I'm Back!

Since our December trip to the Philippines i have been neglecting this blog for quite some time. You know what it means when your a fulltime working mother. Some hobbies can always take a back seat when needed. Actually, I can make time to sit and type if i wanted to but life got hectic the day we came back which is the very next morning(i have to go to work). Poor sleepy me. I regret i didn't put an extra day off to at least relax and sleep normal. Not so smart of me. Not even a room for jetlag excuse. And one year old Mattie moving now like a maniac lol which pretty much sums up my entire exhausted day. Who said life is easy when your hands are way too full? But isn't it amazing how your body can accomodate all of it. It's innate. We're born to be flexible i think, at least i claim to be one. So no more slacking and it's time to update this dormant website..

First of, our trip to PI.

Initial stop to Manila for 3 days to shop for diaper since we didn't bring tons of it with us on the plane. Nothing exciting really, just a day of golf and dinner with Richard's business friend. Richard and I were trying to fast forward manila everytime we talk about our trip. It's because we lost our brand new sanyo HD camcorder there. Bought just for the trip. Went to glorietta on our first day in manila to get some food and some peso bills. On our way back to the hotel we forgot to take the camera out from the taxi's trunk. It wasn't in one of our SM bags so we figure it was left alone there without the drivers knowledge. Lot of things happened while at the mall that we rushed back to the hotel. Both of our concentration diverted to something else and not to our belongings. No blames pointed out but it did sure broke our heart that day. I even patiently waited outside the taxi stand hoping that the driver make his rounds again but no luck. I guess it was meant to be on someones hands on holidays. A freebie. Whoever got it must had a wonderful christmas. they could sell it for a thousand bucks easy with the brand new accessories like lenses, heck yah. Anyway, we proceeded to our next destination with less excitement because of the incident. We never recover the item after so many attempts of calling the taxi company and the drivers cell number. Hubby even promised the manila traffic enforcers stationed at SM some money if they find it. They did try though. Luckily, we have an old 5yr old digicam were supposed to give to my brother as a gift. But then again we didn't take lots of pictures from it coz everytime we do it reminds us of the other one we tossed away in a blink of an eye. At least that's how i feel. Hubby probably felt worst than i do. It's one of his precious toy btw. Anyhow, with our camera phones handy all the time we end up using it more often. Even though we still have our 2yr old sony digicam left here at home, Richard insisted of buying another one, same brand and model camcorder. Thanks to the insurance coverage, oh yes for times like this it's all worth insuring valuables. Otherwise i wont' let him spend a dime ever again for that piece of cool technology. He thinks it's the best one out there for it's size, functionality and features(sigh). What do i know about gadgets anyway?

Manila? yah not so exciting to recap......

Dinner with college friends at Cafe laguna. 2nd photo: Plantation bay resort.

Next stop was Cebu for 5 days to see my college friends and a little bit of sunny and sweaty golfing again.Wow how glad i was to visit this friendly city one more time. An overnight stay at Plantation Bay with friends was not in our iterinary but you can only do so much in the city of smiles. Definitely drain our wallet lol. Nevertheless, a great fun place for family to enjoy. Of course a night of exclusive karaoke was the night's theme, minus Mattie btw. For your FYI, hotel provides babysitter services for a reasonable price. A short visit but a good one. I'm reminiscing my college days while in cebu, indeed it was all great experiences i shall never forget. Cebu remains close to my heart for many many reasons that i consider retiring there in the future. Definitely one of my favorite city. Looking forward to the sinulog festival in '09 or 2010. To my awesome buddies there, watch out!

In Davao, Richard and Mattie was able to meet some of my mom and dad's relatives. It is near the holidays and off we are to SM mall to buy gifts for everyone in the family in Mati. I'm glad davao malls aren't as crowded as the ones in manila. Almost a week of fun and pleasure in the city of durian. Of course i didn't pass eating the famous stinky fruit. It wasn't season so i have to shed more money for 2 huge spikey durian. For me i didn't see a lot of big changes in Davao. It's still the same orderly clean city as far as i remember. They do have nice golf courses and housing development in the suburbs were tremendously increasing. We get the chance to talk to the real estate out of curiousity about few properties we were interested. Too pricey to afford if you want to live around the golf course area. What a ridiculous price they offer to my kano husband lol, it's like almost the same as buying it here in america. Pathetic.

Oh the overrated Marco Polo Hotel? it wasn't all that. I'm not too impressed, it was on ok hotel not the best in the city for sure. Just my opinion. I did have a night for clubbing. Sang a few songs with the band who also worked in beijing. They were from the same agency as me. Click the band photo and me here.

above photos: Pujada bay island of Mati

Left photo:cold spring with uncle. Right photo: hot spring with cousins.(mati springs)

Off we drive to our final destination. Mati City where i was born and raised. Just recently became a city of Davao Oriental. Lots of exquisite white sand beaches and small uninhabited islands to explore. Besides the mountains the beach is the most popular destination on the weekends and holidays for families to get together. We visited the popular hot and cold spring in Maragusan 2hrs drive away from the city. So refreshing travelling with the car window open. Pure fresh breeze of cold air. Loops of green vegetation was magnificent. It's like in the painting and storybooks. Although it was a bumpy terrain ride we manage to entertain the kids especially matthew the entire trip. How matthew loved to be in the water all day long was astounding. He had so much fun considering philippine water was his first dipped. He had both the fresh hot and cold mountain water pool and the salty sandy one. What a treat for our little boy.

Mattie on his baptismal outfit. Very uncomfortable wearing the itchy barong lol.

On christmas day was also Mattie's baptismal. The parish priest where my mother do some volunteer work was kind enough to squeeze in the ceremony to his already booked holiday schedule. A quickie one so to speak. I didn't mind, afterall, all we care was for him to recieve the sacrament... no big entourage just us immediate family. More swimming that i could care less getting lots of tan. I'm lovin it!

Then an icecream night with grandma and cousin angelo. Photo below.