Kung Fu Fighting!

I guess my writing got put on hold as life caught up with me for a little while. Rex and I spent some time fighting off a mystery illness and then I spent a week doing nothing but grading and figuring out what I was going to type in for report cards. So not a whole lot of interesting stuff there.

We spent our second Turkey Day in a row working and away from family. It definitely does not really feel like Thanksgiving without broccoli rice casserole and that yummy turkey gravy made by mom! Rex and I were eating burgers at JJ's Texas Bar and Grill the weekend before Thanksgiving and Josh (one of the "J's" in JJ's), good ol' Texas boy from Kyle, Texas, came up and told us that he would be doing fried turkeys with "all the fixin's" if we'd like to come out for Thanksgiving. We were totally sold (and spent the whole week looking forward to the turkey).

Josh did not disappoint! The food was delicious and there was even pumpkin and pecan pie a la mode! We did have to bypass Yvonne's potluck dinner to enjoy the JJ's festivities... but what would I have brought to a potluck anyway? Burnt spaghetti?

Christmas shopping has begun! This is always tough in China. There are so many things that could be considered really cool to people back home who never see Chinese stuff, but I think I've been a bit desensitized. It's hard to know what to buy anyone anymore, and it seems that when you do get an idea it's something that requires special handling.

Riding the ferry from Xiamen Island to Gulong Yu Island...

that is Xiamen Island business district in the background.

First stop for shopping: Gulong Yu Island. Gulong Yu has a history of being an international island for hundreds of years. Although it now fully belongs to China, many old consulate buildings can still be seen among the unique architecture of the island. There are also a couple of beautiful churches and many music stores. Gulong Yu Island is now known for it's many pianos and famous composers who studied here.

Dairy Queen on Gulong Yu Island... just like home!

The few things we have found have been fun to bargain for! I think I enjoy the art much more than my husband, but he plays a good devil's advocate! We've pissed off many a market-stall lady by bargaining her down so low that she "makes no money" which I don't for a second believe. In Beijing this past summer, one lady got so mad at me for trying to get her t-shirts down from 150RMB to 20RMB that she called Rex a "stupid man" and threw a shirt at us as we walked away. She didn't seem to care much for my explanation about buying t-shirts all the time in Guangzhou for 20RMB each... although in the end she "would have" sold hers to us for 25, but we didn't appreciate her attitude and walked =) It's all about the bargaining experience.

Probably our biggest news is the addition of Kung Fu class to our weekly routine. This originated as Ian's idea and Rex was reeled in. After the first class (and Rex was told to go home and practice) I got my butt kicked so badly just trying to follow along with what Rex could remember from the class that I decided to join in the next time.

Not only am I getting one of the best workouts I've had since high school athletics (I think I will be in a state of perpetual soreness), I'm learning a bit of Chinese culture while I'm at it. Mr. Yang speaks wonderful English but is very Chinese in his ways and beliefs. He spends time each class explaining to us the beliefs, customs, and ways of the Chinese. Many of these beliefs are integrated into the theory of their martial arts. I'm composing a collection of notes that I will post as an entry once more complete. It's interesting stuff, and a lot of it is hard to swallow! You can almost see some of China's "old ways" coming out when he speaks about martial arts... intriguing.

We spent some time exploring a new area this weekend. Just like always in China, adventures and surprises around each and every corner. I wish I could film a typical afternoon walk just to give you an inkling.

Walking around Xiamen... the old amongst the new.

Soccer in ZengCheng

We just got back from the soccer tournament in ZengCheng today. It was a hot, exciting, and emotionally draining weekend, to say the least. Rex was focused and intent on the success of his soccer team and I was balancing all the many directions I was being pulled... from visiting with former students to watching soccer games and cheering both the new and the old school to catching up on the latest school gossip (of which there was plenty) to running errands in town... there was enough to keep me busy for more than just the two days we were there.

Flying into the Guangzhou airport was a bit of an eye-opener for me! It was a beautiful day both in Xiamen and in Guangzhou... sunny, about 80 degrees, blue skies... and then we saw it. It was from straight out of a science magazine... the dome of pollution... a thick, brown, choking haze just hung over the city. It was so strange because I was just looking out the window admiring the clear view when all of a sudden everything just got blurry. When I looked straight into the horizon there was a very obvious layer of haze. I took an interestingly sick photo of this that you might gag when you see, so be prepared.

Everyone hopped on board the bus for the hour drive to ZengCheng. I was honestly surprised at how many of my former students were still there. Last I'd heard, so many had left... and I guess my 11th grade class has gone from 19 students down to 9, but there were quite a few of my younger students playing on the soccer team which made watching the XIS -vs- UIS game really difficult. It was really nice to get to see these kids that I spent so much time working with last year (class, CAS, boarding) and see that most were doing well. There were three teachers left from last year (we thought only two had stayed, but the Korean teacher was also there). The new teachers are almost entirely Australian or British... and most have never worked internationally before. We could tell it had been a tough year for all of them. I did get to see some of my friends from the Chinese staff. Our lab tech, Ivy, was still there. We kind of keep in touch via email and she had purchased me some stuff for class that I can't find in Xiamen. Ian and I wish we could kidnap her and bring her to work at XIS!

Yvonne and I took a sunset walk around campus on Friday evening... that beautiful place that was their home for 3 years and ours for 1. Rex and I never had made it up the hill in the back of the gardens on a beautiful day for sunset, but I finally got my photos on Friday!

What a gorgeous place... I do miss living on such a beautiful campus. I did make peace with the fact that we DID make the right decision by leaving UIS, though. We miss the area, the location, the people... but too much has "not changed" as far as the way the system is run. There is an air of negativity amongst the staff and headmaster and the communication is still lacking. For instance, we were approached by the lady who is kind of the liaison between the owner and the staff, asking for 3600 RMB. When we asked why it was explained that we had used their buses for airport transfer... yet had never been informed that there was to be a fee for this service. She was not happy that we didn't have the money to fork over to her... but we were not happy that this was the first we had heard of this charge. Rex and I rolled our eyes and counted our blessings for making the switch. Too much stuff just like that went on all last year to just brush off as coincidence. Some things never change.

Yvonne and I went into ZengCheng on Saturday for a day of errands and pampering. We had spa pedicures with paraffin wax treatments, lunch at the "Muslim Noodle House", and ran a few errands on the list. Mr. Li, our taxi driver friend from last year, was very happy to see us! He was such a friendly guy who was kind of our personal Chinese tutor whenever he drove us places. We would teach him English words and he'd teach us Chinese. I definitely miss Mr. Li!

We made it back to the soccer fields in time for the final game... XIS -vs- Hong Kong Academy. It was a tough game that kept me on my toes, but our boys were beat after winning 6 games in one day. The other team was just in a little better shape and pooled enough energy to score on us in the second half. It was a tough loss, but we got 2nd place! I think that's pretty awesome. My baby is an awesome coach =)

It was a bitter sweet saying goodbye again today. We left in June with heavy hearts thinking that surly we'd never have a reason to go back to UIS-ZC. As fate had it, Rex and Ian coached the middle school soccer team whose tournament just happened to be at the old school. It was tough to go back, knowing the circumstances of which we left, and it was even more difficult to say goodbye again... to the kids, to Jacque and Mike (Rex's workout buddy), and to our former home. Will we ever make it back there again? I guess we'll see what our soccer district has in store for next year's tournament. Then we'll see.

I'll leave you with a funny video that we see each time we board a domestic flight to Xiamen. It speaks for itself.

Crocodiles, Iguanas, and Snakes... oh my!

I have some catching up to do, I guess... and I always think of good stuff to say as I'm walking about, but let me see if I can remember half of it now that I'm at the computer.

The past few weeks have been busy for a number of reasons. We are going to a soccer tournament at our old stomping ground next weekend! Kind of crazy that it's there... and I'm a bit surprised that the school is even able to host it again. Rex and Ian ended up being coaches, so Yvonne and I are tagging along to see old students and the two teachers who are left. It should be a good, yet short, reunion.

The fall weather has arrived! We stepped off the plane in Xiamen the day we returned from the Philippines expecting steamy, hot weather. To our amazement it was cool and breezy! We haven't turned our AC on in 3 weeks! Beautiful, clear skies with stars and a moon at night, too... I absolutely love it!

View from our living room couch overlooking the Xiamen harbor.

Halloween was a pretty big celebration at school this past week! Student council did a "spirit week" kind of thing and had different dress up days. This was good for me because I could slip in wearing some jeans and justify it by "having school spirit". Friday was costume day and those little ones ate it up!

Rex dressed up as "Ian" for Halloween... can you guess whom is who?

They did a parade of costumes and the middle school created a haunted house (which was, of course, not very scary, but what can you say? They tried!) We were home-bodies and skipped all the community halloween parties. Instead, we met some friends at the Mexican restaurant and then watched some scary movies that Rex had downloaded. No trick-or-treaters in our apartment complex... or at least not that we were present for!

Cali was a monkey for Halloween... she recently learned how to make this face and would do it for us every time we asked!

Cutie pie!

China is jumping on the bandwagon of western holidays! There were Halloween decorations up all over the place, and there was even a big store set up in one of the malls that sold all kinds of masks, costumes, and paraphernalia! We TRIED to browse through this store, but much like everything popular in China, it was like a blood sport trying to move from one side to the other. Too many people... but always room for one more Chinese!

I pride myself on doing well at figuring out the bus system! So far I know of at least one bus that goes to all major areas we frequent. My goal is to learn the characters of the stops so that I can figure out if other buses go there as well. The more you know, the less time you wait... the more money you save on transportation!

We've started doing a lot of sports on Saturdays. A few times I practiced with the school volleyball teams, which was nice to get back into the swing of volleyball. I discovered that my right shoulder isn't what it used to be and if I try to serve without warming it up for a long time then it feels like I am tearing my shoulder off. Not good... getting too old. We got a group together to play basketball last weekend at the sports complex in town. That was pretty fun and we'll probably make it more of a weekend ritual soon.

This weekend, Rex and Ian hosted a Saturday soccer practice for their boys' team. I went to "play" along with several other teachers and discovered that in order to be anywhere good at soccer I will need to learn some basic ground rules... such as how many people go on the field at once! I am hopeless for anything but a warm body on the field. Fun, nonetheless.

A few people I work with have organized a Saturday baseball practice for anyone who wants to come out... whether they are affiliated with the school or not. They practice each Saturday, but we've only been out once to help. There is a good showing of kids with all levels of skill (mostly basic "what are the names of the positions" kind of skills, but at least they're trying!)

We lost a couple of discus fish from our tank last weekend. I'm sure that part of the risk of buying cheaply in China is that you get what you pay for in more ways than one. Our fish are probably crawling with parasites (discus fish are commonly difficult to keep healthy) and were not super healthy when we got them home. It's been a battle keeping off the ick (fungus) and getting them to be semi-healthy.

Rex has been prepping a tank at school for over a month in hopes of getting a turtle. His dream came true this past week, when we brought Donatello into the family. Donatello is a red-eared slider, so nothing too unique (except that he's now our pet!) As we browsed the pet store where we purchased him, we saw some crazy "only in China" kinds of pets... including a baby crocodile, who wasn't too happy at us for staring at him! There were many tanks of beautiful freshwater stingrays, iguanas, and the most beautiful little yellow tree snakes! I was about to bring home a snake, but the price they quoted me was out of this world... "1500 kwai... hao ma?" said the guy at the register. This translates roughly into "$225 USD... sound good?" It didn't sound so good to me and I told him as much. Did he forget what country we're in? I should have my Chinese friend call and ask about the snake and see if they get quoted something so outrageous! Sheesh! Plus, who knows if it was something venomous or not...

Oh, yeah... for Chinese New Year, I think India has won the vote! We haven't booked yet, but found tickets for $320 per person roundtrip from Guangzhou! This is nothing compared with our friends who cashed in on the Air Asia "free" tickets last year... they bought round trip tickets to BOTH Bali, Indonesia, AND India for a grand total of $400! We'll be pouncing on that special when it comes back around this year... that's for sure!

Did I mention that the small-town-Texas chain restaurant of Dairy Queen has gone international? Look what we found when we went shopping today...

Dairy Queen!!! Bring on the blizzards!

Another good laugh... KFC delivers!

Palawan, October 6-10: The Rest of the Story

I forgot to write for a few days… oops. I guess that just means that I’ll be summarizing the rest of our trip here and hopefully won’t leave out too many important details!

We celebrated our second anniversary on the 6th. We did a lot of relaxing and ate some awesome food, which the women who cooked at our resort were so good at making. There was crab and calamari for lunch and then one of the guys climbed up a palm tree to cut us some buko! Drank some yummy buko and then scooped out the fleshy fruit with a spoon. The dogs here were obviously island-grown because they sat by us the entire time begging for a bite. Meat I could see, but coconut? (they got to lick the inside clean once we were done)

Climbing the tree, barefoot, with machete, to cut us some buko!

Progress is coming along on the boat the guys are working on! It’s crazy how much progress four guys working on a boat can make in a day. The generator was cranked up all day long while the men were using their power tools for boat construction. This meant that we could actually turn on our fans in the room and take a nap! Oh, blessed sleep, how I love thee.

The next morning we woke up early to head to our new resort where we’d be staying for the next three nights. This place was a bit more upscale than the last, but not necessarily better… just prettier.

We stepped off the speed boat to a group of staff members singing with guitars, bongo drums, and tambourines. The PR hostess gave us a quick overview of the area and the resort and then showed us to our room. I absolutely LOVED our room! We got a cedar cabin built on stilts to where when the tide came in it was surrounded by water. There was a nice, big porch with a picnic table and lounge chairs where we spent a lot of time ocean-gazing and reading our books (I think we each read three books total on this trip). The pool was beautiful, as well! There was an infinity pool, a term I was not familiar with until last time we went to the Philippines. Basically that means that if you are in the pool and you look out towards the ocean it is “difficult” to tell where the pool ends and the ocean begins. A neat effect!

Our cedar cabin at El Rio y Mar.

At about 6:30pm on our first night we were getting ready for dinner when we each spotted a MOUSE in the room! I saw one come from behind the minibar and then run back, while Rex saw one come down the ladder from the attic. Now I’m a lover of all animals, even cute little mice, but I have an issue with them running around in the room where I’m sleeping. I remember one year at Garner State Park my dad had brought along some corn to feed the deer around our cabin. Apparently the mice living in the cabin found the corn first and spent all night stashing it around the room in various places. We never actually SAW a mouse, but the fact that they were scurrying around while I was trying to sleep made me lose many hours listening for “mouse-like” sounds in the room. I was afraid to fall asleep because “what if” I woke up to a mouse crawling down my arm?

Anyways, we told the resort about the mice and they moved us to another room temporarily. The other room was extremely nice, but it didn’t have the rustic feel of our first room, so the next day we moved back (they SAID the mice were gone, but we did see them once again our last night there). The new room had an incredible view from the bed… huge picture windows that opened up onto a veranda right on the beach. Beautiful, but I wanted cedar cabin surrounded by water. The resort was catering enough to oblige both of our moves.

I discovered that one of the most relaxing things in the world is sitting on a porch and watching the tide roll in around you. There was a small seawall in front of our cabin that made it not exactly right on the beach, but it was even more relaxing to hear the ocean waters gurgling through the rocks in the wall to fill up our “front yard”. There was a mangrove forest behind our cabin and somehow water seemed to come from both directions. High tide always came at night while we were there, so we would return from dinner to watch the tide come in. The mosquitoes were also keen on this idea, to my dismay... and they apparently like the taste of foreign blood.

The tide coming up around our cabin at night.

There was more relaxing to be had at El Rio y Mar Resort. We read books on the porch and by the pool, spent time browsing their book-swap room, and I even went to the spa one day to get a pedicure and paraffin treatment (silky soft feet!). The staff were amazing here and on our final evening for dinner we were seated in a special area between the pool and the ocean. The guy who would play guitar each night for the dinner guests came over and serenaded us a few songs. One song he played was “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. I’ve always liked that song a lot but after this vacation, hearing it will always bring me back to this happy moment… sitting with my sweetheart on the beach to a candlelight dinner… stars overhead and music being played for only us.

The beach and bar on the pier.

Eventually we had to leave our Palawan paradise. Our flight back to Manila was in the morning and then we didn’t fly back to Xiamen until the next morning. That left us an entire day of shopping! On the list: pandan cake, mamon, mangoes, and buko. For those of you scratching your heads right now, I cannot really describe the palatable pleasures these treats entail. They must be experienced personally to begin to understand.

The hotel staff informed us that there was a Max’s Restaurant (Filipino food and bakery… sells pandan rolls!) nearby at the Greenbelt Mall. We jumped in a taxi and headed there first thing… only to find out that they were already sold out of pandan cake for the day! Thankfully they offered to call around to other locations and have some brought in to us. Still, they could only locate FOUR rolls… not nearly enough! We were planning to stock up on at least ten! Oh well. We had a yummy lunch of lechon and some mango juice before roaming the upscale mall we were in.

Being a part of the Filipino island life was definitely an experience, but I love the Manila city life! You walk down the street and there is always a smell of food and fabric softener in the air (no matter where you’re at it seems) and all of the little stall-shops with their goods for sale. There are jeepneys and motorbikes zipping by constantly and I cannot get over how there are practically NO signs that are not hand painted!

Imagine looking at the front of a nice store, and instead of the store’s sign being a big, plastic, lit-up thing, it is a wooden, hand painted one… but the painting is near perfect to where at first glance you don’t even notice the difference. There’s also a Coca Cola sign nearby that is also perfectly hand painted. Look around some more and you notice that the ads and even names of taxi companies is hand painted on the sides of cars! There must be some really skilled artists around these areas!

Yes, Manila is densely populated with almost no trees and the worst traffic I’ve ever seen, but it is a really neat place. And I LOVE that I’m technically part of the Filipino culture (by marriage, of course!).

We made it back to Xiamen and school starts back up tomorrow. There always has to be an end to these experiences… I can’t wait to go back to the Philippines someday soon, though!

Palawan, October 4 & 5

Oct. 4: Happy Places

Just when you think you’ve seen “the MOST beautiful thing” you could ever possibly see in your life, the world throws your senses for a loop. For example: today’s excursions.

We hopped in the bangka this morning with intentions to see a freshwater lake and a beach on a separate island. That was all that we had paid for with our tour package. As we were pulling up to our first beach, CYC Beach (no clue what the letters mean), one of our crew explained to Rex that there were other places they could take us to today but we would have to pay for them. How much? Oh, a hefty $2 per person. Why not, right?

So our day began with the small CYC Beach. As we were docking in the water one of our guys spotted a huge lizard on the beach sunning itself! It had been frightened away by the time we got close enough to take a picture, but we saw it from afar! The beach was surrounded on both sides by mangroves and behind it were cliffs. Very beautiful, but small. On to the next place?

Arriving at CYC Beach

Our crew took us to what is bound to be the most breath-taking-ly, awe-inspiring-ly, freakin’ gorgeous beach I’ve ever seen in my life! Unfortunately, the photos we took of this place do it no justice at all. As we pulled up onto the white sand, we saw that we were in a bay of limestone cliffs that had vertical crags and jags everywhere. The water was the most brilliant turquoise color I’d ever seen, with different shades of color depending on the depths of the water. There were trees somehow growing all over the top and sides of this mountain. There were big limestone boulders in the water in front of the beach that had been shaped into sharp, scary, beautiful knife-like blades (unfortunately, I was to experience exactly how sharp later). It was pretty much the picture that you always look at when Coron is advertised and think, skeptically to yourself, “That is SO photoshopped!” Would you believe that this place was so gorgeous it looked like the most perfect photoshopped picture out there?

Banol Beach... my new happy place!

We snorkeled for a bit and saw a smattering of fish we’d never seen before, including one really slender one with a pointy nose! (no, it wasn’t a sword fish) I chased its school around for awhile trying to get a good picture, but I couldn’t get close enough and for some reason it wouldn’t be still!

Beautiful waters at Banol Beach

After piling back onto the bangka our driver took us into a nearby maze of wide canals that led through the tall limestone cliffs. As we meandered along, we again saw crystal clear water of all shades of blue and green. We dead-ended in a place with a sign announcing “Twin Lagoons”. It was a cove with deep waters and those same cliffs surrounding us on about 270 degrees. We were lectured that the real treat was after you swam underneath a short cave and into the neighboring lagoon. Luckily, they had a ladder option as well (my non-swimming spouse chose this) and I braved the adventure of swimming under the tunnel, which is at the base of one of these cliffs of jagged, sharp rock. Stupidly, I left my snorkel on and our underwater camera case around my neck. The combination of these, plus the thought of swimming underneath a mountain (even though it was only about a 2 meter long swim), freaked me out half way through the swim. This was about the point where the stuff I was trying to hold onto made me start to rise up in the water. I pushed back with my left foot to kick off of the stones of the mountain and SLICE! Right through my heel! Razor sharp, I tell you… totally not cool. Thankfully the slice didn’t go too deep, but it was definitely deep enough to take an uncomfortable chunk out of my skin. I also realized that I must have put my hand up in panic because there were several razor-like slices along my right hand as well. Seriously, you probably cannot imagine the sharpness of these rocks… but “like razors” is the best I can describe them. And they are everywhere!

Twin Lagoons

The lagoon was yet another breath-taking moment (more like 45 moments, because that’s about how long we spent swimming around there). We were in perfectly still, clear, blue-green water with beautiful cliffs surrounding us… and there were so many fish!

It was late morning by now and we headed off to our last stop before lunch: Kayangan Lake. This was a freshwater lake that the locals who live on Coron Island consider to be sacred. You had to hike to it over a mountainside (where they had the tourist foresight to put steps). Once at the top we turned around and saw the view of the cove we had entered from… goodness, another total WOW moment! We had to walk back down the mountain to actually get into the freshwater lake. Once inside, we saw thousands of what looked to be cousins of the pointy-nosed fish we’d seen in the ocean earlier! They were schooling calmly along the banks. A little boy scooped a baby one up in his hands and I got a nice picture! Interesting how that evolution must have taken place… close cousins in both the saltwater ocean and the neighboring freshwater lake! (okay, I’ll shut up about biology… this is a vacation!)

A flying fish

Lunch was eaten in the boat, and then we were whisked away to our next stop: Makinit Hotsprings. So I’ve become a skeptic when it comes to hot springs. I’ve been to only two other “hot” springs before and was sorely disappointed by exactly how hot they were. I would say luke warm at best for the others. So it really didn’t mean much to me when the driver of the boat told us that this particular hot springs was “really hot” at 48 degrees Celsius. When we were in Los Banos last Christmas, I watched in wonder as Filipinos would put their toes into the hardly warm water and scream that it was SO hot. Huh? Even after living for a year and a half overseas, I still have to translate everything into Fahrenheit. 48 degrees meant nothing to me… so we jumped right on in… and this water was HOT! It was like when you run bathwater and put your foot in only to realize that it’s near scalding. So kind of like that, but it didn’t actually scald us… it just felt really nice! One lesson learned today: 48 degrees Celsius is NOT luke warm!

Our last tourist site of the day was a place called Siete Pecados (seven… ??). Famed for having many fish, we snorkeled around while the guys on the boat fed the fish over and over again to lure them our way. There were definitely a LOT of fish! We also saw a HUGE blue starfish, but we couldn’t get a great picture because it was underneath a rock. If I were to estimate I would say that it was probably 2 feet wide!

Siete Pecados

We made a quick stop in Coron city proper to pick up some sodas and snacks… and do a quick email check at an internet café. Thanks to all for the birthday wishes! They are much appreciated =)

We tried to watch the sunset but although it had been a relatively clear day (scattered showers only) there was a storm rolling in to the west… and we couldn’t see much of a sunset. Tired from our long day, I was crashed out around 8 o’clock.

Yummy meals/dishes today: chicken adobo, mystery vegetable = eggplant (really good!), egg drop soup, ??


October 5:

One very rustic thing about this place we’re staying is that there are absolutely no modern anything… no internet, no cell phone signal, and no electricity! Well… technically there can be electricity, but it is only produced by a generator and it typically is only started at dusk (about the time the karaoke begins) and usually stays on until around 6am… but these past couple of nights it has shut off sometime during the night. No electricity means no fans in our room. There is actually still a bit of a breeze, but with the loss of fan comes the loss of white noise which makes those darned roosters even more noticeable.

I do value the simplicity of this place. The men spent all day today working on a boat they are making. I guess not every boat out there is made in a factory, and that was a really neat realization to come to. One guy was “mowing” the lawn in front of the cabanas with his machete. The women, on the other hand, literally spend their time preparing the next sumptuous meal, cleaning, and washing clothes. The cats catch mice and the dogs usually beg for food when you sit down for a meal. It really is a good life here. In a way, I envy the fact that these people live here so happily and so simply. There is the ocean for food, there’s the seaweed farm and boat making for income (as well as the cabanas they rent out to tourists like us) and the two children don’t even know what the word ‘bored’ means. I wish I could just move here and learn how to build things and cook and have a garden… and maybe even some chickens. Although the roosters will have to be banned to the far side of the island.

Today was a relatively relaxing day. We ‘slept in’ which consisted of getting another hour of sleep in after the rooster started his noise. We were lounging around reading our books (I bought the new Dan Brown book at the Hong Kong airport!) when one of the staff asked if we’d like to see the mangrove forest. We agreed and I layered on the sunscreen AND clothes (already sunburned… not chancing making that worse) and we jumped on the kayaks to follow our host.

Apparently we suck at rowing. The guy we were following would paddle about two times and then sit and wait for us to struggle to catch up. Is there some secret trick I’m not aware of with paddling a boat? Seriously… this guy could have made it there and back by the time we went one way. When we finally made it to the mangrove forest, he directed us to this entryway that was a clearing amidst all the tangled roots. It was a different place than where we went on our first day (much farther away) and the path he led us on was much wider. He said that it was so wide that during high tide they could bring their big boat through there and it was faster to get to the main island that way. It was so relaxing… quiet… peaceful. Our guide pointed out a tree with a HUGE bee hive in it, something I definitely would never have noticed without his direction.

On the way back our guide was so far ahead of us that he got out of his kayak, took a 5 minute swim, and got back in as we were passing him up. Thirty seconds later he was almost home as we stared after him in disbelief.

We had a really nice sunset tonight and took plenty of beautiful pictures! It was nice to sit out on the floating pier (that wasn’t floating since it was low tide) and watch the sun set behind Sangat Island. As soon as the last rays of light left the sky, we noticed all of the fireflies coming out in the trees. I guess it had maybe been too rainy the past few days for them to come out, but tonight they were everywhere! Too bad it’s nearly impossible to take good pictures of fireflies.

The sky was clear enough tonight to see stars… and there were so many! Stargazing in the middle of a private island… perfect ending to another perfect day in paradise.

Yummy meals today: Fried calamari strips, fried fish fillets, tuna steaks, Filipino menudo, boiled vegetables with butter

Palawan, October 2 & 3

Oct. 2:

I was awoken twice last night and again at 4:30am this morning by… take a guess… the damn roosters! What’s worse, they crow almost exactly at 5 second intervals and DO NOT STOP throughout the day until it gets dark. I swear I’m going to request chicken for dinner tomorrow night.

Today was an unbelievable day! It’s a big thing to go diving around these parts because of all the WWII Japanese shipwrecks in the area. We knew we were going to go snorkel the wrecks (not to be confused with my husband, REX…) and I was crossing my fingers that we’d get to see something in the shallow waters. I was not disappointed! The first place we went was a very shallow water wreck (called Lusong Wreck) and there were plenty of corals that had taken up residence on the sunken iron frame. It was so beautiful!

WWII Japanese boat covered in corals

There were SO MANY fish, too! They would give us fish food and we could hand feed the fish and they would swarm like crazy! The other Filipinos who were with us kept jokingly “looking for Nemo” and eventually one of the staff dove down with a bottle and came back up with Nemo. He didn’t only catch one clown fish, he caught THREE! They were so cute, too… little babies less than an inch long. Yes, we released them. What would they do with a bunch of baby clown fish?

Corals and fishes under the sea

I did have one thing go wrong with me today. I was trying to be a priss about not getting my hair wet (yeah, like that lasted for long) and jumped off the boat in some strange fashion while bracing myself on some of its bamboo support beams. So first time in the water and I pull my right abdominal muscle! Now obviously I knew that this COULD be done, but have never actually known of anyone who has done it. Yes, I’m okay… but I’m sure I’ll be promptly reminded of my condition when I sit up tomorrow morning in bed. In the meantime, my caring husband is trying to make me laugh as much as possible.

Throughout the day we snorkeled a total of two wreck sites (one was a Japanese gunboat) and three beautiful coral reefs teeming with colorful marine life. I’ve decided that I’m afraid of sea urchins. They are just so ominous and prickly looking! Sometimes the water would be really shallow and if you spun your feet around to tread water you jammed them on the corals. I was so afraid I’d do this with a sea urchin! Luckily, though, no sea urchins found my foot… and we saw so many fish and corals everywhere we went!

More fishies...

Right before we came back for lunch we were taken to a small mangrove forest and asked to follow our hosts through the trees. We came upon this hidden hot spring on the edge of Sangat Island. When we first got there it was high tide and cold ocean water was seeping into the spring area. By the time we left, though, the tide had retreated and it was nice and warm in the hot spring! Oh, did I mention that it rained pretty much all day today? Personally, I think we were doing the best possible activities for rain, since the rain doesn’t affect our visibility underwater very much. Plus, the cold rain made that hot spring feel that much better!

After I showered the 5 layers of salt water from my body, I took my new Dan Brown book (bought it at the Hong Kong airport!) to the main pavilion area to read. On my way there, I notice one of the obnoxious roosters being taunted by a staff member holding another rooster. Apparently cock fighting is a major pastime in the Philippines. I guess these rooster nemeses of mine fall into that category. He saw me watching and got his buddy to come over so they could show me a proper cock fight… but with the back claws taped so that the “claw of death” was not used, and no rooster came near perishing. It was interesting… I got some pictures, although the birds were moving way too fast for my shutter speed.

Sure wish their "death claw" wasn't taped...

The other group that is here will be leaving early tomorrow… then we will really have this place to ourselves! Only us and the staff… not bad!

Yummy meals/dishes today: Fresh stuffed crab, lemon-garlic tuna, grilled mystery vegetable, tomato egg (breakfast), arroz con pollo, fried banana, sweet and sour fish


Oct. 3:
Today is my birthday! One of my friends on Facebook recently posted that he had the Deana Carter song “Strawberry Wine” stuck in his head. The first line that came to my mind from the song was, “I still remember when 30 was old.” My God, I can’t believe I’m already so close to being three decades old. Wow.

Rex has definitely made all birthdays for me extra-special events, for as long as I’ve known him. Last year we were in Bangkok, Thailand, for my birthday… exploring all the temples and exotic-ness. Two years ago I was getting ready to be married to my wonderful husband (anniversary in three days). Three years ago Rex brought me on a surprise “pack your bags, we’re going to the airport” kind of trip to South Padre… and proposed to me. The year before that, I received a beautiful bouquet of stargazer lilies at work and then returned home to find Rex had come over after his clinical to bring cake and balloons and sing to me as I walked in the door… while holding both kitties and with Ace in the room.

Today, I’m happy to report that my birthday was a mixture of relaxation and awe. We stayed on “our” island for most of today, leaving only to kayak around for a bit to the neighboring islands. Sangat Island is across the way and has a totally different topography from our island. Our island is made of rounded, rolling hills with almost no trees. It is blanketed with grass so from a distance it has a velvety appearance.

Rolling hills that make up our island.

Sangat Island is much bigger and the mountains are much taller and rockier. Strangely, the mountains are covered with so many TREES! One of the staff members kayaked behind us and pointed out some monkeys swinging in trees that we wouldn’t have noticed. He also showed us their seaweed farm (yes, you read right) which they produce for the purpose of making toothpastes and plastics. Apparently, this is the major industry for this area of the Philippines and one of the biggest in the world.

Sangat Island with the rocky peaks and many trees!

We spent a little bit of time snorkeling around our beach, and later on we hiked up our own mountain to the very peak which sports a BEAUTIFUL panoramic view of the surrounding islands and mangrove forests. I cannot even believe how huge these mangrove forests are! It’s truly amazing!

View of our bay from the top of our island hill.

I saw one of the most beautiful butterflies I’d ever seen. We spent about five minutes trying to get a good picture of it and finally I decided I’d try to hold it. I put my finger slowly over to where its legs were at, and it stepped right on! I was so excited to get to hold this butterfly… and we finally got our pictures of it while it sat on my hand for five minutes. Rex called it my “birthday butterfly”.

Birthday butterfly =)

After the hike we lounged around reading our books by the ocean. It was so breezy and peaceful (we were far enough away from the roosters to where the ocean blocked them out). What a perfect ending to a perfect day!

Update on those darned roosters… we switched cabins to one farther away. We can still hear them, but they are not deafeningly loud because they are no longer browsing through our front yard. Maybe it was just coincidence, but we DID have fried chicken for lunch today after we saw one of the guys carrying a rooster towards the kitchen =) Upon request?

Yummy meals/foods today: cordon bleu, creamy parmesan pasta, fried chicken, FRESH calamari, chorizo sausage for breakfast