New travel memories

We love to travel, exploring the Philippines and other Asian countries. Backpacking is our thing, you don’t need a lot of money to conquer the world. We’re just always on the look-out for cheap fares and grab it. When it comes to accommodations, we prefer guesthouses/hostels instead of fancy expensive hotels. Who needs a luxurious bed when we’re always out the whole day, right?

Anyway, some of the travel blogs I read, most of them are single that’s why they can travel anytime and anywhere. Some are married couples but with no children yet so they are still free to wander. Such is our case for the last 3 years, and we had a blast! It’s like honeymooning for 3 years. But after the baby, I thought no more vacations in the meantime. But like my friend, Elaine said, a baby should not hinder us from traveling. Instead, make some new memories, travel memories. With this, we’ll try our first vacation at Laiya, San Juan, Batangas. And by the time Gwen turns 1, I made Jeff promise to bring her to the happiest place on Earth, Disneyland!

By starting her young, I’m sure she’ll get used to road trips and long plane rides and it’ll be a breeze once she gets older. Who knows, she might go to places we’ve never been to, like the US, or Europe. Maybe she’ll be the one to realize my dream of having those wonderful Spain holidays, or stare in awe the Eiffel Tower. For now, we will work harder for her to experience the best things in life and instill to her that traveling can also be a great learning experience.

Money matters

We finally found another nanny, let’s call her Yaya #3. She’s from Mindanao and she was referred to us by my SIL. I have to accept the reality that there will be no perfect yaya, just like this new one, she already committed some booboos in just a week.

Aside from discussing her duties as a yaya, we also tackled her salary issues. She already asked if she can get half of her salary to be left to her kids, I already agreed to that and I just talked to her how we will deduct her transportation fee and salary advances. In the end, she’s thankful that I gave her easy personal loans, I just hope that she’ll pay it back by taking care of Gwen. =)

Missing the beach

It’s been two months since our last vacation and now our bodies are screaming for another break. We have our weekends off alright but it’s still different when you’re going out of town, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We’re looking forward to our company outing next month at Laiya, San Juan but we can’t hold off our yearning for a quick escape. And since Holy Week is near, it’s the perfect time for a beach outing. I’m excited to plan this one because it will be our first “family” outing together, mommy-daddy-baby outing!

hit the beach

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Vacation and a baby

After giving birth last December, I’m still adjusting with this motherhood phase. Once in a while, I get exhausted after juggling work and mommy duties, good thing Gwen sleeps through the night now. Last month, Jeff and I took a vacation to Hong Kong, we just used the promo tickets we got from Cebu Pacific because they can’t issue refunds for promo tickets. Now that summer time is approaching, I’m sure most of you are already planning your beach holidays. I’m quite excited planning our first family getaway too! But it must be somewhere near because we already have an infant in tow. I want Gwen to be comfortable so just a resort or a beach with just a short drive from Manila will suffice.

Well, I do have one resort in mind, I already saw this resort when I was pregnant and promised myself to visit it, Acuatico Beach Resort in Laiya, San Juan, Batangas. Aaaah, infinity pool! Our first family beach holiday must be memorable, right?

Acuatico Beach Resort in Batangas

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Yaya-less…

I’m troubled again because Gwen’s yaya left yesterday, she left because her 1-year-old daughter is sick and her husband wants her home. I’m sad because she left when I’m about to go back to work, besides, she’s very nice and takes care of Gwen patiently. What’s more troubling is that the other helpers referred to us before already got their jobs and none left for poor Gwen.

I have dozens of blog posts, I hope Gwen behaves now and sleeps through the night so that I don’t have to worry on how to get rid of dark circles under my eyes.

I’ll try my very best to work on my HK posts.

YOU made my day, Thank You!

While staying at the double room of Taisan Guesthouse, I browsed one of the drawers to look for Hong Kong maps other guests might have left.

brochures and HK maps

True enough, I find brochures and print-outs inside the drawer, but what caught my eye are these three printouts…

my blog posts about HK

A smile creeped into my face the moment I found print outs of my blog posts, call me conceited but I find it flattering that others find my posts helpful. So a BIG thank you to a reader/friend who took time to print these out and made them as your guide. I hope that my posts and future HK posts will be helpful to other travellers as well. Now for other topics like slimming wrap, you can check out my health and beauty blog.

For your reference, here are the links for the three Hong Kong guides:

Shopping in Hong Kong

Hong Kong food trip

Tourist Attractions in Hong Kong

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