After nearly 10 months away, college boy and college girl are back home with us! Yay! Of course, we had to treat them to some new places to eat which opened up while they were away. First stop, IHOP at the Mall of the Emirates. Thanks to our server for taking this photo.


It was probably not the best time to go there (Friday brunch), but the wait was surprisingly not long. They said 20 minutes but we were on our table within 10. Sorry, no photo of the food, just the remnants above, as it was midday and I was rushing to get to the Amiras and we were all starving by then.

I’m glad we got flights that arrived early in the morning on the Thursday (thanks again, Lisa!) so the kids were able to rest up the whole day and be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the following morning. But we were still late for the Amiras!

Joseph was so hungry that he ordered the breakfast sampler and a chicken sandwich. Oh and he thought the lump on top of his pancake was cream so he swallowed it whole only to realize it was in fact butter!

After brunch they dropped me off at The Lime Tree and they went to the Rage warehouse sale where they found out the deals were all bonkers. Dh4 (about US$1) for a teeny tiny Tech Deck board and ramp, the size of a thumbnail! Patrick was so excited he wanted all of them! They did not exactly walk away empty handed. Eibee, a budding skateboarder, picked up a basic board for Dh165 (US$45). Then they picked me up after the swap meet and we picked Patrick up from church. We decided to have dinner at Dubai Mall and check out what’s playing at the cinemas.

We ended up buying tickets for the 10.45pm showing of GI Joe 2: Retaliation so we had plenty of time to kill. At some point I ended up sitting on the floor with my knitting. Eibee was having fun with the live view of my camera.

She was holding the 60D for two minutes and she mastered how to take self-portraits with the live view! I have to get her to show me how so that I can take better photos of my socks after she leaves again.

Joseph, ever so chilled, was just happy to tag along with us.

One of the things he wanted the most was Burger King’s Mushroom n Swiss burger. So he got one for dinner! He looks so happy and contented. The version of this sandwich back in Manila is not enough for him, the serving size is too small. I reckon he’ll be having this meal at least once a week while he’s here.

Luca, oh Luca! He was wary of the new arrivals so he hid under our bed for about two hours when they arrived and tentatively sniffed the air while trying to decide if it was safe to come out. Eibee missed him so much, obviously, and now he’s accustomed to them once again.

I’m really glad that they are here to stay at least for the next two months, but sad that Viel and the kids are not able to come along this time. And they are going back a week before Eibee’s 18th birthday! We will obviously celebrate before they go back so watch this space.