TOPAZ HORIZON

What's a great Christmas and New Year's gift? A planner!!! I gave my brothers and sister, my nieces, my sister-in-law, and my officemates planners. I truly believe that a planner—one you write on with pen—can change a life. What a gift!

One of the most popular planners this past decade is the Belle de Jour Power Planner. And I have two! One I opened up so we can take a peek inside, and one I'm giving awaaaay! Happy New Year!

Hi mamas! I know you all must be stuffed full this holiday season but I just need to tell you about the food we ate when we stayed at New World Hotel Makati this week. The food was really good at Jasmine and Café 1228, and I'm tempted to go back just to eat!

Lotsa photos so let's just do a photo essay. First, let me tell you about our fantabulous dinner at Jasmine, New World Hotel's authentic Chinese restaurant. We've heard of the delectable dimsum at Jasmine and I know dimsum is everywhere in Manila but, guys, the dimsum here has earned Jasmine a spot in Philippine Tatler's Top 20 Restaurants. And we were not disappointed!

But first, soup! This is the amazing Seafood Hot and Sour Soup. It is indeed spicy and sour and sweet and all the chunks of seafood were tender and perfect. It was really spicy, though. Naubo ako ilang beses haha

"Har Gao" or shrimp dumplings and "Shao Mai" or pork dumplings with crab roe. Also known as hakaw and siomai! These are THE BEST hakaw and siomai I've ever had in my entire life!!! The hakaw was plump and siksik and juicy and the skin was tender and perfect. The siomai is so freshly steamed that the meat was so juicy and tender and flavorful and tender and sooo delicious!

Wagyu Beef Mango Roll. I don't know what that crispy lace is made of but it was crunchy and delicate and a delight. The soft Wagyu beef inside was a great contrast. I want to order this again!

This kid liked it, too!

Barbecued Pork Pastry. This was lovely and flaky and then the pork inside was delicately flavored and tender.

I just got back, mamas, from a quick getaway at New World Makati! We stayed there for just one night. We needed a break but we didn't have the energy or the time to go somewhere far so we took advantage of New World Hotel's Yuletide Getaway promo and stayed in the city for a truly wonderful time. No kidding—we had so much fun!

There's New World towering behind my little boys. We got the Deluxe Room package. That's a room with two twin beds and it includes breakfast buffet at the Café 1228 for two adults and two kids below 7 years old. You also get a bottle of wine and two movie passes to Ayala cinemas. All that for just P6,700! That's so affordable considering New World is a 5-star hotel!

Okay, mamas, sit tight. Lotsa photos coming up!

Here are the kids and you can tell they're really happy about our room! It's a good-sized room. We've stayed at trendy boutique hotels which we found out soon enough is a bad idea for a family of 5. We need space! So we now like staying at big hotels. Traditional, yes, but hotels have centuries of knowing how to take care of people.

Staking their claim on the beds. Soft, fluffy everything! Look at them—they look like angels surrounded by heavenly clouds. Looks like only haha in reality they are little balls of naughty energy!

Exhibit A: Piero. Blurry because he's jumping up and down the extra cot we got even though they know little monkeys shouldn't be jumping on the bed because they might fall down and bump their heads. Since we have three kids, we needed an extra bed. It was just as comfy!

There's a small seating area which made the room feel cozy. We also got a platter of fresh fruits, which the kids snacked on while watching TV.

Oh, and very important info for bloggers, traveling businesspeople, and work-from-everywhere people like me: There's complimentary WiFi and it is fast! Hotel-wide, too, so even when I was booking an Uber at the lobby, posting Instagram photos by the pool, and checking my mail at the restaurant, I could do it using the hotel WiFi. Plus, I like the compact way they put all the universal sockets together by the desk. So convenient, whatever plug you happen to have!

Now let's check out the bathroom!

The bathroom is great! Big, clean. It doesn't have a TV, which is ubiquitous in many hotels these days. I like that there's no TV actually. I never understood that!

I like the separate shower stall. I also like that kid that squeezed himself beside the toilet.

The bathtub is a little low, which made it a bit hard to get out of. The kids, meanwhile, loved it and said it's built for kids so, "Mama and Papa, don't get in the bathtub!"

Here's the view outside our big window:

The pools are big and we love that there's a kiddie pool! Lots of hotels these days are just business hotels so they either have a lap pool, a jacuzzi and/or a deep pool. Some hotels say they have a kiddie pool but it's so small, it's ridiculous. If you're a family with small kids, you'd be happy to know that New World has a real kiddie pool. Big enough so that if other kids are there, your kids have space to wade or swim.

Now, if you're around the area and you want to buy festive pasalubong or gorgeous edible gifts, stop by The Shop at the lobby of New World and choose from yummy delights like fruit mince pies, rich fruit cake, yule logs, stollen bread, lotsa holiday cookies, and gingerbread confections like our Christmas tree! We gobbled that all up!

Oh, what a lovely time we had at New World Hotel! The holidays have been, as always, stressful not because I hate Christmas (it's my favorite time of the year!) but because of the kids' school stuff, the terrible traffic, and the difficulty of getting around whether it's in an Uber or on a bus or jeep. But because it's my favorite time of the year, I always enjoy the hustle and bustle because the streets are gaily decorated, the people are actually in a better mood than usual haha, everyone's giving gifts, and there's so much food!

Speaking of food, let me tell you about the amazing meals we had at New World's Jasmine and Café 1228 in my next post!

Meanwhile, if you want to book New World Hotel's Yuletide Getaway Package, click here. Highly recommended by me and my family!

There are some things you never want to need to review. These are usually medication, medical equipment, hospitals (unless you're there to give birth), and funeral homes. But the time has come for me to use our latest medical machine because every December, my family comes down with a bad cold and cough and this year is no different. Everyone, except Iñigo, came down with a nasty cough and cold. Vito, Piero and I had a really horrible time breathing.

Thankfully, our new machine is amazing and really helped ease the breathing of Vito, Piero and myself. Thanks so much to the OMRON Compair Nebulizer System NE-C801!

A couple of months ago, I went to the press launch of this nebulizer (I wrote about the event and details of the machine in this post). We already have a Devilbiss nebulizer at home so I wasn't really supposed to buy a new one.

But the more I thought about the new OMRON nebulizer, the more I wanted it. So we got one!

It's really the smallest thing. It fits in my hand. It's also so light so when Kuya Vito needed to nebulize, I can ask toddler Piero to get the OMRON nebulizer because it's so magaan.

It's also really quiet, so if you have kids who are scared of the loud noise nebulizers make, try the OMRON. Of course, may ingay pa rin yung compressor pero it's really more of a hum. You can even use it on one kid while their siblings are sleeping and the sound won't disturb the other kids.

It's also really easy to assemble. I also like how deep the cup is. My kids and I sometimes lean back on pillows kasi when we're nebulizing (see first photo). Dun sa dati naming nebulizer, because maliit yung cup, you tilt back a little and the medication spills out. With the OMRON one, my kids can rest on pillows while nebulizing na. Hooray!


And at just P3,280, the OMRON Compair Nebulizer System NE-C801 is not an expensive nebulizer at all. It's available at leading drugstores. Buy na, mommies! Sulit ito. I highly recommend it!


Mr P agrees!

P.S. Vito and Piero are feeling much better. Me na lang. Alam niyo naman, nanay kasi, laging pagod at walang pahinga. Please pray I find a kasambahay soon! Thanks so very much!

For many Filipino families, the holidays means loved ones visiting home from abroad. In my case, I’ve been seeing (or plan to see) a few friends based in the US or the UK, and it’s been wonderful. If you have family or friends coming over for get-togethers at your home or if some of them are actually staying for a weekend or for their whole vacation, here are a few ways to make their stay special.