May 2015 was a whirlwind month jumping around four countries/territories sorting out passport and visa issues, packing (and unpacking) suitcases, and seeking temporary refuge in hotels while we moved from place to the other.
The twin’s Uncle Kevin joined us when we flew from Cebu to Hong Kong. Since we were already at Asia’s World City, Jeff and I decided to just go to Hong Kong Disneyland (our nth time to be there; Kevin’s first time) thinking that the twins will appreciate the Winnie the Pooh ride now that they are almost two years old.
Everything went smoothly until we reached Shenzhen, where we were supposed to get clearance to enter mainland China. But I made a huge mistake. Despite checking the twins’ Chinese visas a hundred times, I failed to notice that their visas actually said “ENTER BEFORE MAY 3”. It was already May 6.
I was utterly disappointed with myself. I had to enter China because I had an important appointment the following day. Jeff, Kevin, and the twins had to turn around, go back to Hong Kong to hopefully work on the twins’ new Chinese visas there. However, the following day, the applications were denied so the four of them had to fly back to Cebu (Philippines) to lodge the applications there.
Loooooong ordeal. I swear – and I was online the entire time booking tickets and telling Jeff how sorry I am for accidentally putting him through the most stressful time of his life to date. I have nothing but the stress of the March robbery incident (that had me lost my passport among other essentials) to blame for this major visa blunder.
As the second week of May progressed, things panned according to plan. The four of them eventually flew back to Hong Kong again and arrived in Guangzhou. I was beyond happy.
Kevin only had three days to spend in Guangzhou before his flight back to Cebu so we took time to bring him around China’s third largest city. With the twins, we visited the Nanyue King Museum, Guangzhou Zoo, and the Canton Tower among others.
We had one more Sunday to spend with LDS church members, who have been so kind and so warm in welcoming Jeff and I and eventually our family of four in the last three years.
We left for Los Angeles on May 20. We stayed for quite some time at the China Southern Airlines’ airport lounge. Reading and watching Pooh movies served as the twins’ past time as we waited for our flight boarding announcement.
I previously wrote about the experience (From Cebu to China to California) – and while it has been truly challenging to manage twin toddlers and a pregnant belly with 13 luggage pieces, I would say now that that was another travel adventure that taught me patience and determination. I am not exactly the most patient person in the world.
Antoinette slept for nine hours (in a 12-hour flight) and although she was fidgety in the first hour and the last 30 minutes before the plane landed, I am still thankful that she didn’t stay awake the entire time (like she did in October 2014). Nicholas was seated beside Jeff and was focused on cartoon movies. He cried and whined for some time but he also slept soundly during the flight.
The original plan was to fly to Kalispell (Montana) from Orange Country with a three-hour stopover in Seattle. But Jeff had a job interview in Salt Lake City which was arranged the day we arrived in LA so we forego the flying plan and decided to drive from LA all the way to Kalispell. That meant a one-week roadtrip. I wrote about the experience but will wait for the story to be published in a newspaper before I share it here.
We arrived in Kalispell on May 28 and was greeted by my in-laws, Joe and Sheryl and their dogs, Molly, Stiles, Patches, and Rizzo.
The rest of the days of May was all about settling down and adjusting to the change in time zone. Jeff and I agreed that the twins are adjusting better than we were. Sunset is not until 10:00 p.m. and for four people who are used to Asia’s time zone and weather, it was quite difficult to let our body clocks understand the new life that we now have.
The twins are toddlers and they are almost two so temper tantrums are inevitable. Most of the time I try to be patient but frustration also gets the better of me and I turn into this monster of a Mom that I don’t want to be. Jeff also transforms too – and then we both feel sorry for ourselves and then talk about it. Meanwhile, the twins seem to forget our meltdowns and love us all the same the next time we pick them up from their cribs after a two-hour timeout.
May was crazy! Moving around four countries was not something I planned. We were NOT on a vacation for crying out loud! It was an experience of a lifetime that I DON’T WANT TO EVER REPEAT. But it was one for the books; it taught us that family members should stick together especially when times are tough – and that our family motto “It doesn’t matter what we do, as long as we’re together” holds true during those tough times.
In these travels, Nicholas and Antoinette developed a habit of automatically holding their hands whenever and wherever we go out. May sure was crazy but it made us stronger as a family.
Hand in hand wherever, whenever.
