We took Joaquin on his first trip to the Philippines. We were initially concerned that he would be a little colicky during the flight since he was still fending off an ear infection and a virus. But much like our Florida trip, he was very well behaved and even seemed to enjoy the trip. The flight was 16 hours long with an hour long lay-over in Icheon. We took the trip so that Joaquin can meet his great-grandmothers (Lola's), lolo's, lola's, tito's and tita's. Our first stop was in Manila. We stayed with one of Gideon's relatives - Tito Aryot and Tita Vifel. He has a wonderful house with a great backyard that Joaquin really enjoyed. As well as ya-ya's (caretakers) who just adored him. We even managed to meet up with Gideon's brother Lester who was also in the Philippines for his honeymoon.
(from left: Tita Vifel, middle: Dax, VG, Anjelica, Gideon, Camille, Faye, Joseph and Emerson, right: Yaya's
After a very brief stint in Manila, we headed off to Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. We stayed with Lola Belen and Lola Nene. We also spent some time in the family farm with Tito Senen. Joaquin really liked walking along the river behind the farm. We opted not to stay too much in the farm due to the rampant amount of mosquitoes and to spend more quality time with the lola's.
(Lola Belen, crossing the ilog, Lola Nene, Rice farm (it's planting season), the cousins at the bukid with Tito Senen, Lolo Carlos, Tita Baby, and Lola Nene)
Then off we went for a quick mini getaway to Boracay. Boracay is a small resort island that is surrounded by many islands that you can go visit. They also offer many aquatic activities. We opted to just stay beach side right next to the hotel restaurant and just waste the day away playing in the sand, swimming in the ocean and drinking a lot of freshly made shakes. Our favorite for the trip was the papaya shake followed by the mango shake.
Joaquin really loved playing (sometimes eating) the sand. He also really enjoyed splish-splashing in the ocean water. He truly is a water baby. We spent 4 days 3 nights in Boracay then it was time to go home. Overall it was a very special trip for all of us and we look forward to our next trip together as a family.
