After a little chat with everyone, we had decided to just stay in the airport. The two older boys wanted to just hang around and enjoy their favourite airport. There truly is sooo much to do in Changi airport….it truly is the best airport in the world….there are over 300 retail outlets, there are transit hotels, there are gyms, there is a free cinema, there are lots of free internet computers, there are lots of xbox game terminals, there is a room where you can play LAN games for free, there are children’s playgrounds, there are gardens to enjoy, there is lots of cheap great food and it is clean. And it is really really huge…spread over 3 terminals! With our decision made to stay in the airport, I booked a room at the transit hotel. The rooms are available only over a 6 hour block with the option of extending after that. So I booked a room that had 3 single beds in it. Jordan and Jarryd wanted to play games first…so the rest of us went for a quick sleep. Jeromel and I shared a bed….snuggled…was nice sleeping with my baby. After about 5 hours sleep, we got up and had a quick shower and headed out to join the boys for something to eat. Soon after we left the transit hotel, Jeromel all of a sudden stopped and vomited. Uh oh!!

He had absolutely no appetite and over the course of the next few hours, he vomited a couple more times. Our next booking for the transit hotel was from 10pm and this time I booked it right up until 6am. Jordan and Jarryd went to sleep right away. MIL went shopping and Joseph and I took Jeromel to the cinema and to play a xbox games. When he got tired, I took him back to the transit hotel for a sleep. Jordan and Jarryd woke at around 3am to get something to eat and resume playing. By the time Jeromel woke up, he was feverish but thankfully had stopped vomitting. At 6am, we checked out and headed over to the new Terminal 3 which just opened on the 9th January as our flight was departing at 9am. OMG…this terminal is just sooo gorgeous, we had dim sum for breakfast. After that, I went and did a little bit of hunting around for a long sleeve top for Jeromel to wear. He had vomited on his jumper and being feverish, he was a bit cold and was wearing my jacket. Poor boy! While I shopped, Joseph took him to the playground where he played a little but spent most of the time watching tv.

Our flight was a little delayed due to a passenger bringing a few little boxes of firecrackers in his hand luggage, I think they had to take his checked in luggage off the plane to search it again. And two pieces of luggage had been left at the gate waiting area…so the area had to be closed off while security checked them out.

Our flight home was great…..flight number 16….yah….we’ve done 16 plane trips. Checked in our luggage 16 times, gone through security 16 times, collected luggage 16 times….I dare not count the number of hours we have spent in the air! And not once in 16 flights has our luggage been lost….for this, I am so grateful.

So now, we are home, recovering from jetlag….settling back into our routine. Jeromel is getting better. He was still getting slight fevers for about 5 days but asides from that….he’s been ok. We’ve kept him home but he’s well enough for school this coming Monday!

Let me tell the tale…..

We flew from New York on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt where we were in transit for a few hours. Then onto another Lufthansa flight to Dubai. So after about 14 hours of flying and hours in transit, we arrived into Dubai and discovered that this was their biggest event of the year….their Big Sale. Hotels & Apartments were booked out…..not just booked out…but many were double and triple booked out. Heard reports of desperate people offering double or triple rack rate for a room and getting it and the people who had booked were left stranded. We went to the Central Reservations Office at the airport and the man there was turning away people who just needed a single room!! He tried for hours to get us something before finally telling us that he could only get us two rooms for one night for 6000 dirhams each. WTF….that’s like A$2000 per room for one night!!! A$4000 to sleep off our jetlag??? I’m sorry….I DON’T THINK SO MATE!! And we were supposed to be in Dubai for two nights…so what were we going to do for the 2nd night????

Joseph and I had to re-evaluate our plans as A$4000 for a place to sleep in was just not in our budget! Not even for the chance to grab some bargains!! Call me a cheap skate if you wish….but heck….there was no way I can part with that kind of money just for a place to sleep in!! All through our travels….our most expensive accomodation was in Hawaii where we paid USD$190 per night for the 2 bedroom apartment. So A$4000 was just too much. In the end, Joseph and I decided that we would try to get the next flight out of Dubai to Singapore. That’s when the fun started….we asked at Information and after the long queue, the ever so unhelpful staff steered us towards the Departures terminal….and when we stepped out of the arrivals terminal…I was quite unprepared for the scene that I saw. A huge sea of people, speaking a language I wasn’t familiar with, the smell, the long queue of people waiting for taxis….it was all very overwhelming…a big culture shock!

In the Departures Terminal…it was another long wait for the Information desk. There were only two staff serving and Joseph and I decided to split up and join both queues. While we were waiting, people just kept trying to cut in front of us and I was just sooo tired, so frustrated and had to tell quite a few people to wait their turn. When we got to the counter, the staff told us that we had to go to another counter……another long wait with people trying to cut the queue….and when we finally get to ask our question….we were told that they could ‘sell’ us a ticket out if we wanted…but they couldn’t rebook our flight…that was up to Singapore Airlines. When we asked where the Singapore airlines counter was….we were told that they were downstairs …..in the basement…..and they weren’t sure if they were open at all…as by this time…it was after midnight.

We slowly found our way down to the basement and after a little while, found the office which was thankfully staffed!!! The lady there was such a godsend!! She booked us out on the next Singapore Airlines flight which was at 8pm the following day. It was around 2am by this time…so it meant that we had another 18 hours to go. There was light at the end of the tunnel……..18 hours wait or $4000……it wasn’t rocket science! We were going to be Tom Hanks in the Terminal movie…we can do this…..we got some essentials out of our luggage and then got the rest of the luggage stored at the Left Luggage office. We walked around to find somewhere comfortable to spend the night and decided on the area behind Haagen Daaz. There were some small couches and some U shaped booths. It was close to restrooms and Haagen Daaz would be open all night..and the Filipino staff were ok with us camping out there.

We all took turns to sleep because someone has to be awake to keep an eye on our stuff! In the morning, I was desperate ….my hair felt disgusting. I usually wash my hair everyday and it had been over 24 hours since I had washed it last and while it didn’t look so bad,  to me…it felt horribly disgusting. And there are no showers available…so I had no choice but to attempt to wash it over a wash basin. Luckily MIL came in at the right moment and helped me rinse it off with the help of a small water bottle.

Ok….we could have left the airport and gone shopping if we wanted to…….but we just couldn’t be bothered. Plus…if the taxi queues were so long at the airport, imagine the shopping centres. Imagine the crowds trying to nab a bargain! Imagine the checkout queues!!! Totally not for us….we rested and could not wait to get to Singapore!!

THURSDAY 24th Jan
I have really been looking forward to New York, despite knowing that it was going to be cold here…..I still wanted to come, I wanted to see The Empire State building, the World trade centre site, the Statue of Liberty and Times Square. We arrived into JFK airport around 7.30am having gotten very little sleep on the overnight flight. We quickly got our luggage and then left the boys in MIL’s care while Joseph and I took the air train to another terminal to pick up the 14-seater van we hired. While in Vegas and trying to find transportation from JFK airport to New Jersey, we found that no one would take us…the only option was to drive ourselves there…..so that’s what we did. We hired a big ass van which would fit in all our luggage and drove ourselves with the help of TomTom GPS drove all the way from JFK airport across the state border…into New Jersey to North Bergen where we were staying….the trip took us about an hour and a bit. How cold was it??? Freezing cold….everyone was bundled up in many layers of clothing and still….we were cold! On the way to North Bergen, we could see icy slush along the side of the road and up the hills.

New York is sooo different from LA and Las Vegas….skies were grey, there was so much concrete everywhere….people were rushing about…..cars were speeding…..bright yellow taxis were weaving their way in and out of traffic….car lanes were narrow….it was cold….depressingly cold….well…maybe depressing because we were sooo very tired. We arrived at Days Inn, checked in, got up to our room and were quite pleased with our accommodation. We have two deluxe double adjoining rooms with interconnecting doors. Jordan and Jarryd share one room while the 4 of us share the other room. It’s quite spacious and we have a microwave and mini fridge in each room which is great. By this stage, we are soo tired and hungry. We have no energy to drive around to find food…so we let our fingers do the walking….we found a chinese restaurant brochure in the hotel room and got chinese food delivered to our room. After eating, we all collapsed into bed and before we knew it….it was about 8pm!!! Refreshed and again hungry, we piled into the huge van and went in search of basic supplies and food. After driving around our little neighbourhood, we settle on KFC for dinner…..it was ummm….pretty disgusting! The seasoned rice was crunchy….the chicken pieces looked huge but it was half batter….pretty unappetizing.

Our search of basic supplies led us to Rite Aid which is a 24 hour pharmacy which also sells a bit of food. No bread though…but something caught my eye at the check out…..pocket hand warmers! The little packet says that it’s all natural, non toxic materials in two little sachets…which when exposed to air, heat up and stay hot for 7 hours. At 99cents for a pair, and knowing full well how cold it is…..I grab a couple of packets to try. After driving around a little more….we find a Shop Rite supermarket which was about 5 mins from their midnight closing time. So we quickly run in there to grab what we can and after another little drive….we return back to the hotel to sleeep.

FRIDAY 25th Jan
Joseph and I wake up very very early to return the van….it’s sooo cold….bitingly cold….I open up a pack of my handwarmers to try it out…in a few minutes…they’re toasty warm….I pop them in the pockets of my coat and realise that they’re fantastic….best ever discovery!! We’ve pre-organised to return the van to Newark airport which is much closer to North Bergen. We hire a smaller van….a 7 seater Dodge Caravan which is more practical for us for getting around. We get back to the hotel to find everyone still sleeping soundly….so after they got ready, we all bundled up, piled in the car and after showing everyone my fabulous hand warmers…..we agree we need more…so we head back to Rite Aid to find that they only had 6 packets left….I bought the lot and gave everyone one each.

Then we headed into New York City. North Bergen is only 8 minutes away from New York city….just on the other side of Lincoln tunnel. Very convenient and accomodation is half the price compared to what we would pay if we stayed in NYC. We drove around the city quite aimlessly….the tall buildings block the GPS…..so our Tomtom is only working intermittently. We find the World Trade centre site and it’s under construction….nothing to see and impossible to park. We try to get to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty and end up somewhere near Homeland Security and made a mad dash in the freezing cold to take a few quick photos with the Statue of Liberty in the background.

Then after a little while, we were hungry and I spotted a quaint little diner ….Cheyenne Diner and park our car for $15 an hour just to eat at this place. Oh wow…this place is fantastic….it has the diner look that is in the old american movies….with the booths…and long counter. Their menu was fantastic…ok…you absolutely must click here to see their fabulous menu and drool!!

We rush back to the hotel to quickly refresh before heading out to meet more of Joseph’s old friends. We drive to Ruben & Nita’s house in Passaic where we said did a quick meet and greet with Randy, Bobby, Dicko & Jun before heading off to Century Buffet for dinner. OMG….this buffet was absolutely mind blowingly phenomenal. Why??? Because of the seafood…there were clams, imperial prawns, snow crab legs, steamed prawns, baked oysters, fresh oysters and sushi and sashimi galore. Of course there were rows and rows of other food…but I only had eyes for the seafood. Hehehe….and oh boy did I indulge or what??? After dinner, we headed back to Ruben & Nita’s place to have a proper chat with everyone. Jun has an x-box….so not long after we arrived, the 3 boys headed upstairs to play while us adults had coffee and a long leisurely chat. Michael also dropped by a little later for a bit. It was well after midnight when we collapsed into bed.

SATURDAY 26th Jan
Today, we’re determined to explore more of New York city…this time on foot….so we park near our Lincoln tunnel exit and head off on foot. We make our way towards the Empire State Building and on the way there…we are distracted big time by a few stores…..we stop by Macy’s where I get my Estee Lauder moisturiser at half the price that I usually pay in Australia! Then we’re determined to find a hotdog stand that’s on a corner …in the tvshows…they’re always on corners right??? tee hee…we enjoy our hotdog and also try the famous new york pretzels. They’re very fresh but oh sooo salty. We had to brush off most of the salt before we can enjoy it. Then we head to Times Square and this place is oh sooo wow! I’ll have to let the photos tell the story…I’m a bit tired of typing. LOL

Then tired and very very cold and hungry….we can’t decide on what to eat…when I spot Applebee’s….and I think to myself…we’re in the big Apple….it’s only fitting that we eat Applebee’s , so after a wonderful wonderful lunch and another long walk along Broadway with a quick stop at M&M world and Toys R Us for Jeromel to have a ride on their famous 60 foot tall indoor ferris wheel, we head back to the car and find that it’s sooo far away…it was amazing how far we walked that day!!

That night, we go back to Ruben & Nita’s place for dinner with them and Randy, Cora and Bobby. We have a fabulous dinner and so much fun chatting to them. Jun takes Jordan & Jarryd out for the night….to the mall and then to watch a movie. Jeromel is rapt because he gets the xbox all to himself! The adults go down to the basement which is just absolutely gorgeous and get stuck into playing cards and karaoke and of course a bit of drinking. It is at this house that I get hooked on Dunkin’ Donuts coffee…..it’s soooo yummy!!! We leave at around 2am soon after the boys get back from the movies after having such a fabulous time.

SUNDAY 27th Jan
While the rest get to have a sleep, Joseph and I are up at the crack of dawn because we have to return the van to Newark Airport. Randy has kindly offered to pick us up from the airport and pick everyone else up because we have a busy day planned with them. On the way back to our hotel, we grab Macca’s breakfast for everyone. It’s a special treat because we usually only eat breakfast in our hotel with our bread and cereal. Ruben comes to pick us up because we won’t all fit in Randy’s car. Then it was back to Ruben & Nita’s place for a quick stop…managed to indulge in another cup of that delish Dunkin’ Donuts coffee before we head over to have a quick catch up with Russel’s family.

Then it was back into the car for the drive to Bebe’s place for lunch. It’s there that MIL gets to catch up with a few of her friends. This place is close to the beach and is sooo windy and sooo cold…but nevertheless…..we head to Bradley beach for a few photos on the boardwalk. It is absolutely freezing cold…..our faces and hands get numb from the cold!! By late afternoon, we say our goodbyes to everyone else and head back towards Edison.

On the way back….somehow…we get lost and end up crossing the bridge to Staten Island!! Luckily we have TomTom with us and after a quick stop at the loo for me, we manage to find out way back to meet up with Randy who has safely made it back to Russell’s house. On the way back to Passaic, after a phone call to Jun, Nita says we’re having dinner at Houlihan’s in Bridgewater. Because there are 10 of us for dinner, there is a little wait before we are seated…but the wait was well worth it because dinner is absolutely fabulous! Jarryd has a New York Strip Steak, Joseph has the Prime Top Sirloin, Jordan has a Tillamook burger and Jeromel and I share a delish Prawn & Pasta with a side of Caesar Salad. Soooo good!!! After dinner, we got dropped back to the hotel where we had to do some laundry and pack our bags.

MONDAY 28th Jan

Our last day in USA

We’ve arranged for a shuttle bus that operates out of our hotel to take us to the airport, so we check out at 10am and because our flight isn’t until 7.30pm, we leave our luggage with reception. Ruben and Nita pick us up and take us to IHOP for brunch. We had seen IHOP restaurants before….in Anaheim and in Vegas…but we had never been before….I mean….IHOP….it’s a strange name for a restaurant. Until Nita tells us that it stands for International house of Pancakes. Pancakes!!! This place is unlike Pancake Parlour! They have steaks, they have all you can eat pancakes and the servings are massive!!! And all sooo cheap!!! Check out their menu here! After brunch, we have to say goodbye to Nita as she’s off to work. Ruben takes us to the mall to while away some time. I’m good….no shopping for me….I mean…I want to buy a bag…but I can’t find one that I like. All this time, I’ve been using my trusty big bag that my sis gave me a few years ago and it’s falling apart…the handles seams are fraying badly, there are rips inside the bag lining, another growing gash on the outside. It’s only saving grace is that it’s big enough to hold all the ‘crap’ that I need while I travel and the fact that I can’t find a replacement for it that I am happy with. By 5pm, we’re back at the hotel ready to go to the airport. We’re all so tired that we snooze in the shuttle on the way to the airport.

At JFK, we go through security check for the last time in the USA. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it….but in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, we’ve had to go through the special security check line. I think we’ve been earmarked because we’re doing so many stops through the USA in a short time. Maybe they think we’re drug runners because each time we go through…we have to take shoes and jackets off…we go through a special air blower thing….we get patted down…even our pants waist bands get checked…even the soles of our feet. All our hand carry gets searched thoroughly…..selected items like keys and mobile phones get drug swabbed. It was scary the first time, but we’ve learnt to expect it and enjoy it. We bypass the long queue that most people have to go through. We get to sit down and rest while they search our hand carry luggage. We have nothing to hide and it’s rather entertaining watching them do their job.

I felt really sad leaving New York….knowing that we were leaving the United States….we’ve had such a great time here and while Joseph got to catch up with a lot of his old friends, I’ve made new friends. Friends who have opened up their homes to us and have taken us out and made our time here extra special. We truly can’t thank them enough.

Got the magic feather to go on the Dumbo ride!!!  This was so much fun.  Jeromel controlled whether our dumbo would go up or down.  He liked making it go up and down quickly….which his mother did not appreciate at all.

Finally get to Toontown where Mickey Mouse lives!!!

oooh….don’t let Goofy catch you doing that Jeromel!!!

Jedi Training Academy

The Parade of Dreams is absolutely fabulous…..it’s during the evening just before Disneyland closes and it’s very full on..the floats are just gorgeous, there is lots of dancing, music etc.  They don’t just wave and go past on their floats….they dance, they entertain.  We actually had a very good position and got some great pics!!

Then it was time for one dizzying ride for Jeromel and Jarryd before we had to leave Disneyland.

It was sad to leave Los Angeles…everyone had such a fabulous time there…..but the bright neon lights of Las Vegas were beckoning to us….so we packed up our bags and headed off on our next adventure!!

Here we are….on plane trip #8….heading to San Francisco! 

Flying over San Francisco….all grey and it looks cold! 

Yah…..I guess that looks like the airport!! 

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! OMG, I was totally unprepared for how cold it was in San Francisco…the wind was incredibly cold. We stayed at the metropolis which is right in the heart of the city and we were very thankful to be so close to a shopping mall so that we could buy jackets and shoes.

This is us….checking into Hotel Metropolis….see our little mountain of luggage in front of the tiny elevator? We had to take it up in a few goes! Jordan is totally exhausted….sitting down waiting to go up to the room and have a snooze. Jarryd is sort of hidden behind me checking out the hotel facilities brochure. The room on top of the lobby is the library where you can just sit and drink coffee and read or hop online.

Because of the weather, we didn’t get to do very much as well in San Francisco. We managed to go on a cable car ride (tram) and we went down to Fisherman’s wharf and explored Pier 39. We caught up with a friend from Joseph’s home town and had a fabulous seafood dinner with them at Fisherman’s wharf and then the kids and MIL took a taxi back to the hotel while Joseph and I went for a drive with Jeanelyn and Ricco. They took us to see the Golden Gate Bridge, went to Twin Peaks to check out the fabulous view and went to a few other gorgeous places.

Above are the two more gorgeous shots of San Francisco taken from Twin Peaks….the night was cold…but the view was amazingly beautifully clear.  In the first photo, the brightest street leads up to where we live.  The second photo shows the San Francisco Bridge.

The following day, we had planned to explore Pier 39, crooked street (Lombard street), take a bay cruise, but when we woke, it was absolutely pouring!!! It was so cold and it was so windy and the rain was coming in almost horizontally. So all we could really do was have a really wet exploration at Pier 39 which was nearly deserted due to the weather. We managed to see the noisy Sea Lions lounging on the docks, and saw the huge seagulls and played at an indoor arcade for an hour so that the kids could actually have some fun.  We also managed to go to Boudin Bakery to try out their famous New England Clam Chowder which gets served in Sourdough bread bowl.

The two photos above, you can see the Sea Lions lounging around.  They were actually very very noisy. They’re free to come and go as they please.

The Rock or Alcatraz Island….it served as a lighthouse, then a prison and now…it’s a tourist spot.  

Jeromel checking out the huge Candy Store on Pier 39….they had an amazing variety of Taffy! Although they looked delicious, we left empty handed.

And then all we could really do was head back to the mall to shop. I must say, shopping in San Francisco was fabulous!! We were right across the road from Gap, Old Navy and the Westfield Mall which has Norstrums, Bloomingdale, Dockers etc. By this time, we had to pick up another two luggage bags to accomodate our shopping. We’re now at 9 pieces of checked in luggage which is ok for the airlines….we’re allowed to have two pieces of checked in luggage each weighing no more than 50lbs. So we can still get another 3 bags. LOL…it’s the airport transportation which is a problem as we have to get a shuttle that is big enough for all our luggage.

Night view outside our hotel looking to the right hand side.

Here I am ….busy doing research for our accommodation for Los Angeles and Las Vegas

Leaving San Francisco, I had organised for the hotel to send us a van that was big enough for 6 people and lots of luggage. OMG…we nearly died when something no bigger than our carnival arrived to pick us up!! No way can everything fit in there….so after a bit of a hissy fit from me at the front desk, a shuttle came to pick us up and all this time I am stressing because I knew we would get to the airport leaving a little less than an hour and a half to go through the check in process. As soon as our baggage hit the pavement at the airport, I spotted a United Airlines check and Go stand. For $2 per bag, we got processed right there on the pavement…our luggage was checked in, our tickets checked, our boarding passes were handed to us. OMG….it was incredible!!! We had managed to bypass the huge queues of people either totally oblivious to this fabulous service or were too tight to pay the $2 to save their sanity and time. LOL!!

Los Angeles, here we come!!!

What an experience! From the time we left Cebu, I started getting sick. Joseph had somehow generously managed to share his lurgy with me…I was coughing, feverish etc and jetlagged on top of that.

Our experience at Honolulu airport wasn’t that great. Getting off the plane, we had to go into a terminal, go up escalators, then wait around for a shuttle bus to take us to another terminal to go through customs. I swear, 4 plane loads of people had arrived and there were seriously only 6 custom officers processing them. Overzealous custom officers too as the whole process just took sooo long. We all had to get digitally photographed and finger printed. It took us over an hour to go through customs and then we got lost trying to find the baggage carousels. I swear, Honolulu airport is the most disorganized airport that I have ever been to. The highlight after all that was getting allocated a stretch limo to take us to our hotel.

We stayed at the Aston Prince Honolulu which is a rather budget hotel right in the heart of Waikiki strip. Fabulous location which is close to a lot of great food and nightlife. We got a family room there which was a 2 bedroom unit with laundry facilities which was great. Yah, call me crazy, but it was good to get a proper washing machine and dryer for all the laundry that we had to do.

Weather in Hawaii wasn’t that great…it was cool and most definitely not beach weather and sadly….our family must be the only people who didn’t get to enjoy the beautiful beaches….we didn’t get to feel sand between our toes or go for a swim. We didn’t make it to a luau….no flower lei…no pineapple drinks with minature umbrellas.

Jeromel and I were so sick for the first couple of days that we spent our time sleeping while the others battled jetlag. It actually got so bad for my body clock that I was awake one night for the whole night….totally unable to sleep and the following day I was a totaly walking zombie but I forced myself to stay away for the day and by night, I was totally overtired and so desperate for sleep that I had to get something to help me sleep.

During my zombified day, we decided to explore our surroundings….

Right at the end of the street ….we see this beautiful sight….a fabulous little mountain which is most likely the side of a volcano and on one side of it….lots and lots of houses! It was usually cloudy while we were in Hawaii and it rained everyday….just short showers….but it rained everyday. It seemed much warmer early in the morning but by early afternoon it cooled down considerably.

This is at the top of our street of our hotel, say a 1 min walk and we’re at the Waikiki Strip…we truly were in a fabulous spot. Top two photos are of the left and right views at the top of our street.

HILO HATTIES SHUTTLE RIDE

In one of the many brochures that us tourists pick up at the airport, Hilo Hatties is featured quite widely…..they have a free shuttle trolley (tram looking bus) which goes all over Waikiki ending at the Hilo Hatties store which sells all the Hawaiian souveniers. So being very budget minded tourists….we hop on…

We see lots of sights on the way and we snap away like the tourists we are!

This was as close as we got to a beach….hehehe!

We actually have lunch here one day and browse at a few of the shops. Guess is on one corner while Armani Xchange is on the other….we thought of Brice!

We get to Hilo Hatties and we’re all greeted with a shell lei! I’m excited….I have been Lei-ed in Hawaii….ok…so it’s not flowers…it wasn’t by a pretty Hawaiian beauty wearing a grass skirt…I can’t be picky….but he wore a hawaiian shirt and he said Aloha……so that’s got to count. Hilo Hatties is home to the World’s Largest Aloha Shirt. It’s got it’s spot in the Guiness Book of Records….the shirt has these ginormous measurements Chest 168 inches, Waist 161 inches and Neck is 61.5 inches. Mammoth!!

Looks like you got a lot of growing to do Jeromel to fit into that shirt.

My little man with the cute toy sea turtles….see the little shell lei around his neck? Jeromel looks quite different here….he had been unwell….so he had really puffy eyes. Poor little man!

My own Aloha man!! And oh yes…he bought the shirt…..so he has something to wear on Loud Shirt day at work! hehehe. Mil bought some souveniers but I left empty handed….I dunno….I’m not really one for souvenirs…but there were a lot of fun things in the shop. There was a thong slipper on a handle….fly swatter. There was a hula girl duster that was very cute. But I resisted….knowing that we still had a long way to go.

LeSports Sac shop near the Waikiki Plaza. They have a gorgeous range of bags at a disgusting price. LOL

Ok…the following photos are from the International Market Plaza which is right across the road from where we live. Absolutely gorgeous little market place surrounded by big beautiful old trees. There is a food court here which we sometimes get our food from.

hehehe…this was my favourite shop at the Market place. The Stupid Factory….they have hilarious tshirts and magnets with funny sayings on them. I ended up buying two little books…one titled ‘Boys are stupid…throw rocks at them’ and the other ‘Girls are Weirdos but they smell pretty’. Very very funny reads!!

LOL…..the macaws were absolutely gorgeous…..and Jeromel thought he might enjoy holding them….but he hadn’t expected how sharp their claws were or how heavy they would be. He doesn’t look like he’s enjoying the experience very much at all!!!

It wasn’t till our last night in Hawaii that we had some fun. Noy Angel and Nang Linda took us out for a drive, dinner and we went to two nightspots to listen to some live music and have a few drinks.

Later we were joined by Luis Gabrillo, Iwing and Aida Gabrillo and unfortunately Gigi Villarta is not on the group shot here. 

A quick stop at Nang Gonyang and Amay Silva’s place. 

Leaving Honolulu, we had another horrible experience at the airport. The people who work there are just so unhelpful There are so many checks to get all our luggage through and no trolley in sight and once we had checked our luggage in and gone through security check, we had to walk so far to get to our gate. We had to walk all the way from one terminal to the other on the outside footpath….seriously like 3 times the whole length of the outside of tullamarine airport.

Now where did I leave off the last time? Oh yes…that last post while typing in the car was full of spelling mistakes. LOL

28^th December 2007

We had organized to meet with Joseph’s half sister Ying & her family at the Golden Cowrie which is somewhere near the Waterfront Hotel. Of course, our driver had no idea where it was, so we stopped off at a nearby small hotel and the guard couldn’t help us so we went next door to the petrol station and Joseph spotted a westerner and got some directions from him. Yay! The Golden Cowrie is a fabulous native Filipino restaurant aimed at Westerners…you get to taste all the authentic native cuisine in western comfort. Very reasonably priced for the western pocket but could make some locals gasp and proclaim daylight robbery especially when they see that you are given banana leaves to use instead of real plates! Lunch was great and after that we took a few photos and then Ying’s husband went back to work and Ying and her daughter Dana came in the car with us and we went to Mambaling to get the keys to the family crypt in Pardo. Joseph’s father is buried there and it’s his first visit to the crypt so it was really a big deal. Joseph’s father wasn’t in his life much and as a result, Joseph hasn’t really known his father’s side of the family. So during this trip, being able to meet his half sister, and many other members of his extended family has been pretty special to him.

We’re at the Golden Cowrie restaurant early….so Joseph and I are pouring over the menu trying to pick out what we should order for lunch.

Photo of us taken with Joseph’s sister Ying Ying’s family.

Taken at Mambaling with some of Joseph’s Aunties.

When we drove Ying and Dana home, it was such a pleasant surprise to be given a bag of goodies. There was dried mango, dried squid, and heaps of fireworks. The boys were sooo excited and happy.

Then it was a quick stop at SM to get my linen. Decided to get a kingsize comforter set. KS comforter, fitted sheet and 2 pillow cases for 2400 pesos. Then it was off to Ayala shopping centre for a quick dinner at Jollibee (why jollibee? Because it was one of those days where we are just too tired to be making decisions about what to have for dinner and for 65 pesos where you get a drink, freshly cooked rice and piece of chicken….without any risk of belly trouble!) While waiting for the boys to order our dinner, I spotted some he-shes. He what??? He-She’s ….or what the locals call Bayots or Plastic Girls/Boys. LOL….cross dressers, transsexuals. There was a group of maybe 6 of them and 2 were actually very pretty. 2 were passable…but it was the other 2 that were obviously males that made me take another look at the whole group more closely to realize that they were all men. LOL. Shopping at Ayala was done very quickly. We all knew that it was going to be our last time shopping, so it was all done efficiently. Joseph bought a memory card for the camera and I got a pair of shorts for Joseph and 3 Hanes bras for myself.

29^th December

Joseph’s out today…..he’s off to Valencia with his Mum, Aunty and Cousin looking at some family land. So the boys and I decide to venture out. Ok….my first time going out without Joseph. LOL…yes it’s only taken me this long. It’s just not all that easy trying to learn everything. But anyways…today we decide to go to the local department store to check it out. We haven’t been before and it’s not very far away….so we take a chappycab there and it’s 28 pesos for the 4 of us…which is um…..20cents each!!! It’s just a small department store and I get a few laundry hangers and lingerie wash bags and a couple of bags of groceries. It was great to go out for a couple of hours.

Carcar’s local department store Gaisano. The yellow van is a jeepney…sort of a mini bus. Just behind it…you can just see a chappy cab. I took lots of photos of Carcar, but it seems that we have a damaged SD card…so hopefully one day…I will be able to retrieve those images to share.

The boys head to the internet café in the late afternoon and in the evening, Joseph and I realized that the boys didn’t bring a mobile phone with them, so we decided to go look for them. They were in the 2^nd internet café we went to, after which we went to visit the Noel family and before we knew what was happening, the karaoke microphone was out and Joseph was singing. LOL!! It was fun! EmmyLou took me to see the piglets…sooo cute and the sow is HUGE!! Then later on, the decided to come home with us…we walked home and they stayed for over an hour so it was really late by the time we went to bed.

30^th December

Joseph’s sick today. High fever and aches and pains…so he stays home all day today sleeping and when he’s not sleeping, he’s sending text messages on his phone. He’s very busy with sms messages with family members here in the Philippines. He got a local sim card not long after he arrived and gets tons of free sms messages included…so like everyone here in the Philippines….he is nearly always sending sms messages. After breakfast, I go out with Jeromel to pick up our laundry from the Laundromat. 11kgs of laundry for 330pesos - A$9….neatly folded. I send large pieces of laundry to the Laundromat and just have the maid do the smaller and more delicate pieces by hand. We all do our own underwear and socks. After lunch, I head out with the boys to the internet café to book our accommodation in Hawaii.

31^st December

New Years Eve….it’s a bit worrying today because Joseph is still pretty sick. He’s been in bed with the fever and doesn’t seem very well at all and is very lethargic. He’s still pretty insistent on having a get together with some friends this evening before we visit a few family members for the midnight celebrations.

Jarryd goes out with his grandmother into the city to do some shopping. After an early morning meeting with some relatives, Joseph heads back to bed and I go out with Jordan and Jeromel to get some antibiotics and check emails.

Hehehe….Jeromel having crazy hair day….he was bored and was playing with the pegs. So cute!

Ok…here are two unusual fruits which I tried for the first time in the last few days:

Makupa – ever since we arrived, Joseph spotted that the neighbour had a fruiting Makupa tree and every few days he would look to see if they were ripe yet. The maid must have heard him talking about wanting me to try the Makupa because she came home from the market bearing half a dozen of these for me to try.   They were ok…a bit tart…apparently they should be sweeter if they had ripened a bit more on the tree. 

This is a Tiesa or Canistel.  I saw these in the fruit stalls in Mambaling and was sooo attracted to the beauty of it.  It looked sooo beautiful I asked Joseph to buy two for me.  He warned me that I might not like them….that they were dry and powdery inside.  He didn’t like them..and didn’t know anyone who did.  When I brought them home, the maid screwed up her face at them….Joseph’s cousin said they were yuck as well.  Luckily I was told to wait until they were slightly soft before trying them.  With all those warnings….I wasn’t in a mad rush to eat them…so I waited…until one day….I found that one of them had cracked!  So I pulled it in half and I sniffed…smelled good…poked the flesh with my finger…tasted it and it tasted pretty good….unusual taste…but it certainly wasn’t yuck.  Got a spoon and ….fell in love with this fruit! 

I remember telling you all about being able to buy things in small quantities in the Philippines…sachets of toothpaste, shampoo, mini deodorant sticks, a stick of cigarette or even a piece of gum…..you can also buy medication in small quantities. How small?? You can buy one tablet of most things here. Panadols, antibiotics, calcium tablets, vitamins….you can buy these in single doses at pharmacies. It made my head spin!! Panadols are about 6 pesos each. The antibiotics that I bought were just regular broad spectrum amoxicillin ….I decided to buy two courses of this antibiotic as I am also starting to show signs of getting sick. And I also buy a child’s course of antibiotic syrup as well just in case Jeromel gets sick. The pharmacist is quite stunned that I want full courses of the antibiotics and of course there is no discount for buying it by the course….even the packs that the pharmacy gets supplied in is in in bulk packs of blister sleeves. Two full courses is 42 tablets and there are ten caplets per blister sleeve….so I get 4 full sleeves and then she cuts two from another blister sleeve to make the 42 caplets. Jeromel’s antibiotic is even more interesting. It comes in the dry powder form in a bottle which I have to mix up with water to activate it. In Australia, the pharmacy would mix it up when you hand in your script. In the Philippines, you can mix it up when you want or they can do it for you…..you have the option. Anyways, 3 course of antibiotics, 10 tablets of Advil, 2 small packs of Strepsils set me back 490 pesos which is oh A$14!!

Joseph organized for the maid to buy some food just in case his friends came around, but unfortunately, no one was able to come, so we enjoyed the food for dinner. Then my husband found some dvds in his stash…and we watched Michael Buble and the Andrew Lloyd Webber Royal Albert Hall concert before heading out around 9pm to visit the Manlise family. The party was in full swing there with a videoke, desserts, party games etc Joseph and the boys got into the fireworks….omg ….it was soo noisy and when we were leaving, the boys got given another big bag of fireworks!! By now we’re lugging around 3 bags of fireworks!!! And it’s not even midnight and they’ve already used up quite a bit!!!

Around 10.30pm, we get to Ivy and Colen’s place and it seems very apparent that the whole street is into fireworks. All around, I can hear fireworks…..it’s like I can hear money exploding!! LOL Illness forgotten, Joseph and the boys launch into detonating their precious arsenal of fireworks. They pause for a break about half an hour before midnight then launched into full swing again. I am quite sane tonight because after my experience through Christmas, I have remembered to bring ear plugs. They are my sanity saver!!! Ivy and Colen have prepared such a feast for us to have after midnight….it is the first meal of the new year and it was fabulous of them to invite us for it. They had lechon kawali (deep fried crunchy pork belly), spaghetti, pork ribs, chicken macaroni salad, buko salad (young coconut), fresh bread, suman (sweet glutinous rice), shrimps and lots more. It poured while we were eating then, it was more fireworks again until it was raining so heavily they were using umbrellas to light fireworks…so we came home and all hopped in the shower. By the time we had finished showering, I started packing and then the boys realized it had stopped raining, so they were outside again playing with the last of their fireworks till about 4am!!! It was a great start to the new year….noisy but fun!!!

Christmas in the Philippines has been a fabulous experience. The atmosphere here is so different to that in Australia. It is not so commercialized. People aren’t madly buying presents. Christmas trees here aren’t that popular here either. But the Parol – the Christmas star is seen everywhere. The parols are either made of a plastic coated paper or pearl like shells on a wooden or metal frame. Some are very elaborate while others are quite simple. Most have lights in them as well. Everytime I pass a parol shop, I am sooo tempted to buy one, but there is no way that I can lug one half way around the world without it breaking. Especially when the one that I want is about a metre wide!!! LOL…I have great taste!

Back in October, we filled up two jumbo boxes with clothing, toys, canned foods, coffee, biscuits, cereal and gifts and sent them to the Philippines. So by the time we arrived, they had already arrived. This meant that on the way here, we only had to bring chocolates and our clothings. A few days before Christmas, Joseph and I spent hours packing up food and gift packages for his family members. The upstairs loungeroom truly looked like a department store with packages everywhere. So the past few days, we have been visiting family members and handing out gifts and food packages

We spent Christmas Eve with the Enanorias in Carcar. The most favourite celebratory food of the Filipinos is the Lechon which is a whole roasted pig. It is stuffed with a special herb called Pasiotes, spring onions, onions, garlic and seasoned with heaps of salt. It is then spit roasted over charcoals and then cooked for hours. This in itself is a social gathering as the men will sit and drink and take turns slowly turning the pig over this bed of charcoals until the skin is brown and crunchy. So Christmas eve, we had a huge gathering of family and there was sooo much food to eat and lots of chatting and then to wait for midnight to come, we played cards.

Another thing about Philippines is that fireworks are widely available here. There are stalls selling them everywhere and Joseph and the boys have gone a bit wild buying them……and that goes for everyone here too. Every night, you can hear firecrackers and fireworks going off until late at night. But come midnight, the town was like one popcorn factory. It was pop bang pop bang pop every second. It was sooo much fun. Josph managed to get these triangular ‘bombs’ near our house and they are sooo innocent looking, but when one goes off you almost expect to see a huge crater in the ground and for people to start screaming and ambulance sirens to start wailing. Lots of those were set off that night and after about half an hour of continuous fireworks, I almost felt like I was in a war zone!!!

There are lots and lots of stalls like these ….they sell fireworks….only fireworks….so many different types!!!

This is about a 10th of the amount of fireworks that my husband bought!! He quickly took a photo just as he realised he was running out of them!! See those cute little innocent triangles???? They are deafening!!

Christmas day was spent with the Manlise family who also organized another Lechon! We had so much beautiful food that day and there were lots of kids around for Jeromel to play with and they have a tv….so the boys got to watch Spymate and Airbuddies which were hilarious. We got back late in the afternoon and got to rest for a couple of hours and then we had more visitors dropping by in the evening and ended up playing cards again for a few hours.

26th December

Today, we’re on our way to the northern part of Cebu. I’m typing this up in the car on the way there. We have a lot of people coming with us, so we’ve hired a mini bus that is packed with people and kids. San Remegio is about a 4 hour drive away. I’m in Joseph’s cousin Loretil’s car, so I have a bit of room to do my typing. Joseph is in the minivan which is apparently pretty packed. I’m hoping that miraculously sometime when we pass the city, I might pick up some wifi signal….it’s Christmas right? I can hope for a miracle???

LOL….3 days later and no wifi signal was picked up and I haven’t had the time to go to the cybernet café, so I’ll just keep updating. San Remegio was fabulous…..when we arrived we did the head count and 28 of us made the trip. Tee hee….heaps of us!!! The beach house was fabulous. It was huge and open and right up on the beach. The beach house has a huge open plan living area with huge doors which open up onto the beach. Then a big verandah with a big cane chaise and one of the huge round rattan chairs with a big fluffy cushion. It has 3 large bedrooms….bedrooms large enough for a huge king bed and a double bed. We also borrowed a big queen mattress. When we got there it was low tide which was a bit disappointing, but that didn’t stop the kids from all piling up on the beach and playing with the sand. In no time, the bbq got going and the food didn’t stop till midnight. There was sooo much food and so much fun. We had two guitarists, one violinists and lots of singers, so it was really merry. At around 10pm the tide started coming up and everyone got pretty excited at the prospect of a night swim. By 11pm, about half the people decided to go in for a dip….including Jeromel who was 2^nd in the water. He had heaps of fun!!  Thank you so much to Eloise, Arnie, Papa Nap, Mama Loring and Nang Nene for organising this and making all this possible!!!

Walking toward the beach house from Papa Nap & Mama Loring’s house. After we got there, we sent the drivers to bring the vans and our bags.

The beautiful beach house with well maintained gardens and our own private beach.

The inside of the beach house….walls and ceiling are covered with beautiful woven nipah leaves and we had such a huge spread on the table….jackfruit, seaweed salad, grilled fish, pork chops, chicken skewers…u name it….we had it. Gluttons!

Loungeroom of the beach house….and in the far back, you can see 3 doors leading to the bedrooms.  We had an absolutely fabulous night with lots of singing and music. 

Papa Nap serenading us with his violin.  He plays sooo beautifully and we enjoyed his little concert very much.

Big group photo taken across the road at Papa Nap and Mama Loring’s house.

Totally love this photo of Jeromel and his cousins.

Joseph and his cousin Ivanhoe

On the way back, we stopped by to check out a Golf and Dive resort called Casa Del Mar.

When it came time to sleep, there were bodies and beds everywhere. There were 12 people just in our room!! But everyone was comfortable or maybe tooo tired to care where they slept. The following day, we all rose early and cleaned up and packed up and were on our way home before lunchtime. By 4pm, Joseph, Jordan and I had our last checkup with the optometrist and all’s well with our eyes which is great.

Yesterday, we spent the day resting and sleeping lots. Joseph and I went out to the internet café to check emails very quickly and I didn’t have the laptop with me so I couldn’t update the blog….but I managed a mini entry into my blessed to be stressed blog. Then in the afternoon, I ventured out with the boys without Joseph as he was busy with something else. We took a chappycab to the local department store and bought some groceries. What is a chappycab? It’s an amazing contraption!! It’s basically a motorbike with a sidecar….a covered side car. And it’s amazing how many people can fit in a chappycab. For short trips….we’ve managed to fit five of us on it. Yah….Joseph, Jordan, Jarryd, Jeromel and myself on it. Two people can ride behind the motorbike driver and then 3 in the side car. That’s like the local mini taxi here. It costs about 6 or 7 pesos per person per little trip which is very very affordable and they are everywhere!!

28th December – Today, we only have 3 more sleeps in the Philippines before we leave and still lots which we want to do. Today we’re headed again into the city (typing in the car again)….to meet up with Joseph’s half sister….going to have lunch with her family and then after that we’re going to do some shopping. I bought a sheet set last week as we were desperate for some cotton comfort and I bought a king size sheet set for 1250 pesos (roughly A$40). We’ve had it laundered and used it and I’m impressed with the quality so will pick up another couple of sets (wish I could get more but they’re quite heavy). A$40 for a flat, fitted and two pillow cases!