Baguio 2012

We headed off to Baguio City to celebrate our 13th year :) We stayed in one of our office's staff houses and I was luckily assigned the biggest unit! With all that space, I decided to invite my side of the family to sort of celebrate my mom's birthday in advance.

FRIDAY

We were up and about by 5 AM. I double checked the stuff we packed the night before while JJ was busy preparing our baon for the long trip. We figured its better to stop just for restroom breaks and just have lunch in Baguio. By 6:45 AM, we were on the road. The drive was uneventful (thankfully!) and after about 6 hours (because of the tricycles) we were finally in the City of Pines. We dropped by the house first and I took the opportunity to do room assignments. After that we went to SM Baguio to have lunch and buy groceries.

After lunch, I got a call that my parents and my brother's family are already at the staff house.  

 My nephews Matty and Miggy, Popsy and Momsy and SIL Meng

 Family picture (after Daddy's nap :) )

SATURDAY

My other brother, Tom, and his family arrived by 2AM Saturday. Our bunso arrived by 4AM. Finally, family's complete.

After breakfast, we took the kids to Burnham Park.



 Boat ride

Picnic spot in Burnham

Taken by little Matty: Hubby and I, Carmy and Tom & Meng and Teejay

 By the play area at Burnham

After Burnham, we decided to go back to the house to have lunch. The rest of the day was spent lounging around the house and well, eating :)



 Me and my siblings with Popsy

Kiddos were content to eat ice cream and watch movies

SUNDAY

Except for JJ, Lucas and I, everyone travelled back to Manila that day. After breakfast, we decided to squeeze in one more trip and took the kids to the Botanical Garden. The garden was nice, with a lot of space for the kids to run around. Merchandise was cheaper there too (cheaper strawberry jams, chopping boards, etc. But the broom is still much cheaper at the public market). It was a short trip as everyone had to finish packing. Time really flies so fast! Seems like moments ago when we first stepped into the house and now, 2 days have already gone by.

My Lugue Family

 Lolo Popsy with Lucas

Chissa and I with Momsy and Popsy

Me and hubby

It was so quiet in the house when everyone else left. By mid-afternoon, our little family was off to buy stuff from Good Shepherd and finally back to SM to have dinner. As there were only three of us left at the house, tinamad na kami to cook. After dinner, we just enjoyed the cool climate by staying in our room and watching TV.

MONDAY

We were up early because we had to go to the market to buy stuff like peanut brittle and veggies. By 8 AM we were all packed and ready to go. I was a little sad before we left the house as leaving meant vacation over na. After saying our thank yous to the house caretakers, we took our last set of pictures.

My boys

Goodbye Baguio...

And yup, we will be back again soon...

Hong Kong: Day 1

Travel Dates: August 7 - 11, 2011
Travel Companions: JJ and Lucas, Popsy and Momsy, TJ and Meng (plus Matt and Migs) & Chissa and Bodie (8 adults + 3 kids)

*~*
Our CebuPac flight was at 7:55AM. On time naman umalis yung plane and we arrived in Hong Kong 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Immigration took time. We went out of HK airport past 11 AM na. We went straight to our hostel (Golden Crowne Guesthouse in Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tui area). After checking in, my dad, mom and my sister and her bf went out to check the vicinity and look for places for lunch na rin. Kami naman since gutom na si Lucas, we went out na to eat. 

Prior to our flight, Lucas and my  nephews played at the NAIA3 walkalators. Wonder why they weren't turned on?

After lunch, we just took a rest and settled in our rooms. We unpacked what we can unpack like yung mga bottled water na dala namin and other snacks. Late afternoon, we went to the Hong Kong Museum of Art to wait for the Symphony of Lights. JJ and I didn’t really like the said show when we first saw it in 2007. But aside from my dad, it’s everyone’s first time in HK. So naisip namin, we’d let them see for themselves and decide kung maganda ba yung lights show. 

We were a bit early at the HK Museum of Art so we decided to go to Ocean Terminal before the show. My parents just stayed in the Sogo Mall to pass time.

Lucas: while we are waiting for lights show.

 With Daddy, in front of HK Peninsula



At the Ocean Terminal

 
Mommy and Lucas with Mater



My boys :)

After the show, lahat sila, mejo na-bore daw :)  But they agreed that it is a must for first-time HK visitors. A few minutes after the show, we walked back to the hostel. My brother and SIL bought food from KFC na lang. We had dinner at the sitting area of the hostel. Then since Disneyland ang pupuntahan the next day and puyat dahil early flight, we decided to call it a night.

Tips:

1.    Put your umbrella in your check-in luggage. Ang dami naming nakitang umbrella near the immigration area. As in one huge container. Good thing hubby read sa site ng Cebu Pac na no-no ang payong sa carry-on baggage.

2.    Bring a pen in your carry-on baggage. This is for filling up the arrival/ departure forms. Also, if you are travelling with your family, write your passport, flight and other details in a piece of paper for easy reference when filling out the forms. Sometimes hassle to check everyone’s passport number and date/place of issuance while filling out the forms.

3.    Since no free meal during the flight, bring snacks for you and the kids. Also, it was a relatively short flight (2 hours) but we still brought toys for Lucas and my nephews. Good thing kasi wala pang 30 minutes into the flight, the kids got restless na.

4.    If you are with your toddler, I suggest you bring a stroller. My mom uses a wheelchair and ang hindi lang niya napuntahan is yung Night Market sa MongKok. There were times na naglalakad-lakad sila ng Dad ko along Nathan Road and never sila nagka-issue sa wheelchair ni Mommy. Same thing with MTR and sa malls. I guess that means the place is good for strollers too. Kami kasi we didn’t bring ours. Hand-me down kasi yung stroller ni Lucas and we are not sure kung kaya pa na magheavy-duty walking around. Hinayang naman kami to buy a new one just for the trip. But if you have one, bring it na lang. It will make your life easier.

I miss my boys :-(

I've been away from my boys since last week because of work. I am counting the days 'til I get to ride that SQ flight back to Manila (4 more nights!).

I was excited and sad when I left Manila. Excited because I've never been to Indonesia before and of course sad, because I'll be leaving JJ and Lucas for two weeks.

The first week was adventure-filled. We went on several long drives to visit potential sites for our projects. The icky things were staying in a hotel far from the city and eating padang style as there were no restaurants up in the mountains :-(

Here's how it goes. Padang style is their version of the turo-turo. Unlike our style, they serve all available dishes to the customer and then only the consumed food is charged. The "untouched" food is brought back to the stand and served to the next customer. Icky right? I ate fried food for days since I felt that these were the safest options. I also drank a lot of Coke since my colleagues were telling me that the acid will kill "some" of the bacteria. hehe :-)

Above is the Nasi Goreng Especial. Typical fried rice with a spicy kick.

This is a shot taken at Lake Toba. Lake Toba is the largest crater lake in the world. Much much bigger than our Taal Lake.Of course, the icky nights were worth it as we stayed at the new Marriott hotel in Medan. Nakabawi :-) The massage after the long drive was just heavenly.Graha Maria Annai Velangkanni. A Hindu-inspired Catholic Church.

That's the gist of what I've been up to the past week. I am now in Jakarta to finish our other tasks before going back to Manila. Can't wait to see my boys again. Tata!

My Wow Philippines!

My schedule's been really hectic the past few weeks, mostly because of my workload. I've been traveling a lot the past weeks and here are the places I've been to...


Zamboanga City - I took the morning flight and left the same day via the PM flight. My colleagues had a great time shopping for shawls that were really nice and cheap.

Davao: I wish the place in the pic is where I've been to. I had a seminar at the Grand Meng Seng Hotel and when it ended by early afternoon, we were off to the market place to buy pomelos and other fruits. Mangosteen was really cheap at P60 per kilo. Pomelos were at P70 per kilo. I also bought durian for my dad.

Cagayan de Oro: I was dreading this trip because it was the first time that I will be leaving my son overnight :-( I was honestly thinking of backing out from this one but I just can't let my boss down. I tried not to think about him during the trip but I cannot help it! Whenever I missed him, I'd ring the house and have one of the Ate's turn on the speaker phone so I can hear his voice and let him hear mine. Only after these calls will I feel relieved, somehow. We had dinner at this place by the sea, some 30 minutes drive from CDO. Then we had dessert at this amazing place called Candy's in CDO proper. The sylvanas and chocolate cake were really super. I brought slices home for JJ :-)

Laoag City: I've been to Laoag a couple of times the past years when I was still with the Wind group of our company but it's the first time I visited Santa Monica church.

Legaspi City: Third time's a charm. The first two visits, I didn't get to glimpse Magayon. This time, she was visible in all her glory when we landed. It was indeed breathtaking, making me feel sorry I didn't bring my camera. Good thing my colleagues had theirs :-) Will post pictures as soon as I get copies from them.

I am now writing this from Cebu airport (they have free wifi and it makes we wonder why NAIA doesn't have it...same terminal fee of P200 :-( ) while waiting for my 7:35 PM flight. I am looking forward to the Holy Week and the much needed rest. The Ates will be on vacation the week after Holy Week so I will be on mommy duty then (which is also why I cannot refuse my boss when I was asked to travel).

Hope everyone gets the much needed rest we all deserve. And may you all have a blessed Holy Week.