Suggested Pit Stops for the Manila to Banaue Route

Suggested Pit Stops for the Manila to Banaue Route

Manila to Banaue is a very long drive that ranges from 9-12 hours depending on the speed of the vehicle. If you're bringing your own vehicle, I suggest the following pit stops for this route.  Making these pit stops will make the long drive less tiring for everyone, especially when you have restless kids with you. 

The pit stops are spaced every two (2) hours. It's designed with kids in mind. You can, however, choose not to make the pit stops as frequently as every two (2) hours. But knowing where the next pit stop may be will help you decide whether you need to make the current stop

The Manila to Banaue route is actually a very simple road to take. You can divide it in several major roads to make it easier to remember.

Manila to Banaue (367 km via SCTEX)

1. First, from Manila, you need to reach the Balintawak toll plaza.

View Larger Map

2. After passing through the Balintawak toll plaza, you are now at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).

3. Continue along the North Luzon Expressway till you reach the SCTEX exit (Exit 85) (73km from the Balintawak toll plaza)

Balintawak Toll Plaza to San Fernando Exit. (53km)

San Fernando Exit to Petron Lake Shore Gas Station (5km)

7:00 AM:

First pit stop: Petron Lakeshore Gas Station (57 km until the 2nd Pit Stop)

• this is the last pit stop before you enter the SCTEX. The SCTEX is approximately 35 km long and there are no pit stops along that length so you need to make a stop at this station.

4. After exiting at the SCTEX exit of the NLEX, go straight ahead (around 3 km until you reach the  Mabalacat interchange. At the Mabalacat interchange, turn right to go to Tarlac. (If you turn left, you will reach Subic and Clark airport)

UPDATED ROUTE BECAUSE OF THE OPENING OF THE TPLEX!!!: 

5. Continue along the whole SCTEX till you reach Tarlac Exit/Toll Plaza (Exit 228) (35 km)

6. When you reach the Tarlac Exit, turn right to go towards La Paz town proper and to Nueva Ecija.

8:00 AM:

Second pit stop: La Paz, Tarlac (59 km till the 3rd pit stop)

A.  Park and Grill Traveller's  Complex, where the Five Star bus company stops

•  this pit stop is 5.5 km from the SCTEX Tarlac Terminal Toll Plaza

B. Gas Stations along the Santa Rosa-Tarlac Road

7. Continue along the Santa Rosa-Tarlac Road until you reach the Zaragosa Municipal Cemetery to your right (13km from entering the Santa-Rosa Tarlac Road). About 260 meters from the cemetery is a forked road. Take the left fork and pass by Zaragosa Central School. Then turn left to reach the Zaragosa-Aliaga Road.

7. Continue along the Zaragosa-Aliaga Road (for around 7km) until you reach a fork. Turn left at the fork to enter the Aliaga-Guimba Road

8. Traverse the Aliaga-Guimba Road (for around 7.6 km) until you reach the Sto. Domingo-Licab Road. Turn right at the Sto. Domingo-Licab Road.

9. Continue along the the Sto. Domingo-Licab Road (for around 8.1 km) until you reach the Shell Station at the corner of the Sicsican-Sto. Domingo Road. Turn left toward the Nueva-Ecija Pangasinan Road

10. Continue along the Nueva Ecija-Pangasinan Road (for around 6 km) until you reach the Maharlika Highway.

Check out this post: My Banaue and Sagada Itinerary with Kids (Day 1: Manila to Kiangan) for the updated route using the TPLEX.


11. Continue along the Maharlika Highway for 144 km until you reach the fork at Tuao, Bagabag. Turn left to continue along the Nueva Vizcaya-Ifugao-Mountain Province Road.

You pass by the following towns and provinces and landmarks along the stretch of 144 km:

• Science City of Munoz
• Central Luzon State University
• San Jose City
• Dalton Pass (the zigzag road that connects Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya)
• Sta. Fe
• Aritao
• Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Hospital at Bambang
• Bayombong
• Solano
• Welcome to Bagabag Arch
• Tuao

10:00 AM:
Third pit stop: San Jose City, Nueva Ecija (113 km till the 4th pit stop)
A. Shell Gas Station at Bonifacio St., San Jose City , Nueva Ecija
B. Jollibee at Maharlika Highway corner Bonifacio St., San Jose City, Nueva Ecija 
C. Chowking along Maharlika Highway, San Jose City, Nueva Ecija

Our pitstop: Marquez Restaurant in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija: A Great Meal Stop on the way to the Banaue Rice Terraces

1:00 PM-2:00 PM: LUNCH
Fourth pit stop: Solano town (69 km till Banaue)
A. McDonald's at Total Gas Station at Maharlika Highway, Solano
B. Mang Inasal at Maharlika Highway, Solano
C. Jollibee at Maharlika Highway corner Gaddang St., Solano
D. Greenwich at Centro Mall, Maharlika Highway corner Gaddang St., Solano
E. Chowking at Maharlika Highway corner A. Luna St., Solano

12. Continue along the Nueva Vizcaya-Ifugao-Mountain Province Road for 32 km until you reach a fork. Turn right to continue along the Nueva Vizcaya-Ifugao-Mountain Province Road.

You pass by the following towns and provinces and landmarks along the stretch of 58 km:

• Lamut
• Kiangan

Our accommodations in Kiangan: Ibulao Ibulao Bed and Breakfast at Kiangan, Ifugao: The Best Accommodations near the Banaue Rice Terraces

12. Continue along the Nueva Vizcaya-Ifugao-Mountain Province Road for 22 km until you reach Banaue.

You pass by the following towns and provinces and landmarks along the stretch of 22 km:

• Ifugao Provincial Capitol at Lagawe
• Ifugao Provincial Hospital

Our pitstop: The Gazebo Restaurant in Lagawe: A Great Meal Stop on the way to the Banaue Rice Terraces

4:00 PM:

arrival at Banaue

MAP

View Larger Map

   A    Balintawak Toll Barrier

   B    Petron Lakeshore

   C    SCTEX Exit

   D    SCTEX Mabalacat Interchange

   E   SCTEX Tarlac Terminal Toll Plaza

   F   Traveller's Complex, Santa-Rosa Tarlac Road

   G   San Jose City

   H   Solano town

   I   Banaue

Impressions Sunday Brunch Buffet: My Dining Guide

Impressions Sunday Brunch Buffet: My Dining Guide

These are my simple tips on the best way to enjoy this buffet. A lot has been said already about the gourmet food they serve. The price of Php 2100 net per head is definitely worth it. Every meal they serve is sourced from the freshest ingredients, cooked well and plated  beautifully. For those of you who frequent fine dining restaurants which serve degustation menus and priced the same, this will be value for money. For the same price, you get unlimited food with superior quality and the quality of service of a fine dining restaurant. You can expect the same quality of food as in the degustation menus of fine dining restaurants.

As in any buffet, you can only eat so much. Below are some of my tips on how to make the most out of your experience dining at this restaurant.

1. Make sure to make advance reservations.

The restaurant can seat only 70 people so I encourage you to make advanced reservations. Since I do not want to be disappointed at not being able to get a seat after going all the way to Resorts World, I made sure to make advanced reservations. Two days before the date of your reservation, an Impressions staff calls to confirm the reservation.

While we were dining, a lot of customers wanted to walk-in and dine at the restaurant but they were turned away because the restaurant is full. If you plan to walk-in and wait for a table to free up, prepare for a long wait. A lot of customers already in their tables prefer to leisurely enjoy their meal, especially since the price per head is very expensive. Considering the price, expect the turnover of customers to be almost nil. In our case, we arrived early at 11:30 AM for our 12:00 PM reservation. We ended our meal at 1:30 PM. The buffet runs from 11:00 AM till 3:00 PM. I don't think you can leisurely enjoy your meal and pace yourself if you arrive midway and after the first batch of customers have left already. There won't be enough time to taste all the must-taste food in the menu and make the most of your dining experience.

2. Limit your intake of liquids.

The buffet includes freshly made fruit juices and coffee. I personally don't do well in buffets because I can't take in a lot of food. But a technique I discovered is to drink your liquids after you've tasted everything you want to taste and ended your meal. If there's  soup, just have a small cup, only enough to be able to taste and enjoy it. If you need to drink water, limit it to one (1) glass all throughout the meal, making small sips just to wash away some of the taste of the previous meal. At the end of the meal, order your fresh fruit juice and coffee. I personally like the carrot juice because it cleanses the palate and removes all the taste of the food you've eaten. It refreshes you.

3. My recommendations of must-taste meals, their location, and how it's presented

Panoramic view of Impressions restaurant 
(Click the photo to zoom on the image)

 3 stations: Cold Station, Hot Station, Dessert Station
(Click the photo to zoom on the image)

The restaurant is divided into 3 stations: Cold Station, Hot Station, Dessert Station. Not all the items are already available and spread out in each station. Some of it are only cooked when ordered, unlike the usual buffet presentation where everything is laid out and ready to be taken by the customer. 

Take note: The list below is not everything they offered. There are so many more choices. These are the food I was able to taste. I loved all that I tasted.


Cold station:
Feta cheese (which you should dip in honey)
Baba ganoush and Hummus (order freshly made pita bread to go with it)
Melt-in-your mouth French oysters (order freshly baked and topped with cheese)
Large melt-in-your mouth imported scallops (order it freshly baked and topped with cheese)
Tuna and salmon sashimi (guaranteed fresh)
Foie gras (cooked only when you order)

Hot Station:
Onion soup 
Baked potato soup
Prime rib cooked according to your preference (medium rare, if you want), and served with vegetable sidings

Dessert station:

Salted chocolate cake
Coffee jelly
Carrot cake
Macaroons

Pistachio souffle (made when ordered)
Cinnamon churros (made when ordered)
Chocolate churros (made when ordered)

Pistachio gelato

• I can't remember the names of all the desserts I've tasted in the dessert station. What I remembered is that each one is of superior quality. Make sure to leave space for the dessert.

Drinks: carrot juice, coffee

4. FINALLY, MAKE SURE TO GO WITH SOMEONE WHO APPRECIATES FINE FOOD, WHO WILL GO FOR QUALITY RATHER THAN QUANTITY.

This buffet is more suited to couples who are on a date or adults who enjoy and appreciate great food and fine dining. This buffet is not kid-friendly, especially since the selection of food appeals to more adult taste. The manner of service and the fact that the best food in the buffet needs to be ordered (like the foie gras and the prime rib) and the manner of cooking be specified (like in the oysters and scallops) shows this is more suited to adults and less attractive and a bit intimidating to kids.




View Larger Map

Location: 3rd floor, Maxim's Tower, Resorts World Manila (across Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Terminal 3.

Tel. No. +632-9088883

Price: Php 2,100 net per person

Web Tools and Web Sites I Use for Planning Trips

Web Tools and Web Sites I Use for Planning Trips

With the dawning of the internet, planning trips are made easier for a number of people who are tech savvy and are very adapt at searching through the internet. But for those who are not very patient or knowledgeable at sifting through the wealth of information provided in the internet, they may get lost and find it harder to plan their trips. To help people plan their trips on their own, I'm sharing with you the web tools and web sites I use. My blog focuses on travel with kids, but this is equally useful for planning any trip, with or without kids.

On Finding flights:

To find International Flights, I use the following:


Expedia

I like expedia.com because it's so user friendly. You can filter flights and see the cheapest ones. You can compare the time of arrival and departure and the length of travel with the rate. So you can make choices whether having a longer travel time or inconvenient departure and arrival is worth choosing a particular fare. You see all the possible airlines flying the route. 

I like expedia.com because it accepts international credit cards. After browsing expedia, I normally go direct to the airline website to book the flight because it will be easier to talk to the airline personnel directly when a problem with the flight occurs. But some airlines do not accept international credit cards. Some accept only US issued credit cards. So when this happened, I booked through expedia. With expedia, all flight information is centralized, from seats chosen to what miles program to credit the miles to be flown. I never had a problem with expedia when booking international flights.

The limitation of expedia is that it does not show budget airlines flying the route. In which case I go to:

Skyscanner

I use skyscanner to inform myself which budget airline is flying the route so i can book directly with the airline website. Unlike expedia, skycanner shows budget airlines flying the route.

Local Philippine Flights:



Skyscanner

I discovered that skyscanner also shows domestic flights. So I use these flights to find out which airlines are flying the domestic route I'm taking. And then I go directly to the airline website to book. Sometimes, Skyscanner forwards you directly to the airline website so you can book direct with the airline.

Facebook

I "like" the local airline facebook website so I'm informed about the latest sale or the new routes they open.

On Maps:

Google Maps

Google Maps is very good at showing directions from point to point; what public transportation you can use, how to get there using a car, how to walk to your destination. It shows the distance and estimated amount of time it takes for you to arrive at your destination. The landmarks and buildings are also shown. 

I've tried google maps using my android app in the US and in Singapore and found it very reliable.

In the Philippines, it's fairly accurate in Metro Manila, but shows general directions only in the provinces. For Philippine provincial trips, I usually use:

Wikimapia

I find that wikimapia is more useful in the provinces than google maps. The landmarks indicated are more accurate and more detailed.

On Accommodations:

Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor forum

The discussion in the tripadvisor forum helps me to shortlist the accommodations my family will prefer based on the recommendations by the forum participants.

Tripadvisor reviews and traveler photos

Tripadvisor hotel reviews informs me of the latest condition of the hotel I'm looking at. They also give me tips on what room to request. 

As I've said before, I prefer traveler photos than hotel photos to show me the rooms and the hotel facilities because they are more accurate than hotel photos.

Expedia

I go to expedia to find out the rates for the particular period I'm interested in booking because expedia shows the calendar and the rates per day based on the calendar. Expedia also filters the hotel by location. Most important of all for me, Expedia shows the maximum capacity of the room. It filters out the rooms that cannot accommodate 6 people like us.

Direct to the Hotel website

If I cannot book the hotel directly using my Philippine issued credit card, I book through expedia.

The advantage of booking direct at the hotel website is that most hotels do not require a downpayment. They accept a credit card guarantee and cancellation of booking without charge even 24-48 hours before your intended date arrival. Also, since we're usually six (6) in a group when travelling, I can get direct reassurance that we will all fit in one room and have exactly the room that we want. Online travel booking agents usually have by default rooms for 2 and they can only give reassurance based on hotel photos given them.

Pinoyexchange

For information on Philippine accommodations, especially provincial accommodations, I look for advice from this forum. The disadvantage of this forum is that most people write in Tagalog so only Filipinos can understand and use this forum.

On Weather,  Temperature, Time:



Accuweather 

I use Accuweather to determine the temperature and weather of the place we're visiting. I especially like the real feel feature. For temperature and weather, what it really feels like is the more useful information for us laymen and trave



Time and date.com 

I use timeanddate.com because it has the most comprehensive information on time. They have time zone calculations, sunrise and sunset times for any month you wish to search, dst information, weather during a particular time period.

I like to be informed about the weather in the place we visit so I can plan when to go and what clothes to bring. Sunrise and sunset times are important to me so I'd know how much daylight we have during the day so we can plan if the time to arrive at the hotel is still too early or late. For instance, if sunset is at 8:00 PM then taking the bus to the hotel at 7:00 PM is still early because there's still sunlight.

On Safety:



US Travel Advisory on International Travel

I use Travel.State.Gov, which is where you can find the travel advisory on all countries issued by the United States to its citizens. It is the most comprehensive and current information about the public order situation in a country. This site informs you about the current scams and crimes and what to avoid so you can stay safe.

On Must See Places:



Frommers
If I don't have a lot of time to research on the place, I go to Frommers.com. They hav a comprehensive overview on destinations. I like that they have articles like 'Best Hotel Bets", "Best Dining Bets", "Best Free Things to Do", " Best Family Experiences", and so many more.




Viator
If you don't have time to book the tours individually, you can check out viator.com. In one website, you can see all tours that are being offered in your destination so you get an overview at once of what you can see. It's a very good website to book the tours. They are very reliable and gives great customer service.

Where to ask your US Tourist Visa Questions

Where to ask your US Tourist Visa Questions 

I'm often asked US visa questions by relatives, friends and lately, by readers of my blog. I caution them that I'm not an expert and that my comments are simply personal opinions. They are based on my experiences and my observations of the experiences of others. For lack of people to ask, people resort to my blog or the pinoyexchange forum to shed some light on their personal US visa questions. People want to assess their chances especially since the tourist visa fee is so expensive at $160, or around P6,400.

Since I have experienced going through the tourist visa process and have successfully acquired one (having been a holder of a US visa for at least 30 years), people think I have information that may be able to help them. I share my opinion and my experience but still caution them that I'm not an expert. 

You can ask me US tourist visa questions anytime and I'll still answer them. But there is a much more reliable source that I can share with you.

In August 2011, the  US Embassy in Manila launched a new visa blog where you can pose visa questions direct to the Embassy experts. Below is the official announcement of the US Embassy in Manila: 

U.S. Embassy Launches New Visa Blog:  VISAtisfied Voyager 

The U.S. Embassy in Manila is pleased to announce the launching of its official visa blog, VISAtisified Voyager.  Our blog aims to provide timely and relevant information to members of the public interested in learning about the Nonimmigrant and Immigrant visa processes.  

Each week, blog posts will examine topics relevant to visa applicants.  Readers are welcome to post comments and questions about applying for U.S. visas.  The blog is also a venue for visa applicants to provide feedback and share their experiences when they have applied for a U.S. visa.    

The blog will be moderated by a team of visa experts from the U.S. Embassy’s Nonimmigrant and Immigrant Visa units, and inquirers can expect a quick response to their visa questions.  

With the launch of VISAtisfied Voyager, US Embassy Manila hopes to start a dialogue with applicants and provide them with up-to-date news and information.  Please note, however, that U.S. Embassy Manila will not be able to respond to queries about individual visa applications on VISAtisfied Voyager.   

Questions about individual nonimmigrant visa applications should be directed to consmanilaniv@state.gov.  

Questions about individual immigrant visa applications should be directed to ivmanilareplies@state.gov.    

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently noted that the Internet has become the public space of the 21^st century, and as the percentage of Filipino internet users increases, we want to be available to them in all forms of media.  The launching of the VISAtisfied Voyager visa blog is part of the U.S. Embassy’s commitment to providing excellent customer service to the thousands of Filipinos who will apply for visas to travel to the United States.  

We invite you to visit VISAtisfied Voyager at http://blogs.usembassy.gov/philippines/.

Where to ask your US tourist visa questions?

Primary Source:
1. By email to consmanilaniv@state.gov

The US embassy cautions that personal queries about individual visa applications cannot be answered by the blog VISAtisfied voyager and directs them to this email address.

The advantage of emailing them direct is you retain confidentiality of your question. Unlike in forums and blogs where other people can see your question.

2. By commenting on a blog post or asking a question related to a blog post at VISAtisfied Voyager at http://blogs.usembassy.gov/philippines/.

First, do a search within the ViSAtisfied Voyager site on the topic of your query. 

Second, after finding the blog post relevant to your query, browse all the questions asked and the answers to the questions.

Third, if you are not satisfied with the answers given to other people commenting in the site, you can pose your own question at the comments section  below the relevant post.

The advantage of using the blog to pose questions is that you can see if the question you're about to ask has been asked already. The disadvantage of using this blog is that questions are not answered immediately.

Secondary source
1. Ask a blog owner with a current post or topic on "How to get a US visa".

The advantage of this is that you get information about the blog owner's personal experience. Depending on how active the blog owner is in updating the blog or answering reader's comments, you may get answers to some of your questions immediately or even faster than the official US embassy site.

The disadvantage of this is that you only see one personal experience. You don't know how current the personal experience is, unless the blog post is dated.

Check out my post How to get a US Tourist Visa. 

2. Ask a forum

Before I made my most recent trip to the US Embassy to renew my visa, I found the pinoyexchange US visa forum very helpful because it has the most current narration of personal experiences of a great number of people. By knowing about their personal experience, you actually benefit from them. You can ask questions and will immediately get an answer. However, be cautious about this because their statements or answers to your questions are just personal opinions gathered through their personal experience and limited by their own situation. You can rely on it only with respect to what they experienced during the interview and going through the visa process. Their experiences will help prepare you as as to what to expect when you go through the visa process and the interview.

My Tips for Planning a Trip with Kids

My Tips for Planning a Trip with Kids

To enjoy your vacation with your kids, make an itinerary that will not be hectic. There is always a tendency to want to see everything to maximize the opportunity of visiting a place. But with kids in tow, you need to pace them properly so they have enough rest,  to keep their energies high and temperament in check. When kids get too tired or start getting hungry, they tend to lose their patience and cause conflict among each other.

1.  On making an itinerary

These are what I usually do after we decide on our destination:

First. I gather all the information I can about the place to discover what I want to see and what the kids may be interested in seeing. 

Second. I show my kids the information I gathered and then ask them what activities they're interested in doing and what places they want to see.

I immediately tell them we may not see everything they want to see because of lack of time. So I request each of them to rank the most important ones they want to see so we can see those places first. 

If you have kids with you, you tend to go together to sightsee. In order to accommodate each one's desired place, we discuss the itinerary. By discussing the itinerary, the kids cooperate with the daily schedule even if it's their sibling who want to visit the place.   When you discuss the itinerary, they know when their turn will come to visit the place they want to visit or do the activity they want to do. There will be less conflict during the trip.

Third. When making your daily itinerary, I suggest you find out the opening and closing times of each venue and the distances from each other. That way, you plan to visit only what's possible in a given day. I even have times inputted in my itinerary to include travel time to the sites, which people usually take for granted. Walking time, public transportation schedule and public transportation travel time with and without traffic should also be taken into account.

Fourth. Walk through the itinerary using your imagination. At some point, I even used Google Earth to actually walk the streets in Kissimmee, Orlando from our Disneyworld hotel to the bus stop to find out if it's possible for the kids to walk that distance. Planning your itinerary and walking through your itinerary in your mind, saves a lot of energy. It's hard to just do a "hit and miss" while you have kids in tow with you. It's a very bad idea to risk even getting lost with tired and impatient kids in tow.

Fifth. Know that the purpose of making an itinerary is simply to inform yourselves of what is available for you to explore in any given day. It is not meant to be followed strictly. When the day of the trip comes, I play things by ear and let the kids set the pace. If they don't wake up early enough, I skip some of the sights we're visiting. This is a vacation. It's meant to be enjoyed and not cause stress among the parties involved.

2. Suggested number of days per major city or location

For any major city or location, I usually allot five (5) days to explore it. The pace will be less hectic for the kids. 

For a beach vacation with island hopping, I usually schedule island hopping every other day, while in between those days, we bum around the beach. When we sightsee in a major city, I usually allot a day off in the middle of the week where we can just have a free day to rest and stay in the hotel, watch tv or swim in the hotel pool. That way, the kids will have the opportunity to rest. Some would say that giving up a day to just rest is a  big loss in terms of opportunity to sightsee. I don't think so. The day you give up is worth it because this means your kids will be rested, more patient, and will less likely cause a tantrum.

3. Time of flights to book

I prefer flights that depart 10:00 AM onwards. For a 10:00 AM international flight, you need to be at the airport 7:00 AM. This means that the kids need to wake up at 5:00 A.M. It will be so difficult to wake up kids earlier than 5:00 A.M. and get them ready in time. So it's better to get a flight at 10:00 AM or later. 

For the return flight, I chose flights that depart 5:00 PM onwards, so we still have a another morning on the day of our departure to enjoy one last swim at the beach, or one last visit to a museum or a park, or even just to wake up late at the hotel until checkout time. Most hotels have checkout times at 12 noon.

My take on red eye flights:

Don't even consider bringing your kids on a red eye flight. These flights depart late at night and usually arrive at midnight at your destination. The return flight usually departs at midnight and arrives at dawn at your home airport. It will ruin the kids sleep schedule and make them prone to tantrums. 

The intention of red eye flights is for adults to avoid having to take leaves of absence from work to make a weekend trip. You arrive midnight on a Friday at your destination, so you don't miss work on a Friday. Then you return home at dawn on a Monday so you don't miss work on a Monday. With kids in tow, it will be difficult to wake them up on a Saturday morning because of your late arrival so you lose half of that day already. Hopefully the schedule has not disrupted their sleep patterns. But if it did, your weekend schedule may also be disrupted.

4. Schedule on the day of arrival

My kids requested me not to schedule any sightseeing on the day of our arrival at the place we visit. Since the flight and the transfers to and from the airport will be tiring already, they look forward to resting when they arrive. The same is true even if you're doing a road trip. Upon arrival at our destination, my kids prefer to rest or merely to have nothing scheduled upon arrival. 

5. Sightseeing schedule

• I scheduled all sightseeing later than 8:00 AM. Kids do not want to wake up early since they do that all the time when they are in school. 
• I scheduled the sightseeing every other day, meaning in between sightseeing days are free days when you don't have to leave the resort/hotel  and can just swim or do anything you want.

6. Age of kids to bring to a major trip

At the toddler age, we brought our kids to short trips to Baguio, and other provinces. We have yayas or nannies in tow so we don't have a hard time organizing the kids' things as well as taking care of their basic needs like eating and potty time.

But on trips that you cannot bring yayas to because of the expense, I suggest you travel to those places when your youngest child is at least 7 years old. At 7 years old, the child can already take some responsibility for taking care of himself. They will be potty trained and can take a bath by themselves and take care of their things already. 

My tip on packing: As I've mentioned above, it's best to take trips when your youngest child is at least 7 years old. This means they can pack their things by themselves. If your kids packed their things, they will know what's in their luggage and can get it themselves when they need it instead of asking you all the time where their things are. They need to know what's in their bag.

Packing by themselves does not mean I let them have full control of what to bring. What I do is give them a list with number of pieces indicated in each item. They have control only on the choice of clothes to bring. 

Since I have four kids and I want to make sure that they placed all the things indicated in my packing list, I ask them to gather the things first. Then we bring all the bags inside my room. We call out each item and then they simultaneously put them inside their bag while I watched them. That way, I get to check all four kids at the same time. I did that when my kids' age range was  7-12 years old. It saved us a lot of time.