Category Archives: Family

Take A Look Outside Disney Hollywood Hotel

We were all tired and hungry when we reached Disney Hollywood Hotel. We went inside the lobby (leaving our baggage to the usher who greeted us from the main entrance) and there we saw lot of guests (more of them were family of Indians). Hubby went to the Guest Services Counter and showed our reservation voucher given by our travel agent. To our dismay, the  CSR told us that check in time will be 2pm (we arrived there around 11am). Hubby asked if there was no other way we can get a room right at that moment because we have an infant with us. He said sorry because all the rooms were up for cleaning and will be available by 2pm. With no further adieu, we just look around the hotel’s amenities and had some few photo ops.
Inside the lobby while waiting for an available room
Park outside the hotel
Cute Mickey Mouse-shaped bench
They love it here!
Posing beside the Limo
Happy that Mom was with us
Can you see Mickey Mouse’s head?
The park was so neat and clean
Going back inside the hotel, time for lunch!
We then went back after less than an hour of strolling outside then head on to Chef Mickey’s Restaurant to have lunch.
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Arrival at Hong Kong Int’l. Airport

inside the train going to HK Immigration Booth
So there, after almost two hours up in the air, we finally stepped in at Hong Kong International Airport. I had a month of preparation and would you believe I even watched tutorials on YouTube on what should we do upon arriving at HKIA? I don’t want it to be obvious from the other passengers that we were first timers so I went to different forums and sites that talk about HongKong. Hubby let me do that task and his only participation was to pay for anything if there is the need (tickets, tip, fees etc).
In line while waiting for our turn (at her back was my son looking through HK maps on his hands)
The night before our flight, Hubby asked me if I already know how will it be when we reached HK, I said yes, I watched several tutorials I said. From getting out of the plane, to the Immigration, to Baggage Claim and lastly, in finding the booth of our travel agency that will escort us to Disney Hollywood Hotel.
at the HKIA lobby, waiting for the other guests who will be with us in the shuttle going to DHH
The thing was, when we went outside the plane, we were greeted by lots of passengers exiting from different flights. With the kids tagging along with me and my mom, I couldn’t concentrate enough to think of where we should be going. I told hubby that we should just follow the crowd. The problem was, the fellow Pinoys who were with us also don’t know where to go. I told hubby we should look for the Immigration first before claiming our bags. We just followed the arrow signs pointing to the Immigration. When it points to the escalators going down, we followed. Then we got confused when we saw a train down there. “Do we have to ride in there?” hubby asked me. I said I don’t know, there was no train mentioned in the videos that I watched. But then I said, “let’s just follow the signs”. Even those other Pinoys were in doubt if they should jumped in too. I said, we better try it and just go back if we got lost.
Our kids were all hungry and thirsty so Hubby grabbed some snacks in one of the store inside the airport
We did the right thing to do! For about five minutes or less, we stepped out of the train and saw again the arrow sign going up the escalator then points to the Immigration. But I’m still not familiar with what I saw, then an airport assistant saw us and led us to the left side when the Pinoys who were with us went on the right. Upon reaching the Immigration booth, Hubby and I were in doubt because most of the people who were in line seemed to be residents of HK. I said, I think we went the wrong way. We went back and went on the other side and there it was, the Immigration booth for visitors and other Pinoys were there too. We felt relieved and fall in line.

I don’t know if there was such a thing, a separate booth for visitors and residents of HK, but mom and I suspected that maybe the airport assistant, upon seeing my husband, chinky eyed and looked  somehow like them, thought we were residents of HK that’s why he pointed us to the opposite direction.

While waiting for our turn, the kids picked up maps and brochures of HK that were all over the airport. It was our turn finally! Hubby gave the officer our passports (he didn’t look friendly at all actually). He looked at us one by one and checked our passports. My eldest son kept on walking and didn’t saw that he was going beyond the booth. The officer said something in their language (and I know from his tone that it is not good) so I immediately grabbed my son and husband said sorry for that. He then let us pass and we went down again to claim our baggage. After that, we went out and there it was, the familiar look of the arrival hall (just exactly what I saw in Youtube). We continued to walk until we reached the travel agency booth and the representative greeted us. He said we will just wait for another passenger then he will bring us to the hotel. We waited for 10 minutes but the guests that were supposed to be with us didn’t showed up so we went out and the travel agent, named Robert, escorted us to the shuttle going to Disney Hollywood Hotel.

 Poor Mom, tired and exhausted when we finally got inside the Shuttle
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Airport Booboo

I just want to share this booboo that happened to us when we were still at the NAIA Terminal 3 on our way to Hong Kong. Hubby was the one who kept our passports and other traveling documents on his hand .Since we got there much early, we were not yet allowed to check in our baggage so Hubby went to the travel tax payment booth first. He had six passports on hand, for the 3 kids, my mom, my passport and his own. When he finished in that counter, he went back to us and ate our breakfast that we bought at Mcdo Drive-through outside. When it was time to check in our baggage, we all stood up from our seats and headed towards the check-in counter. There was an attendant who checked our passports and e-ticket before we get in. He was friendly and even joked our kids if he can come with us to see Mickey Mouse.
While waiting for our turn, I asked hubby if all our passports were secure on his bag. He said yes, and looked inside his bag and counted them in front of me. 1,2,3,4 and 5.. wait a minute I said. Did you say five?! He was supposed to be handling six passports. He checked again, and it was confirmed, only five were on his hands. Guess who’s passport was missing.. It was my youngest daughter.. the birthday celebrant.. the main reason why we are going to HK! Hubby went back to the attendant and asked if he forgot to give back one passport, he said there was nothing left on his hand. He went back to the travel tax payment booth, and excuse himself to the people who were all in line.
And there it was, my Cien’s passport was indeed left on that counter! What a relief! I scolded hubby but his face looked really stressed because of that incident and  I pitied him  instead.
While we were all inside the plane, seated comfortably, we  would laugh and talked about what if Cien’s passport really got lost and never found. All those preparations will just flew in the air and we really don’t know what might happen next.Just sharing some of my daughter’s solo pictures:

Early morning, it’s her birthday today!
at Disney Hollywood Hotel

 Silvercord (waiting for their Dad to come out inside H&M Store

 playing with her Mommy Lola’s XoXo bag:)

 in our room at Marco Polo..I super love that hooded shirt:)

 hands up!

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First Time to Fly

As I said to my post prior to this one, I will be posting more entry regarding my family’s trip to Hong Kong. Since that was my mom and our kids’ first time to board a plane, we were all very anxious and excited by that time. I was the one who purchased our plane ticket at Cebu Pacific via online a month before our scheduled trip but with hubby’s credit card details. The comfort of online transactions eh? Unlike before where you have to go directly to ticketing office and spent some time before you got a ticket.

 My Mom, my eldest son and the birthday celebrant waiting for our flight
at the assigned boarding gate, behind us is a walkalator that ain’t working:(
Well, back to the story, since we will be flying via Cebu Pacific, I browsed the net for some feedback regarding this airline. There are both positive and negative feed backs, but of course, the pessimistic me prevailed. I read about horror stories, like delayed flight, lost baggage, unfriendly staff and other unnerving stuff.
We rented a car to bring us to the airport  and we were at the NAIA Terminal 3 around 4am, almost 3 hours before our flight (much early than the usual 2 hours time allowance). The kids were all awake during our travel up to the time we boarded the plane at past 7am.

 little Cien fell asleep the minute we got inside the plane
he insisted to be seated beside the window so he could see the view below and the clouds
Luckily, our experience was not that bad at all. We had a little bumpy ride up in the sky but that was just for a while and then the rest was smooth and okay. I felt relieved when I saw that they have motion sickness bags in each seat. Remember my daughter’s dilemma when we’re traveling? Though we gave her Bonamine for kids an hour before we board, it’s still best to be ready, just in case. Good thing we had our foods with us while inside the plane because foods in there were for sale and at an expensive cost.

 Finally! After almost 2 hours we reached HKIA
We landed at Hong Kong Int’l Airport on time and by that time the kids were all giddy and up, asking ” Are we in Disneyland already? Is Mickey Mouse waiting for us outside?”..things like that.

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Hong Kong Trip 2010

Yes, our long planned Hong Kong trip finally materialized last June 11-13, 2010 as our way of celebrating my youngest 1st birthday instead of preparing a party like what we did for her brother and sister’s 1st birthday. So, expect to see lots of post here about that trip as it was an unforgettable experience for me and my family. Just to give you a glimpse, here are some of our pictures (stories to follow as I have still some tasks to do, as always).
Waiting at the NAIA Terminal 3
Our first stop, Disney Hollywood Hotel
Yummy Treat for Cien Riley on her 1st Birthday

 Hong Kong Int’l. Airport with Mom and Cien