With Kids? Here's Uncommon Advice

Travelling with a toddler, they say, is a nightmare.

Well I've travelled with Zoe, rode cars, jeepneys, tricycles, buses, planes, boats, and so far, so good. Zoe has a relatively happy disposition. Give her enough food, enough sleep, and she'll be relatively patient with all the things one goes through while travelling. She's a happy camper, and you just have to really tire her out so she'll be a happy sleeper too. Even at malls, she never threw a tantrum because she wanted something.

Until that last day in Hong Kong.

When we bought her a toy at the airport. And then she wanted to open that toy. Right this very moment. Now na! So there we were, lining up to get into immigration at the Hong Kong airport, and Zoe was bawling. BAWLING. Crying her heart out. No explanation from us could soothe her. She wanted that toy opened, now! We went through the security check area, towards the immigration area, and still she was crying. (We couldn't open the toy though, because the toy had several small and large parts that weren't play-able while walking). I was carrying Zoe that time, and I was seriously rethinking this plan to bring her along for a longer future trip.

So this advice I will share with parents -- Don't buy toys for your kids at the airport. If buying toys, make sure they can easily be played with while on the go. Explanations about patience don't really work too well with two-year olds.

We got home to Manila around 11pm. Zoe was still awake then. You know the first thing she did when she came home? She opened her toy.

Hmm. Some kids never forget.

Used To Be

I used to row almost every morning. Woke up around 5-ish to go to Manila Bay and row. Manila Bay isn't that smelly, you know. It is calm and serene when it wants to be so, and the rhythmic slicing of oars into the water is a beautiful experience shared amongst those willing to wake up early enough to try it.

I used to climb mountains. Spent weekends hiking. My backpack was my friend, and nights were spent with gin and more friends. There was a time I didn't have a single Nalgene bottle to my name, and was very very proud of my 100-peso Nalgene look-alike bottle...that is until the bottle fell off from a tricycle and got shattered into several un-usable pieces. Then I wished for a Nalgene bottle for Christmas, and got 3. Now I have Nalgene bottles (which are probably non-BPA-free). And I don't hike anymore.

I used to play ultimate frisbee. Got introduced to the sport. And introduced B. to the sport. Loved the feeling of running. I'm a terrible thrower and not a decent catcher, but I really liked the feeling of running. Now practice takes too much time, and only B. plays now.

I used to love a lot of other things too. I used to write a lot. I used to paint when I was younger. I remember composing songs when I was a 6-year old. Now I don't do those things. I can't even draw a decent duck or cow when my daughter asks me to draw. But that's ok. She writes squiggly lines and says "that's a fish". It's a beautiful fish. Perfection is relative too, you know.

"We are all the paths we walked, and everything we loved." - Paulo Coehlo

Walking - the pre-rituals

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to arrive at City Garden Hotel North Point from Hong Kong International Airport.

Since I was trying to save some money, instead of taking the Airport Shuttle from HK Airport to City Garden Hotel North Point, I wanted to take the Airport Express instead. The Airport Bus shuttle would cost $140 one way, a total of $280 roundtrip. The Airport Express, on the other hand, would cost $180 roundtrip, or just $90 one way. From the HK Station I could then take the MTR to Fortress Hill station, at an estimated cost of around $4.40. Total would then be $188.80 via the Airport Express, saving me almost $100 per person! There were 3 of us, so $100x3 = $300 HKD savings! Go!

So there I was googling the "how" of actually trying to walk to City Garden hotel from the MTR station. Based on some travel sites, it's really just a short walk, from 10 to 3 minutes. There was even a site that said it was "just a minute's" walk:

Reading more closely, no one really did describe "how" to walk from the MTR station. Since I've got a two-year old with me and another possibly irritable adult, I didn't want to take the chance of being unprepared and lost. Thank God for GoogleMaps!
Fairly straightforward huh! Looks quite a bit far, but fairly straightforward. But wait...here's another set of directions I got from someone who's already there:

• Take the exit to King's Road
  
• Take the footbridge beside the exit and walk to the end (Market), and down to Electric Road
  
• The hotel is on the toher side and entrance is around the corner

I need to take the footbridge...there's a footbridge??? Aww...we'll see how it goes...

Avilon Zoo 2009

The road to Montalban via the Commonwealth Ave QC route is scenic. You wind through a zig-zaggy mountainside that reminds you of Antipolo with the view. You'll pass through part of the walls of La Mesa Dam, though part of the way, you'll get to smell the Payatas dumpsite as well. Nevertheless, I always thought the views here were underrated.

On the first day of the Chinese New Year, we decided to be impulsive and go on a tour of Avilon Zoo in Montalban. It was a Monday, and I reckon it wasn't really a good day to go on a tour of a zoo. For one thing, there weren't too many people. I think we were only 1 of 3 groups that were in the whole 7.5 hectare zoo. Another thing, some of the animals seemed to be on vacation as well. Rumor has it some of the animals were on loan at the Ark of Avilon Zoo near Tiendesitas, but we never really got to spoke to anyone in the zoo. It was a tad disappointing though, what with the missing animals, and the general messiness of the place. On a positive note, we did notice a lot of ongoing construction to make the place at par with foreign zoos, with fake safari-type enclosures and trees. Plus, Avilon really seems to be making headway with its Veterinary School, something I didn't notice when we first visited in 2005.

Maybe Monday was the general cleaning day for the zoo, and the first day of the Chinese New Year wasn't really a good time to visit a zoo. In any case, our first visit to Avilon way back 2005 was great. What with all the improvements going on right now, maybe when we visit again next time, it'll be better.

The kids had fun though. We even had some pictures taken with Trixie the Orangutan.
Avilon Zoo is located in Brgy San Isidro, Montalban (Rodriguez), Rizal. The place is a favorite for school field trips. You can visit their website for more information on how to get there. Entrance fee, without the guided tour, is 208 Pesos per head. Children over 1 will still pay the same amount. The zoo is usually open til 4pm.

Things I learned today:

1. 200 people in front of you in the line is 200 people in front of you in the line. If you haven't got 2 hours to wait in line, forget about it.

2. PAL processes refunds much much faster than Cebu Pacific. PAL already gave me a refund a month after I asked for it. Cebu Pacific -- 6 months later, they're still processing the darn thing.

3. Don't believe it when a computer application says "Time remaining: 11 minutes...". It's been 11 minutes for 3 days already!

4. I don't know how to read Japanese. And it's difficult to fill out an online reservation form in Japanese when you don't understand it.