3 Months In the Philippines and Our 300th Day Off

Today is our last day in the Philippines and our 300th day off. Unbelievable.

The Philippines has always been the inspiration for my desire to see the world. Knowing I had family on the other side of the world expanded my imagination. It was also the catalyst for our super vacation knowing we wanted to stay longer than a two week vacation.

For three months we lived in a little duplex my mom owns. It felt great to unpack for a while. In our time here we learned a new language, learned how to play the guitar, planned our trip through the end of the year and we happily packed on a few pounds for Nepal.

Most importantly, Parker and I got to spend time with my family. My mom was here with us for two months, which was so awesome. I can not express how special this time has been for me. My family and I picked up where we left off and they absolutely loved Parker. It's a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins. We spent most of my time at my Aunt Eugene and Uncle Modesto's house (pictured). They spoiled us rotten. It was hard to leave but I'm grateful to have the time we had and we look forward to another visit. All of our saving, planning and hard work was worth every day we had with family.

We are packed, rested and excited about the next leg of our journey.

On the September 7th, we are going to Singapore to eat for four days. We will then head to Thailand to soak up the sun before we head to Nepal at the end of October. We will be hiking for two months and will end 2010 somewhere in the Himalayas.

Thank you Mom and family for the beautiful memories.

Rockin' out in the Philippines

I have beautiful nostalgic memories of my mom playing the guitar. I have always dreamed of learning to play one day. She has a great voice and plays flawlessly by ear. Unfortunately, her daughter did not inherent either talent. I don't play any instrument, I can't read music and I am a little tone deaf. The first couple of weeks were painful for everyone around me to say the least.


Knowing that I had nothing but time on my hands, I kept strummimg and practicing. I practiced my chords and scales everyday. My family tried to be supportive of my efforts. I was constructively informed that every note I played was wrong. However, every note sounded the same to me. Then on week three something clicked and I was finally making music. I was thrilled to be finally playing the guitar and everyone was relieved that I could finally pick up a tune.

Filipinos are romantics. They love ballads and they love their guitar. Most of my aunts, uncles and cousins know how to play. Neighbors and visitors play a few of their favorites when they stop by. Through out the day we have random jam sessions

For the last two months, we have been practicing and playing for 3-4 hours each day. We are learning the guitar at a rapid pace. What I've learned might have taken me years at home. I was almost that hopeless. Parker played the piano and sax so the guitar was pretty easy for him to pick up. We have a beginners book and tons of tutors and thank goodness for YouTube. We are reading tabs, learning finger style and all the other tricks of the trade.

Just a few of the songs we can play for you the next time we see you:
*More than Words (Extreme)
*Leaving on a Jet Plan (John Denver)
*Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton)
*Killing me Softly (The Fugees)
*Good Riddance (Green Day)
*I'm Yours (Jason Mraz).

Right now, Parker is learning the intro, solo and conclusion to Hotel California by the Eagles. Obviously not a beginner song. Again, we have a lot of time on our hands. As for myself, I am more than happy rockin' out my three chords songs.

Parker's Big 30: Filipino Style

Parker's birthday celebration began at 4am. We were both in a heavy sleep when we thought we heard singing outside. The singing continued, it was soft and sounded like several people. I recognized my mom's voice and went to open the door. It was still pitch black and outside of our little apartment was my mom, lola, aunts and several neighbors in the small crowd of 15 people. They were singing and holding candles. My uncle was playing the guitar. It was a birthday seranade for Parker. This is something my family does for each other's birthdays. They sang Bisayan and English songs and happy birthday. Then all the ladies took turns dancing with Parker. There was more singing and hot chocolate and sticky rice afterwards. They had woken up at 3am to prepare for the seranade. It was was a touching experience to see how much my family has grown to love my husband.



Everyone, family and neighbors, have been so excited about throwing Parker a birthday party, Filipino Style:
* Lechon Baboy (roast pig) - check.
* Way too much food - check.
* The Mother of All Karaoke Machines - check.
* Tanduay (filipino rum) - check.


I don't know why this karaoke machine was so big but it kept everyone entertained. Parker will try to tell you that he does not sing or dance. I'll let these pictures speak for themselves. It was a good birthday for the old man.

5 Pigs, 2 Discos, 1 Fiesta

I haven't been back home in 18 years. It has been too long.


My family moved to the States when I was seven and my sister was six. We visited once four years later. My mom visits often but my sister and I haven't been back since 1992 and haven't seen my Lola (grandmother) in five years. I have a giant family. My mom is one of nine siblings and I am one of 22 first cousins. Most of my family still lives in Canubay which is a Barangay(community) of Oroquita City. We were greeted with open arms and joyous cries by my Lola (grandmother), the rest of my family and family friends. Seeing everyone again was overwhelming. It was difficult to fight back the tears as I thought of my sister and wishing she had been able to meet us. It feels good to be home again with my mom. And I'm so happy to finally introduce my husband to my family.

We arrived a few days before the week long fiesta for Canubay which is on held on the 13th of June. The Philippines is dominantly Catholic and the fiesta is a religious celebration for St. Anthony. It is a full week of many scheduled activities. It starts with a novena everynight at the chapel, which is only a few yards from my Lola's house. The first weekend of the fiesta begins with the Ms. Canubay Pagent. The following day, Sunday is the Fiesta Mass. After church the eating begins and we start hopping houses.

On Sunday evening we danced off what we could at the Fiesta Disco. The disco was a riot. The whole community showed up, kids to adults. The music was blaring and everyone was ready to hit the dance floor. The kids especially loved Parker and Eric. There was no blending in for these two. So the two Joes just went with it and showed off their mad disco skills.

What we tried to dance off were the five pigs we ate. You read that right. Filipinos are known for their lechons. Lechon baboy means rotissere pig . The whole pig is gutted and roasted over an open fire. Someone manually flips the pig on a giant bamboo stick for hours until it is nice and crispy. Filipinos love to eat and meals are a family affair. We ate five lechons in two days. Along with a buffet of seafood, traditional favorites and a beautiful spread of tropical fruits. We ate so much it hurt but we couldn't stop.

Somehow we surviced the first weekend of the celebration. Between the festivities, Parker, Erik and I went to a resort for a few days with four of my cousins: Odessa, Theresa, Karen and Shiela. We went to Dakak resort and then spent a few nights at Sunrise Resort. Sunrise Resort is a new development that is still in progress, so we were able to rent out the only two cottages available and had the whole beach resort to ourselves. We lounged around, snorkeled the reefs, chased crabs, climbed coconut trees, drank too much Tanduay (Filipino Rum) and then rolled around on the beach.

We went back to Canubay for the last weekend of the fiesta. Sunday was the day of the parade and the Sakay-Sakay. The statue of St. Anthony was taken out of the church and headed the beginning of the procession to the pier. Then the statue was loaded onto a boat along with the people who were in the parade and the band. Sakay-Sakay translates to Ride-Ride. The land parade was then turned into a one hour boat parade on the Pacific. We were followed by a few other fishing boats and many outriggers. The band rocked out all the way back to the pier and the procession continued to the cottages where everyone stayed for a family potluck at the cottages. The final evening of the fiesta was the Sakay-Sakay coronation and the second and final disco to end the festivites. What a week!

We literally eat every two hours. All day, a family member or neighbor would bring over a dish for us to try. We tried it all and ate most of it. We ate traditional filipino foods and tried everything that came out of the ocean, fish of every kind, squid, jellyfish, urchins, seaweed, giant shrimps and snails. Then it was nap time every few hours in the hammock garden under a canopy of mahagony trees. Eat, nap, eat, nap was our schedule.

When we weren't eating or napping, we explored the city on motor bikes, swam in the river, snorkled in the ocean and attempted mahjong. The national language is Tagalog but we are starting to pick up some of the Bisayan dialect, we learned how to weave little baskets to cook rice in and Parker and I started learning guitar. Life is good.

It's time for a nap.

Back to my Homeland: The Philippines

My mom, visiting from Oklahoma, met us in Manila. We were welcomed by my mom Estrella, my aunt Eugene and the steaming heat of the tropics. The Philippines is a beautiful island nation of 7,109 islands. Manila is a mega city with 12 million people on the biggest island in the Philippines.


Parker was quiet during the cab ride as he soaked in the surroundings (quiet is unusual for Parker). I had forgotten that this was his first time in Southeast Asia and a developing nation. Manila is a collection of many small towns with a mix of high rises and modernism next to slums and poverty. The city is hot, crowded and noisy but the very mild mannered Filipinos manage to make it work. Tagalog is the national language and English is the second language making it was easy to get around.

Parker, of course, is a head taller than everyone and very American so he attracts a lot of attention. Everyone calls him Joe. Every white man is referred to as Joe from the G.I.s who were once stationed here in Subic bay.He was especially a big hit with the kids and they chanted Joe!, Joe!, Joe!. Everywhere we go, people yell:

"Hey Joe!",
"How are you Joe"?,
"Where are you from Joe"?,
"Where are you going Joe"?,
"Do you want a ride Joe"?

It took Parker a few days to adjust to the Joe greetings. He likes to blend in, especially when traveling, so he is still adjusting to being the center of attention all the time. A couple of days later our friend Erik, a hiking buddy from the Appalachian Trail and now Joe #2, arrived for his two week vacation. My mom and Erik are our first visitors on our trip. After six months on the road, it's so good to see familiar faces.

We were in chaotic and smoggy Manila for five days where we stayed with my cousins Odessa, Theresa, Karen, Shiela and Aunt Mercedes. The most popular mode of transportation in Manila is the jeepney. In the Philippines, traffic rules, lights, lanes and signs are merely suggestions. And with no emission control, the exhaust of the taxis and jeepneys fills the air. There is an intricate transport system where point A to point B is maybe two jeepney rides, a hop on the light rail, a short taxi ride and then maybe a pedal side car to your final destination.

We spent a few days wandering around the city and eating foods on sticks. We did a little souvenir shopping and tried our hand at haggling. The prices of course shot up once the shop owners saw the Joes. So we did the whole browsing thing and my cousin Odessa went back and asked for prices. We started to learn the local price of the basics. The exchange rate is 46 Pesos to the Dollar. One jeepney ride is 7 pesos(15 cents), a fried banana on a stick is 5 pesos (11 cents), a liter of coke is 26 pesos (56 cents) and a good meal for two is under 200 pesos (four dollars).

After five days, we were more than ready to leave Manila. All eleven of us (my mom, two aunts, two Joes, four cousins and myself) flew south to the island of Mindanao to be reunited with the rest of the family.