Back in the spring, we made a decision that our family would travel to the Philippines and spend Christmas with our family who live there. It's been over a year and a half since we've seen our brother, sis-in-law and their kids and over 8 years since we've traveled to the Philippines. Our kids have never been there before, so after a lot of prayer and planning we decided that now was the time.
Having traveled extensively before having kids, I felt that we knew what to expect in many ways. And we tried to be very realistic that this would not be an easy trip to make with 3 young children but I still find myself totally humbled by how difficult I've found it to be.
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| Checking in at LAX |
Everything went very smoothly with the travel logistics. We got to the airport with plenty of time and all flights ran on time. We even got the unexpected blessing of bulkhead seats, the ones at the front of the section, with no one sitting in front of us, meaning more leg room. Our family got to sit together and we were even given a very small baby bassinet that attached to the wall in front of us, where we could lay our youngest to sleep. It was a 14 & a half hour flight, from LAX to GuangZhou, China, where we arrived at 5am local time. The kids didn't sleep as much as I would've liked during the flight, but they did sleep probably half of the time. They were a little cranky in GZ, and I was very tired. My husband gets airsick, and he needed to sleep a lot during the flight, so I felt that I needed to be "on" to tend to the kids even while they were sleeping. Their sleep was interrupted a lot, and they weren't able to get comfortable, etc.
Our layover was cold, dark and boring! Arriving anywhere at 5am is not fun. Even though our bodies thought it was daytime, there was nothing open in the air terminal and it was colder in GZ than I ever remember it being! We left our winter clothes back in CA, not planning to need anything warmer than a light sweatshirt once we left the states for the tropics. After an hour or more of watching the kids run up and down the moving walkway we hit a small restaurant that had finally opened to have some dim sum. The warm food did help lift our spirits.
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| 5am in Guangzhou, China |
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| To keep warm & busy the kids ran around on the moving walkway |
It was particularly hard for me to be stuck inside this airport, since GZ is the Chinese city where I used to live and work, and still have several acquaintances. I so wished I had more time to actually go out into the city and look around. It's been over 5 years since I've been there. My old school isn't far from the airport either! But we could only look out the windows and wait...
We got onto our second flight, which was only 2 and a half hours, but DD#1 threw an incredibly big fit over not getting to sit at the window seat. I felt like the woman in front of us was throwing us nasty looks as we were trying to deal with her. Some gracious passengers switched seats with us, so we could accommodate the upset child (the first of many parenting compromises that we were to make during this trip). The baby had a hard time falling to sleep on this flight, but we put her in the Ergo carrier, and she did fall asleep for most of the flight, and I was able to catch some zzzz's too.
Since we've been at our brother's home, we've been taken care of very well. However, we have been on the go. We arrived on Dec. 23, and had a family gathering to attend the very first night.
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| Cousin's Christmas Party |
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| This picture cracks me up. N cannot even keep her head up! |
First night of sleep in the Philippines went well, with everyone up by 5:30am. Yikes. Unfortunately that pattern would take several days to end. I think the hardest thing for me on this trip is learning to accept total lack of control. I think I know what is best for my kids in terms of having a regular schedule, or consistent nap & bedtimes. I've watched several meltdowns happen that I think wouldn't occur if they were well-rested. But I can't control how everyone here seems to enjoy a later schedule, with kids going to bed between 10pm and midnight and sleeping in until 9am. A simple outing may take hours, depending on how long we sit in traffic. It's very hard for me I've been so envious of my niece & nephew who just fall asleep on the go, either in the car, or just being held by their parents in a restaurant. Our kids just don't seem to be able to do that, and I worry that I've ruined them by my over-scheduling. One thing's for sure, there is no one "right" way to parent. I'm trying to embrace "vacation mode" and letting my kids stay up and to not worry that there'll be horrible consequences.
Christmas Eve morning brought our first mall adventure. We hit the Trinoma mall which was not too far from where we're staying. The malls here are enormous and there are many of them. It is interesting to me that a "developing" country has so many opportunities to spend money. How can all of these stores with so much merchandise possibly stay in business? It doesn't seem possible to me. Yet, the shopping opportunities abound. It seems like the main thing to do here in Manila is shop. The prices in these mega-malls are not that much different from those in the States, so it doesn't even seem to me that it's worth it to buy much here. Yet it is fun to look and to see all of the different products. There are a lot more Asian brands, with really cute names. (Banapple, Gingersnaps, UniQlo, Periwinkle) And there are restaurants everywhere too. Just tons of little stands that sell all sorts of snacks and goodies. I don't know why I don't see more overweight Filipinos, I'd have a hard time resisting the constant access & variety of snacks!
Anyway, back to our outing...the kids were on total sensory overload as we took them through the department store and their aunts and uncles told them to pick out Christmas presents for themselves. DD1 went for the Hello Kitty section & our son followed his cousins into Lego Chima land. We had a very nice lunch at a ramen restaurant and walked around some more before heading home for a rest.
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There were so many rides and entertainment at the mall for the kids.
N insisted on riding this train in Tri-Noma |
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| Our first of many yummy meals in Manila |
When we got home, some relatives were waiting to visit with us. We hadn't seen them since we were here in 2005, so it was fun to visit, even though we were very tired!
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| Visit with Uncle Ben, Aunt Lourdes, Terence, Charmaine & Benedict |
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| All the brothers & their wives |
After that, we took naps and then got ready for the Christmas Eve service at Grace Christian Church. The candlelight service started at 9pm, so it was really a stretch to have our kids stay up so late. In fact, DD fell asleep in the stroller on the way into church, our son fell asleep on the pew before the service started, and the baby made it the longest (having taken a later nap) but she too fell asleep in Di-Pe's lap after the candles were lit.
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| Most of us are still awake here before the candlelight service started |
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| This little boy was sawing logs through the whole service! |
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| First kid was out before the service even began! |
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| Di-Pe was so comforting, Sho-Be fell asleep in his arms... |
The service lasted until 11pm, and the kids were super cranky when they woke up after the service. We got them all home & into bed ASAP, then came downstairs to eat our NocheBuena dinner at midnight. Pancit Palabok, Sapin-sapin (little sticky rice cakes). Hubby and I even stayed awake until midnight!
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We joked that only in the Philippines would we be dressed in tank tops
and shorts at midnight on Christmas Eve! |
Christmas morning came very early after a late night, and our kids waking up (again) before 6am. Our son was very excited for it to be Christmas & hurried downstairs where the Christmas tree is to see what gifts Santa left for him. I admit, my husband & I could've thought this one through a little more & prepped him for a very different Christmas than what he's used to at our home. So when he came back upstairs to his completely exhausted parents, extremely disappointed, saying "Santa didn't come for any of us," we probably didn't handle it the best way, telling him to just be patient and wait for everyone else to wake up. I think he's just used to the "American" way of waking up and finding all these beautifully wrapped gifts waiting under the tree as soon as we wake up. Something about the wonder, surprise and tradition of it all was ruined for him. After everyone woke up and ate breakfast, we did have some family time to exchange gifts.
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| Hello Kitty walkie-talkies for the girls |
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| Lego Chima Speedorz for the boys |
After our family gift exchange, we were able to focus on the next part of the day which was...packing the car to drive to Subic Bay for the next two days! Stay tuned for the next entry...
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