Going Dutch

So after our short adventure in London, we are off to the Netherlands. Some of you may know it better as "Holland". Either way, its the country known for ships, canals, dykes and windmills. We made sure that we were going to see all of the above during our trip. We arrived in Amsterdam without too much difficulty except for trying to pronounce where we were headed to the guy at the information desk...Dutch is a very throaty language and some words sound more like you are trying to clear your throat. The address to our hotel was on a street called Prisengracht. Pronounced PRITZEN-GRAAAKKKKTT. (To say it correctly, you must sound angry, and cough loudly at the end). After finally showing the driver where we were headed, we were off to our little hotel on the canal in the Prisengracht area. Being in Amsterdam is like heading back in time. Our hotel wasnt really a new hotel but a collection 17th century buildings that had been fashioned into a hotel. Because of the renovation, no two rooms were the same and the size of the rooms could vary wildly. We lucked up and got a room in the attic. Sounded scary but it wasy light, big and airy and had the original beams from the 1600's still up!!!

Bruce in our attic room

Amsterdam is also known for a huge number of people on bikes. Everyone is pedaling around everywhere. Its facinating to see cars swerve out of the way from a biker going 10 miles faster. Everyone yields to the bikers. They are fast and dangerous and totally ingenious. Have you ever seen a mom drive her three kids to school in the morning? Its not intersting if she's in a Tahoe. Imagine that same mom (probably 50lb lighter because of the biking) pedaling three kids on her bike to school!! No joke. They have bicycyles with carts in the front with two "baby seats" and then a baby seat behind the mom! Facinating!!! There were more people biking than walking and way more of bikers and walkers than drivers.

Bruce walking the city...see all the bicycles?

There are lots of sights to see in Amsterdam. My favorite is the layout of the city. It is amazing to be able to walk around an entire city without needing a car or a bike. Each street is narrow and quaint and lined with building after building of shops and cafes and bars.

One of the famous houseboats on a canal in Amsterdam

Flower bulbs for sale at the famous Flower Market

You won't find a mega-mall or a supermarket in Amsterdam. Everything is very "mom and pop". After walking for a couple of hours we wanted to get some good ol Dutch food. My favorite thing is the pancakes! These aren't just the normal pancakes we have in the US...These are big, huge light cakes, almost like a crepe, usually piled with all sorts of goodies. They have sweet ones with apples or bananas or chocolate on them or they have "savory" with salty goods on them like bacon, sausage or cheese. Now, you know I love food (thank GOD we had to walk several miles to get to the Pancake House) so I was ready to try a big Dutch pancake. I ordered one of the more common ones...Apple and Bacon. Sounds gross? It wasn't!!! Its got the sweet salty thing going!!! Believe me, try it...you'll see.

My apple-bacon pancake...MMM

Most people associate the Netherlands with the canals. It is very similar to New Orleans, a city under water. However, the Dutch built a series of dams, dykes and canals that has preserved the city since the 1300's. Obviously, with time, they have been fixed and reinforced and they are blessed with not having to worry about hurricanes or tropical storms that could breech the dykes. It is still amazing to see how a city is completely "cut up" by a series of canals and waterways. I think most people think of Venice as a water city but Amsterdam is too. We used the "canal bus" which is like public transportation to get around the city via the waterways. It gives you a good opportunity to see the houses along the canals and cut around the vicious bikers

The next day, we left Amsterdam to head out to the northern part of the Netherlands. The Netherlands is acutally a very small country and it is easy to drive from one end to another in 3 hours or less. We wanted to go to some of the smaller, more "authentic" Dutch towns where people still practice and work like they did hundreds of years ago. We started off in the windmill town of Zaanse Schans, which was one of the oldest industrial areas of the world. The first windmills were built in the 1600's and when people figured out what they could be used for, the city grew into a large industrial area, able to process wheat, meal and paper, all using the energy fromt he windmills.  The town only has 100 people still living there but they had a wooden clog maker and a cheese maker in the town still working today!

Yes, I'm cold

Bruce on the "main street" of one of the super cute tiny town of Hakkleaarsbrug

After Zaanse Schans, we headed further north to the "cheese town" of Edam then on to the fishing village of Markham. When I say village, I mean village! I have never seen anything so quaint in my life!!! The buildings are all still original to the 1600's, there are narrow, cobblestone streets and little shops. Its amazing how we felt like we weren't in the 21st century anymore.

A main road in town

My only complaint about visiting the northland was the weather. OMG!!! I'm from Atlanta, born and raised. I think I may have felt cold a couple of moments in my life. Never anything horribly bitter or bone shaking.  I really thought I was going to die from exposure out there. It was hard to sightsee when you are bundled up like an dog sledder in Antartica. I had on 4 layers of clothes INCLUDING long johns and I was still cold!!! Oh, and about the long johns, I have to give Bruce praise on that call too! I remember being in the sporting goods store back home and him picking up  a couple of pairs of long johns and me looking at him, saying "Why do we need those?"...God, I'm glad I listened now!!! So with my long johns, my pants, two pair of socks, a tank top, a sweater, a fleece coat, a windbreaker, hat, scarf and gloves on...i'm still COLD! People from there were wearing jackets without hats or gloves and they were looking at us like we were crazy. It started to get on my nerves but then I realized, its all about what you are conditioned to. I bet if I took one of their frozen asses to Phoenix in July they would shrivel up like a raisin....At first, Bruce tried to tease me about being from the South and not being able to handle the cold, but by the time we got to the coast, he was freezing and all outta jokes:

I'm cold

Yep, He's cold too!

The quaint fishing town of Maarkam

On our way back to the city, we had the opportunity to see the "summer homes" of the rich Dutch people. Back in the 1600's living in the city in the summer was pretty horrible. The canals were filthy, there were lots of flies and it was congested. The rich built summer homes in the Dutch countryside and lived there for several months out of the year. While they weren't at their summer homes, they were actually working farms, and the farmer and his family cared for the house and fields during the winter months. These homes are still standing today and some of them actually have the date they were built over the doors. It was so beautiful out there, I would love to have a farm house mansion like that!!!!

My dream farm/mansion..built in the 1600's

Ok, wonderful time but I do have one complaint about the Netherlands. You can starve to death there!!!! Yes, I know I showed you amazing pictures of spare ribs and pancakes but we were LUCKY!!! The Dutch do not believe in waking up early. In fact, the "breakfast" restauraunt opened for breakfast on a weekday at 8 or 9am!!! Shouldn't you be at work by then? How exactly can one go to breakfast AND go to work? Seems like the Dutch don't have to worry about the latter....why? Cause NOTHING opens until after 10am!!! Oh and the icing on the cake? Everything closes by 4 or 5PM!!! Dinner was the most stressful for us because most restauraunts closed by 9pm....sucks for you if you are not hungry by then. We never were hungry at the "normal" Dutch dinner time. How could you be if you have breakfast at 10am and lunch at 4PM? I don't know much Dutch but one word i know by heart now is Gesloten...That means "CLOSED". In fact, I have no idea what the Dutch word is for OPEN!!! Everything was always Gesloten!!! Random shops and restuarants would be closed, for no apparent reason at random times. We thought it was a holiday or something at first but its actually just a very laissez faire attitude of the Dutch.  I tell you one thing...if you want to have a cake ass work schedule, get up around 9, work from 10-4 and then go home...you should move to the Netherlands.

After freezing my butt off, pigging out on pancakes with bacon and walking from one end of the country to the next, we are off to our next stop, even colder Denmark. I even bought another pair of long johns!

You can check out all of our pics from the Netherlands by clicking here

Bye Holland!

Cheers!

So after yet another hellishly long flight from Asia to Europe, we are in the hub of the Western world, London, UK. I have to admit, I was excited to get back to an English speaking country. Not that the people in Asia weren't great (and they all spoke English) but anything more than a simple "Can I have some more beer" would be met with serious confusion. I thought it would be different in the UK. Not so much.
We arrived at 5am  at the famed London Heathrow Airport. Little did we know, their equivalent of "Border Control" was on strike and we were met with a skeleton crew of 3 souls to work thru 100+ jet lagged people to get thru immigration. Lovely. After the 1 hour of sheer hell in the line, we easily find the train station and schlepped all of our stuff onto the "Underground" into the heart of town.

All of our lives are in these bags

 By the time we get to the Paddington Train Station, we decide we are hungry. I see a Burger King sign (whoo-hoo) and can't wait to get a big ol sausage, egg, and cheese crossaint. Ok, this is where I was completely fooled by my English skills. The guy at the counter started talking to us and I swear, I only understood every other word. The only way I was able to order was by "listening in context". That's where you think about where you are and what you are doing and try to pick out words that make sense. The conversation that I heard was like this:

Him: "Ello Dall, whatch like for brekky taday?"
Me: Uhhh, crossaint?
Him: "K, Lave, ya want taters are beans wit that?"
Me: Uhh, taters?
Him: "K Lave, I gotcha far one sausage brekky meal wit taters, that all fer ya Lave?"
Me: Uhh, yeah

Ok, I thought that going to the home of the English language would be easier than this. Little did I know that understanding some of my English bretheren would be similar to some of ya'll listening to my Southern twang...(I know, we are hard to understand)
Needless to say, we made it, breakfast in hand to our final destination in the heart of London.
After a quick power nap, we were lucky enough to have a guide, our friend Adrian that we met on a dive vacation while in Austraila back in December. Like a perfect English gentlemen, Adrian promised that if we were ever in London he would show us his town. Like typical American tourists, we took him up on the offer! How much better can it get?! Having a local show you his favorite places?

Bruce and Adrian, a little lost in London

I have to say a special THANK YOU to Adrian for an amazing day of sighseeing. Thanks!

Adrian and I at the pub

I'll let Bruce detail the highlights of the day with Adrian but I have to say, we had a very interesting time! (It involved walking, drinking with Charles Dickens, going into a dead man's house, eating bone marrow, more drinking and passing out at a bar in theater district....AWESOME day!)

The next day, we woke up nice and early for our "tourist tour" of London. Like typical tourists, we decided the best way to maximize our time in London was to do a tour. Now, I really HATE those big tour groups where you have 20-30 people wandering aimlessly around trying to take sucky pictures and not listening to the history or background of the location. We are total nerds. We want to know about the history, the people, how they lived...basically, we want the Discovery Channel special.  Once again, we lucked out. Because of the time of the year (cold ass off season) we had a very intimate tour group of about 10 people. Our tour guide, Mark was a character, very animated and very knowledgeable about his history! We drove around the city, seeing all of the major sites including a private tour of the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels!

Outside of the vault holding the Crown Jewels

The Tower of London was amazing, its awesome to actually touch and walk were people actually lived some 400-500 years ago! It is amazing to know that most of their buildings and history is OLDER than our country!!! The Crown Jewels were awesome and we were lucky to see them while the museum was still closed. I steamed up the case with the Cullinan I Diamond, also know as the "First Star of Africa". The diamond is set in the Sceptre of the Cross. In its unpolished, original state it was about 3,000 carats but polished and shaped it is actually over 500 CARATS!!! That one desereved a second look!!! Not to be outdone, the Cullinan II Diamond, the "Second Star of Africa" weighed in at a "smaller" 317 carats and is mounted in the Imperial Crown, in the next case. Bruce was less than impressed but I couldn't leave the vault...too much shiny stuff....

Headed into the Tower of London

Anyway, we had the opportunity to take river cruise on the river Thames, visit Buckingham Palace and see the amazing sights of the London Eye and Big Ben.

Me and Big Ben

We ended the day my favorite way, with food!!! We went to Harrod's one of the largest and oldest department stores in London. Some of you may not know, but on the ground floor are five rooms of sheer food porn!!!! It is like every kind of food you can imagine, under one roof!!! And to make things better, there are restauraunts down there too!!! I wandered around, Bruce in tow, taking pictures of one food case after another...Who does that? A FOODIE!!! This place was better than watching Food TV in high definition!!!

OOOH.....

Inside the grocery store at Harrod's in London

 We ended the day in style, having afternoon tea and scones at Harrod's!

London was an awesome city. I don't know of many places on Earth where you can have a drink in a 17th century pub, followed by a Broadway show down the street. It is an amazing mish-mash of people from all over, all races, all backgrounds jam packed into a city with a loud pulse and a spirit that thrives.
I regret not having an entire week to explore London, but I know this is somewhere that I will want to come back to! Thanks Reine, you were right!!!!!

Check out all of our pics from London by clicking here

Goodbye Asia, I'm Gonna Miss You

We are at the airport in Hong Kong, toiling away another long layover before we venture out of Asia into Europe. I can't help to think back on all of the amazing times that I have had on this continent. If someone had of asked me years ago, where did I think that I would end up and feel most comfortable, I'm pretty sure Asia woulda been far down on the list. The place was just so big and so foreign to me. It seemed like a world away. Now, after spending almost six weeks with her, I will never be the same.  There are so many things that I love and a lot of things I DONT love about it here but I would come back in a heartbeat and call many of these places home. Even though we spent what seemed like a lifetime here, I feel like I have only touched the tip of a vast iceberg. This continent cannot be canvased in a month or 6 months. I truly believe a "trip" can't do it justice. From the huge bustling cities like Beijing and Tokyo to the sleepy little back-water beach towns in Thailand and the Philippines. This place will get into your psyche and change you for good.
The people have been a mix of different colors and looks but I always felt welcome and comfortable. People were eager to teach us about their history and culture and there was always a sense of pride in their way of life and values.  I will always appreciate that.

On a lighter note, this place is hilarious. The same nice people have such a interesting way of expressing everything and just living life in general.  There were so many characters that we've met and so many funny situations it was hard to cover in each blog. I figured the best way to do the continent justice is to give "awards" for the best of the best. (In the spirit of the award season!)

Best Airport: Originally this was going to be a tie between Tokyo Narita and Hong Kong International but Hong Kong has a Popye's chicken and an AWESOME "traveler's lounge" where you can pay a fee, go in, relax in comfy chairs and for a little more chill in a little private "bedroom"!!! OMG! The airports in Japan and Hong Kong are so advanced, so nice, so spacious and so people friendly it makes you wish we had airports like that in the US.  I can't understand that it is easier to navigate an airport in Japan and China than it is to get around Dallas-Fort Worth Airport!!!! We could learn a lot in airport design....

This is the "traveler's sleep room" at the airport that you can catch a quick nap at!! I wish we had these in the US!!!!!!

This is a pic of the mall INSIDE the Hong Kong Airport. Check out the Prada store! This is like our nicest mall back home!!!

Worst Airport Security Screening: In the US, we are used to horribly thorough screening, requiring long lines, patience and occasionally, body cavity searches. In most Asian countries, security starts OUTSIDE the airport. In Phuket, Male and Sri Lanka we had to line up outside to get screened to get INSIDE the airport. Then had to go thru one to two more security lines. Sounds good, right? Not so much. Here is where it gets weird. I actually learned that they will allow you to put huge bottles of liquid thru the xray scanner...as long as its scanned...I didn't know that we had come so far in detecting dangerous liquids that you can just xray them now.....

Best and Worst Toilets: Anywhere in Asia, especially the more remote you will see some interesting dungeons. China takes the cake for the worst squat holes I've ever seen...Ladies, if you don't have good thigh muscles for squatting, don't go to any far away Asian locales. And the bucket of water next to the toilet? That's for rinsing yourself cause there is NO toilet tissue.  Best Toilet goes to Japan. This is the home of the "heated toilet seat"! This man or woman who invented this deserves a Nobel Peace Prize or something. There is nothing better on a cold Japanese night or day than to rest on a seat heated to a toasty 98 degrees!!!

Best Massages for under $20: Anywhere in Asia but I'll have to give Thailand this one. I have NEVER had a massage so good in my life! I almost went into a coma and should have had a breathing machine next to me...it was that good!!! Bruce agrees, he had two little Thai ladies stretching him like he was a rubber band. We were both loving life after that one!!!!

Best Beach Eats: Also, anywhere in Asia but Thailand takes the cake. Anytime you can eat on the beach, hearing the sounds of waves, sitting barefoot at a picnic table while crabs skitter around your feet (and then onto your plate) COUNT ME IN!!! I know that eating al fresco (without silly things like forks, napkins) is not for all of us but I figured, lick your fingers, then rinse them in the ocean! Brilliant! Outdoor eating also comes with its own perils. At one of our "hangouts" in on Kuk Kak beach in Thailand, you were greeted by the waiter with a citronella candle in a empty beer bottle and free and liberal use of some type of super effective bug spray. We are pretty sure the stuff in that bottle was flammable and probably carcinogenic and I'm sure I'll develop several types of cancer from exposure to it, but hey, it was worth it! The mosquitoes in Thailand are vicious and will stop at nothing until you are drained of blood.

Our favorite Thai Restauraunt

Best Lazy Day on the Beach: White Beach (Borocay) in the Philippines. You can lay on the beach, someone brings you a big icy bucket of beer, you give them $2 and then you shed a tear thinking..."how much better could this be?"  Oh wait, there are some big huge shrimp on a grill being sold for $4....It just got better...

Things I thought I could never get used to but are now totally "normal":

-Ants...who knew that little buggies that I used to be mildly revolted by would be so second nature to me? Ants are a part of life in most places. Ants on my toilet paper? No problem, shake em off (unless you're into that sort of thing). Ants in your food? Eat around them, squish them or eat them (its protein), Ants on your body? As long at they are the tiny little ones and not the vicious biters, let em wander.
-Squatting...I guess those Asian genes really do "kick in". I can maintain a perfect 90 degree squat with my 15 lb backpack on my back for at least 30 seconds. Squatting is also handy when chairs are not avialable. Used to kill my knees but i've adapted..
-Nose Picking...I used to be amazed and revolted by the sheer number of folks "diggin for gold" in public. Now I realized that its their nose, whatever they find is theirs too keep and as long as it is not flicked in my direction, we are all good
-Staring...Everyone stares...to different degrees. I realize that when you travel "off the beaten path" there are going to be people who have NEVER seen someone like you. They are interested and excited to meet you. Its nothing mean and not meant to offend. Most cases, if you make eye contact, you will be met with a smile and conversation.
-Automated everything...Contrary to some belief, certain cities in Asia (Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo) are light years ahead of us in everything from transportation to snack machines. I have never seen so many cool designs. I could go on and on about the perfectly easy and super advanced train systems in Japan and Hong Kong and the hotels are some of the nicest ones I've ever seen. For those of you who don't want to "rough it" or you can't stand the idea of going one day without internet access or a shopping mall then there are places in Asia perfect for you!

Overall, I am so thankful for the time I got to spend in Asia. I think the people are warm and genuine and I wish I had more time to explore. I highly recommend to anyone to make the trip across the globe to Asia. You won't regret it. I didn't.
Goodbye Asia!!! We'll be back!

Returning to my Birthplace

The first time I realized that I was "different" was in second grade when my friend Donald screamed out,"You have a zebra family!" All the other kids at the bus stop started laughing out loud. He was making an observation about my Filipino mother who was walking with my younger brother toward us whom she had just picked up from kindergarten. Kids can be cruel, right? But so can adults... My siblings and I had a tough time growing up "mixed-race" because we were never "fully" accepted by either culture.  I can't speak for my brother and sister, but my way of coping was to hide in my "blackness".  It was much easier for me because I don't really look mixed until you look at me real hard (as many a Filipino does when I tell them).You could say I was passing as "Black American" because it was easier than trying to explain that I was Filipino-Black then trying to win acceptance.  Ironic..huh? MTV has made it cool to be "mixed" these days, but when I was growing up it definately wasn't cool, especially growing up in Northeast Washington, DC, which is 98% black.  Black folks can be as prejudiced as white folks... I think that is part of the reason I loved it so much when my father was stationed overseas, because people were far more tolerant on base (where there were other mixed kids) than in my grandparents "hood" where people rarely venture outside of the city limits.  My poor mother, I can only imagine what she had to endure when she came to D.C. back in 1971!  My mother made it easy for us to hide because she was so busy learning to be American (she went to citizenship school, even though it wasn't required due to her marriage; she knows more about U.S. history and government than most of you!); that she neglected to teach my brother and I Tagalog (Phillippines' national language).  I also think she thought it would make our lives easier, since it was already going to be hard being lower middle class (I don't like to use the word poor after what I've seen in South Africa, Brazil, and Southeast Asia) and "non-white".  I understand her decision, but I truly regret it.

I didn't reallly start to identify myself as Filipino until I was about 13 or so.  I was sitting watching football in the basement with my grandfather.  He was drunk on Johnny Walker, teaching me about women (how to get them); when he suddenly got somber and started talking about the "big one" - World War II.  My grandpa was a griseled old Navy Veteran who served in the Pacific during the war.  He didn't talk much about it, except when he was really, really drunk.  I was the only grandchild who had the patience to wait him out, because it would take hours for him to get that drunk.  He would want to wrestle and box and sing and talk and talk and talk.  But if you endured, you would get rewarded, he would pull out his "knot" and break you off about $20 and maybe $50 if it was payday!   Luckily, I was a tough kid and I could take the pounding he dished out. I learned a lot from my grandpa in the basement, among those lessons was why I was the "toughest" grandchild. He told me it was because I was half Filipino.  He would tell me, "Your father is tough, but your mother is tougher! Them damn"Flips" are the toughest little sons of guns you ever seen!"  You see he was in the Phillippines for some of the worse fighting of the war.  He would tell me gory details of the fighting between the joint American-Filipino forces against the Japanese when the latter invaded the Phillippines in 1941.  The Japanese initially defeated "our" forces and occupied the Phillippines for 4 years until General MacArthur made his famous "return" in 1945 landing on the beaches of Leyte not far from where my mother was born. One million Filipinos gave their lives in WW2, 6% of the population !, 300,000 Japanese and 68,000 Americans just during the campaign in the Phillippines (so much lost talent).  After the war, many (including my grandfather) thought the Phillippines would become our 49th state!  That's right people read your history, the Phillippines had been a U.S. territory since 1898 after the Spanish-American war, when we annexed the Phillippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Cuba as territories after defeating Spain and beginning our dangerous path of colonialism.  The Filipinos liked the ideals of freedom, education, and equality for all (after we persuaded them- American-Phillippine War:) .  They adopted our ideals and our culture, and fought with us to preserve those ideals during the World War II.  Unfortunately, the politics of the day were not in favor of making the Phillippines our 49th state.  It is our loss; these are a beautiful, passionate, gregarious, resourceful, tenacious people who would've been a great asset to the USA. Ferdinand Marcos took power in 1965 and allowed us to use the Phillippines as our military headquarters during the Vietnam War.  That's when a young, black soldier at the tip of the "American spear" fell in love with a fiery Filipino woman from Samar, Phillippines in 1970 is where my story begins....  I was born outside of Clark Air Base, Phillippines not long after they met:)

Link to a map of the 7,107 Phillippine Islands: http://www.mapsorama.com/maps/asia/Philippines/PhilippinesPhysical.png

Now that you know my background, you can anticipate my emotions on the flight from Hong Kong to Manila (Phillippine capital).  It took me 39 years to get back to my birthplace!  After all the stories from my grandfather, mom, dad, brother, sister, and aunts; after all my reading about Phillippine culture and history, I was finally on my way back to the place where I first witnessed the world. 

When we landed it was sunny and bright.  I started to hear that familiar, distinctive, accented "Filipino English" over the loudspeaker and from the people walking around us.  It put me at ease. That's one thing you will appreciate in the P.I., almost everyone speaks English, even the television is a mix of English and Tagalog.  Every major street sign is in English, just like Hong Kong.  And you could easily use american dollars for all of your purchases if you chose too. On the ride to our hotel, I saw the Jeepneys which are famously unique to the Phillippines.  They arose as a common mode of transport after WW2 when creative entrepenuers revamped old wartime Jeeps into large taxis for the countrys poor to ride to work in.  Much more efficient and manuveurable than a bus. And much easier to pimp out!

We arrived at our hotel in the Makati business district, and we were shocked by the level of security.  There were armed soldiers with bomb sniffing dogs at the entrance!  They even had airport style metal detectors.  Carmen and I are pretty adventurous, but after speaking to my parents, I thought it best to hang low in Manila.  We did finally get stir crazy and ventured to the mall, but that was it.  What you have to understand is that the P.I. is a third world country with crushing poverty and a lot of corruption.  Manila is a city of over 20 million with some of the worst slums I've ever seen.  You combine that with the wealth of foreign businessman from China, Korea, and the U.S., it is a recipe for disaster. With the Presidential election coming soon, my mom says its a perfect time for fringe groups to make a statement.  We did see plenty of tourists venturing out from our hotel and returning without a problem.  Our friends Rich & Ana also travelled all over the Phillippines about 6 weeks ago without any problems.  But my family doesn't have any money to pay ransom if I get kidnapped; and the way my mom used to whoop my tail as a kid, I could only imagine what some filipino fringe group had in store for me if they didn't pay!:) Carmen's family would've mortgaged everything to get her out and I would've been left to suffer in some hot, humid jungle camp...no thanks!

We took a flight on a small propeller plane to Boracay, P.I.  Our bags were overweight by 15kg, but we only had to pay $20! Awesome! Our bags were overweight by 10kg in Australia, we had to pay $400 dammit!  And their beaches are no where near as nice.  The flight was comfortable with plenty of legroom and only lasted 50 minutes.  The airport in Catilan was a bit scary.  You could see residential shacks with the owner's laundry hanging outside right next to the runway!

While the airport was really third world, the people were friendly and efficient.  It took about 8 minutes to unload the plane and get the bags! You could actually watch your bags get unloaded from the plane.  The baggage claim was exactly 60 meters from the runway.  A porter took our bags to the pre arranged taxi which then took us to a boat, which took us to the actual island of Borocay.  Then the hotel van took us through town to the hotel which was a block from the beach.  I felt like a total rock star being whisked from one mode of transport to the next.  I saw the hapless 20 something year old backpackers haggling with taxi drivers and boat captains and thanked my lucky stars that I waited to do this when I could afford to do it right:)  I highly recommend going with a hotel that will pick you up from the airport: Shangri-La, Borcay Mandarin, Regency Borocay, Asya Borocay, Crown Regency Borocay, and I'm sure there will be others to come. These luxury hotels average cost is about $130 per night! If you don't you'd better be prepared to haggle... This is what we saw when we arrived on Borocay:

Wow! I still say that the most beautiful beaches are in the Maldives, but Borocay are a close 2nd!  For some people it may be more enjoyable.  White Beach is the third world version of Venice Beach.  There are all kinds of people walking the beach selling things like jewelry and art work.  There are small "mom and pop" restaraunts and bed & breakfasts' right next to large scale modern hotels.  And yes, the good lord delivered me from fat folks in speedos!  The caliber of body was much nicer in Borocay than almost anywhere we've been except Brazil or maybe South Beach.  There were fine ass Asian women in skimpy bikinis, and muscle bound European men (I guess this is where they come). What could be better? 50 cents beers, cheap seafood and fried pork, transvestite fire dancers, and super rich Chinese/Koreans with hip hop gear on walking with swagger like they were in one of Jay-Z's rap video! They were live filipino cover bands performing rock songs and hip-hop/ techno night clubs to party in all night long.  The massages on the beach averaged $7 and a sunset sail on a catamaran costs about $20 including tip.  We were in the middle of it all once again. Instant celebrity status when the locals found out I was half Filipino.  Of course, I sometimes had to prove it by showing pictures of my family, but that's ok I'm used to it.  After they were sufficiently convinced, I was introduced as "my big brother" and "our Filipino cousin". Everytime the revelation set off a barrage of loud Tagalog and stares of amazement. But even when we didn't tell people we were treated with warmth and kindness.  We asked the police if we could take pictures of them, and they insisted that I pose with them.  I've never been treated that well by police in the states!

The sand was soft, the water was clear and the diving was excellent.  We did about six dives while in Borocay and we enjoyed them all.  Our first couple of dives revealed a unique coral reef that was different from anyother we've ever seen.  The soft coral were huge, and were in unique colors of purple, fluorescent green, and bright orange/red.  Gorgonian Fan coral bigger than us!  Large gardens of  barrel coral (look like giant tulips about 5 feet tall with pastel colors) and giant sponges that looked 100s of years old.  There were thousands of small fish everywhere.  They were so numerous you had to swat them out of the way so you could see!  Sea worms, nudie branches, and frog fish were plentiful.  I even had a remora try to attach itself to my leg (very unerving)! Carmen was lagging behind on one of our dives as usual.  I turned around to see what she was doing, her back was to me and she seemed to be playing with a small clown fish (nemo).  I got irritated because she was not keeping up, so I went back to get her.  As I reprimanded her in underwater sign language, the freaking clown fish swims from around her and comes straight at me!  I didn't realize he was attacking her. That bugger went straight for my mask! I swatted, but he kept coming; so I kicked at him with my fin and he dropped down below me and came again!  Carmen was laughing out loud as she made her get away! I swam as fast as I good after her. Attacked by Nemo, I can't believe it.. While the Maldives was great for large fish life, the Phillippines wins for coral and smaller life.  We didn't take pics, but to get an idea, here is a link:  http://www.diverosa.com/categories/Coral.htm    We did the wold famous Yapak Reef dive. This reef is famous for the large Gray reef and Whitetip sharks.  It was fun because the current was fierce, but not moreso than we were used to after Thailand and the Maldives!:)  We descended into the deep blue with no reef in sight until we got to about 35 meters/110 feet which is the deepest we've ever gone.  When we got near the reef you could see two large Gray reef sharks just chilling at the edge of the wall.  I checked on Carmen behind me, she was drafting like a pro, we both got nice positions on the reef right at the drop off.  It was a sunny day and the visibility was at leat 60 meters.  The sharks were hovering above us about 5 meteres/15 feet just chilling in the current.  There was a large octopus off the edge of the wall swimming out in the open which is very rare.  I turned to smile at Carmen, and I saw the swelling in her face.  Sometimes at deep depths you can get a high pressure build up in your scuba mask, but it can be relieved by breathing air from your nares into your mask.  I happen to know that she doesn't like to fool around with her mask, but I signalled her to put air in to equalize the pressure.  She looked bad yall, like she had been in a fight with Mike Tyson bad!  Her eyes were almost swollen shut!  I kept thinking to myself, I'm glad this is a short dive.  The divemaster signalled us to let go and the whole group floated in the current as we slowly ascended to meet the boat.  It was great, all of us floating in the deep blue/green as if we were flying.  When we got on the boat, Carmen looked a mess.  Her eyes were swollen to be damned and her conjuctival capillaries were all ruptured.  She looked like a zombie (think the movie "28 Days Later") who got into a fight with Mike Tyson! That was our last dive, cause people are going to think I've been beating you! Alas, our hunt for the elusive whaleshark was stymied again. No matter, we will be back no doubt.  We missed a couple of jungle tours and a volcano tour.  We were just too tired and hung over from the cheap beers and good eats. The Phillippines is very affordable and easier to get to than anywhere in Asia except maybe Japan.  MY people are warm, friendly, and they love to dance, sing, and eat!  Goodbye my brethren......

To see more pics click here

There's No Place Like (Bruce's) Home

Contrary to popular belief, I was not born in Asia. I totally feel that my spirit was. I like Asia. I am going to be sad next week when it is time to say goodbye to the largest continent on earth. I was comfortable in China, Thailand and Hong Kong. I loved being in the Maldives but I SWEAR no where is more like home than the Philippines! For those of you who didn't know, this is Bruce's birthplace. We had heard some really good things about the Philippines. Specifically the low cost of nice travel. Also, we had heard that White Beach in Boracay was one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We also researched and found that it has some very good dive sites.  All of those things prompted us to head farther down the "less trodden" path.

We arrived in the Philippines and planned on staying in Manila for a couple of days. The city is big and populous (like most B. A. A. C-Big Ass Asian Cities). Lots of people, lots of traffic, lots of people racing around 2-4 people deep on mopeds....Anyway, we land and find a ride to our hotel which is in the central business district of Makati. I was excited to be in Manila. We planned on doing some sightseeing, eating, drinking and relaxing. On our way to the hotel, i got the opportunity to see the main way of transport around the city, the Jeepney. The Jeepney is pretty much like a minibus/go cart which is pimped out beyond belief in wild colors with serious hubcaps, etc. People will pack themselves into these rides, hanging out of the back, holding on for dear life.  The way it works is if you get close to your stop, you yell, they will slow down to a respectable 5-10 miles per hour and you jump out.  Talk about bus "stop"!!! Some are "regular" but most look like something out of a rap video. I wondered if they had hydraulics? Here are a couple of Jeepney's in rush hour traffic:

My first idea that something could be wrong was the security at the entrance to the hotel. Now, I've seen armed soldiers before (checkpoints in Thailand, Sri Lanka). No big deal. As long as the AK-47 is not pointed towards me, we have no problem. We arrived at our hotel which was smack in the downtown area. The first check point involved two armed guards, a trunk search and a bomb sniffing dog...WTF? Ok, i'm intrigued. Why, pray tell do we need a bomb sniffing canine in the front of my hotel?  The next layer of security was the front door of our hotel. Everything seemed normal as the cabbie helped us out with our bags, however, at the door of our hotel was a security line complete with a bag check and metal detectors!!! WTF? To check in?! Once in the lobby we notice several more security guards with the little CIA/MI-5 ear buds in watching the elevators and checking people coming in....Bruce and I looked at each other and decided "Guess we're not going out sight-seeing"....

Ok, enough of that. By day two, I was stir crazy. I wanted to take my chances of being a byline in the newspaper. "American woman from Phoenix killed in tragic shooting/bombing outside a Manila hotel"
We decided to venture out to the mall. That was interesting. The mall was this strange juxtaposition of super nice and bootleg/local stuff. We entered on one side (after clearing more security and bag checks) and saw the usual high end mall shops (Prada, Coach, blah, blah). We walked around, found a bar (which had $1 beers...waayy more expensive then normal) and walked some more. Nothing interesting. Thank God we asked a local where was the closest drug store. They directed us to a nearby shop. We start walking in the oppressive heat (Jeez, it felt like 1000 degrees!) and all of a sudden, got swept up in a huge crowd of locals. Eveyone was headed to this "drug store". We walk in the doors (after another security/bag check) and end up in a huge, tri level departement store which was a cross between Big Lots/Sam's Club/Wal Mart/Sear's..ALL on steroids. There were hundreds of people, pushing, shoving, shopping, talking, standing, etc. We could barely make it down certain aisles. We had to do a search and rescue type of shopping method.  "Bruce, you head due south, get the lotion, I'll double back, head west and find toothpaste"
I found everything we needed despite having to criss cross a huge store the size of a small country. All of our finds came to a grand total of $3 (I Love it here!!).
Everything seemed back to normal until we decided that we need to stop by the bank to cash a couple of travelers checques...We ride up to the bank and we see this:

Guess we'll be using the credit cards....

After an uneventful stay in Manila, we were headed off to Boracay. Boracay is a very small island in the region of Caticlan, about 200 miles south of Manila. For anyone who doesn't know, the Philippines is a huge chain of islands. Most people use a combination of planes, ferries, buses to get around. We started our day at the domestic terminal in Manila. I knew that we had to fly a crop duster to Boracay and I knew that our big bags were going to go over the weight requirements (which is only 20lbs) and we were mentally prepared to pay. We had to check two bags, plus pay for overweight fees which came to a grand total of $20!! ( I love this place!) Our crop duster (i.e. super small prop plane) only had 20 seats.

Our "airplane" to Boracay

View of Boracay from the air

I watched nervously as the propellers choked to life (is the left turning slower than the right?) and then we were up in the air for our short 30 min flight to Boracay. One thing I had heard is that if the weather/wind is bad then flights could be re-routed to the next closes "airport" in Kalibo. Now that is NOT what you want to happen because that will put you a 2 hour bus ride plus a 45 minute ferry ride away from Boracay. We lucked out and ended up landing on a little "strip" of land in Boracay. Now, I have landed in crop dusters before. They make me nervous. I'm not scared of flying but I really hate tiny turbo props...Our airport was nothing more than a strip of road with a big hut next to it with an "airport" sign over it. What made it more fun was the baggage claim area:

After the scary flight we were driven 5 minutes down the street to the dock where we were put on a speed boat, taken to another part of the island, put on another bus to our final destination. We decided to save money not to stay on the beach. We figured that we were close enough to walk and it would be more quiet.
Our hotel did not disappoint! It was small (only 20 rooms) and very homey feel. We had a clean, quiet room with air conditioning!!! whoo-hoo!!! We were a short 1-2minute walk to the famous White Beach where all the shops/restauraunts are...

The other thing is Boracay is so very laid back! It is very primitive. Flip flops and shorts are part of everyone's daily uniform. People ride 3-4 deep on mopeds or on moped "taxi's". Life is like it was 50 years ago.

Regular rush hour traffic

Scenes from the city of Boracay

Here are pics of our little hotel:

White Beach is a huge, long stretch of sugar white sand and crystal clear water on the south side of the island of Boracay. The water was just as clear, if not clearer than in the Maldives! I've never seen water that clear!!! You could walk in  4-6 feet deep and still see the tips of your toes!!! (Complete with the fishies swimming around them!!!) It also had tons of massage shops, bootleg peddlers, bars, dive shops, etc.

Now these are the reasons why the Philippines reminds me so much of my home:

1) These people love some pork!!!-Oink-oink baby!!!. Any decent person from the south knows that there are five basic food groups: 1) Sweet tea 2) Coke 3) Corn products (corn bread, fried corn, corn on the cob, corn fritters, etc) 4) BBQ and Fried Foods 5) Pork. Now, if you can appreciate at least 3 outta 5, you can consider yourself a semi-southerner. Only a person prepared to accept and welcome all into their lives can be considered "real". Now, I won't eat everything off the pig (unless my mom cooks it or if it looks good or if you don't tell me what it is ahead of time) but I appreciate PORK! So do Filipinos!!! LOVE IT!! My first Filipino breakfast was the BEST EVER!!! I had 3 different kinds of meat with eggs and rice! Chorizo (spicy pork sausage), fried fish and pork tocino. Pork tocino is basically BBQ pork (I have no idea what part of the pig, nor do I care...Its GOOD!!!)   I can easily love and embrace people who love food like I do!!!!

My new favorite dish, Pork tocino (think, sweet and sour pork!)

2) They have my favorite food: Sio Pao.. Different cultures call it different things...Manapua (Hawaii), Steamed bao buns (Hong Kong), Xiao Pao (China)...They are ALL GOOD! All it is a sweet BBQ pulled pork meat in a steamed, slightly sweet bun!!! MMM, MMM!!!! Its like an Asian Hot Pocket! Anyway, I love them so much and I got hooked in Hawaii. They have Sio Pao on every corner in the Philippines. I can't starve here

3) It cheap and I'm cheap!!! Anytime you can go somewhere an get a whole, fresh fried snapper for $5 or shrimp the size of a dinner plate for $3 you can go ahead and count me IN!!!! We walked around and saw tons of seafood restauraunts offering shrimp, crab and fish for $1 to $5!!! We even saw lobster that were about $10-15 dollars for a POUND!!! OMG! (My sister is gonna want to move here!!)

These are the fresh grilled prawns (big as some small lobster) and fish. Total cost for dinner on the beach for two? $20!!!!

4) People are laid back and friendly. There is serious hospitality here. The people smile and speak. People say hello if they make eye contact, no one rushes (in Boracay...at all!!!). Folks just seem to want to sit back and watch the world go by....

We of course had to do some diving while we were here. I will let Bruce tell you all the fun details about that. We had some good fun and saw some amazing life. One of my favorite dives, called Friday's Rock was so fun because I didn't notice how weird the fish were until we were in the middle of the dive. We had the task of identifying different fish and I was busy looking at my underwater slate to find a fish I had just seen.  All of a sudden, I realized that something kept getting in my eyes. As a habit, I waved my hands in front of me like it was a mosquito or something. It was actually a huge school of different fish literally up in my face!!! The fish had unfortunately been hand fed by other divers in the past and were really used to being around divers. They were in my hair, under my arms, everywhere!! So close that my eyes were crossed trying to see what was in front of me!!
My other scary dive was when I got bitten by a fish!!!

Ok, i didn't get bit by him, we ate this one!!!

Actually, I was swimming along, minding my own business and all of a sudden a cute little fish swam up and bit me on the finger!! It didn't hurt and I was totally amused because the fish was NEMO!! (ask your kids if you don't know who Nemo is...). Anyway, I guess I had gotten too close to his little hideout and he wanted to show me who was boss!!! I was laughing and trying to catch Bruce's attention when the little shit came at me again and nipped me a second time!!! That time, it wasn't as funny. He came at me again and I had to clunk his little ass with my dive computer to make him stop. He didn't!!! This time, Bruce saw me struggling and came over to see what was up. As I pointed at little Nemo, he attacked Bruce!!! At this point, I did what any self respecting wife would do: I left my husband behind to fight for me!!!! Luckily, neither one of us were seriously injured by the 3 inch fish! :)

Overall, we had an awesome time in the Philippines. It is a country of complete contradictions. In the face of abject poverty, you will find beauty. The culture is rich and alive and the people are warm, welcoming and friendly.  Like all places (but perhaps a bit more), I will miss the Philippines.

We'll Be Back!!!!!

Check out all of our pics from the Philippines by clicking here