Hong Kong - Macau: L Hotel Nina

After the long wait at the airport, we were finally on our way to L Hotel Nina. Mom made all the arrangements for our trip and before she decided on the hotel, she did a little research on the internet. Yes, my dear mommy is internet savvy :) Way to go, mom!
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aLoading our bags. The bus was filled mostly with our kababayans, but I think we were the noisiest bunch on board. Hehe!
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Hong Kong International Airport is on Lantau Island. Our hotel is located at the New Territories, which is about 20-30 minutes away from the airport. Here are some shots that I took on the bus en route to the hotel.
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Come Buy daw. Sure! Wait mo ko. Hehe!

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At the lobby.
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Richard was our official taga-check in/check out. Thanks to my husband's charms, all 3 rooms that we booked were upgraded to a suite! Woohoo!
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The noisy tourists on the elevator.
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This is our room!
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The bathroom. Love the tub!
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This is the view from our room. Haaayy...I can just stay here all day!
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Our room at night.
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The rooms were super nice! Lalo tuloy kami na-excite. Hehe! I wish we could stay longer, pero syempre the real reason why we were there was to explore the city! For our first pasyal, we went to Ocean Park.

Hong Kong - Macau: Our First Family Trip Abroad

Sorry it took me this long to start posting about our summer holiday. I was sidetracked by so many things: unpacking our suitcases, organizing our house, dealing with the laundry, entertaining Richard's guests, trying to get my Bangkok groove back... I never really had time to sit back and savor the wonderful trip that we had! Also, Aly and I are busy with our Dream House Project. It's a collection/compilation of photos and ideas that we want for our dream house -- but I'll tell you more about that on a separate post! Ok, enough with the excuses, let's get back to my summer holiday kwento.

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I probably took around a thousand photos during our trip so please bear with me as I have to sift through all of them and resize the ones that I will post. I'm so glad Richard told me to buy a back up battery and CF card so I didn't miss a single Kodak -- er, make that Canon moment :) Hehe!

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Anyway, like I mentioned, this was our first family trip abroad. So you can just imagine how exciting it was for all of us. I was super excited that I couldn't sleep! And I had to get some sleep because we were taking the first flight to HKG (8am), which means we had to be at the airport by 6am, which also means we had to leave Tagaytay by 4:30am! Pero hindi ko naramdaman ang puyat kasi nga excited ako. Hehe! For now, allow me to share with you photos that were taken at NAIA2, on the plane and at Hong Kong International Airport.

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Excited tourists at the NAIA2 airport.

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Waiting to board the plane!

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Behind Jof is our plane! 747, baby :)

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Dad chilling with his ipod.

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Ang tagal naman...

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Naka-board na rin sa wakas!

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Forever seatmates: Aly always wanted to sit beside her tita Angel; whether we were on the plane, on the bus...so that she can borrow tita's PSP.

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We're ready to (rock n') roll!

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Dad at Hong Kong International Airport.

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Funny: as soon as we got off the plane, my brother Mick ducked into the men's room. When he came out, he said: "I just took my first piss out of the country." Haha! It made all of us laugh!

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Dad imposed a no-shopping policy so we all travelled light. 5 bags for 8 people.

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Waiting for our tour guide.

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From the airport, our guide will bring us first to our hotel for check-in, then we will spend the rest of the day at Ocean Park. Stay tuned for more about our Hong Kong trip!

The Doctor is In.

Another milestone for our family: my sister Angel graduated from Med school last week! Woohoo!!
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Dr. Angela Ignacio Manalo

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With our proud (and very happy looking) daddy...

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...and our equally proud mommy (mom, I love your hair! Ang taray!)

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Congratulations, Ange! I always knew that you will make it BIG and here you are...you made it through med school! We are very, very proud of you!!

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P.S I'm including this because I love her dress! You won't see it under her toga, but this is what she wore (sans the flip flops, ofcourse)...

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Another creation by the official couturier ng pamilya/barkada, Nino :)

Our First Year

Before we proceed with my summer vacation kwento, let's backtrack a little so I can tell you all about our Bangkok anniversary. I know, this is a late post, natabunan kasi ng excitement and preps for our vacation so I didn't have time to put this up earlier. Anyway, here it is.

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28 March 2009 marked our first year here in Bangkok. For our first anniversary issue (naks! akala mo magazine!), I interviewed Richard and Aly on their Bangkok favorites. Syempre, kasama rin ako. Heehee! Here it goes:

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FAVORITE THAI FOOD

Alyannah (A): Khao Phad Goong (Fried rice with shrimp)

Richard (R): Phad Thai (stir fried noodles)

Krisan (K): Tom Yum Goong (hot and sour soup with shrimp)

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FAVORITE THAI DRINK (or any drink that we discovered here in Thailand)

A: Tipco Apple Juice

R: Singha beer

K: Chrysanthemum tea (Yes, the flower. The taste reminds me of our local gulaman with pandan)

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FAVORITE RESTAURANT

A: Pizza Company

R: Bai Mai La Leung (Thai restaurant)

K: Toh Plue (Thai restaurant in Chatuchak)

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FAVORITE TOURIST ATTRACTION

A: Crocodile Farm + Safari World

R: Crocodile Farm + Pattaya

K: Wat Pho + Chao Phraya River

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FAVORITE MALL/SHOPPING PLACE

A: Central World + Siam Paragon

R: Emporium + Pantip Plaza

K: Pratunam, Sampeng Lane, Chatuchak + Siam Paragon

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FAVORITE STORE

A: Kinokuniya Bookstore + Zara

R: Kinokuniya

K: Kinokuniya + Zara

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FAVORITE DESSERT

A: Royce chocolates

R: Mango with sticky rice + frozen yoghurt

K: Pancake roti, mango with sticky rice + frozen yoghurt.

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What else have we learned so far? We still can't speak Thai, but I am proud to say that we at least know how to count in Thai! It comes in handy when you buy from the markets. We also know how to say how much (Thao rai). Halata bang lahat ng natutunan namin are either related to eating or shopping? Haha!

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More than anything, we learned the true value of being a family. We were able to survive living in a new country that speaks a different language, with no relatives and friends, by sticking together. That way, new discoveries and adventures were made with the people that matter the most.

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Our Bangkok stint will definitely provide a lot of wonderful memories and learning experiences for me and my family, but I am still looking forward to the day when we will go back home and live happily ever after in our dream house in Tagaytay. I may have learned to love my life here in the City of Angels, but I left my heart in the Philippines :)

The Valdezes are Back in Bangkok!

Aaaannndd we're back!
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Our 10-day vacay flew by so fast! Super bitin, but it was all worth it :)
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Here's our summer holiday in numbers:
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10 days
3 countries (Philippines, Hong Kong + Macao)
2 hotels (L Hotel Nina in HK + Regency in Macao)
2 theme parks (Ocean Park + Disneyland)
1 beach trip (San Juan, Batangas with my AC friends)
Countless restaurant meals
0 shopping (well, almost!)
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Kulang talaga ang 10 days! Pero ok na rin kasi I was able to do summery things like:

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>Eat Philippine Mangoes -- the best! With just the right amount of asim and sweetness.

>Eat Good Shepherd halo-halo.

>Go on a beach trip with my AC friends...dito pa lang, kumpleto na ang summer ko, but we were also able to do other things that made our trip to the Philippines complete, such as:

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>Eat Kanin Club's crispy dinuguan. Yahoo!

>Eat crispy sisig at Dencio's.

>Hindi rin magpapahuli si Alyannah kasi dinala ko rin sya sa Jollibee para makakain ng Jolly spaghetti -- teka, puro pagkain pala to! Syempre, what made the trip truly worth it was being able to spend time with family and friends.

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More summer vacation kwento in my upcoming posts. Meanwhile, I just need to get my Bangkok groove back. Gosh, I miss my life in Manila...I miss mom + dad, my siblings, my cute and super kulit pamangkins Gabbi and Moe, my friends, Tagaytay...sigh...

Earth Hour

I already told you before about our efforts in going green, but saying no to plastic is just not enough.

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So on 28 March 2009, at 8:30 in the evening (Bangkok time), we turned off all our lights for Earth Hour.

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We hung out in our balcony. Richard mixed some cocktails and juice for our little girl and we just sat there to chill. Actually, chill is not exactly the right word for it because was hot outside!

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It was also the perfect time to bring out and actually use the candles that I bought in Chatuchak months ago!

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Too bad, some of our neighbors were either unaware of Earth Hour or they simply didn't care much -- except for one! Check out the third window from the top on the right side.

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Anyhow, it was a great bonding time for our family and more importantly, by turning our lights off for an hour, we voted for Mother Earth. We only have one so let's all do our share in saving our planet!

The Shopaholic Sisters Were Here!

Sorry for the lack of posts. After Aly's birthday, I was preoccupied with two things: getting ready for our trip and being a tindera. Yes, you read that right! The Domestic Goddess is now a tindera -- oops, make that entrepreneur. And this, I mean, they are the reason why...

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Jean, Krisan, Alyannah and Abby.

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Last March, my godsisters Jean and Abby Alcid a.k.a The Shopaholic Sisters were here. Jean and Abby are daughters of my mom's bestfriend Ninang Penny, who is also my ninang for both baptism and wedding.

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We haven't seen each other in years! So their stay was like a three-day pajama party. We'd shop all day and stay up to the wee hours of the morning just chatting. It was so much fun!

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These pretty and hardworking sisters also happen to own an online shop at Multiply. They were in Bangkok to shop for items that they can sell online. These enterprising sisters encouraged me to get into selling. Kaya ako naging tindera...I'm putting my shopping skills into good use and they told me to grab the opportunity while I'm here in Bangkok where clothes are super cheap. So now, I'm having a dry run of sorts with my friends when I come home. I will be bringing some items home to see kung mabebenta. You can check it out here.

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To Jean and Abby, I hope you enjoyed your stay as much we enjoyed having you here! Balik kayo anytime :) Thank you for the blouse that you gave me!

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Speaking of blouse, I had so many people asking me about the blouse that I wore during Aly's birthday...

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...it was a gift from Jean and Abby.

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I was planning to sell those too so I went to the place where they bought the blouse from -- twice, but I didn't see it. However, I think Jean and Abby still have it on their website so buy na lang from them! Check out Shopaholic Sisters 2k9. Some of my items are posted on their site too! Happy shopping!