Summertime in Orlando, FL

Summertime in Orlando, Florida

My family bought a timeshare in Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa, thinking that it will be a place for us to visit in the US when we permanently move to the Philippines. As you guys already know by now, after four months of living over there we actually ended-up moving back here.

Anyway, the three-bedroom lock-up condo is lovely and fully-equipped with beautiful lake views from the balcony! So many amenities like mini golf course, boating & kayaking in the lake, several swimming pools, restaurant on site and they are building a huge waterpark. We have had good luck renting our units on ebay year after year, so we only end-up using it one time, when we still lived in Cocoa Beach which was only about 45-minute drive. My family spent a whole week having fun in Orlando and visiting Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingom & MGM. Great location... just minutes away from SeaWorld, International Drive, Downtown and Disney. Lots and lots of fun, everybody had a blast!!!

just the three of us... boating!

one of the guys in the marina told us that the gorgeous homes across the lake are owned by celebs like Tiger Woods... we were checking them out from the water side :))

having some cocktails & watching the sunset

alayna & i are having a competitive game of golf

2 bedroom unit

*****

Disney's Magic Kingdom

tea cup ride

alayna getting an autograph from Minnie and a tour of her house

a little girl's dream come true

the Parade!

Disney's MGM

what a spectacular "Indiana Jones" live action show

Aerosmith's roller coaster ride

one of the cars from a Disney movie

strolling along

Hollywood Hotel elevator ride...

this was so terrible! kids should not be allowed on this ride... they should change the height requirement from 40'' to 50"

Nascar race... that's alayna & i ahead of the pack :))

The Beauty & the Beast live show... we were at the front row seat :))

Disney's Animal Kingdom

bus ride in the safari... crossing the bridge was creepy! it really felt like we were going to fall into the river below... a lot of mechanism involved in that (i later saw it on travel channel what Disney had to do to make that bridge move)

Millinia Mall

my little artist... constantly drawing and coloring


@ PF Chang's Chinise Bistro... one of my fav resto

Washington, DC

We had to fly to DC for my dual-citizenship (Phil-Am). I was definitely happy and relieved after eight years in the process, all wort it though! Makes travel so much easier also.

Our first visit to the nation's Capital was interesting and we should have stayed longer!

me and many other Filipinos taking the dual citizenship pledge

@ the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC

outside the Philippine Embassy... embassy row in D.C.
our hotel was just a block away

outside Courtyard, just across from the embassy

Me & Alayna
 with Marythez and LuRae
at the nearby park across the hotel where we stayed at...

Alayna & LuRae

my sweetheart

(L-R) Kayla, LuRae & Alayna

driving around DC... where's the sun?!
hmmm... i forgot it was November :))

driving around... looking at the Capitol Building from a distance

the parking around DC is very limited, so we just drove around...

it was Fall when we were there... so gloomy! oh well, i indeed up buying some postcards... much better than the photos i took

White House

closer look

the Library of Congress

Looking forward to visiting Washington, DC again and see all the interesting historical places.

Savannah, Georgia

4th of July, 2006 My family went away for a couple of days to the most charming, historic and beautiful city of Savannah, Georgia... it was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia.

This place is truly amazing! It is like being lost in the past... wherever you look, the homes and buildings are gorgeous colonial architecture, old oak trees everywhere drapped with moss, enchanting parks and even the new buildings are built to make them look like centruries old to preserve the colonial feel in the whole city of Savannah.

My family stayed at Hyatt in the Historic Riverfront. To our amazement, the hotel is very modern looking inside and out... although it is a first rate hotel, to me it’s almost an eye-sore compared to all the old charming hotels and bed & breakfast houses around. The hotel is in a great location though! the ground level is the same as the River Street where all the shops and restaurants are an attraction by themselves. We ate at a Greek Restaurant that had the best osso buco I ever eaten. The restaurant is inside a building that was built in the early 1800’s... wow, it was kind of eerie and the streets going in and out are paved with probably the original cobblestones. The following day, we went on a guided-tour bus around the city. It really felt like we had gone by in time... the good old times!

Hyatt... where we stayed

River Street... just below Hyatt Hotel

Greek Restaurant on River Street

Historic Riverfront... just outside Hyatt

we're on a Bus Tour...
horse-drawn carriage is also available for tours...

Forsytt Park... 

the building in the background was design to make it look like the Buckingham Palace

one of the many charming bed & breakfast

Savannah Cotton Exchange

Washington guns... remains from the Civil War

shops

a sad story behind this monument... a young lady waves to passing ships in hopes that it is her beloved's ship coming back from the war to marry her... but years gone by and he never did come back... she waved the flag for 44 years! wow, that's devotion...