your passport number, date issued, and expiration date. Note down your travel companions' details as well
  • Planner/Calendar - to see when's the best time for you to travel. Also note down holidays and special occasions. 
  • A pen - for signing charge slips and taking down notes
  • Credit card/s and a valid ID- safer to bring a card because it gets really crowded
  • Some cash - you can pay for your travel tax of Php 1,620 here and some only accept cash for this.
  • Water and snacks - it's not fun to faint from hunger
  • A companion or two - to take turns with when lining up :)


Before entering the hall

  1. Note down the stall numbers of the booths you want to check out - they provide maps but it only shows the lay-out of the area and not the booth names
  2. Grab a copy of the map if you can - it's quite easy to navigate through the halls since they are divided by letters


Inside the expo
  1. Go straight to the booths you really want to go first - line up or get someone to line up for you 
  2. Do not get all the flyers that are handed out to you - first, you waste paper. Second, it's harder to look for the flyers that you are actually interested in if you need to manage more than a handful of paper
  3. Drop by the country booths - sometimes they give away free stuff like food and booklets
  4. Check out travel agencies for their promos - yes, I have to admit, travelling with a group is more convenient than making your own itinerary (but I still like making my own)


After the expo
  1. Give yourself a pat on the back - you survived!
  2. Keep all documents in safe place - most probably you'll only leave after a few months so it's best to store them properly
  3. Note down your travel dates in your planner - also file for vacation leaves already if needed
Going to the Travel and Tour Expo is really worth it. Next year, we'll definitely be there again!