Bedtime Horrors.

I have taken babysitting to the next level--- I took Chanelle to Anilao with me for 3 nights. 

I bought her a complete set of gear perfect for the Anilao baby warrior.

I also bought her an inflatable boat that didn't have paddles with the set. BIG MISTAKE. She bugged me non stop until I was able to produce a definitely-not-kid-friendly paddle made from plywood. 

And you know how my mom denies her excitement for an apo? Tsk tsk. 

Poor Chanelle, by our second day she was literally running away from my mom. She hated the gigil kisses and gigil hugs. Kawawang harassed na bata.

3 nights = 3 bedtime dramas. QUE HORROR. 

Night #1: We left manila at around 1030pm. She fell asleep the moment we got to EDSA until we arrived at the resort at around 1230am. I was praying so hard that she wouldn't wake up because waking up means being up until 4am. But she woke up. and yes, we were up bargaining for sleep time until 4am. :|

Night #2: She took a nap mid afternoon but I made sure to wake her up and make her swim and play and scream all she wanted to make bedtime easier. Was it easier? NO. It took 2 hours of bedtime stories and questions and answers before she decided to sleep. Oh, and this is how she is when she's really sleepy and trying her best to be awake and entertain me. Mali mali na grammar mo, teh, tulog na tayo.

Night #3: War is war. She swam and ran around the pool THE WHOLE DAY. By 630pm she was already starting the drama at the dinner table. I fed her a little rice and a cup of yogurt. She was crying and telling me she wanted to sleep so I took her to bed. But uh oh, nakaramdam lang ng aircon new wave of energy nanaman. HUHUHU. She was obviously sleepy and was just trying to fight it. By 8pm she was complaining of hunger, so I had to be "mad" and told her that she had to eat when it was eating time and sleep when it was sleeping time. But I'm not a bad aunt naman, so I took her to the dining and gave her rice again, but this time, I left her alone on one table while I was on another. She was not allowed to speak to anyone (because if she was, she'd only ask for bottomless iced tea). She was "punished" for being difficult and for not eating at the right time and asking for food when it's bedtime. 5 minutes to her punishment, she was asleep. :| 

Crazy little girl. She's mastered the art of living the resort life, asking everyone to give her more iced tea and yogurt. She would go out on her own and ask someone to turn the TV on to Playhouse Disney.  She'd ask resort guests to fix her snorkel and swim with her. She's the definition of friendly. We were kinda worried that she'd feel homesick and ask for her mom and dad, but she never did. Nagtampo na nga mom and dad nya eh. HAHA. 

Ask her if she had fun and she'd say yes. She's willing to go 5 nights straight. But ask me the same? I'd say I had fun. But 3 nights is enough. Baka pumayat na ako pag 5 pa yan. ;)

I <3 Chanelle. Can't wait for the next love-hate trip with this kid. 

Friday Dinner

I don't mean to brag, but can I just say that last friday I had the BEST Laksa noodle soup ever? Sorry I wasn't able to take any photos but it was just sooooo good. Too good for words. I may not understand eggs but laksa noodles and hainanese chicken rice? THAT I understand completely. 

Last weekend, Chef See and Chef Mark from Enderun came by the resort to dive. I don't know how my brother arranges it exactly, but when the Chefs come over, they always have a great dinner prepared for everyone. The resort had full bookings after it was released that Chef See and Chef Mark were coming to make dinner. 

I must say that this probably was one of the best dinners I had recently. Almost everyone stayed at the dining room for about 5 hours! talo ang claude tayag. We had very good friends there with us and a couple of new ones that we were more than happy to have shared the night with. It started with laptops here and Ipads there and ended with wine and lots of great stories to tell.

This was at sundown, when Oli was setting up his "mini" Dj area. I don't know what happened to his bigger toys. Where are they now?

Hainanese chicken rice is happiness. This one is love.  

Oh, and could I just share that before it was cooked, the chickens were brought to the resort literally alive and the dogs were biting their pwets? Kawawa chickens. They had to suffer doggie torture before they died.  Pero I guess ok lang, they did not die in vain. Yummy.

We had pannacotta for dessert. Cute ang picture so I'm posting.

After dessert, there was commotion on the Chef's table. Apparently, Chef Mark was not yet done harassing his "utusan" for the day, Nick. He's been yelling at Nick the whole day and it wasn't over.  It was announced that "chef" Nick was going to prepare a dessert, Iron Chef style, before he can be allowed to go home. There were a few green mangoes lying on the table and he was challenged--more like commanded-- to create something out of those green mangoes. So from green mango fruits, he created this:

I'm not really good with pictures. This was his mangoes, cooked in butter and honey and his choice of spices. It was topped with julienned green apples and cubes of sweet watermelons. Warm cream with cinnamon was poured and it was finished off with fried lumpia wrappers coated with icing sugar. "Chef" Nick had to choose one guest to try his dish and judge it accordingly. I swear, parang reality TV talaga. Nick had to present and explain his dish while everybody listened.

The dessert pleased his judged and poor Nick was sent back to the kitchen to make more of the dessert for everyone. Kawawa. This is Nick tormented my his mentors:

Chef Mark, "chef" Nick and Chef See

If I were Nick, siguro umiyak nalang ako.

I'm so excited for the next Chef See episode that I've already made calls to have king crabs and prawns shipped from Cotabato. yehey.

Thank you thank you to a wonderful wonderful Friday. Everything was perfect.