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Mom Loves To Shop

Shopping. Traveling. Living. And everything in between!

Flying Via Emirates with Kids : A Fun Long-haul Flight Experience

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Last month, our family experienced flying Emirates for the first time. We usually fly our local carrier – Philippine Airlines or any Asian carrier but for our latest trip, we wanted to try a new airline.

Photo on Emirates’ site. Source: https://www.emirates.com/english/skywards/about/skysurfers.aspx

It was a choice between Etihad and Emirates – which honestly was a difficult choice to make since the cost, reviews and flying times were almost the same. I was really tempted to fly Etihad – with their flying nannies on board (has anyone experienced this? how was it?) but given the long layover, we chose Emirates. For Emirates, layover will be at the Dubai airport which had better reviews and kid-friendly facilities versus Etihad’s Abu Dhabi airport.

Mia and Mika sitting comfortably on our flight via Emirates

Here’s a review of our experience with Emirates

Amenities, Toys and Activities for different Ages

Mia and Mika’s carry buddies – Ernie the penguin and Fudo the tiger

By far, Emirates have provided the kids the best gifts and giveaways. Mia was given an Lonely Planet Kid’s pack and activity book, coloring materials and a small carry-buddy (a blankie-stuffed animal). Mika was given a carry-buddy, a baby pack and a magic slate for her to doodle on. I loved the Lonely Planet kid’s pack! If you’re flying via Emirates, don’t forget to ask for these cool packs.

Coloring and activity book

Emirates Lonely Planet kit

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Kiddie Parties: Fast-food chain, restaurant, or play place?

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It’s been a while since I last posted. Sorry! Things have been very busy here in our home – went on a trip, planning another one, work and back-to-school.

It’s nearing the fourth quarter of the year again, and for our family it means the kids are going to have their birthdays again. We do not hold big parties every year, my husband and I amicably settled that we would only have big celebrations on specific milestones, like baptism, 1st birthday, 7th, and 18th. Last year, we were blessed enough to hold Mika’s 1st birthday party at Kidzooona Uptown mall and a lot of our guests told us they enjoyed the party. This year, we are just thinking about a small gathering of family for each of the girls’ special day – however, the ate who’s turning 5 this year, is requesting to have a “play date” with her friends and classmates. We did not promise her anything, but I am really thisclose to giving in and start planning (sorry, love). Now, for small gatherings (husband please read: NOT PARTY), I need to weigh what’s our best option. Is it a fast-food chain like McDonald’s, Jollibee, a restaurant like Kenny Rogers or Shakey’s, or a place play like Kidzooona again or Active Fun?

How about you – what do you prefer? I’m gathering and researching currently- I’ll keep you moms posted. Hope you’re having a super week!

 

Shopping for Insurance: Getting the Whole Family Insured

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*Disclaimer: I am not a financial consultant nor an insurance expert. This is not a sponsored post too, I just wanted to blog my thoughts and experience in getting insurance for our family*

Michael’s Manulife policy and Misfit tracker for their MOVE program

When I was thinking about our financial goals for this year,  one of the priorities I’ve set is increasing our insurance. Being the paranoid mother that I am, I always worry about my children and our family not being insured enough. This paranoia is partially triggered by posts I see in social media about crowd-sourcing for medical funding; especially those posts of precious little kids needing a huge amount to foot their increasing hospital bills or fund their surgery. Aside from that, I felt that this is the best time for us to increase our VUL (variable universal life insurance) investment since both Michael and I want to get the college girls’ education covered.

We decided to get Michael another policy with critical illness rider. I already have myself covered and I thought that it’s high time that Michael gets one for himself. Both of us have already variable life insurance but his doesn’t have the critical illness coverage. We considered getting from Sunlife again but we also wanted to see what other insurance providers can offer. My sister introduced us to James Peralta from Manulife Philippines, who was her agent/financial planner when she had herself insured. James provided us with different proposals and he was very patient with all of the questions we have. He addressed all of my questions and concerns (from how to claim, how to pay, etc.) explained the products clearly and  provided excellent advise without being too pushy (this is very important to us!).

I compared all the proposals he gave with my current insurance policy and studied which one suits our goals and needs. It took us more than a month to finally decide since we wanted to make sure first how much of our monthly income we can invest. James gently followed up with me, again without being pesky or overly persistent! I’m really glad that we got to know him and let him handle our insurance.

We eventually decided to get a product that suited us. I really felt it was a good decision and Michael and I are both happy that we invested in this product. It was also a bonus that Michael got a MISFIT fitness tracker! Super nice and I wanted one for myself too. The tracker was delivered to him and he had to enroll to the MOVE program – this means if he reached a certain average steps he could get as much as 10% discount on next year’s premium. Will save us as much as 5K! This is enough motivation for Michael to up his game – and get moving.  Ang galing! 🙂

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Product review: Kids’ Vitamins and Supplements – Nutri10 Plus and Dayzinc

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In our last well-baby doctor’s appointment, our pedia asked if we wanted to give our youngest daughter some food supplements. Although Mika is not underweight or small for her age, we would welcome a few more pounds to be added to her current weight. So, we followed the pedia’s suggestion to give vitamin B complex for Mika in addition to her daily dose of vitamin C (with Zinc). We initially bought a popular brand to test whether she would take it but after a few days, we were sent samples of another brand – Nutri10 plus. We again tried this with Mika and she seemed to not notice the difference in taste and took the syrup without any problems!

The package was sent to us with another two bottles of vitamin C with zinc – which is just perfect since Mika’s vitamin C drops are almost gone.

I did not have any problems giving these supplements to Mika, so it must mean it tastes okay – otherwise this little princess would’ve just spit it out! I noticed that taking these vitamins made Mika eat more, although I have yet to find out on our next pedia visit if she gained more weight this time.

To be honest, I was really skeptic at first to let my kids try vitamins which my pedia did not suggest. However, I did my research (checked BFAD, really!) and read more about Nutri10 Plus and Dayzinc and so I let my kids try this new set of supplements.

Here are some facts about Nutri10 Plus:

Contents

Per 5 mL Nutri 10 Plus syr Chlorella growth factor (CGF) 100 mg, taurine 25 mg, lysine 300 mg, vit A palmitate (equiv to 420 RE) 764 IU, vit D3 (cholecalciferol) (equiv to 5.25 mcg) 210 IU, vit E acetate (equiv to 9 mg-TE) 13.5 IU, vit B1 (thiamine HCl) 1 mg, vit B2 (riboflavin) 1 mg, vit B3 (niacinamide) 15 mg, vit B6 (pyridoxine HCl) 1.3 mg, vit B12 (cyanocobalamin) 2.4 mcg, vit C (ascorbic acid) 60 mg, elemental Zn (as Zn sulfate) 6.8 mg.Sur

Source: http://www.mims.com/philippines/drug/info/nutri%2010%20plus

Nutri 10 plus and Dayzinc are available at Mercury Drugstores nationwide. Price per bottle are as follows:

  • Nutri 10 drops 30ml – 125 pesos
  • Nutri 10 Plus 120ml syrup – 180 pesos
  • Nutri 10 Plus 250ml syrup – 310 pesos
  • Dayzinc drops 30ml – 110 pesos
  • Dayzinc syrup 120ml – 125 pesos
  • Dayzinc syrup 250ml – 240 pesos

You may visit their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Nutri10Plus/

 

 

Kidzooona Uptown Mall Party Rates

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Some readers have asked me for the current party package rates of Kidzooona Uptown Mall BGC. I was not sure if they still had the same rates so when we went there last Sunday, I asked for the fliers so I can share it here.

For parties, packages start at 10,000PHP for 20 kids (inclusive of 1 adult accompanying the child) for 3 hours, but this is just for the playground only. For 18,750 PHP, you can already use the party room and provide access to the playground for 30 kids (also for 3 hours). Note though that with the two packages I’ve mentioned, the place is not closed down and the playground is still open to the public.

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Hotel Review: Holiday Inn & Suites Makati

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Last February and early March, we took advantage of Citibank Philippines’ promotion that offers 50% off published room rates at Holiday Inn & Suites Makati. Our family likes staying at Holiday Inn because aside from being affordable, they are very family-friendly – kids always stay and eat free! We usually book a club room with access to the executive lounge since we find it convenient and sulit (worth the money). Booking on this rate lets us check-in at an earlier time and fuss-free (no need to queue), and check-out at a much later time so we do not need to hurry when it’s time to check-out. Aside from that, we can get refreshments all day, have afternoon tea and evening cocktails on the executive lounge.

Holiday Inn & Suites Makati has its executive lounge on the 19th floor (club floors are 18th and 19th floors).  Although it’s not as spacious as other hotels’ club lounges, it’s comfortable enough for families to enjoy snacks on weekends or for individuals to have work done during the weekdays. They offer an assortment of refreshments – sodas, juices, coffee and tea  and light snacks like cookies, nuts and chips- ALL DAY!.

Afternoon Tea

The lounge serves pastries and sandwiches which pair perfectly with coffee or specialty teas.  My husband and kids loved the cookies, Mika munches on those sweet little things with cold milk. Afternoon tea starts at 3:00pm to 5:00pm

Coffee and Tea Station

Sandwiches and Wraps

Pistachio Opera

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