We arrived on the 20th of December in Manila from Bangkok and were excited to see my brother, Rolan, cousin, Pogi and some of my daughter's cousins at the airport to welcome us. It felt great to be back in my home country.
We have spent Christmas with the whole family and met most of our relatives during this festive time. My sister-in-law, Zem, who was supposed to spend Christmas with us, went back to Bangkok after spending a night with us due to her boyfriend's accident.
Instead of partying with a friend and her family,we opted staying in our town to spend New Year with our family. My parents were happy we were all together.
My friend, Fibs came home as well and we went to Puerto Galera without my daughters.
The girls started their schooling after New Year. They both didn't like having uniforms. But rule is rule and without exception. I usually wake up before 5h and prepare their pack lunch. They were up at 6h and should be on their way to school by 6h45 with their pack lunch and P20 allowance. (After a few days, my cousin, kuya Kawe told me that I should givem P30 more. Then, they discovered the school canteen and everything in their "no canteen & no school allowance" lives suddenly changed.
They sometimes came home with their untouched rice and half-eaten salad. It seemed that french-fries and bbq in the school canteed tasted better. But the positive thing about all this was Karen dared to buy her food on her own.
Their days would vary from missing friends back home to settling well in their new
school, then chagrin once again. But there's family and relatives who showed them love. Making them feel at home and welcome.
Carlo on the other hand went to
Romblon on his own. He prefers this town to
Boracay. He appreciated the former and loves its beaches.
While home in Cavite, I have stopped using the social media even writing. I did backyard veggie garden and take advantage of the time to be with my family.
We then went for a DAY TOUR of TAAL VOLCANO with KIDS.
It was also at this month that
Marie and Zach came and stayed with us for a few days.
FEBRUARY 2019
I would organize after school meet-up with some their cousins and did some fun activities with all of them. The goal was to lessen the Ipad use of everyone.
I visited this garden created by sis-in-law and other parents. They used a vacant lot near the school and planted veggies using recycled materials. Apparently, this lot will be converted into new rooms in the future.
NO SMOKING
In most municipalities in
Cavite, smoking ban is being upheld in public places. And one day, after exiting
SM in
Trece, Carlo lighted a cigarette and soon enough 3 persons with matching shirts approached him. "NO SMOKING, here sir, Pls. follow us."The situation irritated me, there we were ready to take a jeep to go home and suddenly...Anyway, we went with them along with my 2 nieces and our daughters.
Then their team leader came and talked to Carlo. Explained the ban and my husband resolved not to pay the fine but instead did the community service. The team leader, on the other hand decided to give my husband a lesser time of service finding him more pleasant than the other foreigners caught smoking.
After my Mama's birthday, we went out of town for the week-end and stayed in
Quezon City. I soon realized that we were just infront of the
ABC-CBN and some meters away from
Bahay ni Kuya.
Karen and I did an AirBnb experience with teacher Roxy. Then we saw one of our
favorite swiss personalities in this
shop. Saw a cousin by chance in a restaurant and met, George, the husband of Carlo's friend, Sophie.
RAISED BED BY FEBRUARY
MARCH 2019
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| art by the church |
And with my family's help, I had a garage sale near
the church. It was also an occasion to be with some relatives for a day. We set up our tent and a table where kids and kids at heart can paint, draw or jus sit. This day was made possible by my family.
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In Batad, a man is resting before continuing his descent to the village.
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under the white lights
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PASSING BY BAGUIO
Afterwards, we went to travel at some parts of the country. we have met Carlo's friend and new people along the way. I will soon post about it here.
APRIL 2019
A day before our departure, we celebrated my father's 69th birthday. Then, it was time to go. I cried buckets, really sad that our vacation was over.
It was a great 3 month vacation. Seeing everyone in my hometown. Talking to my family and relatives, laughing and crying with them. It felt good to just sit down and catch up.
We didn't take any souvenirs with us this time given that we still have 2 months before going back to geneva but those times spent with everyone was enough as our souvenirs.
We are really lucky to have all of you in our lives, dear family and relatives. Thank you for your generosity and time spent with us.
Comment
Anonymous May 12,2019
Nice vacations and spending time with family and friends, will be doing it again. God bless and see you all soon.
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