Hot Springs in Dumaguete

As soon as we picked up our visiting relatives from the airport, we headed to Valencia to explore the hot springs. Hot springs bring us back to the 80's when my lola would take all of us to Pansol, Laguna for a dip in the restorative hot springs.

AS we drove up, we knew we were near because we could already see (and smell!) the sulphur rising from the rocks.

We didn't really know what to expect from the hot springs in Dumaguete as it's our first time. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we had the hot springs in Pulangbato (Red Rock), Valencia all to ourselves. It was just a small and simple set-up but breathtaking. The whole pool seems to be carved out of just one giant rock. The place was also really clean. The pool itself didn't have boiling hot water. The water from the 2 spouts were perfectly hot to make you want to stay under them forever. And as you sit there and bathe, all green mountains surround you and the gushing sound of water running over the big boulders of the river below provide the music. My kids didn't want to get out of the water anymore! Emilio, my 2 year old would battle with his Titos over the spot underneath the spout.

The environment is incredibly peaceful and totally not commercialized. I really pray it stays that way.

Our van driver is actually from here. He told us that this was actually one of the places most ravaged by Sendong. We had to walk up to the waterfalls as the roads were destroyed and they are still in the process of rebuilding. How I regretted having changed from my bathing suit down at the hot springs area! I wanted to plunge into the natural cold spring water of the falls. My brothers took the plunge and say it was all worth it.

I'll definitely be back to take the plunge!

Sta. Monica Beach Club: Work in Progress

Here's the green room at Sta. Monica Beach Club. I haven't really had the chance to let my inner Martha Stewart loose... until 2012 that is! It is a lot of fun watching Sta. Monica Beach Club slowly transform with each visit. I'm especially proud of the rope mirrors because we made those ourselves!

Dumaguete On My Mind

For the super long weekend that ends today, we went to Dumaguete City for a brief visit to Daddy's work site. Dumaguete is a province also in the Visayas. It was such a welcome breather for us and the kids. It's a far cry from the highly commercialized tourist sites or the chaotic more urbanized areas. We stayed at Sta. Monica Beach Club though still under renovation. This trip was really more of hanging out at the work site since we were rushing to finish the place up. I actually wanted to stay a few more days to explore.

We were able to sneak in a trip to Bais. On the map, it seemed far but it's actually only 42km away from the city. We enjoyed the drive as it was coastal on very good roads. We even stopped roadside to take a picture with an old train relic. We also were amazed at the number of grand old houses on the roadside punctuated by sugarcane fields. We had lunch at La Planta in Bais. That lunch was great! We had lechon, 3 different kinds of shells cooked 3 different ways, and crispy shrimp. La Planta is cool because it was the old power station and it still has that very old world feel to it. We're already planning our trip to the sandbar which can be accessed from Bais.

I also had my first taste of budbud from Tanjay. It was yummy especially with the thick hot chocolate.

Closer to Sta. Monica Beach Club, we frequented Robinson's Mall to eat in Sans Rival - no trip to Dumaguete is complete without this for me. The meals are very affordable and taste home made. I liked their lasagna which reminded me of lasagna that was taught to us in Home Economics in high school.

We also discovered Kalikaf which is a health/organic restaurant in Robinson's too. It's short for Kalikasan Cafe. We'll definitely be including this in our Dumaguete regulars list.

Of course we hit the wet market for our dinners. We were able to buy super fresh and yummy tuna panga. Chef Syl of Sta. Monica grilled it to juicy and moist perfection. The kids ate so much! We matched this with some sugba sauce, hot rice and super sweet mangoes on the side. The next night, we experimented with our own version of hot pot served poolside while we listened to the waves crashing. I like the wet market in Dumaguete because it's clean, organized and it always has lots of fresh seafood and vegetables for sale.

We were so spoiled on fresh sea food! In the morning, I was surprised to find yaya rushing to the room to get money. Apparently, she was able to catch the fishermen just coming in and was able to buy super fresh fish right at our Sta. Monica doorstep! We had fish tinola for breakfast. I know, a bit unconventional, but cooked with just tomatoes, ginger, salt and a few leeks, it tasted so clean and good.

How can I forget our Lab-as dinner? We had sashimi, baked oysters, pancit, steamed vegetables with guinamos, grilled whole fish, and shell soup. The pancit was a winner for me. The sashimi was disappointing because it was obviously still frozen in some areas. But I'd still go back on our next visit.

On this trip, the kids were a bit disappointed because the pool wasn't filled with water yet. The beach is right at our doorstep but it's not really a swimming beach. It's more for divers.

I can't wait for our next visit to Dumaguete! I'm dreaming of the sandbar in Bais and finally catching the Malatapay Market. My husband is particularly excited to swim with the whalesharks in Oslob which is only 30 minutes by boat from our doorstep. If we're lucky, we may even be able to squeeze in a long drive (and the ensuing food trip) to Bacolod. Ahhh, dreaming of a month long stay in Dumaguete! No wonder so many people come to Dumaguete and never leave!

See you soon Dumaguete! Can't wait to get to know you more!

Manila with Kids

I'll be editing this post as we go along but here's my list of things to do for my kids who are both below 5. I know it's sometimes difficult to think of what to do that doesn't involve just walking around the mall. My children seem to have outgrown their love of Gymboree so I have to scrap our playtime at Gymboree from the list already.

1. Fun Ranch or Active Fun - my kids love places like this. My friends also recommend Kidzville in Podium though I have never personally tried it. An hour is usually not enough for them but for the adults with them an hour is more than enough. They have a healthy appetite right after. I try to schedule going to places like this after their afternoon nap so it's dinner then an early bedtime. The little zoo near Fun Ranch at Tiendesitas is a big hit with the kids.

2. Mind Museum at the Fort - It's very organized. Ava enjoyed but I think Emilio may have been a bit too young for the exhibits. My daughter likes the more interactive exhibits at the ground floor. I couldn't tear her away from the paleontology exhibit.

3. Museo Pambata - Ava celebrated her first birthday here. It's a nice place though it could use a bit of an upgrading of the exhibits and areas as it's showing wear and tear already.

4. Fully Booked - I can't believe my little boy was asking for me to bring him to Fully Booked. He's just turning 2 (and could hardly pronounce Fully Booked)! In the absence of good libraries, the Fully Booked children's area is the closest we have. Since it's free for them to browse, I do feel compelled to buy a book or two though.

5. Manila Ocean Park

6. Catch a play with Repertory's children's theater.

7. Do some kids yoga at Urban Ashram at the Fort - the schedule now is at 3:30pm on Saturdays and it's not too expensive. Mom or Dad joins the children.

8. Early morning at the Centris Market (if you're near QC like us) or Legazpi Market (if you're near the Makati area or want to buy more arts-y stuff) We like going to Centris. The children and the yayas get their weekly taho fix while I buy our fruits and vegetables for the week. I also end up buying things we don't really need (oops!). There's also a stand where I sometimes find nice export overuns of children's sandos. The last time I went though, their supply was low. The kids also like looking at the puppies, birds and fish for sale.

Philippine Airlines' Book and Hold - A Lifesaver! (and other local airline feedback)

I was just making domestic travel arrangements now and saw that they have a new facility where you can book tickets and have until the next day to pay for them in any PAL office, selected San Mig Convenience store or Petron with EC pay. This will make my life easier because of the flexibility it provides - I can hold onto the fare and I schedule for my family but have time to double check with my husband before we finally pay. I can't count the number of tickets (and money!) I've wasted making ticket purchases in haste and realizing I've made mistakes. We've literally had to throw away those tickets as it would cost more to rebook. Another big plus is that there's no need to always use my credit card online!

On another note, the Airphil Express website is easier to use now too! When comparing flight costs, Airphil can be a bit misleading though because unlike other airlines, the add-ons it adds are pretty big. Make sure you check the total cost before deciding as it can throw you off. What I do like about it is that there's luggage included already. We made costly mistakes before on Cebu Pacific when we didn't notice the tickets booked for us didn't buy luggage allocation.

I recently started to use Zest Air (despite my apprehensions!) because our company would use their vouchers. It's a pity they stopped selling these booklets of 11 tickets usable anytime (almost) even with just 1 day notice. It made our lives so much simpler as we didn't have to plan way in advance or have to pay a fortune for last minute tickets. The smaller airport of Zest Air was much easier to manage especially traveling with children. Their staff at the desk were really kind and helpful. The airport also has free wifi. At first, our staff were making hints how they found the planes "shaky." When we flew Zest, it was true. For some reason, they were "maalog." I don't know why but it did get us to Tagbilaran and Manila safely.

Cebu Pacific is my least preferred among the 4. The airport is too big and difficult to manage when traveling with children and handcarry. Past security, there are no more little carts you can use so you have to carry everything on top of having to use stairs to go down to the gate. And they have this bad habit of always changing the gate where you are about to depart even if you're already settled in the original gate. I would buy Cebu Pacific for technicians we need to send to Bohol because I can pay via LBC and have no need to give my ID and credit card copies to people I don't really know.

Overall, if prices aren't too far apart, we always choose to ride Philippine Airlines. The little comforts like better airport, water on board and bigger luggage allowance make traveling just more pleasant. We also like the Yakun Kaya toast in the airport. It's been a little tradition to have the yakun kaya bread and eggs there as we wait. The quality has dramatically declined over the years though. I'm so happy the period of bad service last year has been put behind them. It was actually that period that forced us to use the other airlines more regularly.

Our daughter has learned to ask beforehand if this is the plane that gives free food or not. I don't know why she loves those peanuts so much! At age 2, she was so sad the first time she rode Airphil when the stewardess didn't give out water and peanuts. "Mommy! Tubig lang walang binibigay!!!" "Oops, sorry Ava, we're flying budget!" "Ayoko dito mommy!" She was wailing the whole trip as she couldn't understand why her peanuts and water weren't being given out despite my explanations.

She knows better now. And I know better too. Choose PAL if the price difference is under P500 per ticket.

The King and I, A Review

My daughter and I caught The King and I at Resorts World this Friday.

Since I put off buying tickets for the last minute, we had really bad seats. They were so bad that it was better for us to watch on the LED screen than the stage. As such, we didn't appreciate all that the first half had to offer. We were so blessed that the ushers allowed us to move to better seats for the second half. That's when I realized how choice of seats makes such a big difference! So please avoid the seats from 1-10. They are too far left.

The show for me was nice too. Moniqiue Wilson and Leo Valdez did a great job. I was so proud to be Filipino. Having many children in the show caught my daughter's attention. As it was "real" theater versus the children's theater we used to watch, my daughter had to put more effort in getting into the story.

I know she enjoyed it because no matter how sleepy she was - show starts at 8pm which is almost bedtime for her - she really snapped to attention when the actors and actresses started to sing.

Catch it if you can!

For this evening, Ava was giddy with excitement as the theater was so big. She also enjoyed having my sister with us and no yaya. I guess it felt like a "big girls'" night out for her.

I'm so happy that more shows are coming to the Philippines and that we don't have to travel abroad to catch them. I still remember lining up at TKTS in New York to watch all the great shows or watching plays in London by myself. It's also so nice to find something my daughter and I both enjoy even at her young age.

Repertory Philippines Wizard of Oz, a Review

I discovered my 3 year old daughter likes watching theater when we went to Repertory Philippines' production of Horton Hears a Who last year. She was enraptured!

The Wizard of Oz is a classic which I thought she ought to see. It's still showing and I strongly suggest for you to take your children to watch it. I was very happy to see the theater jam packed when we went.

All in all, I give it 5 stars for the following reasons:

1. There is a lot of audience participation. I was surprised to find my daughter actively participating.

2. The pace of the show is pretty fast too so I didn't get bored. I was dying of boredom when we watched the Disney Rockin' Roadshow at Araneta and I was quite bored at Horton Hears a Who as well.

3. The actors are seasoned - even if the target audience are children, they performed very very well.

4. The stage, props and costumes were great too.

5. And the real proof - my daughter still remembers the story after the show as she was engaged the whole time.

6. And best of all, it's reasonably priced at less than P500 per ticket. If you'd like to buy tickets, just check online. We just called the organizer, reserved 2 tickets and paid for them on the day itself. The seats are all nice too. There are no far left or right seats which hardly have a view of the stage (quite unlike the Resorts World theater). Do try to get seats as near as possible as your kids will enjoy it more.

Afterwards, we had a great ramen lunch in Greenbelt 5. As a working mom, I really try to plan activities like this with my daughter to bond and share something we both enjoy. I still remember when my mom would take me to watch the ballets at CCP when I was young. It's not just the ballets I remember fondly. I also remember the joy of the ride to the theater, the anticipation of theater complete with dressing up a little and our bonding meal after we watch.

I'm seriously considering making a habit of watching theater. My daughter calls it watching a story that's alive. It's a great alternative to watching TV. And now she's reminding me to please have her taught how to sing like them and to dance ballet. I'm so excited for summer to come around so that I can enroll her in Trumpets. Though I never did become a ballerina, I am not forcing my daughter to be a theater star. For now, it's enough for me to just enjoy theater with her.