A couple of weeks ago, Ronan and Geero's birthday were held simultaneously at Japanese Tunnel Resort. Geero is Ronan's nephew whose birthday falls on June 22nd while Ronan's on 23rd. It's only one day apart, so we decided to have their birthday celebrated on June 25th at Japanese Tunnel, which was suggested by truly yours as this is accessible to both families. As expected, nothing compares Japanese Tunnel as far as amenities are concerned. I won't elaborate further, as I blogged on this two years ago. Just read it here.
Disclaimer: It is not a review.
I think car is as important as our basic needs especially that we are living far away from the heart of the city. When our old and cranky car broke down for almost a week now, my mother and Chesska had to commute going to school every day, same was true when my husband went to the office for work. Even though our place is accessible and there are other options such as jeepney to ride on, having a car is much more comfortable where you can bring anything you want and can go anytime most especially when an emergency strikes.
Just a couple days ago, my husband and I talked about a car loan. Honestly, it is an idea that we often reject a hundred times but upon remembering our experiences when our car broke at the middle of the road and we had to get down and just take a taxi going home or call a friend to help us tow our car, we discuss it with open minds.
Just to give you a few background of our car, we bought it second-hand in 2010 but the model is 1995. You see how old it is? Maybe it's time for him to retire (hehe).
Yesterday, we searched online the possible car companies that we are planning to loan with by next year, summer to be exact. We found Toyota car company that sells our top choices namely Toyota Wigo and Avanza, and the other one is Isuzu company that sells Crosswind brand. These have been the favorite choices my husband and I have been discussing in the past. Now let's make a comparison.
Toyota Wigo has a capacity of five people which will perfectly work for midget people like us (hehe). Using a loan calculator this will be the monthly amortization.
SRP: P 473, 000
If down payment is 50%
Monthly Payment (for five years): P 5, 164
My thoughts: The monthly amortization of P5, 164 is acceptable for us since we fully paid our house already. It's not really a burden to our budget.
SRP: P 764, 000
If down payment is 50%
Monthly Payment (for five years): P 8, 341
My thoughts: My family and husband's love to travel and we need a big car that can go through rough terrains and endure long hours trip. Aside from that, the interior is big enough to accommodate people of 7. The monthly amortization of P 8,341 is a little burdensome but it's still negotiable.
I think car is as important as our basic needs especially that we are living far away from the heart of the city. When our old and cranky car broke down for almost a week now, my mother and Chesska had to commute going to school every day, same was true when my husband went to the office for work. Even though our place is accessible and there are other options such as jeepney to ride on, having a car is much more comfortable where you can bring anything you want and can go anytime most especially when an emergency strikes.
Just a couple days ago, my husband and I talked about a car loan. Honestly, it is an idea that we often reject a hundred times but upon remembering our experiences when our car broke at the middle of the road and we had to get down and just take a taxi going home or call a friend to help us tow our car, we discuss it with open minds.
Just to give you a few background of our car, we bought it second-hand in 2010 but the model is 1995. You see how old it is? Maybe it's time for him to retire (hehe).
Yesterday, we searched online the possible car companies that we are planning to loan with by next year, summer to be exact. We found Toyota car company that sells our top choices namely Toyota Wigo and Avanza, and the other one is Isuzu company that sells Crosswind brand. These have been the favorite choices my husband and I have been discussing in the past. Now let's make a comparison.
1. Toyota Wigo (Model: 1.0 EMT)
via: www.toyota.com.ph |
Toyota Wigo has a capacity of five people which will perfectly work for midget people like us (hehe). Using a loan calculator this will be the monthly amortization.
SRP: P 473, 000
If down payment is 50%
Monthly Payment (for five years): P 5, 164
My thoughts: The monthly amortization of P5, 164 is acceptable for us since we fully paid our house already. It's not really a burden to our budget.
2. Toyota Avanza (1.3 E M/T)
via: www.toyotafinancial.ph |
Monthly Payment (for five years): P 8, 341
My thoughts: My family and husband's love to travel and we need a big car that can go through rough terrains and endure long hours trip. Aside from that, the interior is big enough to accommodate people of 7. The monthly amortization of P 8,341 is a little burdensome but it's still negotiable.
3. Crosswind XL
via: www.isuzuphil.com |
SRP: P 834, 000
My thoughts: The same goes with Crosswind XL, it has a large capacity to accommodate a big family ready for any adventure.
But with all the monthly expenses we have now such as tuition fee, foods, electric bills, insurance, etc., I doubt, the monthly amortization would still fit our budget.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Unfortunately, their website has no loan calculator but my rough estimate for monthly amortization with 50% down payment is tantamount to more or less P10,000. You may request a quotation here.
My thoughts: The same goes with Crosswind XL, it has a large capacity to accommodate a big family ready for any adventure.
But with all the monthly expenses we have now such as tuition fee, foods, electric bills, insurance, etc., I doubt, the monthly amortization would still fit our budget.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
As of the moment, we are still contemplating whether to take the risk of paying monthly or we'll just go for second-hand again for practicality sake. Our goal, if possible, is to free ourselves from any debt, however, there are times that we need to break the rules when the utmost need calls us. But, we are still depending on God's amazing grace and wisdom whether to push through this plan. After all, He takes charge of everything and only He who knows what's best for us.
P.S. If ever we make up our minds, we plan to get next year summer and pay 50% of the down payment. I hope we can save a lot this year so we can move forward with our next plan. Fingers' crossed!
School summer vacation is finally over. It's back to school again! As much as I want to wake up late in the morning, watch news while sipping a cup of coffee, or take my younger child for a stroll around our subdivision, but having a kindergartener in our home is the end of our not-so-busy days.
Chesska's classes officially started last week and I am happy to announce that she already went straight to her classroom without the need of our company. This was one of our dilemmas last year when she needed to be chaperoned in going inside the classroom, knowing parents are prohibited from getting inside the school premises. Gladly, she learns to become independent right now. I just notice that as the older she gets, the more mature she becomes.
However, our problem does not end there because there are still lots of behaviours of her that need to be resolved. They are actually existing ones (when she was still pre-school) that until now need to be addressed by us in a nice and smooth process. Here they are:
Although it's not her first time to big school and she was used to early morning schedule, we still find it difficult to wake her up on time.
Action to take:
a. Have her nap at least two hours in the afternoon to restore the energy used in the whole morning class. Also, she won't really feel extremely tired when the night time comes.
b. Have her sleep at exactly 9:00 p.m. so she will get 8 hours sleep whenever we wake her up at 5:00 a.m., which is the earliest.
a. List down her favourite meal minus unhealthy and processed foods. She has only a handful of favourites such as eggs, chicken, arozz caldo and champorado. She loves hotdog and burger but these foods are processed.
b. Aside from the foods mentioned, prepare new and variety of healthy foods that will entice her appetite. It's quite challenging, I know.
Chesska's classes officially started last week and I am happy to announce that she already went straight to her classroom without the need of our company. This was one of our dilemmas last year when she needed to be chaperoned in going inside the classroom, knowing parents are prohibited from getting inside the school premises. Gladly, she learns to become independent right now. I just notice that as the older she gets, the more mature she becomes.
1. Waking her up on time.
Although it's not her first time to big school and she was used to early morning schedule, we still find it difficult to wake her up on time.
Action to take:
a. Have her nap at least two hours in the afternoon to restore the energy used in the whole morning class. Also, she won't really feel extremely tired when the night time comes.
b. Have her sleep at exactly 9:00 p.m. so she will get 8 hours sleep whenever we wake her up at 5:00 a.m., which is the earliest.
2. Getting her to eat.
Getting her to eat is really time-consuming as she is picky-eater.
Action to take:a. List down her favourite meal minus unhealthy and processed foods. She has only a handful of favourites such as eggs, chicken, arozz caldo and champorado. She loves hotdog and burger but these foods are processed.
b. Aside from the foods mentioned, prepare new and variety of healthy foods that will entice her appetite. It's quite challenging, I know.
3. Getting her to sleep early at night.
The result when she takes a nap in the afternoon is that she will never get sleepy easily.
Action to take:
1. Allow her to play her toys for an hour until she dozes off.
2. Have her do her favorite activity such as drawing, writing, painting or pretend playing until she gets tired.
3. Give her a glass of warm milk to make her sleep sounder and better.
4. Motivating her to study.
I never belittle my child's intellectual capacity, but remember that technologies today are stealing our child's attention and time (example, playing a tablet). Also, I didn't have ample time in the afternoon to teach her lessons.
Action to take:
1. Give special attention and quality time to study with her.
2. Set a time limit in playing tablet (one hour per day is the maximum). If possible, she will only play over the weekend.
3. Provide hands-on activities to keep her busy while I am working online.
How about you mommies? What challenges have you encountered with your kindergarteners?
How about you mommies? What challenges have you encountered with your kindergarteners?
We didn't really have anything planned last Sunday until my 5-year old remembered that we promised to bring her again to Davao Crocodile Park. I must say this was our last "hirit" for Summer Vacation because, in a few days from now, she will go back to school again (hilaan-and-kumbinsihan period again).
Honestly, I wasn't so excited to share our laag in Crocodile Park because we've already been there when Chesska was old enough. As a matter of fact, my mother and I didn't enter anymore to the park as the entrance fee was quite expensive. Instead, I spent our supposed entrance fee to food trip at Picobello Ristorante Italiano (sounds deliciouso, hehe!), just a few minutes drive from the Crocodile Park.
Apart from that, Ronan's brother is a chief cook of the said resto so we purposely visited him, and at the same time ate at some of his invented dishes.
Good thing about Picobello is that they offer pizza with a fusion of two flavours. Half-half of any flavours of your choice. In fairness to their pizza, it is sticky and cheesy that deliciously melted in my mouth.
Chesska loves chicken so we ordered Pollo al Porno with mashed potato. She didn't consume everything as the serving is big enough for a small child so we ate the left-overs. Their roasted chicken paired with mashed potato is a perfect combination (I was still craving for rice, though). It was tender and it did taste good! No complaint about it.
I truly love the ice cream cake for our dessert. Unlike the other typical ice cream, this type of ice-cream doesn't have "sawa" factor.
Picobello is located at 2nd floor, The Shoppes at Woodlane, Diversion Road, Ma-a Davao City. You may browse their Facebook Page if you want to learn more about their restaurant.
Honestly, I wasn't so excited to share our laag in Crocodile Park because we've already been there when Chesska was old enough. As a matter of fact, my mother and I didn't enter anymore to the park as the entrance fee was quite expensive. Instead, I spent our supposed entrance fee to food trip at Picobello Ristorante Italiano (sounds deliciouso, hehe!), just a few minutes drive from the Crocodile Park.
Apart from that, Ronan's brother is a chief cook of the said resto so we purposely visited him, and at the same time ate at some of his invented dishes.
Half Hawaii & Half Rustica Quattro Formaggi |
Pollo al Porno with Mashed Potato |
Ice Cream Cake |
Bread for free while waiting for our order to be served. Juice is not included. |
exterior |
interior |
Chesska enjoying inside the crocodile park |
Pity us, waiting outside the park & just taking fresh air under the big tree lol |
I am fully aware that SPC's enrollment just started in the early week of April. However, I just enrolled Chesska a couple of weeks ago as I was still saving money to reach my projected amount so I could pay half of the whole year’s tuition fee. But here lies the problem when you enroll very late. She nearly went to the afternoon class, but when I complained to the registrar that we made a reservation prior to the enrollment, Chesska was inserted in the morning (what's the purpose of the reservation after all). I sighed with relief when I learned that there's one remaining slot in the morning session as Chesska was used to this schedule. A lesson learned, indeed!
But why is the tuition fee so outrageously high nowadays in private schools? Isn't it stressful to become a parent, hehe?
The whole year tuition fee including the miscellaneous is P 44, 500 and I gave an initial payment of 20, 000 so the monthly tuition fee would, at least, go down. While I want to transfer my child to other private schools where the tuition fee is much cheaper than SPC, Chesska will again adjust to her new classmates, teacher, and environment knowing how timid she is. If I also move her to the public school where the tuition fee is absolutely free, I am also skeptical about the quality of education the public school has. I am not generalizing and belittling all the public schools, but I was once a student of the public school myself and I knew how the system went. Maybe things are quite different right now as I learned from my co-teacher who is currently teaching in the public school that their teaching performance is now closely monitored and evaluated. She even complains that she feels as pressured as the teachers working in the private school as far as preparing lesson plans and syllabus is concerned. Meaning the public school is now attempting to give quality education to the students. I hope so!
Initially, Chesska will stay in her previous school until she becomes independent and goes to school on her own. No matter high the tuition fee is, we are willing to pay for it for a brighter future for our child.
Happy weekend!
Chesska & Mama |
The whole year tuition fee including the miscellaneous is P 44, 500 and I gave an initial payment of 20, 000 so the monthly tuition fee would, at least, go down. While I want to transfer my child to other private schools where the tuition fee is much cheaper than SPC, Chesska will again adjust to her new classmates, teacher, and environment knowing how timid she is. If I also move her to the public school where the tuition fee is absolutely free, I am also skeptical about the quality of education the public school has. I am not generalizing and belittling all the public schools, but I was once a student of the public school myself and I knew how the system went. Maybe things are quite different right now as I learned from my co-teacher who is currently teaching in the public school that their teaching performance is now closely monitored and evaluated. She even complains that she feels as pressured as the teachers working in the private school as far as preparing lesson plans and syllabus is concerned. Meaning the public school is now attempting to give quality education to the students. I hope so!
Initially, Chesska will stay in her previous school until she becomes independent and goes to school on her own. No matter high the tuition fee is, we are willing to pay for it for a brighter future for our child.
Happy weekend!
What better way to reward myself on Mother's Day than treat "myself" with foods (lol)! We're supposed to eat at Taklobo restaurant just across Karlo's Gourmet cafe but I decided to try another cuisines for our lunch. Yeah, I know, I am a rice-eater gal but there's nothing wrong to try something else other than what we were used to. The cafe (daw) serves Italian, Mexican and French dishes , so we gave it a try!
Here's what we ordered:
Though I was still looking for a heavy meal such as rice but the foods made us really full. The prices of the foods are outrageously high but it is just right because the venue is classy and cozy. The food's taste was as typical as the other cafe I've tried. So nothing really special!
Here's what we ordered:
The Chef's Burger at 238 |
Special Spaghetti at 200 |
Clubhouse Sandwich at 198 |
Chocolate Cake |
Strawberry Mocha at 150 & Double Choco cookies & Cream at 120 |
Main entrance of the cafe |
cafe's interior |
Overlooking to Davao City |
Since the summer season is about to end and the opening of classes will soon take over (as you know how busy we will be next month), we took full advantage of our remaining time by strolling at Jack's Ridge resort during Mother's Day over the weekend. I have been hearing a lot of good things about this place since I was high school so I included Jack's Ridge on my summer bucket list. We are finally here.
We're supposed to come here late in the afternoon, waiting for the sun to set and see the awesome lights of Davao city at night. However, it kept raining for several nights prior this day, so we decided to go before lunch when the sun is already up the sky.
We tried to position ourselves at different angles so the light is not facing us in order to get brighter pictures. However, our camera has no setting against the light. As you can see, the subject is dim but the background is adorable. hehe
Jack's Ridge is highly elevated that's why you can see the magnificent view of Davao city.
We're supposed to dine at an open-air restaurant named Taklobo but the day was just so hot so we went to Karlo's Gourmet and Coffe shop which is air-conditioned.
We haven't fully explored the place, it was breezy though, but the heat of the sun was really scorching. Aside from Gourmet cafe, they do have other amenities too such as swimming pool, KTV bar, souvenir store, cottages if you wish for an overnight stay, Taklobo restaurant, and many others. I am very sure that I will try their amenities as soon as I come back here.
Jack's Ridge resort is located at Shrine Hills Matina, Davao City. You may visit their website here.
We're supposed to come here late in the afternoon, waiting for the sun to set and see the awesome lights of Davao city at night. However, it kept raining for several nights prior this day, so we decided to go before lunch when the sun is already up the sky.
We tried to position ourselves at different angles so the light is not facing us in order to get brighter pictures. However, our camera has no setting against the light. As you can see, the subject is dim but the background is adorable. hehe
Davao City view |
"Unbelievable as it may seem, the land you are standing on was under the sea millions of years ago. These taklobo shells right here at Jack's Ridge are silent witness to Davao's watery past". This is what the signage says, isn't it interesting?
We're supposed to dine at an open-air restaurant named Taklobo but the day was just so hot so we went to Karlo's Gourmet and Coffe shop which is air-conditioned.
Parking space |
Jack's Ridge entrance |
Jack's Ridge resort is located at Shrine Hills Matina, Davao City. You may visit their website here.
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