I also didn't want to tire my dad so the plan was to go out after lunch. So a little before 2pm, Chea, Thirdy, my mom, my dad and myself got into my dad's car and went out.
We first dropped by at the columbary to visit my brother, and then we went to Ateneo de Manila University as there was a babypalooza again. Thirdy's carrier ripped when we were at Tiendesitas a couple of weeks back. And since he's around 12kgs now, it's tiring to carry him around in our arms. So we need a sturdier carrier.
We got to Ateneo at around 3pm and proceeded to the area. There were a lot of people going around in togas, so I guess they were having graduations that day. We waited a while but we were able to park the car near the event building. As we were walking towards the building, there was a bit of a commotion with the attendants. One of them approached and told us that we hit one of the cars when we were backing up and maneuvering into the parking area.
I was a bit surprised since I didn't hear or feel anything. My parents and chea also couldn't believe what the attendant was saying. But he was adamant that another attendant actually saw our car hitting a parked black Toyota Vios. We looked at the right corner of the rear bumper and there was some scrapes. But again, we couldn't believe it since we didn't feel anything. When we asked the attendant who saw the entire thing, he was positive that we hit the car.
We checked our car, and there were no new scratches on our rear bumper. We asked the attendant to fetch the driver so we could talk to them and settle things. I let my parents do the talking because my temper flares easily at times.
A little bit later, the owner came over and looked at the damage. I was trying to cool off at a distance when the owner left. It seems that the damage was actually an old one. If there were new scratches, it wouldn't matter since it'll be fixed by the insurance anyway. Still, the attendant continued insisting that we hit the car. My mother had to berate the attendant, since it was no longer an issue as the owner insisted that there was no harm done. My mom reasoned that the height of the scratches on either car did not match up, so it doesn't make sense. Way I see it, the attendant who supposedly saw the accident was a bit far from us at the time, and was in an angle that made him think there was contact between the two cars, came on over after the fact, and concluded that we hit the car because there was some damage.
I actually would understand their position. They are, after all, trying to do their job. Still, it kinda ruined my day.
A few minutes later we left and headed to Taguig to the Bench Tower for the Cirque du Bebe Baby and Kids Fair.
Since we're not familiar with the place, we again turned to the trusty Google Maps app for direction. Unfortunately, Bench Tower wasn't showing up in the search, so I had to put in the street names instead. As soon as we got near to 30th street, I just zoomed in the map, and found Bench Tower.
We parked across the building, and walked towards it. We took the elevator down to level B and found the event.
There was a registration booth at the entrance. Behind that were some seats and a small stage with videos being projected against the backdrop.
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| Try to find my dad and my mom. |
There were some booths off to right and left of the stage, selling all sorts of baby stuff. Gymboree was there, and they occupied a large area off to the right. Little Tikes, Philips Avent, Halo Sleepsacks and other retailers were also present.
There were picture cardboard cut outs which Thirdy really enjoyed.
Since the theme was a Circus, there were some mascots and some clowns on stilts. Thirdy felt uncomfortable next to the clowns so after a quick picture, we left. The next kid who took pictures with the clowns started to bawl immediately.
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| Most of the kids didn't like the clowns on stilts. A few of them actually cried. |
We found a baby carrier, but it was too expensive at 5,000 pesos. I was hoping to find one at less than 1,000 pesos (if there ever was one).
Nicole Hernandez, the commercial model, was there. She was with her husband and their baby in a stroller. Aside from that, it was pretty uneventful.
So after less than an hour, we left and went out of the building. At the stop light, diagonal to Bench Tower, was an area that looked like a park. I was curious so I walked towards there carrying Thirdy. Chea and my parents had no choice but to follow as I was already way ahead of them.
When I got near, I saw what looked like a playground through the thick plants. So we went around along the pathway, trying to find the main entrance. After a brisk walk, it turns out that it's the Science-in-the-Park of the Mind Museum building. Looks like Thirdy's gonna get some play time.
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| Food! |
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| Thirdy's Mr. Pogi pose |
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| Bend it like Thirdy! |
There was a Jollibee so we headed there for dinner first as it was almost 6pm. Unfortunately, there was a kids party going on at the second floor, so there were no available fried chicken being sold. Most of the stocks were still being thawed out. We had to settle for spaghetti and palabok. Looks like it's going to be a light dinner.
After eating, i then took Thirdy to the Science-in-the-Park. It was free so that's a big plus for the place. There's actually not that many enjoyable things a kid could do here except beat on some drums, and slide down the mobius strip-like slide. While Thirdy wasn't able to go to the slide, as there were a lot of kids there, he did, however, enjoy his time with the drums.
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| Seesaw |
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| Mobius slide off to the left |
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| Chea couldn't make the big bubble work. |
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| Nope. still can't do it. |
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| My dad taking pics. |
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| Thirdy hammering away |
After about 10 or so minutes, we left, went back to the parking lot and got into the car and headed to Marikina. Thirdy's birthday is on April 17th, and on his 2nd birthday, we wanted to have a pool party with just the family and probably a few friends. Third loves the water, and since his birthday's on Maundy Thursday, it'll be like a family summer outing.
We initially had our eye on City Hideaway along Sumulong Hiway in Antipolo, since it's very much near our house in Maia Alta. The idea is to have the party during the day, and then have the clan stay overnight at Maia Alta. That way, they don't need to drive home to rest after a tiring day.
Unfortunately, after checking the place out last weekend, when we called to confirm our reservation, we were told that they made a mistake and that the date was already booked.
We still wanted to have that pool party, so we did some online search, and found some private pools in Marikina. The one were we're checking that day was Costa Marquina. And since weren't familiar with the address, we had to check Google Maps again for directions. It was dark, but somehow, we were able to find it after getting initially lost.
The place was ok for its price. For 6,000 pesos, you get a pool, a children's pool, some area around the pool so you could set up tables and chairs. And there's a 2 floor house that you could occupy, with a bedroom with two big beds and A/C.
As it turns out, the owners also had another private pool a few meters away. It was basically the same thing, although the house was a bit bigger as it was segregated into an area for use with the pool, while the other part was being lived in by the house administrators.
The price was the same. As luck would have it, both places were free on April 17th. So it's just an issue of who reserves first. Still, we just made a pencil booking, as there's another place that's a lot bigger, although a lot farther (Morong actually), that we wanted to check out as well.
We then started on our way home, but I got hungry along the way, so I asked if we could stop by somewhere. That somewhere turned out to be Robert Flavors of Asia, which I'll write about on another entry.
After the brief stop, we headed home and called it a day.
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