Last April, we all went to Bohol for my cousin’s wedding and it was the perfect excuse to visit the island for the first time with the kids and Mama. My cousin Michael (who lived majority of his life in Melbourne) along with his Singaporean girlfriend now wife, Clara, chose Bohol to be the island of their wedding and it was lovely. It served as the perfect base for all their Aussie friends’ side trips to Cebu and Boracay after the wedding. Some went to Oslob to see the whales and some flew to Boracay right after. It was great to have this chance to reunite with our family from Melbourne.

Aside from Mama who already visited Bohol a decade ago, it was everybody’s first time to see the island and we were all excited especially the kids. It was also the first trip of the kids together (minus my niece Sui) so the boys were just so excited. They were counting down to the trip weeks before and were nonstop giddy from the airport to the plane and for the whole duration of the trip. Elian was happy to have a plane experience with his Kuya. The girls arrived a day after and from them on, it was a fun beach experience for the cousins.

It was also timely that I was launching my 2nd book for Tales of Tom-Tom that time during summer. The book’s storyline takes place in Bohol for the cousins summer trip and I made sure to give them all a copy of the Tales of Tom-Tom: BOHOL before we made the trip, (even if it hasn’t been launched yet) to get them more excited. And they sure were! They were so happy to see their names on the book on the dedication page and even had their copies signed by me lol. Oh my babies, my biggest fans. They all brought their copies of the book during our trip and made it their reference on the sights we’ll see. It was the perfect way to test out and experience the Tales of Tom-Tom: BOHOL tour. That was really my intent when I created the books, for it to be a guide for kids and families to see and enjoy the places around the Philippines. I haven’t actually written yet about this but I’ll make a separate entry for Tales of Tom-Tom soon. *for those wondering you can buy Tales of Tom-Tom travel board books for kids at www.bababum.ph or at Fully Booked! 🙂

For our first day, we spent it enjoying Bellevue’s views and amenities. Our room was big with 2 big beds which was a nice and comfy fit for us. The boys loved the pool, billiards and play area with a view of the beach and the game room. I loved the pool views too and the views of everything and the beautiful pink-orange sunsets by the beach. I wish we had more time to relax and unwind. But since it was a short trip and our schedule was packed, we had to make sure we get to utilize our time there with the wedding and all.

We had one day of tour which we did on our 2nd day. We booked in Klook for a countryside tour that showed us the Chocolate Hills, the tarsiers and we ended with a lunch at a floating restaurant with a view of Loboc. The first place where our guide brought us for Loboc river cruise lunch sucks, there was a horrendous crowd for lines and your lunch will end up as early dinner lol. We tried to cancel and he then brought us to a different one with shorter lines and an even nicer view. This one only had views of the jungle river and was really relaxing. The other one will had a route that will show the roads, construction and buildings. So I’m glad we got to experience the right one for the Loboc river cruise. We really enjoyed it. It was a fun and memorable experience albeit tiring lol.

It’s been 2 months since this trip and Elian still keeps talking about it like it was yesterday. He remembers the details of this trip so well and at night during bedtime he would often ask me to recap the things we did in Bohol. We’d love to go back here again one day to see the other sights from the book and explore Bohol more! 🙂

Ending this post with a short family trip video! 🙂