My husband and I planned our vacation for about 6 months, and when he finally booked our tickets 3 months prior we were all already very excited. Every month if we can, we would buy a couple of things to bring to the Philippines. We were only able to fill our balikbayan box by the end of November. We had no savings as it was our first year as a family abroad but my my husband and I agreed to take the opportunity to go on vacation while our parents are still strong. (Remember November 2010 when my mom had her 5th heart attack and none of us can go back home that easily as we left the Philippines a month prior to her attack.)
Prior to our vacay, we planned to bring the kids to Enchanted Kingdom, take the whole family out to dinner, go bonding with my parents, watch a movie with the family and meet all our friends during our 3-week stay in our beloved country. I even planned to go to Baclaran and attend the Wednesday masses and at the same time buy stuff that my kids would be needing for school. All those plans were for naught... 2 days after we arrived, we found ourselves at Casa Medica for various reasons. My kids and I were suffering from terrible cough and colds while my son Alloy had high grade fever. My husband I were up most of the time to make sure that Alloy's fever went down. His fever which was supposed to last for 3-4 days went on and on till it for about a week. By the 30th of December which was our Family reunion, I was feverish myself and the next day, my youngest son was feverish too! I found myself postponing or cancelling scheduled meeting with friends. Most of our cash just went to doctors' PF and medicines. Then 2 days prior to our scheduled flight back to KSA, my daughter and husband got sick.
Of course we will always be thankful for the time that we were able to spend Christmas and New Year with family but it would have been better if we were all "fever-free". I have a lot more to share but for now I'd have to park this as there are just a lot of stuff that I need to clear out. Though it may be terribly late I would like to greet each and everyone a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!
