Battle for Salad Dressing

I’m excited about this comparison. I’ve planned this a long time ago but didn’t push through due to various reasons.

For today, I’m be testing both dressings. Clara Ole Asian vs Kewpie Roasted Sesame.

Clara Ole Asian tasted similarly to KFC Asian Salad, the smell is good as well. I bought it from Shoppers Mart for around 37 Php if I remember right.

Kewpie Roasted Sesame is addicting. I use it in various dishes, chicken, noodles. Now is the first time I’ll be trying in a salad. I bought a small bottle from Mandarin Supermarket for 285 Php I think.

The verdict? Clara Ole Asian won. Although it’a really a hard decision. Both are really good. But I think Clara Ole nailed it. Better for salad. I’ll just use the Kewpie Roasted Sesame for other dishes.

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Monster Jam in Manila

One day before the event… I was so disappointed to know that Dennis Anderson is not coming here. Then all of a sudden, Son-Uva Digger is coming over and it would be Ryan… I was hyped up again.

I super love Monster Jam. And I am rooting for Grave Digger and Son-uva Digger.

There were six Monster Trucks.

Grave Digger – Jon Zimmer
Son-uva Digger – Ryan Anderson
El Toro Loco – Cynthia Gauthier
Zombie – Bari Mussawir
Max-D – Neil Elliott
Dragon – Scott Liddycoat

I made autograph cards for the drivers. And after posting it in instagram. I was super happy that Bari, Neil and Cynthia liked the post.

We came a little before 11 am, the gates are not yet opened. So we waited outside. When the gate opened, we headed straight to the pit party and straight to Ryan Anderson.

He was super nice, we showed him the die-cast. He even signed it for us. I was super duper star-strucked. I forgot to take video of him. Too bad we don’t have a picture together as well. But seeing him was way enough for me.

Max-D was next, Neil Elliot also signed the die-cast for us. He was nice but a bit reserved. That’s why I was surprised when Max-D was trying to block the path of Grave Digger. Boy! It was fun!

Next was El Toro Loco with Cynthia Gauthier, she was super nice and friendly. Super happy we had a picture with her. Too bad I don’t have a die-cast toy for her to sign on. Probably next time. While she was exiting the pit-party, she saw a boy with her mom taking a picture of him, she even posed with the boy. Super nice gesture. I like her!

We went to Zombie next, he was also nice. He volunteered to sign on the die-cast. Kalvin told him there’s no space for him to sign on, he said no problem, he’ll find a way and he did. A nice gesture. Super happy.

We went to Grave Digger next. Lucky we lined up because a little while after, they’ve cut the lines.

Finally, we went to Dragon. He was also nice. He told us to enjoy the show.

Aside from the Monster Truck drivers, there was also ATV and Motorcycle drivers.

For 500 Php, the pit party was super duper worth it.

We went to look for souvenir merchandise. Not much selection, I was expecting to see Hotwheels Toys or Monster Truck Shirts. But what was being sold were generic Monster Jam items. ID Yard for 150 Php, Kid Size shirt at 600 Php, Adult size shirt 800 Php, Jacket 1,500 Php and Cap for 750 Php. Sorry I forgot to take picture of the booth.

When we were back in the arena and seated. I was super excited. The entrance was stunning. Absolutely amazing. When they started the countdown and when the Monster Trucks came out. My heart stopped. The sound was deafening. And the view was spectacular. It was a super experience for me.

There were 4 competitions, Wheelie – Max-D won, Race – Max-D won again, Donut – Son-uva Digger, Freestyle – Grave Digger. For more details on the result you can view it here.

Some of the moments…
1. Son uva Digger was super amazing in the Donut competition. Also in the freestyle. Too bad he didn’t win.
2. When Zombie flipped and the truck came out to helped him out. It was a realization how scary the sports is. Of course, in the TV, we don’t see the trucks being towed or something. Good thing Bari was okay. When the staff came running towards him, I was scared.
3. I love the opening where Dragon breathed out fire and how he crashed the cars during freestyle.
4. The ATV was exciting especially when Philippines won.
5. The motorcycle show was exhilarating. Super breath taking. They are super amazing.

Now, here are some of the off-shots, majority while Papa wait in line, Edward and I went around to take more pictures.

 

I don’t know if they would be back… I’m hoping so. In the meantime, this is one experience we all enjoyed.

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Lego Duplo Clubhouse Cafe

We got this set on a sale at Hongkong ToysRUs for 99.80 HKD. As part of the set, a story book and Duplo Blocks.

The Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse pieces are cute. And the story is simple enough for kids to enjoy. The number of bricks is lesser than the rest of Duplo books. In fact, there’s only one chair. We had to get our other Duplo bricks to make a chair for Mickey Mouse.

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A Certified Lego Addict

Yesterday after buying school shoes, we dropped by ToysRUs to browse toys. Edward initially picked up a Lego Bulldozer set, we asked him to return it as it was expensive. He then selected a Tow Truck set. We asked him to choose between a Car Transporter and Tow Truck. He chose the latter because of the Minifigure.

Since he didn’t take a nap, we asked him to open the set tomorrow when Mr. Sun is up. He was teary eyed but agreed. I told him he could sleep with the toy and he did.

The next morning, as soon as he was up, he looked for me and was pointing to the sun. I said, “Oh, Mr. Sun is up, what does that mean?” He said, Lego, open Lego. And he was all smiles again.

Yup, a Lego fanatic here.

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DIY – Name Labels

Because school is just around the corner, I’ve decided to make labels just in time for it. My boss said before that all things must be labeled otherwise it might get mixed up with other kids things. Including crayons. So, I’ve spent my afternoon layouting the whole thing using Excel. Not even sure if that’s the best platform. But sure works for me.

I’ve decided to use Cars and Trucks as the template. Edward liked the result. Even if I used Best Quality result for printing, the result is not as good as the screen version. But no extra hassle needed, since Edward liked it. I even let him choose the first one that I would use for his lesson plan.

Edward School Labels

Probably would need to invest in a better printer for my printable projects.

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Hongkong Toys R Us Ocean Terminal

This place was part of the itinerary that we can’t afford to miss out. We’ve planned to let Edward select his own gift for his birthday.

The place was quite a walk from the Tsim Tsa Tsui MTR Exit A. And to make things worse. Edward fell asleep before we got out of the station. So we carried him all the way to Harbour City first to check out Page One.

So Kalvin had to carried him while I look for a book. He woke up after I bought the book. Luckily, we found a spot where Kalvin can rest as well.

We decided to stopped by KFC also for a quick dinner before we proceed with Toys R Us

Toys R Us delivered exceededly. Here’s a facade of the store.

The selection of Lego toys is vast. We concentrated on the ones with sale. But generally, it’s cheaper than Manila price.

They even have some displays.

The place was too big that we weren’t able to explore the Girls Portion and Babies R Us. Probably next time.

Here’s Edward enjoying some of his photo op.

Edward was inside the cart most of the time except when he sees a toy he likes. He then gets out and put it inside the cart. If we think we shouldn’t buy, we would return, we wouldn he didn’t complain or cry. Proud of you baby.

For the big toys that he likes that we couldn’t bring home, he agreed to just take a picture of it. Next time baby…

The most memorable part of the Toys R Us experience was when Edward saw Tomica, he went to see the products and selected two cars, which are actually good finds. Initially, I have no plans of buying Tomica as it was more expensive but seeing him look carefully and selecting what he wants… I gave in.

He did the same in Disney Cars, after looking he got a Blue Lightning. Hard find as well. Good job Kevy.

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