trip report in pictures!

[Honey]

actually, i didn't know where to post this and since it involved a trip, i figure this would be the place, hehe! i hope you guys don't mind.

i don't enjoy typing a lot so allow me to show you my recent trip to the Philippines (after 9yrs in the states) in pictures!  Bear was very kind to let me go home for a quick visit.  the airfare was too high we couldn't afford to go as a family  .  anyway, i'm not done posting all the pics yet so chk the link every now and then.  thank you!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bearhoney143/collections/72157624905402851/

[robert angel]

Thanks for the great picture report. My wife and of course her family, live in COMVAL, but at age 16, my wife and all her younger siblings go (well, one has yet to  graduate and turn age 16) go to the 'Big City" of Davao City and when we visit, we split our time between the more exciting Davao and the more relaxing COMVAL.

Those pictures bring back a lot of memories. We like the new Peoples park, but also have romantic memories of the old Magsaysay Park. It looks like the statues at Peoples Park need a good cleaning, or maybe some paint, but I am sure it's still a great place to walk and relax.

Is that Bluejazz beach on Island Garden of Samal? We usually go to Paradise Beach, and it's just as pretty, but sometimes gets a little crowded and the water is as clear and pretty, but there are rocks that can hurt the feet a little, in some places.

At least, all the Island Garden ofSamal Beaches seem cleaner to me than most Cebu beaches.

We love Eden Garden's Nature Park too. It's a long taxi ride and we usually pay a taxi driver for the day, becuase we don't have a car in town.

Did you eat at Banoks or Jacks Ridge? The foods look yummy!

Anyway--hopefully next time, your husband can go too. We're saving up and hoping the airfares don't get too high next June--July so we can go back to Davao--COMVAL and hopefully Bohol, where my wife's family is orginally from too--we'll see.

Respectfully,
Robert

[Jeff S]

Hi Honey:
Thanks for the post and great pictures! Looks like you had a lot of fun. I bet Bear was disappointed having to stay home and work.

- Jeff

[Honey]

@Robert:  yes that was bluejaz. it's actually beside paradise island.  i've been to paradise before so i decided to go to bluejaz this time.  so much has changed in the 9yrs that i was gone.  i can't even recognize the streets anymore.  Eden was nice. it was my first time actually.  it's sad we didn't really get to walk the whole place. we rented a van for that day but they only allow it in a few places.  i didn't get to bring my family to Banoks or Jack's ridge this time but we've all been there before i left them 9yrs ago.


@Jeff:  Bear took 2weeks off from work to babysit the other 2 boys. hopefully, in a few years, we'll be able to save for the 5 of us to go.

[z_k_g]

Very nice pictures!!  Very nice of you to share!!

Zulu

[fathertime]

Thanks for sharing the pictures and say Hi to the Bear for me!

Fathertime!

[whitey]

Thanks for the pics ... you've got a good eye with the camera.  And somebody likes food ... I'm starving now!

[piglett]

Honey i sure hope you gave Bear a big list of chores to do while you were away.
no point in him just sitting around for 2 weeks .....he he he 
how many pictures did you end up taking?
i think i had about 500 by the time i got back on the plane.


piglett

[thekfc]

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

When we were in Bohol, we meet a couple from Canada, The lady was returning for the first time after 20 years & it was the son's first trip.

My wife have family members in Long Beach who haven't been back in years, glad to hear that you went back to visit home & the family.

[Honey]

thank you for the compliments on my phtos  . 

@piglett: i took almost 2,000 photos and a few videos as well but i'm not going to post all of that.  i'm already getting tired of resizing and marking them, lol!

[Dave H]

Hi Honey,

Great pictures! Congratulations on a well deserved homecoming! Maybe your family can move to the Philippines and Bear can run all of his systems by computer from here. 

Dave

[Bob_S]

That's great Bear was able to let you and the kids go back to visit family.  Times are tough, so I know it is not easy.  While my mother-in-law is still alive, I want my little girl to be able to go visit her so she will have some memory of her.  And so far we've been able to do it each year (though I've had to borrow against my home equity credit to do it), but this year I probably won't be able to join them.  Our family economics just don't make it possible right now.

Your photos are so sweet of a great family get-together, and they will be important in years to come for your kids to remind them they are connected to a bigger world.

Take care of Bear (still living near Houston?).

[piglett]

Honey

I saw the pictures you took of the food you ate while back home & it made me think
what kinds of Philippine foods have you been able to find here in usa ?
my wife just love her white rice & fish.
i liked the larger red fish there in the PI, but not so much the smaller grey ones.
i am about 100 miles north of Boston i would guess that there would be a store there that would have some PL foods. I guess i'll have to ask one of the 2 or 3 pinays that are already living in my small town.

piglett   

[robert angel]

Get a big bag of jasmine rice for starters.  No 'Kano style' instant rice.

A 10 kilo bag will make her feel good--comfy. Most Filipinos love any kind of seafood.  If lobster was cheap, we'd eat that and she loves shrimp. Tilapia was a huge hit there long before it came to the USA, where it now outsells cat fish. Pork's cool--eaten more than beef and chicken's always a hit too.

DaveH and a couple others made a pretty comprehensive list of things--foods & things.

I don't know how densely populated it is from your place to Boston, but I'd thinks there's few Asian groceries between you and there. Try and get some of their special  vinegar and peppers for dipping foods.

That said, were probably going to drive about two and half hours each way to Jacksonville Florida, this Sunday, where with about 50,000 Filipinos, they have purely Filipino stores and everything is about 20% cheaper than here, plus they have a number of Filipino restaurants.  Definitely go back 5-8 months I think, we put out some pretty comprehensive--maybe overly so, lists in archives. maybe just enter 'lists' in search?

[thekfc]

Get a big bag of jasmine rice for starters.  No 'Kano style' instant rice.

You mean I cannot have my beautiful parboil rice & my minute rice? 

I remember the posts on the food comparison - I had it bookmarked but lost it when I switch computers. 

Remember these from Ray's:
~Clean the house. 
~Buy a sack (20 lb) of good rice (Thai Jasmine rice). 
~Take as much time off work as you can get when she arrives. Try not to leave her home alone too much in the first month or so until she starts to adjust.
~Buy some prepaid phone cards and encourage her to call home.
~Go out of your way to find some of her favorite foods and try not to feed her too much Western food at first. 
~About 2 weeks after she arrives, go to local SSA office and apply for her SS Card.
~His stir-fry beef and peppers recipe.

I have already gone to the Filipino markets in my area to see what they carry & Asian markets/grocery/food - I am surrounded by them.
We also have  a Jollibee restaurant nearby (but the food is not quite the same).

The only thing I am worried about is Ahya coming to NYC in the dead of winter & weather shock may come into play, thus we may not be able to go out much the first month or so.
But I am already collecting some winter clothes for her to get by - she will choose what else she want when she gets here..

[z_k_g]

The only thing I am worried about is Ahya coming to NYC in the dead of winter & weather shock may come into play, thus we may not be able to go out much the first month or so.
But I am already collecting some winter clothes for her to get by - she will choose what else she want when she gets here..

This is an understatement KFC!!   

Zulu

[robert angel]

You'd be surprised. My wife later told me how much she enjoyed the uniqueness of that first winter. She came here in January and actually liked it, although we didn't have the cold wet sleet and wind that I remember occasionally getting in NYC--only a sadist would like that.

Last winter--one of her greatest dreams came true--we finally had snow. It was like taking her to Disney World--she was totally over the top geeked up about it. like a 5 y/0 on Christmas morning...I think we still have snowballs in the freezer....

BUT--almost all Filipinas, after going through the first summer here, and then feeling the slow onset of fall into an increasingly cold and raw winter, like winter less, and the loss of day hours isn't something they're used to, making it worse. they don't notice that as much at first.

Then after surviving that second winter, they'll swear that second summer is hotter and worse than anything back in the Philippines, because it started to warm up, then got hotter and hotter, creeping up to the point where it felt like it was choking them.

That said, Filipinos are the most adaptable people I've ever met to various cultures and climates and I'm sure your babes will be fine. Really, you're probably over worrying!

[Ray]

The "weather shock" theory again?

Guys, this should be the least of your worries. Yes, she will need warm clothes, but she isn't going to die from cold-shock!

Pig, if you want readily available Filipino foods, move to SoCal. Here in San Diego, within a 10-minute drive, I have 3-4 major Filipino supermarkets, 7-8 Filipino bakeries,
probably 2-3 dozen Filipino restaurants & turo-turo (fast food joints), etc...

There are 3 Jollibees in our area, but their food is mostly over-priced garbage. But I do occasionally have one of their peach-mango or banana-langka pies though...

Ray

[thekfc]

I think we still have snowballs in the freezer....

Really, you're probably over worrying!

I think that I am. 

[Jeff S]

The "weather shock" theory again?

Guys, this should be the least of your worries. Yes, she will need warm clothes, but she isn't going to die from cold-shock!

Pig, if you want readily available Filipino foods, move to SoCal. Here in San Diego, within a 10-minute drive, I have 3-4 major Filipino supermarkets, 7-8 Filipino bakeries,
probably 2-3 dozen Filipino restaurants & turo-turo (fast food joints), etc...

There are 3 Jollibees in our area, but their food is mostly over-priced garbage. But I do occasionally have one of their peach-mango or banana-langka pies though...

Ray

ROFL. Yeah - the last thing you worry about around here is the availability of Asian food.

[robert angel]

I dunno---But where Piglett lives:

It's colder than the shady side of a banker's heart!

Why in fact--it got so cold that Mr. OLeary got up in the middle of the night and made coffee in his pajamas!

Don't worry though, we're going to send Mr. OLeary a coffee pot....

'Jokes' Stolen from legendary weatherman, Sonny Elliot, who after piloting a B24 in WWII, getting shot down and surviving 18 months in a German POW camp, went on to deliver the weather on TV and radio for in Detroit for 63--yes 63 years--he just retired this year. His often sexy, over the top and under the table humor was something else....

[z_k_g]

I dunno---But where Piglett lives:
It's colder than the shady side of a banker's heart!

That's pretty COLD!

NH or Maine in the winter!!  She better get ready!!

Zulu

[piglett]

I don't know how densely populated it is from your place to Boston, but I'd thinks there's few Asian groceries between you and there. Try and get some of their special  vinegar and peppers for dipping foods.

there are probably 700,000 people in the southern part of the state so i would think there would be some kind of foreign food markets. probably a quick search in yellowpages.com would confirm this.

I intend to take Marily ice fishing the 1st winter she is here. I think that she will really dig catching fish from under the ice on a frozen pond.

i told her that intend to teach her how to drive once arrived & her 1st question was
"can we paint the car pink?"
i told her that as long as i had to drive the car too that it just couldn't be pink 


piglett

[robert angel]

Geeze Piglett,

I dunno about this ice fishing thing. Live anywhere near a bowling alley? You drinking schnapps up there, bud?

Most Filipinas are, aside from being absurdly romantic, are so logically practical that their thinking evades my cluttered mind.

I think after having bought more than our share of five pound bags of frozen tilapia in a climate controlled Walmart, that if I took my wife out ice fishing, she'd last maybe five minutes and want to beat me senseless with Gordon's frozen fish sticks....

Anyways, I never caught anything more than small fry when ice fishing and with my luck, I'd finally hook a biggun, only to find out the hole I spent an hour augering thru 8 inches of lake ice was too small to bring the damn fish up and out of. 

Meanwhile, the heat and weight of the snowmobile behind me, would probably be melting a hole of it's own, sending it down deep and leaving me, looking like the dang Michelin tireman in my snow suit--STRANDED! My feet feel numb just THINKING about it!

[piglett]

no no no you must have been doing it all wrong Robert.
1st you need a bobhouse
2ND start a small fire in you woodstove
3rd because it's a really small building it quickly reaches well over 90f in there so open up the door.
4Th please wait till there is a lot more than 8 inches of ice before you decide to walk out on to it.
     (2 feet is good & 3 is better)
5Th we have power augers, this leaves much more time for fishing & also drinking 
6Th i have caught fish over 2 feet long & they always fit through the hole no problem

piglett