2008 October - First day of our trip in Philippines

It had been two long years since we last went back to Pinas for a vacation. We really miss our family, friends, food, culture and the more laid back pace of life there. We’ve been planning to have a vacation earlier but couldn’t due to our hectic schedule here in Singapore. We were like “forced” to have this short vacation because Alvin needed to attend his close friend’s wedding.

So on October 11, we packed our bags and flew via Tiger Airways. Fortunately, Albert didn’t throw tantrums while we were on board. But he was a bit agitated when we were about to land. Tiger didn’t provide the immigration forms on board so we had to fill up in the terminal. This was very inconvenient and Alvin had a hard time chasing Albert in the terminal.

After getting out of the airport, we headed straight to Jun-jun’s Friendship for our yummy lunch. One surprising thing that I noticed was that almost the entire street (where Jun-jun’s was located) was swamped with Korean billboards. Probably a sign of a different kind of “Korean invasion” in Pinas.

After our scrumptious lunch, we went to the Mount Carmel Monastery in Angeles City to thank the Almighty for the safe trip that we had and to bless our one-week stay in Pinas.

We then headed to my mom’s place in Floridablanca and took all the food for Albert’s celebration at the DSWD Orphanage in Lubao, Pampanga. It was already dusk when we reached DSWD. We handed our donations (Nespray milk 1&2, diapers, Milo, sugar and clothes), and started to prepare for the celebration. Then orphanage has quite a number of children, toddlers and infants. We believe that our donations were not really that much but at it really felt good to give to those who need it most. It was truly heartwarming to see the kids enjoying the food and the toys that we brought!

Click this link to view our pictures of the first day or our trip.

http://karensumang.multiply.com/photos/album/97/2008-_Alberts_3rd_Birthday_Celebration_DSWD_centre_in_Lubao_Pampanga

So that was it for our first day in Pinas. I’ll be posting our escapades for the following days shortly!