Brother and Sister

Last Good Friday, we’re still in Lingayen, Pangasinan so I got the chance to take photos of my two other pamangkins Gelo and Kaixin.  Gelo is almost 5 years old and Kaixin is 1 year and 7 months.  We had the shoot at Lingayen Capitol Veterans Park at around 5pm.  The natural light is still good so I took advantage of it.

Kaixin was just effortlessly cute.  She likes looking at the camera and giving me timid smiles (and guess what? She’s not even feeling so well that day, what more if she’s not sick?).

Gelo and Kaixin

Gelo on the other hand was a bit of a challenge.  He was too shy. He literally ran away from me several times.  But I was really persistent to capture his handsome smile, with that really nice dimple on his right cheek.  I literally ran after him.  When I was reviewing the shots,  I’m happy that I got what I was looking for.  However, when Brio took the camera from me and tried to take photos of Gelo, unbelievably, he started smiling and posing.  Geeez!  He likes Brio better that’s for sure. 🙂

Thanks to Rachelle, my cousin and her husband Jason for letting me take photos of their wonderful kids.  They even gave us a tour inside the Capitol Building where we had the chance to enjoy the cool wind at the roof top and see how it looks like in the Governor’s office.  It was a very humid  afternoon but it was fun and all worth it. 🙂

Traveling with Lucas

Last Holy Week, it was our first time to travel with Lucas via plane.  So we really have to be conscious with the things that we need to bring because there’s a weight limit of the baggage that we’re allowed to check in.

Just an overview:  When I was availing our plane ticket, my husband and I decided that on our way to Davao, one of us will just avail the 15kg baggage allowance then on our way back one of us will be allowed to check in 15kg and the other 20kg (thinking that was enough in case we buy pasalubongs).  Well, that decision wasn’t a good one, unfortunately.  After we packed all our stuff in one huge luggage, we’re 3kg over the limit :s .  So we’re left with no choice but of course to just pay for the extra kilos.

Now, I’ll enumerate the essentials we packed for Lucas for 5 days:

Hand-carry bag:

1.  Feeding Bottles – 5pcs. 8oz. and 3pcs. 4oz (since I’m not breastfeeding anymore) filled with water.

2.  Formula milk dispenser – enough for the packed water-filled feeding bottles.

3.  about 5 Diapers

4.  Baby Wipes

5.  2 extra Bibs

6.  2 extra shirts

7. 1 extra shorts

8. jacket

9. small blanket and pillow

10.  entertainment:  2 small books and tablet with the videos he loves to watch

11. extra shirt for nanay 🙂 – we never know what might happen along the way

Check-in bag:

1.  A lot (I can’t remember how many I brought) of white undershirts (sando) – because we’re told that it’s really hot and humid in Davao.

2.  Shorts and pants

3.  About 5 Light-colored T-shirts

4.  2 pairs of socks (just in case he’ll need to wear them)

5.  towel and bath robe

6.  swim suit

7. toiletries (shampoo, soap, lotion, sun-block, diaper rash cream)

8.  medicine kit (oral rehydration sachet, paracetamol drops, vitamins, thermometer, antihistamine, cold and cough drops, bandage, antibacterial ointment) plus his baby medical record book

9. mild laundry soap and dishwashing soap

10. small can of his formula milk

I think that’s it!  You might be wondering why we didn’t bring any sterilizer and my baby is still bottle-fed.  It’s because my bro-in-law told us that there’s no need because they have a sterilizer at home.  We’re lucky because of that right? 🙂 They also bought our Lucas a medium-sized can of his milk, 6 liters of his water and a big pack of his diaper.  🙂 Thank goodness that Davao got everything as well just like Metro Manila 🙂

Those are the things we brought with us when we traveled with Lucas.  It was overwhelming to pack but then we survived it.  Also, we learned that it’s better to have more baggage allowance than nothing 😛

oh of course we didn't forget to pack Lucas 🙂 haha! He actually didn't want to get out of the luggage

Davao International Airport

We waited for about an hour at Davao International Airport before our flight back to Manila.  What I love about Davao is they have a nice airport.  Where it’s comfortable to wait if ever flights are delayed (except during that day, Good Friday, most establishments such as cafes are closed).  Good thing, they have this Breastfeeding Station and Toddlers’ Corner where Lucas was able to play while waiting for boarding time 🙂

NAIA Terminal 3 Experience (Holy Week 2012)

Finally, our first ever family vacay..just me, my hubby and our 1.2 yr-old son Lucas.

It has been years since I traveled through plane so I’m not sure if our airports have yet made their improvement after all the negative comments.

Last April 2, 2012 at 1:15pm, was our flight going to Davao via Cebu Pacific. Since it’s the start of the Holy Week, we decided to go to the airport early because we didn’t want to join the rush of other passengers and in case we encounter unexpected hassles while checking in our baggage.

We left the San Juan house at 9am and arrived at the airport at about 10am (it was expected that we had an hour travel time from the house to the airport due to EDSA traffic). When we got to the airport, the lines at the entrance are starting to pile up. There were press cameras already covering the “Holy Week Rush” situation. We thought it was still early but we decided to ask if we could check our baggage in early. The lady told my husband that we can line up and check our baggage in. When we’re about to get in line, the guard stopped us and told us that we should line up on the other side. We got pissed because the people who are suppose to be helping are not helping at all. So we went back to the lady who instructed us and told her that she should check her list properly to avoid confusion. Unknowingly, this scene was captured by the ABS-CBN cameras (haha! We found out when our friends saw us in TV Patrol that night).

Finally we got to check our baggage in and went to our gate. The flight was just slightly delayed, 30 minutes I think. As for Lucas, he was ok almost the whole aiting time. A bit restless because it was his nap time. He slept a few minutes before boarding. He was asleep when the aircraft took off and woke up 30 minutes after. What’s difficult for me was the way I carried him for about an hour (he’s a 10-kilo baby). 🙂

That was our NAIA 3 experience. It was not so good but not worse as we expected it to be.