Lobo

Jenny, our kumare, celebrated her birthday two weeks ago at Asian Flavors Restaurant at Dream Palace Hotel. She wanted to have the venue decorated with balloons (lobo in Tagalog) just like Zoei's birthday celebration last month. Having limited budget, she asked Mabe' and I to do the balloon decors for free. Having seen how Hazel, Gayle and Ryan create the balloon decors on Zoei's party, I kinda have an idea on how to make them. Plus, there are loads of instructional videos on Youtube. 

Given limited time to decorate the venue, we (Mabe' and I) made the centerpieces, spiral hanging thingies and the celebrant's name flower thingy at home two days prior to the event. 

The pillars and the hanging flower balloons were too large for transport so we did them at the venue. Mabe' made the hanging flower balloons while I made the two pillars. Both of us were busy, so Dem, Abby and Chris helped us with decorating the place, taping the balloons to the ceiling.

Not the perfect pillars, but I'm proud of myself for doing it... even if it took me an hour.
Not bad for a first timer, right? =) 

Thank you Ryan for teaching me how to do the flower.

Like most other Filipino celebration, there were food, games and karaoke!

Mother and daughter duet.

Guests enjoying the games.

Zoei in her action star pose.

Zoei with the celebrant, Ninang Jenny.

Zoei with Ninang Abby and Ninong Dem.

Me with my beautiful wife, Mabe'.

My beautiful family.

We're so happy, everyone appreciated the balloon decors. The kids loved them too... they loved bursting them. Well, not all of the balloons were wasted. All the centerpieces were taken home by the guests as souvenirs. Jenny took the mylar balloons(the 'Happy Birthday' balloons on top of the pillars) and hanging flower thingy with letters of her name. 

Big thanks to Hazel, Gayle and Ryan for the balloon ideas and Dem, Abby and Chris for helping us transport the balloons and decorating the venue!

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HK (Part 1)

Two weeks ago, Mabe, Zoei and I flew to Hong Kong. Mabe' had to attend a training for a week and we decided that Zoei and I go with her. It was Zoei's first time on the plane so we weren't sure how she'll behave during the 8 hour flight. Well, she was cranky and therefore crying. She couldn't get to sleep in the small bassinet provided by the plane. Mabe' had to swing her to sleep. She was able to sleep for two hours of the flight. Most of the time she was either crying or fiddling with the in-flight magazines. 

Zoei sound asleep at Dubai Airport before our flight departure. 

First thing I noticed when we landed in Hong Kong airport was that there's a lot of old people. I mean, there were groups of old people traveling! You don't see groups of old people here in Dubai or even back in my country. Most old people in my country just stayed home. The old people I saw there were having the time of their lives and traveling around the world! 

A cousin of mine, Liza, has been working in Hong Kong for around 13 years now. So before the trip I contacted her and luckily her place is near the hotel we'll be staying at. We stayed at BP International Hotel which is next to Kowloon Park. So she happily greeted us at the hotel lobby on the day we arrived. The room in the hotel was clean but small. I can live with a small room but, what did upset me was there was no bidet!

Mabe, Zoei and Ate Liza at our first night in Hong Kong.

I think, this was the first time I'd ever seen a 13th floor in a building.

Zoei waiting for our room to be made-up.

I was told that the weather there was already cold, that most people were already wearing jackets during daytime. And they were. I, however, have my armpits sweating just wearing a t-shirt. It's like chinese people have thin skins. And they probably do, 'coz during our one week stay there I only saw a handful number of fat chinese people.  You'll be thin too if you live in Hong Kong. Anyone who've been there would know why. The place was literally built on top of hills. And chinese people love walking. And you know what else they love? Exercising. Everyday, when I walk Mabe' across Kowloon Park to take her to her training venue I see a lot of people, young and old, jogging, doing tai chi, sparring kung fu and dancing. 

A group of dancing ladies at Kowloon Park.

A group of people doing Tai Chi.

Kowloon park.

Pink flamingos roaming freely at one of the ponds in Kowloon Park.

I took this during one of our night walks.

I was able to visit two public parks. Kowloon Park, which is located behind our hotel and Hong Kong Park, which is in Hong Kong Island. Both parks were well kept, clean and free for public. I say free, because parks here in Dubai require a minimal fee to get in. Even the aviaries on both parks were free. The aviary in Hong Kong park was huge. It was just like walking in Jurassic Park, where they have the birds flying freely inside a huge dome. 

Turtles sun bathing at Hong Kong Park's pond 

Inside Hong Kong Park aviary.

One of the steep roads inside Hong Kong Park.

What's more amazing about their parks, is that they have free internet wi-fi connection!

Having lunch inside Jollibee Hong Kong.

We're used to seeing flowers in front of bridal cars, but in Hong Kong teddy bears are more popular. There's even a Mickey and Minnie Mouse version of this.

Because of land scarcity in Hong Kong, there's a lot of skyscraper buildings. There's even a new mall called 'The One', which is 25 story high! 

Our hotel was near to a lot of tourist attractions so we tried to visit as much place as we can during nighttime ('coz Mabe' has training from 9-5pm). We visited Space Museum which turned out to be more suitable for younger audience. I was expecting to see more than replicas of space shuttle and astronaut suit.

A sculpture outside Space Museum.

Me trying out to control the Gyro thingy.

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Here I am trying out how to feel like walking on the moon (which just gave me a pain on the crotch afterwards).

My two girls.

A replica of the space shuttle cockpit.

Another attraction to see in Hong Kong is the "A Symphony of Lights" happening every night at 8pm which can be best viewed at Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront between the Avenue of Starts and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. It's a nightly spectacle that combines interactive lights of buildings with musical effects.

Near the viewing area of the light spectacle is the Clock Tower. It stands near the Star Ferry station in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Mabe' having a softee ice cream (HK$ 6).

Every night we would walk out of the hotel and have dinner. We had Chinese, Japanese and even Italian food.

Pasta and pizza at The Spaghetti House.

Inside the 'The Spaghetti House'.

Our orders at a Japanese restaurant inside the 25-story high vertical mall, The One.  

Zoei having her own jarred dinner. 

Resting inside the Miramar Shopping Centre... 

Zoei in her boots, enjoying at Kowloon Park.

Zoei may look healthy in these photos but the reality was she got sick during our stay there. We had to take her to a pediatrician. According to Dr. Shum she had slight flu (inspite the fact that she had a flu shot  2 weeks before our flight) and because of this it affected her digestive system causing her to have diarrhea. Not only was she crying of stomach ache during night time but she also had a terrible diaper rash caused by the acid in her bowel. Poor baby.

Waiting for her appointment with Dr. Shum.

Apparently, according to my cousin, all doctors in Hong Kong mix their own medicine.

Wow, this already has been a long blog post! This post definitely needs a part 2. I still have lots of photos to share during our visit at Disneyland and Ocean Park. So for now... zai jian! 

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