First, the back story.
It is Tsien family tradition to get together for Chinese New Year going back as far as I can remember. CNY is the biggest holiday for Chinese people and would be like if you combined Thanksgiving and Christmas (food, presents and family) with Fourth of July (fireworks, family and more food).
It's a big deal.
In the past few years, we've celebrated without my sister Joy's family because they had developed a tradition of going skiing with a group of their own friends in Japan during the CNY holiday. My mom and other sisters don't do skiing.
Unfortunately for Joy, the group that they usually go with decided that skiing was getting expensive and that they were going to go somewhere warm, now, instead, and chose Cebu, which is an island in the south of the Philippines. This opened up the possibility of the rest of us crashing her party. :) So fun.
Cebu has interesting history, actually. It's where Magellan was killed during his effort to circumnavigate the globe. In fact, our resort was located in a town named after the man who commanded the local forces during the battle in which Magellan was killed, Lapu-Lapu. Lapu-Lapu is widely considered the Philippines first national hero. Score one for the natives. Fun stuff.
In fact, there are historical sites scattered around that would interest the historically minded traveler.
We, however, simply stayed at the resort and didn't go out.
Day 1
The trip over was easy. Just over two hours, direct to Cebu, and from the airport, 20 minutes or so to the resort. It was Margaret's first trip and we were very concerned. As it turns out, our concerns were misplaced.
Below, you see her on the plane, in her bassinet, happy as a clam. Usually, the lay flat seats are in First Class and cost tons more. Too bad for her, she's going to grow out of the bassinets in no time.
What you see above her is her pacifier hanging from the shade of the bassinet in place of a hanging toy. It worked.
Due to scheduling vagaries, the Taipei Tsiens arrived the day before us and were already settled in. My mom, Philip and Nicky met us in the lobby and hung out with us for awhile before letting us get settled in and feed and bathe Margaret. In this photo from the sneak preview, you can see us bathing her in the rather deep hotel sink which did not work as well as we would have liked.
You can't tell from the photo, but there was a lot of screaming. We resolved to use the tub next time.
We had dinner that night at the hotel coffee shop which was just an easy way to unwind after the travel. There were many burgers ordered as Sarah discovered during her lunch that they were very delicious at the coffee shop.
In the corner of the top photo, you can see our new stroller which was Margaret's RV during this trip. It was a primo hand me down from Joannie who had brought a veritable treasure trove of baby things ranging from the stroller, to breast milk bags to toys that she must have been storing for the past five years. Thanks, Joannie!
Day 2
On Day 2, I went for a dive in the morning while Joy, Gayle, Philip and Joey took a brief orientation on SCUBA diving to prepare for a dive that afternoon.
During the afternoon lunch break, we actually tried to get Margaret wet.
Here you see the result from Margaret's first swim ever.
Only the Bush administration could have possibly considered categorizing it as a success.
There was, however, an opportunity for some cute, "not amused" shots of Margaret as a result.
The dive in the afternoon with Gayle, Joy, Joey and Philip went well. The kids had a blast. The hotel is on a strip of protected water and reef, so there were tons of fish which we fed with leftover rolls from the hotel. Here you see the intrepid divers post DSD - or "Discover Scuba Dive" for those in the know.
After that, it was time to hit the beach!
Margaret didn't so much enjoy the beach. But we still did. We're sure (we hope) she'll grow to love crystal clear waters, blue sky and soft sand once she's older.
Margaret's day ended with a bath, which she enjoyed much more while sitting in the bathtub with daddy, rather than the sink.
The big kids spent the rest of the evening having dinner and playing cards where Uncle John, despite doing his best to lose money to the kids during traditional Chinese New Year gambling, ended the evening up. If only it were like that in 'Vegas.
Day 3 - Chinese New Year
Day 3 started with some of us sleeping in and enjoying the big, fluffy hotel bed even though she had her own hotel crib complete with fluffy pillow and meticulously made sateen hotel sheets.
Then, it was off for a morning dive with Philip and Joey while Andrew did a separate SCUBA training class for younger kids.
Lunch with the family was followed by a swim with Margaret during which she responded much better than on the first day.
You can see video footage from the below pool session in yesterdays video blog post.
Pool time was followed by a family dinner, then an evening of gambling in my mom's room. The kids had a great time and with Auntie Gayle dealing, they earned some more money as well.
Day 4
This was our second to last day, but my mom's last day due to their wish to catch a direct flight back to Taipei.
Mom and Margaret shared a quiet moment in the room before breakfast. The coffee shop was completely swamped, and so we were glad for the quiet moment. That didn't stop Margaret from attracting the attention of the whole family, however!
We spent the rest of the morning before the Taipei crew left together in my mother's room.
We were all sad to part company, and did so with great reluctance.
The one consolation was that that is the mark of a truly successful vacation.
Of course, I took the afternoon to go diving again (guilt free, now, as my mom was all gone), after which I definitely felt like I was a bit tingly from all that nitrogen.
Then, after a decadent room service lunch of hamburgers with my wife (room service was always strictly off limits as a child - it was something only rich people did), we took Margaret on her last swim of the holiday.
Some of you may remember this picture from yesterday.
What you don't see is that I spent most of the "swim" holding Margaret, with Sarah admonishing me every thirty seconds to, "be careful, her mouth is almost in the water!"
HA!
Success!
She stayed in the water for a long time and we even went up and down the pool a few times. Waterboarding our daughter aside, I would consider this a successful introduction of our daughter to a life of leisure in and around the pool.
Dinner was a date night (sorry, no photos) with just the three of us at "Cowrie Cove," the hotel's hip, swinging seafood bar / restaurant. Very romantic.
Day 5
The final few hours of our stay in Cebu went quickly. We had breakfast not at the hotel coffee shop, but at the Italian restaurant, Aqua which was less crowded because fewer people knew it actually served breakfast.
Here you see Margaret in her stroller at breakfast.
They didn't have the honey ham I loved at the coffee shop, but beggars can't be choosers at five star resort hotels, I suppose.
Then, it was back to the room to pack and we were off to the airport.
Now we're back in Hong Kong. Cold, smoggy Hong Kong with only the memories of Cebu to keep us warm.
The good news is that it looks like the whole family wants to go back next year. The quality of the resort and the fact that it's only a couple of hours away both recommend the place.
That's good for us! We can continue with Margaret's education on how to love the beach and I can get some more diving in.
But I think it'll only be fun if Joy and her friends are here as well. It definitely wouldn't be as much fun if it were our own vacation!
