My Dream Board

At a recent training I attended, we were asked to create a dream board, a visualization of the things that I want to achieve in life. It is believed that if you focused on positive thoughts then you also bring positive experiences into your life. This is what the dream board does. So here's what I came up with.

• A bigger house so my kids will have their own room. My son co-sleeps with us and my daughter has her own bed. I like the closeness this brings but my daughter is now a teenager. Most teenagers would want their own space. 
• A house with a decent home office. I came to love working from home because it gave me the flexibility I needed. I think it is but right that I get to have my own office. 
• A car so it's easier for us to get from one place to the other. Plus we can go on a road trip if we want to. 
• For my kids to finish school. I mean, who doesn't want that? All I want is for them to pursue their dreams. 
• A one-stop cloth diaper store! My son is potty trained but I am soooo not over cloth diapers. Seeing them just takes all the stress away. Have you seen how cute the prints are?

Still my favorite picture of my son wearing the cloth diaper

• Trips to Legoland and Disneyland. Sure I would want my kids to enjoy but the little kid in me is dying to go there. 
• Lastly is to help out in putting up a (breast) milk bank in Bacolod and at the same time strengthen the breastfeeding support in our community. A long shot for now but we are slowly getting there. 

I enjoyed making the dream board. I think it helped me get everything into perspective. But I also noticed that all these are my long term goals. Maybe I should create another dream board for my short term goals, don't you think?

Life Lessons from Agar.io

My son and daughter started playing this game called Agar.io. It was a game that they discovered while watching some YouTube videos. It caught my attention when I heard both of them yelling while trying to get away from these huge circles and I got interested. So what is this game?

From the information I got online, it was a game developed by Matheus Valadares in April 2015 and the name originated from the word agar, which is a substance that is used to culture bacteria. The game is really very simple if you think about it. You start out as a small cell (circle) in a map (petri dish) and your goal is to swallow as many smaller cells (circles) as you can. While doing that, you have to avoid getting swallowed by bigger cells as well. Sounds simple, right? Think again. The map is full of humongous cell swallowing masses and sometimes you get eaten in seconds. And even if you get bigger, there are viruses around that can pop you into bits and other huge cells can feast on you

The MAP (Petri Dish) in Agar.io

True that this is just a game but the more I played, the more I realized how much life lessons you can get from this and here are mine;

• You (always) start small. No matter which path you take or whatever you do, you always start small and build up from there. 
• Take your time. Sure there are a lot of big people (cells) out there, but take your time. Do not be in a rush. Feed on as many pellets as you can, the same way you feed yourself with as much knowledge and experience for you to hone your craft.
• You may be small but know your skills and use them to your advantage. Small cells are the fastest. So you can swerve and get away from those big bullies quickly. Plus you can hide under the viruses because you can't be popped into itty bitty pieces.  
• There will always be bigger people than you. There are so many times when I thought I was big enough and then I run into someone who would just eat me whole in the game. Always be in the lookout and prepare to escape. 
• Work with someone. When I was building my mass, there was this one little cell that I decided not to eat. This little cell would eat more pellets in order to grow and would split in half so I could eat half of his mass. I also feed him in return. This cycle continued for sometime...until some huge cell ate both of us. 
• Even if you are number one in the leader board, do not be complacent. There are viruses around you that can pop you any time. This is also true in real life. If you are on top, it doesn't mean you stop working hard. You will eventually fall behind if you do. 
• When someone knocks you down, get back up. Don't dwell. Just move on. 
• Ultimately, you control your fate. You decide where to go, who to target and who you work with. It's not anyone's decision but yours. 

Have you tried playing this game?

An Afternoon at the Mind Museum's on-the-go Educational Program

The Mind Museum is a science museum located in Taguig that provides an educational experience about science to kids and parents alike. We didn't get the chance to visit the place when we were in Manila so we were quite excited when we found out a few weeks ago that they are coming over in Bacolod. Well, we thought that they're going to have a booth or an exhibit of some sort but we were wrong. I guess we didn't read the poster well.

Guess who's excited?

What was brought to Bacolod by the District North Point and Avida Land was The Mind Museum on-the-go Educational program where a resident scientist facilitates science shows. I learned that this is the first time that they had this in the Visayas. Yes! We were the first!

My son has been crazy about science. He learned the whole solar system at 4 years old and he can talk to you about bloodstreams and the chromosomes and even the fact that he used to be an egg cell inside Mama's womb. We thought he would find the activity interesting and we were right.

We didn't catch the 2 pm show so we ended up watching the 4 pm show. They did a few question and answer first where the kids can win prizes if they answered correctly. He was game. He was ready. He was running back and forth. Unfortunately, he was too small and I didn't think the host noticed him so he did't win anything. It was fun to see him try. Although he didn't win anything, the best part for him is getting the chance to participate during the experiment.

The smallest one who volunteered. 

They did around 7 experiments, if I remembered correctly. My favorite was when they created a "cloud" using a PEP bottle with 70% alcohol and a pump.

Trying to make a "cloud" after the show

My son's favorite was when they tried to burn a paper money that was dipped in alcohol and sprinkled with salt. I say tried because the money did not really burn. My son told me that it was "resistant to fire," (his exact words). I had to ask him again what he said because I was surprised that he said that. And his other favorite was when the coke "exploded" after dropping a pack of Mentos.

Kids were clapping and jumping up and down when they saw this. 

It was a fun experience for the kids and I think we should have more of this in Bacolod. We were expecting an exhibit but the kids got more than that. Resident scientist, Asia was very good with the kids and she gave the scientific explanation behind the experiments that they performed. The Mind Museum will definitely be on our list to visit when we go to Manila soon.

The Uncertainty of Being a Freelancer

When I signed up to become a freelancer, at the back of my mind I knew that there is uncertainty involved. Will I get a good client? Will the pay be enough? Is this something that I see myself doing until I retire? Is this sustainable? At one point I thought, "yes" and then the unthinkable happened. I lost my full time job simply because the client was downsizing. Just like that, our income was cut in half and I have only two weeks to get a new contract. TWO WEEKS!

For those who are familiar with the Upwork platform, two weeks is never enough. There are more than a million freelancers who are signed up in that platform and like you, they are also hoping that they could get a contract. There are a lot out there who will bid lower than your rate. On top of that, you wouldn't know if the client's need is immediate or not and how soon they will respond to the application.

So a few of my friends asked, why shouldn't I just consider going back to the work force? Go back to the office. Work in a government. Go back to the BPO industry. I realized, I am not a blue collar or a white collar person. For years I have followed what's dictated by the society or my parents and I have not been really happy about it. I want to do something that I want to do. Call it selfish. Call it whatever you want. I call it freedom. I want to be able to work, when I want to work, where I want to work and have control over how I want to spend my time. This is just another bump on the road.

I'm glad that my old client took me back. We have been out of touch for more than a year but she took me back. This experience made me realize a few things:

• If you work for a company or organization full time, expect that there will be structural change. It may happen now or it may happen in the future. This is exactly what happened to us. The team went from 15 down to 6. Drastic!
• If you do not have stats in the organization, do not expect a logical explanation as to how they came up with a decision on who gets to stay or who will be let go. How long you have been working or how hard you have been working for the company will not matter.  
• It's better to get two part-time jobs than stick to one full time job. When you lose one, at least you didn't have to go into panic mode. 
• Work for someone who appreciates your value and what you can bring to the table. My old client did prior to me getting hired full time in a big company and I failed refused to recognize that because I was then chasing my QA dream. Bad move? Yeah. I never should have stopped working with her.

I will be forever grateful to my old client. From QA to VA, not bad. It made me think about Marge, The Happy WAHM. She has been working with one client for 10 years. I want to be able to have that kind of security. That's my goal. So if I can find one (or two) really stable contracts, then I'm set. And you bet I will do whatever I can to keep them.

Nusing in Public without Using a Breastfeeding Cover?

A couple of days ago celebrity host KC Montero irked the breastfeeding community with his comment about moms being discreet when breastfeeding in public. My initial reaction was to raise my eyebrow and ask, why? Is there something wrong with what we are doing? How is feeding your child suppose to make someone feel uncomfortable? This is not the first time I've seen and heard this happened. Trust me. And this is sad.

Breastfeeding mothers do not use breastfeeding covers for several reasons. I used to think it was necessary because I was at first scared that I will expose myself in public. I bought one and I was at first excited to use it. Then it happened. I wore it. I positioned my son and put him under the cover. He thought we were going to play hide and seek and he immediately lifted the cover. There I was flashing everyone in sight. The truth is as soon as your baby gets older and more active these covers eventually become useless.

Back when I was still using the cover.

Yet I continued using them because at that time my husband was not OK with me breastfeeding in public without using one. Instead of me bringing a bottle, I resorted to using the cover because I was committed into ditching formula milk gradually. Yup. I was stubborn. The next time I used it was when we were in a cab on the way to the doctor. I used the cover and feed my son because he was hungry. It was almost lunchtime, the sun was high and the aircon could not do anything. My son was sweating profusely inside the cover and he became restless. My husband saw this too. After attending countless breastfeeding seminars, my husband eventually warmed up to the idea of me feeding our son in public to the point that when he hears our son cry, he would tell me to go ahead and nurse. We eventually ditched the formula and the nursing cover too. I guess you can say I pretty much mastered the art of nursing in public. I've done it at the clinic, the mall while shopping, at the church even in public transportations like the MRT, the bus and the jeepney.

At a breastfeeding photoshoot

Everything all boils down to this. When a woman makes a decision to breastfeed the first thing that she needs is support -- from the family, friends, organization and the community -- because this is not an easy journey. Some had to resist the urge of supplementing with formula milk because someone made her believe that her milk is not enough. Commenting that a woman should cover up in public not only will humiliate her but you are in a way insinuating that what she is doing is wrong. It's not like we want to whip it out just to deliberately make someone feel uncomfortable. When a mother breastfeeds in public, the only thing that she is thinking of is her child. So the next time you see a woman nursing publicly, give her a smile to encourage her. When you are with your children please do not let them look away. Take 5 minutes or less to tell them that what the mother is doing is just feeding her child. Nothing out of the ordinary because God was amazing enough to actually design a woman's body like that so a baby can thrive from a mother's milk. However, if you are uncomfortable just look away. Do not talk. Do not comment. Do not say anything at all. Just leave.

Fun with the Classic Lego Set

The weather hasn't been that good for the past few days and I'm so glad that we finally have our Classic Lego set. The set comes with a plastic storage box, a base plate that is 8 cm long and 16 cm wide, with more than 400 Lego bricks in different colors, several tires and wheel rims and a few sets of eyes and a booklet of building instructions.

I've bought my son several toys in the past and he'd often move from one toy to another that fast. He recently received a small Lego set from my friend who just returned from a US vacation and I saw how he used the blocks to create something other than what it's supposed to be - the Saber-Tooth Tiger Tribe from the Legends of Chima. It was pretty interesting because he created little "pets" using the discs as really huge eyes. If the Lego sets would tap his creativity side and will keep him off my back for hours, this toy is going to be PERFECT!

Lego time during school break.

Lego Fun time with Ate

Ate A and Kulit's creations

I was right. My daughter and my son have an 8-year age gap and it's great to see them play together and work together. While my daughter follows the building instructions to a T, my son went and created characters and a world of its own. Yes, that's how different their personalities are. What's even better is that the storage box has more room for more bricks. You bet I will buy more. If only there is a store in Bacolod that sells just the bricks. The best part about buying this set is that I get to work in peace too, unless my son calls my attention once in a while to showcase his creation.

Do you find playing with Lego fun too?

Breastfeeding a Young Child

When I said five years ago that I will breastfeed my son, I always thought that I'd stop when he turns a year old or two. However, sometimes some things do not really go as planned. So here I am, 5 years later and he still does it. A lot of people are surprised when they ask what milk does my son drink and I'd say, "my milk". I've heard reactions like, "What? You still have milk?" or "When do you plan to stop?" Most of the time I just shrug these comments off. Some days I even ask myself why I continue doing this.

So what is it like breastfeeding a 5-year old? You won't see my son attached to my breasts all the time nor will you see me whip it out in public like I used to. Kids his age eat a lot, and I mean A LOT so he gets most of nutrients from solid food with my milk as a supplement. For kids who are still breastfed over 24 months, they are able to get 30% of their caloric needs from breastmilk. It's a myth that it no longer has value when the child is older. Antibodies are still passed on to the child through the mother's milk and these help strengthen their immune system.

There are only a few times when my son would ask to nurse.

He's sleepy.
He's upset.
He's hurt.
He's sick.

Breastfeeding is not just about nourishing a child's body but a child's emotional well-being. As for me, it is my way of comforting my child just like any parent would. Nothing compares to the feeling of being there, holding your child in your arms and him looking back at you with so much love. Each time I nurse I am reminded of why I am still doing this. For every challenges I encountered and overcame in my breastfeeding journey, this is the best reward yet. Soon he'll wean off and he will, when he's ready.

The Mom joins Hakab Na 2015

What better way to start the breastfeeding month than kick it off with The Big Latch On?

Hakab Na! is an event that aims to promote breastfeeding awareness and to support and protect the breastfeeding mothers. Why Hakab? It's simply because the word means latch, and in breastfeeding a good latch is necessary for the baby to be able to draw milk from the breasts.

This event started in August 3, 2013. The Bacolod Mom & Baby club then was fairly new then so there were only 5 moms who got together. Things have changed 2 years after.

Earlier today, a total of 77 mom and baby pairs latched simultaneously for a minute. From 5 to 77. That's a huge leap! It is so exciting to see the breastfeeding community grow. The event was held at the SM  City Bacolod Main Atrium starting from 9:30 am until 12:00 noon.

The Big Latch on was clocked at 10:30 am and this was done nationwide - Alabang, Aklan, Benguet, Bulacan, Cagayan De Oro, Cebu, Davao, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Isabela, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga and Zambales. While we do not have the total number yet, I'm pretty sure that we reached thousands.

After the Big Latch, the participants get to know the founding members of the Bacolod Mom and Baby club and then several breastfeeding myths were discussed. The participants and the breastfeeding supporters were given snacks courtesy of SM Bacolod and product samples from Calchews and NaFlora. Those who busted the myths also won prizes from sponsors - Pink n' Blue, Ten97, Alex & Ash, Footsie Toesie and Baby Steps Bacolod.

Overall, it was a very successful event, and I'm not just talking about the numbers. It's because the Bacolodnons now know who and where to turn to when they need breastfeeding support.

An Afternoon at the SM Shoes & Bags Sale

Summer is almost over and parents like me are most likely preparing for the start of the new school year. You bet I am talking about having to buy stuff for school. I kind of feel bad that IGM Kids Hub will have their sale over the weekend and I'm back here in Bacolod. I remember buying my son's rubber shoes (Hotwheels) for only Php 150 (super sale!!) and that very same shoes is still being worn by my son. I hate that I had to miss that -- not anymore!

SM will have their shoes and bags sale from May 14-17, 2015 at the SMX Convention Center. We went there earlier because they had a preview of the sale. We want to see what we can find for the kids. It was a last minute decision after seeing a post from my friend May from SM. My husband and I are anticipating the crowd tomorrow so being there at the preview will give us a chance to shop better. I guess you can say we made the right decision because we managed to shop and pay for everything in less than 2 hours. We didn't even wait in line to pay for the items.

We were greeted by rows of bags and shoes (as expected) as soon as we enter the center. I was hoping to see Florsheim shoes in one of those alleys but I guess I didn't pay much attention to the poster because it wasn't there. I am so glad to see Fila, Chicco, Fisher Price and Hotwheels though.

Had to try on too many shoes so he decided to go barefoot.

I didn't get too many photos because the guard says it is not allowed. Nevertheless, here is a rundown of my loot.

                             Item                                    Sale Price                        Original Price
                         Backpack                                  Php 575                           Php 1149.75
                     Black Shoes - Hotwheels          Php 199                           Php  500 *
                     Rubber Shoes - Hotwheels        Php 199                           Php 500 *
                       Slippers - Disney Cars               Php  80                            Php  179.75
                         Socks                                         Php 150                            Php  169.75
                       Small Purse - Belladona            Php  290                           Php  799.75
                       Wallet - Kimbell                        Php  250                           Php 499.75
                        Biofresh Socks                           Php  160                           Php  229.75
                        City Lady Socks                        Php   199.75                     Php 199.75 **
                    Rubber Shoes - Fila                   Php 1599                          Php 3198

Both of the Hotwheels shoes do not have tags so I don't know how much the original price is. I put an estimate of Php 500 since their shoes range from Php 500 - Php 800 anyway. As for the City Lady socks, this is the first time that my daughter got this brand of socks so I don't have an idea how much this normally costs so I'm putting in the same amount as original price. If we had bought everything in full price, we would have paid a whopping Php 7426.25. But because of the mark down, we only paid Php 3701.25.

We saved Php 3724.50, which is actually 50%. If this ain't a steal then I don't know what this is.

Toddler Art with Googly Eyes

It's amazing what a child can do with a pair of googly eyes (at least that's what my son calls it.).

When my daughter and husband left for the Math training in Boracay, our 4-year old toddler was left in my care. For those who know my son, he can be quite a handful. It can sometimes be a challenge to keep him preoccupied while I am logged in to my online job. My solution -- GOOGLY EYES!

Most of the art materials are those that were unused in school so I gave him crayons, paste, scissors (with my supervision), bond paper and art paper. I just bought a 2 packs of googly wiggly eyes for 10 pesos at Lopues east. I set up a table beside mine so I can see what he's doing and gave him just one instruction -- surprise me with his artwork.

Here are some of what he did for the entire day:

From the top left: happy face, silly little alien, pou, shadow monster

He was extremely proud of what he did. I was even surprised that I was managed to complete my 8-hour shift without him bugging me too much. Thank you googly eyes. Now I just need to figure out what activities he can do next.

Weekend at the Circle Inn Bacolod

Checking in at the Inn was not in our plans but since my daughter and her friends are staying for the night to celebrate her friend's birthday, we thought, why not? My husband and I both work at home and this can be a good change of environment for us.

Circle Inn is located at Lopez Jaena St., Capitol Shopping Center in Bacolod City. The place is located near Doctor's Hospital, Robinson's Triangle, BDO, 365 Cafe and Kuppa, to name a few establishments.

With the standard rooms already fully booked, we ended up with a Deluxe Room with one matrimonial bed with 4 pillows (yay!) and we only paid Php 1480. According to the room description, the room is 28 square meters, spacious enough especially if you have a toddler in tow. My husband, I and our son occupied this room for the night.

The matrimonial bed.

We have a bathtub in the room!

The bathroom

The room comes with a mini-bar, coffee and tea making facility and best of all, a WiFi access.  Not that we can't live without internet access, it's just that my husband is working on a project that he needs to submit that night.

The closet, mini bar and the coffee and tea making facility.

My husband's workspace for the night.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised at how strong their internet connection is inside the room. We don't have to go to the lobby to actually work and I even managed to publish a blog post last night about the Sandok Comfort Food where we ate earlier that day.

One happy toddler enjoying the pool.

They do have an outdoor pool which we enjoyed a lot while Tatay is inside the room finishing up a project.

During breakfast the next day, I initially wanted to order their Filipino breakfast but I was informed that they don't serve that while they offer the buffet breakfast. Bummer! But since we're hungry and have not had a bath yet, we ended up getting room service. My son and I had pancakes and Schublig. It was a good thing that the staff told me that that they are serving a 3-stack pancake, I decided to skip the sandwiches and ordered the sausages instead. When the pancakes were delivered, my first thought was, "pancakes in steriods." (LOL) It was sooo worth it and we only paid Php 80 for it.

Huge fluffy and delicious pancakes!

It was overall a nice stay. The only thing that didn't go well was just the breakfast that I didn't get because they only serve what I want at 10:30 am and the absence of hot water in our room. It was too bad because my son was looking forward to soaking in the tub. Hopefully, I'll have that the next time.

It was overall a relaxing weekend. 

Planet Mom Discovery: Sandok Comfort Food

Trust my husband to find a new place where we can eat. He has been talking about this place for a week now and we finally got the chance to go there and eat.

Sandok Comfort Food is a restaurant located at Narra Avenue, Capitol Shopping Center in Bacolod City. I must admit, I have passed by this street several times and yet I never noticed this place. I am so glad that my husband did because this is definitely one restaurant that you should come and visit. Where do I start?

First the place. We went there to have lunch and although the place is fairly new, we actually had to wait for a few minutes before we finally have our table. Yes, the place is packed! The interior is simple yet it feels homey.

After we were seated, we ordered KBL (kadios baboy langka), Calamares and Adobo Flakes. They gave us this "sandok" with our order number and the utensils are placed inside a mason jar. How cool is that?

Sandok

I like how they used the mason jar for the utensils.

Kadios Baboy Langka

Calamares

Adobo Flakes with Atchara

We didn't even have to wait that long. Their service was fast and they are very efficient. And the food? It was more than I expected. The KBL was served hot and even the soup alone was delicious. The Calamares was good although I didn't expect it to be dipped in vinegar. I expected that it will have a sauce of some sort so I ended up skipping the vinegar and still find it Ok. The adobo flakes, well it is nothing like Rodic's in Manila but I don't mind because it also tastes good.

Note to self: I am taking my parents next time to this place. 

Overall, the experience was very good. You will also be surprised with your bill too. With three viands, 5 cups of rice (There were 4 of us including my son), and the drinks, we only paid Php 583 (jaw drop). If this was Manila, we would have paid more than a thousand.

You may visit their Facebook Fanpage here.

Bacolod Mom & Baby Club Mommy Meet-Up

One of the main goals of the Bacolod Mom & Baby Club is to create a support group for moms who need help or encouragement as they go through the challenging yet equally rewarding breastfeeding journey. In line with this, a monthly meet up is scheduled to meet with moms and discuss the different challenges and joys of breastfeeding. It is in this monthly meeting that essential topics are brought up such as what to expect in the first few days and debunking several breastfeeding myths.

The ladies behind the advocacy

Yesterday, how the supplemental nursing system is used was demonstrated by Doc Kat, a pedia and a breastfeeding advocate. A supplementary nursing system is especially helpful for moms who are in the process of bringing back the baby into the breast. It induces lactation and a good tool to use for moms with low milk supply or those who are trying to relactate.

The supplemental nursing system has two components -- a container and a tube leading from the container to the breast. The tube is attached to the breast with a tape so that when the baby suckles, the baby gets milk from both the mom and the milk from the tube. This then will stimulate the mom's breast therefore increasing the milk supply.

Get to know more about the Bacolod Mom & Baby Club and the activities by visiting the Facebook fanpage.

Dojo 8 Coworking Space - My Plan B

A stable internet connection is a dire necessity when working from home. However, there are really circumstances that you cannot avoid like brownout or a faulty server of an internet service provider. If you plan to work online, having a back up plan is essential. Hence, I discovered Dojo Coworking space.

Dojo is the first ever coworking space in Bacolod located in 19th street in Lacson. It is the brainchild of Cell Jacela, CEO & Founder and my schoolmate in UPV. It's a place where freelancers, professionals and small business owners come to work and collaborate. For work-at-home moms like me, it's a place where I can go when I badly need a change of working environment or when there is a scheduled power interruption at our area. It's not just for professionals, they also cater to students who would want to study or review for a test.

My workspace

Check out this cool mug that you can use for your coffee, tea or water. 

Sure you can work in coffee shops with fast internet connection but sometimes coffee shops can be quite noisy and expensive. I mean you can't go there and not order anything.

So, what's great about Dojo? They have fast and reliable internet connection, in fact they have two (PLDT and Globe). Tea, Coffee and Iced tea is free. The place is very conducive for studying or working. At first glance it kinda looks like a library when you enter, with huge tables and chairs minus the books but with sockets everywhere. On the second floor there are conference rooms if you need to take a call via Skype or if you need to meet with several other freelancers.

The rates are surprisingly very affordable. They only charge Php120 for 4 hours and Php 250 if you stay there for 10 hours. I would go there with my "baon" inside a microwavable container. As soon as I get there, I'd put my baon inside the pantry ref and heat it using the microwave (also found in their pantry) at lunch. If I were working in a coffee shop, I'd probably end up spending a lot.

The Pantry

At the swing with my friend from Cebu, also a Digital nomad

Freelancers do not get paid when they do not work and Dojo has been my lifesaver every time there is a brownout or back when we had problems with our Globe internet connection. The place comes highly recommended and I'm not just saying that because the owner is my friend.

Get to know more about Dojo by visiting their website or their Facebook fanpage. Send Cell an email or a PM. Don't worry, he may look scary but he's a really nice guy. (Sorry Cell, I had to say this. haha!)

Me, Bazaarista

Since I started working from home, I kind of found myself having more time to do things. Maybe it's because I no longer sit inside a cramped passenger bus stuck in traffic on my way home. I recall I used to travel 30 minutes to an hour to get to the office (and back). Thank God I am no longer doing that.

One other thing that I am passionate about (aside from breastfeeding) is cloth diapering. I love the fact that I have saved thousands of pesos and I kind of like to think that I have somehow helped Mother Earth by not adding more to the garbage. I still couldn't get over it though. I like how it feels in my hands and how stuffing pocket diapers can magically erase the anxiety and stress that I feel. There are even days that I just spend a few minutes looking at how adorable the prints are and how cute it looked on my son's bum (Yup, too bad. He's potty trained). Fine! I guess you can say I'm a little addicted to it. So, I made it my business. I'm selling cloth nappies! Yay!

Fluffy banderitas in my backyard. Sigh! This is what laundry day looks like.

A year ago, a Marketing company named Gato Verde started the weekend souk here in Bacolod and they were looking for sellers who would like to rent a space and showcase the products. I guess you can say that we joined the souk and I was quite amazed with the turn of events. I've met different people while I sit on my own little corner with my cloth diaper display -- from curious individuals to skepticals to excited grandparents and moms who dropped by the booth and ask about cloth diapers.

A display of cloth diapers at the Souk

Cloth diaper packs too!

Me? A bazaarista? I guess you can say that now. One weekend in a month is not bad. Besides, I need a really good excuse to leave the house.

Shameless plugIf you're from Bacolod and you're looking for baby shower gifts or if you are completing your cloth diaper stash, do drop by the Souk. You can also click on the Pink n' Blue's logo at the right side of this page and it should direct you to my FB shop page. Spread the love.

A Night at the Zoo at SM Bacolod

The Eltoro Zoo De La Castellana is now in SM Bacolod for four days and my family and I didn't want to pass this opportunity up, especially when we found out that there are turtles. It was because of this turtle song that my son became interested in turtles. The song is a little annoying and it does stick into your head for a long time. However, it does say something about the difference between turtles and tortoises so I don't mind if the kids sung this over and over again.

The Eltorro Zoo is a zoological and bontanical garden owned by Mr. Felix Feria Divino. It is located in Gomez st., Barangay Robles in La Castellana. Quite far from where we are located and so I'm glad that they have this in SM.

Anyway, so the zoo is located at the SM Bacolod North Wing. The entrance fee is only Php 50 per person and this amount goes to the SM Foundation's environmental projects. The line can get pretty long so I suggest that you arrive early.

The entrance to the zoo.

As expected, we were greeted by TURTLES!!! My son got the chance to touch the turtles too!

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the number of animals there. There are cats, lizards, birds, snakes, spiders and rodents. Below are just some of them.

Australian Salt Water Crocodile

Hoot! Hoot!

with the sleeping tiger

Donkey! Where's Shrek?

The zoo will be there until January 27, 2015 and will be open from 2pm to 9pm. Bring your kids with you. Oh, and you also get the chance to take a picture with the Albino Python if you want to. I'm not a big fan of snakes so I left that to my daughter and my husband.

ssssay cheese, Albino Python.