CEBU WEEKEND

We had a blast in Cebu! But Joaquin had the most fun!

As promised, here are pictures!


He loved the plane ride! Was not scared at all!


Loved it so much that his feet were up and he was noisiest kid in the plane!

We headed to one of the Sutukil restaurants by Mactan Shrine for brunch. Didn't enjoy it so much. Food was pretty expensive and was not as good. Our Dampa here in Manila is A LOT BETTER. Should have read this before going there. Really wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

We arrived at Cebu Marine before noon and they allowed us to check-in early (Big Yaaayy!) We loved the place! It was indeed quaint and super peaceful!!! The landscaped garden was beautiful!

I felt like we were the only ones there!




We finally saw a few guests (mostly Japanese and Europeans. Kami lang Pinoy!) around dinner time. Food was relatively good but a little pricey (or maybe I'm just kuripot, hehe!). A meal per person would probably cost PHP400.

We woke up very early Saturday morning so we can make the most out of the day. We hung out at the pool most of the time as it was super low tide.


Trying to get a tan?


Mama, is this my swimming pool?


He insisted that it was.


Playing with Papa



Sun and Fun with Mama!


Woot woot!!!


Someone's learning to love the water...




Headed to the City Saturday afternoon and stayed at Regal Business Park Hotel which was right across Ayala Center. We only needed a clean and decent place to sleep as we were going out with V's friend anyway. For Php1,800 a night, NOT BAD at all! Room and bathroom was clean, service was good, staff were friendly! The room came with buffet breakfast (I know! Nagulat din ako!) but the choices were very limited. But still. At Php1,800 a night, pwede na!


Our room at the Regal Business Park Hotel

We ate Cebu Lechon which made me think of my Dad because he was the one who introduced us to this



We headed North of Cebu (shockingly, only 15-20mins away from the city) Sunday morning to the town of Liloan where V's friend lived. We went to a Sunday food market to get lunch



And yes, we ate more lechon and I even bought a kilo to take home with me to Manila. Drool!

After a gastronomic lunch of lechon, kilawin na sea cucumber (first time to try this and its good!), roast chicken, dininding, inihwan na tulingan and uber sweet mangoes for dessert, we napped.

In the afternoon, we headed to the Liloan lighthouse called Bagacay Point Light.







Joaquin and his new BFF, Anton (Anton is a year and a half older than Joaqun but Joaquin is soo much bigger and taller!)

All in all, it was a pretty great trip. The only thing I didn't like was how our flight heading back to Manila got delayed. From 10:40pm to 12:20am! Joaquin and I slept in the plane going back while V couldn't get some shut eye because of the turbulence. Hehe!

GRATEFUL

I know it's unfortunate but sometimes, it takes bad things to happen to other people for you to realize how lucky you are. It has been a rough 2 weeks for a few people that I care for very much that it has made me so much more grateful for these 5 things:

1. V and I are faithful to each other despite our spats every now and then.
2. I have wonderful helpers who genuinely care for us, especially for Joaquin.
3. A great relationship with my sisters. We made a promise last week that we would never ever fight over money or something equally petty.
4. My mom is unbelievably healthy! :)
5. My family (especially the ones in the US) still have jobs.

I was chatting with a friend from the US last week and I was saying that despite the financial crisis/recession the world is going through right now, we should remember that we still have a lot of things to be grateful for. Actually, this is something we should remember everyday.

So there-- I still want new running shoes, a laptop and an oven for Christmas and while I wouldn't mind getting all the material things I asked for, these 5 things I listed are more than enough to make my holidays happy. I hope yours will be too!