Dreams to Millions Financial Planner 2019 Review

First of all, Happy New Year! We're already midway January 2019. If you still do not have a planner for this year then I might be able to help you in that department.

I was given the Dreams to Millions Financial Planner 2019 by Krissy Domingo of Idea School to review for this blog. And maybe, by the end of this post, you make it as one of your options in choosing your planner.

First Impression

I love the playful wordcloud on the cover. It's very eyecatching. Plus it's green which is the color of wealth. Surprisingly, this hardbound financial planner is very light to carry. it could fit into your everyday bag.

What's inside

The personal information page includes the basics, (such as your name and usual contact details), as well spaces for your social media handles.

This planner is all about goal-setting and has dedicated pages for your goal for the year, your monthly goals and travel goals.

There is also a page for the famous ipon or savings challenge so that you can keep track of how much you already have.

Articles by financial experts about how to save, invest, how to get out of debt and many more are also inside this planner. My personal favorite would be the article which explains all these head-scratching financial terms. I think that these articles are quite helpful.

Each month starts with a lovely motivational quote and a page for your monthly expenses and savings to keep you in check.

The Dreams to Millions Financial Planner is a dated weekly planner which is printed across 2 pages. It has a vertical layout. This is my first planner that has this layout and I personally love this because it's easier to look at when you want to take a quick glance of your week.

Each spread also has a space for your top priorities, things you are grateful for, weekly savings and your #YOLOlist.

Below each page, you have the notes section. However, I think the space is quite small. I wish they had dedicated pages for notetaking because I always go to conferences and sometimes I tend to write on my planner. But, I do understand that this may make the planner thicker. So if you choose this planner, you better carry a separate notebook if you are attending lecture/conference/convention. (For this purpose, I use my travel journal).

Why should you get it?

I think this planner would be perfect for Millenials and those who are starting out in their careers. It can help you not only in tracking your finances but also your everyday life. The articles inside this planner can help you in deciding how to spend your hard-earned cash or how to make it grow.

You can get the Dreams to Millions Financial Planner online by visiting the My Idea School website.

Splash Math: The Fun Way To Learn

I hate Math! I always said that being a doctor would be perfect for me because there would be little math involved. Boy, was I wrong. Apparently, there are tons and tons of numbers and a whole bunch of formulas to be solved in the field of Medicine.

Henry, being my son, took after my dislike for the subject. Give him any other homework and he would finish it in a heartbeat. But, with math problems, it would take him hours to finish. This disdain for it has caused us many arguments, math anxiety for him and of course, a toll on his grades.

Enter, Splash Math.

Splash Math is an interactive math program available on the web or any iOS device. Math skill levels starting from Kindergarten to Grade 5 are available in this app. It makes learning fun through games and rewards.

What I like about my Splash Math is that it challenges my son to answer each question correctly and thus helping him gain mastery of certain math skills. it also provides explanations for the wrong answers.

As the parent, I choose which Math skill sets he will solve for the day. I make sure that it will be congruent with his lessons in school. Parents are given the chance to preview the math problems and try to answer it themselves. Henry is currently in 4th grade and Splash Math covers their currrent topics such as PEMDAS, Algebra, Fractions and Geometry.

Another thing that I like about this app is that it is available anytime and anywhere. Henry uses his laptop for it at home, and when we go out, he can access it through my iPhone.

Splash Math gives you reports on how your child is doing with regards to his math skills. So, even if I am on duty at the hospital, I can easily track his progress.

Splash Math also has separate apps for each grade level. However, I prefer the all-in-one Splash Math Grades K-5 app since it makes it easier to go back to lower levels for when Henry needs to review his basics. 

Splash Math is available online via their website and on the App Store.

Our Afternoon at Adventure Zone in Shangri-La at the Fort

We decided to celebrate my birthday last December by having a staycation in Shangri-La at the Fort. One of the reasons why I chose this hotel was to check out Adventure Zone. 

Adventure Zone is a 1000-square meter indoor playground inside Shangri-la at the Fort that I thought Henry might enjoy. And, I was right!

As soon as we got there, his eyes sparkled with excitement. It’s a great place for toddlers, big kids and even for parents.

Henry's Mom Reviews: BeautyMNL.com

As a working mom who goes on duty every 3 days (with a 24-hour shift), it's hard to find time to go to the mall and shop. That's why when the BeautyMNL contacted me to test drive their site, I was really excited. I have to be honest that I have been frequenting this site for quite awhile now and it’s very easy to use. Just sign up, and then you’re good to go.

They have a great selection. BeautyMNL carries most of our trusted well-known brands as well as those new and promising ones. 

Once you've picked out the items that you want, you can choose to pay via credit card, Paypal, bank deposit or COD.

I placed my order on Novemeber 1st, a holiday. They promised to deliver my goods within 3-5 working days. Impressively, my order immediately arrived the next day. My order came in a sealed zip lock container. 

Here are the items that I got from them. 

(Left to Right) 1. St. Ives Apricot Scrub 2. Maybelline Pure Mineral Blush in Coral 2. Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Mattes in Touch of Spice. 

BeautyMNL is not just an online shop, it's a beauty website. My favorite part of their site is the Bloom section. Here you can read about their tops reviews, make up tutorials and skin care. 

I would recommend this site to those who love online shopping due to their wide range of selection and very simple process.

For all of you who likes taking selfies, they have a #selfieMBL contest. Here you can get a chance to win a Prinster polaroid of your pretty face and a Php 200 BeautyMNL GC. Click here for the complete details.

Henry's Mom Reviews: Momma Don't You Worry By Louie Lawent

Momma Don't You Worry is a beautifully illustrated book written by Louie Lawent. It's about a 6-year old boy who thinks he's already too cool to still be holding his momma's hand. He even told his mom that there's no need to fear. Then one day, at the mall, he wandered off and found himself lost. Eventually the little boy found his mom. It's a good thing that his momma taught him what to do when he gets lost.

What I love about this book was it was very easy and fun to read. I even asked Henry to read it to me. I asked him if he learned something from the story and he answered me with this, "Never leave your side at the mall." The moral lesson is very easy to understand since it was written in the perspective of a 6-year old boy. After reading this book, I've used it as reference whenever I go out with the little boy. I definitely recommend this book for parents with small children. 

Momma Don't You Worry is currently available at Amazon and Barnes and Nobbles. 

Budsies: Bringing your child's artwork to life

The little boy is becoming quite an artist. He's been bringing home artwork from school everyday. Imagine his excitement when he learned that he can bring his drawing to life as a stuffed toy through Budsies. They're an incredible company that brings children's artworks to life by transforming them into stuffed animals. When I told Henry about this, he decided to go with this drawing. It 's a "Tiger Bear" according to him.

Henry's Budsies

Ordering your very own Budsies was such a breeze. You just send them a copy of the drawing and wait for your Budsies to arrive. Ours took about a couple of weeks.

The Budsies was impressive. It was very close to Henry's drawing. I expected it to be very small but it was enough to become a pillow. Henry's eyes lit up once he saw his drawing become a toy. They really put attention to details.

We decided to give it to his baby cousin, Eidan since we rarely get to see him. Just so he can have something to remember Henry by. After all, they are oceans away from each. And we're very glad to know that Eidan is loving Kuya Henry's gift to him.

Budsies is a great idea especially if you have a stack of drawings of your kids. Just ask them which ones are their favorites and give them life.

To know more about Budsies, you can visit their website or their Facebook page.

Henry's Mom Reviews: Movie Stars Cafe plus Discount Code

Hey y'all! How's it been? Tomorrow is my first day at work and I'm so nervous about it. But before I go back to my toxic life, the boys and I together with my MIL decided to check out the Movie Stars Cafe near the Mall of Asia. (Thanks for the invite, Lani!)

Movie Stars Cafe is, as the name implies, a movie-themed cafe and restaurant. As soon as you get there, you will notice their trademark gorilla sculpture. Of course, the little kid and the mother-in-law couldn't wait to have their picture taken. 

Once inside we were blown away with the whole set-up. The Movie Stars Cafe has 4 huge screens and a hundred more small ones playing different movies simultaneously.

There were actors and actresses in different costumes who also served and entertained the customers.

For the food, you can choose from their menu or avail of their Dino buffet (P599). You can see their open kitchen from the buffet section. They had a huge selection of food which all looked delicious. You won't get lost finding the buffet because of the large T-rex head hanging above it.

Chef Albert with T-rex

We chose to order from their menu since we were on a "diet". Their meals were inspired by different movies. All their meals are good for 2-3 persons. It was really sulit. For starters, we had the seafood platter, Treasure Island. 

Treasure Island

Our main course were their bestsellers, The Notebook and the 18" El Supremo Pizza. 

18" El Supremo

The Notebook

While we ate, we enjoyed the live performances. Every 30 minutes, a different show goes on stage. This goes on from the moment they open until closing time. 

Xanadu

Iron Man

Magic Show

The Magic show was our favorite. They had a volunteer come up the stage and join them. 

Magic Show

We also had fun roaming around the place because of the sculptures. The MIL was so game to have her pics taken with them. 

My cool mother-in-law

This restaurant is very family-friendly with great food and entertainment. We had such a great time and the little boy cannot wait to go back

.

Aside from the regular menu and Dino Buffet, Movie Stars Cafe also offer a Midnight Buffet  (P599) from 12am to 2am. Party packages are also available.

Henry's Mom Blogs readers can enjoy a 10% discount at the Movie Stars Cafe by using this special code:

Save this coupon on your phone and use it every time you dine in at Movie Stars Cafe. Just mention this code to your server or show your coupon and they will automatically slash 10% off your bill.

You can visit Movie Stars Cafe at By the Bay, Seaside Blvd, Mall of Asia, Pasay City. For more information, you can also go to their Facebook page. 

Kid's Academy Preschool and Kindergaten Learning App Review

Today I'm here to review Kid's Academy's Preschool and Kindergarten learning games app. Kid's Academy is one of the leading children's app developers. 

App Description from the iTunes Store

"Based on the proven Montessori learning method, Kids Academy develops spelling, writing and reading skills through fascinating games!This app is created to make fun more educational! The app goes beyond simply great graphics and beautiful music by engaging children to learn preschool basics through intriguing game play. Toddlers will start with easy tracing by collecting fireflies in a jar and will move gradually to tracing requiring more developed fine-motor skills. The basic skills in this app are foundations for reading, writing and arithmetic operations. Appropriate hints are provided to support your children as they practice and build their skills."

Snails, safe for your nails: Non-toxic nail polish for kids

Hey everyone! I'm back. It's been so long since my last blog post. Junior internship has eaten me alive. Can you imagine I'll be graduating from medical school in 2 weeks, I'll tell you all about that in another blog post.

For the mean time, let me tell you about something that a got in the mail a few months back from Athens, Greece! The nice people from SNAILS sent me 2 bottles of their product to review.

What is SNAILS, you ask? SNAILS stand for Safe Nails. It's the first ever French-made chemical-free nail polish for kids.



Here's a little background on SNAILS. It all started when a mom of two scoured the market for safe non-toxic nail polish to colour up the imaginative play of her little ones. She quickly found that such a product just didn't exist - so SNAILS was born.

Mommy Approved: Kidzville Play and Party Center

Finally! We went to Kidzville in Podium. Last Wednesday, Henry and I headed out to Ortigas for a playdate with his little cousins. 

I have passed by Kidzville a couple of times, but it was always full. There was always a birthday party going on. So, we never braved to come inside. Luckily, only a couple of kids were there when we arrived. 

We went to their Playmaze (active gym) first. Playmaze is an obstacle course for kids - lots of climbing up and down. There are 3 long slides which the kids love. They also have a ball pit, but there were no balls when we arrive since they had just cleaned the pit.

Here's our little brood posing on top of the slide. As you can see, it's a looooong way down. 

It's a looooong way down. 

After half an hour in the Playmaze, we decided to move to their pretend village. It was a small community full of mini's - a mini hospital, a mini garage, a mini barn, a mini fire station, a mini grocery and a mini cafe. 

The Red Pancit

UPDATED PHOTO: This is the Pancit Tikyano we had last Sunday. (03/31/2013)

Hi! How was your long weekend? Did you go anywhere? Aside from being stuck in the hospital for 5 days, I was excited to go home to Batangas City for Undas (All Soul's Day). Most especially, I was excited to come home to the great food that awaits me.

Whenever I come home to the province, there is always this one food that I look forward to - the RED pancit, or more popularly known as Pancit Tikyano or Letty's Pancit. It can only be found in Batangas City and has been a local favorite for as long as I can remember.

The pancit is delicious by itself but most of us Batangueños would eat it with rice. Even before all those instant ulam noodles, the Pancit Tikyano already existed. This red stir-fried noodles is topped with carrots, cabbage, pork, CHICHARON, etc. Just looking at the picture above makes my mouth water already. 

Remember how they say to eat pancit for long life? Well, my lolo and lola ate this pancit almost everyday and they lived until the ages of 92 and 93 respectively. I guess it must be true. 

I would definitely recommend it to anyone that would visit Batangas City. It's a must! The Pancit Tikyano can only be found at Letty's Restaurant in M.H. del Pilar St., Batangas City. It's near the Church of the Immaculate Concepcion.

I hope you had a great long weekend as well. 

My New Favorite Courier: BayadPo.com

After the habagat took a toll on my regular courier, they never really recuperated. This meant I had to look for an alternative courier, that can do a better job. So when Multiply.com announced their new courier partners, I tried BayadPo and loved them! Since then I have been using BayadPo for a couple of months now for shipping my products. 

BayadPo offers the most affordable rates starting at P45 for next day delivery. And it's so easy to schedule a pick-up with them online. So far, they have been doing a great job - on-time pick up, no late deliveries. 

When I first tried their service, I scheduled a pick-up a little bit before 4:00pm (their cut off time). And lo and behold, just an hour later, a rider was already knocking at my door ready to pick up my package. They are that fast!

Customer service is awesome as well. It is so easy to call their hotline number for inquiries and booking. Their people are very pleasant to talk to and very accommodating. Although they do not have an online chat system on their website, they respond quickly to inquiries on their Facebook page. 

Among all these things, what really got me to write this review was what happened yesterday. You see, I needed some supplies for Party Impresssions. To get them, I had to go all the way to Quezon City from Mandaluyong (which meant two cab rides for me, ugh!) Suddenly, I remembered that Bayad Po also offers Same Day delivery, and they also have this option that the receiver of the package pays for the shipping fee. This looked exactly what I needed. So I called my supplier, placed my orders and paid them thru BPI Transfer to anyone (another service that I love). I also advised them that a rider from Bayad Po will be picking up my package and I will be the one paying for the shipping fee. After this, i booked a pick up online and waited for my package. Again, after just an hour, my package arrived. And get this, I only paid P120 for shipping! That's less than how much 2 cab rides would cost me. 

So, Kudos to the people behind Bayad Po and keep it up.