boracay

we went to boracay during our vacation in the philippines.  i have been to a several beaches in different parts of the world, and i have yet to find a beach with sand more beautiful than boracay's.  

i've been to boracay with my friends before and this is my family's first time.  everyone had a good time.  

 

 waiting for the flight to kalibo

 ati-atihan

 the beach

 relaxing at astoria boracay

 

relaxing by the beach

 polvoron from boracay!

 this is as deep as my mom will ever get in the water

 

hotel review:

the good - astoria boracay is nice and new.  the facilities  are really beautiful.  the pool is very small but real estate in boracay is expensive so resorts would rather use the space for rooms instead of a bigger pool.  the manager seems really nice.  mas nauuna pa sya bumati sa guests kesa sa sariling nyang staff. 

the bad - the layout is very poor.  i think the architect or designer went for form instead of function.  i didn't like the lobby/dining room combo.  it's so weird to walk into the space after spending time at the beach, all covered in sand while other guests are enjoying their meal in the dining room.  there's too much traffic in one confined space. service is ok, staff could use more training and improve their customer service skills.  for the price that i paid for, i expected to have conditioner in my room.  it's the little details that takes a hotel from being good to great.  would i stay there again?  unless prices are dirt cheap, not really.  just being honest.  i want the hotel to do well but i wasn't blown away by anything. 

food:  i don't remember where we ate.  nothing really stood out but none of them where bad.  meals are very expensive...everything is expensive in boracay.  we were at d' mall looking for beach toys for the kids.  one store said P250 daw, another said P380, pareho walang tawad.  konting lakad pa at nakita namin ang palengke and a similar toy goes for only P150.  sold!  so magpunta kayo sa palengke at doon bumili ng supplies na kakailanganin nyo like water and snacks, you'll get it for half the price. 

while the sand in boracay is perfect.  it bothers me that it is so commercialized.  it's very different from my first trip back in 2004.  i had a better time in coron, bohol, and maui.  i like beaches that do not have too many people.  siguro if we stayed at shangri-la, my opinion would be different.  but we can't afford to pay for 12 people to stay at shangri-la boracay.  not now at least, sana someday we can!  =D

before boracay

ano ba ginawa namin before boracay?

oh, nag karaoke kami ng mga pinsan ko that friday night!  lahat pala kami mahilig kumanta.  =)  sayang lang at di lahat nakasama.  oh well!  there's always next year!  (parang uuwi talaga kami next year e no?)

saturday/sunday, we went to laguna to spend time with paul's family.  nag rent kami ng private pool and we spent the night there.  masaya naman.  di masyado mainit, kaya di masyado umitim and the pool is fresh and clean (they replace the water for each guest at the resort.  mura ang tubig sa laguna).  

michelle spent most of her waking moments in laguna in the water.  that's where she built her confidence and relied on her floaty thing.  she was kicking all over the pool.  malapit na mabuild confidence nito for a full on swimming class (next summer perhaps).

monday naman, i went to dinner with my friends from high school.  nagpunta kami ng tagaytay and ate at buon giorno.  ang cute ni raja!  mabait na bata din.  mukhang nagkasundo naman sila ni michelle.  after dinner, we went to starbucks for some coffee/tea hanggang sa mag aya na umuwi si michelle.  how i miss these guys.  sana nandun din si lizette at imee...pati si crisanto, si ryan reyes, at si gamban.  again, sana next year!  =D

tuesday....boracay na!  separate entry to.  highlight e!

manila: the rest of the first week

our plane landed at sfo several hours ago.  i fell asleep on the plane so i am still wide awake at 1 am.  michelle, who slept the entire flight is catching up on nick jr.  paul is fast asleep...my mom is going to try to fall asleep but i already know she's not gonna have much success.  =)

recap of what happend in the philippines after the last blog update:

oct. 18:  we had dinner at chelsea market @ serendra will paul's friends from sykes.  nagkanda ligaw ligaw kami kakahanap ng serendra.  feeling namin sa kabilang ibayo pa yun ng market market, katabing katabi lang pala.  mas matagal pa yung paikot ikot namin kesa yung drive from the marriott to the fort. 

nasa serendra kami habang bumabagyo.  buti nalang signal number 1 lang sa manila kaya there were several breaks in the weather and we didn't have to drive through much of the storm. 

masaya rin kasama ang friends ni paul. since friends ni paul yun, sila ang laging bangka.  taga pakinig lang ako hehehe.  =)  the food was good too and the restaurant was nice.  sayang lang di namin na explore ang area na yon.

oct. 19:  i told my mom to visit us at the hotel since wala naman syang gagawin sa bahay.  we had lunch at the red crab at resorts world.  wow!  sarap ng thai chili crab and seafood bicol express!  ang dami namin nakain so natural, marami rin ang ibinayad namin.  hehehe

after lunch dumating na si jean at si leah at nagsimula na ang mega kwentuhan.kung hindi lang kailangang umuwi nung dalawa, we would have talked all night!  nagsimula ang chikahan namin mga 130 or 2 pm.  hanggang sa umalis sila ng 930, hindi parin kami tumitigil kakadaldal.  binili lang kami ni paul ng pagkain sa mcdo dahil hindi talaga kami tumatayo sa inupan namin sa dami ng kwentuhang naganap!  si leah, simula nung grade 4 kami, hanggang ngayon, wala parin pinagbago.  ngingiti lang, tatawa ng konti, susundot ng konti sa kwentuhan.  sayang sana nandun din si mm, krisna at jaymie.  nasan ka na ba jaymie olaes??????  magparamdam ka sana!

oct. 20:  wedding na ni jenny at ian.  we checked out of the marriott and went to trader's hotel across from ccp where the wedding reception was going to be held.  nagpahair and make up narin ako kahit na di ako kasali sa wedding.  sayang naman ang ibinyahe ko ng pagkalayo layo kung mukha lang akong yaya ng anak ko di ba?  =)  aling lita and her team who did my hair and make up at my wedding was the person we contacted to do our hair and make up again this time.  they do a really good job and i am once again happy with their work.  if you need a make up artist na affordable, just let me know and i'll give you her number!  =)

the wedding was beautiful.  jenny was a beautiful bride and i am so happy that she found a wonderful husband in ian.  michelle was feeling slightly under the weather the whole day and by evening, nilalagnat na sya.  we called it a night and went back to our hotel room to rest. 

oct. 21: we went to greenbelt 5 just to see what it looks like and we had a late lunch at banana leaf at greenbelt 3.  dumaan kami sa landmark and i went crazy over the affordable christmas decor so namili na ako ng pangdecorate sa christmas tree dito sa bahay.  (looking forward to putting up the tree tomorrow!)

in the evening, we went to alabang to meet with maan and abbie, paul's friends from intel.  sayang kasi yung ibang mga friends ni paul na taga intel, nasa iba't ibang bansa na.  naiwan nalang tong 2 beauties na ito kaya sila nalang ang nakasama namin.  we had dinner at cpk and continued the chikahan at starbucks.  habang nasa starbucks, napansin ko na nawala ang bato ng engagement ring ko!  hindi naman ako masyado kinabahan (mas kinabahan siguro si paul!)  i didn't know where it fell off. sa ganong sitwasyon, ayoko magpanic. sinasabi ko nalang sa sarili ko, bagay lang yun at napapalitan.  di ko nga lang alam kung kelan sya mapapalitan kung mawawala nga talaga ang bato ng singsing na yun kung sakali, pero mapapalitan din yun! humihirit na tuloy ako kay paul na alam nya na kung anong christmas gift ang gusto ko...bagong diamond ring! 

when we got back to the hotel, i emptied the contents of my purse, one by one...and found the diamond!  sayang!  hindi mapapaaga yung kapalit...i'm sure my husband breathed a sigh of relief!

manila: the first few days

we're home!


Well, our other home. To be honest, the philippines no longer feels 100% like home which isn't a good or bad thing. it's nice to be able to identify with multiple places especially in this day and age...the world is flat, di ba?  =)


Michelle has adjusted quickly to everything around her. She's been to the wet market (palengke) and ridden the tricycle and pedicab. She's questioned the absence of toilet paper from public restrooms and refuses to go potty without my reassurance that i have a roll of TP in my purse at her disposal.  flies still freak her out (kahit sa san francisco, takot sya sa langaw) and she's having a blast stomping at ants around the sidewalks (pag nakagat ng langgam ito, siguradong madadala!) 


we spent our first day with my family and she's really bonded with her ate gela who is just a year older than her.  yesterday, we spent time with paul's family. since her cousins are older, she hasn't made quite the same connection but she was thrilled to see her tito jon's african love birds (he has like 20 of them) and she got to hold a baby bird and saw eggs that are just beginning to hatch.  kuya jon had a more interesting pet, an albino python, but we skipped that one.  we're here for a vacation, we're not here to freak our selves out.  =)


we're staying at the marriott in manila for a few days (thanks to my marriott points, i'm hardly paying for the stay) and i'm impressed with their service and facilities.  maganda!  and the casino/mall right next door will remind you of the hotel/casinos on the las vegas strip.  


most of money has been spent on food.  paul and i noticed food is more expensive now.  in an effort na makatipid dahil parang ang mahal ng last several meals namin, paul and i decided to just eat at sm sucat's food court.  natuwa kami kasi our lunch would only cost P200!  that's $5 for the 3 of us!  after michelle's first bite, she refused to eat any more.  after my first bite, i looked at paul...after his first bite, he looked at me and took a big gulp of his sprite...he looked at me again and said, 'sprite ba 'to o tubig?'  we pushed the food away and tried to find the nearest jollibee.  jollibee has changed as well. di namin alam if it was just that branch or the whole organization has changed.  =(  after our lunch disaster, paul and i agreed na wag na magkuripot pagdating sa pagkain.  kakain kami kung san namin gusto kumain basta reasonable naman ang presyo at hindi presyong ginto.  


by the time we got to our car, i was exhausted.  lunch lang, nastress na kami.  nakakastress pala yung gutom na gutom ka tapos hindi mo makain yung pagkaing nasa harap mo. 


tonight, we're meeting paul's friends from sykes and tomorrow i spend time with my gamols.  =)


  

coming home again

it has been almost 4 years since i last went home to the philippines. the last time we were there was for our church wedding celebration. Michelle was 5 months old then and i can remember how uncomfortable she was on her very first day there. She cried all day due to heat and the new unfamiliar environment. Now that she's 4, i have a feeling adjustment will come easier and she'll have a blast.

We are coming home for my kinakapatid's wedding and michelle is going to be the flower girl. Excited na sya magsuot ulit ng gown!

Ako naman excited nang bumalik ng boracay! =)

happy anniversary beb!

on sept. 21st, paul and i celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.  we opted for a simple dinner at house of prime rib and was impressed by the service and the food.  it's not gary danko of course, but h.o.p.r. sure hit the spot.  i think it's a must for anyone who visits san francisco.  =)

 green apple martini

(note to self: you don't like green apple martini, never order it again)

  

prime rib carved right at your table

city cut prime rib, medium well with mashed potato and cream spinach

(sarap)

i love you beb!  happy anniversary again!

nasabi ko na sa kanya lahat ng mushy-ness during dinner, so no need to write it here.  =D 

hospitality

filipinos are proud of their hospitality.  having lived here in the states for almost 13 years now, that hospitality has not disappeared.  we always have friends and family visiting from all over the world and we do our best to make them feel welcome and comfortable whenever we spend time with them.  sometimes, i would take a day or two off from work just to take them around town...or if i can't do that, i'll leave the office early just so that i can spend time with them. 

but maybe that's just me.  because apparently, not everyone seems to remember what being hospitable is all about.