Bea Wonka and The Chocolate Factory

Posting a blog after a lull is little bit knotty. So much has happened since February that I am quite undecided on what to share first. Joys? Woes? Challenges? I guess we can start with the joys first. Celebrating Bea's Birthday.

The little girl is not so little anymore. She turned 6 last July and we celebrated with her friends at the village clubhouse function room. The theme for her party this year was Bea Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. She's a big fan of the movie Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Although she likes Gene Wilder's old flick, she is more partial to Tim Burton's interpretation. Well, it is more colorful and the musical score's more catchy, not to mention the Oompa-loompas are crazier. And she prefers Johnny Depp's bangs over Gene Wilder's curls? 

Going back, preparations for the party began four weeks before the factory gates opened. It was just a small gathering, so it was not that hard to pull off without professional help. And even if it were a big event, I'd still take matters into my own hands ... it is less expensive. The guests loved the faux chocolate bars I made for invitations. Materials were readily available at National Bookstore. Paper for the "golden ticket" was from the Astral Sparkle Paper Collection of our local Star Paper Corporation. Was about to create the Wonka wrapper using Microsoft Publisher, lucky for me I browsed the net and found a free template and just printed it on a regular white vellum board. It's just amazing the amount of stuff you can come up with just by having a reliable computer, printer and internet connection. Wrapped the ticket with a gold metallic paper for the foil effect and voila! A personalized Wonka chocolate bar.

An economical way of hosting a party nowadays would require a trip to the local bargain hunters' shopping mecca: Divisoria. Everything is just there! I even saw the Christmas decors I bought from Divisoria last year in Rustan's. I swear, exactly the same decor at a much lower price. Willy Wonka had a little notebook to write his "discoveries" on. So for giveaways, I got these cute little notepad board with a pen for PhP15.00 each instead and personalized it using my ever-reliable HP K209-A printer. Chocolatiers would need aprons as chocolate making is messy. Bought aprons, in one the stores between 168 Mall and DV Mall, for PhP25.00 a piece. That's like PhP25.00 cheaper than the PhP50.00 kiddie aprons they're selling in SM. My sister-in-law, C, and I had them personalized at Divisoria Mall for PhP5.00 per letter; much, much cheaper than the stalls in malls outside Divisoria. And we did not have to come back for them too! It just took 30 minutes for all aprons to get named.

You need a lot of candies and chocolate for a chocolate factory themed affair. The kids had a chocolate candy making activity, now this was a first for me. I mean I love chocolate. I eat them, I don't actually make them. So googleize I did. With a downloaded idea on how to make chocolates, I called the local suppliers I saw online to canvass for supplies. Chocolate Lover was my first stop, as friends and relatives suggested it too. Got most of the chocolate making materials from them, save the chocolate molds. It was PhP80.00 per piece. With more than 30 kids on her guest list, I figured it would be better to check out Killion and The Nutstore in Quiapo first since it's near Divisoria. And surprise! They were selling it for PhP60.00 at The Nutstore. My mommy friends, J and J, and  my cousin, G, helped in melting the chocolate bars for the mold. As for the candies, now this one is tricky. No matter how you want to cut on cost, feeding unbranded candies to kids is NOT an option . The SM candy section has a wide array of goodies. Got a variety of Wonka and Trolli candies and some lollipops as well. 

Glass from my kitchen cabinet, ribbon from National Bookstore, chocolate balls and ladybugs from Chocolate Lover , lollipop and candy canes from SM candy section.

My cousin, G, baked this awesome cake and scrumptilicious cupcakes for Bea. It was a labor of love. Her first time to make a multi-layered fondant cake. She is a cupcake expert though. I just can't get enough of her yummy chocolate and vanilla cupcakes! As for the food, everything was home-cooked. We had Potato Marble Salad, Mini Burgers, Pork Barbecue, Hotdogs on Stick, Chicken Lollipop with Garlic Ranch Dip, and Hungarian Sausage Pasta ---all prepared, marinated and cooked at home. Thank goodness for household staff!

Kids, young and not-so-young, had fun making their signature chocolates, designed their own cupcake and joined in the parlor games. All the preparations paid off. Even the hubby was very much involved in making this occasion a success, he got ice cubes from the store LOL. Just kidding. He helped facilitate the games. We were all pooped after the party. But seeing the daughter have so much fun made it all worth it :)

Kids busy in The Inventing Room

Cupcakelicious Art 

Hey, It's Me!

Hey, it's me! I am back blogging. It has been so long since my last entry here. Before I start spilling whatever it is I have been doing and thinking, I have decided to make some changes on my spot here. It was actually a choice between starting a new blog or just jump start the stalled one. I chose the latter. There's the new blog name: The Urban Mamista. No, it is not the Visayan way to say "I am going to a fiesta." Well, it is really just saying the urban mom --- with a little attitude. And then there is the new look. What can I say? I am still pinky. I just love pink...and green, and the black background makes it a little funky. So it's kinda like a new page but not. Whatever. 

You're Still The One

Cheddary as it may sound, Shania Twain's "You're Still The One" inadvertently became our song of the day on our 9th Year Wedding Anniversary. Listening to 96.3 WRock the night before, the song got stuck in my head and was the first phrase that came to mind when I opened my Facebook account that day. A couple of minutes after, I saw the card he left on my desk with the words "You're The One" written on the cover. Weird, right? It's like we read each others thoughts or something. I called him up right away, and told him to check out his Facebook page and what my status was, his reply: "I told you we're soulmates, you just don't believe me." LOL. The day became even more cheddary when he replied to my post: "You're still the one that I love, the only one I dream of, you're still the one I kiss good night."


The hubby had to finish something at work on the day of our anniversary, his leave was set a couple of days after. I'm not going to say it did not bother me at first. I've always been used to spending 16th of February with him. I was initially piqued, but then it's not like he had a senior moment or anything. He just had to work, and hey, he won't be able to provide for the family if he is jobless. Compromise, compromise. So we celebrated on the 18th instead. That morning, he asked me where I would like to go. He named a few of our favorite restaurants in the city, I wanted to try out something new. Taking calls for the business limits me from going out of town (the wireless landline we use is for Metro Manila only), but since it is a day for each other, I handed over the business phones to my trusted staff and said "Tagaytay." And to think we would go there often when we did not have the biz yet. Sonya's Garden was an option but we weren't sure if they serve non-"herby" dishes, we were not feeling too herbivory that day. A friend, who happens to be a wedding planner too, suggested Antonio's Restaurant. Googleized...and voila! Perfect spot for a romantic lunch.

Antonio's Restaurant is at Barangay Neogan, Tagaytay City. You may want to check out their site http://antoniosrestaurant.ph for more information about them. Very nice place. More like a home (big home) turned into restaurant. The design/layout and artworks on display are pretty much old world. The owner, Chef Tonyboy Escalante was also there to mingle with the patrons. And the food! The food's really good. Started off with Tempura Scallops with Mango Orange Sauce and Lumpfish Caviar, which I must say was utterly divine; Mussels with Creamed Saffron with Tomato Concasse; Farm Fresh Mesclun Salad from the Garden, Bleu d' Auvergne crumble, glazed walnuts, dried currants, dried cranberries and raspberry vinaigrette; Onion and Potato Leek Soup (Soup of the Day). For entree, the hubby got Herbed Roasted Rack of Lamb with Cardamom Beurre Blanc and Antonio’s Black and Green Olive Rice, the taste was also unforgettable (in a good way); and mine was Seafood Sampler: Grilled Chilean Sea Bass topped with Shiitake Fish Belly Farce on Mashed Potato, Prawns Thermidor, Pan-seared Scallops on Celleriac Mashed with Truffle Cream Sauce, which I enjoyed very much. For dessert, we had Panna Cotta Sampler and Chocolate Mint Parfait (think frozen Andes chocolate mints, similar taste).

We just drove around Tagaytay City after our two and half hour lunch. Reminiscing about the places we have been to, the things we have been through (good and bad) and sharing our plans for the immediate and distant future. And it's actually good to know I'm (always) included in his "plans" ...present and future! LOL

Tempura Scallops with Mango Orange Sauce and Lump Fish Caviar

Seafood Sampler: Grilled Chilean Sea Bass, Prawns Thermidor and  Pan-seared Scallops

TGI Monday!

TGI Monday! Yup! Monday is THE day for me, since I started my little business venture more than a year ago. With the hubby leaving for work earlier than usual to avoid Monday traffic to Makati and Bea in school, Monday morning is zen for me. It's just nice and quiet here at the house, not that I do not want them here, I just like to enjoy some quiet time to just sit back, relax, listen to the sound of birds chirping and (occasionally) quietly share my thoughts with others.


Another month went by so fast. Summing it up, it was all about touching base and spending time with family, relatives and friends I have not seen in a while (some I see often). These get-togethers are opportunities to fill ourselves in with the happenings in our lives, reminisce past adventures and misadventures, and stuff ourselves with plate after plate of delectable food. Good for the soul, bad for the body. Gained 6 lbs. this month. But I'm not complaining :)

The Wemmick Who Sings Like a Bird

A couple of weeks back I received a SMS from my daughter's school asking if I could write/contribute an article for their school publication. My initial reply was : what about and when is it due? I did not want to commit right away as I have little and big things to attend to, and I just had to be sure I would be able to deliver. Deadline was the following week and it's just about our Literary Program experience, so I said yes. Found myself idle (and feeling really lazy) the following afternoon, got my laptop and stared at a blank Microsoft word page. Drank two glasses of Coke to jumpstart my senses and came up with this:

The Wemmick Who Sings Like A Bird

A Wemmick’s Mom’s Account of Rosemont School’s Literary Program

Teacher Noime Salamat’s Senior Kinder class showed off their theatrical talent in Rosemont School’s “Punchinelo,” a play based on one of Max Lucado’s children’s book series: You Are Special. In one of our chitchats, Teacher Noime mentioned how the kids would go up to her for an “ambush audition” after announcing that there would be a play for the Literary Program. Having an open communication line with us, she is aware of Bea’s activities outside school… voice and ballet. Thus the role of “the Wemmick-who-sings-like-a-bird” was given to her. It is a part wherein she has to sing (solo) Cinderella’s “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes.” When I first learned about it, I was like but she just started with her voice lessons, it’s just once a week and her voice coach is not in town! I don’t even know what a Wemmick looks like!!! But even with these thoughts running through my head, deep inside I know she would be able to pull it off. I have faith in my daughter. After watching Cinderella a gazillion times, I’m sure it won’t be that hard. Besides, Teacher Noime is there to (patiently) rehearse with each one of them and tell us what the children will need for the play.

But of course, Teacher Noime can only do so much. After I heard Bea sing it exactly a la Cinderella with matching “shaking” of the voice and scrubbing of the floor, not to mention the “Dong! Dong!” (mimicking the sound of the clock signaling the end of Cinderella’s song), home support is also needed. And a good in-tune singing voice is something my husband and I were not blessed with – we are practically tone-deaf! So off to the mall I went, to look for a CD our daughter can use for practice, it has to be something a kid can sing along with. I scoured all the music and record shops in the area, but they did not have a CD with that song and arrangement on stock. Two weeks before the big day, Ms. Ning San Jose (the voice coach) arrived from a trip abroad; she performs with the Philippine Madrigal Singers. Bea continued her sessions with her at the house. Ms. San Jose even made a minus one CD, with the musical arrangement tailored fit for her, to be used for school rehearsals and the actual play. What a big help!

On to the big day, 26 November 2010. The stage was set up as Wemmicksville, thanks to the teachers and auxiliary staff of Rosemont. And all the young thespians were decked out as the Wemmick they are portraying. Bea looked fabulous in her chocolate and gold colored balloon dress with matching gold shoes, which she personally chose. Stage fright and shyness are words foreign to my daughter. There’s not a single “shy” bone in her body, anybody who knows her can attest to that. She confidently and perfectly sang her solo. She was all smiles during and after the show. My husband came from Makati to catch our only child perform and went back to the office right after; two of her lolas (my mom and an aunt from Cagayan de Oro) and my sister-in-law came to see her. We were all there to watch her. We are all so proud of our little Bea.

Reading this, some might say, “Hey, it’s just a school play. What’s all the fuss about?” Our take on this: the Literary Program, or what my then Nursery daughter used to call “wittewawy pwogwam,” serves as a venue for our kids to showcase their talent on stage. Knowing our Bea’s love for role playing, singing and dancing, it is an event we always look forward to. For us, it is important that we support our child’s creative interests and that our child comes prepared, with get up and all. It helps boost her self-confidence. We appreciate the school recognizing the need for our kids to participate in activities such as this one. It encourages our children to be creative, learn how to take turns, cooperate, socialize; it teaches them how to be confident with people and they also learn new things in the process (like new words). I.Q and E.Q. go hand in hand in real life. I love how the chosen story showed the different talents of the children. I was amazed at how all the kids performed, they were all convincing actors. They all know who’s next, the role of each classmate, and their lines too! I saw how supportive they were of each other.

That day, the dad and I went home with pride and big smiles on our faces. Bea went home with confidence level several notches higher, closer to her classmates and teachers, and with fun memories to make her smile for years to come.

Bea's solo

To Blog Again

How to blog again? First step is to go to your host site, type in your e-mail address and password. Easy, eh? Ummm... well let's just say, I had to take extra steps to access my account. It's been so long since the last time I logged on to my blogspot account that I could not remember my password! Good thing they have that "Forgot your password?" thingy. Now I'm back and straining my brain cells as to where and how to start again. I guess a big "Hey!" would be good.


HEY! It's been a while. A lot has happened from the time I made my last entry here. I'm good. Family's good. Biz is doing fine, turning 2 this year. Home construction's done, we moved in last year. Home improvement and business projects are in the pipeline, will work on them one at a time. I will be filling you in on the stuff that kept me busy, keeps me busy, and will keep me busy the coming days. It's good to be back :)

Taking Time Off

Hey, everyone! Just like the previous weeks, I've been pretty preoccupied with my upcoming project. Pre-op requirements, meeting with suppliers, coming up with a good menu and doing our sales and marketing kit. Still have not started staff pooling, maybe this coming week. Not really decided on the compensation package yet, which is very important to my future employees. So much work to do, so little time. Target opening date is third week of April. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to move it to a later date if things aren't ready by then.


I've decided to take a breather for awhile. Spend some time with the hubby and our cuddle pup...and maybe harass some contractors a bit (home construction). And get some decent sleep. I haven't been getting my nine hours lately. So much ideas for the business and excitement, I guess. By the way, I am very happy to announce that we now have Internet connection at the townhouse. Finally decided to have it activated, for business (and pleasure), of course. I'm home now having some quiet alone time, the daughter's taking siesta upstairs and I'm waiting for the husband to finish with his "pogi" barber's appointment. Then we are off to Alabang Home Depot and Wilcon to get more construction stuff. When house construction's over, it is gonna be a long while before I set foot on one of those home improvement establishments again.