#NeverAgain (Well, Maybe Except for Disneyland)

AC and I usually travel on my birth month (September!) but this year we did it earlier- Hong Kong with the parental units and V's family. Of course I was excited cos I'll get to visit a new country plus I'm traveling with my parents and my nephews. 

However, true to J & AC fashion, we booked the accommodations on the last minute which is a very bad idea when you're traveling with senior citizens and kids. AC booked a hostel in Tsim Sha Tsui area which I thought was a hostel similar to the one we booked in Seoul- which in my standards is puede na for the price. But lo and behold, it was a teeny tiny room  in an old, not-so-tidy building and we had to share with our parents. In the words of one of my nephews, J1, "this is not what I expected." LOL. Buti na lang talaga huli sa itinerary ang Disneyland. Imagine if we stayed in Disneyland hotel first then transferred to our cubby holes, I may never return to Hong Kong ever again.

Day 1: Arrival in Hong Kong

It was the boys' first time to ride an airplane so I prayed hard that our flight be a smooth, turbulence-free one so as not to traumatize the boys. The flight going to HK was one of the smoothest flights I've been on and we even arrived way ahead of the ETA. 

There are only a few things I like about HK and one of them is their very reliable transport system. Oh how I wish we could do that here. Getting from the airport to the hostel was easy-peasy since you just need to hop on the bus that would pass by your stop (that's A21 for us!). 

Day 2: Mong Kok, Wong Tai Sin Temple, Garden of the Stars (while Family T went to Ocean Park)

Mommy, Daddy, AC and I went to Mong Kok for Mommy and AC's shopping fix. Or so they thought. Mommy's idea of HK was more than 15 years ago- siguro mura pa yung mga bagay-bagay doon. Kung ang slogan ng bansa natin ay It's More Fun in the Philippines, HK's is It's More Expensive in Hong Kong. LOL. And it's not worth it. I'm sure I can find those stuff they're selling in Mong Kok in Divisoria or the tiangges in Greenhills. 

We had lunch at Cafe de Coral, the cheapest and most decent food we could find in the city. My cousin said we just didn't do enough research on where to eat. Even McDonald's was more expensive and less tasty. Nalungkot ako sa BBQ sauce ng nuggets nila. So here's what I ordered for lunch

BBQ pork and roast duck ☺ I liked it and out of all the meals I've had in HK, this was the best. 

After lunch we headed to Wong Tai Sin Temple because Mommy wanted to visit the temple. Oo nga pala, we almost lost our parents. We left them in Mong Kok MTR station when the train doors were already closing just as they were entering it. AC and I were in a panic. But all's good ☺ Buti na lang they stayed inside the station. So, Wong Tai Sin Temple...

After visiting the temple and taking bajillion photos of mommy, we headed back to our teeny tiny room and after resting for a bit, headed to the Garden of the Stars, supposedly to watch the Symphony of Lights that apparently can't be seen from there. Boooo!!! I blame Google for that wrong info. But still, the view of the cityscape was nice.

Day 3: Avenue of Comic Stars and Hong Kong Science Museum

This was supposed to be Victoria Peak day but shit happens. For me, figuratively and literally. LOL. TMI. After breakfast, we took the boys to the Avenue of Comic Stars. The boys enjoyed posing with the statues of comic characters. I enjoyed their park- how I wish we have something like that here. 

The kids enjoyed the science museum as well. Too bad we had to leave after exploring just the first floor. We wanted to go to Victoria Peak but first, V and family had to transfer hostels and they had to check in before we leave for the peak. That was when we found out the booking was canceled and to make matters worse there was a marathon (an international one) happening the next day and the city is fully booked. The itty bitty room we're staying in was priced at Php37,000++ QUE HORROR. To cut the long story short, we were able to cajole Auntie to rent out one of her single room to us. Buti na lang or we would've spent the night at McDonald's. Buti na lang next day is Disney Day!!! 

Day 4: Disneyland!!! Woohoo!!

waiting for our turn in the Iron Man ride

Fantasy Land

Lion King

while the sun sets in the happiest place in HK

 The night parade ☺Enjoyed this so much. Buti na lang umabot kami ni AC since we had to bring Daddy and Mommy back to the hotel room.

This was the redeeming factor of our vacation. We were contemplating to put this first in our itinerary so our energy isn't depleted yet but AC insisted that we put this last since it's closest to the airport. Our flight back to Manila was at 10:40 in the morning so we weren't able to enjoy our hotel room as much. I know I said I won't go back to HK ever again but I think I'll make an exception- next time derecho na sa Disney. We weren't able to go on all the rides and next time we should spend at least two days to enjoy the theme park leisurely. 

Gaaaah. I'm so excited to go home!!!

Day 5: I'm going home!!!

Thank God for the smooth flight back home and in the words of my nephew once the pilot has announced we're preparing for landing- PHILIPPINES!!! 

It was a nice experience, at least ☺ Some lessons learned such as get a packaged tour when traveling with senior citizens and kids, book accommodations waaaay in advance and buy comfortable shoes (Chucks aren't too comfy). 

I hope we acquire the money to go on another trip later this year (birthday month!!!)- I want to go back to Seoul or maybe Taiwan or Vietnam with the parental units again. Crossing my fingers ☺☺

Last Quarter Highlights

Yello everyone! Really, I've been meaning to write something about the last three months of 2016 but I often got caught between "resting" and doing important things at the last minute (which reminds me of my resolutions list for this year). After I came back from Korea, everything was a blur. The months and days just melded together. I still made time to go on birthdays and family outings and a wedding.

Windmill Watching

Sept 2016
With mommy, daddy, AD and family

up close and personal

view of laguna de bay

scenery during the drive

Aegis at the CCP

Nov 2016
With AC

AC had tickets and seriously, Aegis is the shizz right now. Haha. Ang masasabi ko lang, ang galing. Birit kung birit sila atey. It was an experience to hear them play and sing live. Kakaiba ang mga baga nila. Since we're not allowed to take photos inside the theater, eto lang ang picture na meron ako...

manila bay

Supermoon

Nov 2016

Okay, I wasn't impressed. It didn't look that big plus it was cloudy that night and the moon hid behind the clouds most of the time.

Mount Purro Nature Reserve

Dec 2016
Mommy, Daddy, AC and family, the boys and Uncle E

We celebrated the boys' birthday and AD's 40th birthday nature-tripping.

watched the sunset while the boys were swimming

roasted marshmallows and hotdogs

batis

i wasn't prepared :/

and i was the designated photographer on that trip

look at that beauty :)

I often say that I am more of a city person but when I see the beach or that beauty above, I get awestruck. I feel I just don't like the idea of roughing it. Hindi lang halata pero maarte ako, lol. I wasn't actually prepared on this trip cos I was supposed to stay in our cottage and work on my orders, but what's the point of going with them if I'm not going to participate. And it's quality time with my loves.

I feel so blessed last year and I pray and hope that 2017 will even be better. Here's to more lakwatsa 🥂

I Need A Vacation From My Vacation Pt. 3

So I've been pretty busy lately, which is a good thing ☺ June is almost here and June signals the start of preparing for bazaar season. I plan on starting early this year and I swear I am not going to procrastinate. Wish me luck.

Sooooo.... back to chronicling my time with the family. Next in our itinerary was the family trip to Baguio which was originally scheduled the 7th of May, but was moved to the 8th because we remembered AD had tickets to Katy Perry's concert. Singit lang- the concert was awesome. It started late, but it was worth the wait. We hurried out of the venue even before Katy finished singing "Fireworks" because we wouldn't want to get stuck in hellish traffic going out Philippine Arena compound. Our original foiled because we couldn't find AD's car and we got delayed for about another 10 to 15 minutes and Waze led us to the wrong route. We got out of the compound after 30 to 45 minutes. Which is actually a good thing... because it took others three hours just to get out of the Philippine Arena compound. 

Got home 1 am and I wasn't prepared for our Baguio trip yet. 

Binagyo sa Baguio

A typhoon was brewing over the Pacific Ocean and it was set to hit the northern part of Luzon on the dates we were set to go to Baguio. We still proceeded as planned and prayed and hoped for the best.

To date, our trip going up north was the longest road trip I've taken. We left at 8 in the morning and after hours on the road and after paying what seemed like a bajillion toll fees, we stopped over at a restaurant in La Union which I already forgot the name of because I wasn't really paying attention, but here's a picture taken inside the place.

Food was okay, lutong-bahay type. It took quite a while before our food was served but I think they only cook your food upon order. 

After lunch, we headed to the church of Our Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan. Heard mass, prayed a little then we continued our very lengthy journey up to the highlands. 

We reached Baguio city proper around 5 pm and around that time, it was raining really, really hard. I remember the first time I went to Baguio- it was 12 to 13 years ago, it was my sisters and we took the bus going there- I vowed to never return to Baguio. Why, you ask? Nag-panic ako sa lalim ng mga bangin. And these buses were running in speeds, I reckon, not suitable for one-lane, relatively narrow and bangin-na-sa-gilid roads. Well, kinain ko yung sinabi ko kasi 12 years after, I went back. So there, more than a decade later and I'm still scared of going there and this time, there was a typhoon, to boot. We finally reached our home for three days and albeit it was still early, everyone called it a day- pagod na sa biyahe. 

All activities resumed the next day. Mommy wasn't feeling well, so she and dad stayed in the condo. The rest of us had breakfast at Café by the Ruins.

We must have waited more than 30 minutes to be seated and if one has to wait that long to get a seat, I assume the food's great. Eh di lalong tumaas expectations ko nung nakita ko yung menu- muy caro! I ended up just ordering hot chocolate (since I already ate bread at the condo) and AB shared her meal with me. 

Food was okay. Not that crazy over their hot chocolate, too. Casino Español has better hot chocolate  (but of course). 

After breakfast, next stop was Wright Park where the boys went horseback riding. 

The boys enjoyed the horse ride, most especially because they heard the horses fart. Boys and farts.. tsk.. tsk.. It was a good thing that it was sunny that morning in spite of the weather depression. After Wright Park, we headed off to Mines View Park, to do what? I absolutely have no idea. Ha. 

Umm.. so there was a St. Bernard there with whom you can have your picture taken, for a fee. And aside from the St. Bernard, there were a bajillion merchants selling plants and other stuff. I already forgot what we did in Baguio 12 years ago but I remember there weren't this many people back then. It was a challenge getting a decent shot- without strangers "photobombing" our photos. 

Breathtaking view but overshadowed by how congested the area was. However, I get why Baguio's congested at this time of the year but what I don't get was how dirty park was. Just outside the park, right there under the sign "Mines View Park," was a hill of trash. Sad.

For lunch, we just bought Andok's so we could eat with mommy and daddy at the condo. We were supposed to go to Burnham after lunch but the rain started pouring again and everyone was in hibernation mode. AD and D and I went to Baguio Techno Hub in Camp John Hay to buy strawberry shortcake and also to have merienda na din. Dinner was at O Mai Khan with mommy, daddy, AB, AD and D and C. So I was totally clueless when they said that it was a Mongolian bbq buffet. Sorry naman kung igno. I was expecting, you know, barbecued anything so just imagine my confusion when what I saw were raw vegetables and meat. At least, now I know. Haha. 

Day 3 in Baguio, I was already feeling a little bit under the weather. AB and all the others had the flu so I guess I knew I'd catch the virus eventually. This was also the day we went strawberry picking ☺

strawberry picking attire

This was in La Trinidad and not La Presa. The trip going to La Trinidad was stressful enough (takot talaga ako sa bangin- natural na duwag lang talaga), I can't imagine what more the road going to La Presa. Hindi kaya ng puso ko, I swear. 

strawberries!!!

Strawberry-picking costs P500 per 1 kilo, no matter how many people picked basta the total weight of strawberries in your basket's one kilo. We don't know if in the other areas (yung mas malapit pa!) a kilo costs P350 daw. Whatever. Ayaw na namin magtanong, sasama lang loob namin. Isipin na lang namin we're helping the locals and we're paying for the strawberry-picking-experience. Hahaha. 

i really should stop playing too much farm heroes
unang pumasok sa isip ko farm heroes saga nung nakita ko to

yak bakit ang itim ng siko ko ngayon?

Frakkit. If there's one thing I learned this summer, it's how big I am these days. Ang lakas pa ng loob ko mag-horizontal stripes. Pwe. 

yummy and very creamy strawberry ice cream with real strawberry bits

Even if my throat's a little sore, I still ate ice cream because hey, it's not everyday you get to eat ice cream with real strawberry bits! And oh, I didn't drink water after eating ice cream so ayan, natuluyan. 

Just as we were done with our strawberry-picking experience, it began to drizzle. Just in time ☺ But then again, we can't do any pasyal again because of the weather. We stayed at the condo and had an Asia's Got Talent marathon. No PMA and Burnham Park for us. Boo!

If there's anything I liked about Baguio, it's the weather. Ang lamig ☺ No need for electric fans, lalo na aircon. Hindi nagdidilim ang paningin mo tuwing makikita mo ang bill sa Meralco. Aside from that, being in Baguio stressed me a lot. We brought our own van so medyo makapigil-hininga every time we'd go up a very steep street

hindi ko keri ito

Hindi ako puede mag-drive sa Baguio. Ikamamatay ko. 

this scene is very common in Baguio
reminds me of the chabolas in Brazil

brave doggy

babayaran daw ako ni ate ng P500 matulog dito overnight

Just looking at these pictures stressed me out. Buwis-buhay tumira sa Baguio. 

We headed back to Manila Monday morning but first, breakfast at Good Taste Restaurant. Full-blown na ang flu ko so I just wanted to sleep and not feel how sore my throat was at that time. I ordered chicken mami. Masarap naman and at P75, super sulit. 

C's funny cos when he entered the restaurant, he told his mom, "Mommy, it's dirty." To which AD answered, "No, it's just old." And C answered, "it's old and dirty." Hahahaha! Funny kid. Although I think Good Taste is already renovating, so good for them.

I enjoyed our little Baguio adventure with the family but it would've been more enjoyable if the sun was out most of the time and everyone's in good health. Looking forward to the next family adventure (aka production number) ☺