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.

Cebu, Sunday is race day!

In the wee hours of the night/morning (whatever time it was, I was not sure. I was half-asleep) - I heard and was somewhat aware that the husband was awake and moving about, getting ready to leave for his race. He bade me goodbye and I continued to slumber...


The boy and I were getting into the groove of sleeping in on this holiday, and we awoke past 8am. How amazing is that! I was determined to try to work out to burn off much of the indulgence I had been consuming (burps) and brought the boy along with me to the gym.

Lift wefie series: heading to the gym

After the work out, we headed to breakfast. And without hesitation or delay, the boy zoomed straight to his 'second home'.

I picked a seat in the restaurant where I could watch him, whilst having breakfast.

After breakfast (everyone loves buffet breakfast in hotels hooray!), we proceeded to change and get ready to go meet the husband. He gave me a time of 12.30pm, and because I was not sure how heavy the human traffic would be (with no delay, it takes us less than 10 minutes to stroll from Movenpick to Shangri-La) so I opted to leave earlier with the boy. At 11.45am, we were on our way.

Marching onwards...

A busy street sight greeted us the moment we hit the main road. We walked a couple of steps and I decided to enquire about the race route. Turns out, I struck gold! The stretch that led us from our hotel to finish line, was the exact road that all participants will run past. I decided that we should find a spot along this road and wait to spot the husband; and so we did.

Still looking fresh. There was a drink station opposite our hotel.

As time went by, however, the boy started getting impatient. I found ways to amuse him - by teaching him how to stretch his arm out to hi5 and encourage runners as they went by. It took him a bit of tries - initially, he was slightly shy, then he got over-enthusiastic as he ran into their path - but he got it after a while. It was great seeing his face light up when someone acknowledged his presence.

Hi5 boy

That magical moment when we spotted the husband and his friends!

WE SPOTTED THE HUSBAND! Oh the thrill of spotting a familiar face amidst the crowds, it feels absolutely amazing! For us to travel all those miles in the foreign land, to be able to witness him run and complete his inaugural race - that was super and it felt great.

When the husband was still in happy spirits, i.e. not in pain

Thrilled! On a high after spotting the husband

After spotting the husband, J and I were pretty thrilled and looked forward to him completing the loop towards the finish line. However, that did not happen for a while. A... long... while.

Spot the impatient little man

Managed to pacify him a little, by offering him some food

While asking that he continues to cheer the runners on

When I could not hold him to the roadside any longer, we adjourned to the barricades closer to the finish line. I figured a change in environment will be good to distract him. I was doing mental calculations to try my best to figure out when the husband may hit the finish line, and there were moments where I doubted if it was possible that I had -GASP- missed him; but thanks to my perseverance and amazing distraction skills of keeping a 4-yo occupied, we managed to catch the husband again, before he crossed the finish line.

Waiting

Probably about the last 10m of the entire 70.3miles

After seeing the husband complete his race, I was relieved. The boy and I then moved to the designated waiting spot - where we had to wait for the husband to meet us post-race. We chanced upon a media session where the winners across the region were being interviewed.

The heavyweights of Ironman 70.3

I did not recognise or know anyone, but I know that they looked amazing. So relaxed and happy to have completed their race in amazing time. There was only that much toilet time, listening to these people speak, or questions I could field from my boy. As he had been pretty much a champ the whole time, even braving the tiny drizzle that -thankfully-passed, I rewarded him with ice-cream.

Waiting is more fun with ice-cream

Finally, the husband came and I was so happy to see him! I swear he turned 3 shades darker, and while he was limping slightly, he was in pretty good spirits.

Our family pic taken post-race, which garnered 350 likes on FB!
What a hero :)

Playing Dad

Making our way back to the hotel

I'm supporting 1228!

We were all pretty happy to be in an air-con room by this time, and were happy to rest in a comfortable space. The husband - besides being extremely tanned - was in decent spirits and while hungry, managed to place an order for room service more enthusiastically than actually eating the food.

Resting

After filling our tummies, I brought the boy out of the room to give the boy time to play, and the man some time to rest.

Life wefie series: pool time!

He lounged in the waters, scripting stories of fires and rescue with his toys;
I sat by the side with my beer. Bliss.

After the sun went down, we headed up to the room to change and get ready for dinner. Dinner was of low energy, because the crew was all knackered from their day of exertion. The only one bubbling with energy was, yup, this little boy.



Faking a ride on this toy



The day had been fantastic and in so many ways special. I am so proud of the husband - not just for his achievement of accomplishing the race (I never doubted he would cross the finish line), but for the fact that he worked towards it. I remember sometime last year, he said he wanted to do it, then one day, he told me that he had signed up. I saw him put in time to run and swim and improve his technique, borrow bikes and put in time to ride it across our island of Singapore... and it became more real as we started to book our flights and hotel... then finally made it there.

It has been a journey of perseverance, and I see the husband enjoying himself along the way. That is in itself a joy and I say it again, that I am so proud of his accomplishment.

We love you, baby, our very own iron man!