It’s my Dad’s birthday today! I slept past midnight last night waiting for him to be awake when I call (Philippine time). I forgot that the time difference is already 7 hours. 
When I called up, he was behind the wheel, driving home after attending Mass with the family and shopping for the dinner party later in the day. Even if Caity and I woke at 10 in the morning, I still felt sleepy.
Dad asked me how old he was. Good thing I was prepared and gave him the correct answer. He’s already 74 years old! But he is still fit and strong and doesn’t look his age. He’s not even worried about his looks like other seniors his age who are scrambling to find the best face creams or dye their white hairs to black to make them look younger.
My Dad during our Vienna trip last year.
Way to go Dad! I hope you enjoyed your birthday!!!
Our Christmas tree.
Our December was jampacked with many family activities, mostly dining out (to eat the Filipino/Negrosanon food we’ve been missing) and shopping. My siblings and their family have been arriving (and leaving) one after another and dad was one busy driver, picking them up (and back) at the airport. After Christmas day, my bro-in-law and nephew flew to Davao while bro #1 and his family returned to Cebu. One day after, my uncle and aunt together with my cousins and kids arrived from Mindanao.
Anyway, on Christmas Eve, the whole family (only M was lacking to complete the family) attended the Mass and when we got home, we partook our Noche Buena food and the gift-giving followed. It lasted until the wee hours of the morning because there were plenty of us! Poor little C; she wasn’t able to join us coz she was already asleep. It was a happy moment to be with family again! The last time we were together was last Christmas 2005 but it wasn’t a happy one because mom was sick then.
Random pics:
Happy faces!
The roasted pig a.k.a. lechon who traveled all the way from Cebu.
Little C bonding with her girl cousins.
Yay! What else can I say? I know I have been neglecting this blog, I’ve been busy with gift shopping just like everyone else. Oh yes! With more than 15 family members to prepare gifts for, the task of choosing what gifts to give them (men, women, adults and kids) was really time-consuming and tiring. There is not a day in a week that my sis and I aren’t in the mall.
Ooooohh how time flies! My brother and his wife from Thailand arrived tonight in Manila and will stay there till the 20th. Tomorrow my sister and her family from Finland will be arriving already! But they’ll only be here for a day coz the next day, they will go to Boracay. But it’s okay, they’ll be back anyway after 3-4 days. I’m not sure how long is their vacation in the famous beach.
And talking about how time flies, M is celebrating his birthday today, again! hehehe Happy birthday hon. Even if little C and I aren’t there to celebrate with you your special day, you know how much we love and miss you!
It took me a week to finally break the silence in my blog. I have been very tired the days that followed our arrival in the country. That and the problem with jet lag and the sudden shift of (almost) winter temperature to the tropic’s hot and humid. In fact I got sick for a day. Now I feel a lot better and my body clock has slightly adjusted to the local time.
Me and little C at Siam.
Little C and I stayed for a day in Cebu. I was able to meet my friends for lunch at Chika-an, one of the oldest and famous restaurants in Cebu which serves local foods. They’re now conveniently located at the SM North Wing, an extension of the mall which was then under construction when I last visited Cebu two years ago. I feasted on grilled squid, calamares and my fave, the fresh lumpia from Pete’s Kitchenette that my friends bought.
Little C with her cousins.
For dinner with family, we dined at Siam, a Thai restaurant located at Terraces, a newly opened extension of Ayala Center Cebu. Terraces has a circular plan which contains mostly of food joints and coffee shops. In the middle is an open sunken court which was beautifully landscaped into a park with lush vegetation and palm trees. On both sides of the stairs leading to the park, water cascades down like a waterfalls. What a progressive Cebu!
The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu
The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu
The next day, we flew to Negros and since then I’ve been busy settling down, resting and going out with the family.
*I don’t have any pictures to share of our inflight travel and also of our long stop-over in Incheon International Airport (Korea) coz I forgot to take the camera from M when we parted at Prague Airport. Way ayo! 
It was only last month when I wrote about my dream to fly to Philippines again for Christmas to be with the whole family for the celebration. And guess what? We’re flying tomorrow already! Well, just me and little C coz M has an important business trip to another part of the world to take care of. He’ll follow next month, hopefully if the travel agent can find him an available flight.
M and I originally didn’t plan to fly back to Philippines this soon since we’ve recently gone home last March and spent two months there, but upon learning that all my siblings will spend Christmas at our hometown, we considered going home again. M had to ask for leave before we could decide on our trip. And then we later on found out that little C’s passport was expiring this December and my permanent residence permit has to be renewed. After all the travel documents have been complied it was then that we gave our preferred dates of departure to the travel agent.
This time we’re taking a different route. Our carrier is Korean Air which will fly from Prague to Seoul and from Seoul to Cebu. We’ll stay a day in Cebu before proceeding to Bacolod. I’m quite excited about landing in Cebu. hehehe I’ll get to meet family and friends there whom I haven’t had the chance to see on my trip last time. little C’s cousins are excited to see her as well.
So Cebu, Philippines, here we come!
Related posts:
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Little C was overjoyed to see her dad again. As soon as she saw him, she ran and hugged his legs. Haha The whole day, little C sticked to him like a glue. I think she’s afraid he’ll leave again.
We took her for a lunch out coz it was sunny (yeah! sun always plays a major role in our decisions for outdoor activities in this part of the world!). There were many kids in the pizzeria we went to, so little C enjoyed watching them play. She also had her own time walking and picking the flowers. Unfortunately she didn’t like the pancakes we ordered for her but preferred to share with our pizza instead.
Pancakes with fruit fillings.
The rest of the afternoon was uneventful, we spent it sleeping and at night, we went to shop for groceries. What’s important is that the family is together again!
And this little girl is more than happy!
This year will be my third to celebrate Christmas in Prague (that’s what I thought). But it might change. Weeee..
Yesterday I sent an email to our family yahoogroup asking everyone’s plan for December. I know my sister in Finland is going home for the Christmas break, but how about the rest? I wanted to know.
Soon their replies came; Asia and Europe responded. I found out all my siblings and their family will be in our hometown on Christmas and even New Year except US! Whaatttt?
Read the rest of this entry »
While rummaging on our drawers the other night looking for my postcard collection, I saw a sealed paper bag lying amidst the pile of folders. Who owns it? I opened the bag and saw familiar pieces of souvenirs – souvenirs which were bought when we went to Cesky Krumlov. My mom forgot this while packing up in haste the night before their departure for Philippines. With the numerous souvenirs she collected from her Europe trip, it’s no surprise that she overlooked these:
You still want these mom? =)
What can I say? Being a parent is the toughest and most challenging job especially if I want my child to be the “ideal” one. It’s more than just changing diapers, feeding and bathing her, playing with her… This for me is the hardest part – disciplining her. At age one, it’s hard to make her understand the difference between wrong and right, what’s acceptable and what’s not. So what’s a mom gotta do? Set a good example! Be a good role model. (Hmmmm aren’t they just the same? LOL!) What else? Hopefully when I’m done reading the book, I’ll learn more.
We sent off the last of our turista (my sister) who came here for summer to the airport this morning. Waaaaa! Thank God we said a hurried goodbye coz she only had 15 minutes left to run to the boarding area. I don’t like long goodbye’s actually coz I might get emotional and cry, so that was okay.
Waaaaaa!
Anyway, as we were driving home, M asked me “so, what shall we do now?” I told him I’d rather stay at home. Even if Accuweather forecasted today’s weather to be sunny and nice, I didn’t want go out. Being constantly on the move for the last 5 months, our things needed to be arranged and put back in place. There are a lot of things to do! Or I might sleep. That’s what I thought. BUT half of the day has already passed and I still didn’t do any of those. I’m feeling lazy and already missing my sistah! Waaaaa! Who knows what I’ll think next, I might scour the net for some cheap air tickets to Asia for December to be with the family again or browse on New York City Tours for the next summer.
I dread facing next week when it’s just me and little C left at home when M goes to work. I’m sure the little tyke will notice someone is missing here. Waaaaa!
