Pasyal at Pahinga

  We were checked it at Marriott Hotel in Clark and I asked my kids if they wanted to stay in the hotel (where they can enjoy the amenities and free wifi) or if they wanted to go to Zoocobia. Of course I hoped for some outdoor fun with the kids, but you never know these days - my older kids have complained about reduced wifi time a lot.  Any place without a good connection is a source of pouty faces. But Zoocobia was fun enough to make them forget their gadgets, at least even for a little bit. The Zooc ride was definitely a crowd-pleaser.  Adults and kids alike got to enjoy the gravity-fuelled luge ride.  We had to climb a hill to get to the loading area where the attendant gave us a briefing (and took these pics!). Spacious enough for an adult and a child, the gravity car allowed me to take Lauan with me (he was not happy about that! He wanted to drive the car on his own but young kids are not allowed to ride without adult supervision).  My older kids though, l...

I realize that over the decades, my family frequently visited Pampanga for brief vacations. We don't have family or friends to visit in Pampanga - and there's really no reason for us to visit the place other than tourism. Looking back, I see how our activities in Pampanga have evolved through the years.  Last week, my sister booked us at the Marriott Hotel in Clark. We were amazed at all the new developments we saw in the area, even with the pandemic! We started to reminisce about old visits and we took stock of the evolution of our family's Pampanga visits.                           My earliest memories of Pampanga are tied to trips to Baguio. It was always just a pit stop on our yearly trip to the pine city, and never the destination.  In the 1990's, after Mt. Pinatubo erupted and the US bases pulled-out, Clark became our destination for duty-free shopping, air shows and hot-air balloon festivals; and excu...