This is a very nice photo of us when we were about to leave Manila during our short 3week stay there.  All photos looked sad and finally something in which everybody's smiling.  Too bad my sis isn't there, she called me up and asked if she would still go straight to the airport from work but I told her she might as well go home because she'll be caught up so much with heavy traffic.  Of course we would've wanted to see her as we leave but sometimes you have to consider practicality over sentimentality.  At least we were able to talk for a bit and she even saw us before heading off to work that morning.

I can't believe it's been a year and looking at Jariel there, he's so small.  Our little boy has grown so much already and he's been talking a lot more.  We have to plan our next trip back home so we can better prepare for it.  It's always good to plan the trip ahead so better choices for cheap flights can be checked.  We never go on last minute flights, that could only happen if there's some sort of emergency.  We can't expect fare prices to be lower anytime soon due to the gas price hike, therefore better planning must be done so we won't end up losing all our vacation budget to air fare alone.  Only if we can teleport from here to there then there's nothing to worry about.

Hopefully for our next visit there we'll get more time for vacation and get to meet up with our friends.  We didn't have the luxury of time to do that before due to some other things that we had to do.  If we do get more flexible schedule then we can take baby to the beach or other farther places.  By that time he'll be more settled in the car, probably can have longer drive time without baby fussing.  We wouldn't mind going to HK Disneyland or other neighbor Asian countries if possible.  It's easy to find flights there and best deals on last minute accommodations, unlike coming from here.  I'm wishful thinking right now but who knows?  It would be nice to see and spend some time with my family again and for them to enjoy Jariel a bit while he's still a baby.  Just us being back home will make them happy already regardless if they need to go to work and can't really be with us at all times.  It will also be good for our boy to know more my side of family as he grows. 

Hubs just finished building our home server so now I am extra busy organizing some files. The extra little time I have now goes to some more organizing though I admit it's not as tiring as moving around here at home fixing things in order since I just need to do it through the home computer network. As I was moving some folders into the server space I came across my parents' visit here last year. I kind of got stuck browsing the folder looking at all the photos we had then. Baby was way smaller and just started walking and running. Mom and dad enjoyed all the little trips we had around the city and all the beautiful flowers in bloom during their visit.

SIL's 13th birthday

 mama & papa's wedding anniversary

Back in 2005 I traveled with my brother and sister to China and Hongkong. Sis chose to travel instead of celebrating her 18th birthday with a party. Of course with my ever protective and conservative parents she wouldn't be allowed to go on her own. I can't remember exactly the names of the places we stayed in and went to but all I know is that it was a great adventure and experience for the three of us.

We first landed in Shenzhen, China and stayed there for two days. It was great that the night market was just walking distance from our hotel so we didn't have to spend extra for our shopping trips. We were told by our tour guide to be careful of the street foods but we're too curious of the yummy smelling foods on the grill so we didn't really care much of the warning and just enjoyed some food tasting.

Of course it was so darn hard to buy what you want if it's something beyond your reach and had to be ordered from the counter. The vendors not only didn't understand English, most stores didn't even have any English menu available for tourist as if English interpreting in China was so unheard of. I remember it clearly when my friend was trying to order a milk tea and the way the guy said it was totally off, well at least he tried talking to us in different language.

There's one incident when our group was heading back to our rooms and a group of Chinese people got into the elevator with us. Our group was shocked when they all started talking because of their loudness and it was like as described by one of the guys we're with, "cat fighting in the streets". (Oooops no offense to our Chinese friends, it all happened in China) The older people in our group started talking out loud too in our own native language trying to tone down the other noisy group but it wasn't effective at all. My brother was really funny acting like a Chinese interpreting their words, he looks like one but doesn't know how to speak their language! You might think we're rude to make fun of the other group considering we're just tourists in their own land but believe me....their voices were echoing all over the elevator.

It was indeed a fun experience seeing a whole new place and meeting all other new people. Our hotel room was facing a huge modern mall with beautiful faces on the billboards. It was rather a pleasant sight for me admiring the structure itself and also the beautiful faces there. We managed to shop and haggle good enough even if our Chinese-English interpreting was terribly bad. I think it helped that we all look (kinda) like Chinese that's why they gave us better deals for our purchases. I am happy I had the chance to travel with my siblings because I don't think we can still do that kind of bonding considering we have our own separate lives already, perhaps in time with all our kids.

Hubs got sick before and his coughing took a while before it was totally gone.  It started with colds then flu, before we know it he's been being pestered by his cough to a point that he decided to go to the hospital to have it checked one early morning.  Though he's taken several medicines and natural remedies it wasn't sufficient to suppress the lingering cough.  He decided to go and have it checked right away when he woke up with a slight pain on his chest while coughing.  This alarmed him pretty much so off he went to the hospital.

Nothing serious at the moment but if not treated promptly, it could lead to bronchitis.  Of course he didn't want me and most especially baby to be affected so he had it treated in no time.  I'm happy that he finally went to the doctor, it's really hard to make him  go for his check-up.  He just had to take some antibiotics for several days and that was it.

This experience served as a learning process for him/us with regards to our insurance.  Though we have a medical insurance from his work surprisingly he had to pay quite some cash to cover the co-pay.  Honestly, it sucks!  Despite the fact that he has insurance in a good medical provider the insurance itself is a rip-off.  Yes it paid for certain bills but he didn't expect the cost for the co-pay that he had to handle.  Up to now it makes him think what the insurance is for if people have to pay so much for such emergency case.  

To end the story hubs had no choice but to pay off the bills sent to us.  I think his prescription medicines were covered by the insurance but for those who needs medication without prior coverage, I suggest you check out Medicare Consumer Guide.  It has great information about Medicare and other insurance programs, concerns regarding prescriptions are further discussed in "Medicare Part D".  Medications are quite costly so better knowledge on your prescription coverage can help lessen your load.  Hope this helps.

At first baby was making rounds on the slides and later on took a break from the baby playground and ran all the way to the bridge going to the garden arbors. He just kept going all the way to the other end of the park with the bigger playground looking behind and screaming whenever he sees me near him. We saw many squirrels and baby tried chasing around the birds which gave him much exercise for the day. I had to ask baby to go back to the other playground because it's more shaded there plus he can enjoy more with the other smaller babies around.

I knew our cue to head out when I saw baby almost dragging his feet up to climb the playground. He was pushing himself so hard just to have a little more fun going down the slide. He practically used up all of is energy playing for good 1hr 30mins. I like it when baby's ready to go home already because it's a lot easier for me to put him in his car seat. No more resistance, no fussing and no crying.

We haven't chatted with mom and dad lately, they are always busy going to places. Most Sundays they go to the farm and just recently they went to Bicol for a little vacation. They celebrated Elisse's birthday there and how we wish we could've joined them. It's been 4mos since they stayed with us here, time flies by so fast. I can't wait for their next visit here so they can see how much our little boy's growing.

Mom and dad said they are likely to come back here in 2yrs time again or if things push through with the Australia reunion they plan to attend to, they will try to see if there are cheap flights connecting here. Hopefully there will be discounted international airfares because if they will be lucky enough to get such deals mom said they will definitely swing by even just for a week's worth of stay. A week is pretty short but better than not seeing each other for the next 2 years.

 

I tried calling them today but no luck, they're collecting some harvest from the farm. I wanted to inform them supposedly of the on-going discount deals and sale prices from Travel.com.au for Australia, USA, Asia and Europe trips. International flights are getting more affordable in some airlines Just taking my luck if mom's up to it because that could mean one thing for sure, we'll get to see them again here!!!

I may be having so much wishful thinking right now but who knows? Right? By miracle of some sort they can come here even for a very short time to make the most of their flights. I will always be waiting for their return here no matter what.  We don't have the luxury of flying back home whenever we want to so the best thing for us to do is to wait for them to come to us here.

Tonight I finally get the chance to resume with my vacation post during our Manila trip. Baby got so tired from our day out that he actually slept early tonight. It was quite a fight because he's trying to hold his eyes from closing and break free but mommy had to be strict this time and put him to sleep. Apparently it's a success!

Nothing really much happened during our first night in Bora, we got to the island at about 8pm I believe and looked for a place to crash in for 3days. After finding a place and settling in our things we head out for dinner. Baby was still so awake and very curious with the new surrounding. It was a very humid night, no wind and the sky is just pitch black. It would have been nicer if the sky is twinkling with stars but it seemed like we'd have to use refractor telescopes just to see the tiniest star way up up there. Who wouldn't want to just lay down on the sand and stargaze? Perhaps next time around we should bring a telescope when we go to a similar outing, baby will be bigger by then and he'll surely enjoy seeing a twinkling star.


After our delicious dinner by the beach our little boy didn't even bother finishing his food and forcefully hopped out of his chair. He could barely walk that time but eventhough he rushed his way to the shore and started dipping his tiny feet in the water. That was such a sight seeing his wide wide smile, his chuckles and cute giggles whenever the water goes splashing around. We might not have the luck for a starry night but that was all forgotten when we saw the glistening crystal clear waters. Why wish for stars when something nearer which you can actually touch and feel and no telescopes needed to see its twinkle?


A little splish and splash completed our night at the beach. Dad, bes, hubs, me and baby enjoyed a nice walk back to our hotel and called it a night. Baby didn't have fever anymore and it was such a relief for us knowing that he's okay and he can enjoy swimming later on.

I was browsing my SD earlier and saw some of our vacation photos for our Philippines trip. I actually keep those photos despite knowing I have to free some space to accommodate updated photos and videos of our little boy. My reason for keeping some of the photos is for baby to have an easy access whenever he wants to see my family. I don't need to go online or turn on laptop/desktop just to show him some photos. Convenient right?

Up to now I haven't finished posting about or previous trip and it's been half a year ago. I always use my busy schedule as a reason for not doing so and that's really one of the major reason. I think another reason is that I want to keep the memories fresh, it's nice to keep coming back to the photos and feel like it was just yesterday. That's my best way of keeping myself grounded with my family and same as with baby. He doesn't have the luxury of seeing and not even to talk to them all the time, it's my way of keeping him reminded of them.

Though it won't be as fun not having all of them to join us that won't stop me from creating new memories with my little one. I'd rather be happy playing with him in the pool than us feeling sad over some old memories. We'll definitely try swimming here before summer ends making sure we enjoy the pool before they put winter pool covers and close the facility. Warm days will be over soon as it's starting to cool down these days, we better make the most of the remaining summer days!

Being so busy lately I didn't even get the chance to email my family much. We haven't really been chatting / video calling lately and our little boy's missing them already. Only now that I realize I didn't get to post a special father's day tag in FB and here for my dad. There was one time we happened to be online but their dsl was acting up. We could barely hear each other and their internet service even got totally cut off after a while. It took us about an hour to two just to get connected again, what's worse was the connection wasn't so good either.

Daddy can never multi-task...that's what he always tells me. Sometimes it gets to be so frustrating calling his attention most especially when he's watching something on DirectTV or doing some stuffs on the computer. I swear I had to call him at least 3 times for him to finally acknowledge me. Though he complains about me being such a multi-tasker. Whenever we're watching something I usually has to do other things with it like taking care of baby, cooking, sorting newsprints or cleaning. Rare that I will be just sitting down til the movie or show finishes.

How about our little baby bear? Haha, he's our little home security bear! Baby's might be always active playing but he's so aware whenever the phone rings or somebody knocks on the door. He usually exclaims when he hears something that we have to give attention to. Nobody can escape his keen sense, he knows where mommy is just by hearing and feeling any slight noise and movements at home. Baby also always inspects everything, he observes things here at home if something changed or checks on people who comes over. I think we all got funy characters but when we put it all together, it makes a complete balance for the 3 of us =)

One sunny morning mom, dad, baby & I went to the community center to visit the track & field and show them what we have here at the community center. They saw the tennis courts, football/soccer field, community halls & rooms, pool, gymnasium and the theater. We first went to the track and they made some rounds also tried some of the fitness equipment there. After that we just walked around and snapped some photos around the heritage theater area. Mom and dad loved all the flowers in bloom, they couldn't resist posing almost for each and every flower they see.

One of the things I failed to do for mom and dad was to get them to watch live concert or other kind of show in Heritage Theater. Although they had the opportunity to walk around with me and baby one morning and have some photos taken there, the experience could've been better if they get to see something there. I think next time around they can have the pleasure of doing that.

I did check the upcoming shows but none were good for the time they are staying here. Only if the Cirque de Soleil was scheduled then I could've purchased tickets for them right away. I believe that's a great show to see. They both love musicals and live shows so ideally getting Mary Poppins tickets, John Edward tickets, Dave Matthews Band tickets, Lewis Black tickets or Million Dollar Quartet tickets could've been great.