April 11: Len's Arrival

Len (Tet's sister) is here for a month-long vacation. We were excited to see her because she was gone for quite a long time. She left for Dubai when Tet was just 2 months pregnant. And Trisha is now 17 months old. So it has been 24 months or 2 years since we last saw her.

We left early to fetch her from the NAIA Terminal 1 airport (her ETA was 9:55PM) but her flight was delayed so we had to wait for a few hours. We waited at an area near the airport and since there was nothing else to do, we decided to have a late night snacks at Shakey's. When we finally got her text message that she had arrived, we proceeded to the Arrivals section but got stuck in traffic. It was already past 11PM but there were still so many cars. Arrgh!

When we finally reached the Arrivals, we quickly loaded all her luggages and left the airport. I think we arrived home around 12MN already. We got our 'pasalubongs' (Thanks Len!) and then we slept. The following day was still going to be a busy day...

In Baguio for the Holy Week

We were in Baguio for the holy week and just came back yesterday. The traffic was terrible! It took us 8 hours to drive from Manila-Baguio and 7 hours from Baguio-Manila. The normal trip time is 5-6 hours. This long journey was caused by several road accidents and the huge volume of vehicles going North. Good thing Trisha was behaved during the trip (that was because she was sleeping most of the time, hehe).

Baguio, being the summer capital, was also packed with people who were also there because of the long vacation. I wouldn't recommend going to Baguio during long holidays as the traffic around the city gets really bad and if you don't know the shortcuts/alternate routes, you'll end up spending so much time stuck in traffic. All the tourist spots are also crowded and that includes SM Baguio.

The next time we go to Baguio for a long holiday, we'll make sure to leave Manila at least a day earlier and come back a day after. No more joining the throngs of cars on the road. Waste of time and precious gasoline.

Oh! On your way to Baguio and vice versa, try to take the alternate routes if you can, I think the route is longer but there will be no traffic and really few cars. And some good restaurants to dine along the way that we have tried are:

• Fortune Restaurant - serves chinese food located in Tarlac, Tarlac (in front of a medical center I think). Very near Metrotown mall. It's on the right if you're coming from Baguio and before the mall.
• Matutina's Restaurant - serves filipino food located in Urdaneta, Pangasinan. It's along the highway. On the left if you're coming from Baguio.