Who loves travelling?  I do!  Who loves budgeting?  I do too!   Having a family of my own means, I now do more of the latter, than the former.  But since I have the burning desire (lalim ng desire!) to conquer the Philippines and hopefully the rest of the world, I still do travel once in awhile, but this time, I travel on a budget.  I used to search on travel tipid tips online from moms like myself and I find just a few.  So I want to share with you my Mommy-Budget-Travel-Tips because I know that most moms want to have a family vacation but are worried about its price right?

As I write this, I'm still having a wonderful hangover from our recent family vacation to the island of Boracay where there were more Koreans than Filipinos at the time.  Not that I have anything against Koreans please, but it just felt awkward to be surrounded by more tourists than your kababayans.  It felt like we were the foreigners.  There was even a time when we ate at a restaurant, we were the only Filipino customers, all the rest were Koreans.

Anyway, going back to the subject, my Travel Tipid Tips, alam niyo po ba that apart from my slashie-roles, I also love travelling?!  Isa po akong Lakwatsera.  Layas. Kaladkarin.  Hihihi!  I love experiencing new places and meeting new people.  I love learning about different cultures from other cities or provinces.  I love the beach.  I get an overwhelming feeling whenever I step on a new town or a new country.  I love it more when I get to travel without spending too much!

Yes Muthers!  You can travel with your family and actually enjoy even when you have a right purse.
You just need a perfectly planned itinerary and the discipline to stick to your set budget.  To be more concrete on this, here are my travel tipid tips for you.
Travel Tipid Tips:

1. Book flights from Airfare Seat Sales. - Heard of the tagline Now Every-Juan Can Fly from Cebu Pacific?  They made budget airfares possible so we could be tour of our own country.  There's so much to explore in the Philippines my dears!  This was followed by PAL, Air Asia (formerly Zest Air), and SEAir too.  Watch for PISO or ZERO seat sales during holidays like Independence Day, Araw ng Kagitingan, etc.  From let's say P7,000.00 one way ticket price down to P1,000.00 per person, I guess that's a great deal right?
2. Travel Off-Season - Best time to travel when going to the beach like Boracay is during off-peak season.  You could save a lot on your hotel accommodation.  Most of the hotels there charge almost half their peak season's rates.
3. Travel light - Avoid paying for excess baggages.  Make sure you pack smartly and of course lightly.  Remember on your way home, you will still be bringing more baggages due to your pasalubongs.  If you can just handcarry your luggage or backpack, the better.  Saves time in waiting for your baggages to come out from the airplane too.
4. Scout for best hotel packages/compare prices - Since most of the budget fares become available few months before your actual travel, you still have more than enough time to search for the best hotel packages.  I suggest if bringing children with you, choose a hotel with swimming pool so they have something else to do in case they don't want to hit the beach.  Remember to compare prices of hotels.  You could get great deals if you're patient enough to do your research.  Go by the per night charging rather than per person charging.  Read rates carefully.  When booking, better to call their reservation office for clarifications.
5. Read and abide by hotel rules and regulations.  Almost all hotels charge for stained mattresses, pillows, towels and broken or lost items.  Take note of the check-in and check-out times.  You might pay additional if you checked-out late.
6. Plan activities ahead of time. - Research on what activities you could do in your travel destination.  Is it island hopping?  City tour?  Zip line, banana boat, Zorb, Paraw-sailing or anything?  Decide what you want to do or not want to do.  Know their approximate rates.  Ask yourself as well, are they worth it? Will you or your kids enjoy them?  Are they safe to do?  Do you have extra budget to do them?  If most of your answers to those are NO, then better not pay for these extras.  Sometimes it's also nice to take a quiet stroll on the beach, sit and read a book or just simply enjoy the water and commune with nature.
7. List down daily expenses to monitor your budget - Ever since I started travelling, I always bring a small notepad and a pen with me.  I list down ALL, as in to the very minute spending, expenses for the day.  This way, I would be conscious of my spending, how well I do in managing my budget, how much budget left, if there will be an extra, and in which expense type should I tame my spending.  I know OC noh?  But it really helps to track your expenses. 
8. Learn to haggle/negotiate - For item #6, should you opt to try any activities and talk to boat owners for island hopping or other agencies for the other activities, you should learn to haggle to get the best deal.  Sometimes they overprice their rates.  If you show them that you ask others for their rates, they compete with each other and so could get the best rate among them.  Just make sure, there are no hidden charges anymore.  When buying pasalubong from a local store, you can always haggle.  Pababaan na ng presyo to!  Tip, when they say P100 for a piece of shirt, haggle up to half its price!  OA lang diba?  They will still be able to give you a price lower than P100.  Nakatipid ka pa rin. 
9. Learn to commute around - If you really want to save, ride the tricycle or jeepney rather than a private multi-cab or van.  The former transpo modes are a lot cheaper.  Don't negotiate for airport transfers through a middleman, ask around, know how to get where you want to, so you don't have to pay for extra service or for convenience.  Pambili na rin ng 1 - 2 meals yun! :)
10. Research on inexpensive restaurants - In Boracay, I planned a day or two to eat at inexpensive restaurants such as Andok's, Mang Inasal's, McDonalds and nearby carinderia.  A special day or two (depending on your length of stay) at D'Talipapa where we market the meat and have it cooked by the "paluto" restaurant.  This way, you could stretch your budget wisely.
11. Refill your Water Bottle with hotel's supply. - It's important to hydrate yourself and your kids throughout the day.  Buying bottled water may be quite expensive in some stores, so why not bring a water container and refill it with the hotel's drinking water supply.  You save a lot of money just by doing that.
12. Ask friends for tips about your destination.- When in doubt, it's also best to ask friends for tips on where to go and what to do and also how to save on your trip.  Of course ask a reliable budget traveler friend, so you not only save on money but also on time.

Hello Muthers!  We're back from our first family vacation with the little one!  I've waited for this for fou rlong years (including the time I was conceiving my Wessie.)  Yes, ganun katagal!  I really wanted to bring the little one with us to travel (eerr, budget travel, hehe!) and I thought he could very well appreciate and enjoy a trip when he's three.  What perfect timing it was to go out of town than my children's birthday month right?

Touchdown Caticlan!  The renovated Caticlan/Boracay airport

I also just realized that aside from Wes' first plane ride, it was also his first beach trip!  The motherhood feeling was overwhelming, a lot of milestones happening!  It was my Dandre's first snorkeling experience too.  I'm sure by now you could sense how elated I am while writing this "Welcome Back" blog post.

Wes' very first plane ride!  On our way, he just slept all throughout the trip.  These shots were Manila-bound flight.

Wes' first beach trip at three years old.  He can already appreciate all the new experiences and enjoy them.

I chose a hotel with a swimming pool so when they get tired from the beach, they could more safely play in the pool

I have so much to share with you muthers such as the following (need to list it baka magka-senior moment tayo):

• Budget Trip Tips and How To Enjoy It
• What To Pack When Going on a Family Trip
• Activities For Children In Boracay
• La Carmela de Boracay Resort Hotel
• D' Talipapa Boracay - Plato D' Boracay Resto and Pasalubong Area

Hello dears!  I missed you!  I missed writing!  My schedule's been erratic and super hectic both at work and home.  Last Friday, I actually got home super late, just so I could finish some of my deliverables because of my planned vacation to the island of pristine white and super fine sand, Boracay!

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Yes muthers,we are celebrating the boys' birthdays with a vacation.  It's really exciting because it will be my toddler's first plane ride!  With that, it also becomes my first time with a toddler.  I wonder how Boracay and the firsts would work!  I'm sure kagulowz!

Anyway, while packing I got so concerned!  Why kamo?  Because, as much as I want to pack light, you can't pala with a toddler in tow!  You've got to bring all his stuff completely.  There're his milk, feeding bottles, clothes, toys, vitamins, and what have yous!  So I went to Cebu Pacific's website and managed my booking to increase my baggage allowance.  Voila!  It was that easy.

So anyway mga muthers!  We will be gone for four days!  I can't wait to tell you all our experience and the fun activities to do there with kids.  Also how you could save on a family trip!

Hope for your prayers loves for our safe travel.  I'm going to miss you bunch loves!  :)

Ayan, first of all loves, I'd like to say my BIG THANKS to you for cheering me up the other day when I was so emote.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, you may read it over here. Thank you most especially to Sarah, Marie, Nerisa, Sheena, Chin-Chin, and Lally for taking some time to leave your wonderful and encouraging messages to me!  Swear, pwede nang gawing one full post yung mga messages niyo! :)

And as fate would have it, when I was emoting, Fleur of Mommy Fleur posted on her blog, what I would like to call, a reply to my post.  Seriously, it felt like she was talking to me.  Thanks to Sheena, for sharing her post.  Read it here to also wake up to reality that no one really is a Super Mommy, to each his own talaga.

Anyway, to give you an update, right after Dandre came home from school that day, he called me in the office to tell me that he did well that day and that he was already doing his assignments.  When I arrived home, he was already asleep in his room with his school books still open.  At least I know he's trying to be better.  We talked the the next day and I told him that I'm going to change the way we do things.  That meant that I am going to commit more time for them and probably, lessen some of my time in some slashie areas of my life.

On the lighter side of life, here's something exciting that's going to happen next week.
It's going to be a grand September holiday for my family.  As part of the boys' birthday celebration, we are going to Boracay next week! :)  It's going to be my toddler's first airplane ride!  It's Dandre's second and my nth time (I keep on coming back due to work.)  So that is something to look forward to next week.

Ngayon, ngaragan portion naman in terms of preparation.  Hope I don't forget to bring important stuff like: tickets, money, milk and diaper for Wes, beach toys, blanket, etc.  Waahh!  I will start penning my OC list soon.  Maybe you could remind me of what to bring as well!  Tips na rin where to go and what to do with kids! :)

Have a great weekend ahead loves!  Thanks once again! :) Huugs!

Hello Loves!  Few weeks ago, I was invited to the exclusive Instameet Preview, to witness the launch of Da Vinci- The Genius at The Mind Museum in Taguig.

Myself with an Illuminati

There was a fun activity which attendees all participated.  We explored and captured the masterpieces through our Instagram photos all the exhibited works of the multi-faceted genius of all time - Leonardo da Vinci, using the hashtag #DaVinciTheGeniusPH (if you do have an Instagram account, search for the hashtag to view all the wonderful photos.)

Here are some of the photos I took during the Instameet Preview:

An Illuminati guards Da Vinci's masterpiece as an Engineer

Warning:  This is an emote post.  Please bear with me.

Hello Muthers, how’s your day doing so far?  If you would ask me, I’m not having a great morning, not feeling well too (physically and emotionally.)

Why you may I ask, because of the following reasons:

1. I’m having a terrible migraine.
2. I reprimanded my Dandre this morning before going to school, a day after his birthday.
3. I’m filing a half-day SL again and they are near depletion already.
4. I had a feat with my crying (make that nagwawala with matching hampas sa door) toddler because he doesn’t want me to go to work.

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So there goes my Wednesday morning.  Alam niyo, I do not like the feeling of getting mad at my kids for something they didn’t do well.  I love them with all my heart and everything I have seriously.   If you’re also a parent you’d know that part of loving them is teaching them well.  Teaching them sometimes involve reprimanding them for not doing what they’re supposed to do.

I feel so guilty for getting mad at him the day after his birthday.  I think that’s the reason why I am super heartbroken, which also caused my migraine.  I feel so bad because I had to do it and that he cried because he disappointed me.

I want to give him a good future and a quality education, that’s why I sent him to a good school.   Sometimes we get frustrated at things when it’s not going our way.  But I know that it’s also not correct to expect too much when you know for yourself that you work Mondays to Fridays and come home late.

Now that’s where my guilt kicked in.  I expect him to do really well in school but yet, I’m not physically always there to guide him and tutor him with his studies.  Yes I may have set him study guidelines, but it’s different when you are actually there right?  I just feel so bad right now.  My heart is crying in pain.

I sometimes am envious of mommies who work from home because apart from generating an income for the family, they get to be with their kids at home.  But for now, our situation is telling me that that’s not an option, maybe in the future.  I’m heavily contemplating on that lately.

Family comes first yes, but I sacrifice that part at times, because I had to leave the house everyday for work.  Not that I am complaining, I’m blessed to have the job I have and the benefits that come with it.  But my heart is unnaturally conditioned to suck the separation anxiety all in, especially with my smart and sweet toddler.  If I could have it my way, I would want to bring him to work every day.  Or, if I am the company owner, I would build a huge play area for my parent-employees who want to bring their kids to work.  This way, my employees would no longer leave home with a heavy heart.   But Louise, only in your perfect world.

Source

Anyway, I know I have to make a more efficient study routine and guidelines for my big boy and a better Mommy’s-Now’Going-To-Work-Bye-Baby technique (without bribing ha!)

Would you recommend any Super Mommy Power pill to me?  If you know any, hit it at the comments below please?  Tomorrow’s going to be better I know.  K, Thanks, Bai.

P.S. Pasensya na sa emote ko Muthers, minsan lang yan.  Alam niyo yan. :)

Hello Loves!  Yesterday, I announced on my Facebook Page the drawing and coloring activity and contest na rin at the same time called the "Mommy Practicality Make-Over Project."

Here are the mechanics:

Mechanics of the Mommy Practicality Make-Over Project FB Contest

Terms and Conditions:

1. OPEN TO ALL Mom/Dad-and-Child-Team nationwide.
2. Drawing and Coloring of the activity sheet should be done by the child guided by parents.
3. Any coloring medium may be used (as long as your child is the one who colored it.)
4. Parents should put a short description when you post your entry on my Facebook wall with the hashtag #MommyPracticalityMakeOverProject and by answering either of the following questions: "How does your entry show Mommy Practicality's persona?" or "Why should your entry win?"
5. Winning entry will be based on the following criteria:
• Creativity
• How your entry shows Mommy Practicality's persona
• Short description.
6. Prizes will be shipped to the winner.
7. Entries will be accepted until September 20, 2013 only. 
8. Mommy Practicality's decision is final.

Here's the activity sheet which you could download and print.  It's only a Facebook contest which means, all entries should be submitted on my Facebook wall with the hashtag #MommyPracticalityMakeOverProject and your short description.  Start creating and sending your entries now.  Don't forget to have fun with this great bonding activity with your child.  Good luck to everyone! :)
Have a great weekend to ALL! :)

I have great news for you my dears!  I am featured in one of the sincerest and inspiring blogs I read everyday.  I'm on Bebengisms' A Mom's Life.

Get to know about my kaartehan on scissors, the many hats I wear as a woman, a mom, a work slave, a performer (in all aspects you may think of! hahaha!) and a lot more.

Screenshot of Bebengisms' A Mom's Life #31

Denise of Bebengisms features MOMs from all walks of life who each has a different story to tell, with an intention to inspire other women.

Thank you Bebengisms for this feature!  I am honored!  To new friendship and beyond!  CHEERS! :)