Eid 2011

We spent our Eid holidays here in Muscat at Grand Hyatt. We've been here several times to swim and dine-in but this is our first time to stay in one of their spacious hotel room. We enjoyed our two night stay swimming, walking along the beach, having relaxing massage(only for daddy), eating lunch near the pool, having room service and spending breakfast and dinner in their buffet restaurant (we all loved the grilled lamb chops, yum!).

 

Father's Day, 16th of June 2011

Celebrated Father's Day at Grand Hyatt Muscat

Leon's 1st Birthday

Leon's 3day birthday celebration


Thank you to everyone for your greetings, wishes and gifts!

Happy 1st birthday Leon Gregory!!!

HBD Daddy and Happy New Year!

Daytime, December 31, 2010


New Year's Eve, It's Daddy's Birthday!!!





Vivian's poem for Daddy on his birthday

Christmas 2010

BSM Christmas Carols Assembly and Christmas Roadshow

BSM Christmas Carols Assembly, December 20, 2010

What I Love About Christmas
by Vivian Rachel D. Undag

Putting up the green Christmas tree
Hanging up the colourful lights
Giving Santa yummy cookies and milk
Opening fantastic presents and gifts
Spending a lot of time with my huge family
And celebrating Jesus' birthday.
Giving friends and family gifts
Hearing the beautiful music of the carols
Putting the shining angel on top of the Christmas tree.
That's what I love about Christmas.

BSM Christmas Choir Roadshow:
Intercontinental Hotel, December 14, 2010
British Embassy, December 19, 2010
Al Bustan Palace, December 20, 2010

BSM choir at Intercon

BSM choir at Al Bustan Palace

Dubai Conference

Had a short networking conference in Dubai, The Palace Old Town, a stone's throw away from Dubai Mall. The mag-ina came along to do some final baby shopping. Since the little girl was coming from a school break and still resting from the surgery, we were able to manage the schedule. Gorging on buffets and pining for good restaurants was also a major factor.

We were able to meet up (finally!) with an old friend from Manila. Jen had been in Dubai for some time now but only hooked up this visit. It was a great evening - see you again hopefully soon J!

New year... New decade

It is always extra special for us to celebrate the new year. We celebrate it in our house just like same as back home in Manila, stayed home together as a family, put lots of food on the table for prosperity and a basket of round fruits for wealth.

Few days before, Vivian and I went out to buy daddy's presents, my husband was with us but the little girl told him not to enter the store so it's still a surprise. Daughter picked very daring styles and colors of polos, shirts and pants but we ended up getting four presents that hubby could pull off. On the 31st, I was able to cook few dishes for dinner and for media noche. We ate dinner at 8pm as it was 12 midnight back home. We had salad, karekare and crispy pata, then our favorite desserts- blueberry cheesecake, leche flan and fruit salad. As we waited for midnight, Vivian excitedly prepared and fixed the living room for hubby's birthday. She put our gifts next to the balloons and kept asking, "Is it time, already? Is it time"? After what seemed several hours, it was time at last... just in time the 'suman' was done, we were ready to welcome the new decade and hubby's birthday. Vivian and I brought out the cake then started singing happy birthday, not once but twice to capture the moment. After we had our fiesta ham with potato salad, 'suman' with thick cocoa and mango, Hubby opened his gifts and daughter put a surprise card and message in one of the gifts. It was another memorable celebration and the little girl ended it by popping all the balloons.

Happy birthday to my hubby, I hope you liked our celebration for three, hopefully next year it will be for a fantastic four. We love you!

December Fest: more videos

December Fest: Dubai Christmas!

Dubai again??! Yeah but well for this Christmas time, we decided we'd do stuff we haven't done in Dubai yet. First off, we checked into our suite at the Intercontinental, Festival City - much thanks to Priority Club (woot!!). We got through the UAE border quite early and Intercon allowed us early check-in as well. After checking out our room, a quick rest and unpacking our stuff, we drove off to Dubai Mall and had breakfast at Dôme.

Went to Reel Cinemas right after to pickup our movie tickets. We reserved seats online for the movie, 'The Princess and the Frog' - we needed to make sure; the last time we were here last November, we promised the little girl we'd watch the movie exactly on opening day, 24th Dec. The little girl enjoyed the movie - unfortunately, Thess and I both slept through most of the screening. It wasn't the best of Disney productions but at least the little girl appreciated it - so that was enough.

Next on the agenda was a visit in Sega Republic. Vivian had been pining for this for the longest time so we finally gave in. It was then my duty to accompany the little girl on the rides she chose to try out. The first, and as it turns out, and only ride she tried out was a ride called SpinGears. It was a roller-coaster-like ride where the cabs (four in each) spins around on its axis like a gear. It was a wild wild ride. The little girl's verdict on the ride was undecided - she says she didn't like it coz she was freaking out the entire time but I think a part of her loved it too. She spent the rest of her credits on the arcades - golf, bowling, etc.

We tried out a restaurant along The Grove called Uno, Chicago Grill. The food and service was great! We spent a good, long and lazy hour just enjoying the food and the music - a quartet was just around the bend offering Christmas tunes. Drove back the hotel right after. Enjoyed a short fireworks display we saw from our room. By12 mn, we opened gifts all around. Vivian couldn't wait to open her gifts particularly 'Santa's'. She told us her 'gift wish' shortly after the Donkey for Sale saga. Still reeling from our glee from all of that we gave in....oh, I mean we told Santa that she wanted a Hannah Montana PSPTM.

Woke up to a glorious Christmas Day! We set out late in the morning as we took our sweet time getting ready in our suite. Beeline to MoE (Mall of Emirates). We bought movie tickets to Avatar 3D and had Christmas lunch at Butcher Grill. While we waited for our food, we called our families back home to greet them Merry Christmas!! We terribly miss everyone back home. It was good to hear everyone's ok and doing well. Food arrived and we proceeded to clean up our plates - all the while though, the girl kept asking, 'is it time for the movie yet? is it time to go to the cinemas? is it time now??'. So after gorging on all that meat, we donned our 3D glasses and had one of the best rides of our lives - Avatar in 3D was just awesome. After the lengthy film, we swung by Häagen-Dazs for a few scoops...well, several scoops. Back at the hotel, we rested for a bit and decided to spend the rest of our Christmas evening at Ikea. Festival City was a quick walk from the hotel which was a good thing because my girls were both very hungry. Already had a quick dinner there and just roamed the innards of Ikea for the rest of the night.

On our last day, we had one last surprise for the little girl. Previous MoE visits, she would ask to go to Ski Dubai and everytime, we would say we don't have enough time - which was true - you'd really need a good sized morning or afternoon to make the most out of it. So this time, we decided to make a white Christmas, of sorts, out of it. Needless to say, the girl couldn't get enough out of it. The place was massive. The girl braved the bobsled and the tubing and kept wanting for more. The clincher, however, was when we started a snow fight and she started getting cold. (We saw the no-throwing-of-snow sign only on the way out so we apologize for that haha!)

Another enjoyable Christmas! Merry Christmas to our families and friends!!

Going coastal

Spoke too soon. I mistakenly entitled (and implied) the other blog entry as the last summer escapade. I was so wrong.

We'd visited this Shangri-La before, during our first year here, walked around just to see the place. We've longed since to actually try the place out...and so...(hit me).

Shangri-La is Shangri-La. Been to four so far and this Barr Al Jissah is the best we've ever tried. There are actually three different Shang hotels along the beachfront. We'd stayed in the Al Waha one which was on the far right of the strip, nestled and cupped by a mountain ridgeline behind it. The room and view was fantastic. The cove beachfront was wonderfully peaceful and serene. The staff was (more than just) helpful and attentive but never came close to being overly done. We were a bit wary of how it was like around the resort, it being Ramadan and all, but it was still very much relaxed. Drinking water was free albeit one had to be somewhat discreet. Pool bars were open for orders for food as well.

Downside to having three different hotels with various restaurant options was the travel between them. Looking forward to the seafood buffet at Al Tanoor (Al Bandar hotel side) , we decided to walk along the beachfront to the hotel on the far side only to find out it had been changed to an Iftar buffet for Ramadan. Still pining for seafood, we decided to go back to the Samba restaurant and asked the concierge to drive us back. Now driving to Al Waha, even while inside the resort, meant going thru this massive hole in the mountain with a traffic light - one way traffic at any time; I thought it amusing. Needless to say we gorged on Samba's oriental buffet.

The little girl was looking forward to some turtle viewing also but frowned in finding out that the turtle egg hatching season was over. Typically, hotel guests were prompted, even during wee hours of the morning if it came to, when the eggs would start hatching or when mother turtles would come to shore to lay their eggs. In-house Turtle Rangers make sure they are protected all year long. We even found some protected nests along the beachfront.

Upside was that she found one of her best friends from school running around the pool area with her siblings. The girls' eyes lit up when they found each other, gave each other a big big hug, and proceeded to forget their parents and play around as they wanted.

Time came to check-out and head back to the city. The girls' were comforted in knowing they'd see each other back in school soon. We definitely have to go back... if only for the turtles.

Happy New Year!

Masayang Pasko 2008

Although 24th was still a working day for me, the family was really in the Christmas mood. Vivian was on edge about the upcoming gift-wrap-tearing session. The wife was busy all day (well most of the day) in the kitchen while I was somewhat busy at work with some customer migration issues. Not quite the way it goes but still...I couldn't be happier with this. Comparing to last year's holidays, where I was driving back from the desert in time for Christmas, this was quite welcome. In any case, after a quick detour to the grocery for some last minute items, I was home.

We had a simple dinner...enough to tide us over until noche buena. Killed time watching tv and waited until it was time to leave. The little girl was reluctant to leave but gave in when we told her we'd come back soon. Vivian left cookies and milk for Santa and his reindeers and went down with mum and dad to the car.

We heard mass at the Holy Spirit Ghala Church. Needless to say for Christmas Eve, the area was packed with devotees, members of the Church, and what seemed like an all Filipino choir. It was celebrated by several priests including a Filipino priest who actually gave the sermon. The mass was held out doors, right outside the church and essentially closing out the parking area for the masses. It was a perfectly cool night for prayer and reflection. And it felt good to be around people who were of your own beliefs and traditions. Growing up in the Philippines, one gets accustomed to things that normally play out during the season. Living in a country that is predominantly non-Christian serves to highlight the difference and makes one appreciate things you had previously taken for granted - making the celebration more solemn and more real - if that makes any sense. I blather. Anyways, after a lengthy mass, of about 2 hours I think, we went back home.

The little-girl's reactions were just indescribable. Eyes popping out, she exclaimed...'Mommy!! Santa came already!!' pointing out the missing cookies, empty milk glass and the unmistakable gift-that-wasn't-there-before. Her wide-eyed grin was simply priceless. After a wonderful noche buena, which included (homemade) suman at mangga, our favourite chocolate and butter cakes, and purefoods fiesta ham (a gift from a kabayan friend) the little girl dashed (and pranced) to the tree and handed out our gifts for the tearing. We all opened our gifts - of the course, Vivian had more to open but for each gift she opened , her enthusiasm never withered. The simplest way to describe it is that she was just simply happy and excited with all of it. It was amazing. Even Thess commented on how simply happy Vivian was...it was in her eyes. Ang saya-saya lang talaga nya. Her eyes said it all

Christmas 2008

Wahiba Sands

Wednesday was declared a holiday, we therefore had a long weekend. The Talabis troupe invited us and the Velarde cast to stay overnight at the Al Areesh Camp, Wahiba Sands. We left Muscat around noon that wednesday bringing along our 4WDs (our Sportage and their Fortuners) and arrived about 2.5 hours after at the camp.
Our first test was the steep uphill climb right after the camp entrance. It took me three tries before I got up and over the climb. Disheartening as that was, I still had fun with the afternoon adventure...a ride around Wahiba Sands until sunset. The sand dunes were amazing and then Thess and Vivian were literally rolling around the sand...the fine orange sand. Our 4WD however got stuck (along with 2 other vehicles) and we weren't able to complete our trip. The other vehicle (where the wives and the kids were) finished the entire desert route. We had to content ourselves with the serenity of the desert, the fresh air and amazing sunset.
After getting pulled out by another vehicle, we drove back to the camp for a heavy buffet meal and an evening of non-stop kwentuhan. The morning after... we had breakfast (it wasn't as great as dinner but filling nonetheless). We spent some minutes at the traditional shops before leaving the camp. The girls

had some intricate henna tattoos done on their hands. After that, a quick visit with local (not so) wild-life camel...he was tranquil enough for some pictures.
Before driving back to Muscat, we allowed ourselves one last run through the desert sand. Might not have been a good decision as it definitely left me wanting more of the offroading treat.

The Tree!

Amazing what a Christmas tree can do... one fine day, I came home to find our tree set up. It was the ultimate mood swinger. Although I knew December was coming up and Christmas was just around the corner, the idea never really sunk in until the tree was up. It seemed the same for the wife and the little girl - Christmas is here!

'til next christmas

A couple of months ago we were just planning for the holidays, sending cards, gifts & wishes.... this morning i started removing the christmas decors and disassemble the tree. packed them just the way they were bought. christmas is over but time flies fast, it will be christmas once again =) just one summer away.

B-day (01-01-08)

LeTS cELeBRate !







We love you very much! - V&T

Happy New Year!

welcome 2008!

Thank YOU!

To those who sent greetings, wishes and gifts.....

ThAnK YOu vErY mUcH!