Maia Travels: Rizal Park Tour Part II

The Planetarium

I grew up in a household where Science is revered. We knew how important science is to our life. And I think at some point in my childhood I dreamt of becoming a scientist (I just couldn't remember of what particularly). The geek in me is somehow hoping that the kid will have the same appreciation of science as I did as a child. And I'm thinking we (me and her dad) have a hand at making that happen (a huge one as I see it) since if I relate it with my childhood, my dad was really the one who always challenged me to study and read more on science. 

At this point though, I really have no idea how I can make that dream happen. I'm still torn between just letting the kid be a kid vs introducing her the complicated concepts of science (feel free to rebut if you think otherwise maybe I can learn from you as well). I'm still choosing the former but some days when I remember (a light bulb moment hits for instance) I would try to squeeze in an info or two to maximize the kid's attention while her interest is at it's peak. Although honestly, yes, my creative juices are starting to run out faster than I'd expected. And at the rate I'm going I see my box of tricks emptying out soon. (Gotta find more time to read up and research then)

So anyways, the idea of the solar system (which is something I deeply associate with science) is something that is still alien to the kid. She knows she lives in Earth and she's very much familiar with the Sun, Moon and the stars but she really has yet to understand why they're there and what they really do. In other words, she hasn't gone beyond twinkle, twinkle little star yet and goodnight, moon. 

In our recent visit to Rizal Park, the Planetarium also offered free entrance so I decided to take advantage of that. I thought that even if the kid isn't familiar with the solar system yet, this could be something of interest to my nephew (and yes, I haven't been inside it myself too). So after our brief lunch at the nearby Jollibee store, we headed off towards the Planetarium building. It was just right across what used to be the Orchidarium (it's closed now). We walked but if you have small kids with you, it might be wiser to take a jeepney instead (it's a short ride of 2-3 minutes). It's roughly about a kilometer walk from the Jollibee branch near TM Kalaw St. 

I didn't have any idea what to expect inside. I was a little surprised when we were asked to deposit all of our belongings and was ushered inside a theater-like room. It was only when we were seated that we were told there's going to be a 30-45 minute show. Cameras are not allowed inside. Even our phones were asked to be surrendered (heck they actually asked for our bags to be deposited and were only allowed to bring wipes for the kids).

my nephew happily reported his trip to the 'sun' to his nanay when he got home from vacation

I seriously thought we won't last 10 minutes inside but the kids were so into the simulated outer space trip, the darkness didn't bother them so much. Maia only asked for me to hold her hand every time it turns pitch black. They asked me questions like: "are we back in Earth already?" or would interject in the narrations with statements like: "that's why you should never come near the Sun, it's so hot you will melt". Other than those occasional comments, the kids were well-behaved and it gave me and Ate Lenlen time to breathe (sort of) and regroup. They also surprisingly kept their voices hushed (as if acknowledging the fact that they will disturb others if they go a note higher)

the unique projector inside the planetarium (it projected images of the solar system and made you feel like you are indeed floating in space)

hand in hand while walking around admiring the posters and paintings around the planetarium

I think I was a good decision to bring them here. At least they now have an idea what the planets are. I might have to wait a little while before I really teach the kid about how the universe came about but I'm thinking when that day comes, I will bring her back here for reinforcement.

after the film showing, they let us claim our bags back so I was able to take photos of the exhibits around the building.
here are the kids screaming their hearts our after I told them what's up next on this Rizal Park tour.

National Museum Planetarium  
P.Burgos St., Rizal Park Manila, Philippines 2801 

Tel No. (632) 527-18-30

Schedule of Shows:

9:00 - 10:00 am  
10:30 - 11:30 am  
1:30 - 2:30 pm  
3:30 - 4:30 pm 

Part I: Museum of the Filipino People
Part III: Rizal Park Children's Playground

Maia Travels: Rizal Park Tour Part I

I have a confession to make. I have never stepped inside any of the buildings within the Rizal Park compound. All 34 years of my life, yes never. I lived in Manila for 6 months right after graduating from college but yes, it never crossed my mind to check this place out. 

Although I do have fuzzy memories of seeing a well-lighted (festive in fact) Luneta Park on December night from afar when I was younger coming from a family daytrip at Star City.

Thank God for the kids I finally dragged my lazy feet out of the house on the last day of October and took the kid and my nephew to this wonderful place called Rizal Park. In a day, my mind was refueled and my spirit fed with an abundant dose of happiness. The history geek in me was somehow awakened and I started wishing the hubby and I once considered having a date at the Museum of the Filipino People. It would have been an interesting way to get to know each other. I'm sure there's also a geek persona buried deep in him (why did we 'click' in the first place, di ba?)

So enough with the lengthy intro, let me share with you how we wisely spent our day at Rizal Park. 

This was a photo I took of the back side. 

We initially planned to just visit the museum. I thought that alone would already drain my energy reserve dry. But then while walking towards the museum (we were clueless as to where it was exactly located) coming from TM Kalaw St., a calesa driver (aka. mamang kutsero) approached us and offered to tour us around the Park. He told us he's charging a hundred bucks (Php100 = roughly about $2.50) for the tour and well, my instant reaction was "wow cheap" but kept that to myself. Even before I said yes, my nephew was already walking towards the calesa so I didn't think twice and just said yes. I never rode a calesa yet so I might as well do it now. So one by one, we climbed unto the calesa. 

Top photo: A shot of the Kalesa before we decided to ride one ourselves.
Bottom photo: My nephew playing the kutsero. Bagay ba?

The tour took us about 45 minutes (this is just an approximation as I can't tell exactly how long). We arrived at the Rizal Park at around 10:30am (we wanted to be at the museum at opening hour). We boarded the Kalesa right in front of the Museum of the Filipino People entrance and was back by 11:45am. Mamang Kutsero and I misunderstood each other with regards to the fee as it turned out to be P100/head and not P100 for the entire tour but I didn't complain anymore. Good thing he only charged the adults so I paid P200 in total. We got inside the museum around 12nn after rounding up the kids who were getting a little restless and depositing our bags at the front desk. Bags are not allowed inside the museum but you are allowed to take your camera and valuables with you. No flash photography though so I adjusted my camera settings and managed to take quite a lot of pictures. 

We were lucky to get in for free as they offered free entrance for all 3 buildings: the Planetarium, the Museum of the Filipino People and the Philippine Art Gallery for the entire month of October. On an ordinary day, they would charge P100 for regular patrons and P30 for students. That's big savings already as there were 4 of us that day (kids, me and my nephew's yaya). I was hoping they would extend so the hubs and I can come back and marvel at the museum artifacts. But I got confirmation from the staff that it's really only till the end of October. 

Anyways, sharing with you the highlights of our museum visit. I will have to cut this post into several parts as I have quite a lot (and I mean a lot) of photos to share. I would say this museum visit is all worth it. I would suggest though that you bring school age kids (at least preschoolers) because these kids (in my opinion) have longer attention span and can easily follow directions. I have a very hyperactive nephew and my kid usually takes after him. But before we left the house, I repeatedly told them the museum houses very fragile items and that they are ONLY ALLOWED TO LOOK BUT NOT TOUCH (look but not touch repeat at least 10x). And we are very lucky they took that to heart. My nephew would only stop at things that interest him and tell me "pa-piktyur ako!". 

To Be Young And Carefree

I couldn't stop staring at this photo of the little miss from our recent Fun Farm trip. I remember it was quite difficult for Dom from Studio 2716 to take this photo because the little girl refused pause even for just a brief moment to have her photo taken. She kept telling me to push harder instead because parang kinikiliti kasi ako, Mommy! Gusto ko dito sa kiliti swing! (insert seemingly endless unadulterated kiddie laughter)

Among the great pictures that the photographers took of us that day, this is one of my favorites. For me, this summed up the mood for that day. Fun. Child-like. No holds barred. Free. Happy.

you can almost hear her laugh just by looking at this photo, don't you agree?

Thank you, thank you to our very patient photographers! Sa uulitin for sure!

A Field Trip To The Fun Farm At Sta Elena

Two simple, home-spent  long weekends have since gone. Simple. Home. Two of my most favorite words. I can never get enough of lazy days spent at home. But then I have to deal with a kid who easily contracts cabin fever and all that lazy, relaxing thought immediately disappears. A restless kid is the last thing you'd ever want to deal with during a relaxing weekend. And so rare invites for field trips are also some of the things that we welcome with big wide open arms. 

And that's just exactly how we spent the last day of the last long weekend of this quarter. We went with 3 other family friends (actually mommy friends who I first met in N@W and eventually became close to through blogging-Rache, Erl and Maqui) to a fun-filled day trip to the Fun Farm At Sta Elena in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Thank you Maqui for organizing this!

If not for the quite pricey entrance fee of P300 per person, we would love to come back to this place. (But...this family is such a cheapskate I don't think we will be coming back anytime soon). The kids had fun running around and there were enough distractions to last them a full day. The fishing pond and the sand playing area were a big hit for the little miss, most especially. When she woke up this morning, she was still raving about it. I bet she would have bragged about it even to her school busmates. She was THAT happy with how her day went yesterday. She got to ride and pet a carabao, chase sheeps, play spider-woman, feed worms to fishes, feed pellets to duckies, feed the bunnies some carrots, sing along with pigs (oink-oink!) and squeal her heart out while riding the rubber swings. There's plenty to do but I only have a few photos to show. 

Still, I'll let the pictures talk from this point. Forgive the poor resolution as I still haven't found Blue's replacement and I just used my phone camera. 

at the entrance

one of Maia's favorite spots in the farm. she was ready for this. she even bought her beach toys with her.

obstacle courses for kids. tingnan natin hanggang san aabot lakas ng mga malilikot na yan! lolz.

interesting maze. Maia didn't hesitate to get in. and did not have any trouble coming out of it. atta girl!

Maia: I'm going to try this too Daddy. Tibs: Mahirap to Maia, wag na baka di mo kayanin, walang support sa gitna.
Maia: Okay lang Daddy, gagapang na lang ako! 

And more interesting spots on the farm:

Maia and Kelsea getting fishing tips from the Daddies. Waha (kala mo experts eh)

close encounter with sheeps (maia: mameeeeeeeeee, kelangan nila maligo!)

It was a tiring day but hearing the kid rave about the fun of it all seems all worth it. Till the next fieldtrip, Mommies! Can't wait to see the photos from Studio 2716 as well!

p.s. The Fun Farm staff advises that you book ahead before coming as there might be events (i.e. weddings or private parties) booked at the Fun Farm that day and you might be denied entrance. For this trip we booked a week ahead since ours is a relatively big group of 4 families and we were coming on a holiday.

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Fun Farm at Santa Elena is located at Sta Elena Properties Inc, Barrio Malitlit, Sta Rosa, Laguna

They operate from 9am to 5pm. Contact Numbers: 0918 8886588/0920 9131349 Directions to the farm are posted here. 

p.s. Here's a link to the photo album that the Studio 2716 posted in Facebook.  And to Maqui's and Erl's blog post as well.

Productive Weekend - Some Gardening and Arts-N-Crafts Time

It has been a very, very productive weekend for our little miss. I don't know if it's the days she missed in school that has gotten her extraordinarily energetic and receptive of every activity that I suggested for her to do this entire weekend but what I know for sure is that she enjoyed every bit of those activities.

Saturday, a village playmate dropped by early for a playdate session. The little miss was actually insisting to watch TV (because it's a weekend mommy) but since I'm still not fond of TV time I wanted to veer her attention away from it fast. And what immediately came to mind was this recent project that a fellow n@w Mec did with her boys. So I got some scrap manila paper, a used cardboard box and old magazines. With Ate Inday's help we cut out some leaves from the magazine paper and traced the two girls arms on the cardboard to resemble tree trunks and cut that as well.

Here's some photos I took to document the activity:

Then today, Sunday, Ate Inday got her involved in planting some of the vegetable seeds that Lola brought home last night from a trade fair at the World Trade Center in Pasay. I just proved that TV never stands a chance against any outdoor activity at any given day for this little nature-loving girl. Despite being a little neat-freak, she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty as long as it involves some planting/gardening.

I had been keeping these eggshells for future mosaic projects but they're starting to irritate Tibs already (having been sitting on our backyard for long and some of them turning moldy already) so Ate Inday thought might as well make use of them. Our plan is when the seedlings start to sprout, we will just break the eggs to transplant them directly unto the soil.

seeds galore!

making good use of our eggshells

our little patch of garden heaven. hoping to turn this into a patch of various vegetables soon!
(waiting for pechay and tomatoes to sprout from these eggshells soon)

Trekking in Antique (and few tips I picked from this instant trip)

Taking in the awesome view

One of the things that make me look forward to our Antique vacations are the spontaneous activities that we would come up while lazing around the house. Last Friday (yes Good Friday) for example, we took the kids trekking. It's was a spur of the moment thing but then these hills are just a few minutes away from our place so with my dad volunteering to drive us we set out to put our legs to test with very little expectations of what we might see. It's been years since I last set foot in that place so I really don't know what to expect. I honestly didn't think the kids would enjoy but I still thought it to be a great experience for the kids since we also once climbed those hills as kids and the single photo of us five siblings during one of the rest/stops proved to be one very memorable photo for us. My mom had that photo framed (I wished I had a scanned copy of it to document in here) and we often would stare at it and exchange memories of that trek. That one piece of photograph had so much stories to tell and memories of that hike remained fresh in my mind up to this day. I hope when these two kids grew a little older we can take them to see the caves in those hills (mini-mountains?) because we weren't able to go this time in fear of getting lost (it was already almost dusk).

I was lagging behind. The cam-whore in me was hard at work.

brief stop. enjoying the view of trees on the other side of the mountain
trees are still plentiful on this side of the country. i fervently hope it stays that way for a loooooong time.

Refreshing sight, isn't it?

While most people would spend thousands just to enjoy the outdoors, here is us communing with nature for free. We decided to stop by this area overlooking the sea and the view is amazing. Maia marveled at expanse of trees that her eyes is feasting on. She would point here, there and over there --- "ANO YUN DADDY? ANO YUN MOMMY?" "SAN NA TAYO?" I honestly thought of telling her that place is going to be our new home but I wasn't ready for a tantrum in case she wouldn't take to my teasing. She might after all be missing home (Cavite) already and the kid gets really intense when she expresses her feelings. 

my dad really enjoyed the company of his apos during this holy week break

she loves riding on people's shoulders. probably makes her feel powerful.
"i am taller than any of you!"

The downside of spontaneous trips however is the unpreparedness. So we all took a trek and not one of us was dressed appropriately. We wore slippers. The kids were in shorts. It was a good thing though it didn't rain that day and the days before so the road we trekked on wasn't slippery. Still, there were several occasions of us slipping and literally eating dust (well, Maia did). Yet, despite a few scrapes the kids walked/climbed almost the entire way. We were just scared for the kids when we were going down so my dad volunteered to carry the little girl on his shoulders. Well, she obviously liked it so much she was shrieking in delight.

two naughty kids asking for lolo's full attention

yuck yuck ang dumi-dumi (hay naku anak, wag ka KJ)

I wonder where our feet will take us next year. Well, I'm sure it's going to be equally pretty wherever that is. My hometown and home province still has lots to offer in terms of outdoor fun. 

p.s. Here's what you might need in case you decide to go on a short trek with your little one:

(I only came up with this list with our short 30 minute trek in mind. I am not a professional hiker or trekker so best to check other lists if you're planning something more serious hehehe)

- at least a liter of water (it wasn't very hot when we started our trek but we were all thirsty when we got to top and that was about 20 mins of hiking)

- candies, nuts or chocolates

- wear leggings to protect your legs in case you slip

- better if you can wear trekking sandals or trail shoes or any footwear that can prevent you from slipping

- anti-mosquito repellents 

- flashlight

- wear a sunblock too (although it wasn't hot anymore when we set out to hike)

We only had the water bottle on hand. My sister and I had long pants (leggings) but that was just coincidental. I wished I had Maia wearing the pants instead but at least I know better next time. 

One thing that I would love for Maia to have is a passion to become an instrument in preserving and conserving our natural resources. I hope that all these exposures to the beauty of nature would eventually plant in her THAT passion. 

Legaspi and Washington Sycip Park in Makati

Today, we chose to give the stay out helper a day off and bring Maia with us. I had some tests scheduled at the hospital today and we decided we might as well make it a family day.

Like Father, Like Daughter.
Killing time while waiting for me to finish my hearing test.

We planned to leave the house early so we can bring Maia to the Ayala Triangle Garden to run and sweat all that pent up energy out but both Tibs and I dismissed the alarm (after panicking a bit thinking it was still a work day and we had overslept then realizing it was in fact already Saturday) and went back to sleep for another hour. We were too late for park time after I finished all my lab work so Tibs decided to take the little girl to the nearest park to the hospital -- The Legaspi Park (near Greenbelt1).

At 11 am, it was already scorching hot. But when Maia saw the playground, her face just lighted up and she immediately took off her sandals and ran to the slides barefooted. Despite the overwhelming urge to play and enjoy the slides however, it didn't take long before she declared - "tara na Mommy, punta na tayo sa mall (mall is something new in her vocabulary by the way, something she actually learned just today)". The heat was probably that unbearable.

Greenbelt was just a walking distance away from the park so we decided to walk and just take turns carrying the little miss if she gets tired from walking. Good thing we decided to walk because what we thought was to be just a short cut ended up eating up almost an hour off our day. We went inside the Washington Sycip Park which is just right across the Legaspi Park because we were trying to avoid getting hit by the painful rays of the sun and we thought it would be a lot cooler passing thru a shaded area. Tibs and I used to frequent Legaspi Park to run but this was the first time for us to pass thru Washington Sycip Park.

The koi pond was an instant hit to Maia. She spent almost 20 mins just staring at the fishes and feeding them with skyflakes.

Spontaneity seems to be giving our weekends a lot more color these days. Life seems to be telling me to let loose and live in the moment! Well, after this weekend...I will probably be doing just that!