Philippines Trip part 3

Spent 3 days at a beach resort in Boracay, an island 200 miles south of Manila. The shots below are from the bus going to the hotel. It was an hour and a half ride (after a 50 min. flight to the island) through a few small towns and lots of beautiful countyside, followed by a 25 min. boat trip, then a quick van ride into the hotel. It's an adventure just getting there! But it was all well worth it.








Did lots of swimming in the ocean and at the hotel pool. Damn thing had a huge bar poolside you could swim right up to, sit yourself down on one of the underwater stools and order up a drink. Classy, baby! It was overcast for most of the trip and it rained a little the first day, but it was always very warm with a nice breeze, the water was clear and you could wade out pretty far from shore before the water was even chest deep. It was a relaxing time.








At a restaurant called Leslie's in Tagaytay city, which is I believe about an hour's drive south of Manila. It overlooks the Taal lake and volcano, which I was told is inactive. Good eats and great views, but unfortunately also the place where Pops got his video cam swiped. Jelyn had just finished telling me about keeping a look out for pickpockets on the ride over there!









My cousin Alexis (on the far right) plays in a band we checked out one night. They were pretty good. I knew she sang but didn't know she also played bass. I think one song was original, all the others were covers. Apparently she's able to play music full-time to make ends meet, which is great considering I know so many people in bands that aren't as lucky. I had a good time.





Halloween is celebrated in the Philippines, but over there kids dress up and go to malls in the afternoon for trick-or-treating. The first 2 shots below were taken by my cousin Jelyn as I wasn't able to see it for myself. The last shot I took after the kids got home. Jelyn's daughter, Sam, is Wonder Woman, my cousin Liset's daughter, Maxine, is the ladybug, and my cousin Tess's son, Teemo, is the bumblebee. I wish I'd been there.






Here's Teemo on the second day of our trip. Tess had told me that he's scared of me, and she said that's a good thing because she uses that to make him behave, i.e. if you don't sit quietly uncle Jose will get mad at you!




Here he is on the last day of our trip. We were friends by then and I recall Tess saying at one point "He's not scared of you anymore." I guess she was kinda disappointed! All my cousins kids were great. Just thinking of them now, it's a shame I won't get to see them grow up. I'll miss out on golden conversations like this one I overheard between Teemo and Sam when Teemo tried to put his baseball cap on Sam's head:
Sam: Don't do that! That's for boys, not girls. I'm a girl!
Teemo: No, it's for girls, too.
Sam: No, that's for boys only. I'm a girl!
Teemo: Uh, I'm not a boy!
Sam (looking puzzled): Well, what ARE you then?!

Philippines Trip part 2: Family

It's been over 20 years since I last visited the Philippines, and so my trip back was mainly focused on getting reacquainted with my relatives and meeting a lot of new ones. I enjoyed my time with them immensely. Growing up, it was always just my immediate family-all of my aunts, uncles and cousins were in the Philippines. Spending time with them, it was a wonderful feeling to know that I'm part of a greater family unit. I don't know if that's something other people value, or if they take it for granted. I sure don't.


This is my grandmother surrounded by her children on her 95th birthday. She's an amazing individual. As she herself put it, "My body is old and weak, but my mind is sharp. And as I get older it only gets stronger. While you're young, use what you have. Otherwise you've got nothing."




With my other aunts and my uncle Jun, who's to the right of my dad in the blue shirt.




Grandma with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Uncle Jun decided to hang for this shot. My cousins Tess and Liset were present but not in the photo, and unfortunately I missed getting any pics of them at all.




My cousins Jelyn, Christine (or Lek, as everyone called her) and me. Jelyn was just 4 the first time I met her on my last trip in 1983, and Lek hadn't even been born yet! All of the cousins were cool. I even got to meet a few second cousins I didn't know I had, and they were very nice.




Jelyn's daughter, Sam, took the above shot. She's awesome-very talkative and smart. A little spoiled but adorable nonetheless. When we first met on the ride home from the airport, she wanted to make friends but was shy about it so she kept telling Jelyn things like "Tell him I like Tarzan and Wonder Woman! Tell him I'm going to be Wonder Woman for Halloween! Tell him Ce Ce (her cousin) and Ella (her stuffed animal) are my best friends!"







My dad, uncle Jess and uncle Ruben. Odd, I have a sudden urge to play pool now!




Like I should talk! Here's my bald ass in front of the entrance to the dept. of Forestry at U.P. (University of the Philippines).

Philippines Trip part1

Various random shots from our trip. We were there 3 weeks and it was a blast. I mean to go back soon.