Manila with the Hyatt's

I got to Manila this Spring and was fortunate enough to swing my meetings just before Easter so Ben and I could stay there over the long weekend. Yes in Singapore, Good Friday is a National Holiday!

Some of you may have heard the stories about  Easter in the Philippines and how....interesting...it can be. I will let you research for yourself, but some of the activities include live reenactments of the crucifixion or people carrying crosses through the streets, just to name a few. Ben and I didn’t participate, or even watch for that matter, but did go to a few cathedrals and were met by throngs of Christian parishioners.

Here are just a few of the adventures we had in Manilla.

While in Manila, we met up with our good friend (Sarah)'s sister (Alma) and her adorable family. We were only suppose to hang out with them for an afternoon, but had so much fun with their cute family that we changed our plans so we could hang out with them. 

 

 I love the markets around the city. Little kids everywhere ran their family fruit and vegetable stands.

We started our trip with a “Wok”ing food tour through Manila’s Chinatown. My favorite food included some incredible pork and chive dumplings. I think I ate the equivalent of a bucketful. I am pretty sure the only fight Ben and I got in was over the last dumpling :) We really love dumplings.

Ben and I are like TWO PEAS IN A POD.....

.....Unless we have dumplings to fight over. Then you better stand back.

This is my favorite picture from the trip.

Little Mila is definitely beat Ben in Chess.

I was super excited to finally find a hand carved nativity set.

On Saturday we drove to Vila Escudero. It was basically a large family plantation for a very wealthy family in the Philippines that has since been turned into a museum, amusement park, water park, waterfall restaurant, tourist attraction. It was pretty awesome, kind of tacky and super kitschy, but we had a blast with the Hyatts.

This was our mode of transportation around the Villa.

One of the many attractions around Villa Escudero, this was the "waterfall restaurant". We literally sat and ate at the base of the waterfall.

Another attraction which we participated in was longboat canoeing.

There were tons of hilarious decorations, sculptures and statues like the gigantic whale  in the top right corner. There was also, oddly enough, an ET statue, minney and mickey mousse and a lot of European statues.

Another picture of the "waterfall" restaurant.



Lost Pictures from Bali

I just found some pictures of Bali on an old camera, enjoy...

Ben thought the "gas stations" in Bali were pretty sweet.

I don't know what it is but I love taking picures of old ladies (aka Aunties) in Asia. I hope that when I am 90 I can carry baskets of stuff on my head....I should emphasise CAN, not HAVE TO.

Love her rocker T

A whole lot a salmonella.

Check out these fish, no editing done.

Lookin' nice and sweaty, as always in Asia.

Making offerings

Hanging out at the fish market

 Ben and I took a Balinese Cooking class and really enjoyed it. If you don't want to learn how to cook Balinese food, but like trying a lot of different dishes I recommend going to their restaurant for dinner. It is a set menu that allows you to have small tasting portions of a lot of different dishes. Their website is: http://www.balifoods.com/

Krabi, Thailand: Snokeling, Rock Climbing, Swimming, Cooking and Chillin' with the Monkeys

This spring Ben and I got to spend a little time in Krabi, Thailand also known as “Paradise”.  While there we were able to snorkel with the fish, swim with squid, eat with friends, fish with locals, rock climb with professionals and hike with tourists.

The only problem with Krabi is… the pests. You see, most places have spiders, cockroaches, snakes or mice, but in Krabi this is what we had to deal with:

Oops, wrong photo these definitely aren’t the pests. These are some of the greatest people on earth. We had so much fun with Blake, Jane, Nate, Jessica and cute little baby Sage. I would go to battle with anyone that claims to have a better baby traveler than Sage, she really was a dream and isn't she adorable!

Ok, these are the pests I was referring to. They actually weren’t pests, but pretty hilarious to watch. We learned that we couldn’t leave any food out or they would snatch it up.

Nate and I then learned that if you can’t beat ‘em, you may as well join ‘em.

While in Krabi we stayed on beautiful Railay Beach, a secluded island only accessible by these very local long tail boats. The Island was beautiful with great beaches, majestic mountains and crystal clear water. We stayed on a small resort where each couple had their own little villa, it was awesome.

One morning we hired our own long tail boat to take us around some of the smaller islands. The green islands are absolutely beautiful the way they shoot straight out of the crystal clear blue water.

"Big Chicken, bet you can guess how it gets it's name.

I like to call this picture “Big Chicken Dos”:)

 We spend lots of time snorkeling and playing around in the water. If one of my kids ever complains about having to wear modest swimming suits, I am going to show them this picture.



Such a cute family!



My handsome hubby chillin on the boat.

Anyone up for some beach yoga?

Another highlight was rockclimbing. Ben was seriously a machine. He was even faster than some of the locals, which is absolutely crazy because they weigh roughly 90 lbs. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but they kept laughing and saying “monkey”.

This is the incredible view from the small hole we climbed out of.

This is the mountain we climbed up. You can see the hole 1/2 way up the mountain (the higher hole on the right). That is where we hiked too.

Ben and I also took a Thai cooking class. We learned how to make delicious Spring Rolls, Pad Thai, Tom Ka Gai, and Chicken Green Curry. It was fantastic. I honestly love Thai food and eating really was a highlight for me on this trip. We had excellent Spicy Beef Salad, Red and Green Curry, Cashew Chicken, Steamed Fish, corn roasted on the beach and Banana pancakes that would make Jack Johnson leave Hawaii.  The list of delicious dishes this country has to offer is exhaustive. Every time I’ve been to Thailand, I haven’t had a dish I didn’t like.  Did I mention I like Thai foodJ

One morning we woke up super early, very uncharacteristic of us, and went fishing. Ben caught a barracuda and I caught a belt fish...or something like that. The fisherman also caught lots of cuttlefish and squid to sell at the market.

The sunsets were absolutely gorgeous. Ben and I had a nightly ritual that included sitting on the beach drinking coconut milkshakes (just coconut milk, sugar, pineapple and ice….mmm) and watching the tide come in.

Then as we walked back to our villa we heard hundreds of frogs jump into the ponds. What were the frogs doing out of the pond you ask? This picture sums it up. They were like little drones worshipping the lanterns that lit the pathway back to our villa.