Tokyo Travel Diaries: Ginza

Whew, it has been a whirlwind past couple of days and it's not slowing down anytime soon. Some of our friends got married so we had lots of reunions and get-togethers to attend. Add to that the kids' school activities, which is also a bit hectic especially since my daughter is graduating from preschool! Then, we have a couple of travels lined up this month too. Anyway, I'm back to blogging about our Japan trip and this time, we're going to Ginza!

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Rikugien Garden

We went to Japan end of November last year which was just in time for the peak of autumn. So it was one of the best times to visit the gardens and parks (aside from the cherry blossom season) because you would get to see all the beautiful fall colors.

South on South

We tried a fairly new restaurant for Skyler's birthday celebration last month, which was South on South in BF Homes. For those familiar with the area, it's very near Pancake House and Starbucks in President's Avenue. I believed it opened last August 2015 and it's a family-owned resto-bar serving honest-to-goodness Southern U.S. homey cuisine and cocktail drinks with a Filipino twist.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Tsukiji Fish Market

When reading up on where to go in Tokyo, you'll probably see Tsukiji Market on the top of most lists. This fish market consists of an inner market where most of the wholesale business and the famous tuna auctions take place, and an outer market whose retail shops and restaurants cater to the public.

Anyway, hubby and I really wanted to go to the tuna auction, but we heard you need to be there by at least 3AM to 4AM in order to get in. Since the trains are not running during that time, we would need to take a taxi from where we were staying in Shinjuku to Tsukiji. And as you know, taxi rides in Japan cost a fortune.

If you really want to visit the auction, I think the best thing to do would be to book an overnight Airbnb or hotel near the area so you can just walk in the wee hours of the morning (then just transfer na lang to your preferred location after diba?). My friends who took a cab before said that their taxi fare was about P3k which is about the same price of a cheap room. But if you're a group of 4 maybe taking a cab is ok since you can split the fare. But since it was just hubby and I, we didn't want to splurge that much on it. And there was no guarantee that we would actually get in since the number of visitors to the tuna auction is limited to 120 per day. The first group of 60 visitors will be admitted to the auction between 5:25 and 5:50, while a second group of 60 visitors will be admitted between 5:50 and 6:15. This was also in late November so the weather was pretty cold already. The temperature during the day was around 10°C - 14°C and I was already FREEZING. What more if we were lined up outside at 3AM and had to wait for 2 hours??? Pass!

So, we just decided to have brunch there. If you've done any research prior to visiting here, you'll find that the top 2 places to eat would be Daiwa Sushi and Sushi Dai. It's so popular that waiting time would be around 3 hours! Well, we got to Tsukiji at around 10AM and honestly, it was a bit overwhelming at first since there were so many people already lined up everywhere.

DIY Owl Loot Bags

For Miley's OWLentine party, I made these super cute loot bags to fit the theme. Read on for the easy tutorial.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Did a quick photoshoot with my kids for Vday this year. I just had them wear red and hold the balloons from Miley's OWLentine's party. I didn't even try to have them in one shot since that's practically impossible haha! But so glad with how this collage turned out. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

XOXO,

Helene

A Happy OWLentine's Birthday

It's getting harder and harder for us to pick a birthday theme for my daughter as she grows older. First it was Wonder Pets. Then she wanted a colorful art party. Then My Little Pony. Then Sleeping Beauty. Then she wanted mermaids! I was getting so confused until finally, we both decided on an owl theme (we have a love affair with owls ever since she was a baby). Then she said she wanted it to be an OWLentine party (she coined that term herself ha!) since her birthday was close to Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day gift ideas for kids and teachers

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and if you have young kids like me, then you're probably thinking of easy and budget-friendly gifts for their class.  Here's 14 ideas that you can do in a snap!

DIY Knight Costume

My kids had a Royal Court Parade activity in school and they had to come in medieval looking costumes like a king, queen, princess, knight or jester. Finding an outfit for my daughter was easy since we had so many Disney Princess gowns in her closet. In fact, her big dilemma was which dress to wear lol!

My problem was my son's costume since all he had were superhero outfits. And I didn't want to spend for something he was only going to probably use once. So I had to whip out my DIY skills to the rescue! This costume is so easy you can do it in 10 minutes and it cost practically nothing (if you have all the materials already like me).

Staycation at Solaire

I was invited to a blogger lunch at Kiwa Korean Grill last January 14, which can be found in Solaire Resort & Casino. Since the kids had no classes on that day because of a school activity, hubby and I decided to just make a family day out of it and book a stay at the hotel.