...tsugtsug's birthday kwento (super long post)

have the dvd of tsugtsug's pictures! thanks to my dad for sending it over here.

Photos were by Ging Lorenzo, and she did an awesome job. It takes her 2 weeks before she gives you the pictures, but believe me, its worth the wait. DVD came in a personalized cover, its so professional looking, i'm so happy I got her. She also has LightScribe (HP dvd burner) so tsugtsug's picture was 'etched' on the Disc itself. pretty cool. Now I have the difficult process of choosing which pictures to go to the album. Hope it doesn't take me too long to accomplish that.



The whole week it was raining a lot, very atypical considering it was still late April. I was starting to worry so Pangs and I went to Sta.Clara to offer some eggs and pray for a nice, sunny weather. It was even drizzling when we went to Sta. Clara, but I was optimistic that we would be blessed with sunshine. Guess what? We were! Omygosh I am now a devotee. LOL. The clouds would sometimes loom a little, but the rain never fell. (I also did a sun dance, btw, ala Sarah G. hehe)


Thank you Sta. Clara!

Morning of tsug's big day, he woke up around 7 and had his breakfast like any other day. By 9:30am, we were on our way to the resort and got there about 15 minutes later. (yup, its conveniently very near our house) Ging the photographer was already there, an excellent start of the day. (had to double check my watch because our meeting time was 10am, but nope, i wasn't late hehe) Also saw jacque of Partyboosters setting up the place and her staff trying to hang this humongous ball decor up on the wall. Had to laugh at the sight of that. The ball could've been a teeny bit better, I was thinking more flattened out (not sure if that's feasible) but I thought she did pretty well for a first-time effort on the giant beach ball.




Super value for money. I bought the mylar balloons from Bulkballoons.com and just handed it to her a couple of days before the party. She put up these beautiful swags which I looove, but I love them more because she doesn't charge you for them. which makes absolute sense, since these get returned anyways. I just don't get why other decorators charge you for them. One quoted me 6k just for swags! I guess they're pretty hard to put up, but just for the free swags, everyone should get Partyboosters hehe. Its just bonus that Jacque is easy to talk to and she even picked up the cake from Emily Uy for me. talk about customer service! I would definitely get her again for future events.

Tsug's cake was another value-for-money. Only 3k! The cake itself was a bit dry, but I didn't care. She was the only supplier who offers customized fondant cake this cheap! She also forgot to put tsugtsug's name (it's Gavin, in case you're wondering) on the cake but its no biggie since no one really noticed. (just me)

Another very cheap and great find were these cupcakes. Got them at 180/dozen at Cupcakesforless.multiply.com They were supposed to be beach balls too but they look more like beach umbrellas. Still awesome! Thanks Dhey.



One of my DIY projects were these sun visors. Wanted to buy at Orientaltrading.com but it'll be like 25 bucks each. I was hoping to find some in Divisoria, but wasn't successful. So decided to just make them. Bought Foam sheets at the scrapbooking corner in National Bookstore, traced and cut from a pattern and with help from ate chary, my mom and raymond ON the day itself (yeah, i know. but what's a party prep without a little cramming?) stapling garters at both ends, here's the end result. less than 6 bucks each! hehe.

Game prizes table. Made 'Mommy', 'Daddy', 'Lola', 'Lolo' visors too. Traced from a pattern and glued them on. Made it easier for the suppliers to recognize us too!

Anyway, my very eager and early cousins arrived just minutes behind me (excited? lol) and that got me to a great mood. I was worried about a dismal turnout, but now that my rowdy cousins are there, it doesn't matter if it was just them who came. That's how loud they can get hehe. It was a good thing I got 2 food carts, so our early guests could eat a little and won't pass out from hunger before lunch. These were also taken care of by Jacque of Partyboosters, and she got Yan-Ple (party supplier) for my Cheese Sticks and Nachos food carts.


Nachos were okay, but the cheese sticks weren't cheesy at all. My very pilyo cousins called it 'Cheese' sticks with matching 'in quotes' for the cheese. LOL. Food carts were 'in-theme' though, so bonus points for that.

After checking how the decorations were coming along, we went back to the room and tried to nurse a very excited tsugtsug. Gave up after a few minutes, so it was family portrait time. He is one happy kid:



tsugtsug's party clothes:




Had hiccups at first with the venue, Bouganville Resort in Antipolo but they definitely made up for it on the event itself. They were closed on that day so it was as if we had reserved the whole place for tsugtsug's party. Ms. Joy, the Manager was heaven sent. She was there the whole day, looking over the food, managing the waiters, basically giving me a stress free party.

Our food was catered by MYC Catering, but they were just subcontracted by Bouganville so we had lower rates. (275/head, menu here) We booked for 120 people, but I think only about 90 came so the food was overflowing.


Adult Buffet on top, Kiddie buffet on the bottom. Ms. Joy the Manager in pink.

I was able to eat on the party itself but everything tasted great to me because that was my first meal of the day. When I got home and ate leftovers, I was able to assess the food more accurately. The carbonara was a bit bland and so was the Arroz Valenciana. The highlight was the Lengua with Mushroom sauce though. It tasted great, seasoned really well. I think I had that as my viand for at least 3 meals more. The rest were pretty okay, my expectations were met. Oh, I also loved the kiddie spaghetti. But I'm not sure if that's good cause I don't like sweet spaghettis so I'm not sure how the kids reacted. Maybe its wonder spaghetti where both adults and kids would like hehe.

Speaking of highlights, I got Host/Magician Alex Lagula who received the best compliment from my very budget conscious (read:stingy) Father. After the party, my dad asked me how much I paid for the Host/Magician. I said "9k" then I instinctively cringed a bit. He said "Sulit!" and my jaw dropped. HEHEHE. That just friggin made my day. A testament to a very successful party! Alex was on point on his act. The sound effects, his timing, everything! At first he started the party speaking in english and my first thought was 'uh-oh' and wondered if our guests could relate. But he switched to Taglish right immediately and really leveled himself to the crowd. He did everything. I didn't even instruct him to do anything. We just showed up like we were guests in our own party. Sulit talaga. There was balloon twisting and a couple of games before lunch time. One was for younger toddlers which I really appreciated because usually, the games are only enjoyed by kids aged 7 or older. After lunch, was the magic act which was awesome by itself but became even funnier because of my nephew Miguel who volunteered in one of his acts. Miguel's antics and side comments were so funny. He's in this 'rapper' mode and would say stuff like 'It's your fault, man' or 'I'm Miguel the Rapper, Yo!' that brought the house down. Napalaban si Alex sa kanya hehe.


My dad loving the magic

(top 2 pics) with my nephew, miguel the rapper


from kiddie to adult games


balloon burst (bottom 2 pics)


After the fantastic program, was the swimming! Bouganville has a wonderful, huuuge pool with a jacuzzi and a kiddie pool. Actually, right after the program I just went around a bit to have some photos taken with my friends and family and I was looking for some of the kids but couldn't find them. I looked out to the pool saw some of the kids swimming already! Pangs thinks they dived in the pool without changing clothes haha.

Merienda was set-up and served on the Tents beside the pool. We had burgers, french fries, hotdog and Iced Tea. (ooh, I also loved the Iced tea. wonder what brand it was hehe) Also had 2 more food carts for merienda time from Ace Balloon, crepe and bbq wrap. Got a different food cart supplier cause of the different time they needed to be served. Both tasted fine. I opted for a Nestle Ice cream cart, instead of the usual dirty ice cream. It was really cheap (think I paid 3.3k for 160 assorted pieces) and I like the variety (Pinipig, drumstick, twin popsies, ice cream cups). The ice cream was gone super fast, but I was still able to eat 3 hehe. I remember reading about other mommies' experience on their kid's birthday parties about not being able to eat, but I was able to eat just fine. Maybe its our small number of guests, very manageable and since about 90% were our relatives and super close friends, they were pretty low-maintenance hehe.

More swimming pictures:


grabeh, ang laki ni kuya nathan!


2 big jacuzzis and the huuge pool


I want to have a party again! lol!