Celebrating Our Lola's Birthday Luau Style

My Lola just turned 94 years old ~ Luau Style!

Two weeks before her birthday, I asked her how does she want to celebrate her birthday.  With out blinking her eyes she told me, she wants to go to Hawaii (me and my big mouth).

One of her daughters, who resides in the States celebrated her Golden Wedding Anniversary in Hawaii, Lola saw the pictures and I guess that gave her the idea.  As she obviously wasn't in a travelling condition (yes plus the budget constraints)...

We decided to give her a Luau Birthday Party instead!

She was so prepped and excited.

I was kidding her the whole time, that she should ready her bikini as she is having a Luau Pool Party. 

What's a Luau without water right? So we rented a private resort near our place. 

We ordered a Luau inspired cake with matching themed cup cakes.

My cousin who owns JPJ Food Craze cooked for us,

such  labor or love. 

(My cousin and my mom).

Goofing with a pineapple... 

Our Lola, looking radiant as she inspects the revelry.

With her apo sa tuhod.

Blowing her candles (she only blew one, blowing 94 candles would take forever to finish).

And look who dropped by ~ Mr. Spidey~ Checking on our Lola!  How cool is that?

It was a sunny day, perfect for a Luau Birthday Party.

Swimming time ~ Kids!!!

Happy Birthday Nanay ~  We love you!!!

Now we could start planning for your 95th Birthday.

Check out also, post from Nanay's 93rd Glam Birthday Party ~

Glam Party for Nanay's 93rd Birthday

Birthday Staycation at Puerto del Sol Bolinao Pangasinan

We have always wanted to go to Bolinao, but the 5 hours drive from Manila and often unpredictable weather have been huge deterrents preventing us from visiting sooner ~

We were glad that we finally had an opportunity to finally visit Bolinao and experience first hand Puerto del Sol ~ for my youngest birthday weekend.

We left Manila at 5:30am and arrived in Bolinao at 1pm.

The road to Bolinao is a combination of both paved and rough road. The travel left us both hungry and tired. I checked the trusted TripAdvisor for recommended places to eat and became excited when I saw a signage directing to Sungayan Restaurant.

Sungayan is one of the best recommended places to eat in Bolinao.

(Will write about our Sungayan experience in a separate review), so yes, we stopped by to  re-charge  before our final stop ~ Puerto del Sol.

Finally arrived ~ Welcome to Puerto del Sol!

The staff were nice and accommodating.  Check-in was fast and efficient too.  The receptionist carefully explained our package inclusions, before ushering us to our accommodation for the weekend ~ the Mansion Villa.

Our birthday boy.

Waiting for our room...

The Mansion Villa is a short walk from the resort's entrance lobby and located right in front of the resort's swimming pool. 

I was completely taken with the resort's well kept garden...  

All that green is truly relaxing!

We were billed in a Mansion Villa (see picture below).  

Our room is about 29-30sqm in size with a private patio and seating area. The room is quite small and basic. 

The TV channel selections were limited (with some of the channels were not children friendly) and wifi really bad (there are limited areas in the resort that will give you reasonable wifi signal.  

The bathroom (the toiletries were mediocre).  It was good that the linens and towels were soft, nicely laundered. 

But these hang ups were no biggie, since we were there for the beach and the pool (with the beautifully trimmed garden, a plus)!

Comfortable bed.

Pikachu getting cozy!  

Sad that there is no real coffee maker/kettle inside  the room.  We were just given a thermos of hot water (note: you can request for additional hot water anytime).  There is also a mini-bar though, items inside were quite pricey (a bottle of beer at P100+).

Our private patio... 

If you are not in the mood to go swimming,  the resort has a gaming area that checked-in guests can use for free. They have pool, air hockey, ping-pong and darts.

Just a few meters walk from the Mansion Villa ~ Beach Bound!

The water does not go higher than your knees though  ~ not very good for swimming, but perfect for beach walks!

And since, this birthday boy has been begging to go swimming since the time we left Manila about 8 hours ago, we just had to go NOW!

Obviously enjoying his swim..

Our room package included buffet dinner and breakfast.

Food is served  at Café Del Sol and

La Playa, Al Fresco restaurant by the beach.

Food were good, but with limited selection.  I think the resort can better.

VERDICT:

The beach and pool are enough reasons to visit Puerto Del Sol.  

We enjoyed our stay. 

The kids had fun and the parents got to relax.

For questions and inquiries, please check Puerto Del Sol website:  www.puertodelsol.com.ph

Pokemon Hunting with Col. Sanders Birthday Party

My youngest was quite specific on how to celebrate his

9th birthday. 

~An off-school party with classmates.  

~ at KFC (he likes chicken) and

a Pokémon themed party.

The KFC part was easy (we just went to the KFC branch nearest our place, reserved our preferred date and placed our orders). 

Now the Pokémon theme part was rather difficult. 

How do you marry Col. Sanders and Pikachu?

I just found an answer... (I printed mini pokeballs and attached them to Col. Sander's welcoming hands. Looked a lot like the Colonel is doing some pokemon hunting!)

I also replaced the inside with a DIY pokemon invite.

I found these online and figured the kids will love to come in uniformed shirts.  

I had a friend from "mkadesigns" to print them for me. I sent his invites with these shirts to his classmates through his teacher a week before his birthday.

The shirts came out perfect.  I got an adult size too, so that my son's adviser can join his class have fun.

And here is my Pokémon Trainer prepping up for his birthday party.  All geared up and ready to go!

Here is the birthday table set up.

My son was likewise specific with his cake design.  A friend from Toy Cakes baked this for us. 

I call it, "Pikachu with Attitude".

Do you see the pokemon stuff toys behind the cake? 

We hid pokeballs cut outs in the party area and asked the Pokémon trainor children (and their parents) find the pokeballs to help catch the Pokemons. It was such a fun activity.  Everyone was standing looking for the pokeballs (such a riot)!

Donut Tower

I bought DIY mask and coloring materials to keep the children busy while waiting for the party to start.  

With my artists niece and nephew...

His classmates, showing off their DIY masks...

I love well attended children's party.  All the games are for kids, no need to involved the adults!

Here is where all the balloons went :P

Singing a Birthday Song for the Birthday Boy..

Col. Sanders was there to celebrate with us.

Col. Sanders - check

Pikachu - check

It was such a Happy Birthday Party...