------This is supposed to be an end of May/summer post.------

 Haha! Anyway, better late than never. 

So May just ended, bringing along summer with it. I want to bring some heat into this wet season with a beach trip we had with Niklaus and a few of my closest friends. IT WAS A FIRST FOR NIKLAUS! Another milestone that we, my husband and I, got to witness! YAY!

We went to Pico De Loro at the Hamilo Coast, Batangas. It was a three to four hours drive from Manila. Pico De Loro is an exclusive beach club, open only to members and their guests. There are two types of accommodation, one is you could rent out a unit and get an authorization from the unit owner or you could book a hotel which I haven’t tried so know more details here. 

On our way to Hamilo Coast, we couldn't resist not stopping by with that view above. The scorching sun didn't stop us either to have a mini photoshoot.

My going to the beach outfit (Gingham top from Bench #lovelocal, Denim shorts from H&M #thrifted, Bacon and egg socks from Iconic and White sneakers from Converse)

Family picture! This is the best we can get with the intense heat! Haha.

Candid shot, naks!

My beautiful ladies, #girlsquad. All blooming in their floral dresses and top, unfortunately, I didn't get the memo. lol. Look at Niklaus getting super annoyed with sunlight.

Taking a break from sunlight! That smirk is love!

His face says: "what are you doing, Mommy? can we please get in the car?" haha

Here is Pico De Loro. The Lagoon view across the condominiums and hotels is just calming.

Look at those lovely ducks!

Niklaus' first bus ride, and his super annoyed face with the heat.

We arrived at Pico de Loro just in time for lunch, so we headed straight to the restaurant. There are only a few food options at Pico de Loro, one at the country club, another at the hotel and lastly by the beach. And, may I add all our overpriced! Ha!

This little human surely got exhausted from the long drive and the intense summer heat. When we got to our room he got super excited with the view of the the bed and good air conditioning, it surely got him back into good mood.

Since this is a first beach trip of Niklaus, we really took the opportunity to get lots of photos while the sun is still out. Niklaus is trying his best to be cooperative amidst the heat. Look at his face on the next photo.

He finally had enough! haha

Finally some shade.

Enjoying the beach.

So, while the baby is asleep and the daddy is enjoying his Php300+ halo-halo (i still couldn't get over the price of the halo-halo, it's totally overpriced!). My girls and I had a little photoshoot by the beach. Enjoy!

There are too may people on the beach that day, but no one will stop me from my #traveljumpshot.

Definitely, a candid shot!

Good afternoon Niklaus!

Testing the water with daddy!

Once the sun went down, Niklaus instantly changed his mood from annoyed to playful.

Tasting the salt water! haha

We really were concerned at first that Niklaus would not enjoy the beach, luckily, it was just the sun that's annoying him. Look at him all by himself playing with the sand.

This trip is only overnight, too short for me but just enough for Niklaus to have fun and experience the beach. With the more than three hours drive and I am so grateful that Niklaus was in his best behavior. He slept half of the drive and when he’s awake, he just watched the cars outside. We’re very lucky parents! He obviously enjoyed the beach, the salt water and the sand.We will surely be back, maybe, with white sand beach?

'Til the next trip, bye for now!

Love

~A

----all rights on the content and photos on this post are reserved to me----

A Day At Venice

You may think that our family went on a luxury vacation to Venice, Italy. Unfortunately and fortunately, this place is just in Taguig City. We went to Mckinley Hill a few days ago to do some errands, i.e., camera repair. Luckily, the repair center is right beside the Venice Piazza Mall, and so off we go. It’s actually our first time, so my husband and I got really excited. Venice Piazza Mall is inspired by the grandeur of the Piazza San Marco of Italy, with just an Uber ride. 

I really love how the mall has made you feel like you’re in Italy and they have wide range of restaurants, too. Since the place screams Venetian, I notice that most of the restaurant also offers Italian but has still kept some Filipino favorites, too. 

Some point of improvements to the mall, one is their ventilation, with the intense heat in Manila, the mall could do some improvement in this area since most of the hallway are open, hence, no airconditioning. Another point of improvement is the signage, we got lost a couple of times and a little help from the signage would be a lot of help. All in all, we enjoyed our stroll and took a lot of photos. Most of the areas are instagram worthy. Here are some of our lovely photos.

Me hearties!

Busy enjoying the architectures! lol.

Day or night, this place is just so lovely!

Favorite spot!!! My dream is that every corner in the city will have some beauty like this. Calling all urban planners, please make this happen!

Inarte lang po! hihi ^___^

 

Enjoying the view!

The camera who took most of the photos, by itsself! lol

 

For those of you who are planning to visit this mall, here are a few tips: 

1.       Be sure to bring some water, actually this tip applies wherever place you plan to go.

2.       If you’re a first timer like us, be sure to have a lot of patience because you’ll probably get lost, too, hopefully, not as much as we do. The instagram worthy spots would compensate for this part though.

3.       I didn’t get the rates for the boat ride since we could not ride as we brought my son’s stroller, so if you’re with a baby, it’s best if you would put him in a carrier. 

That’s all!

Happy Long Weekends!

Love

~A