A prenatal check-up, a birthday & a koi village ...

Yesterday morning, Mon and Chloe accompanied me to Medical Center Muntinlupa for my monthly pre-natal check-up. My OB-GYNE (Dra. Loida Ponio), was so delighted to see that my blood pressure was 110/80 and gained only 4 lbs from the previous month. After having given her the result of my pelvic ultrasound, she said that my EDC coincides with the date of the ultrasound result. It's confirmed that I am due around the 30th of September this year. However, she said that I shall be scheduled for a cesarean section earlier than the said date. She advised for me to continue taking my aspilet, my calcium and my iron supplements and of course, to continue with my fish, chicken, low salt and low fat diet.

Since it was lunch time when we were finished, we decided to eat at the hospital's canteen where they served delicious and nutritious food at an affordable price.

Afterwards, off we went to Manila to visit my mother-in-law for her 62nd birthday celebration. On the way, it was raining hard so we called Mommy Virgie and asked if it was also pouring at their side since we might have to pass through flooded streets on the way. She said, on the contrary, the sun was shining brightly and was hot. So, we proceeded and decided to take the SKY WAY. It was a good decision ... since it was a weekday, we got to Manila in 1 1/2 hours. The Sky Way saved us at least 30 mins of travel time.

The weather the past few days have been terrible! After the recent typhoon, it has been sun & rain & sun & rain ... Sometimes even if the sun isn't shining, the weather is humid.

It was hot and humid when we arrived in Manila. It was already 3:30 pm and was "merienda" time. We were the first ones to arrive and since we were already hungry, we had some spaghetti that my father-in-law prepared. We were surprised yet happy to see that Philip (Gigette's eldest son) was able to come together with her Lola Cherry. The brothers, Philip and Evan were already playing when we arrived and we could see how much they missed each other and how fond they are of each other. Chloe, on the other hand was not happy about it ... it was her first time to see Philip again after a couple of years and she does not recognize him as one of her cousins. At first, she did not want to play with him and was jealous of the attention that Evan was giving him. We explained to her that Philip and Evan are brothers and he is also one of her cousins. Eventually, Philip was the one who made Chloe become at ease with him with his funny antics. He made her laugh and before we knew it, they were laughing, playing and having fun.

After a few hours, Bobby, Lani and Yianel arrived with the birthday cake for Mommy Virgie. They also brought with them "pansit malabon" and "fresh lumpia" (all from Goldilock's). It was early evening so we all decided to have dinner. Aside from the food that they brought, Mommy Virgie prepared "rellenong bangus" while Daddy Nesty cooked some "nilagang baka" and "fried chicken".

Jun, Sharon and Jover arrived after we had dinner since they came from Jun's office and he still had to do some finishing up with work. Unfortunately, when they arrived, Lola Cherry and Philip had gone home. We were almost complete ... we were crossing our fingers that Richard would be able to make it. He called from the office and he said that he was going to try to come but a second call confirmed that he was not going to make it. Well, there's always next time ...

The kids had a great time! It was only during these special occassions do they get the chance to see and be in each other's company. At last, after having rested from having dinner. We posed with the birthday celebrant and the cake was sliced and distributed as dessert.

We were full ... and it was almost 9pm ... it was time to say our goodbyes and go home. Until the next celebration / gathering / reunion ... Click here to view the pictures from the birthday celebration.

On the way home, we gave Jun, Sharon and Jover a ride since San Pedro, Laguna was only 5 mins away from our place. But before we headed straight back, we decided to see if the Koi Village in Magallanes was still open that time. Luckily, when we passed it still was ... Mon and Jun have been taking care of different kinds of fish since they were kids and even now, they still do and koi is one variety they really like. Mon had been at the Koi Village a couple of times before and had bought some of our pet koi from there. On the other hand, it was all our first time ...

The Koi Village had koi of different sizes and colors ... they were beautiful! Some of the ponds contained really large koi and could be compared to the size of a small child and some of which were off limits to kids because the water was already deep and could be dangerous if one accidentally falls into it.

You can feed the koi by buying some food from them at only P20. Jover really had a good time feeding them! Chloe was a bit hesitant at first but eventually asked for some so she could also feed the koi. We did not stay long as it was already past 9pm when we arrived. They close at 9pm but they were kind to accomodate us and allow us to take pictures. Click here to view the pictures from the Koi Village.