India and Philippine trip Nov 2025 to 2 Jan 2026

 By Zai


                                       
                                            



Highlights of our trips to India and Philippines

We had four and a half weeks of fun in both countries. We tried to pack as much activities as we could to maximise our time. We visited friends and families. We got food from out to enjoy the different cuisines but also managed to cook from time to time. We visited local sites and of course the malls.

 India: 27 Nov to 14 Dec

                      

                                                             

                               

The highlight for the India trip will be the times spent with the family. We met with Chuim crowd, Zurika and family and some friends.

We spent a couple of days with Zurika and her family on the first week of our trip. She cooked so much for us, she took us shopping, eating street food and she also took us to the malls. The best part was her assistance with Steve’s PAN number. It was a blessing that she took the effort to take us so Steve could at least get the number, since up to this time, the physical card has not been delivered to NZ and he still has not received the email with the number, eventhough the agent has contacted the government agency several times. He had been so frustrated and thank God Zurika was able to help.

                            



Our time with the Chuim family was also wonderful. We stayed with Jojo and Pilaj at Chuim for a night. 

                                               


 

Sylvia and her family came to spend time with us as well. And in the evening of 7th December , Adrian took us to see the sunset at Carter Road. He took some beautiful pics of Steve and myself. Then Adrian assisted in getting some lovely dinner of kebabs and curries, we enjoyed it very much. Dad always wanted to visit Mount Mary’s church again after a long time, so we took him early morning the  8th of December. Then we took an Uber back home to Naigaon.





Robin also invited us for lunch one afternoon. Kavita and Sweta cooked lovely food, they also ordered in some curry.

                                                                              

Steve also got the chance to meet with his university friends. On 10th December we took an early train from Naigaon to the city, we went to Steve’s favourite places in Churchgate. We had lunch at Cafe Mondegar, shopped a little on the streets of Mumbai and also at a mall, and visited the famous Gate of India. We took the metro and went to Infiti Mall to meet Steve’s friends via tuktuk and the driver went through the Aarey Milk Colony forest. That was a lovely experience, it is great to see a forest close to the city. We had a lovely dinner with Steve’s friends at Copper Chimney.

 

                                                                        

                                                           


In between these activities, I helped do a bit of cleaning of the Naigaon house, a bit of cooking here and there. Dad liked my stir fried veges and also the dal. 

We also remembered mum’s 3rd year death anniversary. We got her some fresh live flowers because the seller that Steve organised a bouquet from, wanted more money so we had to cancel the order. Good thing we found a garden shop in Papdy. After mass on 6th December, we took dad to Farmhouse for lunch. On 9th December, we were free and I wanted to visit one of the Vasai beaches. So we took a toktok with Dad and went to Rangaon beach. Dad said he had not seen the beach for decades, It was worth the 700 rupees we paid for the tuktuk.

                                                        

                                              



                                                 

One of the surprises during this visit was the mosquito zapper. It needs a special mention since the first couple of nights at Naigaon home, the mosquitos were eating us alive and the zapper saved us. Once we discovered the zapper, the room was so much better without the mosquitos buzzing in our ears all the time.

                            

                                                                               

On our last day in Mumbai, we had taken an Airbnb at Vakola, Santa Cruz so we wont have any difficulty with traffic issues going to the airport. We had difficulty locating the Airbnb, but once located it was the best decision we made. It looks unimpressive initially but once you see the whole house, wow, it was awesome. Dad was really impressed. He even said that it was better than a hotel. The house had several toilets, 2 bedrooms, and a lovely living area. The kitchen was awesome and clean. The house was large and well kept. The caretaker was lovely, she even helped with providing help to carry the bags the next day since they were so heavy.

                                                                             




                                           

On the day of going to the airport, it only took approximately 10-15 minutes to reach the airport. Dad was however stuck in traffic going back to Naigaon.

Philippines: 14 Dec to 2 Jan 2026

We landed in the Philippines on the 14th of December at 6:30 in the morning. Zharina, Ate Zaida, Mattmatt and Bradpit met us at the airport. We spent a few hours at Gulfview then in the afternoon we went to Villa Mercedita to collect the keys and drop off our luggage. Steve and I decided to stay at an Airbnb in Davao since Steve wanted to have a vacation within a vacation. The house at Villa Mercedita was tiny but it was compact, clean and the best part was it had an airconditioner, hot water, and located at a gated community. Steve had issues with ants one night, there was a few ants on the bed and they were biting him. But overall our stay at the Villa Mercedita house was excellent. I could not have asked for anything more. We were there for 5 days however most of the time we were at GV and only slept at the Villa Mercedita.



                                                             

                                               

                                                                  Davao Global Township



One of the highlights of our stay in Davao was meeting with Uncle Amay, Aunty Nita, Uncle Boy, Shobe, Ate Lynnette, Kuya Noning, Aunty Josie, Ate Netnet, Titing and her family on 17th December . We organised some food pack from a caterer, the food was only so-so. The best part were the ensaymada and fruit pie of Aunty Josie. It was so good that I decided to order a couple of boxes each for the 23rd December.





                              


We also met up with Aunty Nelia, Uncle Boy, Dondon and his daughter at SM Lanang.


During our trips going back and forth from GV to Villa Mercedita, we visited the new lot in Bago Aplaya, we also went for a stroll at the Coastal Road Park.

                           

Also had a chance to catch up with Edna (whose brother passed away), Vince and Rose, and Irish.

                           

Since the location and date of the Baptismal of Ze has been moved from Tagum to Davao, we had to extend our stay in Davao and had to take another Airbnb. We got a house really close to Ate Zaida’s house. It was not the very best Airbnb. In fact, from our experiences this must be the worst.However, the fact that it was walking distance to Ate Zaida’s house, the room had airconditioning, and we only saw the other person staying in the house once, I have to count it as a blessing. We stayed there for 3 days.  

I am glad I got to witness Ze’s baptism. We went to church at midday then after the Baptism, lunch was at Miko's at Puan. They hired the venue but ordered food packs from somewhere else. Unfortunately we ran out of viands. Good thing the lechon and crispy pork saved the day.

                                                 




Steve also got the chance to visit Saloy again. It had been years since he last went. We went at 6 AM on 20th December. Steve got to visit our small portion of farm again. It is good to see the changes happening there after years. Who knows when we can see it again. Lunch was at Penong's. 

Then afterwards, he got to see the tiny home in Tirol.




                         
                            

Then on 22nd December, Bradpit took us home to Tagum using a rental car. We met up with Paul and July at SM and had Jollibee and spring rolls for lunch. 

Steve finally got to see the Tagum house for the very first time. He loved the house even though it has an issue with the water pressure on the taps. He said next time, we should just make Tagum as our base home for our trip.


We were busy with shopping on the 23rd of December. Ate Zaida and her family arrived in the evening of 23rd. Then 24th was preparation day for Christmas evening feast. We had fresh spring rolls, Ricson’s famous fried chicken, Tandoori chicken, Spaghetti,Sinuglaw, Macaroni, Mango float, Adobo.

                                                                     

                     

                                                                   

                    

                                               

25th was rest day since we have to travel early for Mati on 26th. We also visited Uncle Alan in the afternoon.


On 26th, we were meant to get the rental car at 6 AM but only got it at 9 AM. Then on our way to Mati, we had a couple of flat tires. Unfortunately Uncle Abed could not make it as our driver since he had a death in his family. 

So Roland, Ricson’s nephew, was the substitute driver. Roland was awesome since we had a few issues with the rental car and he managed very well. He was calm and collected. Steve was giving up and wanted to cancel everything. Good thing we persisted and reached the Airbnb in Mati at 4 PM. 

It was all worth it. Whatever happened before disappeared as the Airbnb resort was just awesome. It was a small gem, the location was just perfect. We enjoyed the outdoor amenities. The actual beach was rocky and the waves too strong, however I enjoyed to view very much. We bought food from out for dinner.








                               
                                                                     

Steve and I woke up early on 27th December and went for a lovely walk at the beach. It was one of the highlights for me. Then for breakfast, we had ham, eggs, bulad, chicken nuggets and longganisa. What a lovely breakfast it was. We had several hours to enjoy the Airbnb and by 10 AM we were ready to leave. We went to visit a few more sites in Mati like their Municipal building, their warf, then had lunch at a posh restaurant called Leonora’s. It was one of the most expensive restaurants we've been to. The food was just so-so but the location was great.We passed Dumlan on our way home and had a short walk through. Then we were home by 5 PM.

                                                                  

                                     

                                    

                                                                            

28th was meant for my meet up with friends but only Nova came. What a bummer, less said is better on this one. After taking Nova home, we visited the Tagum City Hall to see the biggest Christmas tree. Zairel treated us with lemon juice.

                                  

                                   

                                             

                                                                                     


29th we went for grocery shopping for the New Year and on the 30th, we woke up early to do a site visit to the new land in New Corellia. I am content with the location and I hope it is a good investment. We also did our teeth cleaning on this day and I spent a fortune (Matthew, Zairel, Ate Zaida and my self had our teeth cleaned). On the evening we went to Davao to visit the wake of Ricson’s mum who passed away on the 28th.


                                                               A short visit to New Corellia:


                                                    

                                           

 



31st was preparation for New Year. We did not go too early to the wet market. We only finished our shopping at 9 Am then it was time to prepare for the feast. Naldo made beef paris and tuna panga, Zharina made Macaroni, Ricson and Naldo cooked the pork crackling in Naldo's homemade oven. Ricson also made the crispy pata and pineapple chicken. I made sapin- sapin and gulaman, Ate Zaida and Jangers made the spring rolls which Steve enjoyed. We also made salad. I got a cake from Rose and Zamel’s friend Michael visited and got us Ube cake.

                                         

We had dinner at 7 PM then Zairel organised a few games. I was so sleepy so I crashed on the bed along with Steve. We were woken up at 11:30 PM to view the fireworks at NCCC mall. It was a fabulous display, about 15 minutes. Then after we came home, everyone was just drinking and dancing. I slept after 1:30 AM.




1st of Jan was just a relaxing day. Steve and I went for mass a 12 PM. We had karaoke in the evening, then I slept again at 9 PM and woke up at 12:30 since we decided to leave Tagum for the airport at 1:30 AM. It was a fast run to the airport, we were so early so we went for a meal at Jollibee. By 3:40 AM we were queuing for the check in at Davao International airport.

                                                      

After a 12 hour layover in Singapore where we had a day tour - river cruise & Marina Bay Sands, our trip back to Auckland was smooth and we reached home on 3rd Jan by 3 PM.



 
                                                  

                           Thank you Lord Jesus Christ for the blessings of a safe and memorable trip.









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