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GOODBYE 2017, HELLO 2018

January 11, 2018 by Little Miss Honey Leave a Comment

You might felt a bit of silence in my blogging activities for the past few months of 2017. I have taken it slowly purposefully plus I have a very good reason to – because I found out I was pregnant (again!) late of last year. I also had been so hectic with work and I started to take a break from too much social media activities. My soul yearned for a less-distracting, digital-purging peace and concentrated on what truly matters: quality time for my family, finding my inner happiness and what truly matters. My soul yearns to spend more time outdoors and less on my gadget. I started embracing the concept of minimalism taking cue from Marie Kondo, learning the Danish art of hygge an devoting my time to family by being present & putting away my demanding smartphone that beeps every second with seemingly urgent notifications.

When the old year-end or a new year starts, I would often list down what I am grateful for the past year as my way to say thank you for all the blessings I have received last year as well as a way to welcome the new year with a grateful heart. It is also a great way to look back on the year that was to reflect and to document what have transpired for my future reference or perhaps my kids would love to read it someday too.

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2017, I have to admit wasn’t an easy year for me. It was year of change which challenged my weak spirit. But I am still here, slightly shaken but hoping for a better new year. My 2017 gotten a little better when I learned that our family is welcoming soon another bundle of joy and my soul was overflowing with sunshine.

My 2017 Gratefulness List:

1. Memorable winter vacation in Seoul, Korea to celebrate J’s birthday. Korea is currently our favorite Asian country we have visited.

2. Cool staycation D’Resorts with a whole day of Wild Wild Wet fun for Fynn’s birthday.

3. Visited Singapore Zoo for first time for Naj’s birthday

4. A trip to Malacca, Malaysia with blog collaboration with The Strait Hotel & Suites

5. Weight loss was achieved by following vegetarian diet inspired by my favorite YouTubers, High Carb Hannah, Nikki Vegan, Ellen Fisher, etc. My target weight was 45 kg. I have reached 47kg before I gotten pregnant. I think that is not too bad because before I can’t even go down to 50kg at all.

6. A nice homecoming to our hometown in the Philippines – Iloilo City. It was short but wonderful trip just to see our improving city and spend time with our family & friends.

7. My friendship with 2 Filipino doctors in Singapore. We all work in the same company in different branches but we always meet up every month to catch up. I value my friendship with them because we have been each others’ source of support and laughter in our daily struggles of living abroad.

8. Renewal of my Philippine Medical License. There has been a new law in renewal of Philippine medical license so I thought I would have a hard time renewing it. I am glad that I got on the same day I processed it.

9. Appreciation of my husband’s strength and faithfulness. I have seen my husband in a clearer light and I am glad I have him as a partner in this crazy world of couplehood and parenthood.

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10. My two sweet boys. Of course, they have to be on this list. They have given so much joy and laughter in our lives. They are the purpose of our being. They are growing up to be such loving, wise and funny young men.

11. A wonderful addition to our family: Baby #3! We are ecstatic!

12. An appreciation of being trained as a Family Medicine physician. I learned that I have indeed picked the right specialisation.

13. A new adventure that waits for us in 2018. I can’t wait! Please do pray for us.

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14. My parents came to visit us in Singapore. It was a wonderful week spending quality time with my parents. They get to bond with their two apos. We didn’t go for lots of touristy spots. Instead, we spend most time chatting, eating some Singaporean dishes and playtime with Naj & Fynn. Papa also got showcase his excellent culinary skills for the holidays and during our dinners. J benefitted being his cooking assistant and Papa handed down his Tom Yam recipe.

15. Managed to control our finances wisely by the end of the year. I learned to stick to our budget, followed a few tricks to spend less & save more and paid 95% of our outstanding debt.

16. Embrace the beauty of Minimalism and Hygge.

Wow! 16 items! It seems like my 2017 wasn’t as bad as I thought it was after all. But I am hoping for a better 2018.

2018 is a year for minimalism and focusing on the essentials. To better days ahead, to better opportunities and the adventure waiting for us soon! Cheers 2018! I welcome you with excited arms and peaceful resolve. I am here for you. I am ready.

I GOT NAUGHTIFIED AT NAUGHTY NACHOS

September 28, 2017 by Little Miss Honey 3,958 Comments

A few weeks ago, my family and I flew back to the Philippines. Instead of the direct flight to our hometown, Iloilo City, we took a flight to Manila to stay there for 2 nights.

We just had to visit my sister’s restaurant in Quezon City called the Naughty Nachos. I have heard a lot of people raving about it in social media. Nope, it didn’t come relatives but real true-blue customers who were just love their dishes. So I had to do a taste-test of my own, of course.

Naughty Nachos is perfectly located in Maginhawa Street in Quezon City where you find a wealth of university students, millennials and yuppies’ hang out and Naughty Nachos’ brand is right up the alley of what this demographic wants. It is found surrounded by several hip restaurants and mini-marts, them being the only restaurant that offers new version of nachos and marinated chicken wings. The interiors respond to the aesthetics of their typical customers: in-your-face big wall murals, lots of cool writings on the wall, funny-cartoonised nachos, simplistic long wooden table for groups and wide space for communal gathering on the second floor. Mind you, our niece did some of the black & doodles on the wall facing the stairs leading up to the 2nd floor. I also recognised the writings on chalk board to be of my sister’s. I saw lots of Jenga puzzle boxes and other board games by the side for customers to play with while waiting for their order. I think that is a cool idea!

All photos by Naughty Nachos

So comes the food. I was on a vegetarian diet so I tried the Cheesy Beef Nachos (165 php) but I had to put the minced beef to sides for my hubby to eat. I was so in love with the cheese! It tasted creamy and authentic. It doesn’t taste like the regular preserved cheese you buy for nacho dips which taste plasticky. Their cheesy taste is so addicting plus the nachos itself has its own taste which you can actually eat even without any dips.

I also tried the Mango Avocado Nachos (220 php) sans the avocado that day though because there was no avocados available for that day. Vegetarians would rejoice because this dish is purely vegetarian. This dish tasted like summer. It was so cooling and filled with so much flavor.

My hubby was given their bestseller Spicy Sriracha Chicken Wings (199 php for 1/2 dozen & 395 php for 1 dozen) . If you love Korean marinated chicken bbq wings, their chicken wings which comes in other flavours: Sweet Soy Garlic and Classic Gravy besides Sriracha Wings, would answer your craving. My hubby had to eat two little casserole of rice due to these. By the way, the rice is placed in this cute little kaldero which reminds you of our home kaldero where we cook rice on stove or charcoal. I love that they took care of wonderful details like that and their dishes were placed in a nice long wooden plate that helps you when you need to take lovely photos for your food trip at Naught Nachos. They also provide plastic glove for customers if you want to eat using hands.

Photo by Naughty Nachos

My sister made the Classic Vanilla MilkShake (155 php) herself for Naj which consist of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and mango. Naj even assisted her as she created her yummy concoction. Of course, my sweet-tooth son enjoyed it a lot. We were also given an unlimited servings of their refreshing Japanese Red Iced Tea. They also have Naughty Milkshakes (185 php): Epic Smores, Better Than Snickers, Throwback Tsokolate and Cereal Killah.

Naughty Nachos have wonderful unlimited deals for people to try. Unlimited Nachos, Unlimited Wings and lots more to choose from with affordable prices. Unli Wings/Unli Rice for 299 php, for Unli Wings/Unli Fries , just add 80 php and for unlit wings/unli nachos add 80 php. Strictly no sharing, leftovers and takeouts.

I want to congratulate my sister and her business partners in their wonderful food business. I highly recommend it, not just because it is my sister’s restaurant but I am really loving their food! Do support Naughty Nachos. I promise you, you wont regret it. Comment below if you have visited Naughty Nachos and let me know what you think about it.

Naughty Nachos

Maginhawa St.

1101 Quezon City

Philippines

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FYNN’S 1ST BIRTHDAY AT D’RESORT AND WILD WILD WET

April 5, 2017 by Little Miss Honey 1 Comment

Time indeed flies so fast. My 2nd son has turned 1-year-old. Yes, Fynn is now 1! We wanted to travel to Kuala Lumpur for his birthday but I have work commitments. So we opted on a small birthday party at home on his birthday and extend his birthday celebration on a weekend by having a staycation at D’Resort and a fun time at Wild Wild Wet.

For his actual birthday, we made spaghetti, fajitas, and lumpia shanghai. We also got Ikea Meatballs bought by our housemate. Of course, we have to have a cake for him with a Cars Cartoon on it which we got at Bengawan Solo which my hubby ordered. I got a big 1 balloon for him which I bought and had inflated after my work.

I have invited my eldest son’s friends from upstairs unit, Fynn’s godmothers, and our family friend from the neighboring condominum who has a 10 months old baby.

It was a fun short intimate party for my baby boy. No program or games. Just the kids playing in the living room with my kids’ toys with a cartoon show on the background while being fed by their mommies or nannies. While the adults enjoyed the food that was prepared.

But the real celebration was on the weekend. We packed our overnight clothes and headed to Downtown East. Downtown East recently renovated their place and some parts are continually being fixed and built. There were new restaurants in the refurbished Downtown East. We chose to have our lunch at Herbs Bistro. It is a charming Western-Asian Fusion restaurant with a shabby chic decor. There also have wide variety of gelato flavors to offer.

We ordered Chicken Cutlet, Carbonara Pasta, Fries, Pancakes and Avocado Shake.

We also got a Chocolate Lave Cake with a gelato on the side for Fynn to blow his birthday candle. We informed the waitress about this and we didn’t know they would come over, singing “Happy Birthday” song to Fynn, just like his big brother Naj on his 1st birthday in Kuala Lumpur. Actually they have identical photos of their birthday celebration. Them in red polo shirt, reaching out to their cake while the waiters & waitress sang “Happy Birthday”.

We checked in at D’ Resort. It used to be Costa Sands. I stayed in Costa Sands when my family visited me here in Singapore. It was more of a chalets with lots of bbq grills. Now, it is more like a hotel with wonderful furnishings and if you prefer to reserve a bbq grill, they have a large lawn for bbq session as well.

A very nice friendly lady checked us in our room. We got the Rainforest Executive room. The room is spacious enough. The kids enjoyed stepping into the little tatami area near the transparent wall overlooking Wild Wild Wet. We also like the nooks outside the hallway near our room.

It was really hot out and we were so full from our lunch. We took a bit of nap before going to Wild Wild Wet.

Once you checked in D’Resort, you get 2 free Wild Wild Wet tickets. So yey! Our kids are too young so they can come in for free.

When we were all well-rested, we headed to Wild Wild Wet. There is a short cut from D’resort guests to go to Wild Wild Wet. The price for ticket entrance to the waterpark for adults at super peak hours is $30, peak hours is $26 and off-peak is $20. For kids 3 years old to 12 years old, it is $22 for super peak, $19 for peak hours and $14 for off-peak hours. But if you have NTUC card, you get to enjoy discount prices. They also offer family packages. Check out their website for more information.

Wild Wild Wet is a colorful wonderful waterpark for kids and kids-at-heart. Naj enjoyed all the slides while Fynn love the dancing sprinkling water near the entrance of Wild Wild Wet. I love the Shiok River and the Tsunami. In Shiok River, we get to ride in the floater and the water would take us around the perimeters of the park. It is definitely quite shiok. The Tsunami is like a swimming pool slash sea overlooking a pretty manmade falls. A bell will ring which signifies a tsunami will come and soon, a cool ripple in the body of water wil come and shake those who are wading and swimming. My hubby and I went up a long plight of stairs to ride the Torpedo. When I saw that you will be enclosed in a tubular container and dropped into a long tube standing up, I told my husband I am not going to do it. J end up doing it anyways, haha because his wife is a little chicken. He was asked to put both his arms on his chest, a laughing sound is heard and he was pushed down the tube so fast! Nope, I’ll never do that. We did the Water Works which is a fun high slide. That I know I can do. We liked it a lot. Naj loves the Professor’s Playground, Yippie, the Kids Zone and the Splash Play. We haven’t tried the Ular-lah, the Slide Up, the Royal Flush, the Jacuzzi, and Free Fall.

It was nice that there were free floaters and free life jackets for all ages. It is also great that there are so many food shops outside the waterpark for us to eat if we get hungry. We were so happy that the kids were having so much fun at Wild Wild Wet.

The kids were starting to get cold and the waterpark will soon closed, so we headed back to D’resorts. My hubby enjoyed a cup of coffee from the Dolce Gusto machine in our room before we walked to Downtown East to have dinner at Andes by Astons. We are such fans of Astons. After dinner, my hubby bought a couple of beers and chips from Cheers to bring back to our hotel.

We had a comfortable good night sleep at the Rainforest Executive room. We would probably try other theme rooms next time.

It was a perfect way to celebrate Fynn’s 1st birthday. We will definitely come back to D’resorts and Wild Wild Wet soon.

D’Resort @ Downtown East
1 Pasir Ris Close, S519599

6582 3322

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