OUR YAPPY SUMMER 2016

I really love summer. Seriously.

Not just "Oh summer is so fun" kind of love. More like "EGAD. It's going to be 294 days till life is worth living again!!!!"

I was so obsessed with it and I'm sure that like any normal human being, you know why.

You cannot really blame us. I always maintained that I had such a happy childhood and some of the memories that I deemed super special were the ones when school was out. I remember doing a lot of things: my family would have out of town trips, we get to sleep late (but we still did chores!), we had sleepovers, we ate our favorite hot meals the whole day, and we could watch TV as much as we wanted (as long as it's after 12:00pm!!!). My parents really put in extra effort just so that my siblings and I will enjoy the "everyday is a holiday" season. But of course, I didn't just waited for my Mom and Dad all day to be able to do something. I also did things on my own: I made mixed tapes (heard of that??), I made videos (using a big camera), I drew comics, I baked pies and cookies, and I even wrote books similar to "Sweet Dreams!"

Woah... All of that seems so tiring when I read it today. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

That's why, every summer the Chinese Adonis and I make it a point to have a worthy vacation for the little lords: we would have them take classes and go on workshops (2014), or we would have staycations and family trips (2015). This year, we decided to do a little bit of both and we still had loads of fun all the same!

And like before, the Chinese Adonis and I had a LOT of "us" time during the little lords' summer vacation: we had dinner dates  and gimiks on weekdays and we would watch dibidis all night long!!!!

So see? No matter how outrageous or simple that we spend it, SUMMER IS ALWAYS A BLAST for the YAPPY BUNCH. Check out how we spent it this year!

While you do THAT, I'll busy counting the days till summer of 2017!!! :)

Seriously!!!!!!!

THE YAPPY BUNCH summer of 2016!!!!!!!!!

Summer vacation officially started for Andrei on his last day of school! We celebrated this momentous event (hehe) at IPPUDO RAMEN since the Chinese Dimpol (who was also having his birthday week that time) was also craving for it!

As for master Mati, his school year ended on a sweet note when he graduated from grade school!!!!!!!

WOHOOO!!!!

Congratulations dear Master Mati!!!!! We're all so proud of you!

I thought that I'll only get emotional when my sons graduate from College. However when the ceremony started and I saw my boy walking so proudly on the aisle, my tears just welled up! I was so happy and proud!!!!!! I can't thank the Lord enough for blessing my Mati with this!!!!!

NOW LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!!!!!!!

Every year, the little lords would do the KIDDIE CREW at MCDONALD'S. After their 5th year, it's time to say goodbye to their regular "job" and do something else.

This year, the boys only requested for sports. So naturally Andrei went for basketball and we found a very good program nearby.

Little Andrei was doubly excited because his friend Fritz enrolled as well!

Go boys!!!!!

The basketball workshop was 3 times a week for about a month. And Andrei learned a lot from the exercises!

Andrei's so cute during the jumping exercises!

So proud of Andrei because on the last day, his team won on a full court game and he was able to shoot! Go Andrei!

Like his outfit? Everything is his idea. Yup! Up to the head band!

Congratulations boys!

As for Mati, he went for Taekwondo! 

He's not really sporty-sporty but he was willing to try this out.

Master Mati learned to do a lot of kicking!

According to his instructor, he was doing good!

Dear Mati was able to spar with some of the bigger kids in the class.

My boy still got a lot to learn but at least he didn't cry or quit when a guy competitor was able to kick him.

When he's not in Taekwondo classes, Master Mati was working as an assistant to my Dad's secretary in the family business. 

Of course, there would be days when he would be lazy to go to "work" especially if he didn't feel like getting up yet. But most of the time, he did a good job!

Child labor at its finest... He he he he he he he he!

Kidding!

For SUMMER 2016, THE YAPPY BUNCH had getaways!!!!

We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship!!!!

At the end of March, we went to Maragondon Cavite for HOLY WEEK!

Every year, we take out our Santos to participate in the town procession during Holy Week!

This is something that has been our religious tradition for the whole family!

We have been this doing this since 1980!!!!

Of course, besides the Holy Week procession, we love going around my Dad's home town for some sightseeing!

Check out our HOLY WEEK IN CAVITE!!!!!

On another weekend, a very lovely friend who I'll just call Mrs. Wong, lent us her condo unit at Flair Towers!

There, we swam and lazed around with all our might!!!!!

Check out our blogpost about our fun stay there in HERE!

Last April, THE YAPPY BUNCH with Team Campo, Team Virrey, Team Navarro, and Team Sangil had a staycation at MIMOSA VILLAS and spent a day in FONTANA WATER THEME PARK!!!!!

It was really a weekend with friends and family!

Check out our blogpost on FONTANA WATER THEME PARK, and MIMOSA VILLAS!!!!!

In the first week of May, we rode out to Antipolo one weekend.

This is for a summer getogether with THE KTG in THE PICKIEST EATER'S house!!!!!

This was epic!!!! 

Check out my blog post about that HERE!!!

I was also able to get a picture with the pogi Illac Diaz. Hi hi hi hi!

#pagbigyannaangmatrona

Ha ha ha ha ha !

We ended the night with pints of MERRY MOO ice cream in different flavors!!!!!

Suhweeet!!!!

I'm not sure if you could count this as a getaway but it felt like it with our "bakasyonista", Johans of Team Virrey!

It's his first sleepover and it's going to be with us!

The boys were super excited! We had a lot of activities planned for him!

Blogpost coming soon!!!!!

Besides getaways, THE YAPPY BUNCH also tried out new activities!!!!!

Like the TRAMPOLINE PARK!

It's a place where you had to do A LOT of bouncing!!!!

Not for the faint of heart with big hips. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Check out our fun time at TRAMPOLINE PARK!!!

We also tried out the SLIDEFEST!!!!

It was a different kind of family activity for us!

The great thing too was that we had REINFORCEMENTS!!!!!

Check out our blogpost on SLIDEFEST PHILIPPINES!!!!

Of course, home is really where the heart is. And we would still have an awesome night with the little lords staying in and playing boardgames!!!!!!

For me one of the most unforgettable things that the Little Lords did at home this summer was to show their love for WRESTLEMANIA.

Yup! They really woke up early for it!!

And since they woke up early, I cooked their breakfast ultra early too!

And since we ARE called ERICJAZ FOODIES, we still had a lot of food trips at our FAVORITE restaurants!!!!!!

GENKI SUSHI with my sister and her hub!

ANOTHER GENKI Sundate dinner!

We ate there again during MOTHER'S DAY!

And on ANOTHER weekend!!!!

I swear, the GENKI SUSHI servers know us already. We eat there almost every week!

TGIFRIDAYS!!!

KAYA!!!!

LEE HAK Korean Buffet!!!!

BUTAMARU!!!!

KOGI Korean Restaurant!

PEPPER LUNCH!!!!

Plus Fridates with TEAM VIRREY!!!!

We also relived fun times with our favorite pizza with SHAKEY'S!!!

If I could have my way, LET'S ALL HAVE PIZZA EVERYDAY!!!!

Besides our food trips, THE YAPPY BUNCH watched our much-awaited SUMMER MOVIES!!!!!

Batman Vs. Superman!!!!!!

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR!!!!!

ANGRY BIRDS with Johans!!!!

XMEN: APOCALYPSE!

And most recently, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES 2!!!!

Of course, as much as we love the little lords, we also go out just by our lonesome on date nights!!!!

8 CUTS BURGER!!!

PHO HOA!!!

It's been soooo long since our last dinner here!

The piece de resistance was during our Anniversary dinner!

In WAGYU STONEHOUSE GRILL!!!!!

Besides loving each other (YUK) we love our cool friends!!!

With our TAPE Inc Family in IMPRESSIONS RESTAURANT!!!

We would always have drinks afterwards!!!

HIC!

Dear Maru treated us for his birthday at CHEF AND BREWER!

But the real event was during his SURPRISE BIRTHDAY BASH!

We had this in REMINISQUE BISTRO and the youngest Sotto brother (tee hee) was so touched!

See the blogpost HERE!!!!

Another unforgettable night out with my TAPE family was in MORITA JAPANESE RESTAURANT!!!

They had dinner AND dancing!!!! Who would have thought I'll still be shaking my sweet butt on the dance floor on a Friday???

Check out blogpost about MORITA in HERE!!!!

With the KTG in CORNICHE, DIAMOND HOTEL!

With the KTG again at CALDERON AND GUEVARRA!

My KTG dinner at CHILI'S to try out their new craft burgers was something for the books too!

Besides exchanging ghost tales and stories about our new President, we also munched on these juicy burgers!!!!!!

Also with my Assumption Friends in BUGSYS!!!!

And our favorite, TGIFRIDAYS!!!!

Make new friends but keep the old! With that, I'm so thankful to still be in touch with dear Hershey, my friend from High School. She treated me to a super belated birthday lunch in UMU JAPANESE RESTAURANT IN DUSIT THANI HOTEL!

We had a lot of fun in that meet up that we immediately scheduled a part 2!!!!

I treated her to a super advance birthday lunch in House of Wagyu!!!!!

Super happy (advance) birthday dear Hershey!!!!!

Speaking of birthdays, I also treated my High School bud Sandra in TUAN TUAN before she left for a vacation in London.

As you can see, we talked until everything closed on us. H aha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Let us not forget having a double date with mareng Gail at JOEY'S PEPPERONI and finding out she's pregnant... AGAIN!

WOHOOO!

Congratulations mare! Such a blessing this summer!

If you're looking for my Best Gal Pal Marian, she and Manong Fred are in the US! Even if they were non-existent in our night outs this summer, we always had video chatting with them!

You could check out her guest blogging with her entry about her favorite Japanese and Korean buffets in America!

And of course, we will ALWAYS share a meal with a whole lot of loving with FAMILY!!!!

My Mom treated me in Theatre Cafe at Solaire Hotel in the first week of April!

Reason why we're there was because I treated her to watch LES MISERABLES!!!!!

How did I find the show?

Does THIS answer your question?

Yep!!!! I loved the show even AFTER finding out that I'm not wearing water proof eye make up. H a ha ha ha ha!

We had a mouth watering Filipino lunch during Mother's Day!

Family Sunday lunches are just the best!!!!!

Last May 9, 2016, it was the National Elections and we all went out to vote!

Besides being able to exercise our rights, we also worked up an appetite. My Dad treated us all to WOODEN SPOON!!!!

I just love eating for a cause....

Cause for libre! He he he he he he he he!

That's me on the phone!!!!!!!

If you're looking for Andrei and the Chinese Adonis, they were in Quezon Province to vote!

When they returned that night, a celebration with our favorite HEALTHY SHABU SHABU was in order!!!

HE HE HE HE HE HE!

We bid farewell to the last weekend of summer by having a family lunch in MONGKOK!

There, the little lords saw some familiar faces... He he he he he he he he!

BESIDES EATING OUT, I MADE IT A POINT TO COOK FOR MY MOM THIS SUMMER!

Lemon Grass Chicken!

(My Mom's favorite!)

Ground Pork with Basil!

Shrimp and Lemon Pasta!

All the dishes up above were made from scratch. No mixes or ready made sauces.\

I don't really go for instant but when I do, it's with noodles! Yup! My favorite!!! So imagine my surprise and delight when my Kuya Jon and Ate Jit gifted me with boxes of instant Ramen from their recent trip in Japan!!!!!!!!!!!

NAHULOG ANG BANGS KO SA EXCITEMENT!!!

Kidding!!!! 

In a moment of weakness (aka laziness) I got a bunch of my hair and just cut it with one snip. The result?

SUPERKADUPERSHORT BANGS!!!

Auuuugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will this make or break my summer???

Well most definitely it caused a lot of laughs for me (and others) this summer vacation. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

SO THAT'S THAT!!!!

Speaking of haircuts, the little lords requested last March if they could let their hair grow long this summer because they hated going to the barber. I agreed since I wanted them to have their special kind of summer. This was also THEIR time and we're open to how they want to go about it.

But then, vacation's over boys and that means it's time to visit Lando the Barbero!!!

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

And there you have it. With a snip of the scissors, it's official that it's time to bid summer vacation adieu and then greet the new school year a hello.

Wow! How time flies talaga when you're having fun!!!!!!!!!!!  Mati will be Grade 7 while Andrei will be in Grade 4. With the new challenges that they're going to face this school year, I'm hoping the recent summer energized them to work hard in order to have a MORE unforgettable vacation next year.

Because for me and the Chinese Dimpol, it certainly DID!

THAT'S why we just LOOOOOOOVE summer!!!!

Till next year!!!!!