A Seda Staycation

If you are looking to do a staycation in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig, transiting from the airport to head out of Metro Manila in a day or so, or are in town for business, and you want to be right in BGC, close to Serendra and the shops by High Street, then Ayala-owned hotel, Seda BGC, is your best bet.

The view from our room, Bonifacio High Street and the BGC skyline!

More of a business hotel than a luxury hotel, it has the basic, functional comforts one would expect from any decent hotel.

A bright, modern lobby and front desk

The seating area at the lobby showcases Philippine designed furniture, and is right across One Serendra, very close to the restaurants

Check emails or do some quick Googling at the e-lounge by the front desk

For health and recreation, there's an outdoor pool that's open from 6am to 8pm and a 24 hour gym on the second floor. Plus the whole of BGC is runner friendly.

The rooms are spacious enough. We got to spend a night at their 45 square meter suite room with a king sized bed, and while we've stayed in bigger hotel rooms, I think the beauty of Seda BGC is that the location can't be beat.

All one-bedroom corner suites like ours have a separate bedroom and living room.

And kitchenette with microwave. 

We brought along one yaya, and the staff at Seda happily set up a bed for her at the living room. We also asked for a baby cot for Tepper, and it fit into our room, no prob.

For meals, there's Misto, a restaurant at the ground floor, and Straight Up Bar on the roof deck, but everyday meals like breakfast and afternoon snacks are taken at the cozy Club Lounge on the 15th floor.

 

unlimited drinks at the Club Lounge

If you're looking for something stronger, head up to Straight Up Bar. There's plenty of good reason why - a complimentary buffet of canapes for any order of alcoholic drinks. This happens daily, from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. Winner, winner. Almost like having dinner. Hahaha.

Because of Seda BGC's spot on location, it has excellent facilities for meetings, conferences and events as well. They have four fully-equipped function rooms that can accommodate small meetings of 14 persons to cocktail receptions for 150.

the corridor leading to the 2nd floor function rooms, accessible by stairs and elevators

 classroom style set-up in one of the function rooms

If you're looking for a hotel that guarantees you value for your money, you've found the place!

Seda BGC is located 30 minutes from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and just 15 minutes away from the Makati Central Business District (CBD).  Other Seda Hotel locations are Seda Centrio in Cagayan de Oro City, Seda Abreeza in Davao, and Seda Nuvali in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Seda BGC
30th Street corner 11th Avenue
Bonifacio Global City Taguig City, 1634
Philippines
T: (632) 9458888 | (632) 5885700
F: (632) 9458891
Email: bgc@sedahotels.com

Transformers & OREO: Better Together

What is it about an Oreo cookie that makes me crave for their crunchy chocolate, cream-filled cookies when I start thinking about them?

I mean, here I am, seriously going through a pack, ok three, as I write this post. And to think this post is really about Oreo and their partnership with the Transformers franchise.

Oreo has in fact gone so far as to come up with two limited edition Transformers flavors - Action Fruit Creme and Prime Berry Creme, which I will tell you more about later, heehee.

these new flavors are not just for reel, they're for real!

But first, let me tell you what I think about the movie, Transformers: Age of Extinction. Don't worry, no spoilers here. 

But yes, there's an Oreo cameo in the movie, and no, it wasn't as horrible as all the reviews made it out to be.

I mean, even if the SoMoms & I  weren't invited to Oreo Philippines' official screening, I would have gone to see the movie still. It was entertaining, there was never a dull moment, and it was overall, fun! All three hours of it!

Dada, Berry & I had a great time watching. I don't know if it's because we went expecting the worst, but it wasn't a total waste of time as some people said it was.

In fact, even if we missed out on the big shebang that the folks from Oreo set-up just right outside the cinema (a photo booth with some of the Transformers in the uh, flesh?, an Oreo themed dessert table, etc.) because the wait for a parking slot at Resorts World was just insane (we actually ended up waiting at the valet line too, ugh) Berry was quite happy with her photo taken with a cardboard Optimus Prime. Teehee.

If you have three hours to kill, go and watch Transformers: Age of Extinction. Just don't over analyze it na lang and take it for what it is - pure entertainment.

Of course, the more exciting thing about Oreo tying up with Transformers are their limited edition flavors which I told you about earlier.

Cool blue Prime Berry Creme comes in the delicious Blueberry Ice Cream flavor and the Action Fruit Creme flavor is filled with the unique taste of Orange Ice Cream. These two new flavors are available in leading supermarkets for a limited time only.

When you buy a pack of these limited edition flavors, along with the classic Original and Chocolate Creme flavors in Transformers packaging, you and your kids may join the Oreo Lab Grab Game over at http://oreotransformers4.com/.

The Oreo Lab Grab game over at http://oreotransformers4.com/...

...allows you to win instant prizes such as water bottles and Transformers themed luggage, even an experience of a lifetime - a Trip for 4 to Universal Studios in Hollywood! 

So start grabbing those cookies!

Promotion ends August 25, 2014.

PS - The fun doesn't stop online. Also check out Oreo's Do It Together App which you may download at the Apple App Store. 

Oreo wants to support families in choosing each other over varied distractions in life and encourage family togetherness by suggesting fun activities every week to complete as a family, capturing those precious moments and rewarding achievements.

 

Because with Oreo, everything is Better Together!

Our Sige Sabado Day + Win a Trip to Legoland Malaysia from Breeze

What was it that was said about conquering fears? That you just go ahead and face it head on, right?

Well, that's exactly what I did with Berry & Xavi.

We received a Sige Sabado Playbox from Breeze, filled with crafting supplies enough to last us many Saturdays, and the dare to say "YES to Learnings, YES to Stains!"

But, uhm, we all know that moms hate stains right? It's like our biggest enemy. There's something heartbreaking about seeing grass stains on your son's Gap skinny jeans, or spaghetti sauce dribbling down a pretty smocked dress from Gingersnaps.

Actually, make that spills, sticky goo, or virtually anything that comes from a fun, active childhood.

of course I freaked out, but thank goodness for that Sige Sabado Playbox reminding me to pull myself together and just be a Sige Mom!

But I gamely allowed the kids to open the box, and discover for themselves the mess they can make, I mean the fun that they were about to embark on.

We started off by filling a pot with soil and planting monggo seeds, so they can learn about how plants grow from seeds.

But since it will take days for us to see results, we moved on to the next thing - painting a Harlequin mask!

Masks freak me out too, not as much as stains, but they do. But hey, "Sige ng Sige" dapat!

 should have been a harlequin print, but accidentally colored the white parts, sige lang ng sige!

Berry: I don't want to put the mask on my face, Mom! 

Me: Sige lang, just do it! (Heeheehee)

It turned out pretty nice, if I may say so. Pretty enough to bring to a Venetian Ball perhaps? Haha.

If there's one thing that best represents facing one's fears, it's this mask.

We opened the Sige Sabado Playbox that might as well be Pandora's Box of stains.

We chose to do a Harlequin mask that gave me the shivers while Googling for inspiration (maybe it's from watching too many horror films).

We forged on even if paint was dripping into spaces it shouldn't be dripping into - and you know what?

It was fun!

As for you Dear Readers, why not share your Breeze Sige Sabado moment by uploading it via the Sige Sabado app in Breeze Philippines' Facebook Page? You might just win a trip to LEGOLAND Malaysia! For more details visit Breeze Philippines on Facebook!

Mamon it Yourself with Monde!

What happens when your Monde Mamon made with real fresh eggs, imported wheat flour, and milk...

Meets bowlfuls of choco chips, mallows, sprinkles, nuts and all sorts of toppings...

Sweet, colorful icing...

And fresh, chilled fruits and cheese?

A rolling good time and the prettiest and yummiest of mamons, that's what!

Last weekend, Berry & I attended Monde's Summer Mamon it Yourself event at Yardstick Coffee, where our eyes were opened to an easy to do, budget-friendly family activity that is guaranteed to get kids occupied and entertained during a summer downtime.

I know the most uncompromising of moms will love this, because this is the stuff that building memories are made of. Rather than just spending on a new toy that kids will tire of in a day, Mamon It Yourself is perfect for summer family bonding, where you can while the hours away without even noticing it pass. 

Chef Mitchie Sison taught us how to make different kinds of icing - from cream cheese frosting, to cookies & cream frosting, to swiss butter cream icing.

Of course, she also demonstrated how to hold an icing bag correctly, as well as different icing techniques. As with any skill, she encouraged us to just start again if we make a mistake, because practice makes perfect!

Aren't these pretty?!

Berry of course wanted to frost her own mamon at the event. Very minimalistic too with just a couple of red gummy bears here and there.

Next up was the ultimate donya, Grace Baja aka The Spoiled Mummy, who shared with us how to use our everyday pantry staples like peanut butter, chocolate and fruits to make healthy, delicious snacks that kids will love to put together as well as eat for merienda.

From a cheesy mamon topped with butter, queso de bola and muscovado sugar, to a peanut butter & jam mamon sandwich sneakily sprinkled with toasted almonds and chia seeds inside, to a peanut butter/banana mamon loaded with mashed bananas and banana chips, all three elevated the usual mamon snack to something the looks and tastes a little more special.

Of course, Grace also made a chocolate and strawberry version, which I nicknamed Spoiled Mumon. It’s chockfull of her favorite snacks - like chocolate and strawberries laced with pistachios!

After Chef Mitchie and Grace's inspiring demos, we got to work on our own mamons.

It was such a cute idea to group the toppings into muffin tins, not only did it look so festive, less washing required after too, haha. 

I let Berry have a go, letting her imagination take its course. 

She started off with some chocolate syrup, gummy bears, marshmallows and candy sprinkles.

While watching Berry, I couldn't stop myself from picking up some icing, and doing a Death by Chocolate mamon, decorating my chocolate mamon with chocolate icing, a Bingo sandwich cookie, chocolate chips and crushed chocolate cookies.

Of course, Berry chose pink icing for her mamon. And we happily decorated away until it was time to leave.

Before we did, a heart-tugging video was shown to us:


Early the next morning, Berry was still on a Mamon It Yourself high.

She was like, "I want to decorate mamon, Mom! I want to decorate!" Like twenty thousand times.

Thankfully, we got to bring home this hefty Mamon It Yourself at Home kit, replete with a host of toppings as well as a generous supply of mamon to while our time away.

During breakfast, I gave Berry a can of whipped cream, and Nana got her some fresh strawberries. Of course, we both ate her strawberries & cream mamon before we could take a photo. That was pretty, and delicious, trust me!

Then, she said she was going to make cake for her doll Alessa. 

She carved out a heart-shaped mamon with a dinner knife and topped it with Sarabeth's Raspberry & Key Lime jam and her favorite mini marshmallows.

Berry asked for a candle and lit it up, after which, we sang a Happy Birthday song for Alessa to the top of our lungs.

Then Xavi eagerly blew out the candle for Alessa, we clapped for Xavi, and collectively dug into Alessa's birthday mamon while discussing our next Mamon it Yourself ideas for the days to come. 

It was a great way to start a lazy summer day! Yummy too!

Bond with your kids by buying a box of Monde Mamon, whip up some icing and bring out the sprinkles so you can Mamon It Yourself too! For more inspiration, check out http://bit.ly/Mamon-It-Yourself. 

Don’t forget to share with all of us what you’ve created by posting it on your social media accounts using the hashtag #MamonItYourself! I wanna see!