Blame it on the novels that I've been enjoying recently. I am now dreaming of far away places and exciting adventures. It's already a given that when one wants to enjoy history, culture and nature, European vacation is first in line. But at the mood I'm in right now, Las Vegas travel seems to appeal to me more than any other types of vacations.
You see there's this side of me that longs to be daring sometimes. And a Vegas trip will surely satisfy my hunger for a modern-day city adventure. I missed the time when I still had a night-life, a time spent with colleagues after a long day at work. I used to have plenty of time for shopping; now I couldn't have a minute of peace whenever I go shopping with the little boy.
But oh, please don't think I'm complaining. I enjoy being where I am right now as much as I enjoy looking forward to new and great things that I'm sure will happen in time.
I was telling Nico the other day how much I needed a break from my routine. Since I became a mom, there was never a day that I was away from Miguel. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. In fact, I love every minute that I spend with Miguel. But I still believe that even the most dedicated mom needs a lone time sometimes for personal improvement.
Maybe Miguel's pediatrician noticed how much we have dedicated our time into caring for Miguel that she mentioned during our last visit that we needed to take a break. She said that it seems we have forgotten to spend time with each other--Nico & I, as we focused all our efforts on the little boy. So true! So I've been thinking about the possibility of a getaway for me and Nico, and what appeals to me most is a few weeks of travel out of the country. Perhaps spend a holiday in Spain? Oh, if only we have the budget!
Anyways, the lack of funds didn't discourage me from researching about travel in Spain. I know there's much to see in such a rich, multicultural country. A former officemate in Dubai related her experience in travelling to Spain and she only had good things to say. There are quite a number of comfortable yet not so expensive accommodations available in the country. I came across Cheaper Than Hotels and saw that we can get a nice accommodation for as low as Eur50! The hotel rooms in the photos look really clean and cozy and the website provides information on location, distance from the airport, facilities and amenities. Another good thing about Cheaper Than Hotels is that they offer year-round prices which means we're not constrained by peak season rates. If we ever get to visit, we'll probably check out Malaga Hotels, Granada Hotels or Seville Hotels.
Christmas was spent in Bulacan and true to the family tradition, everyone, including Miguel, woke up on Christmas Eve for the Noche Buena feast. We had a hard time waking him up and he wasn’t in the best of moods when finally he opened his eyes, but later on joined the celebration and even ate tita leah’s homemade mashed potatoes, yum!
We went back to bed around 130am and woke up at 7 to go to church. Here’s our very first family Christmas photo–the only one we were able to take:
Nico was asking me the other day if we’re going to send out greeting cards to friends and relatives abroad, so I realized it’s less than 3 weeks before Christmas and I haven’t yet done anything Christmassy. If we’re ever bothering ourselves with greeting cards, I might as well send out a family photo, but then the tree has just been up, and we haven’t got a chance to pose for a pic.
Just in case the card doesn’t make it on time, I’m greeting everyone here a Merry Christmas!
Unlike in the Philippines where there is always a reason to declare one day per month as a holiday, here in Dubai everyone is looking forward to the Eid celebration (end of Ramadan) which happens around the 3rd week of October as it is the only time people could enjoy a 4-day weekend break. We eagerly waited for this weekend with the initial plan of visiting another country. Yep, we were almost set to visit Amsterdam after considering other places like Athens. However, upon further consideration, we realized the cons further outweigh the pros of long-haul travel at this time. One is that 4days certainly isn’t sulit enough to spend a holiday in a far away country as the Netherlands, and Nico couldn’t afford using his vacation leave which he is reserving for next year’s vacation back home while I don’t even have leave allowance at all. Another thing is that at 26weeks, it wouldn’t be easy for me to move around and I doubt if I would enjoy travelling when my tummy starts to pull down all my weight and my legs start to cramp. For weeks we battled over practicality versus guts–at one time we felt we’re already halfway to europe and it would be a spoiler not to take advantage of the fact. But the most important factor of course was realizing there are far more important things we could should spend our money on especially now that the latest addition to the family is due very soon. Sensibility won. We opted to get a car in the Philippines instead in preparation for my coming home.
But we never let the holidays pass without an event. And eventhough hotel prices here are a bit exaggerated, a 3-day weekend break at the Le Meridien Hotel was justified as an advanced wedding anniversary celeb! So off we went on Oct 20 on board the intercity bus for a 2-hour trip to the next emirate. On day 1 we checked out the hotel facilities, the beach and pool area was cramped with people…good thing though that most of the hotel’s guests and members are europeans who are on the beach to get a tan–they are gone by the time the sun starts to set and we had the pool and beach area all to ourselves!
During our 3-day stay we just basically lived the life of the lazy, waking up late in the morning, enjoying a dip in the pool, pigging out on a wide selection of food for breakfast and lunch and dining out in the evening. And who am I to resist the summons of the nearby mall which is just a 3-minute walk from the hotel? Lucky me, I found this casual jacket at Mango which goes nice with most types of clothes while hubby bought what he calls a ‘cool dude’ shirt.
It was supposed to be a relaxing weekend, and for the most part it was, except that any activity I engaged myself in served as constant reminder that I am carrying a heavy load in my tummy as I could easily get exhausted. On sunday, we went home tired yet renewed as we were able to somehow lived ‘the life’ even for 3days. Now back to reality, happy days are over, back to work!
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The following day after we got back home, dear hubby got me a real nice white gold heart bracelet as an anniversary gift (naks!), now I wonder what to get him..He’s been bugging me to buy him a copy of Rorkes (an engineering book) but I wanted to give him something more personal, hmm, hmm…i still have 5 more days…
