Last Hurrah Before School Officially Starts

For two consecutive years, we usually schedule out-of-the-country trips during the kids' summer or midyear break. But this summer, we invested on a few activities for the kids instead. We decided not to have any flight trips - well, flight trips out of the country atleast. Because a few days before the kids go back to school, our family is off to a 3-day vacation in Badian Island, Cebu! Woohoo! 😍

Our first stop is Dumaguete. We stayed there for a day before going to our vacation destination. We stayed in the hotel majority of the time but decided to look around late in the afternoon. We didn't really plan anything on this day.

Walking along Rizal Boulevard

Photo Op at the end of the boulevard.

Dinner at Jo's Inato

The next day is when the adventure begins. From our hotel, we took a tricycle ride (P150) going to Sibulan Port. Then, we took a ferry (P70 ea) to Bato Port, Santander, Cebu. From there, we took a tricycle ride again to the bus terminal. The bus ride (P70 ea) to Badian was around 1.5 hours long. We were dropped off at the side of the road, with a sign that says, "To Badian Island".

Our P2P Bus Experience

Just last week, my son told me he wants to ride a bus. I took note of it but wasn't able to plan right away. A few days after, someone posted the schedule of the Point to Point (P2P) bus on facebook. I checked it out and saw that one of its routes is from Alabang Town Center (ATC) to Greenbelt 1 and vice versa. So, one sunny Tuesday morning, we decided to give it a try!

The ticket booth, Jacob, and kuya bus driver.

The P2P bus terminal at Alabang Town Center is located along Alabang - Zapote road, close to the parking area near the entrance to ATC's Cinema. We got there around 10:55 am. We hoped to catch the 11 am bus but missed it because we weren't able to find a parking slot near the terminal. At the ticket booth, there was a line but not that long, probably because it wasn't rush hour. My fare rate (regular) is P50, while Jacob's (discounted) rate is at P40. Total money spent on fare to and fro Makati is just P180 for the two of us. Not bad at all, right?

Inside the bus

My Breastfeeding Journey with Jacob

I didn't get to breastfeed Kate. I wasn't really prepared that time. I thought since it's a natural thing, it should be easy, right? WRONG! She had a hard time trying to latch and I wasn't as informed then as I am now. When I was preggy with Jacob, a college friend invited me to attend breastfeeding meetings and classes to help prepare myself on the how-to's, do's and don'ts of breastfeeding. Since then, I was determined as ever to breastfeed my second child. As soon as Jacob came out, they brought him to me to latch. I gave birth at 36 weeks and 5 days. Earlier than expected. I think it's because I got sick during my third trimester. My immune system was at its lowest, so I had chickenpox again. Yep, chickenpox isn't a once-in-a-lifetime thing after all. Anyway, he was too sleepy to latch. I'm glad that the hospital where I gave birth is a breastfeeding-friendly hospital. They don't use bottles for newborns, just cups or syringe/droppers. I had ceasarian delivery, which is why I wasn't able to breastfeed Jacob on the first day. So, they gave him formula. In order to maintain my milk supply, I pumped for the meantime with a manual pump. Ang hirap! The next day, I asked the nurse to wheel me into the nursery so I could breastfeed Jacob. He was crying at first, then fell asleep (again!) while trying to latch.