Vacation, game over!!

A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia. ~Author Unknown

I knew that you have been hearing about this vacation for a long time in my blog. Always filled with so much anticipation and excitement. Simply because it is our first vacation after my one year pause of pregnancy. And secondly it is our first official vacation as a family (my husband plus my 6 month old baby girl travelling with us). I never realised that spending vacation as a family is never this fun and yet tiring and demanding.

But let me be honest with you. I don't consider this last vacation of ours as one perfectly featured in a travel brochure nor the best that we had. But it is indeed an unforgettable one filled with good laughs, tears and misadventures. When I used to work as a tourist guide (that was long time ago), our favorite expression was "always expect the worst". For we believe that when we travel we tend to encounter problems one after the other.

Well I guess you have enough hint already? Let me summarize it for you:

Our first week started with me loosing all our passports and wallets when I accidentally misplaced them between the first hotel we slept and the condo unit we stayed. All my friends are asking me how "stupidly" I could have done that. But between jet-lag, lack of sleep, fatigue and a baby girl to take care of things weren't easy for me. I would admit that I have completely forgotten where I put it. So as you presumed we spent the next days going to the police station, declaring the incident, getting that "crime report" and having an impromptu rendezvous at French Embassy. (Whew, not really an interesting week to start this vacation with). If you think these days of trouble weren’t over yet, well you are mistaken. Since day one we arrived, I barely refuse a luncheon and dinner invitation of families and friends (I am a food lover afterall) and without counting of course the wedding and baptismal parties we feasted on, the result was an early stomach and diarrhea problems for me and my husband. Good thing we anticipated this one so we brought along the good medicines against these. So when we finally headed off to our vacation destination for a one week sejour in the island of Palawan, we thought « No more stress, no more problem that is all behind us now ».

Stone fish anyone?

Well that’s what we thought. We were optimist for this is actually where our real vacation begins. Anyways, If you were thinking that probably we just had booking problems with our reservation or probably some substandard amenities in the hotel well you were mistaken. I’m pretty sure you haven’t heard of this yet. When we arrived the island and the weather was perfect. And we could only think of doing island hopping, snorkelling and swimming. Unfortunately, while enjoying the beach of the first island (I insist, the first island during our first day) one of my friend was stung by a stonefish (one of the most dangerous venomous fish in the world) I suggest you read the link. Well the rest is history : as expected we rushed him to the nearest hospital. The doctors gave him 2 shots of anti-tetanus, 1 shot of anti-inflammatory and 1 shot of anti-allergy. The list of our « malheurs » starts to be long but I tell you it’s far from over (ATM and credit cards not working in the island, underwater camera broken, etc.)


Million dollar and colgate free smiles.....

When the night falls....

But don’t get me wrong. We all had so much fun. Our days were spent snorkelling the colorful coral reefs, fishes and World War II sunken ships or bathing in the pristine beaches of this beautiful islands of Palawan. We spent countless days eating only fresh fruits and seafoods and delicious dishes and delicacies. Our menu : Red snapper « Lapu-lapu) simmered in spicy and sour soup (using local green lemon), very very fresh Tuna sashimi, Stingray cooked in coconut cream, Grilled Calamares, Steamed Crabs in lemon grass and onion, Garlic flambéed in tons of garlic, Pork barbeque, native chicken stew, Green mango salad, native steamed rice, mango tiramisu and lots of bananas, star-apples (kaimito) and sweet mangoes for dessert.

Our vacation is already over but I still have the taste of all these goodies, I still have the images of our funny anecdotes and all those magnificent moment in the beach and our underwater exploit . It was afterall a fantastic vacation!


Yummylicious.....

21 comments:

Oggi said...

It looks like you had great food and time in the Philippines regardless of that pesky "Murphy".:)
I love the photographs and the menu sounds delicious!

Anonymous said...

Nice pictures, dhanggit! Despite the little setbacks you had, I'm sure you still had a good time.

Anonymous said...

What an ordeal! Good thing there were so many good things to enjoy too!

Gloria Baker said...

What's nice pictures and how beautiful place Dahanggit!! is how a Paradise didn't?
Im happy you had a wonderful time with hubby and the Babe!!! xxxxxxxGloria

test it comm said...

The photos look good and it sounds like you had a lot of tasty food even if there were a little more than a few mishaps.

Manggy said...

Oh man! I hope your friend is okay now. Did you ever recover your passports? I don't think I would have been able to enjoy anything after that. I hope to see more of your pics!

The smiles are beautiful, but I think the kids definitely brush their teeth, if not specifically with Colgate :)

princess_dyanie said...

Oh yes, fantastic vacation indeed! :)

Sylvia said...

Welcome back Dangghit. My worst nightmare is lost my passport . I suppose that you has horrible. sensation when this happen , But I glad to know that you back .
Travel with children is a fun pleasure and exhausted experience as well, I guess
Love all your photos specially the last colagte smile , is so spontaneous and bright

Susan said...

Dearest Dhanggit, travel is based on the word "trevail." Fitting, isn't it? My husband took a solo one-year trip around the world before he met me. He said people travel for just one reason: the anecdotes. And you, Sweets, have plenty to share!

Vibrant writing and photos! So glad you are back. Filipino food sounds divine!

Anonymous said...

I always think one needs a vacation to recover from the vacation. :-)

So glad you overcame the issue and managed to have a good time anyway!

haze said...

Don't get me jealous about all these food, wait did you bring something for me ? :D !!

I always put in my mind expect the unexpected on travelling! there's no perfect vacation only good times especially when we are sorrounded by family, friends, nice people and good food errr sounds I am thinking for a perfect moments ?

Little Corner of Mine said...

Glad it turned out to be a fantastic vacation after all the mishaps. :) Vacation is sure nice!

Emily said...

What a crazy vacation!
It really does sound half fun-half traumatic.
Your poor, poor friend!

Unknown said...

Ah yes - the yin and the yang of travel! It sounds like you actually had MORE than your share of the downside, so maybe your next trips will all go very, very smoothly? ;-)

I hope your friend is much better - that sounds like a nightmare. The food looks fabulous, though, and it's wonderful that you had the chance to enjoy it!

Anonymous said...

Welcome back and thanks for sharing this experience! Especially thanks for the link on the Stonefish. Geez, that's scary. I hope she recovers quickly.
So this is just the first in a series of posts, right? We can't wait to read, see and taste more!

Analyse said...

yay! what a scene to start a vacation. i'm glad you enjoyed it after all the mess.. and the food, mang inggit ba :(

desie said...

those are the sort of memories you will still remember for years after.
glad to hear that despite the misadventures, you still ate well and had a fun time.

ChichaJo said...

So sorry to hear of your vacation troubles but I'm glad to know you had a wonderful time overall! :) Welcome back!

Anonymous said...

Don't know if i should say your ordeal is worth what you have been feasting there.
Anyway, with all the wrong turns,you have great memories to make you smile.You're family must be so happy to see your princess.
hope our local food inspires you to make something special entry.

Sidney said...

Sad to hear about your misadventures in the Philippines. But I am happy you had some fun moments too... and I am sure the colgate smiles made you forget all the problems!

Chibog in Chief said...

hello to all my friends,

thanks for all your warm thoughts, please do not think that my vacation isn't worth it..i had some rough times but like all fairy tale stories it ended up well :-), we found our passports and my friend is still kicking and alive!!hehehe we only have good memories of this vacation but it was really tough at the beginning :-)