Rowena Wendy's posts with tag: recreation
 If you are a Skycable subscriber and have kids aged 2-11 years old, why not join the Skycable Fun Club?
One of the perks is getting a birthday pack for your child during his birthday month (pictured on the left is the birthday pack for the 3rd quarter of 2008) by being one of the first 50 to call and reserve that particular month. They change the birthday pack every quarter. Aside from the birthday packs, you get invites to special fun and educational activities like trips to Manila Ocean Park, SM Science Discovery Center, advanced screenings of family-oriented films, and lots more... all for free! Last summer they even had a series of free Trumpets workshops (complete with a final recital and certificates of accomplishment) for kids aged 7-11. I was not able to avail because Keirra is underage and my son Ken isn't really into performing arts. Click HERE to register. No, I don't work for Skycable... I'm just want to share this with fellow moms (and dads) because of all the good things my kids had been able to experience thanks to the Skycable Fun Club.
| Start: | Jul 20, '08 4:30p | | End: | Jul 20, '08 6:00p | | Location: | Araneta Coliseum |
Disney on Ice adaptation of the movie "High School Musical".
Many moms cringe at the mere mention of video games, simply because many children are so addicted to them. I'm not one of those moms. In fact, I spearhead the console-buying and game selection at our household. I can't even blame the kids. Video games give them the variety that their short attention spans require. When they grow tired of playing with a certain game, they can just change the disc or cartridge and it's a brand new experience. Of course I understand that there's a danger that they won't develop patience as a result, but I remedy that by letting them choose a game and telling them to finish it to the best of their abilities before they change. Or I limit the number of games they can change between.
 For the purposes of this blog I will make an example of the game Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Nintendo Wii. Cooking Mama is my 3-year old daughter Keirra's favorite game. It takes the whole "luto-lutuan" concept to the next level. Since the Wii's controller is blue-tooth driven, Kei can simulate cooking actions and see them get executed onscreen. Like to chop vegetables, she makes chopping motions with the controller. To roll the dough, she holds it like a rolling pin and pushes it back and forth in a rolling motion. The game lets her do everything you can do in the kitchen -- fry fish, grind meat, beat eggs... and even arrange all the food on the plate before serving! 
I myself am playing a game called Trauma Center: Second Opinion on the Nintendo Wii, wherein I play a surgeon who operates on patients to save lives. You use your controller like a scalpel to cut patients open, use it like a pair of forceps to remove tumors or glass shards... the possibilities are endless.
 These games could very well inspire the next great chef, surgeon, pilot, etc. Who knows? The point is, not all video games are comprised of blood and violence. In fact, they open whole new worlds we could only dream of exploring. I'm not saying that we should drop all other activities in favor of video games, because video games can't provide human interaction skills and complete multi-sensory experiences that the real world can give. I'm just hoping I can shed light on some stereotypes a lot of parents seem to have. Both Cooking Mama and Trauma Center are also available for the Nintendo DS.
1. Roared like King Kong (into a mic!) in front of a theater full of people at SM Megamall... 2. Woke up at 3am to watch the NBA Playoffs live on BTV -- and I abhor basketball... 3. Jumped out of bed at midnight to scan my US visa and send an entry to Velvet's Sex in the City Fly Away Promo... 4. Coerced hubby into joining a one-legged embrace contest on stage at the premiere showing of "Lucky You" at Glorietta Cinema... 5. Wore kitty ears at a party for a headgear contest... 6. Sent in more than a hundred email entries in 5 days to Mega Magazine... 7. Wrote an essay in my brother's name for a mall essay contest, since previous winners couldn't join again... 8. Waited for the balut vendor all night long so I could buy balut for an easter egg making contest... 9. Wrote a full-blown essay extolling the virtues of Kris Aquino… 10. Put a smile on my daughter’s face via Adobe Photoshop…
Hahaha... yun na (for now)!
 We took the kids to TimeZone in Trinoma today for some arcade fun, but was rather disappointed by the place. We usually prefer Q Power Station in Rockwell, and why that is so just became more apparent.
For starters, TimeZone's air-conditioning could not keep up with the number of people who were there. It was sweltering hot, we were perspiring within moments of getting our TimeZone cards loaded. They only had four Love and Berry game machines, and they were out-of-date at Version 5 (Q Power Station branches are all on Version 6 already). All of them were packed with little girls waiting for their turn, so our poor daughter had to wait for about 30 mins before she could play... and it was so hot, her hair was already dripping with perspiration by the time she got to sit in front of a Love and Berry machine.
Our son had a slightly better experience since he prefers shooting and racing games, and there were a lot to choose from. If a certain game had too many people playing, he could choose another game. In general though, the place is cramped so it's pretty hard to move around and find yourself other alternatives with kids in tow.
A positive point is TimeZone's games are a somewhat cheaper to play than Q Power Station's. Love and Berry costs P28 per game at Q, here in Timezone it's P26. Timezone also has "yellow swipers" that cost an average of P15 per game.
Next time though, I think we'll take the kids to Q Power Station instead... or maybe try another branch of Timezone. The TriNoma branch isn't worth the sweat and frustration.
*Picture taken from the Time Zone Philippines website. 
 Given my video game addiction, it's only natural to find several consoles in our house. I've been playing since the Nintendo Family Computer came out in the early 80s. I upgrade, downgrade, and modify Sony PSPs for family and friends in my spare time... and yes, I also join video game high score contests for prizes -- I managed to land in the top ten high score table of the flash games for the following movies: Superman Returns, 300, Harry Potter, and Speed Racer among others and won some wonderful movie merchandise.
Our family's favorite video game console at the moment is the Nintendo Wii. Hubby, me, and the two kids usually spend Saturday nights playing together. We love Wii Sports, especially tennis and bowling. Lately though we've been playing Super Smash Brothers, a fighting game featuring various classic video game characters from games like Super Mario Bros, Pokemon, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Starfox, etc. The game has numerous secret characters which you have to defeat to unlock. Last night, the challenger was Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid (I may as well be speaking in Martian now to non-gamers, but I have a point... promise!). Solid Snake was a super soldier. He moves like lightning, throws grenades, uses a rocket launcher with guided missiles... the works. Hubby, myself, and our son Kenshin all took turns trying to defeat Solid Snake, but to no avail. We were just about ready to call it a night when Keirra grabbed a controller and told us she wanted to play. We were like... what? You don't stand a chance against Solid Snake. Keirra insisted, and she picked Peach (pictured with her above), the princess in Super Mario Bros, to be her character. Thus Peach in her long, frilly pink gown and parasol came prancing on the screen, controlled by Keirra. To our utter shock and disbelief, she started beating up Solid Snake until the referee called "GAME!!!" and Peach won. Solid Snake, defeated in the hands of a 3-year old using Peach, widely perceived as one of the weaker characters in Super Smash Brothers. Our jaws just dropped. I wonder if any of my kids will love writing as much as I do...
| | The kids and I got to join Skycable Fun Club's SM Science Discovery Tour. This time, all the attractions were functional and open to the public. We got to see a different movie in the planetarium -- "Kaluoka’hina, The Enchanted Reef" which is a "Finding Nemo"-esque animated film set underwater. Ken and Kei enjoyed the movie and we were guided by the SM Science Discovery Center and Skycable staff afterwards through the whole complex.
After the tour, Skycable had some food (from Waffle Time, Krispy Kreme, and Purefoods Chicken Nuggets), games (sponsored by Rebisco and Purefoods), prizes, and loot bags for the kids. Keirra joined the Rebisco dancing game and was picked as one of the winners, she got to take home a big loaded goodie bag from Rebisco! Too bad my digicam ran out of batteries so I wasn't able to take pics of the post-tour activities... I tried to get Kenshin to join Purefoods' word game but he wasn't up to it.
SM Science Discovery tickets are still priced at P330 per head. SM Advantage Card holders get a P30 discount on their second ticket until May 2009. |
 I had the opportunity to attend a workshop on glam fashion make-up at Center for Aesthetic Studies yesterday. CAS is where a lot of renowned make-up artists like Jigs Mayuga of L'oreal Philippines graduated from. A 4-hour workshop costs about P2.1k pesos, and they offer a full certification course on make-up artistry.
It was a great experience. CAS has a full staff of very knowledgeable and experienced instructors for both hair and make-up, and the school itself is well-equipped. They have a multimedia projector and whiteboard for their lectures and they have mirrors on almost all the walls so you can practice what you've learned. You have to bring your own cosmetics and model though.
Our instructor yesterday was Ms. Jennie Delica, who does make-up and training for Avon Philippines and other companies. She was a very clear and effective teacher and she had me doing smoky eyes and nude lips after about an hour. CAS is very particular about hygeine and would really train you to clean all your brushes and tools thoroughly on a regular basis. CAS also offers workshops on self make-up.
CAS is great for an exercise in creativity, self-enrichment, and maybe even an option for an alternative career.
Center for Aesthetic Studies
2/F Franck Provost Bldg., 120 Jupiter Street, Bel-Air Village, Makati City
897-0383
 | SPOT | Jun 23, '08 7:46 AM
for everyone |
| Start: | Jun 28, '08 09:00a | | End: | Jun 28, '08 12:00p | | Location: | SM Mall of Asia |
 | Category: | Restaurants | | Cuisine: | International | | Location: | 3rd Level Greenbelt 3 Ayala Center, Makati City - 7576188 |
I had always been under the impression that Red Box Karaoke is one very expensive place to go for karaoke, but I was wrong. Red Box has all these ongoing promotions that are too good to be true that even if you're not a karaoke buff you'd want to avail of them.
Like last Sunday noon my hubby and I along with two kids and a yaya availed of their Sunday Family Funday promo. For a net fee of P329 per head (except kids below 6 years old which are free), you get to eat-all-you-can, drink-all-you-can, and sing-all-you-can from 12 noon to 3pm. Lunch consists of a buffet with salads, soup, rice, pasta, around 3 viands, and dessert. Bottomless iced tea is served with lunch. The food is average but the whole experience was great! The kids had a blast belting out Disney hits from High School Musical, Hannah Montana, and even movies like The Little Mermaid.
The place was surprisingly packed (all the ground floor rooms were occupied by 12:30pm and they open 12noon) as they already have a lot of weekend regulars who avail of the P329 per head promo. It was a well-spent Sunday afternoon and we'd gladly do it again some time.
 We had P2.5k worth of Red Box GCs expiring on June 18 and so hubby and I decided to put them to good use last Sunday. We took the kids to Red Box at Greenbelt 3 and availed of their Sunday Family Funday promo. At P329 per head you can eat-all-you-can, drink-all-you-can, and sing-all-you-can from 12 noon to 3pm. Kids below 6 years old are free.
The kids had a blast belting out Disney hits from High School Musical, Hannah Montana, and various animated movies. It was a truly unique Fathers' Day for us. We even took home a Margherita Pizza for merienda and a couple of dishes for dinner, hehe. We had to finish all the GCs after all! Special thanks to Spot.ph for the GCs!
 We went to Manila Ocean Park yesterday and the kids liked it a lot, and they've been to Ocean Park in Hong Kong, Underwater World in Singapore, and Sea World in the United States. What I'm saying is that Manila Ocean Park is a nice place in its own right, and can make children oooh and aaah at all the marine life just as they would if you took them abroad. For 350-400 bucks per head, it's very much worth the experience especially if your kids have never been to such a place. The place is clean and spacious. Even the bathrooms are nice. There are food stands and restaurants in the complex so you don't have to worry about going hungry. They also have glass bottom boat rides for an additional fee. I was surprised by the presence of a Fish Spa, where you dip your feet in a shallow pool while little fishies nibble on your dead skin. It costs P100 for 20 minutes. We saw something like this in Singapore and Singaporeans swear by it. Well worth a visit, especially for families with kids. Much better than malling the weekend away. More pics HERE.
| | Joined Skycable Fun Club's Manila Ocean Park Learning Tour. Got four free tickets, food stubs (from Krispy Kreme, Waffle Time, Jimini Pizza, and Zagu), and a loot bag. The best part was we got to tour at 8am, when the park normally opens at 9am so our group had the place to ourselves. It wasn't crowded or hot. Skycable had some activities and sponsor games after the tour too. Kei won a National Bookstore backpack with a planner inside. The kids had a good time.
I was surprised that Manila Ocean Park had a Fish Spa like the one in Singapore's Underwater World. For P100, you get to dip your feet in a pool while little fishies nibble on your dead skin for 20 minutes. Singaporeans swear by it. |
| Start: | May 17, '08 08:00a | | End: | May 17, '08 10:00a | | Location: | Manila |
A Skycable Fun Club sponsored trip to Manila Ocean Park.
Just register at http://www.nikewomen.com.ph/thisislove/ and Nike will sponsor your very first session with a sport of your choice. The choices include ultimate frisbee, bellydancing, Bikram yoga, volleyball, rock climbing, football, wakeboarding, and surfing. If you try out all the sports you'll get a Nike discount card. Here's to good health! I highly recommend Bikram yoga... oh and I think the offer is for women only.
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that we would win Discovery Channel and the Singapore Tourism Board's contest at http://www.discoveruniquelysingapore.com -- I mean, come on. Everyone had to submit either a photo or a video of themselves and a 50-word composition and I felt like such an underdog because I didn't have a handycam. The family photo I submitted was taken using our old 3-megapixel digicam which was even acting up while we were at Sabangan Beach Resort. Anyhow I received the following email early this evening: Thank you for participating; we'd like to say: Congratulations! Your "Family Funseeker" entry has been selected as a winner in this category! Your prize entitlements are:
A trip to Singapore on return economy class tickets for 2 adults & 2 children each aged below 12, inclusive of a 5 star hotel accommodation for 5 days/ 4 nights, and US$150 allowance for each adult per day subject to a maximum of US$750 per adult for the whole trip.
You are expected to arrive in Singapore on the morning of Thursday 28 February for a briefing session, therafter a 2-day vignette production shoot with the Discovery Networks crew at selected locations around Singapore. After the 2-day vignette shoot, you will enjoy an additional 2 days in Singapore before your departure back to Manila. Oh my goodness!!! A TV commercial to boot, to be shown all over Asia on the Discovery Channel. I think I need to get a new digicam before we go. I'm still in shock... although reality is starting to sink in, if I look like a frump I'll be the laughingstock of Asia. O_o
| | I let Ken and Kei decorate the Goldilocks round mocha cake we won from the Disney's Princess Magazine's anniversary party... |
| | Stayed overnight at Sabangan Beach Resort in Batangas last Dec. 30. |
| Start: | Dec 6, '07 | | End: | Dec 14, '07 | | Location: | Rockwell Tent |
Skycable is giving away invites to their Tropical Christmas Party to the first 150 Skycable Fun Club members who call to reserve. The party will be held at the Rockwell Tent on Dec. 15 from 2pm to 6pm. There will be balloon-twisting, a juggling show, and other activities and best of all it's all for FREE! Call 6310000 to reserve your invites.
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