Tagaytay Field Trip

November 15th, 2009

A long overdue post.

Hubby, Asher and I joined LFLS’ yearly educational trip last October 29. This year, we watched a puppet show at Pius Center (Paco) in the morning then spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Tagaytay particularly Tagaytay Picnic Grove and People’s Park in the Sky formerly known as Palace in the Sky.

Here are just a few pictures of the field trip and how the little one enjoyed it so much. To view more, check out the Field Trip album I made in my Flickr gallery.

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Hubby and Asher inside the auditorium while waiting for the puppet show to start.

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Not only the puppet show was educational (it tackled how to take care of mother nature) but it was also entertaining. As for the little one, he got curious and fascinated at first by the mascots but he refused to get nearer during the photoshoot session when the show ended.

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We drove to Tagaytay Picnic Grove and that’s where we had our lunch picnic style.

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Asher enjoyed running around the huge sloped grounds and he was unstoppable.

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“Horse back riding” his Lolo and having a “papogi” pose with Daddy.

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Having a photoshoot with his cousins Kuya Miggy and Kylie

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Finally, a new family portrait. Just don’t mind the little one’s pouty look.

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Enjoying the panoramic view from the highest point of Tagaytay…while Mommy’s twittering hehe!

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Some more spectacular views

The little one just slept throughout our trip back home. Obviously, he was overly tired yet I was certain that he enjoyed our Tagaytay adventure. These pictures make me miss the cold Tagaytay breeze.

The Laiya Experience.

May 13th, 2009

My in-laws are a family of jetsetters and every vacation, we always have an out of town excursion set. Last year we trooped to Subic so for this summer my sister-in-law (SIL) opted to go somewhere south and was scheduled last May 9-10 in time of the Mother’s Day celebration as well.

Road trip. On our way to laiya 5/9.

We boarded the van and set off from Frisco at about 9 AM. As expected, the SLEX road re-construction plus getting lost en route to San Juan, Batangas slowed down our supposedly about 4 hours of travel time. We had our lunch at Mcdonald’s Rosario then proceeded until we touched down at Casa Remo by 3 PM. According to my SIL, all the resorts she contacted some time April were all fully booked on May 9-10 except for Casa Remo Apartelle so that’s where we stayed. It is just very near Kabayan Beach Resort, a few meters away from the beach and for the simple, less extravagant lodgers such as us, the overnight casa rental fee for 7 adults, 1 kid and 2 babies was just reasonable. A lot cheaper than those nearby well-known resorts along the Laiya strip. Our room has 2 queen sized beds, 1 big matress and 2 smaller matresses. It has a common kitchen and dining area fronting the apartment-style lodges, but too bad, we didn’t bring along our own food (except junk foods and drinks)..our Saturday dinner could have been a lot better. Anyway, more on to that later.

We rested a bit in our casa after settling down our things. Cousins Kylie and Kuya Miggy right away readied for a swim while Asher had some photoshoot first.

At Casa Remo..resting from a 5-hr long drive. Smile Asher! Reading his Lift-the-flap Book (Alpha, how much lahat-lahat?) Asher and his "buh".

We headed to the beach (a 2-minute walk from Casa Remo) at 4 PM. The weather was just fine. My ideal weather for a swim actually. Not too sunny but it wasn’t that gloomy neither…a bit cloudy so Mr Sun was just all along peeping beneath the white puffy clouds. As expected, Asher had to initially warm up a bit…he didn’t want to step on the sand, got scared of the waves, perhaps surprised by the cool water but after a while and when he got the “feel” of the beach, he was unstoppable. He loved riding his inflatable boat and ring, enjoyed the waves with his Daddy and yayay, had fun playing his beach toys and the sand and even watched in delight those girls playing Frisbee nearby. He was even unmindful of the stones and coarse particles lining the shoreline that touched his feet. Water baby talaga. As for me, I didn’t swim that long..I wasn’t so in the mood to do so. I just toyed Nikky, taking pics of everything and everyone specially Asher and helped Asher’s yayay collect hermit crabs. Kulit ng trip. LOL.

Kabundukan ng Batangas at Quezon. Laiya...medyo maraming tao. Panahon kasi ng company outings. Oooppss..mukhang di pa okay. Ayaw na paawat. DSC_0858 DSC_0819 Mini sandbar. Pwedeng-pwede magcross.

We packed up when it started to rain. Asher had enough time in the water naman na so we headed back to the resort to fix ourselves in time for dinner. The heavy rains started to pour at about 6:30 PM. Then that’s when our little adventure started. BIL, hubby and I, escorted with a huuuge picnic umbrella by a Casa Remo attendant, braved the flood (yes meron talaga as in ang lakas pa ng current) and checked the two eateries nearby to buy our dinner. Unfortunately, they were both closed already as one eatery’s cook wasn’t able to come due to the very heavy rains. We retreated to our room all wet and cold and decided that we drive the van and just check the highway for open restaurants and order for take out. Imagine driving on a rainy night along a very dark provincial highway, no lamp posts and only the headlight and the lightning guides your way, with thick trees on the side and very scarce houses, no other vehicles on the road except yours on a very wet and slippery road? Worse and to frighten us more, we passed by two funeral parlors and one chapel having a burol. Scary and creepy talaga. Scenes from the horror tv flick Nasaan Ka Maruja we watched earlier that noon crept us even more. Yes, that’s how we braved the road just to find a resto but to no avail, we didn’t find any. Ang ending, we had a Lucky Me Bulalo bought from a nearby convenience store (kanto lang ng Casa Remo) for dinner after driving 5 kms away. We envied our neighbor lodgers who had lechon, barbeque and lots of baon for feasting that night (with matching videoke pa) in the common dining area. The grill was just in front of our casa so just imagine how we enviously savored the aroma of the barbecue while we eat our hot noodles and bread. Wawa naman. If I had known that we can bring our own food, I would have suggested to my in laws that we did so. Hubby and I had gone once at Laiya (Virgin Beach Resort) and we’re a bit familiar of the place (not much eateries around). At any rate, we survived the Saturday night with just a Lucky Me noodles for dinner. :D

We woke up to a sunny morning the next day. I was awakened by the husband and Asher greeting and kissing me Happy Mother’s Day. Then they handed me their gift which is a Three Stars and a Sun black tee. Nice nice! I love it. I’ll wear it this coming weekend. We took our breakfast (bread and palaman) then killed time by swimming again in the beach. I took some more shots but unfortunately Nikky’s battery died on me so I just had a few shots on our Sunday swim. Remember the sandbar pic I posted above, it has become to this the next day…a wide and deep river. It’s my first time to see a river ending to an ocean.

Saturday this was just a sandbar. Sunday, naging mini river. Malalim yan. The heavy rains the night before caused this. Naging river.

It started to rain again that morning so off we went back to our room and prepared to check out. We waited for my SIL’s family to finish packing up and at this point, we were all so hungry. It has been 24 hours already since our last rice intake so just imagine how our tummies madly grumbled. We checked out at about 12 noon, set out on the road then had our Chowking lunch at Lipa City at 2 PM. And because I was so hungry, I ordered the breaded pork lauriat meal and siomai. Yummy! Happy Mother’s Day to me. LOL.

We arrived at Frisco at 5 PM. The drive back home was an hour faster because SLEX traffic going to Manila is a little bit lighter.

Despite the long and tiring drive, getting lost along the way, no dinner, and brownout (it did for a few minutes in the wee hours of Sunday morning), I still had a blast with our Laiya getaway because I was with my boys. And that alone, is a very pleasant mother’s day gift for me. :)

And I’m Back.

May 11th, 2009

Fresh from our overnight stay at Laiya over the Mother’s Day weekend. And pardon if I’ll delay again the kwentos and all because Nikky’s battery got drained and I’m still charging it so the uploading will not take place until perhaps tomorrow. You know me, my getaway stories aren’t complete without the pictures. Albeit some inconveniences (heavy rains, got lost on our way to Laiya, no dinner, etc) of our stay there, I maximized and enjoyed the day because I was with my boys. And I so love watching how Asher enjoyed the beach. Stay tuned for the pics.

Belated Happy Mother’s Day to all of my mommy friends out there! Hope you had a wonderful one as much as I did. :)

Meanwhile, I’m off to finish my research about AEDs before the little one messes me up in front of the laptop.

Escape The Hustle.

May 2nd, 2009

Veranda hammocks. King-sized Jacuzzis with window front views. “Swim up” suites. Five-star dining. Beachside spa treatments. Is there anything else to wish for? If you’re up with a much outrageous, one of a kind beach getaway, then go ahead and book an Ocean Front Casita Suite at El Dorado Royale Resort which is the signature property of Karisma Hotels in Riviera Maya. Depending on the all inclusive cancun experience you prefer, there are five signature resorts that you can choose from: El Dorado Royale Spa Resort (adults only), El Dorado Seaside Suites (adults only), Azul Beach (family-friendly) and Azul Blue (family-friendly resort) and Hidden Beach Resort (naturalist). Which ever resort, every guest will find solace…just the perfect getaway to escape the hustle and bustle of the busy city life. As they put it, they offer nothing but pure relaxation…there is absolutely no “stresspassing.”

Mexico Travels.

February 28th, 2009

First I would like to apologize to all those who have left comments and inquiries on my 2008 Discover Asia Travel Packages blog entries and have left them hanging, unanswered. I really have a handful of tasks to do relative to my son’s birthday party tomorrow but rest assured that I’ll forward your inquiries to my friend at Discover Asia. I didn’t know that this blog of mine has landed on google first pages with keyword searches: boracay, palawan and bohol packages and so I’ve been receiving quite a sum of inquiries on them.

Speaking of travels, you might be looking for an all inclusive mexico vacation packages. I know of one where you can get irresistible deals should you be interested about travelling to Mexico. Karisma Hotels have several properties along the secluded white-sand beaches on the Mexican Riviera Maya region and what they boast are new Gourmet-Inclusive concept, luxurious accommodations and invigorating entertainment. They have five signature hotels to choose from depending on your requirements: El Dorado Royale Spa Resort (for adults only), El Dorado Seaside Suites (for adults only), Azul Beach (a family-friendly resort) and Azul Blue (family-friendly resort) and Hidden Beach Resort (naturalist). There’s so much to discover, explore and experience at these Karisma Hotels so if a vacation sanctuary is what you aspire for, then, try and check in at any of these Karisma Hotels.