Philippines: Week 3

My trip to the Philippines has come to an end, it all went by so fast. There have been so many experiences and places I’ve been that I’ll remember forever. The third week started out with a visit to my grandparents’ grave at the Holy Mary Memorial Park in Angeles City. I never was able to meet my grandparents on my father’s side, but it is nice to at least pay tribute to them by visiting their resting place.

As we were nearing Christmas we made sure to visit all the relatives we did not get to see in the previous weeks. We visited my mother’s side of the family again, this time I was able to see more of my other cousins. My sister’s husband is fond of playing basketball and was able to have a game with my cousins and other locals. Of course my mom’s side of the family put together another wonderful lunch and dinner. It was also interesting to have such fresh chicken, haha! We had a great time and I can’t get enough of their generous hospitality and kindness.

On another part of the week my sister, her husband and myself went on a two-day trip to Manila. We decided to save on travel costs and rode the local public transit bus that took us there. We ended up staying at the Hyatt Hotel which was first class and I was very impressed at the view of the ocean from outside our bedroom window. We took a stroll along the boardwalk along Roxas Blvd and caught a shuttle to the Mall of Asia. We ate at a Filipino buffet restaurant, visited numerous stores, and then caught a 3D IMAX screening of Tron, which was very cool. When we arrived back at the hotel we visited the music bar which was very hip and had a really cool bartender that gave us tours through their private club rooms and even hooked us up with free shots of Patron! The next morning we enjoyed a breakfast buffet at the hotel and lounged out at the pool, it was very relaxing.

The last day of our trip was Christmas day in which we had a big family gathering at my aunt Aida’s beautiful house in Villa Teresa, Angeles City. Once again I met family members I’ve never met before but was happy to meet and had lots of food. Christmas is an important time of the year for family and so a lot of other relatives who live outside of the Philippines were able to attend the celebration which made it all the more special. Being around so much family warms my heart and I will miss everyone.

The next morning we set out for the airport and I said my goodbyes to my parents. I got the same flight out of Manila as my sister and her husband so we said our goodbyes once we arrived in Beijing, after which I continued my journey alone and was able to reflect on my whole trip during the long flight home.

This year has been a really exciting year for me as so much has happened and I’ve experienced so much, all the while being able to capture such great moments with my new hobby of photography. This will be my final post of the year and I think it is a great way to end it. I look forward to all the new experiences and photos the future brings and I want to thank everyone who visits my page, without you I would have no reason to do any of this!

Philippines: Week 2

Week 2 was great; it started out with a visit to my mother’s side of the family who were all very happy to see us. The house that they had been working on when I last visited is now finished and the young cousins I met before have all grown. There have also been new additions to the family, my cousin Ren Ren and Goddaughter/cousin Margaux. It will be interesting to see how they’ve grown the next time I make a visit to the Philippines. My aunts and grandmother prepared a terrific lunch and dinner, which included Miki; a favorite dish of mine that I had for the first time on my last visit and one that I hope to have in future visits to come.

My parents during our stay here hired a driver to take us around, one of the locations was a visit to Baguio City, which is located in the mountains of northern Luzon. There were beautiful views and interesting little shops to visit. Souvenirs in this part of the country had a phallic theme as seen through their wood carvings, which I found funny. Kids here don't seem to be afraid of heights as I would see many of them walking the road barriers on the edges of the road where the hillside drops off steeply. In traveling through Baguio we were able to visit the Korean War memorial, the Philippine Military Academy, and the Mansion House which is home to the president of the Philippines.

On another day our driver took us to Subic Bay, which has beautiful beaches and resorts. This was really great for me considering I’ve never been to a beach before. There were many other attractions as well, one of which was a tree top tour where you can bungee from the tall trees or zip line across them. I was tempted to try it but thought otherwise once I watched other people do it; I figure I'd like to make it back home in one piece. While there was a zoo that we were able to visit, the wildlife was present outside the zoo as well during our encounter with monkeys hanging out on the side of the road that we stopped to feed bananas.

My uncle Dick invited us over to his home for dinner on another night. He lives in the same subdivision as my parents so he was within walking distance to visit. We brought over a popular Philippine beer called San Miguel, which I tried for the first time and didn’t think was bad. The dinner at my uncle’s however was terrific! He cooked goat stew, squid with spinach, fish balls, sinigang and a fish called Dori which I thought was the greatest thing I’ve eaten on the trip so far. Once the San Miguel was kicking in we partook in my uncle’s karaoke system. I thought I sounded horrible but I had fun nonetheless. My sister and myself's rendition of Enigma's "Return to Innocence" was priceless.

There were days to relax and hang around also, which was nice. Since not many people have washer and dryers here, we washed our clothes by hand and set them out to dry. Having my mother’s cooking again was nice as she prepared various foods I loved eating growing up. To stay active we started running at a nearby cemetery, I feel I can run much harder here with the lower altitude, I love it. I've been enjoying hanging out outside and soaking up the sun and forgetting all the stresses I left behind on the other side of the world. I feel that I can really relax here and it is nice to get a taste of a simpler life.

Philippines: Week 1

Yay, I’m back in the Philippines! I managed to survive 23 hours of traveling to the opposite side of the world. I was a little nervous about traveling internationally by myself for the first time but it all went very smoothly. I unfortunately wasn’t able to get any sleep on the plane; I was so bored! Finally landing in the Philippines and meeting my parents at the airport was such a relief and it was so great to see them.

All of the things I remember about the Philippines haven’t changed since I was last here. All of the memories I had from my trip before are all coming back to me. The only thing lacking is the rain, but fortunately during this time of year the weather is much better. Temperatures have been ranging between 80 and 90 degrees, I love it.

So far on the trip we've done a lot of shopping, visiting the local mall and street vendors. A new mall very close to where my parents live holds various events, one of which was a car show. We also have been meeting a lot of my family members, so far just on my father's side of the family; tomorrow we will be visiting my mother's side. We of course have been eating tons of food that I'm taking advantage of while I can. My sister and her husband have been helping me keep active with running, so hopefully I won't gain too much weight!

Bags All Packed!

Tomorrow morning I'll be leaving for the Philippines! I'll be there for three weeks to visit family, have a great time, get a few pictures and eat tons of food! Because it's very important that I capture the great moments on this trip and hopefully update my blog while I am there, I ordered this sweet bag you see here. It's a Crumpler Karachi Outpost that can hold all my photo gear and my laptop while still being no bigger than a normal size backpack, I love it.

My journey to the Philippines starts with a flight to San Fransisco, from there to Beijing, then finally to Manila. It will be a 23 hour journey and I've been trying to adjust my sleeping schedule since yesterday so I can prepare for the time difference and hopefully sleep most of the time on the plane. My sister and her husband will be arriving the day after I do, but I was fortunate to get the same flight with them on the way back.

I'm really excited to be seeing my parents again, they sold their house and moved to the Philippines earlier this year and I haven't seen them since. It will also be nice to see relatives again that I had met on my first trip to the Philippines back in 2003. I'm sure it will be a wonderful trip that I'll remember forever.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas is my favorite holiday and I love this time of year. It is a time when all the family gets together and everyone is happy. I've had my share of great Christmases and I look forward to all the great ones to come.

Photo was taken in front of the Denver City and County building.