Aling pag-ibig pa ang hihigit kaya
Sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila
Gaya ng pag-ibig sa tinub’ang lupa?
Aling pag-ibig pa? Wala na nga, wala…

Gat Andres Bonifacio

We’re going to make our 60kgs allowance count. We have the jars of coffee, a bunch of tshirts, along with the lotion and make-up. Typical balikbayan stuff, all packed and squeezed in our bags.

But more than that our hearts are expanding by the minute.

We’re going to see our Pilipinas after 3 years for pogiBoy & I and after 4 years for hubby. We’ve not seen our parents for just as long. We’ve not seen our dear friends and our close relatives and our native soil for what felt like eternity.

We’re going to cram as much memory as we could carry in 3 weeks.

I am thankful that my sister’s house will be comfortable for us to stay in. And I am very thankful they do not have a landline therefore no internet.

Ex-communicado.

I’m mentally preparing myself not to cry when we land in NAIA. But I know even if I manage that, tears will fall when I hug Nanay & Tatay. I miss them so much.

Goodbye for now and God-willing, our paths might cross in Makati or Ortigas!

KWK will be back end of April 2009.

Last year, we were supposed to celebrate pogiBoy’s birthday in Disney Euro. We booked a Disney hotel for 4-nights, the Park tickets, some shows and even a guided trip to Paris. All except a travel insurance. I thought we were saving a few pennies by booking it separately. But before we did get one, hubby was diagnosed with appendicitis.

In Pinas, that would result in a surgery straightaway. Here they waited, and waited, and waited. It’s a long convoluted story. The end result of which is hubby lost so much weight (and he didn’t have enough to begin with) and we didn’t go to Disney. Money down the drain.

To make up for it, I bullied hubby into booking a summer holiday. Destination: Cuba.

We stayed a few days in Havana. We did a Hemingway tour and managed to see the Cojimar town where his “The Old Man and the Sea” was formulated. We walked and walked and saw all of Havana’s main features, including Malecon. Around Havana Vieja, I felt like I was back in my HUM I trip to Ilocos. The epi-centre was also like Barcelona’s. Remember what they used to say in our history lessons? Spanish towns are always built around the church? It’s a global truth in the places I’ve visited at least.

The locals are friendly. Para kang nasa Pinas. Our cultures and norms (including their timekeeping) are almost the same. Almost even the poverty. Of course, in our case it’s mostly due to greed and corruption. Over there, I guess it’s due to the pride/ideals of their Leader (whether that’s good or bad is a different topic). (more…

“Uppers” kasi every time I think about it, natutuwa ako.

Two more days and we’ll be in Dubai with my sisters. Xmas baby yung ditse ko so tamang-tama talaga ang holiday namin. Tapos andun na uli ate namin so halos family reunion na talaga. Parents ko lang matigas ulo, ayaw pumunta.

To top that, hubby booked our flights for Easter. UUWI na TALAGA kami ng PINAS!!! Yehey :-D

Three glorious weeks… I know it will be hot and humid. But so what?! Tatakbo na lang kami lagi from one airconditioned facility to the next. :-P

Hubby and I started the traditional argument over how many days we spend in various places in Luzon vis-a-vis when we fly to Visayas. Medyo madugo kaya pinagpaliban na lang muna namin dahil malapit nang magpanting ang tenga ko.

Let’s not ruin the high of emptying our bank account.

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Summertime means holiday for most families & ours is no different. Well, except perhaps with budget considerations we’re “stuck” with European destinations. Yes, it’s not such a bad deal, aferall Europe is arguably the best destination one can hope for. But hubby’s heart is set on Florida or California. Unfortunately for him our purse strings will “only” allow Paris.

Oh come on! Quit complaining, right? That’s what I told him. Besides pogiBoy is only 3 it’s unlikely he’ll enjoy a trip to THE Disneyland. As luck would have it, I saw on telly that Disney Euro is offering one-night free for children under-7! I haven’t checked the details yet but I’ve been given the green light by hubby to start snooping, err, researching.

As luck would have it, I chanced upon Cheap Hotels site that offers up to 70% off on reservations! It defaults to American dollar but the site has an internationalised option for major currencies like British Pound or EURO. It boosts my confidence level too, because it has a 0-800 number for non-US customer like myself & believe me this is one thing I always check. The last time I used a non-UK based booking site it was based in Singapore, it took me a month to get a refund from their mistake (they booked my family for two hotels on the same date in Barcelona and also charged us for both!).

Anyway, I checked an August booking for a Disneyland-Paris hotel and for added stinginess checked mid-week rate for 2 Adults + 1 child. The top 3 hotels on the list will charge us between 450-500 GBP for 3 nights. People, this is just the hotel! I was sorely disappointed that the current Disney Euro offer is not available on this booking site yet. Will it ever? Perhaps that’s one downside for looking on a non-European site. Perhaps it’s not as up-to-date as those based in the Continent.

I still tagged Hotel Reservations in my del.icio.us for future reference though. It might still come in handy when we can visit the Grand Canyon or the home of KingKong!