About Me

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An occasionally belligerent mother of five and an autism parent / advocate who believes that traveling, good food and good company are vital to keep one sane. I've worked as a news writer/newscaster, a quality systems auditor, a ISO9001 consultant, an FM radio DJ, a Filipino tutor, TOEFL reviewer and have gone into the food industry both as an entrepreneur and as a mommy chef, giving a sponsored demo on healthy cooking in a mall and on local TV. My favorite job however, is being a mom and a wife.

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Friday, May 22, 2015

Art In Island - A "Selfie/Groufie" Interactive 3D Museum


For those under the regular school schedule that we Filipinos have been used to for the longest time, school days are just around the corner. Not all of us have the luxury of time or lots of money to throw around for major travel excursions just to close off the summer vacation.


an Art In Island staffer helped us get this shot

For those who are into Art, selfies and one afternoon of fun, I recommend heading out to Art In Island.

Phil and MAX try to hang in there instead of doing a hang ten :P

Here's Kicco wishing he were somewhere else

Located at #175 15th Ave., Brgy. Socorro, Cubao Quezon City (see map), this interactive art museum is opened from Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30 am - 9:30 pm. It' closed on Mondays, except if that Monday falls on a holiday.


Running with the bulls in Pamplona doesn't seem to be good for one's health ;-)

We checked out the place earlier this summer, around Lent, and found to our satisfaction, that this place was just awesome!

pabili po ng ticket :)



Admission Fees are as follows:
Adult - 500 php
Children - 400 php
Children below 3 feet get in for FREE

Some tips for those heading out to the museum:
a. bring socks. The art is all around - walls, ceilings and yes, even floors.
deposit/claim booth for your shoes

b. tripods are a no-no. It says so on the entrance. Spaces between photos are limited. Don't expect to get your landscape/panoramic shots with you and your companions down to a tee. There will be OTHER people in those wide shots.

the kid in purple's ours. Not sure who the kid in blue is


c. don't be a hog! Other people want to get their photo ops as well. Don't selfishly stay in one place trying to get that ONE.PERFECT.MOMENT. (to that family we ran into who kept on hogging the photo areas one after the other in the museum, you guys suck big time!)

we waited patiently for our turn to get our photos taken with these scenes

pretending to snuggle and "sit" on the flat wall, that is the teddy bear's leg


d. you don't have to bring food and drinks. There's a reasonably priced cafeteria on the 2nd floor.



a can of soda costs around 40-50 pesos

e. there is ample parking. Seriously. The parking lot is huge.




f. selling of tickets is only til 8 PM. Yup. That's all I've got on that topic.

wishing for a magical travel portal

waaaaaah!


g. look down. literally. There are small stickers on the floor that act as guides on where to stand to get the 3d effect in your photos. They kinda look like this:

told ya they were small


h. Lastly, the 2 story structure, depending on the crowd size and how many photos you plan to take, can be visited and enjoyed 3-4 hours tops. That would include merienda, and dealing with folks who hog scenes.
going up, Art In Island Style

with my favorite 3rd son

legs cramping from trying to "sit" on a painted chair

All Hail Phil!

now I know how Capt. Hook feels

Van Gogh, Van Gogh'd
We seriously had fun in the biggest 3D museum in Asia (as far as painting sizes go). It was fun, letting our not-so-shy sides come out and pose for the camera.

ooomph!

sure, your ankles are finely turned; but your shoe tying skills are abysmal

Sealed with a cheek to cheek

I could probably get good mileage on these babies


From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!


how we feel about Art In Island

Thursday, May 21, 2015

MAY: The Force Is With Us - Starwars At Legoland Malaysia

we were seriously stoked to see Darth Vader!
Calling all fan boys and fan girls out there, a new Star Wars experience has been added to our region's Legoland!


It's here! It's here!
You don't have to travel to a galaxy far, far away. Just a plane ticket to Johor Bahru, or it's nearby neighbor, Singapore.


Yes MAX (deep breathing follows), I am Your father!

the experience starts with a short funny movie that features our hated character, Jar Jar Binks


Opening last May 4 (we expected nothing less), the 7 air-conditioned room exhibit features characters from the Star Wars movie franchise and scenes from a cartoon fave, The Clone Wars.


Naboo
The exhibit itself is arranged chronologically, starting with room one's Episode One: The Phantom Menace.


Lights, sounds and moving parts accompany each exhibit. All it takes is to press the "green" button when it's blinking, and the display comes to life. (see above video)

the exhibits were HUUUGE

attention to detail was indeed pretty awesome!
According to the Lego website (click here) , the attraction itself "features more than 2,000 Lego models, built to a 1:20 scale using 1.5 million Lego bricks". That's some SERIOUS building in Malaysia, Germany and the Czeh republic, where all these models were put together.

Throughout the month of May, the theme park will hold various Star Wars related activities such as:


 LEGO Star WarsDays – May Activities:-
  • Building Activity: LEGO Star Wars™ Microfighters - Construct LEGO Star Wars™ microfighters of your own
  • LEGO Star Wars™ Fan Gallery
  • Meet & Greet with LEGO Darth Vader
  • Mindstorms workshop: LEGO Star Wars™ mission
  • Watch LEGO Star Wars™ movies @ Mindstorms

*schedules are posted within the theme park (as seen below). Come early (Legoland Malaysia opens from 10 am to 6 pm)


Our favorite, aside from viewing the models, was going on a photo op with Darth Vader's Lego self see topmost photo).





For those who may want to bring the experience home, worry not. A souvenir shop comes your way at the end of the exhibit. Personally, the shop could stand to have a wider product line.

most of the scenes featured in the exhibit have their boxed toy equivalents in the Lego shop. Other souvenir items may be found along with Star Wars related apparel and merchandise.

I wanted to buy a couple of Darth Vader apparel for MAX, but they only had toddler sizes. I mean, really?! Why can't they have Darth Vader stuff for bigger kids, especially us adults (Major griping here, sorry)?! At least we got to save a lot of dough, thanks to the poor inventory management).

some of the toys available are featured in the corridors between the exhibit rooms
Overall, we thought the whole new addition rocked!!
 Star Wars Legoland: More than just a respite from the cruel summer heat!
From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!