Boracay

Hello everyone it has been two weeks since we got back from our family vacation to Boracay island. We chose to vacation here because all of the locals and other ex-pats recommended to us that we go here for its beautiful white sand beaches. And we weren't disappointed. Andrew and I both have said many times now that this was the best vacation we have ever been on. Boracay was truly paradise and we had a great time relaxing and enjoying the island.

Boracay is such a small island that you have to fly into a larger island Caticlan and then take a ferry to Boracay island. The plane that we flew was a pretty small plane and before boarding we had to step onto a scale and be weighed with our baggage to calculate the weight for liftoff and landing. To say the least this was a little unnerving, but luckily the flight went off without a hitch and we made it to Caticlan smoothly. It was quite the experience this airport. We landed among the cows and it sure didn't look like we were at an airport. As soon as we stepped off the plane there were Men who grabbed our bags and carried them to our airport shuttle. These men didn't give us any choice they just took our bags and we thought they worked for the airport. When we got to the shuttle though we learned why they were so quick to help. They sat and stared at us saying "Tip" until our shuttle left. Little did we know this was the beginning of the barrage of islanders "helping" us for tips or wanting us to buy some kind of souvenir or merchandise. This was really the only thing that we didn't like about our vacation. We weren't too happy with how pushy some of the islanders were in their pursuit of a tip. On our boat trip home some of the island men came up behind me and pulled me onto their shoulders and carried me to shore, and then followed me repeating tip, tip, tip. Andrew and the men from our hotel were ahead of me so I really didn't have any money. When I told them this I got a lot of dirty looks and I am pretty sure some mean words in Tagalo. But even this little bit of harassing we received couldn't ruin this trip.

We spent most of our days on the beach and at the pool. Every morning we took walks along the beach and enjoyed the scenes of the island. This island is a huge tourist spot and if we walked south on the beach we were able to see the busy side of the island where there were a lot of restaurants, bars, and shops. But this side was a little too busy for our taste. So, we mostly stayed to the North where our resort was and enjoyed the peace. We really were a bunch of beach bums. We did venture out a little bit. On Friday night we went to an open seafood market and picked out our live seafood an then had it cooked for us. This was a fun experience, but also an experience. We had some lobster and prawns and we had to remove the legs and eyes before eating. This was nothing for Andrew, but I was a little grossed out. We also went to church on Saturday night and the funny thing about this church was that it was half outdoors. So, there were lizards all over the church on the walls and ceiling. We found ourselves watching the lizards crawl around the church during mass.  Our transportation around the island was a hotel shuttle and we always seemed to get the same shuttle driver, Jason. We had a good time all weekend talking to him and he seemed very nice and easy to talk to. But on our final drive to the port to head home he was telling us about how he came to the island back in the 80's etc. But then out of nowhere he asked Andrew if he believed in witches. Andrew and I smiled and kinda chuckled, but then we realized he was dead serious. He then preceeded to tell us about how he sees witches flying about the island all the time. We struggled to keep a straight face, but after we have been home and had some perspective we learned that many of the rural islanders here in the Philippines practice tribal religions and in this case witchcraft. To each his own I guess. So, actually this trip wasn't too eventful except for these few things, but it was just what we needed. A break from Manila and a place to relax. Enjoy the pictures below they probably tell the story better than we can.

 Liam getting ready to go on Vacation!

 Andrew and Liam in front of the Puddle jumper

 Our boat to the island

 Welcome to The Ambassador in Paradise!

 The view from our hotel room...the beach is just behind those palm trees.

 This was just after we arrived. Liam ate some sand right after we put him in there, BUT he didn't do it again for the rest of the weekend hmm I wonder why?

 Our first sunset...ahhh

 This is Liam and his girlfriend Jessica. She watched Liam during all our meals so that Andrew and I could eat in peace. God bless her.

 The boys out for a humid morning walk

 Shark Baby testing the waters on his first day into the ocean....

The water was cleared of all people after Shark baby caused a stir....

 Luckily, Shark baby was able to convince the islanders he came in peace and fun in the ocean was restored.

 Liam about fell asleep everyday floating around the pool in this. 

 Are those eye balls?!?!?!?

 Some local island entertainment at the resort next door.

 This little boy was the money maker he was a dancing machine in his loin cloth. 

 Hmmm so much good food...what to eat, what to eat? Ah forget my diet I'm on vacation!

 Two lazy bums sleeping in.

 After crawling in the sand. 

All pooped out on the boat to the airport. Whew what a vacation!

Intramuros & Play Dates

I know it has been a month since I have last blogged so I thought I would get everyone caught up on what we have been up to. Day to day we haven't been up to too much. I met another mom here Maria Elena and we have hit it off which has been great for me. She has a two year old Isabella who has become great friends of Liam. Isabella is quite protective of her Amigo Liam. (Maria Elena is from El Salvador but an American citizen so they speak both Spanish and English). So pretty much every day Liam and I have been out and out about with them. We go for walks to the park, play at the pool playground, or head to one of the local malls to walk around and get some exercise. They have been a blessing for us keeping us busy and happy : ) Here are a few pictures of some of our outings.

 We went to Krispy Cream and watched them making the Doughnuts.

 Liam didn't get a doughnut, but he did get a hat : )

Up at the playground by the pool.

As for Liam, he is still growing up too fast and getting bigger every day. He has started laughing at himself a lot and squealing in delight. One of his newest loves is to be naked! He cries, kicks, and fights us every clothes and diaper change. We try to let him have free reign sometines, but he would go naked all the time if we let him. Liam has also figured out how to get into the cabinets in the kitchen, so everyday he finds something new to get into.

 I was playing around and put him in the hamper. At first he loved it.....

 But then he thought, "Seriously mom don't put me in the washer!"

 My mess has a first name and it's L I A M

 Ah freedom to air out my tush!

 What you looking at?!?!?

The next eventful thing that we did was we went to Intramuros. Which is the old walled city of Manila. This is one of the oldest areas of Manila. Intramuros was once a huge fortress built by the Spanish when they ruled the Philippines. This area has some of those Spanish area buildings and other pieces of Philippine history. The most notable things which we saw there were the Manila Cathedral and Fort Santiago. We started out our day there by attending mass at the Cathedral which is also a Basilica. The interesting thing about this church is that it is actually the 7th church since the 1500s to be in this place. The previous buildings were ruined by earthquake, fire, and lastly by WWII. Intramuros is a large reminder to Filipinos of WWII. Much of this areas former glory was ruined by the Japanese during the war. The second spot we visited Fort Santiago was once the gate and protection of the Pasig river, but during WWII it was occupied by the Japanese and they held American and Filipino prisoners of war. Again this area was in bad repair and much of the fort was reduced to ruins after the war. It was really great for us to see and learn some about Filipino history and it helped us to see why they appreciate Americans so much for eventually kicking the Japanese out and giving Manila back. The other thing that really touched us when we went to visit this area of Manila was how different this area was to Makati where we live. Intramuros was pretty dirty and poor. As we were driving down the street in one area I saw a small girl 7 at the oldest holding a naked 6-7 month old  baby in the gutter. When we were leaving church a small boy was pounding on the windows asking for money for food. This was really hard for us and it is so easy for us to forget how poor people are here. We live in a bit of a bubble in Makati where we mainly interact with Filipinos who are affluent and employed. But as our  housekeeper Rey told me, "Leave Manila and you will see the true color of the Filipino people." And the truth is that a large percentage of people here are poor and live on very little. Other than this bit of a shock, we had a great day. We went with Maria Elena and her family, so it was nice to have some fellow Americans along for the ride. I will post again soon about our trip to Boracay. Hope everyone has been doing well and sorry it took so long for an update. 

The Manila Cathedral 

 The gate to Fort Santiago (Liam was sleeping in the stroller)

 The Pasig River

 Pictures of the park outside of Fort Santiago

Bye Bye see you all soon : )