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Mother’s Day Orchids in the Time of COVID-19

June 24, 2020

This last Mother’s Day in the time of COVID-19 was unlike any we ever had. It was Mother’s Day on lockdown or ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine) here in Metro Manila.

I knew it would be difficult for TD to think of what to do for me and nothing was open either. It was perfect timing that I saw this post from The Spoiled Mummy herself, Grace Barbers Baja:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_rTKLZjsPL/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

I personally love flowers, but here in Manila cut flowers live for such a short time. Barely a week in my experience, while in Berlin they could last up to even 2 weeks if we did it right. I usually forbid TD from buying me flowers for Valentines because the cost is exorbitant and they just die.

But I felt like this time was different. I had a lightbulb moment and thought I would make my hubby’s life easier by telling him what I would like for Mother’s Day and giving him the contact details. So I asked Grace and she generously shared her Orchid supplier with me!

Then I told my hubby, who didn’t even have a clue that Mother’s Day was coming up, “Hey, Mother’s Day is coming up and this is the number of Grace’s orchid supplier. I want white orchids with a white pot like this.” And then I showed him Grace’s IG post. LOL!

My husband was really happy because he didn’t really have to think. He ordered for me and his mom. These are not your ordinary orchids. They are the largest orchids I’ve ever seen in a home… they look like those that are used by hotels for their lobbies – that huge! I was really so happy!

Granted they are not cheap, but they are really worth it. Look how huge they are! They arrived in advance – one week before Mother’s Day because my MIL is Spanish and they celebrate one week before. DiploBaby was obviously impressed! The orchids arrived on 3 May 2020 and it was an easy and smooth transaction with Jimmy.

View this post on Instagram

DiploBaby smelling the flowers! Mother’s Day came early for me yesterday with these gorgeous giant orchids! I knew that Mother’s Day would be tough for my hubby and son to prepare for this year so when I saw the gorgeous orchids in @thespoiledmummy’s space I asked her for the number and gave it to my hubby. He was so happy and ordered also for his mom, who is Spanish and celebrates Mother’s day a week earlier than we do here in the Philippines. I’ve never seen orchids this big for sale in retail so I’m feeling pretty amazed to have it in our space. It feels like hotel lobby flowers in scale! We all deserve an extra-ordinary treat these days to celebrate how we, moms, are coping and even blooming every single day! Thank you TD and #DiploBaby for this wonderful gift that adds beauty to our everyday space! It’s the best kind of gift coz it doesn’t add to our clutter hehe. What other clutter free gift-ideas do you have for moms on Mother’s Day? #diplohome

A post shared by Ayessa | UnDiplomaticWife (@undiplomaticwife) on May 4, 2020 at 6:13am PDT

After posting this, so many people DMed me on Instagram and on Facebook to ask for the number of the orchid supplier and I was happy to share!

I told them, “Please don’t ask me how much it is because I told TD that I didn’t want to know!” We just consider it a splurge, and probably how much we would have spent if we had a fancy dinner out.

it was also a nice background to have while taking photos during Mother’s Day. Here I am posing with a drawing that DiploBaby made for me during their Mother’s Day Virtual Circle Time.

View this post on Instagram

I was never good with kids or a person that was a natural at taking care of a baby. Before my son was born I had never even carried a newborn! Not growing up with my parents, my most fervent wish growing up was to experience having my very own family. And my journey to Motherhood was a long one. We tried for 7 long years before we were gifted with @diplobaby. We feel so lucky to have him! Dear son, thank you for making me a mother and showing me a love and feeling so big, it feels like my heart is beating outside of me. Happy Mother’s Day to all you mamas, and your own mothers, mothers-in-law and mother figures! Happy Mother’s Day to my Lola in heaven, who was like my mother growing up. Thank you for the love and for raising me! I wish you were still here to enjoy time with your great apo (grandson) but I know you are still watching out for us in heaven! Love you Lala! #happymothersday #undiplomama #diplobaby #undiplomaticwife

A post shared by Ayessa | UnDiplomaticWife (@undiplomaticwife) on May 10, 2020 at 1:51am PDT

Read Kaho of ChuzaiLiving’s funny story about her husband ordering the orchids below:

WHITE ORCHIDS FOR MOTHER’S DAY

View this post on Instagram

We have lovely white orchids in our house. Orchids, especially white ones, are my favorite among tropical flowers. Decorating home with real flowers does change the mood of the space and it feels like they cheer us up. (I say this because I usually decorate my home with artificial flowers.) A little background story to these flowers is on my blog. https://www.chuzailiving.com/white-orchids-for-mothers-day-in-the-tropics/ うちで素敵な白の蘭の花を飾っています。特に白い蘭の花は、熱帯地方の花の種類の中では一番好きです。本物の花がうちにあるだけで、雰囲気が明るくなり、元気付けられると感じます。(と言うのもうちで飾る花は造花が多いので。。。)ブログにちょっとした裏話を載せました。英語ですが良かったら覗いてみて下さい。

A post shared by Kaho ☆ Chuzai Living (@chuzailiving) on May 18, 2020 at 7:50pm PDT

It’s how I eventually found out the price. Honestly if we weren’t on Quarantine, I would not have thought of orchids as a Mother’s Day gift, but now that we are spending so much time at home, it has really added so much beauty in our home. We love looking at it!

7 WEEK UPDATE

The Orchids arrived on 3 May and it is now 24 June! That’s 7.5 weeks guys! Though a few pieces have fallen off – 3 or 4 – the orchids still look amazing! Look at that! I loved having it in front of our couch but it wasn’t enough sunlight so wee had to transfer it nearer my son’s play area to get more sun.

Where to Get High-Quality Orchids in Manila

Jimmy Wang
(0917) 862 9288

They don’t have an Instagram or website because it really depends on what stocks they currently have but I can say this is the best quality orchids money can buy. It’s made me happier than if I had gotten something materialistic that would just clutter up my space. Instead it helps clean the air of our condo, gives us a boost of happiness each time we enter the living area and see it and beautifies our space.

Thanks again Grace for sharing your amazing orchid supplier with us!

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Welcome

Hello! I’m Ayessa, trailing spouse to a diplomat, mama to DiploBaby and DiploDog and founder of Declutter MNL. I love talking about how to achieve a minimaluxe lifestyle one step at a time.

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DISCLOSURE

I am an Amazon affiliate, but all opinions are my own. The content of all my blog and social media posts are products and experiences that I truly enjoy and I only work with brands that fit my life and style.

GOOD TO KNOW GUIDE

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM @UNDIPLOMATICWIFE

HOW NEAR IS @geneveaeroport? We are very lucky th HOW NEAR IS @geneveaeroport?

We are very lucky that the Geneva Airport is very near because it is located 4 km northwest of the city centre. It takes us less than 15mins by car & is easier to get to than airports outside the city.

BUT also means that many of the Geneva residents suffer from AIRCRAFT NOISE POLLUTION. 

In some parts of Geneva, like Vernier, Meyrin, Bellevue, Versoix, etc will have the airplane pass on top of you or very near you. This is something to consider when you are MOVING TO GENEVA & looking for a home.

When we were in @bioparcgeneve recently, it felt like airplane after airplane was going overhead every few mins. The poor animals were screaming each time.

A  report by the European Environment Agency(EEA) in 2017 said that 12% or 73,500 Geneva residents have their hearing disturbed by aircraft noise. Probably the figures have risen with the natural increase population & travel?

“The EEA describes noise as a pervasive pollutant that directly affects the health and well-being of humans and wildlife. Populations exposed to high noise levels can exhibit stress reactions, sleep-stage changes, and clinical symptoms like hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. All of these can contribute to premature mortality. The World Health Organization (WHO) reckons that humans exposed to noise levels above 40 decibels at night experience adverse health effects.

Across Europe it is estimated that noise contributed to at least 900,000 additional cases of hypertension in 2011.” - @le_news_ch 

DID YOU KNOW that owners of homes affected by the noise can request for soundproofing to be paid for by GVA? 

Check if your home meets the conditions for FREE SOUNDPROOFING c/o Genève Aéroport here:

https://www.gva.ch/en/Site/Geneve-Aeroport/Questions-Reponses-FAQ/Bruit#

SAVE or SHARE this now with someone you know who might be moving to Geneva or is already suffering from aircraft #noisepollution. 

#UDWinGeneva #UDWgenevagoodtoknow #expatingeneva #diplofamily #expatlife #genevaswitzerland #expatingeneva #filipinoingeneva #pinoyingeneva #movingtogeneva #movingtoswitzerland #movingtogeneva #genevaexpats #switzerlandexpatlife #geneva #genevaswitzerland
MERCADONA HAUL Whenever we go to Spain, we love t MERCADONA HAUL

Whenever we go to Spain, we love to go to @mercadona. It might be small but has a good affordable selection. It’s my thrifty Spanish MIL’s favorite.

We were so lucky that we had a @mercadona right beside our hotel Marina Badalona. Very convenient.
Our favorite things to bring home are:

☕️ frozen porras (bigger than churros)

🐑 baby lamb chops (the only lamb I eat coz it’s not malangsa & all you need to do is fry till crispy in olive oil with S&P) it’s called Chuletas Cabrito but TD calls it lechal 

🐽 chicharon or crispy pork rinds

🥔 Homemade potato chips. The best potato chips for me are from Spain. I don’t know how it’s so much yummier! The olive oil???

🎣 canned Sardines & tuna for me and Yaya B

TIPS:

🧊 For frozen items, we usually ask the hotel before we buy if they can put it in their freezer until we fly.

✍️ I usually bring different sizes ZIPLOCK BAGS, MASKING TAPE & MARKER when we travel so we can put everything in, label with our name and room number.

📸 then I take a photo so we can just show it to the staff and they can easily find it in their freezer.

✈️ When it’s time to pack, I placed our beach towels around the frozen packages coz I know they will SWEAT & I don’t want our other things to get wet 💦 

What  grocery do you usually like to shop for when in Spain? Where do you buy them?

#udwinbarcelona #udwinbadalona #udwtraveldiaries #udwtraveltips #udwtraveltip #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
FREE GEAR RENTAL @boxup.app + OUTDOOR GYM at ISW C FREE GEAR RENTAL @boxup.app + OUTDOOR GYM at ISW Calisthenics Park 

📍Chem. des Tuileries 140, 1293 Bellevue

After the lovely BIOPARC we headed across to this chill park with ample PARKING that had so many things for kids & anyone who wants to move & work out:

⚽️ The kids wanted to kick around a football so we borrowed a ball from @boxup.app (they also have pumps, 🏓, 🏐, 🏀, etc) just download the app & turn on your Bluetooth & follow instructions! Return after 3hrs.

👟 Outdoor gym - this was a huge hit with the kids

⚽️ football - this too!

🏀 basketball court

🏓 Ping-pong 

🏐 Beach volleyball court

🤸🏻 Monkey bars

🛝 small playground

Thanks for the wonderful afternoon guys @lidia_otilia_botezatu! 
How lucky are we to have these beautiful, clean open spaces. And the free rental gear is AMAZING! so convenient.

This is in Geneva, about 15mins drive from where we live.

SAVE THIS on your list of PARKS to visit!

⚠️ WARNING

it’s in the airplane path so there will be loud noise from that. It’s not as close as the bioparc but bring earplugs/earphones if you are sensitive.

#udwingeneva #genevaswitzerland #genevaforkids #diplobaby #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
BIOPARC GENÈVE Yesterday was a holiday in Switze BIOPARC GENÈVE

Yesterday was a holiday in Switzerland (except for Geneva). It was raining & miserable so I wanted to take @diplobaby out for a few hours. Thankfully midafternoon it stopped raining.

We met with our friends @lidia_otilia_botezatu in @bioparcgeneve and had a lovely time in this volunteer run zoo.

TIPS💡

🆓 It’s free for families on your FIRST visit!

🦢 you walk inside animal enclosures so wear shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty/stepping on poop. We wore boots & happy we did

🅿️ there’s parking inside on wood chips, if it’s full there’s another pavement parking (free up to 4hrs) across the roundabout 

🦔 Do not feed or touch the animals no matter how cute they are

🗺️ There are 2 routes (purple & blue) and 1-1.5hrs #diplshould be enough 

❎ Park closes at 4pm

SAVE THIS NOW if your looking for a fun & not too you can do in well und2hrs. It’s nice that you can go inside unlike most zoos so it’s quite unique.

⚠️ WARNING

it’s in the airplane path so there will be loud noise from that. @diplobaby who is super noise sensitive did not mind as much as I thought he would because he was so entertained by the animals.

#udwingeneva #genevaswitzerland #genevaforkids #diplobaby #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
MARINA BADALONA HOTEL At first we were going to MARINA BADALONA HOTEL 

At first we were going to stay in the heart of Barcelona, where we stayed 8 years ago (I didn’t even know that @diplobaby was already in my tummy at 2 weeks old) but the “hotel” is now expensive with no amenities & small rooms. So TD found a hotel in #badalona - a 20min taxi ride from Barcelona city center - that was so fabulous & slightly less expensive.

SAVE THIS NOW for future trips to Barcelona

WHY I LOVED marinabadalona
🤍 All white interiors was so beautiful & calming
🤍 Gorgeous view of the Marina 
🤍 Everything was so aesthetic, even where you tap your card to enter the room
🤍 Massive bed
🤍 Electric curtains
🤍 Lots of closet space & hangers
🤍 2 TVs
🤍 Refrigerator
🤍 White/cream Nespresso & kettle
🤍 Architecture & interior design is sooooo me!
🤍 Small rooftop pool with unbelievable views (need to do a separate post)
🤍 5min walk to the beach
🤍 Gorg esplanade
🤍 Yummy restos beside
🤍 Mercadona right beside - so convenient!

FEW RECOS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
✌️ Loved the textured wall paper, but it’s difficult to keep clean inside the bathroom
✌️ The bathroom surface area was a bit small & our stuff kept falling off the sink
✌️ Not a single chair in the family room so when we had room service we had to eat standing
✌️ No salt & pepper with room service so we called to ask & were told we would be charged for them taking it up. After TD clarified that there was no S&P with our meal, they said they would bring it up. The person brought a small bowl of of salt & pepper combined. The salt was for DiploBaby’s salmon, but he can’t eat pepper, I wanted both for my pesto. Had to run down in my slippers & the resto staff were very apologetic coz who serves a mixed S&P ever? They gave me individually packaged ones which I really appreciated.
✌️ Since the hotel has a pool & is by the beach, I wish there was a place to hang & dry swim suits. Our suits & watershoes did not dry in the tub.

All in all the value we got from staying in this hotel was so high compared to a more expensive hotel in Barcelona. No hotel stay is perfect.

Now, would I stay there again? YES PLEASE! Would you?

#udwinbarcelona #udwinbadalona #udwtraveldiaries
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