Chronicles of the Travelling Tot - Part 2: Bataan

This is the story of how we spent Christmas last year.

After the traditional Christmas Eve party with the Abarabars, we woke up early on Christmas day and headed to Bataan where stayed for one lovely night at the Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.

L U N C H

Stopped by Gerry's on our way to Bataan.

The restaurant is full when we arrived. So here we are waiting for seats.

Here's my brother-in-law, Chez and my niece, Maxine.

The boys of the family! Wait, where's my nephew, Miggy?

Finally, seats! 

And the pagdudutdut ng face continues! That's my other brother-in-law's hand.

There you are! This is my nephew, Miggy.

Do I really have to eat, Mommy? Can't I just drink milk? - Lex
My son, really, is not very much receptive to solid food. But once he likes something, oh joy! It's a treat to see him eat!

A N D  W E  H A V E  A R R I V E D !

This is where we stayed. Casa San Miguel, a casa (or in english, house) originally from Bulacan
that was owned by the Buencamino family in the 1900s.

This was our room. It has two large beds, a toilet and bath, and a hot tub!

Its decorations are vintage Spanish-Filipino of course!

I grew up seeing chairs like these at my hometown!

The door on the right is an access to the back of the house.
The watermelons are ours by the way. Not a part of the room. Hehe.

This is freaky. Haha! I mean, it's gorgeous! But, don't they have closets like this in horror films?
Thankfully, there was no boggart inside it. 

The bathroom even features a vintage lababo. Or, as vintage as it can get. ;)

Here's the hot tub! It was great to soak my tired body in this that night.
Honestly though, I got a little scared because of the capiz window. What is it about vintage houses that freak me out???

At dusk, we went out and watched the cultural show. But not until I finished getting some snapshots of the place.
It's so pretty at night!!! The lights... it's amazing. This is the view outside our casa.

E N J O Y  T H E  P I C T U R E S  ! ! !

O U R  E V E N I N G  R O U T I N E !

Bimpo time at night is always a happy time! This is when we tickle tickle, cuddle cuddle, kiss kiss, hug hug.

And sometimes, we even do this!

Halika at ila-Lion King kita!!!

D I N N E R

We had Italian food for Christmas!
Welcome to La Bella Teodora

Merry Christmas, you guys!

At this point, the star of the party is already so sleepy. He actually dozed off a few minutes after this picture was taken.

T H E  N E X T  D A Y  . . .

Let's go, Dad! C'mon! - Lex

Nana and Lex

With the Grandies :)

With Tito Chez...

... and Tita Sheila...

... and Tito Allan!

M T .  S A M A T

The cross was built in memory of Filipino and American soldiers who fought and died in the Battle of Bataan during WWII.

Mon and Lex at the foot of the cross

Here we are, enjoying the view and exchanging history lessons.

Thank you for the experience, Bataan! Until next time! - #SantosSuperTeam

Chronicles of the Travelling Tot - Part 1: Tagaytay

The Big Bang Couple just turned two! Yey!

I mentioned somewhere in my first anniversary post that our travel plans were put on hold because I was pregnant with Lex. And then on a much recent post, I said that we want to start travelling again since Lex is almost a year old. I got a lot of recommendations in that latter post to travel to a nearby place first and try and see how it will turn out and if we could possibly travel to a far off place next time. We decided to test the waters on our second year anniversary, to a place so very dear to our hearts, Tagaytay.

Trivia: Mon and I were married in Tagaytay in December of 2012 and held our wedding party in one of the most iconic and historic places there: Taal Vista Hotel.

We got a Premier Room at the Lake Wing for our overnight stay and it looks like this.

I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures because my 11-month old decided to claim the whole place as his before I could even bring out my camera.

It was a day of rest and relaxation. Well, as much rest and relaxation as we can squeeze in in between caring for a baby of course, which is not a lot, I tell you. Haha.

He doesn't want to sleep! He kept on rolling around, crawling around, banging his head around (he actually banged his head twice in this trip, not including the time he banged his head on my shoulder, at which time I think I was more hurt than he is.) Sobrang likot!

By the time we got outside to enjoy the cool Tagaytay air, he decided to do his bit of resting. Hay, babies! So this is when Mon and I got to talk and bond a little. Until we got cold and went inside for coffee... and in no time, the little one was roused from his slumber.

Lex, at 11 months, likes to walk and walk and walk! From the moment he wakes up to the time we were eating breakfast, he always signals to us that he wants to walk.

Some daddy and baby playtime while the mommy is preparing and packing things.

With everything taken into account, I think our family's first travel experience is a success. Looking forward to hundreds more of this.