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Saturday, May 30, 2009

Little prince

The shrine of Barasoain is turning 150 years old on July. One of their project, to earn funds for the Church, is the Little Prince and Little Princess. Daddy, a member of the Knights of Columbus, volunteered Ryan to be their candidate.They had their procession with the images of Mama Mary during the Santacruzan and presentation of the candidates as well. Ryan's the oldest among the candidates but not the smallest hehe. Kakaawa lang kasi conscious na conscious sya during the parade.

Go little prince! Your lola is so proud of you haha!!!

Friday, May 29, 2009

.. and back..

It's time to go back to Manila.
As if we didn't have too much photos, we still had more at the airport waiting for our flight back to Manila.
Filipinos won't be happy with their tour without shopping. And Filipinos cannot go home from vacation without pasalubongs. We were hoping to bring coconut crab but it's not allowed to be brought out of Batanes. If you're craving for coconut crab, you better go to Batanes. That's how it goes. So we were able to buy native coin purse and key chains of old stone houses and the Ivatan costume.
Thank you Mom and Dad! Looking forward to many more years of happiness together.
Not all fairy tales has happy ending. Ours was about to end. Sadly, we have to bid good bye to the beautiful people of Batanes. Worse, back to work. Have to work hard once again for our next destination... Gota Village of Caramoan? or outside Philippines since it will be Mommy's and Daddy's 40th year? Watch out for it!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Saya sa Sabtang.

Finally, a trip to the island of Sabtang.

We boarded a big boat going to the island and the boat was swinging left and right when we boarded it. Riding the boat was a bit scary. It was a 40-minute ride with big waves (that is, for me). Omar got sea sick and the provincial tourism of Sabtang gave us free medicine for dizziness upon our registration at the island.
We first explored the east side of the island where we passed along a village of old stone houses. We went down at the start of the village and walked our way to the end. A lola even went out of her store just to look at Winter, who thought that he was a girl.

And of course, we would stop by a Church for a prayer of thanks. 90% of the population are Catholics.
We stopped by an ark to enjoy the view and have more photos taken.Next stop was the old house selling the Ivatan costume used to protect them from the heat of the sun and rain. My mom bought one for girls. The lolas in the house just loves Winter. They all thought I have a baby girl with me.
We then had our lunch. Ang sarappp!!! Even the kids loves the fried kamote so yummy! We then headed to the west side of the island, on our way to the beach. But since we were scared to leave the island late and encounter bigger waves, we decided not to take a dip.
Winter, as usual, loves the water.
And just like our previous trips, we would have our family picture - complete or incomplete!
We encountered bigger waves on our wave back but with the medicine from the tourism, ride wasn't that tough. And the captain of the boat assured us not to be afraid for the boat will not topple down even if it was rocking left and right.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

More of Batan

There was a shooting of a coffee commercial (the new Nescafe commercial you can now see on TV- that's how late I am posting my stories hehe) being shot at Sabtang and they rented all the available transportation in the island so we were not able to see the island. We went to tour the rest of the Batan island instead.

We rented a van and they brought us at the Fisherman's Village and hiked up our way to the Spring of youth. We rented Muning's cottage and she prepared our lunch while we trek our way to the spring.It was a 20-minute walk to the spring, up hill and down hill. Summer had no choice but to walk her way to the spring since I was already carrying Winter and Omar, due to his heart condition, cannot carry Summer to the spring.
We enjoyed the cool dip at the spring. We had it to ourselves. It was my first to swim with Winter. He had his first dip with my in-laws. He just loves the water.
Good thing on our way back, tide was low so we were able to walk along the shore - well, more of over the corals. Summer had her way this time, though. She asked one of the kuyas to carry her on her way back and they were so kind to accommodate her request.
We had sumptuous lunch at Muning's then went back to the hotel to rest. We had our dinner at Batanes Resort - a resort operated by the provincial government.
For our last day tomorrow, by hook or by crook, we have to see the island of Sabtang!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Let's see Batan.

The accommodation at Fundacion Pacita comes with a complimentary tour of the island of Batan.

First stop was the Chawa View Deck.Then, we went to see the oldest house, built on 1887, with the lola inside - the granddaughter of the owner.We try to visit a Church whenever we see a new place - a nice way of saying Thank you for bringing us there safe.You'll be amazed with the Honesty Cafe. A teacher used to sell coffee and snacks for the fishermen and travellers from the other islands since her place is just by the pier. And since she's always out farming, she just leave the store open for everyone to get their needs. You just list your bought items in her notebook and drop your payment in the box. Yes, no sales lady. That's how honest they are. That's how good they are.We stopped along the road to enjoy the view of the Pacific Ocean or was it the South China Sea? Can't remember which side we were but both surrounds Batanes.We passed by the Ruins of Songsong where stone houses were destroyed by a tidal wave. The family moved to Bukidnon after.We passed by another Church with a little light house.The Marlboro Country is just amazing!

And a final stop at a light house before having our dinner, just in time to catch the sun set.We had dinner at Therese Coffee shop where we enjoyed Bataan's Coconut Crab. We were served lobster, lapulapu and Ibatan food. I ate all the aligi of one coconut crab. Unforgettable.Tomorrow will be an early day for Sabtang Island.

To and from

To Batanes, from Manila.

We left home at 7am for our 9am flight to Basco, Batanes via Seair.It was an hour and a half flight to Batanes. The kids were manageable during the flight, thanks to the family for the help in amusing Winter when he was up. The airport was nice. We were fetched at the airport by Ryan from Fundacion Pacita.
We stayed at one of the best accommodations we've been to here in the Philippines. One thing nice of travelling on weekdays is having the whole place to yourself. We had beautiful rooms.There were only 8 staff but we were very well served and they were all nice. There was even a time when Omar and I were taking a nap with Winter and Summer was at the kitchen chatting with the staff and they even gave her milk and fed her her Koko Krunch. You can just stay in there and relax and have fun even without a swimming pool or videoke.Come and join us as I take you with us and tour Batanes.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Winter's 9th.

Winter is on his 9th month.Still no teeth.
Can clap his hands.
Loves standing up, though he keeps on falling pa.

No idea yet how to celebrate his 1st birthday. 3months na lang!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Favorite stop.

We love to eat. My family loves to eat, except for Summer nga lang. I hope she discover the fun of eating soon.

We heard mass at Antipolo early in the morning, brought the kids to their doctor for their monthly check-up early lunch, bought Omar's phone at SM after lunch, so the family stayed at the shop the whole day. Omar had to finish something at the shop so we went home later than usual. We had dinner at Shakey's! I wanted to eat Thai but it was Summer's wish to eat at Shakey's. Summer had 2 slices of pizzas with mojos and balat ng chicken. Winter had soup and had fun smiling at the camera while seated on his high chair.

Thanks for the dinner. I love Shakey's.

May Check-up

Winter's due for his vaccine while it's Summer's follow-up check with her primary complex.

Summer gained 1kg from last month - which is good. Best if we can get more weight gain. Better than nothing. Good that she did not lose weight. Summer, knowing that she won't be getting any vaccine that day, talked a lot! She shared stories with her doctor - from her morning activities before going to the hospital to her birthday to her trip to Canada to her trip to the beach to her cousins Jaja and Julian, everything! Her doctor was so kind to listen to all her stories while checking Winter.

Winter, on the other hand, did not gain weight - must be with all his activities, crawling here and there. He had his second shot of his IPD. Ang mahal ha! Di naman pwede tipirin ang health ng family. I also discussed with his doctor why he hasn't grown any teeth yet. The doctor is giving me until his first year, or even until his 14th month, before we can check on him and make some test.

Everything's all good! Thank God!

Tayo na sa Antipolo!

We would hear mass at Antipolo, at least once a year, during their fiesta, celebrated the whole month of May. The Mama Mary of Antipolo is known to protect travellers. We left Malolos at 5am to catch the 7am mass. Kuya and I would share and treat the family for breakfast. This year, we had breakfast at Pancake House along Katipunan Ave. Omar had the jumbo hamburger, I had the smoked bangus, Summer almost finished her 2pcs classic pancake, and Winter had mashed potatoes. Summer loved her breakfast! Sana araw-araw ganun.
And as promised to Ninang Jenny, here's our photo wearing our Chucks.
Happy anniversary Mommy and Daddy! Looking forward to celebrating next year's anniversary. Woohoo!!!! Excited!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Practice.

We're leaving on Tuesday for our 4d/3n summer get-away.

No yaya for Winter and Summer. I brought out the sling and practiced wearing Winter in it. Summer then was playing again with the camera and took a good shot of Winter. Ang puti ni Winter, lalo akong umiitim sa kanya hahaha. Di kaya kami pagkamalang native sa pupuntahan namin?