A Sustainable Stay at Siloso Beach Resort

Date of Visit: November 30, 2019 - December 3, 2019 

Where: Siloso Beach Resort, Sentosa Island, Singapore
Website: https://www.silosobeachresort.com/

Travel Buddies: Hanna, Tonyo, Maia, Wowo Ross, Wowa Nenet

By the roadside sign at the 8th Floor Reception

In our search for a place to stay within Sentosa Island, Singapore – most search engines featured Siloso Beach Resort as one of the cheaper places to stay.  We were able to book 2 rooms at Php7,775 each per night via Agoda. That was still a bit steep , but I wanted to stay in the island to be (a) closer to where Tonyo’s art competition will be held, (b) I figured it would be more convenient for the kids and the seniors to be closer to the entertainment. What sealed the deal for me to pick Siloso was its packaging as a “Sustainable Hotel,” and I was willing to pay the extra cost for the learning opportunity!

For most of this decade I worked on advocating for greening businesses and I continue to love checking out green destinations. To sidetrack a bit, I think Singapore is a good destination for eco-tours, not because of its beautiful spots (hardly – as compared to Philippines!), but to learn how they innovate to maximize use of resources in the way buildings are built and how businesses are run. They also do a good job educating the public about the need to protect the environment.  

Anyway, back to Siloso Beach Resort! I will not focus on the rooms to much, but on the eco-features of the hotel.

Since there were 5 of us, we were advised to get a family suite or two superior suites. Getting the two rooms was cheaper by a few thousand pesos, so I chose to book that. We were lucky to get two adjacent rooms! J Maia loved having her own bed and threw out anyone who tried to lie down next to her. I had to share a twin bed with Tonyo! Having two separate rooms was also good for our sanity so we have a "resting" room and a noisy room (essential if you have kids around!) 

I always expect Singapore to be high-tech, smooth, bright, and shiny. Siloso Beach Resort was quite the opposite, as it was a “jungle” hotel and a rather rustic place to stay in. Parang nasa Batangas ka ;)

Room air conditioning units have heat exchange technology - where the heat from the A/C is harnessed to heat the water for the shower. 

Check out some scenes from the hotel! 

Ground floor, by the restaurant - with access to the Beach Station bus and a short walk from the
Sentosa Train station! Siloso Beach Resort is an equal opportunity employer and they hire people with special needs and seniors to be part of their restaurant staff. The free breakfast buffet had a pretty good selection, too! 

The hotel offered free eco-tours to show all the green features of the hotel. I signed up for this but ended up not going because I had to watch the kids! Wowo and Wowa took our slots and enjoyed the tour! It was easy enough to do a DIY tour with Tonyo since there were posters everywhere for us to learn on our own!

 

During construction, the hotel worked with the existing terrain and forest cover. They said no trees were cut during construction! Some rooms even had tree trunks growing inside them

Siloso Beach Resort's Sustainability Journey. I think it is better to have this mindset already at the onset.

Check out the tree trunk growing in the middle of the room 

Green Roofs! Having rooftop gardens keep buildings cool, therefore helping the A/Cs work less and consume less energy. 

Waste segregation 

They have 100 Trays of worms! Hotel practices vermicomposting, where they effectively convert their food waste to valuable fertilizer. It was our favorite part of our "tour"

Nature hike throughout the resort grounds 

They had an amazing chlorine-free freshwater pool, one of the longest in Singapore

We just had to try it :D Sacrificed half a day supposedly allocated to Universal Studios. Binagyo na kami noong hapon hahaha. #noregrets

Things that can be improved:

Hotel is getting a bit run-down and could use a face lift. Being green shouldn’t mean musty. During our first day some men were doing some renovations in front of our room. They were pounding away early in the morning and the smell of the glue (Rugby?) was overpowering inside our room. It would have been OK with me if we were informed of this ahead of time so we would know what to expect! They apologized and made sure that the men only worked a certain time.

Being surrounded by nature meant being surrounded by mosquitoes. The rooms in the lower floors were surrounded by “moats” that had fish, who were supposed to control the mosquito population. But it was still bad… I wonder if there are other natural ways to control the bugs? (make it a flowing stream? Plant citronella trees? Diffuse citronella oils along the corridor?)

They still served small bottled water (2 bottles a day) in the rooms, so this meant plastic waste. However, they didn't give you extra water after you consume these – but instead encourage you to refill for free. This was good, but then they only had one refilling station at the reception area. I think it would be good if they provided rooms with pitchers and have refilling stations in strategic areas (every floor? Every other floor?)

It’s a beach resort and they have a huge pool with a waterfall, but no open places to hang and dry wet clothes. Provision for drying areas please!

Overall, it was still a pleasant stay. I highly recommend staying here J can be enjoyed by kids of all ages, plus adults too! They’ve got friendly staff, and will go the extra mile for your needs. It’s a short walk from the Beach train stop (where you can do the Luge, iFly, and the Wings of Time) , and a quick train ride away from other Sentosa attractions like Universal Studios and Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

Will definitely stay here again! Perhaps in another lifetime I can have a place like this in the Philippines :) Kahit small-scale lang! 

From Tucson with Love (and a visit to the California ScienCenter)

Date of Visit: June 28, 2018
Where: California ScienCenter, Los Angeles, CA
Website: https://californiasciencecenter.org/
Travel Buddies: Hanna, Tonyo + Bruce and Kathy Garrett

The Kelp Forest at the California ScienCenter

Yes, #ThePacuanderers (minus Daddy) are in the United States! (As of this entry, we are still here!) I (Mommy Hanna) attended a 3-week summer certificate course in Berkeley, California and decided to bring the kids to spend some time with Wowo and Wowa, and to see some of our relatives in the US. It has been such a treat to travel with a 7-year old and a before one baby! Hopefully I will get around to writing about our whole experience! 

Visiting the US is also a chance to catch up with friends. I realized during this visit that as we accumulate US-based relationships, it has been getting harder and harder to meet a LOT of people during a trip. There just isn't enough time! 

From Tucson with Love

We were so lucky that my former host parents (from my Up With People stint in 2007) Bruce and Kathy Garrett decided to travel all the way from Tucson, Arizona (9 hours!) to see us in Cerritos, CA last June.  The last time I saw them was more than 10 years ago, when I said goodbye after a week of living in their house (see my UWP diary here: http://bananaspinworld.blogspot.com/2007/08/live-in-now.html)

Hanna and the Garretts
Tucson, AZ (2007)  

I was so happy to see them again! I stayed with more than 15 families during my travel year with UWP, and I can say that I connected the most with the Garretts. I believe we share the same love for adventure, science, and telling stories.

Kathy asked us where we wanted to go during our one day together. It was a choice between the Aquarium of the Pacific (http://www.aquariumofpacific.org) in Long Beach, or the California ScienCenter. Of course, our little scientist Googled both destinations and picked the ScienCenter!

Maia won't enjoy the field trip just yet, so it was really a day for Tonyo.

Our education started from the moment Bruce and Kathy picked us up. The Garretts arrived in a super cool Tesla!(https://www.tesla.com) Tesla is a leading manufacturer of electric cars, and they are known for their innovation and sleek designs. I loved learning about the smart car's capabilities. I was awed at how Bruce pays $1.00 to get the same mileage vs. Kathy's $35.00 worth of gasoline in her car.  I also learned that a Tesla owner can charge their cars for FREE at any Tesla Super Charger stations scattered in the United States. You may also charge your car at home at minimal cost. The Garretts have solar panels installed in their Tucson home, so that makes their car charging even greener!



California ScienCenter 

The California ScienCenter is a state-owned interactive science museum in the heart of Los Angeles. It was huge! According to the website, it spans more than 400,000 square feet and houses four permanent exhibits, with room for special/ temporary exhibits. The permanent exhibits include, The World of Life, Ecosystems, Creative World, and Air and Space.

At the time of our visit, they also had the visiting exhibit, "King Tut, the Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh." We've always been fascinated about ancient Egypt and apparently this was one of the biggest King Tut exhibits ever to go on tour! I also just recently found out that this is the last world tour for the King Tut artifacts (they go to Europe next and around 9 more cities in the next 7 years) before they move everything in its permanent home in the Grand Egyptian Museum.

When visiting the Center, be sure to allocate one whole day (specially if you have a super curious kid like mine)  so you can enjoy all attractions.

King Tut

King Tut's tomb remains one of the most important archaeological findings up to this day. Its discovery prompted a big interest in Egyptology and the artifacts found in his tomb provided a lot of insights for researchers about the life in ancient Egypt.

It was a huge collection, with some items marked as "first time out of Egypt." Tonyo had a great time going from item to item, insisting to read all the descriptions. A lady saw him and kindly offered to give Tonyo her audio guide. It was a welcome bonus for us (and quieted Tonyo down a bit...)

The exhibit was fascinating. It was a treat seeing the items that we used to only see in documentaries. I personally loved the jewels - I found the intricate designs and the colour combination of gold/ blue (lapiz)/ red/ black very beautiful. I also liked learning about the Book of the Dead, where spells were written so King Tut could bring to life the miniature warriors that were buried with him inside the tomb.

Tonyo liked learning about the multiple coffins where King Tut was buried in (sort of like Russian Matrioshka dolls). He also liked the display about the jewels and accessories that were placed upon King Tut's mummified body.

If you are interested to see this exhibit or its future tours, you may learn more at: https://kingtutexhibition.com.

Ecosystems

The Ecosystems exhibit was focused on the interconnectivity of all creatures, things, events, activities  in our planet. It was subdivided into several zones: the Extreme Zone, Forest Zone, River Zone, Island Zone, Rot Room, Global Zone, L.A Zone, and the Family Discovery Room.

Tonyo liked the Forest Zone, which featured the Kelp Forest. It was amazing how they showcased a diverse world living amongst the seaweed. My favourite was the Extreme zone, which showed life in harsh environments such as the desert and the Arctic. I also liked the L.A Zone, or the urban zone. Come to think of it, humans and our urban lifestyle is indeed an ecosystem of its own with a huge impact to the environment.



Air and Space 

The Air and Space exhibit devoted a lot of time on space science and how we are able to send humans to space. I found the astronaut toilet very interesting. Tonyo and I also rode a flight simulator (which, for me, is just a shaking box with a TV inside.. exciting for kids, though!)

Tonyo likes the life sciences (biology/ zoology) more than the physical sciences (chemistry/ physics) so he was not very enthusiastic about the techie space stuff. However, this changed a bit when we entered the Samuel Oschin Pavilion to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour!

First launched in 1992, the Endeavour has successfully completed 25 missions into space,  including the first service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. I was awed by the size of the shuttle! The external body of the main component, or the orbiter (this is the one that looks like a plane...) is actually made of ceramic tiles. Each tile has a different material composition, each one carefully designed and chosen to be exactly where it is needed.

We also saw a film on how the shuttle was transported from the Los Angeles International Airport to the ScienCenter. It was pretty cool to see how they navigated the city streets! It was a huge spectacle for the public, and apparently very expensive - with a $200 Million dollar funding for the move.

An unused External Tank (or ET) was also on display. This is a huge single-use gas tank for the orbiter. This carries all the fuel that a space shuttle orbiter needs to fly to space. It detaches from the orbiter 8.5 minutes after launch, and falls back into the earth (most of it disintegrates in the atmosphere on the way down).

A Day of Learning 

We spent a lot of time in the exhibits above and were pretty much "exhibited out." Tonyo was still energetic and was determined to see everything. We breezed through the other exhibits pretty quickly! The World of Life showed how living things' cells and body systems work.  The Creative World showed implications of inventions and innovations in our daily life. There was even a special exhibit that talked about Fear and Phobias (pretty creepy!)

The California ScienCenter is a great place for learning and sparking young (and old) minds towards science and innovation. How I wish more kids can have the opportunity to visit. It is located at the Los Angeles Exposition Park, which also has the California African American Museum and the Natural History Museum. We hope we can go back and see the other museums some other time.

On our way home, I loved how Tonyo enthusiastically talked to Kathy and Bruce about his favourite portions in the exhibits, and how he'd love to be able to invent something someday. We ended the day in high spirits.

It's Tonyo's turn! In 2007, I enjoyed Bruce's stories about the deserts of Arizona and Native American  art and history.  Now, 2018, Tonyo heard about science, space, and ... really, really bad jokes. 

Thank you so much to Bruce and Kathy for the fun-filled day! 

Hanna and the Garretts plus two (Tonyo and Maia) 2018

My Top Mommy Shopping Sites

Pregnancy has the tendency to "weigh you down" - and I meant that literally and figuratively! By the 3rd trimester, I really did not have the energy to go out to brave the mall crowds. During the few times that I DID go out, I got overwhelmed with the choices but was NOT able to find what I needed. Most of the time, I went home burned out, empty-handed, and with my back and heels aching.

Thank goodness for online shopping. I thought I'd share the online shopping websites that made me want to yell, "Thank you!! Take my money!"

Here's a quick rundown of the websites, and I will post detailed reviews of some of  my favorite items soon.

For maternity and nursing wear: 

Elin Women's Clothing 
https://elin.ph/ 

When I stumbled across Elin through a social media ad, I just couldn't get enough of it! They have a lot of classic pieces that could be worn during pregnancy, for nursing and breastfeeding, and even beyond. I spent a lot of time browsing and had a hard time choosing because I liked them all :)

It is also worth mentioning that Elin has good, close-to-reality sizing. I am a large person, and Pinoy "Free Size" or even 4XLs from the typical tiangge or bargain racks won't fit me. Elin's sizing is more accurate and less disappointing!

The prices of their items were pretty reasonable and almost the same as the cost of the maternity clothes in the malls. I just liked Elin's selection better. I think I bought 2 tops, a maternity pencil skirt, maternity leggings, 2 dresses, and a convertible scarf. Great value for money, I received a lot of compliments. and I am confident that I can use them for a long time beyond the pregnancy!

For breastfeeding needs: 

BabymamaPh
https://babymama.ph/

I think it is a great idea to have a store dedicated to breastfeeding. I visited the physical store in BGC and was awed about how much available stuff there were to support breastfeeding.

My first purchase during that visit was the Haakaa Silicone Breast Pump. I had heard a lot of good feedback online and knew that Babymama was one of the few accredited resellers of the New Zealand brand.

After giving birth and while recovering from my C-Section - I purchased via their website the following items: a Spectra 9plus breast pump, Mother Nurture powdered lactation drinks (chocolate and coffee - and I think they really work!), Malunggay capsules, and my best purchase of all, the Upspring Abdominal Binder.

<Update, October 2017> - I also bought a SaYa baby carrier and a portable UV sterilizer from Babymama! Talk about being a one-stop shop!

To help increase breast milk:

Mommy Treats Ph
https://www.facebook.com/mommytreats/

I had my breastfeeding struggles (thankfully, I am over it now and we are breastfeeding beautifully!) and to cheer me up, my friend Yvette sent me some lactation brownies and cookies from Mommy Treats and they were so yummy! I immediately ordered when I finished the batch she sent me.

I believe they work! I think they not only increased my milk volume, but the treats also improved my milk quality. I notice that I produce creamier milk whenever I consume the Mommy Treats :)

I wanted to check out other snacks and that's how I found....

Sweet Delights By Charlotte
https://www.facebook.com/SweetDelightsByCharlotte/ 

Since I wanted to try a bit of everything, I chose the 1 week supply assorted box (Php 490) which has Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brownies, Chunky Chocolate Walnut Blondies, and Cheesecake Brownies.

Her Cheesecake Brownies are the BOMB! Ang sarap! I have to keep them from Tonyo because he eats them! Mag Goldilocks na lang sya hindi nya need mag breastfeed haha.

Again, these treats really work to increase my supply while letting me enjoy dessert. Charlotte, the owner, is really sweet as well and happy to respond to inquiries about her goodies and breastfeeding overall.

If you ask me which among the two (Mommy Treats or Sweet Delights) is better - it's s a tough choice :D Though personally, I prefer Sweet Delights because of the cost and the cheesecake brownies, hehe.


For local, natural, organic bath/ body/ baby products: 

Human Heart Nature
https://humanheartnature.com/buy/ 

I've been an HHN advocate for a long time, more so during this pregnancy when I decided to cut back on chemical-laden body care products. HHN also compliments my newest essential oil fan-mode, and I see their products as a good base for my therapeutic oils!

I also love it that by purchasing HHN products, we are supporting local farms and enterprises. I like the brand so much that I've signed up to be a distributor and advocate in order to take advantage of the discount. Do let me know if you want more information on that by leaving me a message below :)

Online shopping has really evolved over the years! It has made life more convenient for everyone. I wish I had these at my fingertips during my first pregnancy. These websites are also good if you are scouting for a perfect baby shower gift!! Happy surfing and shopping !

Our Birthing Story - Maia

Our birthing story will come in trickles. As I have said before, it was a complicated pregnancy with a lot of side stories!

I am primarily writing this entry for my sisters in the Facebook support group, All about APAS and Immuno-Reproductive Cases. I am part of a small population of women whose immune systems recognize growing babies as enemies, hence attacking the growing fetus. There are several categories of these Immuno-reproductive cases, some are about blood compatibility of the mom and dad, allergic reactions to sperm, etc... It's a frustrating and expensive condition ! I intend to write more about that in another article, but for now, here's my birthing story!

(I will update this entry with links to relevant blog entries as I complete them.)

Samantha Olivia, our little Maia, was born via elective CS last August 2, 2017. OB and Immunologist both recommended to deliver at around 36-37 weeks to prevent labor and stress for both mom and baby.

History:

2009 – missed miscarriage (M/C) at 14 weeks, waited 3 months for natural M/C, had D&C (note: "missed miscarriage" is when the baby loses its heartbeat but stays in the mom's womb) 

2010 – emergency C/S at 37 weeks due to weak/ irregular fetal heartbeat via Doppler. Baby boy was in NICU for 11 days due to low birthweight and sepsis (pneumonia, UTI). I was not yet diagnosed for APAS then, our first miracle-rainbow baby is now 6 years old!

2014 – another missed M/C at 16 weeks, 2 weeks before natural M/C, had D&C

2017 – positive pregnancy test, searched for a new OB (who referred me to an immunologist), got tested for RID, diagnosed Cat 3, and subsequently treated as APAS. Elective CS at 37 weeks, healthy (though small at 5.2 lbs) baby girl.

Hospital: St. Luke’s BGC

OB Gyne: Dr. May Anne Tabaquero

Immunologist: Dr. CJ Gloria

Vitamins and Medication:

Folart

Duphaston

Caltrate

Trihemic

Solgar 5 Billion 2x a day / Culturelle 15 Billion once available :) 

Clusivol OB

Aldomet (gestational hypertension manifested during 2^nd trimester)

Aspirin (up to 33 weeks)

Innohep .35 (1 shot a day, up to 2 days before surgery, and then resume 2 days after surgery for 10 more days)
Betamethasone, 2 shots 24 hours apart at 24 weeks for baby’s lung development

Aminovita (from 34 weeks onwards, increased dosage from every other day, to daily, to twice – 3x a day!)

Intralipid transfusion (once at 35 weeks due to low birthweight of baby)

Additional support that I think helped:

Oatmeal (whole oats) for breakfast to manage constipation

Other probiotics such as Yakult and yogurt

Essential oils for immunity and allergy support  (click to read more) 

I really felt well taken care of during my pregnancy! Perhaps it was because I knew already that we had the immune disorder, and was doing something about it -- unlike the previous pregnancies when were always guessing.  I also had the privilege of knowing Dr. Tantoco (OB/ Perinatologist/ Sonographer) who did most of my Doppler studies, and also Dr. Young (Anaesthesiologist) who helped make the whole C/S process as “comfortable” and less traumatic as possible. 

The whole experience at SLMC-BGC was also pleasant. The nurses at the 8th Floor (I think it's the maternity floor) were all nice, approachable, and had good bedside manners.