Our Subic Adventure

This post was so long overdue.. I know.. (Why do I always have to start with this line?) We initially planned of going to Enchanted Kingdom but everyone says that the place is jam-packed and super crowded during the holidays so we decided to just go to Subic to visit Zoobic Safari because our little one has been bugging us to visit a zoo again.

Went there after New Year's day early in the morning and arrived at about 9am. Thank goodness for SCTEX, our travel was a breeze! but not to the whopping increase in toll fees.. (what a way to start the year for motorists!)

Anyway, entrance fee for adults is P445, kids 3ft and below are free, and our little guy who's over 3ft and below 4ft gets a P100 discount.

The park assigns 1 tour guide for approximately every 30 visitors. The walking tour was just ok but you won't be able to hear what the guide is saying. The guided tour begins with the aviary or the "Bird Walk" where there is a section where you get to feed the birds on your hands for 10 bucks. Hubby, Jared and my sis tried it while I take their picture.

Next was the Zoobic Park where there are pet friendly animals that you can interact with. I personally tried to feed the camel a small leaf and it was fun.

Then there there was an animal show composed of talented dogs, donkey and the amazing Tinikling dancing poodle.

The next was to get to the other area of the park by taking the tram ride or use your own car throughout the tour. We opted for the tram ride or the "tiger train" as what my son calls it.

We then toured the Savannah while riding on the tram wherein we got a close encounter with the friendly ostriches that seem to like my youngest sister for some reason.. haha!

Other areas are the Dear Deer, Zoobic Cave, Forbidden Cave, Serpentarium, Rodent World, Croco Loco, etc.

The main attraction was the Tiger Safari where we boarded the caged jeep that brought us to the open area to see live tigers roaming around freely. It took for only a few minutes so we were not that fascinated at all. And we only saw a few tigers.. maybe we were just not that lucky.

The whole tour took around 3 to 4 hours and we were starving by the time we finished it. We quickly headed to the Tree Top Adventure which is just a few distances away from Zoobic Safari.

There are a lot of awesome packages to choose from. And after a quick lunch we decided to try the Tree Drop Adventure - here, you'll be literally dropped from a 60 foot tree with just the harness supporting your life :). It took us sometime to convince hubby to try it though :) But man, the experience was so thrilling and at the same time frightening, really really worth it! Price is affordable and the staff are so friendly so I highly recommend it. :)

Field Trip

My son experienced his first school field trip last week. We were all so excited about it so hubby and I decided to both come with him on this special trip. OK, this is a bit overdue again as this happened more than a week ago. I really want to be active in blogging again but couldn't really find the time.. :( ok, back to the story..

I woke up earlier than the two boys as I need to prepare our baon first. The hubby requested sandwiches so I prepared different kinds.. with all the works! Good thing he liked it! Then after a little while, H woke up and got ready. We had a hard time waking the little one up so I just changed his clothes, brought him to the car and headed to the school.

We arrived earlier than the scheduled time but there were already a lot of people - shows how excited the parents are for their kids. My son was doubly excited on this trip because aside from it being his first trip with classmates, it was his first time to ride a bus. He finds it so cool to ride the bus. It's because he hasn't experienced it by commuting. Yeah, wait till you finally try it. :)

We arrived in Ocean Adventure around 9am and started touring the place. We were divided into groups and each group has its designated guide. We went to the Discovery Aquarium first. It was a small place with few sea creatures but my son really enjoyed this place as he was not that entertained with the succeeding activities we had.

Next was the Olongapo Jones show which all about going green and saving the environment. I got a bit bored with this show but the trampoline boys are amazing. But I don't have a photo of them :(

Then we watched the Sea Lion show which was entertaining to me but not to my son. He seemed bored while watching it. And he's already hungry at this time, maybe that is why.

Next was the Dolphin show which was my favorite. I was really amazed with the show so I was only able to take a few photos. It made me think how they trained these dolphins, genius! :)

at the end of the show, here are their tails waving goodbye

The last show was the Walk on the Wild Side which features ways on how to survive in the forest. It was not at all appealing to me and by this time we were all very hungry so we decided to stop watching and headed on to the lunch area.

After having lunch, the kids went swimming and played some group games which was very entertaining for us, parents.

On they way home while still in SBMA, we saw some monkeys on the side of the road but too bad my son was already asleep as he was really exhausted. It was really a fun and tiring trip. Till the next school field trip :)

Kids Earth Hour

We went to Trinoma to attend the Kids Earth Hour 2010, an event which promotes both kids' being physically active and environmentally aware. It aims to promote fitness among kids without using any electronic things mainly by playing outdoors. You know kids these days, they spent most of their time on video games and computers which is not so healthy for them. I wish all kids would get to experience and learn the joy of playing outdoors.

Arrived at around five in the afternoon, just in time for registration. It was held at the 3rd level of Trinoma, wherein the venue was transformed into a giant playground. The kids enjoyed playing hopball, spider web, the giant trampoline, rocky mountain climbing, slide, earth walk and the velcroman.

Jared trying out the rocky mountain and slide

the spider web and the pool of balls

the nice lady teaching Jared how to play the hop ball

There was also a shadow play but we were not able to watch it since we had dinner at that time. Anyway, we went back immediately and when the lights were switched off, they distributed glow sticks for kids. Thanks to the major sponsor, Sustagen, who made this event really fun and enjoyable for kids as well as the parents too.

Again, let's all encourage our kids to unplug and play outdoors :)

Kids' Day Out

This post was a bit overdue because of some internet connection problems that we had for less than a week. Anyway, I still wanted to blog about it because my little one really had fun on this event. We went to the Mall of Asia 2 weeks ago with my friends Nec, Mike and their daughter, Lily. It was Nec who invited us since they have extra tickets and we had it all for free! (super thanks Nec!)

It started at exactly 4pm but we were not able to come to the venue on time since we grabbed some snack before going there. Nec and her family were there on the first appearance of Dora so they got to take really good photos with the mascot.

while Jared had it with other kids at the event

I thought that Spongebob will be there too along with Dora and Boots but too bad Dora was the only one who showed up. I just learned from Nec that Spongebob was in The Block, SM North at that same date and time. Anyway, there were lots of activities and games for kids, freebies for everyone and my favorite of all was the photo booth - the coolest and super "in" thing for parties and other events.

The program lasted only for about more than two hours but we definitely had fun. :)

We went home after dinner which was already past 8 in the evening. And this was our last photo before leaving the mall. I wanted to have that big colorful globe in our background but the cab blocked in and it was just my hubby who took the photo so it came out not that good. Oh well, next time :)

Our Saturday Adventure

I've heard a lot of good reviews about this kiddie place in C-5 so H and I decided to bring our little one last Saturday. Our first stop was Ark Avilon Zoo. It was an indoor petting zoo wherein you can get the chance to touch or interact with some of the animals. Entrance fee is 300 pesos for adults and 200 for kids.

At the entrance of the zoo. It looks like the Noah's ark we see in books but I was not able to take a photo of it.

First, we checked out the animals in the cages. There was a pair of puma, tiger, sun bear and jaguar. Other animals were the Malayan Tapir, Silvery Gibbon, White Tiger. There were carps, tortoises, turtles, and different kinds of birds on the middle part of the first floor.

Then we proceeded on taking photos with the friendly birds.

A family picture with the newest member, the orangutan :)

At the bridge, where the alligators, arapaimas and flamingos are located.

On the way to the 2nd floor, you'll see an aquarium with eels, different fishes and a turtle.

The upper floor contains other reptiles, birds and domestic animals like sheep, goat, and horse. There is also a feeding station wherein you get to feed the animals personally but of course with a fee.

Jared and H tried feeding the hamsters and rabbits and the carrot was finished off in no time at all.

After Ark Avilon and lunch at Tiendesitas, we headed to the Fun Ranch to complete the little one's day out.

At the Fun Ranch Bridge

Went to Active Fun so the little one can play and maybe interact with other kids. There were tunnels, slides, balls and other toys to keep the kids occupied while parents can go shopping. In our case, H accompanied Jared inside while I check out other shops outside.

Entrance at active fun is 175 for kids and 125 for adults, both are hourly rates. Don't forget to bring socks, they're a must. But you can buy from them if don't have one.

After an hour at Active Fun we decided to call it a day so we headed to the parking area. But when we got into the car, the little one requested that we go back for a 2nd visit to the zoo so he can see the tiger again. And how can we say no to that? So we headed back. The good thing about going back.. we saw Kuya Kim of Matanglawin (ABS-CBN TV Program) at the zoo. I immediately asked him if we could take his picture with our little one and he gladly obliged :)