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)