The Second Time Around

We arrived  4:30 a.m  Friday. Prior to it, I have to say that our trip was much more fun and  manageable this time than last year. Olivia, an energetic and curious two-year old girl did great in the plane. We took  her car seat and it helped Olivia to sit still during the entire flight. She slept ten hours out of thirteen and a half hour flight from Vancouver, CA to Manila, Philippines. We were so relieved that there weren't any mishaps during the trip. Even more relieved when we were greeted by the family at the airport. January weather is like having Summer weather in the daytime and Fall in the evening. My mom served us chicken arroz caldo (chicken congee) and tokwa't baboy (tofu & pork salad) for breakfast, fried tilapia, rellenong bangus (stuffed milkfish), fried eggplant and buro (fermented rice) for lunch and duck stew for dinner.

On Saturday, we went to a first birthday party down the street. It was nice to see familiar faces again. The food was really good. Food includes sisig, baked mac, baked spaghetti, red hotdog for kids and more. Afterwards, we went straight back to the house where the entire family gathered and just visited. We stayed up until midnight.

On our third day, we were scheduled to go to a fiesta. We were  invited by a family friend and were well taken care of by his family. We ate good food and Grant experienced the "inuman", outdoor drinking  with the men. He didn't want to leave except the kids had to take their naps (on our laps) lol. So far we are enjoying visiting and goofing around with family. And, it's nice to see Yuan, Olivia and Tanya get along and  enjoy one another's company.

at the airport

Salo-salo together

Uncle Grant with the kids and Lolo Benny

Thanks Marco for the warm hospitality and delicious food

Inuman sa labas



With her love of puzzles, Olivia woke up from her nap and went straight to put this puzzle together. It's the most complex she's accomplished so far. Keep it up!