Sta Ana, Cagayan

Last year, when Neo first visited his Papa’s province, we were given a tour at Sta Ana Cagayan to explore the beaches.  This is the northern tip you will see in the map (Batanes not included hehe). 

From city proper at Tuguegarao, with smooth roads (per 2013 Senatoriable Jack Enrile, he made sure that the farm to market roads were good), it took us 4 straight hours (van running at 60-80kph) to arrive at Sta Ana, Cagayan.  The nice palayans made the journey bearable.  We stayed at Avalon Beach Club.  The rooms were so nice (this is a newly built resort during that time, 2012).  But don’t expect too much on the beach as it is not a white sand beach.

We stayed there overnight.  Cost of two rooms (one sea-view) at around Php6000.  The room can accommodate 4-5 people.  It is very spacious – with LCD TV, split-type air-conditioning, mini-ref, and its own toilet and bath.  Aside from the king size bed, the room also has a sofa-bed (I don’t know what is called if it’s made of wood, sorry).

After that, we tried to go to the famed “Boracay of the North” – the Anguib Beach, but we weren’t able to go there as the roads were blocked by some construction.  Instead we went to Nangaramoan Beach – and this looks nice as well.  The sand is not smooth, but it looks so pristine.   

Being a beach lover, we can’t resist having Neo try dipping on the beach – of course, with umbrella (it was noontime, when we arrived there). 

Take note, there are no overnight accommodations in here.  You have to go home by afternoon :)

Ciao!

Baby Neo’s Mama

Saturday is Neo Day

We spent last Saturday at SM Mall of Asia.  There was an event that we pre-registered for Neo to participate.  This is the Breeze SigeLand.  Actually, there were 2 activities we wanted Neo to participate, but due to lack of time, we weren’t able to use the other activity.  The other activity is for Vitapops Inventor’s Lab.  Next time na lang siguro.

At Breeze SigeLand, kids were given free toys (one toy per kid), no need to pay.  Mommies just have to sign a waiver that they will agree to let their kids learn even if it leads to stains.  They were giving out 4 toy varieties: Bike to Courage, Paintings for Creativity, Balls for Sportsmanship, and Swimming pools for Confidence.

Since, we were late in arriving and it’s a first come first serve activity, when it was our time to choose our toy, only paintings and swimming pools are available.  Neo already has his own swimming pool.  So we got the painting set – though my heart was really set on a bike. Luckily, when we were doing our cashless payment, a kiddie bike appeared out of nowhere.  So we grabbed it and Neo now has his own bike.  For free!

We then head to the grocery.  After that, we decided to go to Vitapops Inventor’s Lab as Neo also has his ticket for that activity.  However, Papa Leo and I decided not to let Neo play in there.  Neo was sick the whole week and 2 activities for a day might make him experience binat.  So when we were about to go home, we passed by a family holding this dog:

NEO: cat!

Me: Anak, that’s a dog.

Aw!  That too cute dog confused my baby.  For the record, it was a Japanese Spitz.

Hope you had a happy weekend as well.

Ciao

Baby Neo’s Mama

Tipid Tip: Online Booking 101

Leo and I are very fond of promo fares.  In all the times we rode an airplane, it was only 1 time that we paid it in full – all the time it was promo fare.  This is not a secret to our family.  So when my cousin wanted to try booking a flight to Cebu (she’ll be treating her family), it was me she asked.

So here are my tips for those people who want to book an online ticket for a low cost.

·         Wait for online promos (well this is a no-brainer tip hehe) – Sign in to online promos alert, as well as facebook page of airline websites to get email alerts for promos.

·         Is insurance a must? – For us, who already have insurances in our respective works, we don’t use this add ons

·         Do I need to select seat? – This is not a must for us.  For first timers you can select the seat closest to the window as this will give you a good view.  But for those travelling in groups, during check in, you will be given a seat side by side of each other, so tendencies are one of you will be seating on the window side.  If you’re the one sitting at the middle and wants to enjoy the view – well, you can lean hehe.

·         Do I need a check-in baggage? – When we were still childless, we can be backpackers.  5-7kilos as hand carry baggage is enough for us.  But when we had Neo, we always book check-in baggage for him.  When you have a baby and you travel, it seems like you are packing the whole house to ensure you need everything at hand.

·         If you could look for a promo fare that doesn’t include taxes, fuel surcharges – so much the better J

·         Wait – You have to be patient.  Normally, online promo fares need to be booked 6months before the actual travel date.

We always wait patiently for promo fares of airline companies – this will help us save travel time, for a low cost, and this will save us having a grumpy baby while travelling.  Just take note that online promo fares are usually non-refundable, non-transferrable, non-reroutable, non-rebookable, non-commisionable, non-endorsable, and all the nons. Hahahaha :D

So my last tip will be, when you book online, be sure, be really really sure that you will be using that online promo you booked.  It doesn’t make sense to book a promo fare thinking you were able to save some bucks when you will not be enjoying the travel. 

We were okay with all the tips above, except for this last one.  I am an impulsive buyer of online promos.  We were able to use most of the tickets, except for 2 flights.  The 2 most expensive (for promo standards) flights outside of the country.  Reason: we weren’t able to plan it with Neo.  I’d rather do away the ticket cost than travel without my baby.

Hope this helps you too!

Father’s Day Weekend

We celebrated father’s day one day earlier at Tagaytay Sky Ranch.  It’s the best time for all of us (my side of the family) to gather.  We celebrated it with four dads (my dad, 2 titos, and Leo).  It was a very happy experience.

Entrance fee is Php50.  You have to pay every time to ride an attraction.  You can do a lot of things at Sky Ranch.  From picnic to riding attractions, to riding horses and enjoying the view. Babies are not free of charge.  You need to pay in full for them to enjoy the rides.

So ending, we just enjoyed the view hahaha

Sunday, we planned to eat out after church to treat my dad; however, this didn’t push through.  Baby Neo was sick since yesterday. L

Happy Father’s Day to all Dads!

Independence Day is for the Family

We spent our 115^th Independence Day as a family.  With my family from Cebu coming over to Manila for vacation plus Leo’s father and brother with us, it’s a holiday to spend out.  We met at MOA to have a lunch gathering.  The Management of MOA set up their events center for the Man of Steel.  And here he is:

Then Tito GB had to take a picture carrying the Man of Steel.

When we were trying to look for a place to take our lunch, Papa Leo chanced upon an exhibit of the Philippine Air Force.  Well, for a big fan of whatever military, he couldn't resist to have a picture of him inside the cockpit.

After that, we accompanied Lolo Frank to Victory Bus Terminal.  He went home yesterday after more than 2 weeks of being Neo’s yaya.  My family from Cebu decided that we would be visiting a casino afterwards.  But with some miscommunication, we ended up in Resorts World and them at Solaire.

Since we were waiting for them to arrive at Resorts World, Leo and I decided to get a free membership. But we weren’t able to play.  People below 21yrs old are not allowed in the gaming area.  And since we have an 18^th month kiddo, we just roam around Resorts World.

It was a very tiring day but a happy one.

Ciao!

Baby Neo’s Mama

A Day at Subic – Part 2

After long hours at Ocean Adventure, we then went to Zoobic Safari.  These places are close to each other, no more than 10mins away.

A Day at Subic – Part 1

Our company outing was held last Saturday at Subic.  We went to Ocean Adventure and Zoobic Safari – it was like a field trip.  We can bring our families, but last minute, Leo and I decided that I go by myself na lang.  It will be a looong drive for Neo.

Call time was 5:30AM, and since Filipino time is well, not on time, we were able to start our journey at 6AM.  We crossed EDSA, NLEX, and SCTEX.  All in all, I think I counted around 4-5 toll gates.  Summing our toll fees, we almost reached Php1000 for just one way.  There were no traffic and the whole ride was smooth.  Comparing NLEX to SLEX, I would say the whole NLEX road is way way smoother than SLEX (well, since 1970s all our presidents were from Northern Luzon: Aquino from Tarlac, Arroyo from Pampanga, Estrada from Manila (he’s the exception), Ramos from Pangasinan, Aquino from Tarlac, Marcos from Ilocos, and Macapagal from Pampanga).

Exactly 3hrs of journey, we reached Ocean Adventure.  We avail of the package: Entrance + buffet lunch + beach access, which cost Php880 – though we weren’t able to use the beach access.

The Art of Diaper Changing

Last year, April, we were yayaless for almost a month, after we finally decided to let go of Neo’s first yaya (who’s a very grrr yaya, will tell you about her on a different post).  Our first day being yayaless, we asked the help of Neo’s Mamita and tito GB.  But since, tito GB is studying and Mamita is very old to take care of Neo, our first day was a disaster.  So on the 2^nd day, we ask the help of Lolo Jun to take care of Neo the whole night.  When Mama and Papa arrived home from work the next morning (we were still working night shift that time), this is what Lolo did to Neo’s diaper:

Well, all we can say is that Lolo Jun is not very good at diaper changing, what do you think? LOL.

Baby Neo’s Mama

Wunderground.com

These past few weeks, I’ve been hearing a lot of thunder – which reminds me to check on my most visited website since 2011: www.wunderground.com.

Part of my team’s task before was to monitor the weather in the Philippines (North Atlantic included sometimes) for any weather disturbances that may affect the company’s operation here.  Our main website to check is Wunderground.  It was part of my daily routine to open internet explorer -> drop down to favorites and search for the wunderground link -> go to Tropical (which shows the storms and typhoons) then look for our beloved country.  In case I see a weather disturbance, kaboom!  Our daily tasks and deliverables are set aside.  Weather becomes our top priority.

I just miss the chaos the LPAs, tropical storms, and typhoons bring to my team.  We instantly became very stressed out when we see a storm approaching the Philippines – not for the severe impact it brings for the country, but for the additional tasks ahead.  Sending bi-hourly reports, joining conference calls, monitoring the weather are just some of them.  Honestly, after 2 years of being part of the Weather Management Team (not our real team name, just an addition) I would say, I can also hand out my resume to Pag-Asa in case they have vacancies LOL.

Some of the terms we normally use:

Low Pressure Area

Category 1-5 storm

Maximum sustained winds

Gustiness

Scattered rainshowers

Tropical Storm “” locally known as “”

West-southwest (or whatever direction the wind goes)

Eye of the storm

Oh, I just miss browsing through this website haha :D

Just a side note:  my team became dedicated to this task when I was pregnant with Neo.  As a result, my little guy is all very attentive when I AM READY: Serbisyong Totoo of GMA News shows Mang Tanny reporting the weather.

Baby Neo’s Mama

My Sweetest Day… So Far

Yesterday was my sweetest day, so far…

Our baby Neo is now very expressive.  When I was about to go to work yesterday, he hugged me for a good 2minutes.  We were hugging and kissing each other in our front door.  He wouldn’t let go of me even though Lolo Frank was luring him outside the house (his weakness :P).  When he finally let go, I walked out of our gate.  He cried ng bongga.  So ending Lolo Frank and Neo walked Mama out of the subdivision’s gate.  Lolo Frank needed to deceive Neo by pointing out airplanes, cars (whatever was there during that time) and I had to run and hide so I can go to work.

Come night time, I arrived home with Neo just waking up fresh from his afternoon nap.  When he saw me, he instantly hugged me. When I try to get away to change clothes, he would pull me back.  We were hugging too much yesterday.

We played a whole lot too, after I washed his clothes (9 straight hours of using computer then washing toddler clothes = pasmadong kamay).  I was dead tried yesterday, but everything was so worth it whenever I see my baby.

Maybe Neo is at this stage where he loves to see and hug and kiss Mama all the time.  I don’t want time to pass by.  Where can I buy a time stopper? LOL.

Baby Neo’s Mama

20 Things a Mother Should Tell Her Son

I got this from facebook.  Someone shared this, so I shared it as well.  I wish I could tell Neo all these things to help him grow to be a fine young man.

Start of Our Yaya-less Week

I told you last week that ate Marlyn went on vacation to her province.  She’ll be there for a week.  Therefore, we are officially yaya-less for the whole week.  Papa kindheartedly volunteered to take care of Neo (actually, they wanted to bring Neo to Cagayan and bring him back na lang daw by December, nyek.)

Friday was the start of our yaya-less week, which we don’t really felt because the whole of Leo’s family was still in our house.  Saturday was full-blown (with Mama, Lei, and LJ going home to Cagayan).  We started the day by cleaning.  I cleaned our CR using lots of bleach.  Afterwards, we went to SM Dasma to do our weekly grocery.  They already opened the 7-storey parking building. It was for free that day, so we tried it.

View from the parking (2^nd floor)

For people doing their grocery, parking in the upper floors is not really a good option.  We’ll you can’t bring all your grocery bags to the department store exit just to go to the parking. What we did was left the grocery bags at the baggage counter at the foodcourt (so we just fetch our bags when we were about to go out).

Upon arriving home, Leo, Papa, and Neo accompanied Mama, Lei, and LJ to the bus terminal going to Pasay.  (I volunteered not to come along as we wouldn’t fit in the car).  When they were out, I cleaned the sink using detergent and bleach, again.  I have been using bleach the whole day, so come evening time, my head aches like crazy.  (Well, I can still feel the pain today, even after drinking lots of mefenamic, paracetamol, and neozep.  The pain won’t go away.)

Since I don’t feel well yesterday, Sunday, Leo washed our clothes.  It was minimal (no more than 20 items, all including shirts, pants, shorts).  We went to church afterwards, and then paid some bills. 

Back at home, we fixed everything for the coming workweek.  This will be a looooong week for us.  Hope we’re still alive by Saturday.

Ciao!

Baby Neo’s Mama