Trip to Clark Field (former US Base) in Pampanga

May 23 - 24 - Just shy of a week, I found out that Patrick was supposed to head to Clark to cover an event for the magazine where he works. There was going to be a drag racing event at the Clark Speedway and he needed to be on top of it. Well, I figured if he was going to Clark for the day, we might as well join him and make it an overnight trip :) We haven't been to Clark as a family and this was an opportune time as any. Sort of the last out of town trip before school starts.

So we booked a room at the Lohas Hotel New Well Being Spa. We chose the Suite Room because it offered 2 bedrooms (with queen beds), 2 bathrooms, a living room, a terrace, complimentary water and coffee, buffet breakfast for 4 and sauna treatment for 4. All for only P4500 (excluding the 10% tax). Here are some pictures of the resort:























The Jimjilbang is an authentic Korean sauna. At the hotel, they'll give you a locker key, slippers, towels and sauna clothes. There are separate men's and women's locker rooms but the sauna itself is mixed. You need to pass through three stages: First, the intense heat of the Bulgama. It was so hot that I couldn't breathe the first time I entered the room. As I asked the attendant, the trick was to sit down immediately on the mat and breathe through your mouth just to get used to the sensation. But within seconds, you really will be sweating buckets and I mean buckets!! LOL The nice thing is while you're inside the bulgama, you can order iced tea and other drinks haha If you feel that the heat is getting to you, go out for a while, relax a bit, dry yourself off and then come back inside again. The next round, your body is more acclimatised to the heat and will release more toxins and sweat. When you're through with the Bulgama, you may rest a while in the Charcoal room. The heat here is less intense but the room is lined with charcoal for a better absorption of the toxins that are still being released from your body. Once done, you need to close up your pores and that's where you go - to the Ice Room. To describe it, it's one big refrigerator or freezer hahahaha It's refreshing even though it's freakin' cold! LOL After such an experience, I felt several pounds lighter and cleaner hahaha Patrick's clothes were soaked through :))

Of course, you can't be at a resort and not take a dip in the pool so that's what we did :) The kids loved the pool because it's not so deep, there's a section that's only 2 ft high and the deepest is 5ft. There's even a portion where if you stay under the columns, it's like you're getting a massage from the water that falls on your shoulders.







For dinner, we ate at the hotel restaurant so that we can experience unique and authentic Korean food. Kudos to our Filipino server Ann that night who very patiently explained the Korean dishes on the menu hahaha We had something like stif-fried beef that should be wrapped in veggies with a spattering of special sauce and balsamic vinegar. That was delicious! Spicy but delicious!! woohoo The appetizers were an entire meal itself hahaha There was Kimchi, baked baby potatoes, some squid, an egg roll and some whose names elude me at the moment. We also ordered Korean noodles and all I can say is WOW!!!







Morning the next day, we spent eating our buffet breakfast and swimming some more. The kids were tired and spent some time sleeping too. Then it was time to go and the staff were kind enough to grant us a late checkout without any additional charges. Actually, we were supposed to take advantage of their massage but the schedule got screwed up.

Then we left around 2pm and headed on to Patrick's drag racing event, a few minutes away. We finished the day with dinner at Kenny Rogers along the expressway.

Our stay at the hotel was really good. The staff was great. The facilities were superb. The hotel was really clean and well-maintained. I would recommend Lohas Resort to everyone :)

If you want to see more of the pictures, click here.

Visiting with Uncle Dennis and Family

Here's another story that's a tribute to the Internet. LOL Uncle Dennis is one of Patrick's Dad's brothers. He's the youngest among the siblings which is why Patrick, Stevie and Dimples are very close to him. For some time, we've lost track of him especially when the family moved out of their Rimas home in Project 2. When he heard that Patrick's Dad died last December, he asked his daughters to use the Internet to look for Patrick and his siblings.

Voila!! Jackie found Patrick through Google. Jackie found Patrick's blog and from there, the connection was made! :) We were able to communicate via Yahoo Messenger and we were able to catch up on the news. It was fortunate that we planned a trip to Clark which meant being able to drop by and visit them since they're on the way there.

So on May 23rd, we met up in Dau around 9:30, exactly 2 hours from Manila and before we checked-in at our hotel. Here are some pictures:


Let's hope that it doesn't take another tragedy to be together as a family.

Preparing for Dana's first time in school is making me teary-eyed

Yep, you read it right.. cheesy and corny as it sounds, I was teary-eyed at the mall when we went buying Dana's first supplies for school.

I remember I used to do this with my Mom when we bought school supplies for Allan, my brother and then for Den when she was younger. Although come to think of it, Den and I still buy school supplies together but college needs are different from preschool most definitely LOL

It's funny since we hadn't bought any school stuff for elementary aged kids in a long time I wasn't sure what their needs were even though I have a list LOL I was wondering about how big the bag would be and I wanted to buy a big one just in case. Den just raised an eyebrow and said, "that's way too much, she can't even pull that, much less carry it" so I settled for a smaller one, of course, Dana chose a Lightning McQueen bag (Lily, sagot mo to! don't worry less than P1K LOL). The salesperson did say it was suitable for preschool kids so I guess that should be alright :)

Then we bought notebooks, pencils, art supplies, shoes, socks, undergarments, etc. We haven't bought the books yet because they still weren't complete and her uniforms too because there weren't any sizes available for her.

I'm glad that Dana is excited to go to school. We have an orientation on June 8th. I'm nervous and excited too hahaha

Family Trip to Island Cove (Part 2)

So, to continue, we had a restful night sleeping in our airconditioned "superior" room. We shared 2 single beds and an extra bed. Patrick and Dana in one and then the other 2 beds were close together so Dylan, Den and I shared those. The kids fell asleep immediately, especially since they're so pooped from all that walking around and all the excitement.

Here are the kids after waking up and a view from the balcony of our room looking into the courtyard below:


They also had WI-FI connection at the resort so we brought our laptop with us.


After checking out, we still headed to the Giant Chessboard for some photo opps :)


We headed back to the crocodile farm so the kids can have fun painting their canvass bags :) We paused at the playground too :) We took the electric tram to get there.


After that, it was lunchtime and we headed straight to the Fishing Village. Here you have a choice of huts. On land or on water. You can also fish and whatever you catch they can cook them for you. It's great! We decided on staying on the huts over water for the experience. Depending on the size of the hut, you have a minimum amount to consume for food and you can stay for up to 3 hours.


There were a lot of things that we didn't get to try, like the bikes, the actual fishing, the spa, the hotel pool (haha) We really want to go back and stay for a longer period of time. I just need to save again hahahaha

So thanks for reading through all these and leave a comment and let me know what you think :)

Family outing at Island Cove (Part 1)

May 02, 2009 - It's the day for our first out-of-town family trip and we've chosen Island Cove in Cavite, Philippines as our destination. You ask why, well, first, it's very near where we live, something like 1 hour to an hour and a half to get there. Second, their Family Fun Package is very affordable and with a lot of freebies. Third, we wanted a place that had a lot of things to do and offer so that the kids won't be bored. Island Cove has them :)

When we got there, we left our baggages and went straight to Animal Island :)

They have a petting zoo,

a butterfly garden,

a tiger sanctuary: THE DADDY
The YOUNGEST at 11 months
the BIGGEST SIBLING, at 3 years old

And the Mama Tiger who we weren't able to photograph because she kept peeing! LOL and believe me they can shower anyone at close range LOL

They also have a lot of birds: OSTRICHES, CASSOWARY, PEACOCKS


Then on to The Crocodile Farm and Monkey Island:


We fed the monkeys and crocodiles too! You have to throw the bananas to the monkeys. Dana tried her hand at it, and the banana fell in the water LOL but clever monkey was able to get it and eat it! LOL


Feeding the crocs was a major experience. You lower a chicken in the water and wait for them to bite. There were 4 crocs in the water and then the alpha male came. In one jump, he got the chicken, took it away to safety and in one gulp swallowed the chicken whole whew!! crazy!! There are a total of 167 crocodiles on the farm, segregated by their age and if they're salt-water or fresh-water crocodiles.


After the tour around the island, we went back to the hotel riding a horse-drawn carriage :)

We took a break for some refreshments and a bit of rest before heading to the Oceania Water Park.

They had two kiddie pools and slides and more adult pools. They also have a pool bar for refreshments. We all had fun, especially in the "jacuzzi" hahaha


Then we had dinner at the Sangley Point Bar and Grill. The food was great!! And then we took advantage of the free 30-minute coupon we had for Island Songs, the KTV Lounge in the Resort hahaha the kids had fun singing so we decided to extend for another hour. Time flies when you're singing and having a really good time!


After all these happenings, we had a great sleep in our airconditioned room. That in itself was a luxury because we didn't have A/C at home hahaha we all woke up late the next morning. but that's for Part 2 :)