Lantern-making with Godpa

It has become a tradition where the Godpa owns an annual event with the children. It started two years ago, when I handed him the task of working on a lantern-making craft project with K. Last year, I requested that he helps - not one, both two kids - because both of them were in the same school, and so he did. (Sadly, I could not find any pics that documented the lantern of 2015).


This year, the end result is definitely the best - you know what they say, practise makes perfect!

Minions!

Lit-up minions

It's nice to have something for the children to have, even if it's this one project every year. They get to spend time together, and this year, I ended up taking a nap while they were working at this craft - ahhh, how nice!

Throwback - 4 years ago

I absolutely adore the (relatively) new feature that FB launched. It prompts you of memories on the same date x-years ago, and I make it a point to flick through memories daily.


It reminds me of what I did (I usually have a clear flashback - proof of memory still not failing entirely), of how the kids looked before (this is totally endearing yet scary - they always look adorable but how quickly they have grown!), and it's always nice to have a chuckle. 

This popped up on my feed today

Look at my little baby princess... she's so much more grown up now. She has lost her baby fat (no more YY), and her arms and face are so much more adult-like now than 4 years ago. Her hair is a constant though - messy!


Feeling all warm and fuzzy as I think back of all her baby-like antics, and also looking forward to celebrating her 7th birthday very soon.

Cebu, 11 Aug, coming home

Our flight home was at 4pm, which means that we had the whole morning, until lunch to finish off the holiday. The morning was a repeat of our last few days, where we had breakfast - headed to the pool - then washed up. Our request for late check out was approved, which made things easy for us to have a spot to shower and all.

Checked out, and waiting for our ride

We arrived at the airport - no drama there - but we did spend some time trying to check in. Turns out, due to our separate flights into Cebu, there was some mix-up and the counter staff took a while to locate the seats for J and I. After some long moments, we got our tickets - phew.  What was amusing was, during this time that we were waiting, J was self-entertaining by pretending that he was in the Ironman race! He was playing pretend by swimming, cycling and running - just like his Dad. I cannot express how thrilled I am at this positive influence!


Our flight was slightly delayed, but besides being called out on the public announcement 'calling for passengers Seah C..C... and Foo C...Y...' - oops (the husband was eating and I had to do a pee stop for J), we made it.


The seats were apart, and J asked to sit with me while the husband got some alone time. The flight back wasn't too bad... and I even managed to eat my meal in peace while J slept. He had his meal after me, upon waking up so the timing worked out pretty well.

Game time

The highlight of the flight was probably when we got invited to go to the cockpit! How thrilling! It started with J wanting to say goodbye to the pilots, and we were fortunate to have 2 very friendly pilots who invited him inside to take a look. They were warm and super nice, even encouraging J to sit on the pilot's seat!

In awe - so many buttons!

Rare visit

We finished off our visit in the airport by playing with this gadget that I had noticed previously. We spent some moments snapping our pics, seeing it pixelated - pretty cool!

Captain J

Us

We purchased duty free items, picked up our luggage, caught 2 cabs (big luggages much!) and made our way home.


It was nice to be home, and still being on holiday mode, we headed out for a late dinner. It was very nice to have an 'extended break' to not need to think about heading back to work/reality the very next day. Love it!


And so, this marked the end of our holiday to Cebu. All the days captured here: Day one, two, three, four, five , six and seven.

Cebu, 10 Aug (Wed) - the last full day of our holiday

We awoke this morning lazily, and headed for breakfast. We stuffed ourselves silly then went to change into our pool/beach-wear for the day (that is a fancy label because, honestly it has been the same uniform the whole week haha!). The boy couldn't decide where he wanted to be - pool, or beach? - ah, the beauty of such first world dilemma.

My favourite boys in the world

After baking - sun for the boys, shade for me - it was soon lunch and I reluctantly sat upright from my horizontal position (I made progress on my book!) and we ate at the restaurant by the pool. The husband has stepped up in his fatherly duties to play with the boy and I was so thankful I could finally relax.

He knows the routine already!

Lunch

Spot the boy



Everyone needs one of these - their personal swimming float that moves

I was feeling uncomfortable and turned out, I was running a fever. Probably from too much sun and insufficient hydration; so after hanging a bit more with the boys, I headed to the room to snooze. I popped some meds and managed to snooze for a couple of hours.

By the time I headed out of the room, the sun was setting and J had taken a nap on the deck chair too. While I tried to awaken from my drunken-snooze state, the husband continued to play with the boy. That night, we had dinner at a different restaurant but still within the hotel compounds. That sounds ambitious, but truth it, the restaurants were merely 10metres apart - haha!


Thankfully, I didn't feel any worse, just tired and managed to not drop ill but I did try to sleep early that night, along with the boys who were pretty concussed too after their full day of play, especially in the sun.

Another family wedding, another page boy stint

It was the wedding of the husband's cousin, and I felt so proud that they wanted J to be their little page boy. Just look at this dashing little man.

A new (temporary) friend

Also a good opportunity to see the kids all dressed up and looking amazingly beautiful.

My beautiful children

The food was the usual, the atmosphere was quite normal, the family members were in good spirits, as everyone rejoiced in this happy union of two young chaps full of life ahead of them.

A quiet moment when they were not fidgeting/ running around

And that wrapped up our weekend on the Sunday evening. We ended dinner only at 11pm, but thankfully, because it's the school holidays, there was no stress to need to rush off and pack the children off to bed.

Cebu, 9 August, National Day - whole lotta fun at Jpark

We all awoke lazily on this Tuesday, and made our way to breakfast.

Corridor leading to our room

After breakfast, J wasted no time in heading to play.

Leading the way

We hung at the beach/pool area for the morning, then started to wrap things up by 11am. We had arranged to meet some friends who were in Cebu too for the race and stayed on to hang out more, so off we went.


It was the best decision ever! Their resort was superbly donned with facilities and rides, it felt more like a resort with in-built waterpark more than just a hotel.

Down the pirate slide

Sloshed by the giant water bucket

I did not snap pics, but there were so many different areas of swimming pools, slides, play areas - it was a kids' haven. After several hours of play, we settled for some lunch on the beach. It was very pleasant and it was nice to make new friends, both big and little ones.

The superhero-boys were geared up for more play after lunch

Cycling

Whee

Miniature golf

We headed for dinner within the hotel compounds as the skies darkened, and by this time the kids had been playing for hours, but not seeming to let up at all! Such boundless energy.

Dinner

It was a very nice dinner, as we tried some local dishes and got to know our new friends better over an array of topics. After several days of not talking much to anyone but a 4-yo, the adult conversation felt highly stimulating!

Our goodbye group shot

I know J had a lot of fun with kids as friends for real company, as opposed to only having Mommy and his 2 toys to play with. I was very impressed with the hotel and will definitely recommend it to anyone with children looking to have a fun time.


That night, we were all knackered and went to bed with our tummies full and our skins another 2 shades darker. It was a very nice day - Happy Birthday, Singapore.

Cebu, 8 Aug (Mon) - the day our family holiday began

Today is the official day that our family holiday truly begun. Why? Because it is today that the husband can dedicate his time wholly to us and not worry about the race or anymore preparations - hooray!


Our morning started out leisurely. We had started packing as we were scheduled to check out of Movenpick today, and the husband suggested going out to eat, and so we did. While we were packing, J was watching TV and there was a scene in the cartoon that we started discussing/debating on. The husband insisted on one matter, while the boy was adamant of another. The husband said, 'I am right. Whoever loses will do 20 push-ups' - to which the boy gamely accepted.


I laughed and I knew that the boy was going to win, because I was more aware of what was flashing on TV (and the children's matters, in general) than him - the woes of a highly-sensitised-multi-tasking-mother. When the matter was resolved, the boy exploded with conviction, 'See? I TOLD YOU!'


Now, that was quite funny on its own, but what was funnier was that after minutes had passed as we continued to pack... the boy reminded his father, 'hey! You lost! Do your push-ups!'
The husband had little choice but drop it and asked J to do so together (because, boy team, u'noe) and I had to capture this hilarious site of my boys sharing this moment.

Manning up to a challenge

Lift wefie series: checking out

While the husband settled the administration, the boy spent his last moments - surprise, surprise - in his favourite area of the entire hotel.

 

Spot the gamer

A panoramic shot of the pool view.

We left our luggage with the concierge for safekeeping, and got ourselves a cab to head to a big mall in Cebu City. It was a very big mall that pretty much looked/felt the same as any other big mall in any country. That's the thing with conglomerates taking over the retail world - we see similar brands and a homogenous look/feel to the brand and retail stores. I picked up a coffee before I murdered anyone, and the boy found his sweet spot.

Kiddy ride

Zoom zoom.

It was such a simple set-up and all he did was go around in circles for 10minutes, but hey, if that made him happy that it makes us happy too. Our choice of brunch was a native restaurant that served their local pork.

Oink

Generally, the food is pretty tasty and a mix of sweet and sour. It's also pretty oily. After brunch, we walked about and picked up more groceries (water, some snacks, beer), and strolled about the mall and did more shopping. We bought clothes for the children, the husband and picked up a snack at McDonalds (fries and sundae - the universal good/bad food) and tapau-ed a serve of Jollibee. The drive back to the beach area (where our hotel was at) took ages, as the traffic in Cebu is generally quite bad. We were also uncertain of what to expect of our next accommodation because Movenpick was expensive and we paid for the luxury, also for the convenience due to the race. The decision to move hotels was 1) to downgrade so we can save some money and 2) check out somewhere else or it'd get too expensive/boring to be in one spot the whole week. The drive to this new hotel was a slightly off the road and for some moments, I was slightly worried as we seemed to be driving to the end of the world and the streets looked really ratty and as we drove off the main roads to smaller roads that led us to even dingier looking houses that lined the streets....

Thankfully, the place was not as bad once we got used to it. It had a beach resort feel and was pretty crowded, so I guess it was pretty fine, afterall. We spent some time settling logistics (the husband had to go back to Movenpick to pick up our luggage and his bike bag which was on its own a 3rd big piece of luggage) and when we were all sorted into our room, we had some time to be at the beach. It was pretty nice.

Capturing the evening view

There was a small, private beach area and I strolled along the breakwaters, enjoying the strong winds. J had picked up a toy from the mall earlier and was practising baseball with the husband and we hung at the beach until it got dark.

Playing baseball

We headed for dinner at the restaurant after, and ended the night with lounging in our room, watching TV, consuming our self-purchased beer/chips and winding down and getting comfy in our new room.

So much love for this little buddy

It was nice, and by this time, the boy had gotten so tanned, plus gotten so used to playing all day by the pool/beach. It was a lovely time unwinding and I couldn't be happier having the husband unwind with us too.