Press Release: McDonald's Smurfs Happy Meal Toys Takes You To A Magical Journey

Get ready for a fantastic adventure with McDonald’s new Smurfs Happy Meal toys! Collect all eight (8) Smurfs Happy Meal toys in vibrant colors for a fun playtime experience. Each toy features a specially designed Smurf house and two unique Smurf friends, including favorite Smurfs characters like Papa Smurf, Smurfette, andBrainy Smurf , so you can complete your own Smurfs village.

Catch these adorable Smurfs Happy Meal toys as they arrive in all McDonald’s stores nationwide starting March 25. Each toy comes FREE with every purchase of a McDonald’s Happy Meal! Customers can choose from a Cheesy Eggdesal or 1-pc Chicken McDo during breakfast hours and 1-pc Chicken McDo, 4pc Chicken McNuggets, Burger McDo or McSpaghetti during regular hours. Happy Meals come with a choice of fries or corn and orange juice for a delicious treat!

Make your playtime extra magical with the latest McDonald’s Happy Meal collection. Share photos of your Smurfs village on McDonald’s Facebook page, McDo.ph, or tag @McDo_PH on Twitter and Instagram.

Breakfast at Antonio’s for Lunch

Our family loves to go out during the weekend.  This is one way of for the hubby and me to shoo the stress away from the workweek and for us to bond with our little boy.  One of our favorite go-to places is Tagaytay as this place is somewhere close to where we live. 

Tagaytay is very famous for its breathtaking view of the Taal Volcano and its weather.  This town is also famous as it is home to a lot of nice hotels with bed and breakfast theme such as Balay Indang, Nurture Wellness Village, and Sonya’s Garden.  It is also home to a lot of restaurants offering delicious delicacies.  One of these restaurants is the famous Breakfast at Antonio’s.

We are fortunate to dine at Breakfast at Antonio’s one fine Saturday of October.  The restaurant has a homey feel.  It’s not so huge but the area feels like its spacious, this might be because the tables were spaced appropriately.

Breakfast at Antonio’s serves an all-day breakfast menu.  Below are what we had for lunch. 

We started with a Bread Basket @Php175.  The basket came with assorted breads and spreads.

The hubby ordered Baby Back Ribs @Php515.  The hubby said it taste delicious as he expected.  The serving was not small but the hubby has a huge appetite and was able to finish the meal immediately.  

I ordered Pork Sausages @Php380.  I chose bread and hash brown to partner with my sausages and had my eggs cooked sunny-side up.  The sausages and hash brown were delicious.  The eggs was quite okay tasting (I want my egg salty).  I wasn’t able to finish the bread as I think it was quite hard. 

We ordered Bacon for Neo @Php380.  We partnered it with rice and sunny-side up eggs.  Neo loved the rice and crispy bacon but didn’t like the eggs, so his Papa had to eat it for him.

For the bacon and sausage menu, we were asked to choose between: rice or hash brown and bread.  We were also asked how we wanted our eggs cooked.

Ate Espie ordered Roast Chicken @Php380.  This came with a large serving of chicken and fries.  The serving was so huge that we were able to take home some of it.

We ended our meal with Brownies as dessert @Php180.  The serving is good for one only and it was Neo who devoured it all. 

We spent some time at the back part of the restaurant where a small place was dedicated for guests to enjoy Tagaytay’s view and weather. 

As with all our Tagaytay adventure, we won’t go home without taking a picture of the Taal Volcano.  It’s like our way of capping the Tagaytay visit.  J  

Casa Nicarosa at Malate, Manila

Last year, we were fortunate to watch a football game live at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.  This is place is really far from our home, and since the game starts at 8PM and would last for 3 to 4 hours, it is only logical to spend the night in a hotel.  But as a practical mom, I would not like to spend so much on an overnight accommodation as we won’t be maximizing our stay.

So I searched the internet for affordable place to stay overnight.  I used several online booking sites, and Travelbook.ph gave me the best rate for that night.  It’s a small inn in Malate, Manila area called Casa Nicarosa.  I have Travelbook.ph credits and I used it to book our stay.

We arrived at Casa Nicarosa almost 1AM the following day.  There was only one guard in the entrance guarding the small driveway leading to the inn’s parking space, which was surprisingly spacious.  We rang in reception bell to call the lone attendant.  Since it was past midnight, we didn’t have any problems in checking in.

Christmas decors since it was Christmas season that time. 

Our room was really spacious.  It looks like a condo unit with one bedroom.  The room has a living area with sofa and center table.  It also has a dining area with a four seater dining set.  It has a lavatory where you can wash dishes. 

Now we go to the bedroom that has a queen size bed, a dresser, a cabinet, a small LED TV, air-conditioning unit. 

Please excuse the little boy as he was asleep when we checked in. 

The bathroom is inside the bedroom.  It is clean with towels, and some toiletries such as soap and shampoo.  It also has hot and cold water.

I would really recommend this place for overnight stay if in case you need one.  Not for staycation, of course; but for a more practical one such as what we needed that time.  The overnight stay cost us Php1314.oo.  Very cheap, right?  And because we used credits from Travelbook.ph, we only paid Php52.oo in cash!  And that is what I will be blogging about next time. J

Fight Eyeritation With EyeMo

Eyes are the window to your soul – that’s from a popular saying.  But how do we see a nice window to one's soul if his or her eyes are irritated?  Eye irritation can be caused by a lot of factors – from dirt to pollution to allergies and a lot more. 

Fret not, because Eye Mo, one of the leading eye drop brand is re-launching in the Philippine market and this is with a campaign entitled “Eyeritation”.   Eye Mo aims to educate Filipinos the importance of eye care which most of us take for granted.

What are the 5 signs of Eyeritation?

Red Eyes – This condition can be caused by dirt, pollution, smoke, or common eye infections.

Watery Eyes – This condition is the excessive tearing that is not caused by crying.  This can be caused by inflammation of the eyes.

Sore Eyes – This can be caused by staring at the computer screen or a book for too long.

Itchy Eyes – This condition can be caused by allergies.

Dry Eyes – This condition can be caused by high exposure to gadgets.

Five signs of Eyeritation.

How can we fight Eyeritation?

Eye Mo can be used to combat common simple uncomfortable eye irritations.  Eye Mo comes with two variants: Eye Mo Red Eyes Formula which contains Tetrahydrozoline HCl for quick eye relief on redness and Eye Mo Moisturizing Formula which contains Hypromellose that lubricates and soothes the eyes. 

Eye can relieve SIMPLE eye irritation.  Please do that note of that.  If you feel other symptoms, visit your eye doctor immediately.

Eye Mo brand is now owned by Combiphar Group of Companies, a leading multinational consumer healthcare company based in Indonesia. 

Jolly University Congress Year 4!

Jolly University Congress marked its 4^th year by having a grand cook-off challenge last March 3 at Le Pavillion Tent, Pasay City.

Jolly University Congress offers student participants to build their culinary, entrepreneurial and leadership skills as such the program was designed to empower Jolly University attendees as several Key Speakers take the stage to discuss Entrepreneurial, Culinary, and Personality Development talks.

Wide array of Jolly products. 

The Grand Cook-off Challenge was divided into four categories namely: Individual Category (featuring Luzon’s Cuisines made easy, healthy, and baon-ready), Team Main Dish Category (featuring Visayas Cuisines made easy, healthy, and jolly), Team Pasta Category (featuring Mindanao Cuisines made pastariffic) and Team Mocktail Category (capturing the Jolly Vibe of the Philippines in a sip).

Student Participants.  Photo from Fly Ace.

Grand winners of the Jolly University took home Php50,000 worth of cash and prizes, including trophies, culinary workshops under CCA Manila, and an internship at Fly Ace Corporation.  Grand Winners in each category are as follows: Individual Category: University of Sto Tomas, Team Main Dish Categoery: La Consolacion Manila, Team Pasta Category: La Consolacion Batangas, and Team Mocktails Category: Lyceum Subic Bay.

Group photo of the winners.  Photo from Fly Ace.

Jolly University Congress Year 4 was made possible by event sponsors CCA Manila, Allegro, Coldstone, Glad, Fujidenzo, Masflex, PLDT Home Fibr, Robinsons, Technogas, UCPB, and Whirlpool.

The Thing I Like Most About 7/11 RUN 2017

Most moms like me have little to no time left to exercise.  With all the duties and responsibilities we need to work on, exercising will always take a back seat.  We will always prioritize other things than exercise.  The only exercise I get to do these days is walking, which takes up around 15 to 30 minutes a day – and I know this is not enough. 

Joining fun runs has always been a thing I like.  This is a time for me to run (or walk) long distance and reflect while exercising in the morning.  One of the fun runs I like is the 7/11 Run.  The first time I joined this fun run was last 2016 and I know I wouldn’t miss the succeeding runs.

Why do I like the 7/11 Run 2017?  Because just as the previous 7/11 Runs, the 2017 run did not disappoint.  7/11 Run has:

·         finisher shirts and finisher medals to all runners.

·         the most number of sponsors.

·         free food (rice porridge and coffee) for all participants.  Some sponsors give out free food too. 

Groceries? Nah. These are from the 7/11 Run 2017 sponsors. 

But what I like most was the activity after the event.  I have attended quiet a number of fun runs (so the point of my comparison are those I fun runs I have attended), and 7/11 Run has an event after the fun run itself.  You get to visit different sponsors’ booth and try different activities.  You get to participate in the event’s program which starts the moment 7/11 Run starts (super early in the morning).  And since the activity runs for more than 6 hours (I assume) and there are a lot of participants, you get to see faces of friends who joined the run – faces you only see in facebook which makes the 7/11 Run a good venue for seeing old friends.  So I’m making sure to join the 7/11 Run 2018, if in case they will have another round. 

Book Launch: Better Than Jewels

Better Than Jewels is a weekly devotional authored by Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio, adapted from her blog’s (MrsBo.ph) devotional posts.  In this book, Rica shares her reflections on joys and trials of motherhood, love and sacrifice, generosity, friendship, relationships, gratitude, and lessons she learned from her past. 

The book has a different theme each month, and has a weekly entry that comes with a page for notes encouraging readers to write down their own reflections and applications of the devotional entry.

Some of the monthly theme includes:

How to Love which talks about God’s love for us.

Why the Word which talks about the Bible and how it has the power to change everybody’s lives.

Know the Father which talks about fatherhood, a special entry for June which was written by Rica’s husband, Joseph.

Devoted which talks about followers of Christ and how it can relate to our country and government.

The launch of Better Than Jewels was held last week at Toby’s Estate, Greenhills, San Juan.  The launch was attended mostly by Rica’s family and friends, people who inspired her to write the book. 

Her good friend Donita Rose hosted the event.  Food and coffee were served by Toby’s Estate.  Raffle prizes were from Hey Jow Jewelry.

Presentation of author’s copies. 

Ending this post with a bible verse where Rica got her inspiration and a photo of me and the author.

Proverbs 8:11

“ For wisdom is better than jewels;

and all desirable things cannot compare to her”

Better Than Jewels was published by OMF Literature and is available at leading bookstores nationwide.