Steam Locomotives

Last Sunday, we went to Sagay City, which is more than two hours away from Bacolod City by car. Theo is not used to long trips, because even after only 30 min on the road, he would ask every few minutes how long it would take us to reach our destination. We got tired of telling him that it's still far and he eventually became tired of asking, until eventually, he fell asleep.

For Theo, however, the highlight of this trip is the steam locomotives that were on display at the Sagay City Plaza (first 3 photos below) and at the entrance of the Lopez Sugar Corporation (last 3 photos) in Fabrica, which is also part of Sagay. Since he was a toddler, he has always been fascinated by trains. Unfortunately, these steam locomotives are no longer functional but just a reminder of the glorious days when life was simpler and things were cheaper.

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Undoubtedly, I have been quite lazy when it comes to updating Theo's blog. I usually do this on Sundays, but instead of staying home on Sundays, like what we used to do in Tokyo, we often go out. Most of the time, we go to church and then have lunch at the mall. Today, however, I have a nagging sore throat, and since we already went to church yesterday afternoon, I decided that we just stay home today and laze around. We'll go out if and only if there is a power outage due to maintenance work. I'm posting this entry at 8:35 a.m. and Theo is still asleep. On weekdays, he's up before 7 a.m., given that his summer class begins at 8 a.m.

Theo holds his Transformer toy and a banana while posing with his friend Tim. Tim lives a few houses from ours and sometimes he comes to our place in the afternoon to play with Theo.


We went to the Panaad Festival last month together with my sister and her family. Here, Theo poses with the "exhibit" of the Philippine army.

This steam locomotive used to transport sugarcane from the fields to the sugar mills. Theo loves trains, simply because he grew up with trains until he was 4 years old while we were living in Japan. As expected, Theo is goofing around in this shot.

Theo talks to his cousin Lance about the steam locomotive.

During their closing ceremony at the preschool last month, Theo and his class presented a dance number wherein they acted as pirates. In this shot, Theo "poses" in his costume.

This is Theo's "alleged girlfriend", hahahaha... He said that she is his favorite female classmate. Our boy is starting to grow up.

Here's a group shot of their class after their presentation.

New Year's Eve at Palmas del Mar

New Year's Eve in the Philippines is always characterized by lots of noise and too much smoke from firecrackers. Thus, to keep Theo away from all these, we decided to spend that evening at a nearby resort, Palmas del Mar. On that night, there were only a few guests, so we literally had the place almost to ourselves. It was a relaxing time for all of us. Mommy D didn't have to cook and I didn't have to think about anything else except have fun with Theo. We actually spent much of our time in the pool and watching cable TV. Theo and I were so tired that we slept through the New Year; I remembered Mommy D waking me up at almost 1 a.m. but I soon got back to sleep. Overall, it was a memorable time for all of us, esp. for Theo. Some photos below.

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The Philippines is a tropical country; as such, the weather is warm all year round. It was sometime in November when this photo was taken. Theo is enjoying himself with his water gun in a small tub just in front of our gate.



Theo poses with some of his classmates at the nursery school where he attends. These photos were taken during their dress rehearsal for their Christmas presentation.


Theo and his classmates dance to a Michael Jackson song during their Christmas presentation.

Theo receives a gift from Santa after their Christmas presentation.

Theo's birthday is on December 26; however, they had an early celebration on December 23 at the home of his cousin Lance's paternal grandparents. The cake was from my cousin Mimi. Everyone sang the birthday song for him and he enjoyed it so much.



These photos were taken on Christmas Eve at my mother's house, where we had a sumptuous dinner. Theo and Lance goofed around, posed in front of the Christmas trees, and danced to some disco music.

Theo requested that Lightning McQueen be on his birthday cake. He got his wish last December 26.


The birthday boy blows his candles. He's now five (5) years old! Time flies indeed!


On his birthday, Theo found a playmate in my first cousin nicknamed Kikay. Although Kikay is only about a year older than him, she is actually Theo's aunt.

At Mambukal Resort

We went to Mambukal Mountain Resort yesterday, where Theo and his cousin Lance had a wonderful time playing in the swimming pool and exploring new places, such as the sulfur spring and the butterfly garden.

Like a big brother, Theo holds his younger cousin as they stroll along the mountain road.


The boiling sulfur pond in Mambukal, where the water temperature is probably 80-90 deg C, was certainly new for Theo. That pond has been there for as long as I can remember, even when I was still a kid.

There are also hundreds of bats in the area.

We also brought Theo to the first waterfalls (there are 7 natural waterfalls in Mambukal as you climb up the mountain). It was quite a long walk for him but he never got tired. He enjoyed jumping over the rocks as the water gushed beneath him. Unfortunately, when we reached the first waterwalls, the batteries of my digital camera ran out, so I had to use my cell phone camera to take these shots. Thus, the quality is not so good.



These photos below were taken about a week ago near one of our favorite restaurants.