Philippines - Day 1 and 2

It's Rafael's first time to travel to the Philippines and also a first for Angel and I in almost 9 long years. It's a trip that has been planned more than a year ago and we were naturally excited. Gra'ma, Tita Bil, Tita Benjie and Tita Mich were at home to send us off.



It started with a few mishaps. The total travel time was a grueling 17-hour flight from LAX to MNL with a 45-min refueling stop in Guam. Apparently, due to a full flight and flying against a headwind contributed to the length of the flight. Rafael was cranky for good reason.

Once the plane started to descend to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, all the exhaustion and stress from the trip dissipated. When we got out of the airport, we could feel and smell the once-familiar air of Manila. We almost couldn't believe we were back. After all, it's been a long while. For Rafael, the dream of being in a vehicle without a car seat has finally come true. His eyes were in awe with the jeepneys, the pedicabs, and everything else that he could see from his new vantage point.

Today is our second day and it's all been wisely-spent with family. Below are some photos from today's trip to the zoo for Rafael and his cousins, EJ and JV.















He didn't want to get off this Lego jeep.




Our gracious hosts - the Manuels


A rare family photo


The sistahs


The much-anticipated meeting between Rafael and cousin Gabby didn't materialize as Rafael was asleep from the time Franc and Eva picked us up til morning




My high school friends, Arthur, Momoy, and Mark