Travel Archives - Page 8 of 9

Scary and Fun Weekends

I know you have been waiting for this..so here you go.. Last weekend was our 6th wedding anniversary, ad you know we are not that keen on really celebrating it, but it’s a nice excuse to use my new baby and to have some cool weekend get away.. and if you have been wondering where we have been.. not that far, not Baguio or Tagaytay or EK.. guess what? just a minute away from our house.. Tiendesitas! This is our first time to visit the Avilon Ark Zoo. Before we head on to Tiendesitas, we ate lunch at Oyster Boy in Metrowalk (later for the review). Ordered a lot of oyster (which I heard is an aphrodisiac.. hmm) and a lot of rice.. hehe. Here goes some of our captured moments..

lunch at Oyster Boy

Avilon Ar Zoo is located in Tiendesitas, along C5. The entrance fee is 2oo PhP. When we entered the Ark, Mico got scared because it was kinda dim inside. I was scared too, the first animal we saw were tigers, makes me think what if.. (opps paranoia attack). There was a lion too and a bear. Then there’s an English dog walking freely (not that freely OK) and picture taking is allowed (forgot though how much they charge for a flash with the dog). In the aisle where a man made pond with lots of Koi and then there’s a small box with some big turtles in it..At the end side of the ark is a man made forest like waterfalls like flaura. There was an albino carabao (pinkish actually). Climbing up the stairs, we were met by a huge aquarium filled with humongous gourami.. Chico enjoyed this much. Then upstairs was a small pay ground for the kids and kids at heart (ehem ehem). We proceed on the smelly area (Mico’s covering his nose all the while) Actually this is the area where they had so much fun. It is kinda smelly because this is the ear where they house the goats and birds and snakes (small) and rabbits and cool activities for the kids. I love this bird.. forgot the name but something like crown or queen. The kids saw the rabbits but insist on having a tattoo first. After their ink session, they enjoyed and spend some time with the rabbits and Guinea pigs. They enjoyed this so much and I can say that our trip there was so worth it!

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..

Wish me luck! (on the focusing on lessons part)LOL

oh.. San Juan is also a surfing paradise.. if only I am as adventorous as before.. sigh..

The Plane Turned TV

Isn’t it amazing how kids can turn a simple subject to a more complex and complicated matter? Or how they can easily turn a question to a long hour debate?

We were driving South when we passed by the airport. We saw an airplane that just took off. The discussion started with the plane, then it moved to the airport. My very inquisitive son started asking on the lay out of the airport. He keeps on asking how can people go down to the airport or how can they go down the plane or up the plane (I already forgot what exactly he is inquiring about). A plane that turned into an argument and then silence. To make him talk again, I had to explain the lay out of NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) based on my child hood memory (as I have never been there recently). I was asking a little help from the busy driver (aka Daddy) but you know how dads are. And so I try hard to imagine how it looked like and explain it him in detailed matter (like where to turn right or left or straight ahead). He is very keen on directions now. The plane took off and the discussion turned to the building. For the sake of size comparison, I used dinosaurs for comparison. We talk about dinos, and how big they are. Ho strong they are and why they are gone. To my kids, they are gone and they are buried on the TV, that is why they can see the dinos on the TV. Now this is where the argument starts smoking.. They insist that everything in the TV is dead and but they are alive and living inside the TV (he is talking about the Persona game). This things are really hard hard to explain.. Specially when they don’t want to listen and insist what they know is right. And so, the plane that took off, landed on the TV and keeps the car quiet for a long time.

Go0d thing after a funny meal on Bag of Beans, were OK again.