Family Relaxation at BSA Twin Towers Ortigas

Post Exchange 01-2018

Hotel Name: BSA Twin Tower Ortigas
Location: Ortigas Bank Drive corner Julia Vargas Ortigas Center Mandaluyong City
Contact No. +63(2) 

 

Booking Details:
December 27, 2017: It had become a start-of-year family affair to spend bonding moments at a new place like in 2016 at Dusit Thani and Hotel 101 in 2017. For 2018, we decided to spend the remaining two days vacation at BSA Twin Towers in Ortigas.  As it was peak season and I already anticipated that most hotels are fully booked, I took chances and checked thru Trip Advisor.  After some searching and comparing, I picked this BSA Twin Towers.  This tower is one of the highest buildings in the Philippines and it  also offers a wave pool.  The thought of what to see on top of that tall tower made me a bit excited 😉

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Family Relaxation at Destination Hotel Tagaytay

Post Exchange 17-05

Heading to Tagaytay? Wear these comfy Adidas Shoes or adjustable cap to complement your OOTD while you stroll around town. Click the image to shop👌💓 #paidlink

 

Yay! It's been 3 years since I last visited Tagaytay and the kids never been there so this is a great time to give them that memorable experience.  I searched for a place where our family could have an overnight stay in Tagaytay and found Destination Hotel through Trip Advisor.  I just find accommodations in Tagaytay as a little pricey since this is one of the favorite destinations among locals when they want to experience that cold weather and escape Manila heat.  This is a better alternative than driving your way to Baguio City when you want that winter feel that will save you some hours of travel time.  READ MORE>>

source: http://www.destinationhoteltagaytay.com

Family Relaxation at The Exchange Regency Residence Hotel

Post exchange 17-04

It was another long weekend and we just felt that we need to do some family bonding considering that my husband and I were too busy with office work and the kids with their school activities.  We hardly dined together or spent quality time for several weeks that we all felt alienated from each other.   Thus my husband decided to have some get-together to create great memories with our growing kids.   It was great that I scored an Agoda reservation for two rooms at The Exchange Regency for 65% discounted rate with free buffet breakfast for four. READ MORE >>

source:www.theexchangeregency.com

Hotel Review: Winford Hotel and Casino

**Post Exchange 17-02**

Hotel Name: Winford Hotel and Casino
Location: 352 Zone 35, Sta. Cruz,, 1800 Consuelo St, 1014 Metro Manila
Contact No.: 63(2) 528 3600

Booking Details:
I booked this hotel two weeks prior to our intended stay through Agoda.  I just wanted to have some relaxed time with my family after the Lenten break.  As we all know, hotels tend to be packed with visitors during the Holy Week thus I decided to have an after Lent stay. This hotel is just across an SM Mall so everything our family need will just be within easy access.  Good thing that there was a discount promo when I booked thus I got the two double deluxe rooms for just more than PHP 6,000.00 which is a good deal since breakfast for four is already included Read More >>

https://invol.co/clhjb1k

Family Staycation at Hotel H2O Manila

It was Oppa C's birthday so even if we had a depressing start of month, I decided not to spoil his day by giving him a surprise birthday treat.  I just got out from the hospital and there was no way we can stroll around.  Our only option was to celebrate at home or have a staycation.  It would surely be a tiresome day to celebrate at home since we need to prepare food and everything so I searched for an affordable staycation in hotel booking sites.  As the day I was eyeing was already too near, the hotels I searched for were either fully booked or too costly.

I tried searching for accommodations at deals sites and I was lucky to find a Metrodeal offer for Hotel H2O with free lunch at Liquid Buffet and free pass to Yexel's Toy Museum at Manila Ocean Park (MOP).  READ MORE >>

**Post Exchange 17-03**

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*Reposted content. The information provided is based on the account of the author at the time and place described. Consent for reposting was given accordingly.

Unsullied Perspective's 2015 Year in Review

We opened our 2015 with Unsullied Perspective's 2014 Year in Review.  With the resumption of work and classes for that year, we were greeted with transportation fare hike so we provided you the Commuters' Guide to New MRT/LRT 2015 Fares that you can use for budgeting your family’s transportation allowance if you are using those train lines in your daily commute.  

Since it was the start of the year and almost everyone was in the mood for planning, we created a planning tool to get your finances on track with 2015 Financial Calendar Planner.  The month of January afforded us a week-long vacation to give way to papal visit in the Philippines.  The Roman Catholic Church’s Leader had provided spiritual relief for all our down-trodden Catholic fellowmen especially those who were badly affected by typhoon Yolanda.  With that, we complied the Seven Lessons Gathered from the Papal Visit in the Philippines to remind us of valuable teachings that we can apply in our day-to-day lives whatever is one’s religious affiliation. 

In February and March, we continued our gift-giving advocacy and announced our January and February winners of our Monthly Fun Treat.  Due to numerous queries about our post on SSS maternity benefit, we decided to have a dedicated post answering our reader’s comments and questions about that topic thus we had our Q & A on SSS Maternity Benefit Part 1.  Our blog also reached another milestone in March when we had our very first Nuffnang Cash Out in 2015. 

We also continued our undertaking to be warriors for the environment through the Global Citizen Earth Day and Earth Hour campaigns.  our readers’ queries about SSS that we had our Part 2 and Part 3 of our Q & A.  For some reason we felt we missed so much in the summer months thus we created a to-do list with our plans for the month of May.  Coincidentally, we released our July to December Financial Calendar Planner as we promised at the start of the year.  We were too happy to receive our check in May that we decided to divide the money to our different advocacies where part of that went to donation and to our fun treat, check out how we spent our Nuffnang Cashout. 

In June we made a repost on Earthquakes and Disaster Preparedness to inform you my dear readers on what to do in case of disasters.  Around that time, several news of networking and investment scams hugged the headlines thus we felt the need to remind you on how to protect your money and things to consider before you invest. I really hope that it reached many readers as it is too disheartening to see people who lost their hard-earned money and their chance of a good life because of those greedy souls.

Sometime in August we made an article about the steps on how to file for an SSS Salary Loan since we received queries about that. In preparation for the 2016 National General Election where we will be voting our next country leaders, we informed you about Comelec’s mandatory biometrics capturing which is required before you can vote in the coming election.   

In September, most of us living in Metro Manila suffered from horrendous traffic like it was Two Miles, Two Hours Traffic every single day.  Everything seemed to be at a standstill when we were caught in it. 

On the same month our blog reached its 10^th birthday so we posted the article of our Monthly Fun Treat Closing and 15th Anniversary Announcement where we made a winners list recap of our 12 months of fun treat and we also made an announcement of our soon-to-be published book.

The month of October was the deadline for claiming the prize for our Fun Treat.  As some of our winners did not claim their prize, we decided to give the equivalent money value for donation to Philippine Red Cross.  At least it served its purpose, it was meant to be shared anyway. We wish to remember how we were swayed with stories about love, hope, values and the Filipino culture that was the reason we also got hooked in Eat Bulaga’s Kalyeserye featuring the Aldub loveteam and the three grandmas.  It also reminded us about waiting for that right moment, about letting destiny work its way “at the right time”. 

We missed posting articles for November as it was a very busy month for us where we gave way to personal dealings.  Planning for a family travel abroad was too taxing that we devoted much of our time in it making sure that it would be a worry-free vacation.  True enough, we were able to relax and had a good time in Singapore.  We did not only had a good time, we were as well inspired and motivated when we came back.  That was the very reason we brought home essential lessons from Singapore.

In all, we had a very full and memorable 2015. Cheers to all the good times and we will forever be grateful for everything.  Looking forward to a fruitful 2016.

Plans for the Month of May 2015

The month of May arrived so fast that we seemed to never experience the thrills of summer in April like a beach getaway perhaps (except for the too hot and humid weather that everyone else was complaining about). Guess we have a lot of catching up to do to make our summer 2015 memorable before it becomes over.

 April was the graduation month so our activities revolved around attending thanksgiving parties thrown out by proud parents. Our April weekends were spent like it never happened at all Ha!Ha!

I wish to make this month of May as memorable for the whole family as possible. Here are my wish list...

 1. Beach vacation. As it is hard to find a great place to spend summertime without careful planning, we really need to spend time researching for a great beach that fits our budget where our family will stay. First thing is to decide for the perfect location. As travel enthusiasts, it's always in our wishlist to visit a new place each year whether here or abroad. We had the chance to visit Dumaguete last year and for this year we wanted to go North of the country. In one of the tourist spot in Tarlac, Pangasinan or Ilocos probably. A weekend beach vacation will surely do us good to recharge ourselves.

Pinned photo from a website I stumbled upon

 2. Kitchen Makeover. This is one of the family's pending project since the last quarter of 2014. It was because we needed to prioritize and give more time and attention to my kids' school activities. This vacation month is a perfect time to do that I guess. (**fingers crossed**). Since our kitchen lacks all the bare essentials of a functioning kitchen, it will surely be a challenging task.  Browsed through images of kitchen design ideas and pinned a photo that caught my attention.  I wish to start this kitchen project this May hoping that my time and budget would allow it.  Anyone who would like to sponsor our kitchen makeover project are welcome. :-) It will surely be a great endevour to work on something and share with our readers the before and after photos of the kitchen.




3. May Fun Treat. Continue our monthly gift giving activities. To all those who still has not claimed their prize, email us at unsulliedperspective@gmail.com.

4.Celebrate Moms Day. On 10th of May, I plan to have a memorable bonding moment with my mom and my mom-in-law to celebrate that special day. Time to give back to the very special women who molded me to be who I am.  Of course I need to hunt for a mom worthy gift for these two great women in my life  or scheme a plan on how to celebrate that day...a special date at a fine restaurant or a beauty pampering  at a saloon, maybe.

 There goes our plans for May, we will share with you our travel experiences and all celebration here. For the moment, let us get busy with the Pacquiao-Mayweather Fight. This is one for the pages of history that we do not want to miss!T

What I Bought With My June Coin Savings

See what I bought with my coin bank savings.

It's middle of July and I seem to be getting more excited to find out just how much coins I would be able to save from uselessness. If you read my previous post,;) "What a Coin Bank Can Do For You", I am pretty sure you know what I am talking about.

Nowadays, I find myself constantly on a hunt of the family's unwanted coins. Those one and five peso coins, 25 and 50 centavo coins that are usually abandoned inside pockets and eventually end up stuck in the washing machine. Sometimes sitting on computer tables and even on countertops and shelves waiting for somebody to give them valuable purpose. I sometimes unknowingly toss them inside my shoulder bag pockets that I wondered why my bag was getting heavier each day only to find out that it got coins! :-D

Yes! Too excited I am that I can't wait for the end of month to count just how much I accumulated that I prematurely took a peek of my latest savings. For the month of June, I was able to save 1,263.00 in a month's time. Now, halfway through July, I can't wait to count and plan on what to buy with my precious finds.

I am a happy saver indeed! I still need to wait for 15 more days before I give my verdict on what to do with that savings and share again with you how I spend my July coin savings to encourage you to save coins then keep them circulating. As of the moment, I would just share with you what my coin savings provided me.

Memories come cheap that my P1,263 coin savings afforded me the happiness and excitement I shared with family. Based on the options I posted here last time, I decided to spend the money with my loved ones with these:

1. A hearty and fulfilling breakfast at Starbucks with my honey bunch. My husband had his usual Hot Americano espresso coffee combined with Tuna and Cheese Ciabatta. I had my favorite Choco Chip Frappuccino and the new strawberry cheesecake. The smell of freshly brewed coffee in this cafe lifted my mood that day plus the fact that it was a special morning date with my husband made me thankful to my coin bank. All these for 565.00 that left us with 698.00 more to spend.

2.The next day, I decided to give up a part of my coin savings with a Pizza Hut Hot Deal. We had two boxes of pizza I ordered online for Family Supreme and Family Hawaian Supreme that comes with a free 1.5 liter of Pepsi all for only 499.00. The kids were surprised to see the pizza delivery that they asked me what was the occassion. I said that I only gave the coins valuable purpose that afforded us a family bonding with a pizza to share for dinner. For this treat I spent 549.00 with 499.00 for the pizza and 50.00 tip for the delivery boy that left me with only 149.00.

3. It took me days to decide on what I should do with the remaining money. Nonetheless, I still think that it can afford me something great.  Just last week, I was able to buy something for mom for only P130.00.  I still have P19.00 spare coins that I decided to carry over for my next coin spending project. 

 

Imagine how you can transform those coins that others thought were useless into precious memories and valuable finds.  Remember to keep those coins circulating and save up not only on money but in happy moments with your family and friends.

The Beach - My Favorite Outdoor Spot

Just stumbled upon A Southern Daydreamer website and read about her Outdoor Wednesday.  Suddenly I missed the great outdoor after a tiring day inside an office working from morning til night. It's been a relief just seeing photos of the outdoor from different places.  The beach is one of the best places I love to hangout as I feel relaxed and recharged swimming in the water, feeling the wind and hearing the waves.
 
Here are the snapshots from our travel in Iba, Zambales. This place is more than 200 kilometers from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).  We had almost six hours of land travel passing through the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).  We arrived at our destination a little past 11:00 in the morning. 

You can rent a motorized banca to take you to nearby islands or just cruise around.  The rent costs about P100 per person. There are also other offers at  a much lower cost.  

We almost had the beach all by ourselves as it was not too crowded at dawn .  Our family especially the kids really enjoyed the sea, the sand and the sun. It was a real thrill outdoor experience

 I was hoping to capture sunset in different hues and angles.  Some crash course on photography with my cousin somehow paid off...I guess. :-)

Book Review: Little Women

Today, the girls and I went to the bookstore after their Saturday class.  I resolved to have a visit there to buy books to entice them into reading.   I was told by their teacher that it is a good practice to accompany the kids in the store and have them look for books themselves.  Armed with a reading list which is a directory of suggested books for each grade level given to us by Ma’am Malou, off we went to the bookstore. 

We went to this bookstore which sells second-hand books for mommy-saving hacks, you know 😀. You can also buy back issues of magazines at discounted price.  The only problem is you cannot be sure to find the book that you are looking for since the books were not arranged as how you wished them to be.  It was quite a challenge since searching here was like hunting for hidden treasure.  So even if we have a reading list, we were not able to find the ones that we were looking for.  We ended up buying other quality books instead.

We bought three books, “All About Aircraft and Flight,” “The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian” and one of the timeless classics by Louisa May Alcott “Little Women”.  The three books only cost P270 (about $6) which, if we bought them new would cost us around $22, so it was a great buy, indeed!  

Just knowing that Little Women was one of the bestselling novels more than one hundred years ago made me interested to leaf through the pages.  I was caught by the story that I found myself finishing the book in just few days reading through it from cover to cover.  While reading this novel, I was really fascinated how the surrounding was pictured in such detail that it was like traveling through time in the 19th century.  The story revolves around the conflicts in the family, life and love of the four sisters and how they were able to face the challenges of their growing up years.   I especially liked Chapter 7 titled summer and dreams on how the author illustrated leisure time during those days.  A heartbreaking part at Chapter 23 in “all alone” was the dark days for Jo and I wanted to quote one of those lines that was trapped in my mind “I didn’t value him half enough when I had him”.  Sort of reminding me to value the person who gives me importance.  And yes, I really should be doing that and be thankful that I have with me today the person I especially enjoy being with and truly love.

Today, with the proliferation of online bookstores, you can easily find the books that you wish to buy by simply using search engines. If you wish to have this book, you can get your own copy from 

Get the Kids Into Summer Workshop at Museo Pambata

As I said, I am already planning for the kids' summer activity so this early I started searching for summer workshop where my kids can participate so I can already schedule the family's budget and our time.  I might consider this one from Museo Pambata since my daughter likes the art but of course I still need to seek her opinion as I don't want to play like "tiger mother" to her. Museo Pambata is an interactive museum for children located in Roxas Boulevard in Manila.  Glad to share them and promote this very worthwhile fun activity for the kids and the kids at heart.  

Classes for this year are as follows:

ART WORKSHOP FOR CHILDREN: BASIC ART
4-7 years old
April 5, 7, 12, 14, 16, 19, 26 & 28
(8 sessions)
9:00 am -11:30 am
Fee: P 4,000 *

ART WORKSHOP FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS: ART SPOT, ART STUFFCHILDREN'S
8-14 years old
April 5, 7, 12, 14, 16, 19, 26 & 28
(8 sessions)
9:00 am -11:30 am
Fee: P4,500*

MUSICAL THEATER ARTS WORKSHOP
4-12 years old
April 5, 7, 12, 14, 16, 19, 20, 26, 27,28, 29
2:00-5:00 PM
(12 sessions)
Fee: P4,500

CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP FOR CHILDREN
8-12 years old
April 8, 15, 29 & May 6
(4 sessions)
9:00-11:00 AM
Fee: P 3,500

CONSCIENCE AND CONFIDENCE OF A STORYTELLER: A STORYTELLING WORKSHOP FOR ADULTS
May 20
8:00 AM-4:00 PM
Fee: P1,200

ArtPlay Art Workshop: LET'S DO ART TOGETHER! A PARENT-CHILD ART WORKSHOP
For children aged 3 to 7 years old and their parents
May 7, 14, 21, 28
10:00-11:30 AM
Fee: P4,500

Remembering Pizza-Making Workshop at Greenwich

It’s halfway past February and my kids were all busy reviewing for their final exams.  Some weeks more and it would be the end of another school year and the start of their summer vacation.  This early, we are already planning on summer activities that the kids can join in to make their vacation extra memorable.

Some summers ago, they enjoyed a pizza-making workshop by Greenwich in 2006.  They really had great fun although it was only for one day. We paid about P150 inclusive of all the materials and a free lunch for the participant.

all ready for their pizza making lesson

The activity started with the speaker giving the kids an orientation on what is in-store for them that day then they introduced themselves one by one.  They had games and prizes just like in a birthday party but of course, the main highlight of the program was pizza-making.  While the ingredients and other materials were being distributed, the speaker gave the kids the pointers on making great pizza.  Then the kids were guided through the kitchen when it was time to cook their pizza in the oven.  After that, the speaker announced that the kid’s works will be judged and the three who made great pizza will each win a prize.  My son won first prize for that!     

seriously taking the lesson by heart

guided by the staff

While I was browsing through their photos taken from that workshop, my daughter saw it also and asked me to have her join in same activity come school break.  That means I don’t need to persuade one of them to take summer workshop.  It’s about time to set aside a budget for that, have the cam ready and to search for worthwhile fun activities.  It would be great if Greenwich will have the same workshop for this year.            

FaMEALy Day: A Tradition of Sharing Mealtimes with Family

2025 Story Update: Mark your calendar! September 22, 2025 is Famealy Day. My children are all grown up now, but we still observe this family meal day not only in September each year but whenever our schedules would allow.  It gives us time to share our plans, experiences, laughter and even challenges, tears and fears with one another. The family where I came from also share mealtimes together that I adapted it to my own family. I could attest to the study made years ago on  the importance of parent's presence at the dinner table, that spending time with your children during mealtimes can affect the rest of their lives. Our children hold on to these moments and provide them with shield from going astray and not be influenced by wrong companies. Fifteen years have already passed since we joined this Family Meal Day (though we had been eating together eversince I had my own family).  It is always a great moment of joy for me as a mother to spend those times with my children especially now that they are starting to build their own lives and living on their own. Circumstances have changed. Years ago, my children were waiting for me and my husband to come home from work so we could eat together for dinner. Today, the parents are the one waiting for them to be home to spend rare occassion of shared mealtimes.   But I am still so grateful to be spending and sharing meal times with my children whenever their work schedules would allow it.

Original story in 2010 as posted below:

I arrived home tonight some minutes past seven and just like the other nights, I missed again a very precious dinner time with my kids. Traffic and bad weather prevents me from getting home earlier and I really regret that. I too grew up with working parents and I remember how I always look forward to each dinner time because that is our chance to gather around at a table and exchange stories and views of how our day was. It was always a very enriching conversation and a memorable moment indeed. My mother always make it a point that we eat together when she arrives from work and to make each weekend a special mealtime together. At least I always have good memories of those mealtime moments despite the busy schedule of my beloved mother.

Recently, my daughter in 6^th grade approached me to hand me a letter that sort of reminding me how important shared meal time is. It was given in their school and I need to sign on the letter as a pledge to celebrate the National FaMEALy day. Then my daughter told me, “Mommy don’t forget to sign on that and don’t forget that day.” As I read through the brochure that was attached to the letter, it was the advocacy being advertised on TV by a noodle product named "Lucky Me". Lucky me indeed for receiving this kind of invitation that encourages parents like me to put best effort to practice regular family meals despite being a working parent.

I want to quote these words from their brochure "frequent family dinners are associated with lower rates of smoking, drinking and illegal drug use." and "what parents don't realize is the importance of their presence at the dinner table, that spending time with their children during mealtimes can affect the rest of their lives."

So let's mark it on our calendar to celebrate September 27 or every 4th Monday of September a FaMEALy day or better yet, let's make it EVERYDAY.

Revisiting Childhood Moments at Timeless Attractions In Manila

“Mommy, we really had a great time! Can we visit there again? PLEASE…” Those were the words of my kids when they arrived home after strolling at the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden with their cousins accompanied by their uncle and grandmother. They just can’t contain the fun they had there that it was such a never-ending story of how they spent their day.

Kids…just when you thought you have given them everything that will make them happy, they just can’t seem to have enough of those happiness that if given the chance, they wanted to do it all over again. I was also like that when I was a kid, I remember. (^O^)

“Okay.” That was all I could say to make them satisfied, and so I need to fulfill that promise. Incidentally, my husband was also planning to take the children to the park for a jogging, so I told him about the kids’ wish for another trip to the zoo for which he gladly agreed. The Manila Zoo is approximately four kilometers to the famed Rizal Park, also known as “Luneta”, one of the timeless attractions in the City of Manila. This is a great place for kids’ learning tour, a bit of nostalgia and lots of jogging activity. Perfect! The children will get to have their wish granted and the kid in me will also get to visit a place that I enjoyed before there was megamall and ocean park.

We arrived at Rizal Park close to seven o’clock in the morning with lots of people already having their jogging and exercise activity, still as busy but not too crowded as before. I made a brief visit by the sea wall of Manila Bay just to see how much it has changed. I saw that this part of Rizal Park nearby the Quirino Grandstand already gave way to commercialism. The long stretch of the sea wall has now been reduced to maybe less than twenty meters. I was surprised that many people including children still swim there despite all the garbage around and even if it was declared by local health authorities that it is unsafe to swim in Manila Bay. I hope that people who swim there will be made aware that swimming is great for the health only if without the garbage. After the jogging, we had breakfast at a nearby fast food restaurant then head straight to Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden.

The entrance fee is only PHP 40 for adults and PHP 20 for children. A very small price to pay for all the animals that the children will see inside the zoo.

There is also the playground inside where children can have fun swinging and sliding to their hearts' content.

Boating fun for everyone! The boat rent is PHP60 for 30 minutes, maximum of up to five people can be accommodated with two paddles provided for each boat. A good way to flex those muscles.





Kinder Zoo for the kids, a paid picture taking session with the animals, and there is wall climbing too.





Horse back riding for PHP60 for only one round.

The message says: (1) Always keep the zoo clean. Throw your garbage in the garbage bins. (2) Respect the habitat of the animals. Do not throw your garbage inside their cages. I hope that visitors will take the message seriously.

Take a moment to see the reptile house inside the tunnel.

More animals...



botanical garden in this part of the busy Manila...



There are more to see inside the zoo considering that it was only for PHP40.00 entrance fee. I bet the ticket price is not even enough for one tiger's meal. Sometimes I wonder, do these animals better off in captivity than in the wilderness? I think there is not much option for them. Let us just start to be more caring for them.