Michi Photostory: holiday

Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts

April 11, 2023

Holy Week in Norway

Just like that, the long holiday is finally over and the alarm clock is on again. Well, we did not travel last week so I will just share our Holy Week last year. This was our third Holy Week in Norway; we were in Røros in 2017, Oslo in 2019 and last year we were able to visit Stugudalen.

Read: Easter in Norway

Easter Monday in Norway

I was looking forward to our Holy Week break because even though we are in Norway, my son has classes so hindi rin naman kami makapagtravel talaga so naghihintay talaga ko ng walang pasok. Unfortunately, the weather was not good so we were stuck at home for the first few days. My son was preoccupied with his project. I’m thankful that my mom has the materials so I was able to save money, no need to buy art materials.

Anyway, my mom’s sister-in-law has a cottage in Stugudalen and they usually go there every Holy Week so my mom decided to visit so we can meet them again after two decades. We were supposed to stay in Stugudalen but all accommodations were fully-booked. But we still pushed our trip kahit day tour na lang. So we had a last-minute grocery shopping so I can cook Pork and Liver adobo for our potluck. We also took advantage of the Easter Sale so we bought some chocolates.

Day Trip at Stugudalen and Tydal Nature Park

Travel time is more than four hours so we left early to catch the first boat trip. No more snow in Ørland but when we reached Stugudalen, parang Winter Wonderland na naman. We also dropped by at Tydal Nature Park on our way home. This deserves a separate post.

We traveled more than 5 hours on our way home because we did not ride a Ferry so it was a long drive but I was able to see the second-longest bridge span in Norway which is Hålogaland Bridge.

Northern Lights

It was a long day for us but I couldn’t sleep yet because according to the Northern Lights forecast, there will be an 83% chance of Northern Lights. This was my second Aurora Borealis experience in Norway and the first experience for my son.

Easter Sunday

My aunt invited us for Easter lunch so we eat, play, eat, and play. We also had an Easter egg hunt and I won.

May 19, 2022

17th of May Celebration in Norway During COVID19

It’s been more than two years of dealing with COVID19 but I’m glad that we are starting to go back to normal. We’re still in Norway so we were able to experience the 17th of May and I was so happy because we were part of it again. For the last two years, Norway was not able to celebrate or follow its old traditions because of corona restrictions. Fortunately, last May 17, 2022 they were back to their regular program, they have events from morning until evening.

Since the last week of April, the weather is not good so we rarely go out of the house. Seeing Mr. Sun again makes me happy and I’m thankful for the good weather. And because of that, we were able to watch the children’s parade at the Sentrum, though the parade lasted only 10 minutes compared to our previous experiences.

It is nice to see their National Costumes; the clothes, shoes, and accessories are not cheap, para na ko bumili ng second-hand car sa Pilipinas sa sobrang mahal. You can check my old posts about Norway National Day, here and here.

We always celebrate the 17th of May at home but two days ago, my aunt invited us to have lunch at her home. We did not cook any meal and my mom just brought pavlova dessert. May 17th is not complete without Pavlova, this is one of my favorite desserts here in Norway. We enjoyed our food trip at my aunt’s place, though nabitin lang because we need to go home early kasi may pasok pa kami ng midnight, need to sleep early.

January 26, 2022

Breakfast at Napa at Crosswinds

“For Christmas is tradition time - traditions that recall the precious memories down the years, the sameness of them all.” Helen Lowrie Marshall

It’s been seven consecutive years that we’ve going to Tagaytay every Christmas Day. It was one of our holiday traditions that we try to keep so I’m thankful that despite the global pandemic, we were able to go out during Christmas Day. Here are the restaurants that we have tried for the past several years.

Breakfast at Antonio’s

Cafe Veranda at Taal Vista Hotel

Verbena Restaurant of Discovery Country Suites

Cafe Voi La

Sonya’s Garden

Among the five restaurants, we frequent Verbena Restaurant because of the less crowd, yummy food, and good customer service. Good thing that we planned to eat at Napa at Crosswinds because we have no idea that Discovery Country Suites is already closed, I’m not sure kung under renovation lang pero sira na siya nung dumaan kami.

Anyway let us go back to our topic, we first visited Crosswinds “Swiss Luxury Resort” way back in 2012 and since then we have also frequented this place for a staycation or food trip. In a span of one decade, they already built few cafes and restaurants like Coffee Project Crosswinds, Cafe Voi La Crosswinds, Ruined Project, Napa at Crosswinds, Windmill Lausanne, and Yama Crosswinds.

Read: Staycation at Crosswinds Swiss Luxury Resort

We only tried Cafe Voi La so last Christmas we decided to visit Napa at Crosswinds. Napa is inspired by the popular place in California which is Napa Valley. You will easily notice the cabin-themed and rustic interiors of the cafe. You can see wooden benches, tables and floors, and wine barrels. And of course, Crosswinds is known for the Swiss-inspired themes so this cafe has a relaxing ambiance. You can choose indoors or al fresco dining.

We left the house before 5:30AM and we arrived at the cafe after one hour of traveling. The parking is limited so we are thankful na nakapagpark pa near the cafe or else, malayong lakaran. Marami na rin tao and yung iba hindi na nakapaghintay so umalis na and because of that, lumapit na ang pila namin.

Opening time is 7AM but unfortunately, hindi on-time yung pag-open. The staff ushered the guest one group at a time. As I’ve said before, you can choose indoor or outdoor but we prefer indoor (with a good view) because it is cold and windy. We prefer the second floor but the staff said, hindi pa daw pwede so we settled for this spot na lang. So kahit mauna ka pala, hindi ka naman makapili ng gusto mong place.

We were waiting at the table for several minutes already pero walang lumalapit na staff to get our order so kung hindi pa kami tumayo at nag-ikot sa cafe, hindi namin malalaman na self-service pala so we fell in line na and I noticed that the second floor is already occupied so mas okay pala mahuli? #bitter

Since it was our first time, we were having a hard time choosing from their menu so we ended up ordering kung ano yung nasa picture. hehehe! We ordered Long Drive Breakfast PHP525, Pancetta and Eggs PHP535, Grilled 4 Cheese Sandwich PHP305, Capuccino PHP245, Premium Chocolate PHP280, Vietnamese Latte PHP270, and Basque Cheesecake PHP245. Take note Cash Payment Only.

I was surprised that after six minutes, our order is ready for pick-up, which was so fast. But we were disappointed because the food is cold. Kaya pala mabilis lang, I assumed precooked na mga foods and nagplating na lang. Yung fries na lang ang lamig, sino ba gusto kumain ng malamig na fries?

Ang ganda pa naman nung nakapost sa restaurant nila. “Napa is a place where you can have breakfast at any time of the day with a view to match every soul’s troubles” Kaso kung malamig ang food hindi nakakacomfort ng soul.

The cafe is located in the cold place of Tagaytay, we ordered breakfast meal and the price is not cheap so we were expecting warm foods. Buti na lang yung drinks, hot talaga. Mas masarap siguro yung Pancetta and Eggs kung mainit. We like cheesecake but we don’t like the taste of their Basque Cheesecake. Despite my disappointments, I’m still happy that I was able to visit this place, at least nag-iba ng ambiance. Charged to experience na lang.

Watch the video here

Napa at Crosswinds

Open daily from 7 AM to 9 PM

Crosswinds, Tagaytay, 4120 Cavite

January 18, 2022

Holiday 2021

January is already more than half over but I am still not yet finished with my holiday posts. But I’m getting there, in fact, I’ve been super productive for the past few weeks of this brand year of 2022. Well, it just so happened that we’re back to living under a rock because of the increasing COVID19 cases. I canceled some of my “things to do” because I don’t want to go out yet so I am spending more time blogging.

As always, the last quarter of the year is overwhelming because of the endless-to-do list and fully-booked schedules. But now I'm ready to blog after a BUSY December month. So let me start reflecting on what happened last holiday or should I say last month. Aside from doing bank errands and paying the due dates, naging fruitful naman ang December namin.

1st Week of December

I miss traveling but because of the COVID19 virus, I was hesitant to plan so I was grateful when my husband’s company planned for a team celebration including the family. Normally, employees lang naman ang kasama sa mga ganyan so this was the first time na pwede kasama ang family.

Yey, after six months we were able to travel again and we’re back to The Farm at San Benito. Would you believe that our last out of town was at The Farm at San Benito too? We stayed here way back in November 2019 and I did not expect that we will return because the rate is not cheap. Anyway, we were fortunate to stay at The Narra Villa, I will blog about this in a separate post but you can read my old posts about this holistic resort.

Read: Sweet Escape at The Farm at San Benito

What to Eat at The Farm at San Benito

2nd Week of December

It was my son’s Confirmation, I was not able to attend because only one parent and one godparent are allowed inside the church. My husband just fetched me after the Confirmation and we went to the mall to celebrate.

Read: Ethan’s Confirmation

3rd Week of December

Third week of December is the Second Periodical Test of my son and tumapat pa yung brownout and no internet sa bahay. But I’m thankful that my son was able to take all his exams even we have no electricity and internet connection at home. We went to my in-laws when we had no electricity and we just used mobile data when we had no internet connection.

4th Week of December

I’ve been waiting for the school break so we can apply for National ID and I am so happy na walang mahabang pila and wala din kaming kasabay na iba. And dahil pwede na bata sa labas, we went to Landers after that. It was my son’s first trip to the grocery ever since the community quarantine started.

No face-to-face get-together so my college friends and I had a virtual get-together for the second time around.

We always have a family reunion every December 24 so my husband filed a vacation leave because it is no longer a holiday. I prepared mashed potato, buttered vegetables, gravy, and wagyu steak (grill your own) for our potluck.

For our own celebration, we had DIY Seafood Hotpot.

The following day, we spent our Christmas Morning at Napa at Crosswinds.

5th Week of December

Going to Valenzuela no longer excites me because it always reminds me that my sister is not here but of course, I have to visit my family there. I know for a fact that time won’t heal my pain, I just need to try my best to move forward and live again. Before we went home, we had lunch at Samgyupsalan together with my late sister’s children.

“God is the place our hearts can go on the hard days and the happy ones, in the highs and lows.” - Holly Gerth

I was planning a charcuterie board for our New Year’s dinner but I learned that it is also my sister-in-law’s potluck. Waah! I don’t have time to cook na so thanks to Purefoods Squid Rings, Tail on Shrimp and Shrimp Tempura, may nadala ko. I also brought cheese, nuts, grapes, and roast chicken.

My husband has been planning for our holiday getaway kaso puro fully booked na sa date na gusto niya. Thank God, he was able to book at “Acuaverde Resort” before the year ends for our extended holiday. This is our second time visiting the resort and for a change, we stayed for three days.

Read: Day Trip at Acuaverde Resort

And of course, for our New Year’s Eve, we’re supposed to eat baby back ribs with fries and corn, dinner roll and chocolate cake pero tinamad na kami magprepare kasi wala na din gustong kumain so naging New Year lunch na lang namin. Hehehe! This is the perks of having a family of three, walang hirap sa pagprepare. We only prepare what we can consume.