Wet Lunch

On the recommendation of a friend, we braved Monday traffic and headed down to Hacienda Escudero, just past San Pablo City.  It took almost 2 hours to get there, but only about 90 minutes on the way home.  A day visit includes a tour of the museum, a carabao ride, lunch at the waterfalls and a bamboo raft tour (I think).  

The museum was not air conditioned and lots of the artifacts - religious, stuffed animals, old clothes and weapons - were looking a little rough.  One chimp was degrading so badly that his foot was all bones (they did not allow pictures or this part would have been well photo documented).  The carabao ride was fun.  A guitar player and singer serenaded us for the 3 minute ride to the resort.  We checked out the swimming pools, but they were not clean, so we headed to lunch. 

At the awesome waterfall restaurant.

It had been described to me as a "floating restaurant," but turned out to be tables in a river.  We started out sitting at the table, then Toto wanted to dip her toes in, then we peeled her down to her undies and she was full out swimming in a couple feet of water.   

The food wasn't amazing, but Toto loved it - chicken, fish, pork, and her favorite, WHITE RICE. She's a Filipina.  The total price for 2 adults and a 2-year old was P2,500 ($58).  While the rafting looked fun, Toto was ready for a car nap. 

No reservations in advance, just showed up around 9:30am.

Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort

San Pablo City, Philippines
(632) 521-0830
(632) 523-0392
(632) 523-2944

E-mail: info@villaescudero.com

Take the South superhighway and exit at 50A (Lucena, Legaspi, Batangas exit).  Turn left at the Sto. Tomas junction. Head straight down, by-passing the town of Alaminos and San Pablo City proper. Slow down upon seeing Quezon arch and turn left immediately after.

Fun Farm

The Fun Farm really lived up to its name.  Visiting requires a reservation, which is unusual for the Philippines.  Some months are literally booked everyday, but this weekend with Typhoon Santi expected to make landfall, no one had booked for Sunday.  We left Makati at 7:45am and were there before 8:30am.  We spent the first half hour playing in the sand house, which is fun except for the duck poop.  There are tire swings and a slide.  Afterwards, we fed rabbits and guinea pigs, checked out the pigs, walked over the bridge on the fish pond, and even rode a horse.  Then they put a wagon on the caribou and we took a ride around the grounds.  The only downside was there was nowhere to go to cool down or even buy a cold drink.

The Fun Farm is open everyday from 9a-4p and costs P300 per person over 2 years old.

High five, Manila

After our visit to the "conservation" zoo (have I gone into that horror?), I set my expectations pretty low for Museo Pambata, the children's museum. I mean for $2, broken, rusty and generally unsafe exhibits must surely be the case.

Imagine my surprise when we arrived and not only was it clean and air conditioned (thank god), but it was well done and clearly maintained. Bring your kids here! They won't need a tetanus shot, or therapy.

Lots of information on protecting the environment.

An herb garden!

The human body.

Interactive Philippine street scene (Toto spent a long time cooking for me).

Big Girl Room

Toto has been a bit apprehensive about the upcoming arrival of the new baby she has named Baby Genki. But the big girl room has helped a bit. The Shark transformed her room while Toto and I were in DC. 

Urban Recreation: Ortigas

Finding ways to entertain children in Manila is not easy. Taking advantage of the lack of traffic on Sundays, we headed to Ortigas. What would be a 45 minute ride on a weekday took only 15 minutes. We started with breakfast at Cafe 1771. Cute setting and decent food.

Afterwards we were among the first to arrive at the Ark Avilon Zoo. Their website was misleading, marketing it as a conservation organization when it was actually a dismal zoo with tiny cages. Redeeming factors were the guinea pig feeding area-it was fun watching Toto hold a carrot on a stick-and the play area which included rocks and sticks. Always a winner with two year olds. We will not be going back.

We also discovered a closed off street full of bike rentals. Toto had fun riding around with The Shark.

Just another Manila experience...

Cebu City

Although I was in Cebu for a work trip, I managed to squeeze in a little sight seeing. Side note: we stayed at the Parklane instead of the Marriott to save money. If money is not a concern for you, avoid the Parklane. There was nothing special.  And on to the sights.

Magellan's Cross is worth a stop. Wikipedia says it is cased in a protective layer because people were chopping off pieces of the wood. But my local guide said rumor had it the cross is not inside. Who knows? For a fee you can buy a candle and someone does a special dance with it to make your wish come true. I passed.  Just next store is a huge church--Basilica del Santo Niño (Church of the Holy Child)--which I did not photograph, but you can see pics and read more here. Apparently the feast every January draws more than a million and the pilgrims sleep in a park. I also heard things get a bit wild with some non-Christian type activities.

The San Diego-Yap House is an interesting place to visit, despite the lack if parking or sidewalk. For $1 a guide lets you touch all the fading antiques, but gives a good tour. Apparently the current owner still sleeps there on the weekend. And put an a/c unit in. Also the street is old. Is that why there are no sidewalks?

And non-history related, Tablea, a chocolate cage with 7 branches in Cebu is amazing. Apparently it is traditional breakfast drink and the owners are bringing back as a gourmet snack and also preserving tradition. Please come to Manila.

Toddler Fractures and UTIs (or How Not to Spend Your Vacation)

Want to know a great way not to spend your vacation? At the hospital. After noticing several of Toto's pee diapers (I know, we plan to start potty training as soon as the potty arrives in the mail!) smelled strange and googling "weird urine smell toddler" I was convinced she had a UTI. So we headed to Munson Urgent Care in Traverse City. Warning: do not take your children there if you value their life. First they gave her a toy fan to distract her, which promptly began smoking. Then they took a non-sterile urine sample and spent the next week calling me to change her antibiotics as the culture results came in. That was awesome. After talking to our real pediatrician, it turns out most of the bacteria in the culture are normally found on the skin and she may not have had a UTI at all. But so glad we got to dose her with tons of antibiotics. The smell is gone, although it may have something to do with the new Seventh Generation diapers - they get super bunchy and maybe give off a strange smell??

Then a couple days later Toto tripped over a cord and cried harder than usual. Clearly something was up when she wouldn't walk on her left foot. So, we packed up the Green Lake cottage and headed back South to see her pediatrician. After an x-ray showed a minor fracture, we headed to the ER for a splint. Despite the fact that she couldn't bear weight on the leg, Toto was a champ and spent lots of time crawling wildly with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law. After five days, we saw a pediatric orthopedist who took the splint off and said that the fracture was so minor that if Toto would walk on the foot she was free to go. Did I mention she is a bit stubborn? No matter what I promised her - ice cream (at 8am), a bike, watching movies - that child refused to walk on her foot. Probably because she was freaked out to be at the doctor's AGAIN and have everyone staring at her begging her to walk. In the end they sent us off with a removable walking boot, which she seemed to love.

We made the long drive back up North to The Shark's childhood home where Toto immediately ripped off her boot in order to ride the new bike from Grams. And that's the end of that story.

Despite the medical drama, we managed to squeeze in lots of fun.

The Henry Ford Museum. Lots for Toto to look at while sitting in her stroller wearing a splint.

Cranbrook's science museum. 

Birthday breakfast at the Original House of Pancakes - oven baked omelette. You need extra protein at 33.

Birthday dessert - lemon meringue pie. Delic.

Lots of butter at The Shark's family reunion.

Back in Manila. And happy to be here.