Meeerrry NEW YEAR!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza (and anything else that you celebrated). It's been a while since my last post but now that my love is back by my side, I find that I don't have as much time as I did in Vietnam to "waste" posting:) It's good to be whole again and have my better half back.

I arrived in Manila on 12/14 without too much hassle. I actually went to the airport in Saigon the day before but was rejected at the counter for one reason or another. It was too long ago for me to even bother and will spare you the details - bottom line, we both made it. As you may or may not know, Erin and I have come to the Philippines in the past but I always forget how well we are treated once we arrive in Manila. My Uncle Manuel (Parroco) sent his driver to pick me up and immediately brought us to where ever we needed to go. We always feel like royalty and so I just wanted to say thank you Tito Manuel and Tita Beth from the bottom of hearts. You have always been too kind to us and we hope to repay you sometime in the near future.

We only stayed for the day in Manila to take care of some house keeping issues. Mainly, extending our Philippine visa, obtaining a visa for our next port of entry (Vietnam), exchanging dollars for Pesos ($1 = 53 pesos) and making New Years reservations. Again, Tito Manuel and his connections came through and with one wave of his magic wand, he took care of everything (which is what allowed us to spend only one day in Manila).

We left the next day to dive the Apo Reef off the island of Mindoro. It was a combination of buses and boats that got us down to the smaller island of North Pandan (just off the west coast of Mindoro and the jump off point for Apo). Although we forgot how the public transportation system can work over here, we jumped "on" with both feet during our second bus ride of that day (this was just after a 2 hour mini-van ride from Manila which was packed to it's gills and a 2 hour ferry ride across to Mindoro). The bus was full when it arrived at the station upon first glance but as the locals began climbing to the roof, we followed suit.

Here's another example. The jeepney was actually more full before I could take this photo. I would say 20 passengers are missing as they jumped off to grab some food and use the facilities.

We had a good ride nonetheless and arrived at Pandan island 13 hours after leaving Manila that morning. Sometimes it's worth getting all of our travel time out of the way so that we can just throw our bags down and not have to worry about getting up the next morning. Pandan island was a great place to unwind and that's exactly what we did for the next 8 days. We read, dove, talked with fellow travelers and just soaked in the sun. Here are the pictures from our Bungalows and views from our veranda.

We also had the opportunity to charter a banca (local boat) with new found friends (Sofia and Henrik from Sweden) for a 2 day-1 night dive trip out to Apo Reef. Good people and great company as we did 6 dives out on the "protected" reef area. I quoted the last because all though this area is well patrolled, we did have one of our dives cut short after hearing (and even feeling) 3 blasts in a 5 minute time frame. The guide signaled us to surface and we immediately went to the Coast guard station in the area to log a complaint. The officer on duty assured us that it was not in the protected reef area that we were in (most likely, it was an hour away by boat which is out of their jurisdiction) but it was unnerving nonetheless and sad to know that dynamite fishing still happens on a regular basis in and around the islands.

The reef however, was full of life and it was great to be back in the water with all of the usual suspects. Check out the turtle video (he was about 2 meters in length) and be glad to know that we saw numerous sea turtles in the area which of course is a great sign that the reef is being well maintained.



We were reluctant to leave but looked forward to Christmas with the family. Sofia and Henrik joined us for the night and next day before splitting ways (we'll look forward to our next meeting in Sweden my friends) . Again, we are always spoiled once in Manila but this time it was from the Torre side of the family (my mom's side) . My cousin Ren picked us up from the bus terminal and beds were already prepared for the 4 of us. The next few days were spent relaxing and catching up with cousins, Aunts, Uncles and of course Lola - my 91 year old grandmother (shown here holding her hip bone which was replaced with titanium last year).


Although a little slower getting out of her seat, she is still sharp as ever! Many thanks to Tita Beth and Ren, Tita Carmen, Tito Art and family (especially Fritz, Sa-sa and Marlon for taking us out) Tito Jess and Tita Cynthia, Tito Jorge and family, Tita Judy Ann and family, Lola and everyone else that I failed to mention - for our gifts and making us feel at home for the holidays. So many years pass by between visits but it always feels as if we were here just yesterday. For that, we are ever grateful that you are our family and hope that we can do the same for you one day in the States. We love you all.

We arrived in Boracay today (after leaving Manila at 3:30AM followed by 2 bus rides and a banca ride) and will blog soon of the beach and New Years eve gala. Meerrrry New Year to all and thank you again to our family here that has taken such good care of us!

FMP and Rin-Rin(my Filipino name)

Your Attention Please: There's a WHITE girl on this plane!!!

Mabuhay!

I am officially in Manila! I landed bright and early this morning at 5:30am on Monday December 12 (1:30pm on Sunday in the US). For those of you that don't know, December is the peak traveling season for the Philippines. Not only because of the holidays, but because it is the best weather of the year. It's still pretty warm here (enough to want AC), but they refer to it as winter and the "cold season", and coming from San Bruno that's sort of funny!

Anyhow, because December is so busy it makes flying stand-by a bit difficult. When I called the reservations desk on Friday morning to check how many people were booked to fly from SFO to Manila they told me that every flight from Friday to the middle of the week was over sold by at least 40 people. Translation: "you're not getting on the flight". So, I decided I better start trying for any and all flights right away, rather than sticking to my plan of leaving on Sunday. Amazingly it only took me two days of trying before I got on!

My white skin started drawing attention right away, even in San Francisco. Not only was I the only person in line for the flight with a backpack and without a balik bayan box (large box used specifically by Filipinos to bring lots of stuff to and from the Philippines - it's actually so popular that they sell colorfully designed carriers for the boxes), but I was the only white person without a Filipino escort. So, every Filipino within talking distance was trying to figure out what my story was. It started with the lady in front of me in the check-in line. As soon as I got in line with my big ol' back pack and no Filipino by my side she said, "Excuse me miss, this is the flight for Manila." "Thanks, I know."
And then the questions began...
Lady:"Why are you going to Manila?"
Me:"My husband is Filipino." (thinking this would stop the questions)
Lady: "Well, where is your husband?"
Me: "He's in Vietnam right now, I'm meeting him in Manila."
Lady: "Oh, is he in the military?"
Me: "No."
Lady: "Oh! He cannot get a US visa?"
Me: "No, he was born in the States."
And on and on it went. Pretty funny stuff!

So, now I'm at Miles' Tito (Uncle in Filipino) Manuel's house in Manila. The few times I've been exposed to Filipino family abroad I'm always treated just like a princess - literally. I was picked up by Tito Manuel's driver. He had a huge sign flying out the window with my name on it. Not that it was necessary as I was the only white girl for miles! Upon arrival at the house I was served breakfast by the staff and after a shower and a nap I've now been served lunch. Believe it or not, it's really hard to get used to. I try and make a game of clearing my dishes before they do, but they always win. Ah, life is rough!

I'm sorry, but I just have to tell you a quick Filipino accent story. It just happened and I'm cracking up. I'm trying to not let these things make me laugh because let's face it, it's rude and their English is much better than my Tagalog. But this just made me giggle. Bic-bic (yes that's her name) served me dessert and she told me it was Lychee flan. She said, "This is Lychee plan, at least that is the name in Tagalog. I don't know what you call it in English." I said, "We call it Lychee flan." She said, "Oh! Lychee plan!" "Yes, Lychee flan." If only all of Tagalog were that easy!

Well, Miles is due to arrive here at 7:00pm this evening. So, I'm sure you'll be hearing from us soon! There will be lots of pictures of family and beautiful beaches to post! I wish you all a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas!
Love, Erin

P.S. For those of you that are interested, here's an update on the status of my mom: She is still in the hospital and her status is quite literally day to day. She has the most severe case of pancreatitis that her doctor's have seen. Some days have been really bad and the doctor's talk seriously about a major surgery, and other days she seems to improve and they put the surgery on the back burner. (The surgery is very dangerous. Not only because she has a lot of infection inside her, but also because the surgery that they want to do is a six week process. She would go into surgery every day for six weeks and they just pick away the dead parts of her pancreas. Not fun.) Today she has been in the hospital for about 6 weeks and there is no definite release date in sight. Right now she is not improving or declining and I think the doctor's are going to reevaluate her situation on Tuesday. Eventually she will have to have her galbladder removed, but that's a ways down the road. The only thing we know for sure is that she has a long road to recovery ahead. She hasn't eaten anything since the end of October and gets all her calories via IV. She will not be able to eat solid foods for a long time, and cannot even have liquids until she's out of the hospital. I really enjoyed my time with her and am very thankful for it. Unfortunately I felt that I needed to continue on with our travels. I've discovered that Miles is my home, and it's hard to be away from home for very long. So, please continue to pray for her. Her condition is not a life or death situation, but it is so long and drawn out and painful. Also pray for my father as he has a lot on his plate. Thank you for all of your love and support and well wishes for my mother! I will let you know when her condition improves.

It's all Dalat AND a bag of chips!

We made it to Dalat (once called Le Petit Paris) and enjoyed the cool weather and adventurous terrain that it had to offer. I went mountain biking and canyoning through a company called Phat Tyre ventures and had an absolute blast. Who would've "thunk" that I would do my first rappel in Vietnam.

But first, a quick recap on our accommodation. We stayed at the Dreams Hotel where a bed cost us $6 and it included an all you can eat breakfast buffet AND free internet access (it's the little things that keep a backpacker happy). We decided to stay an extra day doing nothing just for the breakfast! Fresh fruit (mangoes, dragon fruit, pineapple, papaya, banana, and water melon), coffee, tea, juice, freshly baked baguettes, cheese, yoghurt and eggs is what was included in the spread.

Top that with an incredibly nice owner (Yeung - One day she invited us to sit down and have lunch with her and her family as I was typing away - just an absolutely lovely woman) and hopefully you can see why we enjoyed our time there.

The mountain bike ride was difficult but well worth the pain (jumping on the bike to do 45KM with some serious steeps can hurt after being idle for 4 months) as we saw just about everything that day. Never have I been on a mountain bike ride where there was great single track through rice fields and luscious valleys

followed by views of coffee beans and broom bristles lining the road as they dry.

Add to that some climbing, fast descents, water crossings and village crossings (while kids chase you naked yelling "hellooo") and you have the recipe for one fine day.

We did have some casualties though as I went ahead of the guide who forgot to mention that a sharp right was coming up at the bottom of the hill. By the time he said "STOP", it was too late. I jammed on the brakes but my momentum carried me over the handle bars and into the river. I landed on my feet but my camera was in my pocket. Miraculously, it dried out and after some minor surgery, it's actually working better than before. The other was your standard flat tires. The trucks tire burst about 25 yards from us and scared the be-jesus out of me!

Got up the next day and went canyoning which is essentially trekking down a river. You walk on trails when you can but when it disappears, you wade, swim or just slide your way down. When you get to the top of a waterfall, you rappel or jump.

We did 4 rappells with that last one affectionately called the "washing machine". I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Currently in a beach/fishing town called Mui Ne and and have been taking kite boarding lessons. Wind is relatively consistent here so it's kind of a Mecca for the sport in SE Asia. If I wasn't doing that, then wasting the days away on the beach or in the courtyard of our beach side cottages was our other "activity".

Graduated past the training kite (only broke one:) and got thrown pretty hard yesterday but feel confident to hopefully don the board in the near future(no wind the last 2 days) Leaving on a bus for Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) this afternoon where I only plan to spend the day before jumping on the plane on 12/13 to meet up with my honey in Manila. Until Next time!

FMP

PS - Here's something you don't see every day.