KIDS IN TOWN

It’s a “wish granted!” for our family when the Tacloban children agreed to spend Christmas holidays with us here in Manila. En and I thought about bringing our nephews and nieces together this Christmas in the metro and celebrate Christmas and New Year with us, with their Lola most importantly. En floated the idea to our elder brother, Bobby, the kids’ father, who also agreed to pay for their plane fare. 

The four of them, Keith, Ayssa, Kim and Paula, flew in from Tacloban on 22 December. They joined our baby WanWan and instantly formed a flock. Kuya Entoy, the eldest of them all, the only son of our eldest brother, Danny, could not make it this time because he had plenty of stuff to attend to, now that he’s a practicing lawyer and got a son of his own. So he stayed in Mindanao with his mother and his little son. 

Initially, the tow little ones, Kim aged 12 and Paula aged 7 declined my invitation because they fear flying. I told them that in such case they would miss the Disney on Ice Christmas Show. By mere mention of Disney, the two changed their minds and finally agreed to join Kuya Keith and Ate Ayssa. 

Without much ado, I bought their plane tickets in advance which their father promised to reimburse in installments. It cost him a total to-and-fro fare of P21,000. Then we identified the activities for the kids and come up with the final itinerary, as follows: 

Dec 22 – Fetch them at NAIA 

Dec 23 – Mall tour and buy groceries for the Christmas Eve preparations 

Dec 24 – Swimming pool party at Los Arcos in Tungko, City of San Jose del Monte
Dec 25 – Christmas visit to Go’s Family at Jackielouville in Sucat, Paranaque
Dec 26 – Disney on Ice at SM MOA Arena
Dec 27 – Manila Oceanpark in Manila Bay
Dec 28 – Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna
Dec 29 – Mind Museum in BGC, which they missed because they arrive late in the afternoon when the museum is closing
Dec 30 – Tutu’s 7th Birthday at my cousin’s residence in Grand Strikeville 4, Bacoor, Cavite 

Dec 31 – Kidzania in BGC 

Jan 1 – Swimming pool party at Los Arcos in Tungko, City of San Jose del Monte (the repeat) 

Jan 2 – Send them off at NAIA 

WanWan really enjoyed the company of her cousins, especially Paula. Now that she appreciated the fun of having fellow kids around, she find it hard to send them off. Indeed, she cried and kept saying they should not go home to Tacloban. 

This has been the most extravagant Christmas I ever had. I spent lots for the entrance fees or tickets, fuel, gifts, and foods during every trip. Although, En and Jun contributed in groceries and food purchases. Roughly, I shelled out this much:
Disney on Ice - P11,000
Mind Museum - 4,000
Christmas Gifts - 5,000
Manila Oceanpark - 5,000
Enchanted Kingdom - 5,500
Swimming Pool (2x) - 5,000
Kidzania - 8,000
Foods and Snacks - 15,000
Fuel - 7,000
Total = P65,500

I had to juggle my time with work and holiday activities for kids. In between days and time, I finalized draft contents for the website our office was working on, including the revision of the test cases and trai ning guides which was needed to be ready by Dec 29. I missed joining them for 2 days, the Oceanpark and supposed Mind Museum. 

When I interviewed the kids when having very early breakfast with them at NAIA before their departure, they told me that they really enjoyed their Christmas vacation with us. That’s enough compensation for me, it justified my one-month extravagance.