Showing posts with label Family Vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family Vacation. Show all posts

December 30, 2010

Just Chillin' Out

We are set to welcome 2011 in the cold City of Pines! 

For the second straight year, our family trooped to Baguio to spend the holidays. Whereas we stayed from the 28th to the 30th last year, our schedule this year only permitted us to leave work yesterday, December 29. On our way, we decided to take a detour to visit and say a quick prayer of thanks at the Church of Our Lady of Manaog in Pangasinan.


Our Lady of Manaog

The drive was pleasant and relaxed all throughout the trip. We reached Baguio at around 1pm. HB and I took a nap and while we did, our girls got busy and hammed it up in front of the camera. With a tripod, they took shots as they roamed around the condo unit as well the clubhouse of Ridgewood Residences in Camp 7 in Kennon Road, which is our haven in this city.  

street kids, anyone?

After napping, we went to SM to purchase our supplies for the duration of our stay. We headed back to the condo shortly after we finished.

Earlier this afternoon, we headed out to PEZA and Camp John Hay to check out the export overruns. Disappointed with the wares, we drove to Burnham Park where HB and I watched some locals playing football.

wacky-ing it up inside the car

And to celebrate our wedding anniversary, we had dinner at the original Solibao Restaurant in Burnham Park. As HB and I found the Sinigang na Bagnet to be perfect for the cool clime during our last trip here in July, we ordered it once again for our girls to try.

our second take of Sinigang na Bagnet

This time, we partnered it with inihaw na pusit which was grilled to perfection as the squid meat remained soft and tasty. 

inihaw na pusit (grilled squid) served in an old-style Filipino pan

After dinner, we drove back to the condo for more bonding time. The fire place was set up and the girls roasted hot dogs.

my girls and their roasted hot dogs

Nothing tourist-y for us, just pure chillin' out ... we slept to our bodies' content, we ate when we felt like it, we watched dvd's, we sang videoke, and we drank spirits by the fire as our girls munched on roasted marshmallows and hot dogs. It is a perfect time for us and I sure hope there would be more in the next year to come.

May 2, 2010

Laiya's Coral Gardens

On our second day in Laiya, we rented a boat to take us snorkeling in "Lamesang Bato". The banca rental association of Laiya saw that our family was just a small one and with two little kids at that so they arranged to get us a small banca. We agreed to pay Php 700 for the boat ride that took us about 4 kilometers off the beach and stayed with us during the 45-minute snorkeling time.

It was our younger girls' first experience and once they entered the water and donned their goggles, they were awed by the sight of the corals and fishes.

Lamesang Bato coral garden of Laiya

Note: This is NOT an underwater shot. I just focused my camera about a foot above the water and I was able to capture this :)

We brought bread so we could feed the fishes and the boatman even helped us do this. The girls exclaimed every now and then.

What a grand time they had!

Full Swing Summer!


Thus far, we've been to:

This coming weekend, we've got a couple of swimming parties to attend but both will be held within the metropolis. After the elections, I've got a scheduled business trip to Naga and Legaspi in Bicol. As soon as I land at the airport on May 14, our family will head out to Lucban in Quezon for HB's office department outing (although I made separate arrangements to stay at a friend's house in Louisiana in Laguna) to take part in the famous Pahiyas Festival the following day.

Whew! Sounds tiring, but I'm more excited more than anything! This means I've got a lot of travels tales to come and I've still got my stories piling up in my drafts. ;) 

I'm not complaining though... after all, my mantra says:
Live life to the fullest, 
Laugh at all the things that don't matter,
          and Love with all that you have and more!