A Great Birthday Experience at Sakura

Last May 30, my wife gave me a treat at Sakura Japanese restaurant here in Jeddah. Sakura Japanese restaurant is Crowne Plaza Jeddah Hotel's signature restaurant. It's not my first time to eat at a Japanese restaurant so I can definitely say that compared to my previous experience, we had a great experience even for my wife who just had her first Japanese food experience. Their price is quite reasonable compared to my past experience.

Nothing really beats Japanese food presentation and with regards to the ambiance, although the place is small, it still looks elegant. I just wish that they have something to offer children too. I am quite afraid to let my eldest son try the Japanese food because of the raw ingredients mixed into it and it might upset his stomach. The only food I made him try was the ramen and dumplings.

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Noah's Birthday Celebration

I would like to once again thank the people who have joined us in celebrating our son-Noah on his 1st birthday. We are truly grateful for sharing your time with us. We thank God that we have celebrated that wonderful moment next to each other as a complete family. I know it is a great privilege to have your complete family with you during a special occasion like this. It's not often an OFW celebrates a moment like this with his/her complete family with him/her so we are truly grateful to God.

It was fun just to watch the kids play with each other during the parlor games and with the participation of their parents, the fun doubled. Although Noah still can't appreciate the fact that he has a lot of gifts, we know in our hearts that he was so happy that day. I have a proof and you can watch the video below and you can even check the pictures.

The Birthday celebrant, Noah.

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1st Year Anniversarry of our Blessing

My yongest son's 1st birthday is coming up soon and the whole family is already excited about the event. I am very thankful to God because we've get to celebrate it together as a whole family. I know in my heart, my wife is so happy too. We have already made preparations for my son's birthday like the McDonald's as the place of celebration and I've made a cake art already which would actually be the poster or tarpaulin art as well. I know this may be a lot for some people but as a parent, we like to express our gratitude to God by giving not just the best but what things we have not enjoyed back when we were children too. I just hope most children will realize the value of how their parents express their gratitude in accepting such a great blessing which is none other than them (our children).

I am very thankful to God that even if I don't have a job right now, God is supplying for our needs. I get to spend my time with my kids as well by being a home husband - lol! Sometimes I feel kind of bored though because it has been a long time since I've worked, I hope we can find an honest helper . baby sitter who will care for our children so I can work already. I already have some offers and I know how hard it is to find an opportunity these days. But I know if the job is for me, God will give it to me at the right time - in His time.

Facebook Invitation feat. Noah's Kuya Ize

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Birthday Lunch @ Steak House

It was always a dream for me to have a very loving family and I am so blessed to have one. Yesterday is a special day for me and it feels great to spend it with my family. The original plan was to go to American Corner in Khaledyah but it was too crowded when we got there and there are a lot of smokers too, can't believe we were on the family area. The funny thing was, the place was crowded with locals--and I thought they hate the Americans.

After witnessing the over-rated restaurant (me sour-graping), we then decided to go to Thalia and visit our old favorite place - Steak House Restaurant. I was so hungry that time. Thank goodness we reached them on time. As I opened their door I heard the first call for Dhuhr prayer, we even managed to order our food and get our soups and salads. It has been a long time since we ate at the Steak House.

Their place still looks amazing as how we remembered it, the ambiance and they still are a favorite to locals too. And since we're all hungry (even Noah agrees to that), we decided to order a heavy meal - the Black Rock Steak. It's a good thing that they have a lunch promo which is very timely for us hungry people. I still can't believe how tender and juicy their steaks are, so yummy!

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Happy 6th Birthday Ize!

Today is my son's 6th birthday and he is already so excited about his special day which will be celebrated later at 6pm til 8pm at McDonalds. This will be the first time we'll celebrate his birthday on the exact day of his special day. All preparations were done already. I've finished designing the poster and got the printout last Monday and packed the loot bags for the children as well. Last year's theme was Cars from Disney Pixar's Lightning McQueen and now since he loves to play Super Hero Squad on PS2, I made the new theme about superheroes and he immediately loved the idea. Here is the poster that I have designed.

Here are some other teasers I made.

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What Else is Missing?

I was able to finish my son's invitation card yesterday. It took me a lot of time on a lot of things like:

• I took a lot of pictures (using my new Samsung Omnia 2 Windows Mobile
• Using Adobe Photoshop, I edited the best picture. Since he doesn't have the Ben 10 costume, I have to create one via photoshop - free (nagtitipid eh!). Even the watch was photoshoped.
• Finalized the old invitation and add the new image.

If I receive my salary this week, me and my wife will shop for some toys as give-aways for the parlor games. We still need the following for his party:

• give-aways and parlor game prizes
• plastic bags for the prizes (best if it is Ben 10)
• our gift for him - BICYCLE. Weeeh! I have checked the shop already and there is one bike I found I know he'll love.
• Birthday Cake - already talked to a friend from Danube (thanks for the discount!)
• Ben 10 costume (optional, if we can't find one or if we can't afford one hehe!)
• 80 copies of invitation card - the others will just be verbal since they are far
• sweets (biko, puto, etc...)

I don't know what else is missing, so any suggestions?

Been busy lately with a lot of things. I'll be blog hopping tomorrow. See ya!

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The Invitation

We just booked our son's birthday. Now I am making preparations for the coming special day for our son. It is his 4th Birthday and he is getting bigger every minute.

In preparation, one important thing in every party - INVITATIONS. Yes!, right now I am making the invitations and the planned POSTER or the picture that will be posted in front and probably make a slideshow about our son.

We have decided to use the Ben 10 theme since it is his new favorite cartoons. For now, I am quite tired already and sleepy so I'll be stopping for now and just sleep. See you tomorrow.

Here is a sample of what I am doing.

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