November 2016 Monthly Roundup

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
- Currently Reading: 39 Clues Series: Operation Trinity by Clifford Riley
- The Jewel by Amy Ewing
- The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
- Started Providence by Jamie McGuire but didn't like it so, DNF.
- The Things We Can't Change Series by Kassandra Kush:
- The Prologue
- The Struggle
- The Healing
- The Love Story
- Currently Reading: The Epilogue
- The Crown and the Arrow (book 0.5) by Renee Ahdieh
- The Wrath and The Dawn (book 1) by Renee Ahdieh
- The Mirror and the Maze (book 1.5) by Renee Ahdieh
- The Rose and The Dagger (book 2) by Renee Ahdieh
- Forgotten by Cat Patrick
- Currently Reading: Essentialism by Greg McKeown
- Soul of the Stones Book 1: Cornerstone by Kelly Walker (DNF)
- The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Book 1 by Michelle Hodkin
- The Evolution of Mara Dyer Book 2 by Michelle Hodkin
- Currently Readin: The Retribution of Mara Dyer Book 3 by Michelle Hodkin

What movies and/or TV shows did I watch this month?
- Once Upon a Time Season 4
- Eragon
- Dragon Heart
- SuperGirl Season1, Episode 1
- Homeless in Harvard
- Fallen
- The Man in the Iron Mask

What special days did I celebrate and how?
- Family Day
- Kid #2's Birthday!
- CFC CTK Chapter Christmas Party
- Chikadoras Christmas Party
- CFC Household Christmas Party

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
- I had a couple of sinusitis and allergies :(

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
- The kids played soccer
- Went to Kid #2's Family Day in School
- Went to Migo's 7th birthday party
- Went to BFF Iyah's 7th Birthday Sparty
- Went to Kidzania for another whole day of FUN, WORK and PLAY
- Met up with my Frience since Grade School, Pamela and her daughter Claudia
- Went to RedBox, Greenbelt for Christmas Party with Chikadoras ♥

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
- Balboa for Dinner and Movie Date
- Fely J's
- Manila Penn's Cheesecake. YUM!
- RedBox

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
- Bought an off shoulder top from Trippy Swag ♥

What have you learned this month?
-

Wednesday Happy Thoughts

Happiness is...

1. FUN weekend with friends and family
2. Met up with my GS classmate. Nice to see her after 15 years!
3. Freshly Baked Cookies
4. Christmas Parties are starting! Woot!
5. Friends, friends, friends
6. Coffee
7. Birthday Parties! ♥
8. Gifts
9. Hugs & Kisses
10. Smiles

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

Christmas Shopping for the Hubby

26 days to go before Christmas. WOW. That was fast! So far I'm done with all the Christmas shopping for friends, inlaws, relatives and the kids. And now, for the Husband. If you've been here in my blog you will know by now that my Husband looooves to play the guitar. So, yes you would have guessed what I'm thinking to give him this Christmas.

I came across guitar center modesto and it looks so nice. I can already see how much he will like it. He already owns a guitar so an accessory would be a great idea!

We are also planning of renovating one room in our house to convert it into a music room, soooooo, this is definitely the perfect gift for him. What do you think? (*wink*)

2016 Spring Break in Tokyo: Arriving at the Happiest Place on Earth!

So now have you guessed what is our itinerary for this particular day?


YES, we are at the "happiest place on earth"!


We've been soooo looking forward for this for years. I've been wanting to visit Disney SEA for years now and finally we're here.


The last time we were in a Disney park which was in Hongkong was 2010. After 6 years, we are finally back!


The long wait was so, so worth it! The kids are bigger now and they appreciate the rides (so much!). They look forward to the food and most importantly the shows!


Watch out for more photos and stories about our Disney SEA adventure soon! (*wink*)(*wink*)(*wink*)

Out of Clutter...

Here's another beautiful reminder from www.BeMoreWithLess.com...


Sharing a Song this SUNDAY: Hymn for the Weekend by ColdPlay

2016 Spring Break in Tokyo: Preparing for our 3rd Day in Tokyo!

First things first, weather.


And oh boy, it looks really coooold!

So in preparation for this particular long 3rd day in Tokyo, we made sure we bundled up.


Five layers of shirts, two pairs of socks, 2 to 3 pairs of pants, an outer jacket, two scarves each, gloves. I hope these were enough for this cold day.


So, where do you think we were going for the day?





2016 Spring Break in Tokyo: Hearing Sunday Mass at Roponggi then, Dinner!

After a long trip from Kawaguchiko Station, off we went to Roponggi Hills to hear mass. We discovered that there was a Catholic Church in the area and we found the Franciscan Chapel Center – Roppongi Catholic Church.


Good thing we made it for the 6PM mass. It was a miracle actually because it took hours from Kawaguchiko. We were so glad we made it!



We were so happy to see fellow Filipinos there too!


Thank you dear God for allowing us to hear mass in Tokyo. ♥

After the mass, we looked around for a couple of minutes and checked what to see in Roponggi.


Since it was an odd hour, we didn't see much so we decided to have dinner instead.

And now, off to dinner! And, look, what we found...


We had to order our food through this vendo machine. Well, well, well, at first it was difficult, but guess what? We did it!


Another sumptuous dinner for us. Kids and adults were full, happy and content! (*grin*)

For Sunday masses, here are the schedules:
Sat.18:00(English) Sun.7:00(Japanese) / 8:00(E) / 10:00(E) / 12:00(E) / 18:00(E)       Weekday Mass 7:00am (J), 8:00am (E), Wed. 18:30 Mass & Novena (E), First Friday 18:30-19:45 Mass & Adoration of Blessed Sacrament (E)

Address: 4-2-37 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032
Telephone: 03-3401-2141
Fax: 03-3401-2142
Website: http://franciscanchapelcentertokyo.org/

Final Stages of Development before Wisdomantics for Android is Launched. Woot! Woot!

Oh, look, this TWEET definitely made my day...


Finally, my favorite Wisdomantics is already in the final stages of development and soooon it will be launched in ANDROID! This favorite game of mine is actually installed in all of our Apple devices - Kid#1's iPad mini, Kid#2's iPad and my iPhone. And now that it will be launched in Android, my Husband will be happy to install it in his Samsung/Android too! Now, he too will be hooked. HA! He actually wanted to install it now but since it was not yet available in Android, he had to wait for a couple of months. He saw how much me and the kids are hooked. At least in a couple of weeks, we will have his own! Woot! Woot!

So what to look forward for in this new release?

Well, the same exciting and family oriented game for sure! A game that not only the kids would loved but also the adults. In short, the whole family! A game that will be played on weekends for family bonding and more. So yes, we are all very, very excited! (*grin*)

2016 Spring Break in Tokyo: Arriving Kawaguchiko and the Things We Discovered around the Area.

There are a lot of ways to see Mt. Fuji and I had a hard time deciding which one to take. As soon as we decided to take a bus, too bad, it was fully booked, so we opted to take the trains instead.

It was a loooong travel and a whole lot of transfers but at least we finally we made it!

Here are our little discoveries as soon as we arrived at Kawaguchiko Station.



Too bad, it was too cloudy so we didn't manage to see Mt. Fuji. Oh well, this is a perfect reason to go back!

We decided to settle down and have lunch instead...



We tried the famous noodles, although I forgot what it was called.


It was gooood. Perfect for the cold weather. It takes like our lomi but different. (Oh now I'm craving! Ugh!)


We went around for a bit but it started to rain, so we went back to the station and waited for the next train.

And, look! We are boarding Thomas the train!


(*grin*)



Wednesday Happy Thoughts

Happiness is...

1. Happy and Fun Weekend
2. Kid #2's Birthday Celebration
3. Visiting Kidzania Manila for the 3rd time!
4. New ebooks
5. Freshly brewed coffee
6. McDonald's Breakfast. YUM!
7. Soccer Games again soon
8. Bonding with Family
9. Purple Oven's Chocolate Torte
10. Christmas Bonus ♥

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

2016 Spring Break in Tokyo: Preparing for our Second Day in Tokyo.

Before we woke up fully to prepare for our 2nd day, we decided to learn a couple of Japanese words to get by on our trip. I know it was a bit late, but Google came to our rescue!


And, good thing, we did prepare for our day because our trip was outside the city, we didn't have any idea if we were going the right way and it was loooong. So a couple of Japanese words helped in talking to the locals.

We also checked the weather for the day!


Brrrrr. So, we bundled up as much as we could...


Brought some drinks...



And, we were ready to go.


See you soon, Mt. Fuji!

What Other People Think of You...


Sharing a Song this SUNDAY: When I'm Gone by Before you Exit

Feel like dancing today? Let's do this!

2016 Spring Break in Tokyo: Our Quick Dinner at Genki Sushi

After a quick visit to Hachiko, I was happy that we still got time to look for a restaurant that got really good reviews - Genki Sushi. Although I wasn't confident then that we will find it, good thing we did!

Genki Sushi is a chain of conveyor belt sushi restaurants established in 1990 in Japan. They have branches all over Asia and hopefully they open in Manila.

So, here's how it goes in Genki Sushi...

Once, seated, you will order food through at tablet in front of you.


Wait, for a couple of minutes and then your order (mostly sushi) will slide through the conveyor belt and will stop in front you.


It was sooo cool! They kids said it was awesome!


And, the best part? The food was not too expensive and tasted really good! I'm so glad we found it in the middle of Shibuya. (*wink*)

2016 Spring Break in Tokyo: Hello, Hachiko!

Right after we explored Showa Kinen Park almost the whole afternoon, we went straight to Shibuya to say hello to Hachiko!

And, look! These are some paws that lead us to him...


Cute, huh? Yes, we followed these paws from an underground mall through the train station...


And finally, we found him!


(or maybe her!?)


HELLOOOOOO, Hachiko!

Wednesday Happy Thoughts

Happiness is...

1. New ebooks. Yey!
2. Decluttering Articles are overflowing!
3. Family Bonding
4. Food, food, food trip!
5. Busy but happy weekend
6. Starwars party!
7. Online Friends
8. Blogging and Saving Memories
9. Photos
10. Hugs & Kisses

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

2016 Spring Break in Tokyo: Goodbye Showa Kinen Park

Here are the last few photos we took on our way out of Showa Kinen Park.


Yes, this park is indeed a beauty! ♥


We couldn't leave this park because the weather just got better!


So, we stayed a little longer and appreciate the beautiful flowers. ♥♥♥




One of the BEST parks I've ever seen, so far! ♥♥♥


How to go there:
The JR Chuo Line connects central Tokyo (Tokyo Station and Shinjuku Station) with Showa Memorial Park. The park has multiple entrances, with the most convenient one located just outside Nishi-Tachikawa Station (40 minutes, 470 yen one way from Shinjuku; only selected trains stop here). Alternatively, the park can be reached in a 20 minute walk from Tachikawa Station (30 minutes, 470 yen from Shinjuku, served by all trains along the Chuo Line).


Hours and Fees:
Hours 9:00 to 17:00 (March to October)
9:30 to 18:00 (weekends and holidays between April and September)
9:30 to 16:30 (November to February)
Closed December 31, January 1 and the 4th Monday of February and the following day
Fees 410 yen