day 633 | july 22, 2012 | Manila

this was my first flight alone with red, though it isn't red's first airplane ride. her first flight was a short stint from KL to Singapore when we moved back from our posting, and she made her daddy suffer for it. an inconsolable crying baby onboard must have been tough on him and the rest of the folks in the cabin.

so when it was time for our annual trip to the philippines, i was understandably worried about a similar experience. red is very assertive, especially for my attention. perhaps she feels she needs to compete with her elder sister. what she wants, she wants NOW.


whenever it's just the two of us though, she can be surprisingly zen. she managed to charm the skirts off our seat mates on this flight. they were all cooing about how well-behaved she is, and i had to keep my face straight when i replied with polite 'thank you's.
as soon as we arrived, we were off to a baby shower! red behaved fabulously despite being tired from travel.
we stayed at an apartment right beside greenbelt, and we chose it for the location. it made it easy to meet-up with everyone we wanted to catch-up with. it was also fairly easy to catch a cab around the area (as long as it's not raining).
managed to squeeze in a couple of misadventures, one of which resulted in a day long recovery from a hangover.  
after a couple of days, roo flew in with H, and the whole family was complete. spent most of our time catching up with family and friends.
 
roo and red enjoyed a mixed playdate of little ones, adorable pups, and not-so-old high school friends.
after manila, we spent a couple of nights at tagaytay for lucy's lovely wedding. the little ones enjoyed the space, and i was very thankful lucy's sister had little ones as well -- so the band of shorties were doing their own thing while the grown-ups sorted out last minute details. we struggled to put red to sleep on our first night as she was just so excited by the energy around the house.
lovely mother and child art at the patio...
my manila trips are always too quick, regardless of how long i stay. time with loved ones is precious and increasingly scarce, especially with everyone moving all over the globe. still, ever thankful that i get this opportunity to stay connected with the place and people i grew up with.
a moment between the two girls, before our flight back to singapore. they've travelled well together, and i'm looking forward to more trips with the both of them. one of my dreams is to revisit my childhood places with them, some of which i have not seen for decades.

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