Saturday, August 7, 2010

Homecoming

So I've been telling whoever cares to listen - friends are good :) - that I have my heart set on going back to Manila to celebrate Swe-cha's 1st birthday.

I felt the urge exactly 13 days ago and immediately started looking around and doing research - basically, checking to see how feasible a December vacation will be for our family. It occurred to me that there would be lots of factors involved and that they have to all fall in place but I am hopeful that this will push through.

Among our considerations, the most major are:
- award tickets from PAL (if we do not get the award tickets, it doesn't make sense to fly during that time because of the costs), we're currently priority waitlisted* for a couple of dates and just plain waitlisted for a few more dates.
- award tickets from Delta (not a requirement but would be great if we could get award tickets for NJ to CA tickets for maximum savings)
- a stopover in California (a must)
- leave from work
- trans-atlantic travel with a one year old (eek!)

and with that...
- which baby gear to bring along
- pumping breastmilk and all the parts to bring along & sterilize (unfortunately, my son does not direct feed from me)
- feeding bottles and nipples

Milk-wise, we're going to go with disposables as much as we can so the Playtex nursers are going to get a lot of use. I'm just iffy because our Playtex nursers (premium set) are made of plastic that is easily cracked unlike the older ones, I still prefer the original.

Secondary considerations - and the most fun, if I may say so:
- 1st bday party venue (check, Mom is taking care of this)
- caterer & food (Mom / brother are scouting for suppliers)
- decorations / venue dress up (found recommendations thru n@w)
- entertainment, souvenirs and prizes (found recommendations thru n@w)
- photographer & videographer (found recommendations thru n@w)
- clothes!

Luggage wise, I'm thinking that we could assemble a balikbayan box (for personal supplies and pasalubong) and have this sent ahead to our home in Manila. This should reduce the amount of luggage we have to bring with us.

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* I asked the PAL booking agent what "priority waitlisted" meant and was told that it means that there is a big possibility that our seats will be confirmed.

3 comments:

meekerz said...

Once you book your flight, request for the front row and request for an infant bassinet. (Well, I've always read that in articles/blogs, but I don't know if all planes have those.) Good luck! :)

popcorn said...

Hi Meekerz,

Any idea if kakasya ang 1 year old infant sa bassinet ? I checked PAL's website and it indicates that they only allow infants up to 6 months old sa bassinets. But a friend recently travelled (some other airline) and they put their almost-2 year old sa bassinet, lampas pa yata yung paa.

Marilou / Lucky Cow Shop said...

mukhang super excited ka ah... super excited talaga pag mag 1 na ang baby

popcorn, parang masyadong malaki na ang 1 year old for bassinet. pero basta matibay and kaya naman, and kung papayag yung sa airlines, puede na hehe