El Nido, Pangulasian Island Resort

May 18 - 21, 2015

Edi and I needed to get away from the city, so we planned a trip to El Nido, Palawan.  To start with we flew Island Transvoyager, Inc. instead of taking a major airline. This is a charter airline that does nothing but fly back and forth from Manila to El Nido. That made all the difference in the world.  We went to their hanger not the airport, and when we got there, we entered this really nice lounge with a Polynesian flare.  There was coffee and a nice spread of food, and we had reserved seating which was nice as we didn't have to worry about losing our places if we got up to get more coffee or just to wander.  The other unique thing was our boarding passes were made of wood!

When we got to the El Nido Airport, we deplaned and boarded a jeepney which took us to the main area.  The actual airport consists of two open air buildings, one housing the arrivals and one housing the departures.  There was another spread of food for us to enjoy while they separated everyone according to the island he/she was going to.  We boarded another jeepney which took us to the boat that would take us to the Pangulasian Island Resort.

We arrived at the resort and were warmly greeted by the staff.  We had a brief informational presentation, a tour of the property, then we were taken to our villa.  The resort is absolutely beautiful.  Our beach villa was luxurious and so comfortable.  The deck had a lounging bed and benches to enjoy the view.  The beach which was right outside our door was beautiful, white sandy beach with crystal, blue water.  Of course two lounges and an umbrella beckoned us to come enjoy.

Every meal whether it was the complimentary breakfast, lunch at the pool bar restaurant, or dinner at the beach bar restaurant, was delicious.  The food was good, the service was excellent, and the view was incredible!  One evening a cultural dance group came and performed and we were able to catch the show after dinner.  The dancers were in costume and performed beautifully.  They even tinikled!  After they performed, they asked for volunteers to tinikle with them. Edi and I got volunteered!  We each got a partner and got the opportunity to learn to tinikle.

The activities were awesome.  One evening we hiked up to the top of this mountain (about 30 minutes) and were rewarded with one of the most amazing sunsets we  have ever seen.  Another evening we adventured out in a sea kayak and enjoyed yet again another beautiful sunset. 

 We took two of the complimentary tours, and these were legit tours.  We went island hopping where our first stop was Snake Island.  It really is a sand bar shaped like a snake where two sides of the sea meet.  We actually got out of the boat and who should greet us?  Two dogs of course! :-)  We hiked up to the viewing deck for a beautiful sight.  Back on the boat we headed to Cudugnon Cave which means 'shivering.' Again our welcome came from a cute little dog.  We got out of the boat and actually climbed up and crawled through this little opening to enter the cave; it was incredible.  In one crevice there literally hundreds of little bats.  Our last stop was the Cathedral, a huge rock foundation with a not so deep cave at the bottom.  The boat eased into the opening for a good look.

Our next tour was the lagoon tour.  The small lagoon was our first stop.  Once at our destination, we transferred from the banca to a tandem kayak.  Edi and I got to kayak all through the small lagoon on the crystal clear water.  Once the kayaking was done, we got to swim next to the banca until everyone in our group had returned.  Not only was it refreshing, but our tour guide entertained us by doing back flips off of the front of the banca!

Next was the big lagoon.  This lagoon was big enough for the banca to cruise through.  There were several tour groups there; at one point we had ourselves a little banca traffic jam.  Once we had ridden through the lagoon, we anchored and got the chance to snorkel.  It was great fun!

Of course one day we had to scuba dive.  I've got to say it was probably some of the best diving we have ever done.  The water was warm and visibility was exceptional.  The Philippines truly is the dream destination of the scuba diver!  And talk about personalized...Edi and I were the only two divers on the boat along with the driver and two dive masters.  I think one was training the other.

From our welcome to our farewell, this trip was amazing.  When it was time to go to the airport, we walked down the beach to the boat with the resort staff singing farewell to us.  We were armed with our sombrero, flip flops, and water bottles to take with us.  When the boat got to the dock at the airport, we were each given a sandwich and bottled water for our trip.  What great service!

We may have to make an anniversary trip back to this place in the future. :-)

Doggie Pawlympics at SM by the Bay

Sunday, May 10, 2015

On Sunday, Edi, Kona, and I took an Uber car to SM by the Bay for the Doggie Pawlympics event.  It was to begin at 10:00, but of course they were on Filipino time :-), so we had some time to kill.  We walked the bay which is like a boardwalk with food vendors and rides.  There is even a "Manila Eye" ferris wheel.  We ended up at Starbucks - Edi and I enjoyed iced coffees while Kona enjoyed some water.  It was a really nice way to begin the day; we were right on the bay and there was a great breeze

When we went back for registration, we found out that we had to purchase something from Pet Express (they were sponsoring the event) in addition to paying a registration fee.  I stood in line with Kona making friends with the people and dogs standing in line with me while Edi went to Pet Express (it was around the corner) to buy something.  He came back with a Kong Wubba and our ticket.  Kona got measured and received his number "33."  

We headed to the dock diving pool where people were already giving it a go.  Dock diving is relatively new in the Philippines, and for some of the dogs, this was the first time they had been in the water.  It was fun watching the dogs trying to decide if they were going to jump, walk down the ramp or go in at all.  Some of the dogs were really little, and the jump would have been a long way down.  It was finally Kona's turn.  Of course Edi and Kona are old pros at dock diving, so they showed how it was done.  Kona did a great job and got a lot of "ahs" when he jumped.  Kona did two practice rounds and then he played in the small pools they had set up to keep cool.

It was time for the competition.  Each dog got two go rounds with two jumps each.  Kona jumped thirteen feet to beat the reigning champion and take first place!

At the awards ceremony Edi and Kona were awarded the first place trophy and a bag of Kibbles and Bits dog food.  After the event, so many people came up to us and wanted their pictures taken with Kona - it was crazy and so much fun!

What a fun day we all had.  Kona was wiped out and slept most of the way back to the apartment.  Hopefully, there will be more events to come. :-)

Bangkok Thailand

January 25 - February 2, 2015

*Note* My purse was stolen in Manila, and my phone was in my purse.  I had not downloaded my Bangkok pictures from my phone, so sadly, there are not many pictures to accompany this entry.

I really like Bangkok as far as Asia goes.  It is clean and although there is a lot of traffic, people actually let you cross the road, and there is no horn blowing.  The language barrier is more noticeable than in Manila, but it hasn't been a problem.  Edi has been in training all week, and I have had to entertain myself.  I am not one to go out on my own, so it has been a bit difficult... liberating but difficult all the same.

Monday I left the hotel not really knowing where I was going.  I popped in a department store, but left fairly quickly as I really was not in the mood to shop.  I ended up going back to the hotel and doing some research on the different tours in the area.  I did go to The Eatery, one of the hotel's restaurants for lunch and had a delicious meal.  When Edi got out of training, I was sitting by the pool reading my book, sipping on white wine.  He joined me for a drink and then we walked across the street to La Barca Italian Restaurant - quaint atmosphere, delicious food, and engaging conversation.

Tuesday I walked over to Terminal 21 which is a really cool mall; each floor is modeled after a different country.  I leisurely walked each floor meandering through The Caribbean, Rome, Paris, Tokyo, London, Istanbul, San Francisco, and Hollywood.  I did a little shopping and then had lunch at Mos Burger.  That evening we went with seven of the Ericsson guys, one (named Yos) being from Thailand.  We rode the train to a boat shuttle and took the shuttle to Asiatique a river front with a huge, very cool night market.  There are restaurants that line the river front with lots of outdoor seating.  We chose our restaurant but some of the guys opted for the air conditioning of inside.  Yos ordered up a Thailand feast!  Two different soups, two kinds of fish, clams, vegetables... it was all delicious and spicy just how I like it.  After dinner we walked the market and picked up a thai pancake from a vendor for dessert -  yum!

Wednesday I took a rice barge tour.  I was picked up at the hotel by my tour guide   We chatted comfortably on the way to the pier.  Throughout the tour I found out that he was seventy-five years old and really enjoys meeting tourists who are generally in a good mood being on holiday.  We arrived at the pier a little early, so I had time to walk the shops and galleries.  When time, I boarded the long tail motor boat and we were off going up the Chao Phraya River.  We passed temples, the grand palace, monks and people just going about their every day lives.  We also passed the hospital where the king who is eighty-seven and queen live. The king is in poor health, so he lives in a suite on the top floor of the hospital.  Our tour guide said that the king sometimes comes out and waves at the people on the river - I'm not so sure he was serious. We rode up the river and into one of the channels.  These channels are a huge part of daily life and a great transportation as there is no traffic.

After traveling down the river for about an hour, we pulled up to a little dock area and disembarked.  The long tail boat backed away and a large decked out rice barge pulled up.  We all boarded to a delicious buffet of tropical fruit, refreshing fruit punch, and Thai whiskey was available to taste.  We traveled back to the pier on which we began and the tour was over.  Fighting traffic, my tour guide and driver got me back to my hotel without a scratch.

I hadn't been back at the hotel long when Edi got back.  We went down to the Beer Terrace for a beer and the day's highlights.  For dinner we walked to a restaurant called Khana Khazana for lime sodas and vegetarian Indian food.  It was delicious!

Thursday I was in need of a pedicure, so I walked to Terminal 21 and found a mini spa.  I opted for a foot spa and chose a polish that cost an extra 100 baht...wouldn't you know.  I had lunch at Mos burger again after walking the entire mall again looking for a restaurant.  I did find one that I wanted to try for dinner - Edi and I had dinner there Friday night.  When I got back to the hotel, I changed into my swimsuit and headed to the pool for a swim and some reading.  Edi and I had Mexican food at Margarita's Sunrise Tacos for dinner - good margaritas, pretty good food.

Friday, I was like OK, what today?  I felt in need of a workout, so I went to the fitness center and worked out for an hour and a half, and then headed to the pool for a cool dip.  Dinner was had at Moom Muum - cute atmosphere, and then after dinner coffee at Coffee World.

Saturday, I was more than relieved to have my travel partner back.  We began the day at Chez Charlie's a little French Bistro.  We sat outside and sipped coffee nibbling on a baguette and an almond croissant.  Shop owners were busy opening up shop; A woman from the bistro brought out two small pastries and a small cup of juice.  She set it on the sidewalk underneath a bush and lit a stick of incense right beside it.  With ninety four percent of Thailand being Buddhist, one sees that sort of thing a lot.

We took the tube to the pier and caught the water taxi which hardly stops to let you on - one must be very fast and coordinated!  We found that we were going the wrong way, so we had to get off at the next stop which is no small feat, and wait for the next water taxi heading the opposite way.  Finally making it to our stop, we walked to the Jim Thompson House to tour.  It was an interesting tour learning about Jim Thompson the man and seeing the traditional Thai architecture used on the house and gardens.  The restaurant was nice as well; we had a nice, relaxing lunch after our tour deciding what to do next.

We decided to take the sky train to the Chatuchak Weekend Market.  It was huge!  So much to see and buy.  We did buy a little turtle lamp made from a coconut shell, and we each had a fruit soda from a vendor (lime for me and coconut for Edi) - so refreshing.  We walked through the park leaving the market; people were sitting around the lake enjoying the late afternoon.  Back at the hotel via the sky train, we freshened up and walked to Indulge for dinner where we sat outside and enjoyed delicious food and great conversation.

Sunday we had a leisurely morning.  We were picked up by East Thailand Tours for our Grand Palace and The Temple of the Emerald Buddha tour.  Our tour guide was good and the palace was quite extravagant...well, the outside was; we didn't go inside - a bit of a disappointment.  We did get to go into the temple.  We had to remove our shoes and sit cross legged.  It is disrespectful to have your feet facing the Buddha.  It was beautiful with lots and lots of gold and gems,  Back in the van we made one more stop at a gem factory where they hoped we all would buy some expensive jewelry.  I'm not their gal. :-)  For dinner we decided on a pub for dinner, but we couldn't find it and ended up at Grottino Swiss Restaurant where we had fondue! It was so good!

And that ends our trip to Bangkok.  We journeyed home on Monday thankful for a wonderful trip and happy to see Kona and Kimbrel. :-)

Celebrating my birthday

November 16, 2014

My second birthday here in Manila was a lot of fun!  I decided I really didn’t want to take a trip anywhere seeing as we will be going to the States soon.  I wanted to relax and enjoy time together with Edi,  Kona and Kimbrel and that is just what we did. 

On Friday evening, we put up our Christmas Tree.  I know it is early, but the Christmas Season begins here in the Philippines the day after Halloween.  Plus, we are leaving December 18, and I wanted to be able to enjoy our tree a while before we go.  The tree is artificial and we have no breakable decorations, so Kimbrel now has her own little playground.  She has been even more entertaining than she already is.

Saturday we just hung out and ran a couple of errands.  That evening Edi and I went to dinner at Brasserie Girolle with Carol and Bill.  Unbeknownst to me, Edi and Carol had been in cahoots planning a little birthday surprise for me.  After dinner, the background music in the restaurant changed to “Happy Birthday” and the waiter brought a cake to our table that said “Happy 50^th Leisa!”  I was so surprised!  It had one candle burning, so I was able to make a wish.  Edi had told Chef Ian that my favorite flavors were chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, and cherry.  The cake had a crust with a layer of caramel followed by chocolate ganache, topped with peanut butter icing.  It was delicious!

Sunday, my actual birthday was really nice.  Carol and Bill dropped by with a gift (chocolate coconut cream bars and honey wine – both local treats here in the Philippines).  Edi had bought everything to make a butternut cake – he didn’t want to go a year without the cake my mom always makes me.  The thing was butternut flavoring is not available here, so he used almond and vanilla flavorings.  The cake was beautiful and delicious; we have been eating on it all week!

I opened my gifts which Edi had put under the Christmas Tree – that was a first.  For dinner we went to Chihuahua Cantina a new Mexican restaurant here.  We enjoyed overstuffed burritos with chips and queso dip.  We of course had to have a margarita to accompany our meal!

Back at our apartment, we had birthday cake and tea and enjoyed the rest of our evening.  I think I’ve decided that fifty is going to be a good year!