Parenting Archive

My thoughts on parenthood, and what it's like to be a mom in the Philippines.

Normi2’s Resort, San Juan, La Union

Yes guys, I am back..but still disorganized.. I need to transfer my pics yet, need to laundry our sand invaded clothes, and still need to hang the wet swim wears (oh no I did NOT wear bathing suit.. though I wish I could LOL). And if you are wondering where we have been, we went to San Juan, La Union. We were with my sorority sister, and her hubby who is a frat bro to my hubby.. our sorority is a counterpart of their frat and we both have three kids, sweet eh? I will post some pics soon!

We stayed in Normi2’s Resort or Normi’s Resort as they are listed on their site. The Resort was located in Baranggay Taboc, San Juan, La Union. If you are like us who were confused whether to call it Normimi’s or Nornormimi’s or Normii’s (depending on where you are goin to apply the second power), the answer is simple.. they now prefer Normi’s.. just that. The history of their name is not as complicated as to the second power equation.. It is as simple as there were two owners whose name starts with NOR and another two whose name starts with MI, get it?

Kiddie pool, tropical bar, shore
view from the rooftop function hall

San Juan, La Union is the town after San Fernando City. The travel time to Manila to San Juan is about 6 to 7 hours. If by private vehicle, all you need is to exit on NLEX then to SCTEX, then Mc Arthur Highway. When you passed by San Fernando City, a good ten minutes will bring you to the gates of Normi’s Resort. You can also reach San Fernando by RORO or by plane (they have an airport and seaport) from San Fernando, there are local jeepneys that can drop you off to Normi’s.

Normi’s Resort is a very relaxed tourist destination on the north. The resort sits just in front of South China Sea shore. The resort houses two swimming pool, one semi Olympic (which runs up to 10ft deep) and a kiddie pool. The resort has a restaurant that offers Mediterranean cuisine. It also has a unique tropical bar that over looks South China Sea. They offer a lot of accommodations that can cater to each guest’s needs.

semi Olympic sized pool

Here are the list of their rates:

Aircon rooms:
Standard (capacity:3) 1400PhP (about $30)
De Luxe (capacity:2) 1575 PhP
Family (capacity:5) 1800 PhP
(capacity:6) 2000PhP
(capacity:8) 2200 PhP
(capacity:9) 2400PhP

Fan rooms:
Economy(capacity:3) 950 PhP
Cottage (capacity:2) 1100 PhP
Apartelle(capacity:6) 2800 PhP (with cooking facility)

Aside from swimming or sand burying, you can also do surfing, they offer surfing lessons for 400 PhP per hour (surfing board included).

boards for rent

Other Amenities:
Picnic sheds
Conference rooms, function area (poolside, open area)
Billiard room/ Videoke

Flipino themed reception area

The resort staffs were really friendly (and this is our second time here) and if we are heading back North, we are definitely be staying (again and again) here. The resort is not perfect though, and we do have some minor complaints, but those were already been properly addressed, so there is no need to mention it here.

And since you are already on the area, you can also try visiting these places:
Potteries, a few meters away from the resort
Luna Beach AKA Pebble Beach
Bangar (a 20 minute drive from the resort) the town that is famous for their weaved blankets
Bacnotan Steel (after Luna Beach)/Holcim Cement

Contact Details

How To Handle Sibling Rivalry

Sibling rivalry is very normal. My kids fight more than ten times a day. And yet they also cuddle more than ten times a day. One minute, they are best of friends, the other minute they are enemies. Sometimes a simple play pretend will turn our house into a World War zone. The reasons why they fight are very simple. They fight because of toys, on who is to become who. They fight because someone teases the other. They fight on to who is gonna use the computer first. I am beginning to think that even fight on who can annoy me first. That is really annoying and frustrating to watch. My head seems to blow when I hear them fight or argue over simple things.

It is hard to avoid this situation. Kids are kids, and they can always find a reason to fight. Now, what I do when their fighting escalates? At first, I ignore them, but when it seems that the other one is already harming the other, I step in. I talk to them (OK sometimes scream) to let go of each other and separate. When they see me like I am as raging as a bull, they stopped and started saying sorry to each other. When every body’s calm, we make up to it by thinking of a compromise that will work for both of them.

Yes you can never avoid siblings fighting over little things, but you can minimize the fight. My kids fight but I believe that it was just petty fights. They get along really well amidst all that. When they are both not in fighting mood, it so nice to hear them converse and watch them play. They never get jealous with each other. They never get jealous with their youngest baby too, even though Mommy is giving Chico more attention. They seem to understand that they are individual with each special needs.

How do we do it?

Oh well, we employ FAVORITISM.

Yes we have a favorite. Silly? Oh no not. I tell you this is very effective way to ensure the kids that they are being loved equally.. HOW? well we have our favorite first born (or kuya on our language) and we have our favorite second baby (Dico in the Philippines) and we have our favorite youngest baby (or bunso on our language). You try it and tell me how it will affect the kids.

Or you have some advise regarding siblings rivalry? Share it with me 🙂

La Union Beach

This is my favorite shot.. Chico and Dylan are still both in their respective Mom’s tummy during this time 🙂

My hubby never fails to mention La Union as one of his favorite destination, actually, it is his only destination. He talks about it as if it is his sanctuary. Some of his happy memories are encrypted in the shore of Bauang, La Union. Last 2007, as a celebration of my three siblings birthdays, we decided to visit La Union. It is mere coincidence that the place we rented was just a walk away to the place my mom stayed when she was young. Although my mother talked about her childhood (and mostly sad)and mentions La Union, we never thought that this could be the same province she and my hubby talks about. We really have no idea, but she seems happy that she is going back there. So we had a convoy, us coming here in Pasig and them from Nueva Ecija. We agreed to meet on the place. The place we rented was located in the boundary of San Juan and Bacnotan (where Holcim factory is located). It was a long trip but it was worth it.

We stayed in Normi2’s Resort (they have a website before) and since it was off peak season, they gave us a discount for our stay. The resort is big and friendly, not posh, just laid back. It has a lot of accommodation. There’s a cottage for two, fan room(which faced the adult pool), then there is a building for the air conditoned rooms. There’s also an economy cottages that can house up to three person per room but I think the bathroom and comfort room is shared. Then the one we stayed in is a two room cottage with cooking facility. It is a big advantage that you get an accommodation that allows you to cook, saves a lot on food.

The resort has two swimming pools, one for kids and the other one is for adults. Some meters away is the shore of South China Sea.

The staffs were really nice and the resort was tidy.. and they have this cool electric fan made out of big native fans (dried leaves I think). The only thing that I did not like about the place was it was too big.. I mean the pools are not side by side. If you are to swim and you have kids, there is no way that you can both enjoy it. It is either you go swim with the kids on the baby pool or the kids don’t and you enjoy a splash. The pools per se, I have no complaints. The beach.. oh well do I really have the right to complain at nature? LOL

Since we were in that area, we manage to town hop. Our first stop was in Balaoan,where my first cousin lives. On the way there, we pass by a road that seems like a scene from one of our PS2 games. The road is windy and covered with trees and my the road is so good, so tire friendly.. no holes or bumps. The off to Banggar to check out some blankets. Then on the way back, instead of going again to the windy mountain road, we checked out Luna beach. According to my sister, Luan is known for its pebbles. Unfortunately we were not able to find a good shore to collect pebbles, but we manage to see some really huge pear shells! And though the road is not as green as on the other side, the trip is just as heavenly (minus the part that we were lost)

I forgot to mention that in San Juan, potteries are all over the road. They sell really cheap pots and vases and art works.. If only I still have some of my shot.. This was taken from my friendster account.. and was shot last March 2008 (oh yeah, we came back)

And this weekend, you know where we are heading, so I better start taking some free lessons on how to maximize my cam and bring home some really good pics for your eyes..