From April 27 to July 26, treat yourself and your loved one to a memorable vacation and prepare for an unforgettable trip this year as SSI Group, Inc. and MasterCard,
together with The Discovery Leisure Company and Marketplace by Rustan’s. Sixteen vacation packages are up for grabs when you shop with your MasterCard at participating Central Square and Bonifacio High Street Central stores and Marketplace by Rustan’s BGC and get raffle tickets to win the vacation of your choice!
MOTHER’S Day brunch for Mom / Lola and all the moms. Floral headbands for the girls 🙂 #H2Hthemeparties
Special delivery by Tita Nanet – Emma who just woke up 🙂
Buffet table set up for Mother’s Day brunch tomorrow by Rustan’s Flower Shop @rustansflowershop and my sister Maricar @mltiangco 
The centerpiece is a pot with photos of us with MOM
#H2HRustansFlowerShop #h2hthemeparties
Love the centrepiece with the piggy 🙂
Moms 🙂
Cute utensils 🙂
Special guest! Lolo Benny!!! Yay!!
We prepared a celebration for Mother’s Day for MOM but she brought the food! haha!! 
Matsuzaka beef A4 cooked by Chef Javs – yum! #H2HTokyo #chefjavs #Matsuzakabeef
She brought her cooler with all the goodies!! Fresh Japanese Wasabi, O Toro and fresh Japanese garlic cooked into chips 
From Gourmet Garage
Chicken and Chistorra
Pesto Penne
Bangus Belly Sardines
YUMMY Violet Velvet cake by Karla Ilacad @karlailacad of Gipsy Girls desserts
It was perfect for our Mother’s Day celebration because MOM’s favorite color is Violet. Very moist and very Ube. 3 layers of Ube cake and creamy icing in between each layer. For Ube cake lovers, this is for you. For orders call +63 939 913 8428 Visit her website http://www.gypsygirldesserts.com #violetvelvetcake #ubecake #H2HCakes
Yummy Sticky bibingka / biko by La Tasca brought by Margs! Make sure to heat it in the microwave so it is heated and becomes sticky! La Tasca ( Poblacion ) landline 02 896 5543
Trevor Thomas of Southern Crossings @southerncrossings One of the top 3 Luxury travel specialists in New Zealand. Trevor organized our whole trip in New Zealand and we had a great time. Looking forward to visiting the other parts of New Zealand soon! #southerncrossings #travelspecialist #newzealand #H2HNewZealand2016
For the 9 day journey in New Zealand, we travelled in all sorts of ways! We took the elevator up to the Auckland Sky Tower, walked through the beech forest in Glenorchy, through several rainforests and through the Oahu stream, we drove 3 vans – in Auckland, from Queenstown to Greymouth (5 hours) and from Christchurch to Blenheim ( 5 hours) Rode a gondola up to the top of Queenstown, took 2 helicopters to Milford sound and Franz Josef glacier, boarded a 100 year old steamboat the TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak farm, took a Jet boat along the Dart River, and journeyed on the Kiwi rail along the Tranzalpine rail and 6 plane flights from Manila via Sydney to get to Auckland then to Queenstown, then from Blenheim to Auckland and from Auckland via Sydney back home. Whew!!! Super LOVE New Zealand #newzealand #auckland #queenstown #arrowtown #glenorchy #christchurch #franzjosef #Blenheim #kaikoura #kaikouracoast #marlborough #H2HNewZealand2016 
When going to New Zealand with plenty gadgets, make sure to bring your power strip 
Hokey Pokey is not only part of a song but a flavour in New Zealand! 🙂 Hokey Pokey all you want!!
( wiki) Hokey pokey is the New Zealand term for honeycomb toffee.
Pavlova is a New Zealand dessert! Love Pavlova! We had 3 this trip! Pavlova Tawari honey cream, berries and organic yogurt at The Square Novotel Auckland, Pavlova with passion fruit at Fishbone Queenstown and Black Doris Plum Nest – meringue, vanilla mousseline, plum soup, baby sorrel, vanilla ice cream at the Botswana Butchery Queenstown #pavlova #newzealand #H2HNewZealand2016
We took home a lot of Souvenirs from our trip to New Zealand. Aside from the 5,000 photos and 500 videos that I took, we made sure to take home some Rocks near the glacier where we landed from our visit to Milford Sound. Pavlova apron for mom who collects aprons, “Kia Ora” ( taken at the Auckland Museum ) meaning Welcome or can mean Way to go or Fantastic! which was exactly what our trip was! Most of all the souvenir of memories of a most amazing visit to one of the most scenic spots in the world! Blessed and grateful for the opportunity to travel and spend time with my parents and their friends Tito Manny and Tita Ina who are also family and my own family.
Click below to go to their website
Click below to go to the New Zealand website
Official site of New Zealand Tourism, Business, and Investment. Activities, tours, maps and accommodation to plan your New Zealand holiday. Find out about New Zealand made products and investing in New Zealand businesses.
From Blenheim we flew back to Auckland and stayed in the airport hotel for our next day flight back home
Fern vertical garden at the bar of Novotel @novotelakl Airport Hotel Auckland
LOVE ferns!!!!! And vertical gardens!!
#fern #ferns #verticalgarden #novotel #auckland #newzealand #H2HNewZealand2016
We had our last meal in New Zealand and it was so good at the airport hotel!
Oysters
Kokonda Cured Market Fish
Beer Battered Market Fish Fingers
Smoked Kahawai Fritters
Peanut Butter Parfait
Valrhona, Jivara, Earl Grey Panna Cotta
Vanilla ice cream
Pavlova
Enjoyed our lunch at this vineyard
Yum! Double baked blue cheese soufflé, rocker, pear & walnut salad 
Marlborough Mussel Chowder and roasted garlic bread – YUM!
And that garlic bread on the side is super yum!!! The butter they used!!!
Cheese plate with fresh figs!
Cheeseboards in French Oak for sale
Click below to go to their website
In Timara Lodge there are 2 Quince trees. They look like lemons but a deformed version. When they fall on the ground that means they are ready. These are cooked for 8 hours with lots of sugar and made into jelly known to us as quince paste which we eat with cheese 
Beside the Quince tree I saw Chef Fran preparing our dinner at Timara Lodge! Dinner and breakfast was included in our lodging
Lonnie from Giesen winery serving us wine before dinner and 2 out of the 4 wines we had with our degustacion dinner
Quince fruit – freshly picked from the ground and ready to be cooked and made into quince paste
Chef Fran is Irish and has lived in New Zealand since 1997. #TimaraLodge #Blenheim #newzealand #H2HNewZealand2016
Chef Javs learning from Chef Fran
5-course degustacion in the dining room
Wines from Giesen vineyard
Orange Roughy (which lives up to 120 years old Fr The Tazmanian sea ) with cherry tomatoes zucchini and a lemon and cream sauce
Delicious lamb with mashed potatoes
delicious dessert – Lemon soufflé
Breakfast at Timara Lodge with fresh roses from the rose garden with Manuka Honey which is one of the best honeys in the world that is medicinal as well as a good quality and good tasting honey 
Breakfast – cereals, yogurt, muesli, bread and fresh fruit juices. Fresh kiwi juice with banana and spinach. Loved the muesli mix they made and it’s so colorful. 
All the colors of fresh hydrangeas all from the garden
Care to Vote?
Starbucks Philippines offers One for You, One to Share promo for those who vote on May 9
Being a citizen of one of the few countries that enjoys democracy, you have the right and the responsibility to take part in the election that will shape the future of this nation. Would you let this opportunity pass by?
According to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), the voter turnout in the 2010 presidential election decreased to 75.04% from 76.99% in 2004 presidential election. This year, Starbucks Philippines’ hopes to increase voter turnout and encourage registered voters to exercise their right and enjoy the freedom to choose the country’s next leaders.
On May 9, you have the right to vote for the candidate that embodies your values and aspirations. Keep your voice heard and choose the next leader that will steer our country in the right direction.
In this light, Starbucks Philippines, in its mission to encourage registered voters to exercise their right to vote, launches the Care to Vote campaign that will treat Filipinos who will vote on May 9 to a One For You, One to Share (Buy One, Get One) promotion on its featured Macchiato beverages, Roasted Caramel Macchiato and Chocolate Hazelnut Macchiato.
“Starbucks strives to inspire and nurture the Filipino community even by simply encouraging people to vote. In our little way, we want to reward all the registered voters who exercise their privilege and right,” said Starbucks Philippines head of marketing Keith Cole.
To avail of the promotion, just show your voting finger with indelible ink to the Barista when you order any featured Macchiato beverage to redeem the complimentary featured Macchiato beverage. Promotion runs in all Starbucks Philippines stores that are open on Election Day, May 9 from 7am to 5pm.
With Starbucks, you can now enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend while taking part in building a better nation.
Arrived in our beautiful home in Blenheim – Timara Lodge. 
It’s an 81 acre property. It was part of the 600 acre property of an English gentleman ( Bryan Johnson) who came to New Zealand in the 1800s. It’s beautiful!!! #Blenheim #TimaraLodge #newzealand #H2HNewZealand2016
Arrived in our beautiful home in Blenheim – Timara Lodge. It has 4 rooms so just right for our group. So we have it all to ourselves. 
In November 2014 Barry ( 77 years old) bought Timara Lodge for his wife Selena as a birthday gift! Selena ( from Hongkong) loves gardens and gardening. They operated 7 hotels but kept only 1 which is in Marlborough which has 4 Filipinos. Barry said that there is some point in your life when you have to stop and smell the roses and they are literally doing that in their beautiful home. So happy to meet this lovely couple and wish we could have stayed longer at Timara Lodge #TimaraLodge #Blenheim #newzealand #rosegarden #H2HNewZealand2016
Dan Carter a famous rugby player got married at Timara Lodge in 2011. The ceremony was held by the lake and There’s a grass tennis court in the garden where the wedding reception was held 
The rooms are named based on the view it has 🙂
I love the lake
So peaceful and beautiful. Black swans at Timara Lodge. They started with a couple that had 4 baby white swans ( that eventually become black swans when they grow up. ) After they had another 5 babies. The father swan usually doesn’t want the kids to stay where they are. 
There are protected trees in Timara Lodge and are over a hundred years old and can’t be cut
Tall and old tree by the lake named “The Professor” You sit by the swing and he talks to you and he talks to the lake at Timara Lodge #TimaraLodge #Blenheim #marlboroughnz #newzealand #theprofessor
White garden where all the flowers are white and the rose garden. They are working now on a new garden which will be Japanese 
26 acres of Timara Lodge is garden and its irrigated by computer and there are 5 dedicated gardeners maintaining them. There are 300 kinds of roses – 
Rainbow garden which is by the tennis lawn and has flowers from all the colors of the rainbow
Phoebe’s garden was named after the daughter of the 2nd owner, 
Tall and old tree by the lake named “The Professor” You sit by the swing and he talks to you and he talks to the lake
There are around 600 olive trees and occupies 6 acres of the Timara Lodge. They make Cold pressed olive oil
Art works all around the garden
Click below to go to their website
Located in the heart of Marlborough’s wine region, Lake Timara Lodge offers an unrivalled luxury accommodation and dining experience. 600 acres of gardens a lake, rose garden, and cuisine by Michelin trained chef Louis.
Arriving at our next and final destination – Blenheim
The ‘Golden Mile’ is the name given to a special strip of land in Marlborough located on the old riverbed soils in the sub region of Rapaura. This relatively small area of land has the most optimum wine growing conditions due to its unique microclimate. Some of the oldest and most famous Marlborough vineyards are planted in this area #goldenmile #marlborough #marlboroughnz #vineyard
We visited 2 vineyards – Wither Hills as arranged by our tour guide 
Grape tasting 🙂 There are over 70 wineries in Marlborough and half of the wines from New Zealand come from the Marlborough region. 75% is Sauvignon Blanc #marlboroughnz #Blenheim #sauvignonblanc
Wine Tasting in the basement cellar surrounded by French oak barrels at Wither Hills Vineyard #winetasting #witherhills #Blenheim #marlboroughnz #H2HNewZealand2016
Saint Clair Family Estate @saintclairwine in honor of Tito Ralph Joseph of Ralph’s Wines who is the distributor of their wines in the Philippines #saintclairwine #saintclairfamilyestate #Blenheim
this idea for menu board at Saint Claire Vineyard @saintclairewine It’s a roll of brown paper that you can just tear when you want to change/update it 
Mom loves Tito Ralph so she made sure she had a photo here
Click below to go to their website
Saint Clair Family Estate is one of New Zealand’s leading wine companies. Saint Clair is one the world’s best Sauvignon Blanc producers.
In Kaikoura, there are many animal activities – with seals, whales and dolphins. Since we were just driving through, we stopped to look at some seals by the coast
Sign in Nin’s Bin 🙂
Hundreds of baby seal pups come to the Ohau stream during the winter time while their mothers go out to the Kaikoura coast. The pups then have to go back to the coast to feed on their mothers. 
National Geographic moment!! Kekenu fur seal pups ( babies) swimming by a waterfall. 
Kekenu fur seal pups playing and kissing around by the Ohau Stream
Kaikoura is a beautiful coastal town offering unique marine wildlife including whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds that reside there year round.
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