Kwentong Kengkay

Agosto 25, 2008

Reservation Stress

Filed under: Done That,Expat Blahs,Girls' High — kengkay @ 10:34 umaga

Okay, okay, we’re back from our one week vacation in Mallorca, Spain. And yet, am talking about stress?

Well, let me tell you — the vacation was great. Viva Cala Mesquida Aparthotel is a kid-friendly hotel. The place of Cala Mesquida is a quiet corner of Mallorca. The service and the amenities in the hotel are wonderful and food and drinks are overflowing, the whole day and almost the whole night, too.

What really bothered me is the reservation. Nope, we are booked and confirmed at the hotel; our flight, though late, is okay. The reservation I am talking about is finding enough lounge chairs for us four around the swimming pool area.

And that is where the real stress begins. Early in the morning. One must wake up at 8 am to have the best place under the sun — complete with lounge chairs enough for the family and enough parasol so that it wont be too hot under the sun.

There are ways to reserve the lounge chairs — placing your towels over them or leaving some reading materials or any personal objects on the lounge chairs. When I realized what was happening, it made me really laugh. It’s really a race every morning! Well, I dont have a problem about that, my husband and the kids were always ready to race with them :)

But at Viva Cala Mesquida, they have rules about reserving lounge chairs. When the lifeguard comes, he would look around and leave notices on the reserved lounge chairs when it looks like they are not really occupied. In that notice, the lifeguard would give you 40 minutes to occupy your places. If the alloted time arrives and the chairs are still unoccuppied? Well, he would collect all the personal items and stack them near his corner.

Imagine the shock of some people on finding their ‘reservations’ being occupied by someone else and more shock when they have to search for their personal items? Well, you wouldnt know what to expect. Sometimes some people wouldnt even know that their things were already taken away — slow reaction — not after a few hours! And others? They would shout and rummage around, disturbing the mass of people lounging around. I dont know if someone had already went as far as reporting their loss to the police.

But we never get any notices, I am proud to brag about that. Why? Because we dont really stay away from our place unless it is time to eat or to pee :) That means, we stayed mostly in and around the pool so dont ask me why I am so brown! As for those people who reserve and leave their chairs for a long, long time? I dont know why they do that…

Agosto 17, 2008

The Sea Comes Alive

Filed under: Been There,Expat Blahs — kengkay @ 9:12 umaga

It was different summer night for the kids when we attended the DLRG open house at Wiesensee in Hemsbach.

It was the night of the lifeguards, our angels of the sea. And it was a night of lights and colors. It was night of wonder, esp for the kids who were allowed to stay up late. Actually, they have been celebrating early in the morning — with water aerobics, some water rescue actions; with food and drinks.

But we decided to join the fun part and arrived at 8 pm, not yet dark at summer time. We wanted to catch the real show, not prepared for nature’s show with the weather as it changed. And changed and changed. It was a fascinating sight. It was fun to capture them.
It looked like rain.
Yet it was warm. And then it could be thunderstorm! Most of us ran for cover when the cloud opened.
And after a few minutes, here’s how it looked like. As if nothing happened.
And the sunset.

And the highlight of the night, the torch swimming in the middle of the sea; of more than ten lifeguards, both men and women accompanied by music and fireworks.

And of course, there’s also the wish balloon. It is a huge white paper balloon that was powered by heat and blew up, up and away — and they lightened up the sky to make your wish come true.

Here are more photos, in my new domain that still sleeps :)

Agosto 14, 2008

Oh vacation time

Filed under: Around Us,Expat Blahs,Girls' High — kengkay @ 5:44 umaga

It was a last minute decision, our one week vacation.

After the stress of the past week, we definitely needed a break. Where to go? We planned to drive to Garda Sea in Italy, to rent an apartment there. But my husband checked the weather forecast in that area, hmmm, rain? Nope, we dont want to spend a week holed up in an apartment.

So he checked for Tunesia. Saying, when everything would be added (gasoline, rent, food, etc), we could afford to fly to Tunesia and stay in an all inclusive resort and it would be definitely warmer there. We checked. No more available flights to Tunesia. After all, it is still summer vacation here in Germany in some parts of Europe.

The travel agent recommended Mallorca, Spain. You know what my image of Mallorca is? Ballerman and Ibiza – meaning, party, alcohol and noise. But when I looked into the website of the resort, well, it is actually located in the north side of Mallorca. With it’s own private beach, animation for kids, wellness facilities, etc; plus we are getting an all inclusive package. And we are flying!

Instead of getting the car ready, though we had it inspected already and I started stacking up on snacks and toys for the five-hour drive; I am only preparing for our luggages this time. And what does IC say when she saw two luggages only? ‘Mama, we should bring more bags,’ she said she dont want to come back anymore! That says how the kids saw our past weeks :(

So here’s a tip: if you think you could be paying for the same vacation price for an all inclusive package; why not check the possibilities first? And here are tips on how to find cheaper airplane fares.

I have also ticked my list of things to do before going for a vacation. Before I realized, I needed a new list — simply because, it is summer time and there’s enough to do in the garden!

Agosto 7, 2008

Watch out for Those Egg Surprises

Filed under: Expat Blahs,Mom Bares,Sizzling Tips — kengkay @ 1:24 hapon

I dont know about you but I am really surprised with what I just learned.

I was opening my email when I glimpsed the news about the possible banning of Ferrero’s ‘Überraschungseie’ (Egg Surprises) from stores in Deustchland.

For those not informed — Egg Surprises are chocolate eggs that have hidden suprises placed inside an oval shaped capsule. Since the egg is small, about the size of a hen’s egg; you could imagine how small the toys would be. Most of the suprises are even needed to be assembled by an adult. And though the label states the egg is not suitable for kids under three years of age, guess who gets to receive most of these eggs? Yup, those kids who arent supposed to be playing with those tiny toys that are really chocking hazards.

In fact, I am guilty about giving these eggs to the kids, too. Since these eggs are arranged mostly near the check out counters of most stores; the kids could easily sneak in a piece or two; just a short question, ‘mama, would this be okay?’ And a short nod; they’ve got these chocking hazards in the hands. Never really thought about that, arrrgh!

I tried to research for an English version of the news and found this. I was really shocked to learn that these egg surprises have been banned since 2006 in the US. And why are they only banning this favorite thing in Deustland only now?

Apparently because of the new EU rule that bans a mixture of food and toys in one package! Not really because of the hazard it possess. That means, no more toys inside those cereal boxes, too. And yes, be informed: it is not only Ferrero who sells these egg surprises as you would also see them as Sponge Bob, Kim Possible, Hello Kitty, Barbie among others.

Well, I have enough. I used to add these eggs as extra gifts to kids and even as loots and as prizes for birthdays; but not anymore. I hope you are warned, too.

Photo from US CPSC.

Hulyo 15, 2008

Papa’s French Fries

Filed under: Expat Blahs,Papa Dear — kengkay @ 6:12 hapon


I am a lucky wife. Not only is my husband 90% in charge of cleaning the house and maintaining the garden, he cooks better, too. He is someone who abhors fast food restaurants. He’d rather create a dish from scrap than buy those craps, he always says. For him, time and effort does not matter when he is cooking for his family. Isn’t he a doll?

Take for example, french fries. As someone growing up under the influence of American fast food, my thought is — french fries tastes better in Mcdo or Jollibee. I thought wrong. Nothing can compare to my husband’s french fries.

He has already perfected his french fries ritual. He would drove 35 kms away to buy the best potatoes from a big farm. Back home, he would then be washing, cutting, frying, salting and shaking them himself. Oh, the potatoes would all end up in the deep fryer, a special kitchen equipment he bought, just to make sure that the french fries would be cooked right. He is deep into modern kitchen equipments, too, my guy.

Being homemade, the french fries, taste better and most of all, not so oily. My husband uses ‘Biskin’, a type of vegetable oil that has a neutral taste. It is a little expensive than other brands but according to him, it works best for french fries. I dont know, I still use the other generic brands for baking.

Of course, the kids love papa’s french fries. It is always a special meal when papa would declare, ‘today is french fries day’! I am not complaining, as long as he’s the one doing the cooking. Because for me, I always have the frozen variety in the freezer, ready to be summoned!

Bagong Pahina »

Theme: Rubric. Sumulat ng Blog sa WordPress.com.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 64 other followers