Back from the Philippines

Well, after a long time of prepping for our Philippines trip, we finally made it there and brought home tons of memories. Going home was certainly a wonderful experience; it was especially nice to see Ray's familial roots. We were able to visit both Ray's grandmothers, Lola Tilde in Cebu and Lola Lalia in Dipolog. Not only that, but K, T, & I were finally able to see all the things that Ray fondly talked about. K & T are certainly lucky to have had an opportunity to travel back to the Philippines and see where a part of their history. Hopefully, we can take them back to other places back home and show them the rest of it.

Here are our some of our fondest memories in Cebu and Dipolog:

Yaya Emy: We had the opportunity of having Yaya Emy, my old yaya when from birth to 5 years old, take care of K & T. K & T weren't used to having a yaya initially. But by the end of the trip, they were calling her Yaya and were actually letting her take care of them. Oh how I miss her...





Crossing the Raymund Bridge: In one of Ray's family's ancestral homes, a bridge was named after him. This was one of the places Ray wanted to take us to in Cebu.




Karch and Tessa bathing...the Filipino way: K & T experienced how we used to take a bath...with a tabo and pail! They enjoyed going in the pail. It was kind of like their mini tub.




Staying at Tito Ick and Tita Bouger's beach house: Although we only stayed there for one night, it was truly an experience. Everything about the beach house and the environment that surrounds it just emulated serenity.



Reunions: It was too bad we couldn't take tons of pictures of the family altogether. But our trip was certainly filled with reunions. Here we are with Ray's cousin, Julia who K & T just adore (and of course I adore her too!).



Celebrating Lola Tilde's 90th birthday: One of the main reasons why we traveled to Cebu was to celebrate Lola Tilde's 90th birthday with her. It was our Karch actually has the same birthday as Lola Tilde. That's why Karch's full name is Karch Michael (after my Tito Mike) Tilden (after Lola Tilde). Here she is as she arrived at her party. The guests greeted her with the Happy Birthday song. Happy birthday to Lola Tilde! We love you!



The beaches: Even if we stayed at a beach house (Thanks to the Ouanos for accomodating us at their Maribago beach house!) for half of our trip, we only visited the beach 3 times. Our now 3-year old Karch loved the water! Our birthday boy is a true Pisces.



Plantation Bay: Thanks to our Tita Ursula, we had the opportunity to stay at Plantation Bay. We stayed there for the first 2 days of our trip. It was awesome to have a "mini-vacation"
within our vacation!


Visiting Lola Lalia: Our time was so short with Lola Lalia. This was the first time Karch, Tessa, and I have met her. She is one of the sweetest women I have ever met. We can't wait to see her again and to spend a longer time in Dipolog with her.


Hearing stories from the Baliangao Lolas: When we were in Dipolog, we traveled to Baliangao to not only stay at Tito Ick and Tita Bouger's beach house, but to also visit the Baliangao Lolas. They had so many interesting stories to tell us. It was wonderful to hear the Bueno clan's history.


We have so many memories of our trip. The long flight and the jet lag, though painful, were forgotten once we landed and once we arrived and began to scroll through our pictures. We can't wait for our next trip!