Garin Farm Pilgrimage

My second time in Iloilo, I made sure not to miss a trip going to Garin Farm and Pilgrimage. This time, I went with my family and joining with us, was my brother-in-law's family, so, I could say that this trip was more fun! 

Fortunately, the hotel we stayed in offer a package tour which includes going to Garin. We left past 8 in the morning and arrived Garin at almost 10am. But the best I could give you is, try going to Garin at the earliest time possible, maybe around 6am so that you will not be under the scorching heat of the sun just like we do. My husband and daughter wanted to use the 480 steps to reach the top of the so-called 'Stairway to Heaven'. However, because it was really hot at that time, they decided to join us riding the golf cart. It was actually a short cut and we paid P60 going up, and another P90 going down. The cart is good for 4 persons so I guess our payment was just enough for the 4 of us. After Garin, we tour other places in Iloilo, had lunch at their famous Tatoy's Restaurant, visited old churches and historical places but that's for another blog to share :-)

My Daughter's Promenade 2019

My beautiful daughter on her Prom Day held at Xavier Estates Sports and Country Club, Cagayan de Oro City.

She's already a Senior Student at Corpus Christi School and this will be her last year to join the Promenade. Her gown was design by my good friend from Butuan City, Benjie S. Manuel. Hair and make up was done by Yen Bastareche of Bellemoda located at the 2nd floor of CTC (Cagayan Town
Center).

Davao Vacation 2018

When in Davao, make sure to visit Eden Nature Park and enjoy the rides. Sadly though, for us, we were quite late in getting into the place because of some unavoidable circumstances we met along the way. We thought we would arrived Eden after lunch but our car had some trouble that we went to see a car shop first and had the battery replaced.

Since we were not from Davao, we relied mostly on Gps or Waze. We arrived mostly to our destinations but on that day when we decided to go to Eden, that was when the problem came. We tried to use a shorter route as instructed by Ms. "Jane" of Waze. But halfway on our travel, we realized that the road ahead of us was very rocky. We only used our Toyota Vios and one passersby advised us not to use that route coz it will damage our car :-(

We went back our way. Better safe than sorry. We decided to use the longer but safer route but we arrived quite late. We were not able to catch up the tour bus so we had to explore the place by ourselves. We just made sure to visit the Flower Garden, the 'Rainbow' garden and also the Fish pond.

But before we explored the garden area, my husband and daughter checked out the rides first. They tried Skyriding and enjoyed the fun. It was my husband's birthday on that day that's why he was quite hesitant to go for another ride. He said he would try others in another visit. Hmmm...

I didn't try any rides coz we really lacked time. After snacks, I insisted that we go see the garden area before it gets dark. Everything was done in a rush. We took some pics of the areas nearby but we were not able to go further as it was raining also...sigh :-(

My 14 year old daughter enjoying the ride (Skyriding)

Despite that, I was happy to see the place. Everyone decided that should we go to Davao next time, our first stop should be Eden and spend the rest of the day enjoying all the rides. We were still glad to go there and did a little fun. I guess the only one who wasn't that happy was my little girl coz she was not able to take her much needed nap.

Art In Island: Where You Can Be Part of the Artwork

One of our most memorable family vacations happened in summer 2016. We went to Manila and right after my brother fetched us from the airport, he dropped us in Art in Island. We decided to eat our lunch there coz it was almost 1pm. But upon arrival, we couldn't resist taking and posing some pics of the stunning artworks.

We took a break when we couldn't hold on to our hunger and spent the whole afternoon til evening clicking our cellphones and cameras and striking poses to different paintings. Let our pictures below tell a story:

My daughters had a grand time appreciating art. I was even worried for my youngest because she might have tantrums if we stayed longer in one place. Fortunately, she didn't. She just took a nap when she felt sleepy so I let her rest in my lap and chest. And when she woke up, we continued to tour the place.

Hubby had fun himself, too, the mere fact that he was quite a party-pooper (blaah, haha), you could tell from the pictures he had fun.

I still have lots of pictures in my folder but I guess I will just post a few as not to bore my readers. If you have not visited Art in Island yet, I suggest you should. Just make sure to bring socks with you (although they sell at the entrance in case you forgot) or you could just go barefoot, which I will not recommend since the floor's cold. Also, bring some jacket with you if you don't want to feel cold inside.

Another tips to the family with kids: make sure to bring your children's school IDs to avail their discounted rate. Have Fun!!!

Zoobic Safari

One of the places we visited during our Summer Vacation was the Zoobic Safari in Subic. Each one of us had a blast, oh, except for the little one who was quite cranky before we started the safari. Our little girl later enjoyed watching the animals even the big tigers. It was very hot that time and quite dusty and we were really thirsty during the tour. But after we were done, the fun was all worth it. However, my little Zoe fell asleep before we even reached our final destination. Big sister Chloe had the best time of her life as she loves animals, too.

If you go to Subic, don't miss the fun in Zoobic Safari. You will see tigers, different kinds of birds, tigers and many, many more!

(originally posted in my old blog sometime in 2013)

Celebrating My Birthday at Seda Hotel 2018

This was taken during my birthday January 2018. We had a family dinner at Seda Hotel, Cagayan de Oro City. My birthday falls on a Friday and Seda Hotel had a Barbecue Grilled buffet that night. We really enjoyed their food and their desserts were superb. I think this is the 2nd or 3rd time that I celebrated my birthday in their restaurant because, obviously, we loved this place! It was not crowded and we certainly liked the ambiance, perfect for celebrating birthdays with my love ones ♥ We went home fully-sated.

Cousins Reunited

These are my cousins on my paternal side and the teenagers and little ones are our kiddos. Every 25th of December, we usually have a family reunion at our late grandmother's place in Iligan City. That was when my father was still alive and most of us were not married yet. But some of us, cousins, lived in different places and having a reunion was a bit impossible. Oh, fyi, we came from a big family. My grandma and grandpa had 13 children and my late dad was the eldest son. So in this picture, we only consisted about 1/16th of the family. And this was not even in Iligan City but here in Cagayan de Oro where some of us resided.

We had a mini-reunion at Centrio Ayala Mall sometime in January 2018 and it was fun seeing the my cousins with their respective families. I wish there will be more reunions next time but I think it's quite impossible to do this year coz some lived faraway and in another continent.

Still, I am thankful for this mini-reunion. It was nice to reconnect with my cousins and to just update each other's lives :-)