Preview of our Roadtrip to Visayas

Is travel to Boracay doable with a baby??? Yasssss!!!! Please give me time to write about this sooooon.

The reason why

Cheers to my angel son Joaquin its his 5th birthday in heaven. I always think about you despite having Thirdy. I actually think more about you now that you have a brother and the usual what could have been.

You have fueled our desire for road trips because Mom and Dad needed to escape. But you taught us to live, to be strong, to grow stronger and seek refuge in each others arms.

I actually think you are Thirdy, like what the saying goes there is a rainbow after the rain. Cheers to you in heaven! You will always be our baby.

Flying with a baby

What is it like to travel with a baby alone?

Obviously it’s D-I-F-F-I-C-U-L-T.

What more if you are travelling by plane alone and 15 days Post Partum? It was difficult and I did it.

I deserve a slow clap and a pat on the back.

YEY!

Why did I do it?

The three of us was supposed to go together 13 days Post Partum but I was having doubts. First, I still feel tired AF. I haven’t fully recovered with my sleep. The pain is gone, YES. I gave birth via C-section BTW. It was all in a rush so I haven’t really gathered my heart into it and I was worried sick about getting held in the airport for flying a tiny baby.  Our baby is small and I have to pack our things. Tired, rush, pack, and held was all I can think about so I decided to stay behind. I half heartedly wanted to stay for the week at home but I’m going to miss the father of my baby and granny needs to see little one so I gave my game face on and booked ourselves a ticket and fly alone.

Here are my tips for easy travel.

1.       Wear a dress or garterized pants/ shorts. I had to use the rest room with a baby bag, a baby, my sling bag and I was wearing jeans! Why did I even?!

It was hell. I won’t let strangers carry my baby duh? But I did it! It was a sweaty task but it’s doable. I had to put him on the diaper changing station for a minute to fix my pants. Wearing a dress would have made it easier.

2.       Pack lightly. I had to ditch the milk can (small can), the diapers and bring only enough. We decided to just buy on our destination. So I had 1 bag pack checked in. Baby bag as a carry-on and it wasn’t heavy. I can’t carry heavy objects yet.

Waiting for check-in. Do you see that I'm wearing jeans?

3.       Swaddle your baby. I don’t know if my baby is a quiet one but he didn’t make a fit on our travel. (Thank you Hani and Jazz for the swaddle) Flight was even delayed for almost 3 hours.

Swaddle me.

4.       Put ear plugs on baby. I made one out of cotton.

5.       Have your fit to travel ready. Before we decided to fly. Slim called the airlines about restrictions on flying a baby. I thought the baby was the problem but it was me. I had to secure one but no one asked about it when I was securing our boarding pass. It’s better to have one ready just in case. Don't forget your meds if there are any.

6.       Bring your baby’s birth certificate or any proof of your little one’s identification. We don’t have the birth cert yet but Slim took a picture of the birth certificate that will be registered by the hospital. The booking counter accepted the picture. I also brought the discharge instructions from the hospital and Thirdy’s baby book.

7.       Make sure baby can fly. On PAL’s website baby should be 16 days. When we called Cebu Pacific baby should be 16 days. But upon check-in 14 days is okay.

8.       Ask for help at the airport. Driving the trolley is hard with a baby on hand.

9.       If you need to eat try to find a restaurant that has a couch so you can put your baby down.

Thank You for couches. I can eat and rest for awhile.

10.   If you can bring a stroller the better. I couldn’t, because I can’t lift heavy objects yet. 

11.   Try to ditch the priority lane for PWD, Pregnant, Seniors and with Children upon check-in. The line is effing long. I had to stand with baby on hand for an hour. A lot of people are flying with kids plus the Seniors.

This is the priority lane.

12. Look for breastfeeding stations if you are breastfeeding or pumping.

I didn't know where Terminal 3's BF station is but this is in Silay Airport

We survived. My arms were so tired. We were welcomed by Daddy’s arms when we landed. Will I do it again? No! It was a memorable first time parent experience but I won't do it again. Then pray, pray that baby won't get sick and that you arrive safe.

Valentines Dinner at Casa San Miguel

I’ve wanted to spend Valentines in Casa San Miguel Zambales and this was our year. It was a supposed full course candle lit dinner for 2 for only 1500 with the Virtuosi but for some circumstances it was cancelled. 

We were serenaded by kids instead and they were amazing, while having our dinner. We had pizza and pasta and the unlimited coffee. Dinner was nice and was actually relaxing. The classy and rustic vibe is still there and for me this is the perfect place to have dinner with a loved one. Everything is romantic.

My Valentines!

Royale Rumble Slim's Favorite

After dinner we were contemplating where to go. I originally planned on spending the evening at Casa’s room but we impulsively decided to drive to Baguio instead. We got a new travel buddy so time to test its capabilities.

We were napping on the road every chance we got and arrived at Baguio around 2am. We stayed at the transient place we stayed at last December. What did we do here?

Our home in Baguio

We went on a food trip and met Slim’s colleague who just got married. We also tried going to Bencab which was closed on Monday’s, Oh my Gulay which is also closed on Monday’s and Cafe in the Sky who are not allowed to operate by DENR. I spoke with the owner and cafe employee but we were still not allowed to go up. We just went to Cafe by the Ruins and enjoyed our lunch.

Hey 2016, What happened to blogging?

Tired.

I'm just tired.

Nowadays, I just want to curl up in bed and sleep. I even got tired of blogging. I haven't posted our V-day trip last Feb and the rest of our trips this year. (I drafted this last FEB)

Why did we start our trips anyway? Well I’ll tell soon but for now I’m going to write about 2016.

So first quarter of 2016 I was too lazy to do anything. We travel to relax, to unwind but it was becoming a chore for me than leisure. I didn’t want long trips. I didn’t want going to one place then another. I didn’t want to sleep late. I just want a rest. I think I had a travel overdose. It's not like what others do but my body took its toll.

But we still went on a trip. It was Valentines and Slim's birthday so why should I spoil it? We spent Valentines at Casa San Miguel then Slim’s birthday at Baguio. I'll just post a few pictures and I'll write about them soon.

CASA SAN MIGUEL FEB 2016

CASA SAN MIGUEL FEB 2016

BAGUIO FEB 2016

Maybe the trip is what I needed but as soon as I get home I feel like I’m going to get sick.

Second quarter of the year is busier and I'm becoming more exhausted. We actually went to places we have been to. I told myself that this year we should visit new places but because I'm acting a little strange and I don't want to make a research we went back to what feels like home for us.

PUNDAQUIT APRIL 2016 CANOE BEACH RESORT

PUNDAQUIT/ SIDE TRIP TO NAGSASA APRIL 2016

ON OUR WAY TO MAGALAWA MAY 2016 (This is new)

BAGO CITY NEGROS OCC. JUNE 2016

I love seeing sceneries other than what I’m used to seeing but all this trips is just making me darn tired. Should we really do work and leisure at the same time?

Third quarter is scary and surprising. Why scary? Well, to those who knows our history you'd understand but I'll write about it soon for now look at the pictures.

LEBERDIN MANOR PANSOL JULY 2016

LEBERDIN MANOR PANSOL JULY 2016

PUNTA BULATA NEGROS OCC. SEPT 2016

SEPT 2016 BAGO CITY

And so we are expecting a little tripper in May!!! Is my exhaustion causing the baby delay? Well, maybe but now we are just ecstatic and so happy. We promised to tone down our travels err.. Maybe not. 😊 

Fourth Quarter I'm a mess and my morning sickness is becoming an everyday sickness. I just stayed home for this baby. My routine was sleep, puke, try eating, sleep, Facebook. I was too lazy to write. I'm lazy to do anything. I just want my appetite back I lost 3 kilos in the span of 1 month. I'm writing just now because I’ll be going back to work soon. You know? Cramming? Deadlines? 

November I got a go signal from my OB to travel and had to take loads of medicine. I don't want to spend our Anniversary at home anyway. My hunger for travel is coming back. It's like a pregnancy craving. I think Lo is going to be an adventurer like his Dad.

LA UNION/COCONUT GROVE NOV 2016

PUNDAQUIT NOV 2016

BOLINAO DEC 2016

I enjoyed the trip. I miss spending time alone with Slim. 

Although most of our trips this year are places we've been to it's the familiarity that makes it memorable. Maybe that is what I've been missing. I was so keen on seeing unfamiliar places that I've been missing the feeling of being at home.

Next year will be great along with our little one. Should we change this to cruising ph with a baby? Baby stories coming soon. 😘 

Dinner and drinks at Tagaytay

When you are out with your friends everything is done in a fun way. So after our selfie sessions in Venice Piazza with no plans where to eat we decided to chill in Tagaytay. When I say chill we literally chilled.

Photo from HANI

We took the route from Mckinley -  C5 -SCTEX exit Sta. Rosa. Toll fee is 175 and headed to a bar but we have no parking so we had dinner first at Mer-Ben’s Tapsilogan.

It was really cold and the bowl of Bulalo we ordered is not enough to keep us warm. We were not ready, so our protection against the cold is minimal.

Mer-ben’s Tapsilogan is recommended for being affordable Silog meals ranges from 75-95 but being delicious? Its okay I mean nothing special it’s not amazing, not bad, not that good, maybe it was too cold that my taste buds numb.

After dinner we went back to the bar. We had coffee and bought head gears for protection and our boys just had a few drinks, the cold bothered us too much so they only had a few drinks. We chilled at a bar called Gatbucks just behind Starbucks along Aguinaldo Highway. 

It was so fun talking about our past experiences, the moments we had a few years back and planned out trip to Baguio.

This is our acclimatization to Baguio and I think the weather helped us acclimatize.

Our Photo 7 years ago

Photo from HANI

Photo from HANI

Photo from HANI

Special Bulalo	480
Crispy Tawilis	180
Instant Coffee	30
Brewed Coffee	75
Rice	25*5 = 125
Bonnet	150*5  750
Beer	Approx 400
Starbucks Coffee	Approx 500 (3 drinks)
Toll	175*2  350
Diesel	300
Total Expenses	3190

Selfie Sessions at Venice Piazza

This is our first official travel for the year! 

Well spent with friends!

Taken by Hani

One of the things I love about being friends with your partner is having the same set of friends who loves road trips. So today we were supposed to be out on a trip but it was moved to a different day so we decided to check the famous Venice Piazza at Mckinley Hill. One of our friends Phen works here so she is our official tour guide.

We were using a private vehicle & Waze is our BFF for the trip. We drove from Fairview to Mckinley via Commonwealth - Katipunan - Eastwood - C5 Route and did a right turn to Mckinley Hill. It’s easy to spot since most of the people are going there.

Parking is 40 php and travel time was like 45 minutes.

We waited for our tour guide at Coffee Bean and I can see a lot of people visiting the mall. Once you see the fountains it means you are at the right place and again its not hard to spot since everyone is headed this way. Phen said during weekdays this looks like a ghost town mostly tenants or those who works here are the only visitors you’ll see.

I thought I won’t enjoy the place because its night time but I think it is better to go here at night. The place is amazing! I haven’t been to Macau but they said this is a replica of the Venetian Macao and The Grand Canal in Italy. No stalls or restaurants open around the Grand Canal yet but outside I spotted affordable restaurants like McDonalds, Yellow Cab, Zark’s, Chef Lau’s Pugon Masters, Uncle Cheffy, Tokyo Café, Tokyo Tokyo, Rufo’s, Seafood Island and Bonchon. It also has a classy vibe with Italian Music playing and the structure looks like you’re in Italy!

Z3 snapseed edit

Z3 snapseed edit

The girls

Photo by Hani

Photo by Hani

Photo by Hani
Look at the crowd behind us

Photo by Hani

We were supposed to go to a Mercato in BGC but decided to go to Tagaytay. So we really just had selfie sessions here. Tagaytay road trip up next!