Before I forget everything in a haze of time, I wanted to quickly write down the things that we did on our family's wonderful trip to the Philippines to relax, visit family, and of course attend Melanie's wedding.
Thursday 6/19 -Friday 6/20 - Left Chicago and flew Northwest to Manila via Minneapolis and Tokyo. Arrived late in the evening and was picked up by Nelie's mom, Ate NgNg, and Raymond. Spent the night in Tita Babies house in Manila.
Saturday 6/21 - Loaded up in a van and headed to Panguil, Nelie's father hometown. Stayed at Dad's parents house. Mini reunion as the cousins/relatives from Australia arrive at the house as well. They bring the rain with them. Me, Jason, Craig, Rodney, Uncle Larry,and Dad all get caught in a downpour that turns out to be a part of Typhoon Frank.
Sunday 6/22 - The main part of the typhoon arrives at 2:30am. Xander is up already due to jet lag so I get to hear the typhoon arrive first hand. Power is knocked out at 3am and won't be restored for another day and a half. No power in the Philippines means no A/C and that ain't good. The Typhoon also wrecks the plans for the reunion at the resort since it was going to be outside. The reunion was moved to Paete's church hall and about 60-80 people attend. It was a blast. Too many stories to write here now, but got plenty of pictures. Before the reunion we had a mass of thanksgiving in Paete's church. That parish goes back to the 1590s!
Monday 6/23 - Was going to 'shot the rapids' and to go see a famous waterfall but the river in Paete was too strong due to the typhoon. Relaxed around DaDa's Paete house (Nelie's Grandmother's house) and then took a drive to the river anyways to see the area. Surprise wedding shower in the evening for Melanie. Played some basketball for the first time in a long time.
Tuesday 6/24 - Went to kiss the hands of Jesus. Okay so not literally, but its a park with a climb of 300 steps to the top. Scenes of the bible depicted are along the way. Afterward, a lunch at a nice restaurant in little huts. Nelie did some shoe shopping afterward. I tried but all sizes were too small.
Wednesday 6/25 - Whirl wind tour of Manila including Fort Santiago, Jose Rizal's Execution site, and Mall of Asia. Checked into our hotel. Went to bed early for early wake up call
Thursday 6/26 - Crammed 30 people in a little bus man for 31 people. Not enough space for the American body or the American traveler. We don't travel lightly. Anyways off to a farm to see how rice is grown then to one of the top restaurants in the Philippines. It overlooks a doormat volcano with a lake in the crate. Very cool.
Friday 6/27 - A great day full of cultural stuff at a Villa turned into a museum. The museum was nice but they need A/C before all of their items decay. Xander got to go swimming for the first time, but Nelie was a little sick. Lunch in the river under a waterfall then got to watch a cultural show. I was happy cause they did Tinikling. Got to go malling Friday evening. Had my head shaved with a straight razor shave and head message all for 200 pesos or about 5 bucks.
Saturday 6/28 - Wedding day but first Craig and I got a nice massage while the girls got their hair done. Wedding was beautiful, if a little late. Nelie got roped into doing the offering since everyone was missing. Xander had a lot of fun and by this time has really warmed up to everyone. He didn't like to leave mommy and daddy at first but now he has no use for us. After the wedding, the guys go to explore the Manila nightlife thanks to Raymond.
Sunday 6/29 - Day of 3 malls. Checked out of our hotel then went to mass at a local Mall. I've now been to mass in the Vatican and a mall. Pretty cool. Then went to another mall to celebrate Kuya Rodney's and Wilmer's birthday. Bittersweet since it was the last time we saw a lot of the people. Everyone started to go their own way after the party. We then moved our stuff to Dad's brother's apartment then went to a third mall for dinner and to meet up with Nelie's friend Grace and Romel.
Monday 6/30 - All day long at the Mall of Asia but first we had to brave Manila's wacky traffic. Who knew that red lights were optional!? Oh and driving in traffic without A/C is not something you want to do everyday. MOA is huge. We could spend two or three days there. We only had 8 hours. Got to see an American marching band play the Star Spangle Banner. Still not sure why they were there. Had Halo-Halo and didn't get sick this time. Got to see a wonderful sunset over the Manila Bay before we headed back to pack up our stuff.
Tueday 7/1 - One very long day home but arrived safely back in Mundelein, IL
