How to enjoy a plane trip with young children and Filipino Fish at Manila Ocean Park

A long overdue post, publishing it finally after some spring cleaning of my dashboard blog. Carlos and Lois enjoyed their first air flight. Not much fuss, thank you very much. Food was key, and tiredness. By the time we were flying, they were both sleeping.

For more frequent fly-ers with kids, these suggestions may help:

1. Prepare quiet toys. Don't put them out until you have really ran out of things to distract the kids with. The novelty of the airport and the airplane may provide a lot of interesting things to check and observe. Once you've explored them all, bring out your guns, I mean, those quiet toys - like books, puppets, washable crayons, etc.
2. Crocodile mouth. With all that pressure changes, you may never always have the medicine or the chewing gum solution. A neat tip, do the crocodile mouth. Ok, it may be another animal with a big mouth. Point is to prevent ear popping by making the kids open their mouth wide.
3. Observe your kid. You may be too engrossed on the time, or the luggage you may not notice your kids' cues of tiredness or sleepiness. Children are easier to manage before they approach their emotions' peak.

Manila Ocean Park

Located behind Quirino Grandstand, along Manila Bay is the expansive Manila Ocean Park, a Singapore-an investment if I am not mistaken. We trooped there one Sunday afternoon for some family bonding with the Laguna people. I was not so excited to go in, but I was not left unimpressed.

What I liked most with the showcase was that most of the fish there are endemic. I don't know if this is because they use salt water from Manila Bay, after 5-layers of high grade filters, or because they patronize local marine life? I liked it so much that they have Filipino terms for these popular fish. I wouldn't know Finding Nemo's Dory, voiced by comedienne Ellen de Generes, is a labahita if not for the trip.

I also liked the attention and planning they gave to the facility. They planned on how people traffic is just one way, so there's no missing the shops and restaurants occupying their space. It felt like we were the fish hooked on their bait. Mapapatingin ka talaga, kung hindi man mapabili.

She's not pretending her hands are binoculars, she's just shying away from the camera. :)

Yes, there's a giant lizard at the Manila Ocean Park!

Chains on the seats? Either they don't want the arrangement ruined, or some people steal them?

It can grow up to 12 meters and live for 100+ years. I once heard marine biologist Boni Commandante say that it is possible that from these giant clams or taklobo came the early writing method of our ancestors as found in the Angono Cave archeological site.

If you belong to the Batibot generation, you are familiar with Sitsiritsit Alibangbang. This fish may be called bannerfish, but to us, it's the Alibangbang.

Lion fish or Umay - Umay