Day 11 - Philippines Trip (posted late)

Written on: April 23, 2011

Okay, so my bad, today is day 11. The last post was actually day 9. I know I promised a blog about Cebu and Boracay, but I'm gonna have to put that off again to the next post. I need to talk about today. There's a lot to be said about good family and good friends. I got a healthy dose of both today... and am still up at 12:18am to talk about it.

Today, we had a birthday party for my bro at Laguna where a huge source of income comes from renting out private swimming pools in private outdoor party areas. The area is complete with barbecues, full kitchens; don't forget the KARAOKE machine. Don't leave home without it? By all means do, because there's probably another one where you're going.  First time I'd seen one like this. It actually looks like a video arcade game complete with the standard yellow and white game buttons :) The party area also includes the use of 2 rooms which surprisingly had beds to sleep 12 people. 

What makes these swimming pools unique is that the water comes directly from the nearby hot springs. Not as refreshing on a hot day when you're actually in the pool, but all you need to do is get out from time to time to feel refreshed by the outside air. Before arriving there, I had to bust out my Tagalog as I got out to purchase beach balls from the numerous tiendas selling various types of fun floaties. Come on, everyone knows there's at least a 50% markup for foreign patrons. “Dohnt lie hah!”

Anyway, cousins from all over came to reunite. Could I just say, I love that feeling when you haven't seen someone in years and the minute you see them again, it's like you never left. Well, that's how it felt for me.  Angel and the kids had a great time with the cousins, as well. It was 9 hours of great conversation and great fun.

After a whole day of that, we freshened up back at our condos and went straight back out to visit our dear friends, Nick, Nana & kids. We went to their home in a gated community not 1 mile from where we were staying. They had an awesome dinner spread and great home. We talked about what makes Philippines different and all of it's idiosyncrasies. It was really funny. We asked why are Filipinos always smiling (especially in the hospitality industry)? And our friend said and gestured, “Because the sun is always in their eyes!” Lol! Ok, I guess you had to be there to see the gestures. Trust me, it was funny. Then we had a little musical program :) Lexi played piano, Ke'ala sang and played guitar, Nick, Joel and I sang a couple of songs, too. I even got to see a friend, Marlon, who just happened to be visiting PI also, whom I haven't seen in at least 20 years. How cool is that? By 10PM we were spent.

So the day was done and what a memorable day it was.

Day 9 - Philippines Trip

I shoulda started this blog on Day 1, but there was so much going on, it was impossible. In these past 11 days, we've seen such beautiful things in my homeland of the Philippines. Last I was here was in 1986. I look at it now and it is unrecognizable. Funny what 25 years could do to a country. Mega malls and high-rise condo complexes are scattered all over Metro Manila. It's quite amazing. They've got Starbucks coffeehouses all over, too. One thing we noticed was that almost all the cafes had great coffee... and we're coffee snobs.

I had a little problem with a stomach thing. I must have drank some bad water. I ached through 5 days of it until I finally asked a friend from here for advice. He said, "take Bactrim" Hmmm, "OK!" Did you know that they sell over the counter meds by the pill. So, I can go up to the pharmacist and say, "yah, can I buy 9 Bactrim tablets?" Cool right? I don't have to buy a bottle of 30, when I only need 9. Lol! Everybody in the hospitality and service industry are over the top nice and very accommodating. I feel bad when I only tip the 50 pesos (which is like $1.15) but locals tell me, that's the standard. I still try to slip in more, though... can't help it. So that's just a little teaser on my Philippines blog. Stay tuned and I'll tell you more about our visit to Cebu and Bohol. In the meantime, I gotta go to bed! It's 1:22PM... Guess I'm over the jet-lag. Type atcha soon!