Good To Be Back

Just came home from a wonderful vacation at the beach. If only we can stay longer....

Korean Tidbits

Had a great vacation in South Korea! Such a beautiful & clean place! Any visitor would be greatly impressed by the humongous new airport in Incheon. I just wish I can say as much for our NAIA (weep!).

Like any 1st world country, South Korea is grappling with a low, near-zero population rate. Due to the high cost of living, couples opt to postpone or totally rule out having children. The government gives an incentive to couples for up to 3 years but then it's still very expensive to have kids. Just sending them to school sets them back by millions (and the tour guide was talking in US dollars)! It's no wonder Koreans send their kids to the Philippines to study. Our tour guide says that it's so cheap here!

I totally loved Korean food! The typical Korean meal has a medley of appetizers, usually vegetable, served in tiny dishes. The hands down favorite was of course, kimchi while a close second was the dried seaweed that almost always disappears as soon as the meal starts. The viands are not really that spicy. Compared to Thai food which I would rate with 5 chilis, Korean food is about 2.5 chilis only.

This is one of our favorite meals: duck barbeque. We wrapped the duck slices in a variety of greens then dipped it in yummy soy bean paste.

The time we visited coincided with the blooming of the cherry blossom trees. They are so beautiful!!! The blooming marks the arrival of spring. Koreans are mighty proud of their cherry blossom trees.

One thing I also noticed: Koreans have lovely skin! Maybe it's the weather? Or their diet? Or maybe Face Shop? lol!You'd see flowers furiously abloom everywhere.
A quaint custom that we followed: taking off shoes when entering an establishment and sitting on the floor for meals.
Annyong haseo!!!!
If you'd like to take a photo tour of South Korea, please visit my multiply page.

See You All Soon!

Ever since we've been married, DH and I make it a point to just stay home during Holy Week. We've all heard horror stories about vacations taken during this time of the year. Crowded airports and kilometric traffic are just a few. Rather than sweat it out vacationing with the rest of Metro Manila we just stay put in Metro Manila.

Manila IS just the place to be! There's near zero traffic while everything else is just wonderfully peaceful and quiet. We'd usually hie off for an overnight stay at the beach then be back the next day but that's just about the longest we'd be out.

For us, nothing beats the comforts of home! Our activities include but are not limited to DVD marathons, all-chips buffet (with DH as instigator and me as hapless onlooker) or just plain chilling.

This year is different though. Tomorrow, our family will fly off to the Land of Kimchi. Hmmm.... a welcome change, I must admit. Just hope it won't be a stressful trip. See you all soon! I promise to take pictures!

Have a meaningful Holy Week! Happy vacation to all!

More Baguio Pictures and Isdaan in Gerona, Tarlac

Just have a few more Baguio pictures to share. On our last day in Baguio, we had breakfast at Cafe by the Ruins. You really shouldn't miss the camote bread that they serve over there. I found it delicious, smudged with a bit of butter & strawberry jam. Of course, I had to take home a few rolls. The funny thing though, it tasted mighty better up there in cool Baguio than down here in hot Manila. Ha-hahaha...ambience certainly makes a whole lot of differece!! And to my idol BJ, here's the corn-on-a-cob with extra butter and a sprinkling of salt. Yummy!!!!

Alas, all good things come to an end and it was time to get back home. For lunch (a very late one at 2pm), we ate at Isdaan restaurant which served great food plus so much more. It is located in Gerona, Tarlac, almost halfpoint between Baguio & Manila. You won't miss the place since it's right along the highway and has an army of huge, kitschy stone statues all over the entrance.

We were quite surprised to see the place still full at 2 p.m. The eating area actually sits atop huge fish ponds and while waiting for the food to be served, the kids were given fish food and were allowed to feed the gorgeous carpa swimming around the ponds. At the end of a very pleasant meal, the kids smashed a few mugs at the Tacsiyapo wall. Yes, as in smash it to bits and pieces. Great way to let off steam??? Well, why don't you try it out?

Baguio in My Mind

Last weekend, our family enjoyed a 4 day vacation in Baguio. The last time I was in Baguio was about 16 or so years ago but it was my kids' first time up in the mountains. They were amazed that the weather up there could get that cold!

Baguio has changed a lot since the last time I've been there. There are more people & more traffic. It's still a very lovely place to visit though. We loved the food, the weather, the sites.... Already, my youngest DS wants to go back! Hmmmm... I hope it won't be after 16 years again though.

Scrapping Travel/Vacation Pics

Have you ever been frus-trated at how best to fit all your nice pic-tures taken during a vacation into just a single or maybe at the most, a double-page spread?

I've only dedicated a whole album to our Hongkong vacation in 2006. That seemed logical since we stayed for 4 days & 3 nights. Besides, we were in Disneyland!!! However, scrapping a whole album for an overnight stay somewhere is illogical to me. I'd end up with more number of pages than days spent in that place! Solution: multi-sized pictures using photoshop for a double-spread layout .

During the semestral break, our family hied off to Subic for some much needed R&R. We arrived there on a Saturday just after lunch. First impression: great weather, beautiful forests, fresh air, fantastic infrustructure, working traffic lights, but where was everyone? I remember it to be a bustling place about 10 years back when Mr. Gordon was still its head. Sadly, I thought it has transformed into a ghost town, with hardly any activity going around. Or maybe they were just all on their lunch breaks.

The highlight of our stay was a trip the next day to the famous Zoobic Adventures. The kids were really excited to see the animals, specially the tigers and crocodiles. Of course, I had to snap soooooo many pictures of everything. Of the gorgeous tigers who daintily picked on the raw chicken through our vehicle's caged windows. Of the regal goat named, Dony(?), who strutted around the petting zoo like he was (and he WAS!) the king of the place. Of the lithe and proud-looking Aetas who obliged us with an outstanding performance. And of course, of the magnificent crocodiles who greedily snapped up all the chicken morsels dangled to them in the air. Oh, and not to forget, pictures of my family enjoying a wonderful & unique experience.

I spent less than P65 to have these printed at 8x10 size. Of course, I chose only the best ones since it would certainly break the bank to include all the pictures. Besides, is there such a thing as a 3 or 4-page layout? I'll just cut up the pictures and lay them out across the page. Maybe tuck in hidden journalling somewhere. Hopefully, it fits.

Hmmm.... would it be tacky if I used animal prints as my patterned paper?