Christine's Home and Travel Adventures

Saturday, July 21, 2018

Lunch by the Waterfalls at Villa Escudero, Philippines, 6-2018

In case some of you do not know, my mom passed away on May 23, 2018, two months and a day short of her 100th birthday. We had services held in Illinois and then we had her body cremated so that I and my 2 sisters along with my granddaughter, AJ, took her ashes with us to the Philippines to be buried next to my father.

We had a wake in our ancestral home, mass and then burial. We were so surprised as to the crowd of people who paid their respects, considering that all her colleagues have long been gone and we really did not have any formal announcements there except for what I have written on FB. The house was packed with people with no parking space left on the ground.

After we took care of the reason we went home, we explored the Philippines, since it was my granddaughter AJ's first time there.

We went to Villa Escudero for lunch one time and she had such a good time.

We ate lunch with our feet soaked on water by the waterfall. It was hot and humid so we welcomed the cool water.

Yummy Food!

Refreshing sweet watermelon and fried bananas served on a table with coconut palm leaves skirt..

We ate on banana leaves.

Enjoyed slurping my soup from a coconut shell bowl.

My 2 sisters, cousin, AJ and new friends we met there, Jen and Alex. We had the best table, right in front of the waterfalls.

They sat us here while we were waiting for our table in front of the falls.

Aside from being by the waterfall, we were right by the food table too, best of both worlds!

And while we were eating, AJ was absorbing all its grandeur. It was so good seeing her have so much fun. She quoted, "I wanted to see a waterfall but I never expected to eat in it.", lol.

I am so sorry for the blurred pictures. I think my lens was fogged up due to the high humidity and mist.

As a matter of fact, even the adults enjoyed it all.

We also enjoyed sightseeing within the resort. We visited the museum but weren't allowed to take pictures.

We also watched the cultural show, which was very entertaining.

And this is how we moved around within the resort, via a caretela being pulled by a carabao.

It was a great experience for all of us especially for my granddaughter. I am so glad my cousin Gem, brought us here. Thank you, Gem.

I hope you enjoyed seeing one of our adventures in the Philippines. Thanks for stopping by my blog and thank you to the hostesses of the memes I am joining.

Anything Goes" Pink Saturday

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/pink-saturday/

Christine's Dishing It and Digging It

http://www.rustic-refined.com/

Chloe's Celebrate it Monday

http://celebrateanddecorate.com

Home Matters

http://lifewithlorelai.com/

Susan's Tablescape Thursday

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Share your Style Thursday

http://www.thevintagenestblog.com/

Katherine's Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

https://katherinescorner.com

Kate's Flaunt it Friday

http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Dinner for my College Colleagues, May 14, 2018

I had entered this on my blog hoping to publish it in a few days from then, but my mother got ill and we had to fly to Illinois to see her, but she passed away so fast that we did not see her alive. We are thankful that she went peacefully and not suffer. She was tired. She was 2 months short of her 100th birthday. Rest in peace, mama. I love you always and forever!

Anyway, we had very nice services for her in Illinois and now we are taking her ashes to be buried next to my father in the Philippines.

I thought I would publish this before we left.

This beachy tablescape was set for my friends from College who visited us a few weeks ago.

I just gathered beachy stuff from around the house, mostly from the master bathroom where I have shells and coastal décor surrounding the Jacuzzi tub.

I used a fish net table runner instead of a tablecloth.

The capiz plate chargers were bought from Pier 1 many years ago.

Shell napkin holders

Starfish S & P shakers

I served seafood paella, salmon and grilled ribs and of course, rice.

And there they are..... my happy guests! We had so much fun reminiscing days gone by!

The desserts: macaroons and coconut pandan

Tea in my Nippon Toki Kasha tea seat

Thanks so much for stopping by. And thanks to all the parties I am I am linking with:

Anything Goes" Pink Saturday

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/pink-saturday/

Christine's Dishing It and Digging It

http://www.rustic-refined.com/
Chloe's Celebrate it Monday

http://celebrateanddecorate.com

Ruth's Tuesday Cuppa Tea

http://www.antiquesandteacups.info

Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party!

http:/blog.bernideen.co m

Home Matters

http://lifewithlorelai.com/

Susan's Tablescape Thursday

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Share your Style Thursday

http://www.thevintagenestblog.com/

Katherine's Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

https://katherinescorner.com

Kate's Flaunt it Friday

http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/

Monday, April 23, 2018

Baby Daughter's 37th Birthday Luncheon, 4-22-2018

I can't believe my baby is 37 years old! Geez! Where has the time gone? Anyway, she was hosting a baby shower at 2 PM so I decided to have an early luncheon to celebrate her birthday with her family and our close German family friends, Todd, Stephanie and Isabel.

I got so busy that I forgot to take pictures, but trust me, we had a lot of fun eating and conversing over the table.

This was how the table looked before the food and the flowers on the vase were placed.

I opted to use Polish pottery because the dishes are the easiest for me to access, since they are one of my everyday dishes and they are easily accessible. I am not used to hosting luncheons which do not give me enough time to prepare, compared to dinners when I would have pretty much all day.

Because I cooked all morning, I did not have time to go to the store to buy fresh flowers so I just gathered and cut some from our garden and just stuck them in a Polish pottery pitcher.