travels

Getting a Passport

January 26, 2013 / Filed Under: travels

In two months time, peanutbutter♥ will be home for his annual vacation but unlike the previous year wherein we took a trip out of the country, this year we decided to travel locally. This reminded me that I should renew my passport as soon as possible. Should we decide to travel by March, there wouldn’t be any problem because my passport is ready. Why? Because unlike passports Dallas which you can get on the same day that you applied for it, the regular processing of passport here in the Philippines will take 25 working days or a month if you include weekends. There won’t be any time if I renew it on the same month that peanutbutter♥ arrives.

I remembered two years ago, I accompanied Ykaie in the application of her passport. We came in at the Department of Foreign Affairs very early because we already knew that the line is gonna be long. We brought all the necessary documents and even some snacks for Ykaie. At three, it was her first passport application. I made sure I had a photocopy of everything.

The requirements that I brought are:

Passport of both parents { original and photocopy}
Original Birth Certificate from NSO in SECPA or Security Paper
Personal appearance of minor with either parent.
Birth Certificate {in SECPA or Security Paper} of parent accompanying the child

Everything went on as planned then it was time to take a photo. As expected amongst three year olds, she was very playful. The person who was going to take her passport photo talked to her so she would sit still and smile. She said, “alright, I’m just gonna take your picture..1…2…3…“. When she heard that she started making cute but wacky poses like what she does in our everyday normal photos. She had a peace sign right on her cheeks like this popular Korean pose. She even winked at the next shot. Everybody started smiling and some even giggled…The person taking the photo just indulged her a little more and took four wacky shots before telling her how she should pose for her passport photo.

It was hilarious. I didn’t know getting a passport could be this fun.

-This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.-

Candyland in Nuvali

January 17, 2013 / Filed Under: celebration, Christmas, Tagaytay, travels

This is an über late post but one that must be posted at least before January’s over.

To celebrate my birthday last month, I wanted to go for a long drive so off we went to Tagaytay {where else?}. My favprite and nearest go-to place from Manila.

Our plan was to go around sight seeing in Tagaytay and then go to Nuvali for dinner before heading back home.

We saw Candlyland when we arrived at Nuvali around 5pm. The kids were very excited to roam around.

Candyland is like small neighborhood made of candies!

There were different colors of lollipops and candy canes sprouting like plants from the ground.

[Read more…] about Candyland in Nuvali

Yay! We are booked!

January 15, 2013 / Filed Under: travel thoughts, travels

At last! After three days of scouring the internet for a place to stay when peanutbutter♥ arrives on March. I finally found THE one and finally made the reservation.

When I started looking for a place to stay three days ago, I considered a lot of options:

The Kimberly Hotel
Tall Vista Hotel
Go back to One Tagaytay Place
Sonya’s Garden
Discovery Country Suites

I even read hotel reviews and checked if they have current promos. I wanted to make reservations at The Kimberly Hotel because it has a pool and a playground. I wanted Taal Vista because it has a high customer satisfaction rate, it’s rated 5 stars at Agoda and it has a pool. I wanted to go back to One Tagaytay Place because of the convenient location. I wanted Sonya’s Garden because I want some new memories made there. I want Discovery Country Suites because of the high customer satisfaction rate and the wonderful reviews I’ve read, it was last in my list because it’s the most expensive. All the others has a rate of ₱ 12,000 to ₱14,000 for two nights while Discovery Country Suites costs ₱ 23,000 for two nights.

I even tried booking at Agoda because it seems to have a lower rate than at the hotel’s website. Discovery was still the most expensive at ₱18,000.

Last night, I almost made a reservation for Taal Vista Hotel. The only thing that was holding me back was that I can’t be sure we are getting the room with the queen and single bed. So I decided to just make the reservation today but when I checked again, Discovery’s rate is almost the same as all the others….

So I finally made the reservation for the Nantucket Room. I told Ykaie and she’s waay more excited than me.