After grinding away for over three months on a massive IT project—one that was only supposed to take six weeks but got derailed by my month-long illness—I finally hit "save" and closed the laptop. It was time for some serious family R&R. We packed up and headed to Cebu City for a four or five-night vacation. Honestly, after living in my office for three months, Jessa and Liam were probably starting to forget what I looked like!
Once we hit the city, the "vacation mode" officially activated. First stop: SM City. We were looking for the playground, but it had been moved, so we improvised. We found another spot with games, and seeing the smile on Liam’s face while he played with the simple machines reminded me exactly why we needed this trip. Even I got in on the action, shooting up some bandits in an arcade game. It’s not something I do often, but it was a blast.
Of course, vacation in the Philippines is synonymous with food. We started "healthy" with some salads, but let's be real—I knew where this was going.
The next few days were a blur of mall visits and relaxation. We spent time at Ayala Mall, where Jessa got her nails fixed while Liam and I hung out. Liam can be a bit of a "scaredy-cat" sometimes with new playgrounds, so we just spent time walking around, having snacks, and enjoying the air conditioning.
I did have one annoying "work" moment when I discovered someone was impersonating us on Facebook to scam our followers. I had to record a quick warning video to put an end to that. It’s not how I wanted to start a vacation day, but protecting our community is always a priority.
We’d planned some high-adrenaline activities like skywalking and zip-lining, but Jessa got a case of the "scares," and the facility ended up being closed anyway. Instead, we leaned into the romantic side of things and visited the "10,000 White Roses" cafe on Mactan Island. It’s a bit of a tourist trap with plastic LED roses, but the view at sunset was actually quite nice. We finished the night with a platter of fries, fish, and scallops.
The last part of our trip was more serious. We needed to get Liam to a pediatric dentist for some cavities we were worried about. Pro tip for parents: take your kids to a specialist. The pediatric dentist at Chong Hua Hospital was a miracle worker. Liam has two cavities that need filling, but the process is so smooth he won't even remember it. We’ve also officially started the "no more bottle" and "less candy" phase—wish us luck, because our boy is definitely spoiled!
We wrapped up the trip with a stop in Carcar for their famous Lechon. The rumors are true—it’s miles ahead of the city Lechon. I’d even put it on par with the best "Mountain Lechon" I’ve had.
It was the perfect "recharging" trip. Now that the big project is done and the family is happy, I’m ready to get back to work. Thanks for following us, and I’ll see you in the next one!
