Cutty

Our first trip after CV-19 hit was a winter trip to Japan.  We would have wanted to go during December.  But, we decided to go on the first week of February instead so we can catch the Ice Festival in Sapporo.  Revenge travel was fierce so we decided to wait it out. Apparently, we should have waited longer.  The lines at the Japanese Immigration took us 3 hours before we got out.  We expected it in Manila, which turned out to be faster.  We almost missed the last train to the city.  All our previous arrangements had to be postponed because we got out too late.  The Internet service we booked and paid had closed for the day.  Imagine, navigating from Narita to the Tokyo at almost midnight, with limited Internet service.  Globe Roaming was faulty at that time. This was not our first time to arrive this late in Tokyo so we didn't expect to be inconvenienced this way.  We were held up at immigrations for too long.  We didn't have enough time to eat dinner or get snacks.  My childre

It has been 3 years since we last travelled as a family.  My children were a lot smaller then.  They used to be all dependent on me and my husband.  We usually do not have a Yaya who travels with us.  I had to buy their food, decide on where to go, prepare their clothes, prepare water and snacks for the day.   My husband is usually in-charge of luggage and logistics.  We had 4 children below 12 years old in tow, with my husband leading the pack.  I walk in the back with the youngest, always counting if we have the correct number of kids with us. This year, we took the bullet and decided to fly to Japan for winter.  The experience was refreshing.  We only had one whiney kid.  All the rest were independent and helped along the way.  They all had places to go, apart from the usual spots.  One wanted to visit a car factory.  The other one wanted to visit the Pokemon Center.  I can delegate laundry duty and other chores.  We have teenage boys who know how to navigate the city.  Carrying jus