An enjoyable 3rd year celebration

I've been wrestling around different ideas for the past few weeks on how to celebrate our 3rd year wedding anniversary.

I thought of checking out various hotels around Metro Manila - those with swimming pools and near malls. I thought perhaps that it would be a great idea for my wife and I and the kids to spend a night at a hotel, take the kids around the malls and then swimming the following morning. I was surprised to find the prices of these hotels to be extremely expensive, even for a local resident.

So I thought of other options - such as lending the kids to some family members for the night, then I could cook a special dinner for Amy and then have a 2-hour massage right at home. This was a better idea, I thought, but it still wanted to take my wife out for dinner and maybe a movie.

But after checking out various date spots and restaurants, my wife came-up with a better idea. Since we have a couple of gift certificates that are about to expire in 3 weeks time, we might as well enjoy it. Last June, we won a small promo from Smart Parenting where we received a bunch of gift certificates at The Fun Ranch. It gives us a Php500 discount on food, free family bowling for two, free mini-golf for two persons (9 round) and free ride-all-you can for two! It was a great chance for us to go out and have fun with the kids.

So we made our way to the The Fun Ranch at Ortigas, right next to Tiendesittas. We made it there exactly at noon, the moment they opened up for the day. We proceeded to their dining area called the Big Red Barn and ordered some food while Samantha started playing at the slides right inside the restaurant. We ordered a bowl of bacon and corn chowder, ham & cheese sticks, two-piece fried chicken with gravy and rice, two-sticks of pork barbeque with java rice, beef pot pie and a couple of glasses of iced tea.

At first we thought that these were just ordinary dishes but we were surprised with the size of their servings as well as the taste of each dish. Let me give you a low-down on what we enjoyed for lunch last Wednesday:
The corn and corn chowder was very tasty. It was a bit on the salty side most likely due to the generous portions of bacon, but the soup itself was very creamy and the corn sort of balanced out the saltiness in the end. My daugther Sophia had a good portion of it and she approves of it as well.

The fried chicken came out next and we were surprised that the pieces of chicken were quite big compared to those of other local fast food joints. The chicken itself was savory but not too salty; even the gravy was prepared nicely - it wasn't too thick and the saltiness complemented the chicken quite well.

The pork barbeque was served along with the fried chicken. I must say that the pork barbeque was perfectly grilled. The sauce was a good mix of sweet and salty, and the sourness of the atsara blended well with the pork. The java rice was also prepared perfectly - the rice wasn't too dry or wet with the sauce, and it had the same balance as with the meat.

Finally, we were served with their house specialty - Beef Pot Pie. It was beef pot roast topped with mashed potato and melted cheese. This was such a great treat for us. The beef was tender with generous servings of its sauce. The mashed potato blended well with the sauce and added richness to the dish. Finally, the cheese added that extra kick and creaminess that blended well with the mashed potato.

All-in-all, our dining experience was superb! I will definitely take my family back here for a good meal next time.

After our 2-hour lunch, we decided to use our other gift certificates and take the kids out for a round bowling and mini-golf. My wife, Samantha and I took turns hitting strikes left and right ... oh! alright! so we guttered the ball most of the time but the point is that we had loads of fun just throwing the ball and hitting as much pins as we can. Sophia was remarkably behaved and watched us from her high chair, unbeknownst to us that she was preparing a "surprise gift" for me and her mommy. After our 20-minute round of bowling, we were set to finish up with a round of golf when all of a sudden, I lifted Sophia and noticed something warm dripping out of her diaper ... ... ... Oh! What a day indeed!

Samantha and I bonded over mini-golf. I tried teaching her the right way to stand, to hold the golf club and in hitting the ball. She couldn't quite get it but had fun nonetheless just hitting the ball and putting it in the hole - whether by dragging the ball with her club or by simply shooting it in with her bare hands. Either way, she had loads of fun!

We walked around the compound checking out the other rides until we reached the far end of the facility, right next to the Avalon Zoo. We wanted to get in and show the kids around, but we were discouraged by the high entrance fee. For another day, perhaps.

We then headed to nearby Tiendesita's since Samantha was hungry yet again. She fancied some soup but later decided to have a hotdog instead. The kids were tired at this point. Sophia was already fast asleep on her mommy's arms, and Samantha almost wasn't able to finish her hotdog when she decided to have her bottle of milk and lie down on my lap.

My mom hooked-up with us that time, to see how we were doing. It suddenly rained hard, just when we were planning to go over to SM Makati. My wife suggested to just end the day at our parents' house and celebrate part of our anniversary with them. We bought some chicken inasal to share with their pork sinigang. My dad was especially happy that we were there, mostly because he got to spend some time with his grand daughters. They're always a riot to be with at home.

We were just hands-down dog-tired right after dinner. We had lots of fun and we got to spend quality time with our kids. We then made our way back home, thanks to my dad for driving us.

The day turned out not quite the way I planned it, but it actually went well- better, as a matter of fact. We finished out chores at home early in the day, spent the whole afternoon playing with the kids at a new place and capped it off with a nice simple dinner with family. Let's not forget, of course, the gift certificates c/o Smart Parenting=)

Happy Anniversary Honey! Time with you - whether along with you or with the kids - is always time well spent. I love you so much!