2009 Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!  Itr's that time of year again when friends and family come together to celebrate a joyous occasion.  For this year, we made a lot of Christmas preparations because the kids are now able to undertake the decorating of the Christmas tree so we bought a new one including all the decorations.  We just made it very simple as you can see and we got a bargain with the tree when we bought it at the Dapitan arcade.  Imagine a 5ft tree for only P1,600.. other trees cost as much as P6K.  Even the balls were a steal! I was going crazy buying those things hahahaha  The Christmas lights we bought at SM because I don't want the fake ones that easily blow up and cause fires.

We were also able to buy a new bed for my Lola to use (which Den or Dylan will use later on) as well as a new sofa set as you can see here.  We went to Caloocan to buy these furniture because it's cheaper there and there are more options and more products to choose from.  We custom-made this sofa set based on dimensions of the doors hahaha

My father also paid a visit when he found out that Lola and Uncle Jimmy were here.  Here are some pictures of that "momentous" occasion hehehe

Christmas day was an exciting one for the kids.  They had a lot of gifts to open, courtesy of a lot of sales at the malls, factory outlets and flea markets :)

We prepared some pasta, fried chicken and ham for the "feast" but everyone was busy with their gifts (receiving and giving) to care about food hahaha

Lola and Uncle Jimmy left for the States on December 28.  We wanted to take them to the airport but there were a lot of the family going with them so we stayed behind.  I think it was a good idea to stay behind because I didn't want to get too emotional and you know when you see someone hurting, you feel hurt too and I didn't want my Lola to feel even more sad. 

Here are the pictures before they left :)

Another Trip to Clark

December 19 - Last December 5th, my Lola (grandmother) and Uncle Jimmy came to the Philippines for a 3-week Christmas vacation.  My Lola hasn't been to the PI since 1993 so this is a big deal for her.  She wanted to come back so she can see her great-grandkids Dana, Dylan, Den, Jianne, Justin and Sofia.  I believe that what also initiated her coming back was because my Mom couldn't make it and I guess it was in her honor that my grandma came back.

While they were here, the whole family was in a tizzy :) There was the bingo/family reunion during the fiesta.  She was able to visit her siblings in Cavite, was able to go to Baguio, and visit some of the sites here in the city.  She even got to see Avatar in IMAX hahaha good for her!

So, my sister Sharon and I planned to have a weekend get-away with her to catch up on stuff and to spend time with her too.  We planned it during the Christmas break so the kids will have no school.  So, we booked our rooms at the Lohas New Well-being Spa in Clark for the 19th and 20th.  We were all so excited!

Unfortunately, all the visits that Lola made plus the pollution and the climate took their toll on her and she ended up getting sick - almost pneumonia and some tummy ache too.  She wasn't able to go with us to Clark.. such a bummer.. We still ended up going because we didn't want to forfeit the deposit we made.  It was still fun though because we had my sister's family with us too.  Here is a slideshow of our swimming escapades :)  At that time, Sharon and Jowell were experiencing first hand the Korean Sauna, the Jimjilbang, so they weren't in the pictures.

For Dinner, we all went out and ate at the very popular A.C. Rumpa restaurant (short for Angeles City, Retired US Military Personnel Association) and had a blast eating their steak. But, unfortunately, we failed to take pictures because as soon as they served it, we dug in! LOL

As a Christmas treat, Den and I booked ourselves for a full body massage at the Hotel Spa too although I have to admit that the communication mix-up with the scheduling left me feeling frustrated and irritated.  The massage made up for it though :) All I can say is WOW! :D   

The next day, the kids all went back for a swim, naturally.  While they swam, we arranged to have a late check-out to really make the most of the trip.  I thought everything was okay until I received a call from the front desk that we were supposed to check out ASAP from the room.  It was my sister's room that was arranged to have a late check-out.  That was freaking terrible!! They were basically telling me to hurry up and get out of the room and I had kids to take care of and you can imagine cleaning up after them!! I was so mad I was like a bull charging at everyone!!  In the end, we had no choice but to hurry up but believe me, I was not taking this sitting down.. 

As we came to the front desk, I asked to speak with the manager but supposedly he was out.  I asked to speak with the Korean gal who appeared to be a higher-up but she supposedly did not speak English.  I ended up talking with the Filipino manager on the phone and I really complained about the lousy miscommunication mistakes that their staff keeps on repeating.  It was really horrible.  I really don't intend to go back there even if Patrick feels that they're still the best value in terms of accommodation in Clark.  I don't believe that sucky service should be patronized.   The manager tried to appease me but really, what else can you offer??

Anyway, after leaving the hotel, I asked Patrick to take us to the park so I can relax a little, all that massage for nought.  The kids and I had a great time running around hahaha My sister and her family, left ahead of us LOL probably scared of my tantrum hahaha Here are some pictures (slideshow)

We also found great picture moments there:

 

Finally, rounding out the trip with a dinner at Yellow Cab along the expressway.  It was a great meal to end an over-all great Christmas out-of-town trip.

Dana's First Christmas in School

December 2009 - This is Dana's first Christmas in her school.  It's a milestone that we as a family celebrated.  She was very excited because her class will be participating in the school's annual Christmas presentation and they have spent many hours rehearsing for it.  In fact, it's probably the first Tagalog song that Dana has ever sung! LOL

We printed a copy of the lyrics so she can practice at home.  We found a copy of the song, Kumukutikutitap and kept playing it at home and even in the car too.  While Dana was dancing and singing to it, Dylan will also jump in and sing and dance with her.. it was so funny and entertaining to watch LOL

Now, of course, as parents you know that you want to record your child's first dance on stage.  So, Patrick and I ended up borrowing my friend Idy's videocam for the event and we are ever so thankful to him for it (Thanks Idy!) This has actually led to a discussion about whether we should get one of our own (but that's a different story altogether hahaha)

In preparation, we also needed to buy Dana's costume consisting of a red shirt, a pair of white shorts, a Christmas hat that lights up and white gloves.  We ended up going to Divisoria, the source of all your goodies hehehe  On the day of the presentation, imagine my surprise when we couldn't find Dana's PE shoes that she was to wear for the dance.  We looked and looked and we couldn't find it anywhere!! We finally figured that since we performed a major clean-up at the house the last week, Dylan may have put the shoes in the trash bag that we filled with old shoes that were to be given away.  Man, those shoes were new and hardly been used!!   Dana ended up wearing a different pair of shoes..

Anyway... So armed with our videocam, our digicam and another digicam (in case of failure or batteries ending up dead for no reason) we headed to school...The video I have yet to rip from the DVD so here are some pictures instead..

 

The next day was their Christmas Party.  I was only planning to take a picture of her with her friends but their teacher played the Kumukutikutitap music and they all started lining up and dancing and I couldn't resist recording a video, so here it is: