La Luz Beach Resort

It was a goal for us to go to the beach during Holy Week. Our target was the beach strip of Brgy. Laiya, San Juan, Batangas. However, due to procrastination, we ended up only staying for one night - Holy Wednesday night. By the time we came around to booking a resort, only Holy Wednesday night at La Luz was available.

We've been hearing good things about La Luz from our friends and we were not so disappointed with the resort.

The amenities were satisfactory. Our room's distance from the beach was just right; not too near, not too far. The food (P1,050 for 4 meals for an overnight stay) was okay according to my standards, not my mother-in-law's. The beach looked beautiful but the sand was horrible. Correction. They didn't have sand, they had pebbles. Ouch! I have to remind myself to bring aqua shoes next time I visit. However, waters were great for snorkeling.

It was a pretty resort but, honestly, not one that I'd go back to unless they grind their "pebbles" to smaller bits.

Davao Quickie

Homesickness led me back to my hometown Davao last week.

With sheer determination, I was able to survive flying alone with my toddler. It wasn't that bad. In fact, it was a breeze. She cooperated and was playful. Not fussy at all. She wowed the passengers in our row as well as the flight attendants who wanted the chance to carry her. One FA wanted to keep her!

We spent a total of 7 days in Davao. My husband M followed on the 5th night and we went to the beach on the 6th day, Friday.

I was supposed to book a night at Chemas by the Sea but it was fully-booked so I settled for the resort beside it - Blue Waters which wasn't that fantastic. That's another story.

Of course, I went to Harana but ate there before my husband arrived. He isn't really fond of Harana. It was also the first time for me to dine at Bigby's and I was surprised that the food tasted good. The biggest surprise was on the last day when we had glorious crabs for lunch at Asia Restaurant.

It was a week of quality time spent with my parents. I'm glad I took the time to visit them.

Children are the way they are because they are exactly what they are - children. They are curious, observant, playful, inquisitive, active, adventurous, fearless.

Most of us adults are exactly the opposite. Especially us parents.

My brother told me once that the reason why we get irritated with our kids is because we sometimes feel that we are inconvenienced by them. There is some truth in that.

The past three or four days have been a little more exciting for me since our daughter's yaya (nanny) left us. I'm back to being my daughter's constant caregiver, playmate, etc. I'm proud to say that I am more patient with her now. This is because I remember what my brother said.

I now allow my daughter to play with the stones in the indoor garden without fear of her becoming dirty because I know that she is merely curious. In fact, I sit with her and point out to her the colors of the stones she picks up. Now when she picks up a stone she says, "Color, mommy!"

She loves our laptop and there are times that she insists on sitting on my lap to tinker with the computer. I used to hate this especially when I was doing something. Now I gladly put her on my lap and switch on Microsoft Word so that she can type letters and numbers with my guidance. Now she can identify letters and numbers.

Now I make it a point to watch her videos with her so that it can be a more interactive activity. We now dance to Barney's "I Love You" song and we sing together with Dora.

Spending extra time and giving extra effort in making sure every moment is a learning experience for my daughter is more fun than saying "No" and "Stop" all the time.