Baguio! Our favorite city :)

Since the Sandicos will be "invading" Baguio this long Chinese New Year weekend, we decided to make a post of our favorite things to do while in Baguio.

1.  Obligatory homage to PMA and the Mansion

 sometimes, you get to watch a parade!

2.  Eat!
Oh my Gulay!
Cafe by the Ruins
Forest House
Tea House
Sizzling Plate
and our favorite, 50's diner

3.  Family time at Burnham Park
Biking, Boating, Aimless wandering, Binging on street food

4.  Stroll and eat strawberry taho at the Botanical Garden

5.  Horse-back riding at Wright Park

 Gael at 2 yrs old

Araw at 2 years old

6.  Shopping and pictorials at Mines View
(and also to buy ube jam at nearby Good Shepherd)

8.  View the butterflies and shop at the Commissary at John Hay

9.  Take home fresh gulay, Palaganas raisin bread, walis, peanut brittle and strawberries

10.  Strawberry picking at La Trinidad

Kuwentong Gael and Araw

A little deviation from the theme, but too amusing for me not to document.  Let's just say this is part of our journey as parents/teachers of growing boys.

While preparing Araw for the series of entrance tests he'll take to qualify for Kindergarten.
 I am teaching him the numbers 4 and 5

4

Me:  Araw, what number is this?
Araw: F, Fffff, Fffffffff, Ffffffffffffffff
Me:  Four! Araw, number four yan!
Araw:  Sabi na nga ba, tama ako e. Four yan e. Niloloko lang kita na kunwari di ko alam. O di ba, Four nga?

I drew three stars on a sheet of paper and asked Araw to encircle the corresponding number
Araw: Mommy, drawing ka pa ng maraming stars.  Gusto ko maraming, maraming stars
Me:  Hindi, Araw.  Etong stars lang na to.  Count mo kung ilan yan, tapos circle mo yung number.
Araw:  Hindi ako matutututo niyan kung konti lang stars. Gusto ko yung maraming-maraming-marami!

Gael's turn.
We were studying about the story of the First Christmas.
Me:  Who is the wife of Joseph, the mother of Jesus?
Gael:  Virgin Mary
Me: Very Good!
Gael: Mommy, ano po ibig sabihin ng "virgin"?
Me:  Ummm, ummmm, (paktay!) ibang tawag lang yun ke Mama Mary, anak.

Gael was asked to write a love letter to Mommy and this is what he wrote.

Talaga, anak. Food lang, talaga. I take care of you, I tutor you every night, buy you toys and stuff, bring you to various places at ang naalala mo lang talaga ay food?!
Gael: E love kita pero mahaba isulat, nakakatamad (ahem, arn, kanino nagmana to?)

Well, for those who know our eldest, you know how important food is to a boy who eats lunch twice and who has a sandwich immediately after dinner.

(At isang gabi lang nangyari ang mga to. Can you just imagine what goes on in our home every night?!)

Our Favorite Overnight Get-Aways # 3 - Mommy's Pick - The Coffee FarmHouse

I was at first so hesitant to tell people about this place because we feel that it would lose its secluded magic if too many people know about it.  Parang laruan na paborito mo, may dilemma ka kasi gusto mong ipagyabang, pero ayaw mo ipahiram sa iba at ayaw mo rin na bumili ang iba kasi gusto mo ikaw lang ang may ganun sa lahat ng kabarkada mo.

I consider this one of our best out of town trips ever.  We went to the Coffee FarmHouse two years ago, during my 28th birthday (bakit parang nasa favorite list namin palagi ang mga birthday destinations ko? :). Travel time is approximately 2 hours from Manila.  It was the most peaceful, relaxing vacation we've ever had. The food was great - the package included home-cooked delicious food from AM merienda of the first day to lunch of the following day. The amenities were complete - we swam, played basketball, volleyball, badminton, rode bikes, scooters and twister cars, played scrabble and sungka, sang videoke. The weather was cool. Check-in time was at 8am on the first day and check-out was at 5pm of the following day, so we didn't feel rushed and bitin. Best of all, since we checked in on a Sunday, we had the more than one hectare property all to ourselves.

When we stayed there, we were personally attended to by the husband and wife (Tito Bert and Tita Bebeth) who own the place. They were the ones who cooked for us, made sure that we were entertained and comfortable throughout our entire stay.

We paid P2,350 each for Arn and myself and P1,900 for Gael (We didn't have to pay for Araw.  Toddlers 3 yo and below are free of charge.)  Included meals are morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner for the first day; and breakfast, morning snack and lunch for the second day.  There's free overflowing coffee (syempre dahil coffee farmhouse sila)!  Their kare-kare is to die for - super, super, SUPER sarap!

And yes, we hope to be able to come back here soon.  Next time, with the whole family.

Photos:

 entering the main house where our room was

 i love the door!

 inside our room

our favorite spot in the house

 wooden rocking horse at the dining area

 wooden swing, also at the dining area

Arn and Araw playing sungka, at the dining area

The Pool Area

  smaller pool is for children

Other Activities:

 mag-relax sa duyan

 or maglambing sa swing

 basketball court

 volleyball court

Gael and Arn playing billiards

 Videoke!

 Gael's first time on a scooter

 Araw on a twister-car

Daddy biking with Gael

Our Favorite Overnight Get-Aways # 2 - Daddy's Pick - Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar

We celebrated my 29th birthday last year in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.  It was an impromptu vacation since Arn told me we could go out of town for my birthday the day prior to our leaving.  Buti na lang, hindi fully-booked.

We enjoyed our very big room (studio with loft with two queen beds at around 5.5-6K)! We feasted on the delicious food (paella, karekare, binakol, lechon carajay)! We loved the antique houses, the feeling of being transported back in time. We were amazed at the passion of one man to collect old houses from all over the Philippines, dismantle them, transport them, and reconstruct them piece by piece. We enjoyed the al fresco dinner and the cultural show.  But most of all, we feel so blessed that the Lord has granted us the resources and the time to all be together to celebrate a special family occasion :)

Las Casas is approx 3-4 hours away from Manila.  The accommodation comes with free set breakfast for two, walking heritage tour and use of the swimming and beach areas.  We spent around 10K in all for 4 adults (we sometimes treat the yayas out on vacations) and 2 kids. On the next day, after checking out, we went to nearby Mt. Samat.

Next time, we will go island hopping, the bankeros say there is a nice, secluded island with white beach nearby.

Photos:

Inside our room.  The yayas slept downstairs, we stayed at the loft

Why we love bath tubs so much!

Outside

 Arn, just outside the hotel

 There are many installations like this all over the resort

 Ms. Tour Guide

 Old UP Fine Arts Building

 Make-shift chapel.  Heard that they can accommodate weddings now.

 This was where Zorro was shot

 A bridge featuring statues of Phil. mythical creatures such as this tikbalang

 They offer massage in these cottages

View of the sunset from the pool

 Cultural show during dinner

 Waiting for breakfast

 Stroll along the beach with a nice view of the mountains as backdrop

 Pool time!

 Side trip to Mt. Samat

View from the top