limetree1

Hi Ann,

My eldest is 13 and we are looking for her to go to the British School, when we looked at the school we were very impressed. (especially my daughter)

I have also heard that the International school is very good - although we didn't have a chance to look a few of the people I met whilst out there had children who were enjoying it.

My daughter will be pleased to hear children her age are heading out - good luck to you

limetree1

Hi all,

Just got back from a trip to Portugal - that was only a 2 hour flight - but could I keep my nearly 3 still not to mention the screaming 1 year old !!

Not looking forward to the 15+ hour journey Definately going to do a night flight and hope for the best

Hope everyone's planning is going well

alicantina709

Limetree - We have a trip to the States coming up on Wed. I guess that will be our 'practice' flight being that the flight to Manila will be twice as long. I am keeping my fingers (and toes!) crossed that both flights go well. I think that our flight/move date will be either Sept 29th or 30th. Will let you all know how it goes!!

brit_mum

hi limetree and alicantina,

oh goodness, i have a flight to menorca with the family next friday! Going to be mad, but then the worst part is that we leave for manila on sat 18th sep (yes, less than 20 hours after we get home from menorca!!) my toddler and baby are going to be little...well, i wouldn't wanna be on my flight lol! best of luck to you all. alicantina - hope to see you when you arrive end sep and limetree - you're oct aren't you? so not long for any of us! x x

brit_mum

p.s. alicantina, did you say you're in fraser place? that's where my husband's colleague and his family (2 boys - 3 and 1 yr) are going to be staying. his wife and i have been in touch on email and she sounds lovely - you might meet them. they went this weekend, so i'll try and get some info from her once she's settled. we'll be staying just 5 mins from there too

limetree1

Yep, move date for us will be Oct/Nov - think we'll initially be put up in serviced apartments at a place called 'Ascott' (Not sure though!)

As soon as I know exact dates will let you guys know - do keep me informed with your tips for a peaceful flight

Enjoy your pre-move trips

belle4484

hi limetree!
ascott is a nice place to stay in. when you come out of ascott, it's glorietta next door. It's a mall with lots of shops, restos, cinemas and groceries. Greenbelt is also close- you can walk there. there's a pond there, garden and again, lots of restos to choose from. pm if you have any questions. cheers!

alicantina709

brit mum - just saw your move date after i responded to your PM. wow- that's coming up soon!! You must be soooo busy trying to get everything ready -esp since your leaving so quickly after you return from spain. i wish that we had once last trip planned to spain before we had to leave.
if you talk to your husband's colleague's wife - you are more than welcome to forward her my email address ([email protected]). would love to hear what the fraser place is like. also, it would be great for my son to meet a little playmate as he is the same age as her yougest child.

how exciting that we will all be moving around the same time. it will be nice to meet up once we are there. i am really nervous about the long flight with the LO. we have done the trip to the states about 3 times now but never an 18 hour flight. ugh!!

good luck to all!

brit_mum

hi all!
yes, we're going to be in the ascott as well, so thanks for this info, belle! got a couple of general questions to any of you which i thought i'd put on the forum rather than PM just in case they're helpful to the other guys; how horrendous is the weather there at the moment? does it rain ALL the time? when does it get better? in need of some sunshine!! do you think we should take malaria tablets or just use high strength repellents and mosquito nets on beds (does anyone know if the serviced apartments like the ascott provide these or shall i just order some to take with us?). i've asked my surgery/pharmacy and keep getting mixed feelings on taking the tablets. also, bit of a funny one, do they sell diffiernt types of fresh pasturised milk - like full fat and skimmed?
thanks for your help! we're going very soon and it's happened a bit quick for us and i don't have much time to do enough research with the 2 little ones!

alicantina709

brit mum - our doctor did not advise the malaria pills as we will be living in manila. he said that if we traveled to a more 'remote' place then would advise taking them on a need to need basis. we did however get a vaccine for rabies (3 shots in all!), hep a and b vaccines, and also took pills for Tuberculosis. In the hospital in Switzerland there is a certain dept for people traveling. They did a consulation with the family and went over all of the vaccines needed.
My little boy had 3 vaccines w/in two days....the poor thing!

I also heard that you do not need the mosquito nets because you really don't open your windows and there is no risk. I have heard however that you need to spray repellent on yourself/children everyday before leaving the house.
Would love to hear from others if this is the case. Also, would like to know what type of mosquito repellent is being used. I bought some here but am thinking that it might not protect us from the mosquitos.

So much to think about.......

brit_mum

hi alicantina,

yeah, that seems to be the general feeling here to on malaria, but just wanted to check we have had hep a and typhoid, but debating the rabies and jap e thing. might wait til we get there, as can't start the hep c til then anyhow as we didn't have enough time to get all the shots of the course before we left as we're away as well. the nurse was concerned that we would start the course here and then they would give us a different brand over there and it wouldn't work as it's not the same. i won't bother with the nets then - thanks for letting me know

coffindodger

Mossie nets.!!!
If you in Manila then yes you will be ok.
BUT!! if you go out to some of the other places then yes please have a net wit hyou.
Ilive on a little island not far from Masbate and i HAVE to use nets or i get eaten alive buy the little things.

alicantina709

oh yes - it was typhoid not tuberculosis. hard to keep all of these straight. the rabies they strongly suggested since there are so many animals in the philippines that have rabies (scary for me as i have a dog...). they also said that my child should have the rabies shot b/c it's the children that are always trying to touch/pet animals.

i might try to get a net before we leave for the philippines - just in case we do go somewhere where we need one. i think that if you stay at a decent to higher end hotel when you travel (where you might need one) then usually the hotel will have them in the room for you......that's just an assumption though.

i did buy water purification tablets though. just in case of an emergency. might also try to find a decent first aid kit to have on hand as well.

coffindodger

Why spend money on a first aid box that half of the stuff indside you will not need.
I am a first aid instructor, make you own fak up simple enough and far more cheaper as well.
I travell to the PI every few months on vacation.
Every thing you need is available over there.
In fact i will be back over in a few days time for 2 weeks.

alicantina709

Coffindodger - True - homemade=much cheaper. Problem is that I usually end up forgetting something. Would you be kind enough to send us newbies a list of things that we should pack in a first aid kit that would be useful (or that we shouldn't be without) in the Philippines?