The US Trip...in a nutshell...

I know I haven't blogged much yet about our US Trip. You see, after coming from the vacation, I got so busy in preparing stuff for the start of classes of the kids. And the overwhelming work awaiting for me in my desk was something I have to attend to first as well. It has been a week since we arrived from Los Angeles and life has just started to get back to normal.

But I just have to blog because I want to. I want to remember all those happy memories we had while we were there. It was also to document the trip. It would be for my kids as well. I may not have the memory to recall everything in time so it is for me and our whole family to remember.

The 3 weeks travel was all worth it. It's a much deserved vacation of our family. It was pure bonding for me and the husband and most especially for our kids. We were yaya-less for 3 weeks and I am so proud that we survived it. The husband and I worked as a team.

I'm grateful that my kids were both healthy during our entire stay there. They were in perfect shape. Even our plane rides to and from LA was a breeze. It probably helped that they were bigger already this time and that they have travelled already before so they knew very well how to manage themselves on the plane. I don't even have to tell them to put on their seat belts.

From Manila to LAX, it was just 2 movies and sleeping that made their company. I was also surprised that it was easy for them to sleep on their plane seats. No fuss at all.

They immediately felt at home when we arrived in my sister-in-law's place. It wasn't a concern on them being homesick. The first few days were mostly road trips. They also survived those long trips to Arizona, Las Vegas, Reno, San Francisco and Los Angeles. And amazingly they were comfortable on their car seats, which they were not used to have here in Manila. 

Of course, theme parks were their favorites.   We went to Disneyland, Sea World and Legoland.  The husband and I also went to Universal Studios.  We didn't bring them there anymore since most of the rides are not appropriate for kids.  It was my time to enjoy the Jurassic Park, Mummy Return rides since the last time we were there, I wasn't able to ride on it cause I was pregnant with Bianca. 

My kids enjoyed all these theme parks.  It was a joy to see excitement on their eyes.  They can't contain their happiness.  We were all grateful to experience having a blast as a family.  That I cannot trade off. 

Shopping took place on our last week.  Went to few outlet stores and grabbed great deals.  But it was in Las Vegas where we enjoyed much about shopping too, especially me.  The husband gave me a great surprise! That's different story to tell. I enjoyed shopping for the kids too.  I am happy to find the brands that are not at all available in the country.  

We were so happy as well to reunite with my husband's family.  It was so nice to be with them again.  We missed them so much. 

Indeed, the whole trip was a success.  It was a total fun.  And most importantly, we did it as family. 

Bound for the Beach...

is our drama next week. I am praying for good weather, very very nice weather actually. We haven't been to the beach for quite sometime so it would be a refreshing site. Also, it is our first time to the country so the husband and I are pretty excited. Good thing, english is still the common language there. Otherwise, we might even need help from services like Translia who can do translation to many languages from words to sentence, even brand name and those business card translation. Well, next time that we should plan a trip to say Santorini! (in my dreams! :P), I would definitely register for free with Translia so understanding some european languages could not be a problem!

Holidays for 2010...

Plan your travel vacations ahead...

Back from HK...

since last night but I am still wishing we are still there!!!! yep, 4 days was really not enough. I feel like it has passed so quickly. The kids had a blast. But I was so tired tending to the two girls (parang mga boys!  hehehe).  Thanks for the very helpful and responsible husband. I tried to quickly move around Harbour City for like 1.5 hrs only while I left the kids with him in our room in Marco Polo Gateway. I was hoping I could still go to Ikea in Causeway bay as I would like to see if they do have those tables in Toronto like the tulip oval table which I want to put in our lawn but didn't really got the chance to go there anymore.  Shopping was not really a priority for this trip anyway but I was able to sneak in some purchases still.  Well, mostly for the kids.  I barely got something for myself but I managed to bring home one atleast.  Still downloading our pictures and need to find time now to post our vacation story.  Tons of work is also waiting on my desk! Yes, after being gone for just 4 days!!!  Arg, this is what I hate after coming from a vacation, getting back yourself to the groove again.  Wish me luck tomorrow!

Things I did yesterday...

I was so glad that it was a holiday yesterday. I was able to finish a lot of things which include the following:

1. Finish answering all emails from clients.
2. Finish all pending checklists for clients.
3. Buy food to leave for the maids.
4. Clear up memory cards of both cameras.
5. Finish packing the luggages to bring for the trip tomorrow.

I am busy today as I still have meetings till evening so I was so happy that I was able to prepare things already for the trip. Now, I am ready to relax and enjoy the vacation after tonight! Leaving the house early tomorrow morning to catch first flight to HongKong!

One day to go!!!

Those were the words of my daughters when they woke up this morning! We are leaving on wednesday morning for a quick trip to HongKong. Would spend 2 nights in Disneyland and then move to the city afterwards. I'm kinda worried about the weather. I hope it would cooperate on us. I checked the weather forecast in Hong Kong and it says that its generally Sunny with isolated rainshowers. Hoping for a nice weather while in Disneyland atleast.

Ssshhh!

I'm cooking up something. My feet is itching...hehehe. So what else could i be planning? A yearly quick get-away for me and the husband. I'm planning for another out of the country this year.   I hope this would push through as our super-delayed post celebrations for our wedding anniversary on Monday, May 4 and our bdays by June.  So would probably go on a July, just like last year when we went to Singapore.  This is different from the HongKong trip with the kids this October.  

We have miles expiring by September from our Mabuhay Miles memberships and also a complimentary accommodation to any two asian destinations which needs to be used up also by August from our timesharing membership. So I have an excuse to travel! Yipee! Its such a great deal since we have free accommodation and would just have to get one round-trip travel ticket since the miles expiring can cover one more ticket. I really really hope the husband would agree since I'm firming up things today so will present it to him later. Would just need to decide which of the two destinations are we taking.  

Thanks to PAL real deal promo and to an able customer service officer whom I called over the phone, I was able to get flight confirmations to both and also allowed me to even pay it in their office until tomorrow.  

Will post next time as to where exactly we are going once tickets and vouchers are with me already!

Long Holidays of 2009

Snagged and reposted from Thea to serve as a reminder to me on planning some vacation holidays.

There will be 10 long holidays in 2009.

Last Christmas eve, Arroyo signed Proclamation 1699 that lays out the holiday schedule this year.

First on the holiday list is a three-day weekend before the Easter break.

The observance of Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) on April 9 (Thursday) was moved to the nearest Monday which is April 6.

This will be followed by the Easter holidays from April 9 (Maundy Thursday) until April 12 (Easter Sunday).

The other regular holidays are:

Labor Day-May 1(Friday);
Independence Day- June 12 (Friday);
National Heroes Day- August 31 (Monday);
Bonifacio Day - November 30 (Monday);
Christmas Day- December 25 (Friday); and,
Rizal Day- December 30 (Wednesday).

Arroyo declared the following as Special Non-Working Days:

Ninoy Aquino Day - August 21 (Friday);
All Saints Day - November 1 (Sunday) and All Soul’s Day - November 2 (Monday);
Christmas Eve - December 24 (Thursday); and,
New Year’s Eve - December 31 (Thursday).

The president has long been implementing holiday economics to boost domestic tourism and allow Filipinos to have more time with their families.

Holiday economics entails the transfer of some holidays to a Monday or a Friday so that Filipinos may enjoy longer weekends.

Businessmen earlier complained over the recent two-week Christmas-New Year break.

However, Malacañang maintained consultations were made with all sectors concerned, including the business community, before issuing this year’s holiday list. — With a report from Nadia Trinidad, ABS-CBN News

as of 01/07/2009 8:50 PM

Tomorrow...

we will be checking in Manila Pen as an additional wedding anniversary celebration. We got married in that hotel so imagine how much i was affected when Trillanes chose to lodge his massive appeals there! Hay, I'm super pissed with him. But the hotel has not lost its grandeur. It's still for me the best. I'm biased ok.  We do stay here every year.  And this year, we are staying till Sunday!  Sayang ang vouchers!  Yahoo!  I bet it would be swimming again for the kids.  I just hope the sun will rise already by tomorrow. 

Clearwaters, Clarkfield Pampanga

Dicky and his team had the yearly family outing last friday-saturday in Clearwaters, Clarkfield Pampanga.  We hit the road at 620am to be in Shell NLEX at 730am calltime.  We arrived almost at the same time with family of Jacqui boarding their new Toyota Fortuner.  We had breakfast in Jollibee.  All the rest of the families came after:  Colleen and her son Kevin, Ruth and hubby Joel with their two boys, Beng and Roan with Nica, then the two single men for that weekend, TJ and Jun.  The last family to arrive as always is Oye and Wendy with their two kids.  

At 830am, we all drove directly to Clarkfield.  It was good that Jacqui arranged for an early check-in.  It was a quick trip as we were in Clearwaters before 10am.  The rooms were available to us at 1030am so while waiting for it, we allowed the kids to have fun in the pool first.  They were accompanied by the yayas.

We were then able to go to our rooms at almost 1130am.  We had few picture-taking outside our room.  

We had to settle back in the rooms as we had a  birthday party to attend to at 1pm.  Ruth's son celebrated his 6th birthday in Mcdonalds inside Clarkfield.  It was just arranged that day.  The kids had fun for the party as they were few to scramble upon the prizes.  

The whole group...

It was raining hard after the party so we weren't able to leave Mcdonald's right away.  Most of us, except some of the kids headed to Parkson Duty Free.  Bought few items!  Hehehe, I don't think it was few as I spent almost Php2K the first day and went back again the following day to buy more of the Vaseline Cream Type Petroleum Jelly.  It is Bianca's lotion for her atopic dermatitis so I had to hoard as we have been asking friends and family to buy it for us in the States.  I think I got about 15pcs.  That's enough to last until December, in time for our US trip. (hehehe).

When we went back to Clearwaters, we headed already to our new room.  There was a problem in the first room that was assigned to us.  It always come in three:  first the flush wasn't working, second, power failure and last, it flooded because of the heavy downpour of rain.  They gave us the VIP Deluxe room which was near the pool area.  That's why the kids were able to swim again that afternoon.  We joined them that time.

The whole group decided to have a late dinner in SM City Clark.  We had a heavy dinner in Flavours of China as most of us were craving for Chinese Food.  Jacqui ordered a lot and we went home with a lot of take-home viands.  The kids had a great time running around the mall, infront of the restaurant as it was closing time already.  We allowed them to have a blast since we really want them to tire themselves so we can already start our red-dog (card game) session.   Imagine, we had to move some kids to another room so we can just play este gamble!  Hehehe.  

Too bad, we didn't win this time.  Stake were as high as Php5K but we lost almost Php2.4K.  :-(  It wasn't our lucky night.  We ended up the booze and the game at 230am!

As it was, expect that we would not be able to wake up early.  I checked from our window if the other families were there by 730am as what Jacqui told us, but at 8am, the pool was still empty.  I decided to get up at 830am and I was suprised to see from our door, flanks of buses arriving in Clearwater!  There were about 3 companies having day tours!  We immediately called the group to prepare so we can all go swimming before these people jumped into the pool!  We had breakfast in the Bistro and then headed back to the pool.

It was a fun-filled family outing!  We look forward to next year!

Outing again...

We are off to another quick getaway tomorrow.  

We will be in Clearwaters, Pampanga together with the team of Dicky (officemates) and their families.  I bet the kids will have fun in the pool, while us the parents will enjoy the gambling!  hahaha...

I wish we can win P6K again in red dog (the favorite card game of the group!)  just like what happened last year in Subic.  We are bringing booze so walang tulugan ito!

Be back with pictures!

This Saturday...

we will be here...

It's the first time of the kids here...

Dicky and I will go sunbathing. I would definitely like to get a tan.

Boracay, here we come! (can you tell, I'm uber excited!)

Easter Celebration

We celebrated the Black Saturday and Easter Sunday in Grande Island in Subic. We left at 630am, saturday, March 22 from south area to get to subic before 10am since the ferry boat to grande island is leaving at 1015am. We passed thru the new Subic-Clark Interchange and it only took us less than 40 minutes from the new exit in NLEX between Dau and Sta. Ines. It was a nice route. Ganda ng scenery. I would really recommend passing this new route whenever going to Subic. Ganda ng pagkakagawa, feels like your passing some freeways in the US.

We arrived in Subic as early as 9am. We boarded the Ferry Boat exactly at 10:15am. The ferry ride is just about 15-20 minutes. So we arrived in Grande Island before lunch. Since our rooms were not yet ready, we decided to eat lunch first and rent the ATV (all terrain vehicle) for 30 minutes. The resort is just A-ok. I think it wasn't maintained well. They only have one big pool and there's no kiddie pool. The food in the restaurant has no variety. They only serve Chinese food. Breakfast is also nothing spectacular. Good thing we only stayed for overnight. The service was bad also. I feel like they do lack in number of staff to assist the guests. I don't know if it was because they were fully booked that time but we have been to other resorts before wherein it was peak season as well but still felt that service was rendered properly. I won't really much recommend it actually. Nevertheless, we still made the most out of our trip and I guess the kids enjoyed na rin in the pool.

Here are some pictures...

After Visita Iglesia

We went to a friend's farm after doing our Visita Iglesias last Holy Thursday to churches located in Tagaytay and Tanauan, Batangas. The kids have fun playing with all the animals in there, while me and Dicky enjoyed a lot the food prepared by the hosts. It wasn't fasting at all. It was fast eating. Hehehe.

Here are some pictures:

Dicky and Margaux feeding the ducks

Bianca doesn't want to go down with the ducks :-(

With Jon, our host, also Bianca's ninong

Playing with the horse

Bianca loves the dog instead.

Busy playing with Sam

Lounging around the grass

Backtrack: Intercon Hotel (December 31, 2007)

We checked in at Hotel Intercon last December 31 and we celebrated the new year's eve there. Upon checking-in, we headed out to the swimming pool. Even cold, Margaux loves the water. Makes me think as when could be the best time for me to enrol her to swimming lessons. She tries hard to kick her legs while floating. I guess she's braver than me with regards to water. I learned to swim when I was an adult already. Would you believe, I had my swimming lessons when I was almost 22 years old? (hahaha, pathetic ano?!)

But Bianca was freezing cold when we tried to dip her into the water.

Here's our family picture in the pool...

And the little girl just wants to relax...
We just had dinner at Modern China?/Asia? in Glorietta. Can't remember cause we were rushing to find a place to dine that night cause Glorietta was closing early. I think it was the only restaurant that was open that time. Afterwhich, we heard Mass in the lobby of Intercon. Good thing that they had that special new year's eve mass. It was a different experience for us cause we didn't celebrate it at home. But it was fun. We enjoyed it and it was hassle and stress-free, at least for me in preparing food during that time. But we managed to also bring in a bottle of wine, with bread and ham. (hehehe). Tipid no?! We also brought a buco salad that my mom did. O diba, may baon pang dessert?

We went down in Ayala Avenue to watch the grand fireworks display near Peninsula Manila. We had to wake up Margaux in time for midnight so we can all go down. Apparently, we didn't let Bianca join us anymore downstairs cause I didn't want her to be exposed to so much smoke as she has very sensitive skin.

Here are some more of our pictures...

Planning a trip to Europe...

My mother in law went on a Europe trip with her bestfriend about a year ago. She said that Dicky and I should really look into planning a European tour also before we even reach 40. She said that the continent has a distinct charm that can make you fall in love to the different cities within it.

I would love to go to Europe. It is in one of my dream vacations before I pass on this world. One of the cities we should not miss is ofcourse London. I checked the net for available London Accomodation. I got excited with the irresistable deals available. For example, Abcone Hotel, which is a 3-star hotel located near Kensington has a very good rate that starts from GBP 21. Within the area, a visit to the Kensington Palace is a must. The palace has been the residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th Century.


I would also love to see the London Eye, which is also known as the Millenium Wheel. It is actually an observation wheel where tourists can actually see the whole of London 135 meters above the ground. Isn't spectacular? It is also a beautiful sight to see during night time.

I'm looking forward to planning a trip like this. We will definitely make the most of our stay there. Oh, and I'm sure, the vacation wouldn't be complete without a visit to an LV store. I might get something for myself there as they said it is cheaper to get in Europe.

We are so happy...

We are just so happy....

We were granted a US Non-Immigrant Visa today. That is for myself and Margaux's renewal and for new application for Bianca.

This was how it went when we were in Window4 already infront of the consul...Dicky was with us.

Consul: So where do you plan to go now?
Me: California
Consul: Where in California?
Dicky: LA, actually Temecula
Consul: What's in Temecula?
Dicky: My sister lives there
Consul: Ok, can I see you old visa? (pertaining to me)
Me: here (handed him my old passport)
Consul: What about you sir? Do you have a visa already? Can I see your passport?
Dicky: Yes, already have, here it is (handed him the passport)
Consul: (returned my old passport and Dicky's) Ok...
(typed something in the computer) after 15 seconds...
Consul: Here, I'm giving you visas (flagging the yellow slips to Bianca's face...while Bianca was banging the window with her hand, hehehe) Oh, little girl, are you going to mess this up? How old are the kids?
Me: 2 and a half (pointing to Margaux) and 11 months (pointing to Bianca)
Consul: Who is the big mess? (smiling)
Me: Both of them! (laughing)
Consul: Oh, my one year old is such a mess. Here... (handed me the yellow slips)
Me and Dicky: Thank you very much
Consul: Goodbye.

May pahabol si Margaux while we were still infront of the consul:

Margaux: Jaburi (Jollibee) na?!

Hay, nagutom na ang anak ko kakaintay for our turn for interview...

And yes, we celebrated by eating in Jollibee! Hehehe, special request eh.

The interview was such a breeze! It was just about less than 5 minutes, parang 3 minutes lang. He didn't even looked at our clearbook where all docs are there.

We are just hoping that we could get the 10years.

Anyway, he didn't ask as to when we plan to travel, unlike before that we were asked specifically when we are going...we just got one year that time...

But what the heck...sige na nga kahit 6 months lang, masaya na ako!

Needless to say, we are really very happy!

Dicky said to me on our way home that we will definitely go next year! Oh, can't wait...can't wait...

Deal or No Deal?

No, this is not about Kris Aquino's game show.

Dicky is going to the US this Sunday. I hate it! It's too short notice. Di tuloy ma-planong sumama kami! Hehehe, asa pa ano?

But nevertheless, I have been busy researching kung ano ang mga papabili ko sa kanya. Yikes, knowing my husband, walang mabibili yun, I bet.

I really don't want him to go but call of duty eh so I agreed but the deal is we will plan a trip to Singapore. He is taking PAL so together with his accumulated mileage, we can already get free round trip tickets.

I'm really hoping that he gets a PAL Business Class flight!

Told him, it's my only deal!

A year ago...

Exactly a year ago, we took a PAL flight bound for Los Angeles, California.

Bianca then was 6months in my womb. It was a total bonding for our whole family. There are so many things to recount and reminiscence from that trip.

I damn miss so much that trip. I was looking at the pictures this morning.

Hope the whole family can do it again.

Bianca's Passport...

Bianca has a passport finally! I'm so excited. My baby is such a cutie in this picture. Of course, Mommy has to blog about it, just like when I got

Margaux's Passport.

I wonder also when matatatakan ang passport ni Bianca and where could be her 1st destination? Margaux then was Los Angeles, California. That's what I hope for Bianca too...But that could be a little longer pa. I would settle even for just an Asian destination...did you read that babes? (hahaha)--> nagpapa-pansin po!