The New Ai

My wife asked me to re layout our Thirdy's invitation as we needed to get a high resolution file to send to our supplier. The original supplier could not accommodate us due to their work load.

I've been using Adobe Photoshop since the late 90s. But it's basically used for editing pictures. You really don't use it to create print materials, as you need more control in creating objects. The go-to application before was Corel Draw, but that was so long ago.

I'm aware of Adobe Illustrator but never really needed to use it. But since I need to work with an invitation, and the layouts reeked of vector graphics, it's the software I'll need to use. I have a copy of it (CS3) lying somewhere and proceeded to install it.

If you're familiar with Adobe Photoshop then you'll be able to use Illustrator right out of the bat.

You just start with the size of the document. What's good with vectors, is if you scale low or high, anytime, the objects don't pixelize. The only objects that will pixelize are the non vector objects such as static images you import. So it's a good idea to start with a large layout, and high res images. You can always scale down later.

I wasn't familiar with creating objects so I had to do some quick research on the internet. I had to create a camera, party hats and merge images into a round-edge rectangular frames. After a few seconds of reading, I was able to make this photo film inspired invitation.

Pretty good huh? I whipped this up in about 2 hours. Lol. 

Chea also asked that I make the design for the body of the photo film canister. Yes, you've read that right. Our invitation is in the form of a film canister.

The design for the canister body was easier. We made it simple as we didn't need to put much information as  all of that is in the "film" invite already.

This took less than an hour. Any longer would be embarrassing.

Hopefully, we get these invites soon. We need to give them out at least a week before the party.

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One Cafe is Yum!

March 17, 2013. We're to bring Thirdy to Antipolo to spend time with my in-laws. We also planned to drop by One Cafe and Events Place to measure some of the tables for the customized table runners and overlays we plan to use.

Around 11am, +maria cessna galecio , thirdy, tita fe, rona (thirdy's yaya) and myself, headed out of the house. We dropped by the Divine Word Columbarium first, to visit my brother.

Turns out, my sister Maricel, and her kids, Figi and Citti, were there too as they had attended the morning mass. We spent a few minutes at my brother's niche, and then decided to have lunch as it was nearing midday.

We decided to eat at Pan De Amerikana in Katipunan Avenue since it's very near Ortigas. My sister was to go to Megamall later along with her kids to meet up with her hubby, Gerry, and we were heading ourselves to One Cafe in Ortigas Center.

I always liked eating at Pan De Amerikana since the food is inexpensive. I ordered the dinuguan, which was around 70 pesos.  We also ordered Everlasting, Bicol Express (i think), a platter of mostly seafood and some liempo and pork barbecue , and two (2) pitchers of iced tea.

All of that for just 1,100 pesos.

We ended up ordering way too much for just four (4) adults and two (2) kids. We barely touched the platter, so we asked the waiters to pack the rest, to go.

My sister and her kids stayed behind as Gerry was on his way to pick them up. Chea, Thirdy, Tita Fe, Rona and I, on the other hand, went ahead to One Cafe for a visit. We arrived by 2pm.

Function rooms A and B were vacant, so we had the place to ourselves. Wyn, one of the employees, was around helping us with the tables and answering some of our questions.

We measured the guest tables, the buffet tables, as well as the stage. I wrote it on a piece of paper which I don't have right now, but I'll update this post later with the measurements.

Some of One Cafe's table centerpieces were lying around, so we decided to try some layouts for centerpieces for the tables.

We ended up using two glass and one clay vases, all topped off with plastic flowers. We then placed the easel and our paper camera boxes along with the vases. We now have our semi finished centerpiece.

Our semi official center piece. 

I guess we won't be going back for the glass bottles and mini buckets in Divisoria after all. That's a good thing as it'll save us a few hundred pesos.

Aniel, the manager, was also there (but was busy in the kitchen) since there was an earlier event at the Lounge. He told us there was some food ready for the food tasting. We weren't planning on having our food tasting that day since we wanted to head to Antipolo quite early. But it was already past 2pm, so we won't be able to do much of anything at Antipolo except drop off Thirdy and Tita Fe.

The chef had already gone home, but as it turns out, Aniel was an HRM graduate from St. Benilde. He said that he was among the pioneer batch of HRM at St. Benilde and had worked at several hotels already. He managed to whip up nine (9) food selections from the time we left Pan De Amerikana and the time we finished measuring.

i like this plate.

As per our plan, we wanted to get the 395 pesos buffet option. It had an order of soup, chicken, fish, pork, noodles, vegetable, dessert and a single round of ice tea. We managed to swap out the soup to upgrade the noodles to pasta, and then we declined on the dessert and asked for bottomless ice tea instead. Aniel agreed to the request when we paid the reservation fee a month ago.

We were served the two pastas first: Linguinni Alfredo and Pasta Pomodoro.

Pasta pomodoro hands down.

The linguinni alfredo was your typical white sauce pasta. It wasn't swimming with cream which was a big plus. The cream clinged to the pasta and wasn't that salty even with some ham mixed in there. So it was pretty good. But the pasta pomodoro was heavenly. It was a bit spicy for our taste, but other than that, it was perfect.

We were then served the chicken dishes: Roasted chicken with Rosemary Jus and Honey Pepper chicken.

They're both so great, but what to choose?

Both dishes were great. We're torn on what to actually get. The roasted chicken tasted good with the rosemary. And the size was just perfect. If you get to the middle of parts you slice off, you'll still taste the herbs. But Chea loved the honey pepper chicken more. The flavor was there, but it wasn't too overpowering. We actually wanted to get both dishes, unfortunately, we didn't want to get two of anything as some guests might be allergic to some food. Which is why we wanted to make sure that we had pork, chicken, fish and vegetable dishes.

For the pork, we were given Hickory Pork and Porkloin in Soy sauce and Citrus, which was basically grilled meat.

Grilled pork at the top, hickory pork at the bottom.  Calories all around.

The hickory pork is just that. Pork slathered with hickory sauce. So it's pretty easy to imagine what it would taste like.

We were also served roast beef. It wasn't part of the menu, but it was included in the food tasting just so we can have an idea of what other options are available.

roast beef with some potato strings and mushrooms. 

The potato strings are a nice touch. It gives the beef extra texture as they're a bit crunchy. But my tendency is to go straight for the beef and ignore everything else. The beef tasted exactly like beef. But as i mentioned to Chea, it was refreshing to see another beef menu rather than the ubiquitous beef stroganoff.


We were also served fish fillet. It's basically pan fried dory with a heap of parmesan cheese.

red is fresca salsa. white is plum and pesto cream dip. both are awesome.

What makes the dish stand out is of course the dip. The salsa tasted great. But the plum and pesto dip was splendid. I had to resist dipping my fingers in them. I'm accustomed to having cream based dip to have some salt in them, so imagine my surprise when this didn't taste salty at all. Mind you, i like salty food, and this wasn't, but i loved it all the same.

The last dish was chop suey with a smattering of fried garlic. The vegetable was soft, but it wasn't soggy. I'm not a big fan of chop suey, but this didn't turn me off at all. I could eat this, but I don't think I'd rave about it. Not to mention, come back for seconds.

chop suey with garlic

Although we didn't get a chance to taste the other option which was stir fried vegetables in butter, we chose that instead. I think most of our guests would prefer the after taste of butter over garlic.

Now, Chea didn't like any of the options for the pork dish. So Aniel told us that they have new dishes that will come out this March, and we can have another food taste by then. But he also gave us an option of getting a pork dish that was only available in the higher price range, such as pork ragu, without additional cost. I'm not familiar with pork ragu (or it's variant), especially at catered parties i've attended, so I thought it would be a new experience for everyone. Some may like it, some may not, but I'm sure the overall consensus is that was something new for most of them, so that's a plus in my book.

Overall, it was among the best food tasting experiences I've had, topping most of the ones we've had when we were preparing for our wedding.

After the food taste, we headed off to Antipolo. Along the way, i mused to Chea about how fortuitous that the chef had left, and Aniel was made to cook dishes that weren't normally in the menu for the package we chose. For one, Honey Pepper chicken wasn't available at that price range. The fish fillet also was ordinarily served with Salsa Fresca or Plum Tomato sauce, not Plum Pesto sauce, which I imagine tastes better as I love pesto. When we asked if we can have both dips (salsa and plum pesto), Aniel obliged.

Also, we were given the option of getting Pork Ragu which was from a higher package in place of the Hickory pork and the grilled pork loin.

I went on some more to Chea about how booking One Cafe was a great decision of ours. For 395 a head, you had Pasta Pomodoro, Honey Pepper chicken, Fish Fillet with Salsa Fresca and Plum Pesto dips, Pork Ragu, Stir Fried vegetables and unlimited drinks. I don't think you can walk into any restaurant and order these dishes and expect to pay only that amount.

At that price, you mostly get the typical dishes like beef stroganoff, cordon bleu, etc. With One Cafe, you get better food options,  you get to rent the entire place and their equipment for free as well.

My only concern is if the actual catered food is as good as the ones we tasted last Sunday. Here's hoping they will be.

On our way to Antipolo, we dropped by a Shoppersville branch along Marcos Highway and bought Thirdy a cake. There was a shop there selling pastries but I forgot the name. Chea asked for the contact info so we can inquire about a fondant cake some other time.

After arriving at my in-laws house in Maia Alta, we rested for a while and celebrated Thirdy's 11th month. We also looked up some bakeshops online. We were hoping to check on some in Marikina.

We only managed to drop by Cafe Feliz where Chea buys me some great tasting cookies. We inquired about a fondant cake for Thirdy's 1st year birthday party. It was nice that they priced their items separately, so you'll know how much it'll cost you for every cake tier you add. I can't remember the exact prices, but a 10" cake layer would cost you roughly 1,500 pesos. A 6" inch layer cake would cost around 600, and so on. So you can put in as much cake layers as you like, and you'll get a rough idea of how much it will actually cost you. Of course, any other customization like decorations will add to the base price, but it's nice to have an actual figure attached to every feature you want added instead of the typical practice of some bakers of giving you on the spot made up numbers just by looking at your design.

After that, we dropped by another bakeshop and placed orders for 70 mini eclairs, 70 mini cream puffs and around 100 mini cupcakes that will be part of the dessert buffet we plan on setting up for Thirdy's party. We will still need to go to another bakeshop for the brownies and another one for the mini donuts. But that is for another day.

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Ay Divisoria

Last Saturday, Mar 16, 2013, +maria cessna galecio and I decided to go to Divisoria so we can check out linens that we will be using for Thirdy's party.

One Cafe already has table cloths and overlays, but we didn't like the available colors. We felt that the colors were too strong and wouldn't match our idea for the table centerpiece. And some of them were satin so they tend to reflect camera flashes.

So we though we'll get our own linens and use table runners for the 12 guest tables. We also needed overlays for the dessert buffet station and the cookie buffet station. Not to mention, another overlay for the memorabilia section, where we will be placing Thirdy's time capsule. And the stage backdrop was too plain so we thought of covering it with linen with striped patterns as well.

We planned to head out early, but we somehow ended up leaving before 11am. We drove straight to 999 mall where we knew we can get easy parking (It was expensive though. We paid 95 pesos by the time we left by 4pm).

I forgot the street name that was lined up with stores selling linen. I somewhat remembered how to get there during the last time I went there with my mother just a couple of months back.

But I'm so bad with directions, that we first ended up at Juan Luna, where stores sold upholstery materials. We walked from Soler Street and traversed the entire length of Juan Luna where we almost ended up at Sta Elena. However, we turned into a side street and found ourselves Ylaya, where thankfully was where all the linens were being sold.

I was hungry already as I didn't take breakfast so Chea and I had brunch consisting of pansit bihon at a small corner chinese resto. Before leaving, I asked where Tabora was as I had read that this was the area where crafts were sold. We were keeping an eye out for centerpieces we will be using for the guest tables. We had a general idea of what we want, but we needed to add more as some of the ones we had in mind for the tables were small.

The cashier told us it was just the next street over. So we started walking the entire length of Ylaya St all the way back to Soler Street. The entire width of Ylaya was peppered on both sides by vendors, leaving just about a meter and a half for people to walk by. We stopped at vendors whenever we saw some linen we thought might be good table runners, but we never found the striped pattern that we wanted.

We entered the Divine Mart as well, which is basically a building with stalls on the ground floor which can get confusing. In it, there were all sorts of linen as well as stores selling barongs, wedding gowns, evening gowns and other dresses. We stopped by a few asking for clothes that Thirdy will be using for his baptism. We wanted the traditional dress. We found one that was plain enough but costs around 300pesos. We decided to go back some other time if we couldn't find any that we'd like.

It was good that the weather was a bit gloomy so there were a few short and light rain showers which saved us from the scorching summer sun.

We ended back in Soler, so we now turned the corner to Tabora Street.

Tabora Street is very much like Ylaya (or any other street in Divisoria for that matter), that vendors lined up both sides of the street, from the sidewalk, spilling into the street itself. They were basically selling all sorts of craft materials, although most of them were already finished items. There were small decors, invitations, giveaways, masks, boxes, and all sorts of stuff you can use in a party or an event.

At a stall where a family was working on big paper face masks, we asked if they could make big 3d letters to put on a stage. He said he hasn't tried it yet, but told us to just use styrofoam boards sandwiched between illustration boards. There was a shop named George Trading at the end of the street selling them, he said.

We found a branch of Anding's midway Tabora Street which sold children's toys , plastic flowers and party materials. We found some chinese lanterns which Chea plan to use for stage decorations. We left without a purchase and continued traversing Tabora.

Before reaching the end of the street, we saw a vendor selling some mini pales/buckets which we imagined we could use as table centerpieces. The lady who owns the stall, were willing to give us the buckets for 12 pesos each. I then discussed with Chea what she thinks she could put into the bucket. There were small bears that fits the bucket but they cost 15-20 pesos each. It's either that or we find plastic/paper flowers to put into them. They were also selling these small clear glass bottles that would look adorable if you put the correct flower arrangement in them. The two designs that I was looking at was being sold for 6 and 7 pesos each.

I told Chea that we should check out sample flower arrangements in the internet that would match the bottles and just come back to buy them when we have a definite idea on what to put in there.

So again, we left without having bought anything yet.

We then continued towards the corner of Sta Elena Street. We found George Trading but they were only selling 2 inch thick styrofoam boards, whereas we need at least 6 inches. Gluing three of them together would be good, but would be expensive as each board (2ft x 4ft') costs almost 200 pesos).

We then found the other Anding's store at the corner of Sta Elena and Tabora. It was tucked inside the corner building. We found a small easel there. Unfortunately, it was the only one left. We decided to just get it so we can try to have someone copy it for us. We also ended up buying Chinese lanterns there as we didn't want to come up empty handed on our trip to Divisoria.

After that, we went into New Divisoria mall, but we couldn't find anything that we want. It was already around 4pm so we were definitely hungry, so we ate at the food court. After that, we headed back to 999 mall, and dropped by the Columbia Wax Trading to buy candles.

We did a quick look around 999 mall before heading out to buy Thirdy a pair of sandals. After that, we got into the car and headed out.

We detoured to Quiapo first as Chea wanted to go to Hidalgo and see if there were any photo video services there we could use for the party. We've been looking around in the forums and we couldn't find an inexpensive photographer that provided video services as well. Not to mention, I was hell bent on finding someone who would give us all the raw photographs as well as the raw video footage. I will rant about that on another blog entry.

So we parked at the side of Quiapo church and headed off to Hidalgo. We entered every single store but didn't find a service that we liked. One offered us their services, along with all the footage and photos, unfortunately, his prices was the same for weddings and simple parties.

We also asked around for light stands. We planned on using light stands to hoist up the stage background. They were collapsible, so it would be easy to stash them in our car. Also, since I'm also into photography, I was planning on using the light stands later.

After a quick walk through Hidalgo, we also strolled along Evangelista all the way to Raon, hoping for anything to inspire us. Nothing did, so we walked along Quezon boulevard back to our car. It was already past 5pm so we decided to call it a day and continue planning at home.

At home, we got some emails regarding some cake suppliers. We were eyeing three cake makers, as they were the ones who were inexpensive and looked like they could execute the cake that we wanted, with the quality that we wanted as well.

I spent the night doodling on my wife's ipad with Adoble Express. That's the app that I use along with a capacitive stylus whenever I want to get that drawing itch out of my system. It's not as good as drawing on paper with a pencil, but it does allow you to easily edit drawings.

I had to revise the cake doodle about 4 times with inputs from my wife.

Hopefully, the actual cake looks better than this.

We need to select a cake supplier soon as most of them require around a 2 week lead time.

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Kiddie Shoot at Starbox Studio

We had a kiddie shoot at Starbox Studio last Saturday, March 9, 2013 at around 1pm.

It was my first time to do a shoot at a studio and using studio lights, so it was a great experience for me. Having +AnGelo Chiu who knows his way around studio equipment helped a lot.

Probably the only decent shot I was able to take of my wife and kid.  Thirdy's getting to be a real handful. Lol.

 The day started with Chea and I (and Rona, Thirdy's nanny) heading out at around 11 am and dropping by an American surplus shop to check out some vintage items. We then went to meet Chea's sister, Chi, along with Tita Fe and Thirdy at Jollibee Anonas as they came from Antipolo.

We had a quick lunch and then headed off to StarBox Studio along Kamias Ave, QC. We arrived at the same time with Gelo and +lysander san jose , along with Gelo's daughter Thea. Wifey Karen and bunso, Ally, had to be somewhere else at that time.

The elevator is out on weekends, so we had to deal with 5 flights of stairs. Probably my only complaint on having the shoot at Starbox. There was a kids workshop at the studio, so we were only able to use the Photo Studio part, which was good enough. There was enough space to go around actually, even with about 9 adults and 4 kids in the shoot.

Yuki, the manager, was there. I also had the pleasure of meeting one of their photographers, Kim, and we had some conversations before they had to head out for a client call. Will, their studio guy, assisted us the rest of the shoot.

Gale, along with daughter Yesha, arrived a few minutes later and we started the shoot. We were still playing around with the lights, so we didn't get too much shots that we liked. Thirdy wasn't his usual timid self around too many people, so he was crawling all over the place, so we couldn't really get good shots of him.

Most of the shots were Bird's eye view, as Thirdy kept on crawling towards me when I tried to take pictures at his level. 

Didn't know he could crawl this fast. At home, he usually crawls a couple of feet then  his head plops down on the mat.

We brought the alphabet mat along with us. Good thing as the floor is vinyl on some solid flooring.

We mainly relied on our own flashguns for the early part, as the studio lights required triggers, which they only had one transmitter I think. There were four of us photographers (Me, Gelo, Lys and Gale), and we were itching to start shooting. By this time, Milan (one of our former co worker) arrived with her son, Lian.

On our second round, we used the grey background and were able to use the 3 studio lights. We had to take turns with the trigger, but it was ok, since we already got the initial shooting urge out of our systems.

Milan and Lian. The lights on the left was a bit low. 

Still wasn't able to adjust the light.

Gale and Yesha. Looks a bit better.

Gelo and Thea. Adjusted the lights so their faces are a bit brighter.

By this time, 3pm, Thirdy was getting rowdy as he wanted to get some sleep. So we couldn't take more pictures of him with Chea. Unfortunately, he was sleeping too lightly, as every time we tried placing him in carriage so we could take photos of him, he kept crying and waking up. So we just gave up and took pictures of the other kids.

By this time, Karen arrived with their bunso, Ally. Too bad she wasn't as trained as her older sister Thea in front of the camera so we weren't able to take pictures of her. Thea on the other hand was great to work with as you didn't have to ask her to pose, as she knew how to work the cameras already.

A few minutes before 4pm, Thirdy was already awake and were able to have a third round of shoots with him. First with a grey background, and finally with a white background.

We just used a studio light to the left and relied on our flashguns and bounce on the wall behind us. And that's our comforter he's on.

White background. Close up shot with my AF-S 50mm lens.

Thirdy tried standing up for the last few shots on his own. He managed that stance for more than 5 seconds allowing me to get this shot. Good job, son!

At past 4pm, Will asked if we wanted to extend the shoot, but I decided that it was starting to get late, and we're starting to get tired.

So we started packing our stuff and called it a day. Hopefully, we can do some studio shots again in the very near future as it's really fun taking pictures of your kids.

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Kiddie Shoot

We'll be having a kiddie shoot tomorrow at StarBox studios in Kamias, QC.

So far, it's me and +lysander san jose and +AnGelo Chiu who confirmed for the shoot. Gelo will be bringing his kids, Thea and Ally, while I'll be bringing Thirdy. Our wives will be there too. Hopefully we get a few good shots of the kids.

Meanwhile, here are shots of Thirdy learning to drive I took last Sunday.

This looks promising. All we need are paddle shifters. Yeah.

Watch out for pedestrians.

Don't look at the sidemirrors when you're turning just like most Pinoy drivers.

That'll do, Thirdy. That'll do.

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Happy 60th birthday Tito Obet!

Last Sunday, we celebrated Tito Obet's 60th birthday.

He arrived from Canada a few weeks earlier, so the plan is to spend his 60th birthday together along with the Dumantay clans at Dad's megamall.

The Meryendad's promo starts at 3pm, so Chea, Tita Fe, Thirdy and myself  headed out around 1pm to head to Mandaluyong.

Along the way, we went to Hi Top Market to get some milk formula for the baby. I asked that we drop by Daiso along Mother Ignacia in Quezon City as well, to see if they had any available items we could use for Thirdy's party. We got a couple of glass jars for 88php each out of that side trip.

When we arrived at Ortigas, we saw that The Podium was having a sale, so we decided we'll drop by later to see what we could find for Thirdy's party.

We arrived at Megamall a little past 2pm. We checked with the receptionist already while waiting for the rest of the Dumantay clan to arrive to make sure that we will have seats. It was fortunate that we arrived early since they didn't take reservations, only a priority list.

After a few minutes, Chea's mom arrived along with her sister Chie, brother Cyrus and nephew Justine. Just before 3pm, we were seated already by the main entrance. By 3pm, Chea's dad arrived with Tito Obet and Tita. And soon after, the buffet station was opened and we started with queueing for food. Chea, Tita Fe and myself had passed on lunch, so we were a bit anxious to get started even when Tito Obet hadn't arrived yet.

So while Chea looked after the little tyke, I went ahead and raided the closest buffet station. I came back with 3 plates full of bounties.

Mini burgers and corn dogs.

Chicken mami and fried dumplings. 

French fries for thirdy. Of course he isnt finishing all of that. Just a few little bites.

The first plate had mini burgers and corn dogs. Second plate was filled with fries. And the third plate had chicken mami and some fried dumplings.

I started wolfing down most of the food while Chea ate some of the fries and fed Thirdy a few bites. I then went back and filled a fourth plate with dinuguan, puto and pansit.

The perfect pinoy merienda combination for me. Mmm mmm mm.

By this time, Chea's mom took Thirdy and Chea was able to hit the stations for herself, and filled her first plate with a few things.

Let's see. Bibingka, taco, turon, kamote que (without the stick actually),  puto bumbong. And i cant recall the white one. Im bad with names.

I then went back for palabok and a couple of kakanin's.

Chea then went bank for the desserts, which I never got around to taste, as I got full with a second round of pansit.

Looks good. But i passed.

Overall, the food was great. It's flavorful, so for 229php with bottomless drinks (199php for weekdays), it was money well spent. 

I mean, if you're going for a buffet, you really won't go for rice, so full filipino meals isn't the best menu for a buffet as they're really strong on the flavors which is tempered down with generous servings of rice. So for buffets with a Filipino flavor, it's really best to go with meryenda menus like pansit, palabok, kakanin, etc. It allows you to eat more as they're usually lighter.

As i said, the food is flavorful, as compared to what Tramway offers. Based on my experience, Tramway's selection, although it's larger, is somewhat bland. But for 245 (without drinks), if you want to really pig out, that's pretty cheap. But if you want your palates to experience something better, you can't do better than Dad's especially at this price.

I personally loved Dad's pansit since this is one of my favorite foods. Their pansit's flavor is a bit different when you compare them to your normal pansit. It isn't mind blowing, but it's pleasant, and it makes you want to eat more, which I did. The dinuguan was ok. I wish it had more meat. 

I love mami, so I wish they had bigger bowls. There's always a line around that station because they were serving the pork siomai and fried dumplings at the same area, so I just got lazy to go back and get more. 

The kakanins are ok, i wish they had more variants. I didn't notice if there was maja blanca as that is my favorite kakanin. I may have just overlooked it as i skipped a few trays.

I didn't like the burger. It was too dry. And really just didn't taste that good. The corn dog was great especially at that mini size. The ratio of the batter to the hotdog was just perfect. The problem I have with big corn dogs, is that they have too much batter so you're just basically eating batter, and then get to a small hotdog inside. But these mini corn dogs are just perfect. 

There were other items like pasta, shawarma, etc, which I didn't bother to taste since I was already full. 

A few minutes before 5pm, everyone was done so we were just chatting. And when 5pm struck, we had already paid the bill and were on our separate ways home.

Thirdy and Tita Fe will be spending the following week with Chea's family in Antipolo. He usually spends a week at a time in Antipolo so his Lola Tess and Lolo Rico will get some quality time with him. 

After saying goodbyes, Chea and I first checked out the baby section in SM Megamall Department store to see if they had clothes for the baptism. We couldn't find any so we went to the Home Section to check out their dinnerware, to see how much the plates we will be using for the buffet costs.

Chea and I then went to The Podium to check out the sale. We were mostly looking for items we could use for the party, or something for Thirdy. We didn't get anything except for a jar decoration from Living Well, which I think we won't be able to use anyway.

Chea did bump into a college classmate of hers who had a display selling cakes. After a brief chat between the two, Chea and I then proceeded to Landmark in Trinoma Mall for one last dinnerware hunting.

We took note of the prices of their ceramic ware. And also checked some items that could be used for decorations. 

After that, we went home and got some rest. This coming weekend is going to be busy as well since we'll be having a studio photoshoot with Thirdy.

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Dessert Hunters

So my wife and I decided that we'll be having a dessert and cookie buffet for Thirdy's first birthday slash baptismal celebration.

She's been scoping out the interwebs for a couple of months already trying to look for a supplier that will give us the most bang for our bucks. We're a bit tight on cash, so we want to make sure we make most of whatever we will be spending for the party.

It seems that booking One Cafe for the reception leaves us little to spend on dessert and cookie buffet suppliers. If we get them, we'll end up with a menu that's very light and very few for our 100+ guests.

So that leaves us one option: Try to set up our own dessert and cookie buffet which doesn't sound as easy as it seems.

Aside from getting suppliers for the cookies and the desserts, there is the issue of buffet stylings. There are buffet designs in the internet that we can easily ape, but that means spending for the very same decors. Not to mention the plates and holders needed for the pastries

So what do we do? Start by canvassing the items that we will need.

First on the plate? Plates. Yes, we need plates to put the the desserts on. Our first stop? Uniwide Sales Club. Yes, they still exist. And fortunate for us, one such branch exists near our place.

Last Saturday, 03/02/2013, we went to Uniwide Sales, Novaliches. I knew they had cheap ceramic plates there likely imported from China. When we got there, we found several square and rectangular plates. We also saw some jars we plan to fill up with small cookies. And there was another pleasant surprise: cake stands! And pretty cheap to boot.

Now that we've checked out Uniwide, our next destination? 500 Events Shaw for a Mommy Mundo event.

We arrived at the place past 2pm, and we looked around. We managed to buy a new pair of shoes for Thirdy, but other than that, the event was mostly for toddlers and older kids.

It was past 3 and we were already hungry, but we needed to drop by Lia's Cakes in Season at Kapitolyo.

But on the way there, I wanted to drop by Regalong Pambahay in Pioneer. They always had amazing home decors that you can always use for buffet decorations.

When we arrived there, it was no longer the warehouse it was used to be the last time we visited when we were planning our wedding back in 2004 (although we do drop by at the same location for perfume and toy sales). It was now a showroom. But that wasn't the surprising part. What really surprised us, was a few of their items.

It seems that one of the event stylists we've fallen in love with the past few days, sourced some of his items from Regalong pambahay. No wonder their services are expensive. The decors they use are expensive too. But with a secret, maniacal laughter (mine of course), I thought gleefully, that we can get the exact same things to decorate our buffet tables. Mwahahahaa (there I go again).

Now, on to Lia's Cakes.

Cakes! and cupcakes! Oh my!

Chea wanted to know if they cater parties. Unfortunately, the owner (didn't get the name as I was erstwhile distracted by cakes) told us they don't have the manpower for catering parties. So I guess we'll just get some cakes from them.

By this time, it was 4pm, and since we didn't take our lunch yet, we looked around Kapitolyo for a cheap but fulfilling meal. We ended up at Tropical Huts. I ordered the dinuguan meal, while chea went for the bangus. Ahh, the simple joys of life.

Pig's blood. blah blah blah.

After the brief late lunch, we headed over to visit my brother's remains at Divine Word Columbary at Christ the King, E. Rodriguez Avenue which we do every weekend.

I then prodded my wife that we hit Suki Market in Mayon Street, Sampaloc. I wanted to check for vintage items we can use for decorations as well ceramic plates for the buffet. Unfortunately, they were'nt as cheap as we hoped they'd be. For the last few years, the place simply started to sell items at premium prices. It's just cheaper to buy at some malls nowadays really, like the ones in Binondo.

We did find, however, a dog's bed, that we will be using for , er, Thirdy's photoshoot the following weekend. It was 3 feet long, a foot wide, and about 6 inches deep. And we managed to get it for only 100 pesos. Quite a bargain. Unfortunately, we arrived there already around 5pm so we barely managed to see everything before the shops started closing down for the night. We'll just try and visit again when we decide to go to Divisoria.

With still some hop in our step, we passed by Papemelroti in Roces Ave. I loved their products when I was a kid. They hearken back to simpler times, where everything was well thought out, and every gift had a personal touch.

We wanted to find some photo frames, decors we can use as center pieces, and anything vintage that related to our party theme. We did find a few, but they were expensive. So we took note of the prices, and decided that we need to concentrate on the important ones first and see how much is left of our budget that we can use for the decors.

So after that, we went on our merry way home. But along the early night drive to our house in QC, my wife wanted to drop by S&R to buy baby wipes.

As it turns out, they were having pre-sale (Mar 13-17) sales that day, and quite a lot of them had marked down prices already. We lucked into a 3-tier pastry holder for only 600php that originally sold for more than 800php. We bought 2. Another was a 3-tier stainless serving platter for only 400php, which was originally 600php. So with that, we now had 3 serving dishes for our dinner buffet. So I guess, we're definitely going with doing the dessert buffet ourselves.

Steeled with determination, we then looked for desserts being sold for a discount. We got our hands on a box of M&M cookies and a small bag of Hershey's nuggets. We decided that we needed to go back on the actual sale dates and see if we can get more cookies or chocolates we can use for the buffet.

After grabbing the baby wipes, and a few other items, we paid with the cashier, and then had a small dinner composed of S&R cheese pizza, french fries and a tumbler of OJ.

Tired, but happy with a very productive day, we headed home for the night and managed to have some quality time with Thirdy before we hit the sack.

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