it was windy and the wind is cold. aquim kept telling me he is ginaw. tita peng lent us her fleece jacket. we are still not quite familiar with the weather. people here are actually relying on weather forecasts and they are quite reliable. our hosts say when we've been here long enought, we will know what to expect when it says 18 or 12 or 22..
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one of the things i love here in canada, are the parks! this is the first park we have visited, the a.d. penner park. i'll google later what are the parks in winnipeg. this is quite a large park. one can play soccer, beach volleyball and has a playground.
aquim having fun going up and down the "mountain". actually it is just a hill.
trying out the swing. it's just sad that he doesn't get to play with other kids. maybe because he still doesnt speak english. but heck, most of the kids here at the park are pinoys. or maybe because he is the new kid in town. maybe because he is still too small for their games. hayy...sad.
but even if he is the smallest in the bunch, he is the first to try this zip line. and he did it several times until his hands hurt and let go of the handle on his 5th try. you can see the video on the link i posted above. a 5 year old gets to try this the first time, and he let go and he hurt him self big time.
after lunch and some play time, we are headed to the aquatic centre. it's just a few steps from the park. the centre opens up at 1pm and there are already quite a number of people in line outside.
here's after the door has opened. people trying to get tickets. the centre only has a certain capacity and if they have reached that limit, no one is going to get inside unless somebody else comes out. and if you get out, you have to wait and pay again if you want to come in. drinks and food are not allowed inside. this indoor pool is quite popular you have to pre-purchased a ticket to make sure you can get inside.
here's what inside. on the right is still another pool, similar to an olympic size pool, though im not quite sure about that. but it's just a rectangular pool where one can do laps. on the left, there is a hot tub and a sauna. i tried both. the hot tub is really hot. the sauna is like being in a small room with galvanized iron as room on a 12noon in our beloved country, that's how i felt. this facility is quite strict. there are several roving lifeguards and supevisors. kids 7 and below should be within arm's reach of an adult. and if you stray away from your kid, the supervisor/lifeguard will really approach you.
one is not allowed to swim without a proper swimming attire. cotton clothes are not allowed. kids who are not yet potty trained are required to wear swim diapers.
the hot tub should have a maximum of 13 persons only at a time and the sauna 15. and they are really checking it every 3 minutes or so.
the hot tub should have a maximum of 13 persons only at a time and the sauna 15. and they are really checking it every 3 minutes or so.
once, there was a kid who almost vomitted in the pool, about a spoonful or so and but he actually caught it with his hands. but when the supervisor saw it and asked everybody to leave the pool at once and replaced the water. it took about an hour before they let everybody back in the pool. hence food and drinks, even infant's milk are not allowed.
after a couple of hours, we went out and enjoyed the park again. jason and i kept telling each other that it was good we get to enjoy the philippines heat and beach one last time before we get here in canada. imagine here, we have to fall in line just to be able to take dip and a splash and swim ???
since aquim has no one to play around, we just contented ourselves sitting on the grass, collecting twigs and branches. too good aquim still enjoys our company teehee.we leave the park around 630 and slept the entire trip back to our hosts' house. and slept more once we get to the house.
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downtown. there are also a lot of one way street and it's hard to find a vacant parking space. not much different in manila. 30 minutes is 1 dollar i believe, or 50 cents. if you parked more than you have paid, you'll have to paid 20 dollars (not sure but im sure its so much more that having paid a few dollars in advance). so it's advisable to pay for 30 minutes longer than you intend to park
