MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan

5 Places I’m Excited To Visit This Year

January 17, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

Wouldn’t you love to go on vacation at least once a month? I know I would. I think if I had unlimited resources I would plan a getaway for our little family once every two weeks. Of course, I have to be realistic and practical. But that doesn’t mean that I should stop dreaming.

I’m the type of person who dreams about travelling almost every day. I love making plans to go out of town, explore a new place and visit old favorites. Or, our schedules are tight, a quick staycation is more than enough to satisfy my urge to go out there and get away for a while. Of course, I like to do these things with Tristan and Mr C. Ever since they came into my life, travelling alone has become lonely and quite boring.

We have quite a few vacations planned for this year, all of them within the Philippines. I’ve actually already booked a few trips in advance just to make sure that they push through, and of course because it’s cheaper to book early. Here are the five trips we’ve planned for the year that I am most excited about. [Read more…] about 5 Places I’m Excited To Visit This Year

Wordless Wednesday: Junior Bookworm

January 16, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

Putting My WAHM Abilities To The Test

January 14, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

At the end of January, I’ll mark my 8th month as a WAHM. So far, luck has been on my side. I’ve been able to hit the personal targets I’ve set for myself in terms of earnings and the mommy things things I’ve accomplished. As far as WAHM life is concerned, I am happy to have closed 2012 on a positive note, and am more than ready to welcome 2013 with a bang.

WAHMing away from home. Just realized I used an old watermark. Oh well! — WAHMing away from home. Just realized I used an old watermark.

And what a bang it will be. It looks as if this first quarter of 2013 will really be putting my WAHM abilities to the test. We’ve hit an income hurdle, and I really need to push myself to the limit as far as my potential earnings are concerned. I’m so glad I signed up for Dainty Mom Martine’s Freelance Writing module at the upcoming WAHMderful Life Workshop. I’m looking forward to learning about all my options as a freelance writer – where to find jobs, where to get training, and the different kinds of writing that I can do. So far, script writing has been my bread and butter, but I really need to have a backup plan for those days in between shows where I’m stuck doing nothing all day. Oh wait, I don’t technically do nothing. I am a mom after all, and that means preparing meals, driving to and from school, playtime, study time, bath time and everything in between.

So, yeah, there are days when I don’t do any work because I have no work to do. I know that a lot of people do well with oDesk, but honestly, oDesk intimidates me. I’ve actually made some newbie mistakes there in terms of choosing employers, and I’ve experienced not being paid for my work. I do have the option of essays.ph, which hasn’t let me down since I started writing there as a sideline, but it would be good to have more choices to play around with.

Wish me luck guys. I’d love to know where you find writing jobs as well. Any tips would really be a huge help for me, so do share! 🙂

Much love and happiness,

Cafe Juanita: Pinoy Comfort Food At Its Finest

January 11, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

Last December, started adding Fashion Friday posts to this blog. I really hoped to be able to post an entry every Friday. but unfortunately I don’t go out often enough to have outfit photos taken. So, refusing to give up, I’ve decided to alternate Fashion Friday with Foodtrip Friday! It seems like an extra good idea because I have a bunch of restaurant and recipe posts waiting to be written. Here is the first one, and I’ve decided to do it on Cafe Juanita.

It was a fine afternoon in November. We got together with Ate Baban and Cy for lunch that day, after the little boy’s Family Day Presentation at school. It was a bit difficult deciding where to eat because of all the new options that had just opened at the Molito Lifestyle Complex here in Alabang. In the end, we went for a tried and tested place, Cafe Juanita. I’d already eaten at this restaurant previously with my grandparents. To say that we were satisfied with the food is an understatement. As testament to this, know that my grandfather has requested for Cafe Juanita food to be send to his house many, many times after that first visit.

Meanwhile, it was the first time that my lunch dates were going to try the restaurant, which, if I’m not mistaken, has other branches in Pasig and BGC. We were all in yellow that day because that was Tristan’s class color for their performance.

Juanita-10 — Little Mr C, the only one not in yellow.

I love the decor at Cafe Juanita. It gives the place such a homey feel, and is a perfect complement to the food. The restaurant is spacious enough, and the whole of Molito has ample parking, so it’s definitely not a hassle coming here (at least for us, since we live only a few streets away). I just love how they give you small folding stools for your bag! I always carry a big bag with me, and figuring out where to put it is always a problem for me. Plus, any restaurant with cloth napkins always get bonus points in my book.

Juanita-4 — Long table, perfect for big groups

Lunch with a view? Check out Firelake Grill in Cliffhouse Tagaytay

So, here’s what we ordered. This was basically a repeat of most of the dishes I had here when I ate with my grandparents. I thought it would be best to order stuff I’d already tried, just to make sure that everything was good. So, drinks first. Coffee as usual for Mr C, fresh dalandan juice for me and Ate Baban, and strawberry milkshakes for Cy and Tristan. As usual, the little boy asked to play video games while waiting for the food to arrive. We were pretty pooped from our full morning, so no one objected to his request.

Juanita-5 — Little happy boy playing Star Wars Angry Birds

Juanita-2 — Fresh Dalandan Juice. My favorite! Super refreshing.

As for the food, we ended up with a good mix of dishes, all of which were just really, really, really yummy, from appetizer to dessert. These menu items have proven to be winners twice in a row for me, so I would definitely recommend them to first timers.

Juanita-6 — Crispy Catfish and Green Mango Salad

Juanita-7 — Tom Yum Soup. This is the only dish we ordered that I hadn’t tried before. Upon special request of the Cuyugan siblings. My dad in law makes fantastic Tom Yum.

Juanita-11 — Adobo cooked two ways. The top portion is super crispy adobo flakes. The botom half is really tender and tasty. And the sauce is thick and delicious. Mmmm!

Juanita-13 — Ginataang Gulay (Veggies in Coconut Milk). This one is super yummy. There’s eggplant in there, kangkong (water spinach) and green chilies.

Juanita-12 — And of course, a big bowl of rice.

If you like Pinoy food, you might want to check out Dong Juan in BF.

After all of that food, we still had room for dessert. The sweet treats offered at Cafe Juanita are also Pinoy (Filipino). I’m not a big fan of local desserts, but I do like Turon and Halo Halo. We got the Mini Turon ala Mode and the Crepe Samurai, both which I shared with my grandparents on my first time there.

Juanita-15 — Banana fritters, deep fried and covered in chewy caramel and sesame seeds. Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Looking for a place to have coffee after lunch? Try Le Petit Cheri in Molito

I would recommend Cafe Juanita to anyone looking for really good Filipino home cooking. Mr C and I can’t wait to go back there to try out their other dishes!

Cafe Juanita – THIS ESTABLISHMENT HAS CLOSED
Molito Lifestyle Complex
Alabang, Muntinlupa
+63917 3456568

Thankful Thursday: A Lesson In Faith

January 10, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

In yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday post, I shared my One Word for 2013 – FAITH. I think that the lessons I learned in the past year really add up to this one word, and so this is something I will hang on to this year. In 2012, my faith in many things was put to the test in a really big way. And as with everything in life, all of that happened for a reason. It helped prepare me for 2013. Judging by the first week, this is going to be a rather challenging twelve months. I am happy that I have these lessons in faith that I learned, which I can look back on whenever things get hard.

For January’s Thankful Thursday, I’d like to focus on Faith in Marriage. For me now, faith in your spouse means trusting that they love you completely, and only have your best interests at heart, no matter how they show it.

My husbandry and I celebrated our first year of marriage last September, and the road to our first anniversary was unorthodox to say the least. There were many lessons learned about each other, about marriage, about life. Trust was broken and rebuilt countless times, patience was tested and loyalty questioned. But in the end, we were happy to share with the world that we made it through year one together, still holding hands, and with a lot more love and understanding than we had on our wedding day. We learned to accept the fact that we could and would hurt each other with our words and actions. We became more aware of the other person, and more considerate of the mistakes.

The understanding we built in 2012 was, apparently, really important for this year. And it has already been tested, believe it or not, within the first week. But this challenge is something we will overcome. This I know because I have faith that my husband will do what is best for us.

lifelessons-1 — Mr C’s sand doodle, Boracay 09.2012

Faith in marriage is one of the most important things you can have. It assures you that you will remain strong no matter what. It helps you see the other side of things, and be open minded enough to accept that your side may not always be the right one. It means wanting to get past the bad stuff to be able to enjoy the good stuff. It means never giving up, and believing in the other person. Faith means trusting that everything will be OK in the end, even though you are unsure about how you will make it to the end.

It is faith that will get us through January’s challenge, no matter how hard it hits us, and for that, I am thankful

What does faith mean to you in your marriage/relationship? Do share. I bet your story is an inspiring one, and I really could use a dose of inspiration today!

Much love and happiness,

Bonding Over Crepes and Burgers with My Forever Friends

January 7, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

I missed Christmas dinner with my girls because the little boy and I were down with the flu that week. We made up for it by setting up a post-holiday dinner with the girls, our kids and significant others at Cafe Breton in Westgate Center. I picked this restaurant because the last time we ate there together was in high school or college, and it’s always been one of my favorite places to go for crepes and for their ever so yummy Mozzarella Burger.

Doesn’t that look so good???