Several weeks ago, Tom and I had the opportunity to go to a hydroponic commercial garden.  A man that Tom works with, Andro, father is part owner of this garden.  It was way cool.  Most of the plants  were in these very large greenhouses.  We would enter one door, they would close that off and then would open the door to the plants.  We would have to step into a chlorine water just enough to get the very bottom of our soles wet so that we didn't carry in harmful things into where the plants were.  Before leaving the garden they gave us some samples of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.  The tomatoes were wonderful.  Then we went to eat with Andro and his wife Denise and 8 others who had joined us on our tour.  It was a great day.

As far as food goes.  I am thankful for S & R (a international Costco store--they carry Kirkland brands).  If you see it and might want it, buy it.  More so here than in the states.  If they run out, it could be months before you see it again, like the Kirkland peaches in a jar.  We have been able to sometimes pick up other things we like at double the price we are use to paying for them.  Hey, they have BBQ "pop" chips, so it is worth it.

Since the area we live in is an expat area some of the stores carry a few American foods at a price.  To buy a package of brown gravy mix, for example, runs about $2.00, but sometimes you just have to do it.   I hear that what they call spinach here is horrible (obviously, I haven't tried it).  Produce is usually wrapped up in plastic so you can't tell completely whether something is good or bad.  If you can find it at a fresh market it isn't wrapped, but you need to go to the fresh markets first thing in the morning or they sit out in the heat all day.  Right now is lime season, so you can find limes for the time being.  Sour cream and cottage cheese is interesting.  They come in small sizes (1/2 to 2/3 c. sizes).  If you want sour cream that is not runny it runs about $3.70 and if you don't mind the runny stuff (I use sometimes for recipes) you pay $1.85 for the same size. I haven't even bought cottage cheese because it is 1/2 c. for about $3.50

I have a list of things to bring back when I return from the states in January.  I do have to say, that I miss ground turkey. The ground beef is not so great.  Even with 90/10 it is more like 70/30.  I did mind one butcher that sometimes has some if you don't mind paying about $5.25/pound.  It actually has decent flavor.   I few weeks ago I bought some bacon from the meat department for a recipe I was making.  I fried it up and tasted it.  YUCK!  It tasted like fried fat.  My driver was happy to take it off my hands.  Apparently they don't smoke it or anything.  Now I find it in the freezer department at
S & R that comes from the states.

Frozen vegetables are a joke unless you can find some that come from the states.  Both the frozen and canned peas that you can get (not from the states) are disgusting.  I guess it is what your taste buds get use too.

Another experience we had is a lady from Tom's work gave him a jar of Durian jam.  Tom had tasted is and said it wasn't good.  I decided to check it out.  The smell about "killed me".  It smelled like rotten fish.  I asked our driver, Raffy if he wanted it. He said sure, but he wanted me to tasted it first.  One drop is all I took and threw is up.  I am convinced that our driver will eat anything.  I keep him trying new things.  I'm not sure he has every seen so many different things cooked at one place.  In past jobs he ate with the home's helper, but since we don't have a helper he either does his own thing (rice or stuff picked up at the quick mart across the street) or I give him leftovers to eat.  I have got him addicted to peanut butter and jelly and supply that for him too.

Eating out it good if you prefer Asian food.  Haven't been to a steak house and Mexican food is very scarce and not that great when you do have it.  They do have pasta, so that is good.  When we first moved here we were living in a hotel in Makati.  There was a Chilis just a block or so away.  I really miss eating at Chilis.   A few ago we tried a restaurant that had been recommended to us by two people.  It is called Hosseins.  It is Pakistan, Indian, Arabian and Middle Eastern cuisine.  It is probably the best place we have eaten since living here.  I had my leftover stuffed chicken kebabs yesterday and they were still wonderful.  This past, Saturday we went again, this time with friends.  I couldn't help but order the same thing but added a few more things in to the menu.  The hummus and pita was wonderful.  I'm going to get fatter if we keep eating like this.

A few Saturdays ago we went to an outdoor market with the Jensens for lunch.  We had chicken, steak, sausage and corn on skewers.   We also had this wonderful frozen buca (coconut) and mango dessert, and churros with cinnamon sugar and chocolate sauce.  Both were fabulous.  I wish I would have taken some pictures of them.  We also had a bottle of homemade ginger ale.  Dad loved it, me it was just ok.  It was a fun time and an experience we will try several more times I am sure.  I would go every week just for the mango dessert and the churros.  Since I originally wrote this post Tom and I went again.  Churros and homemade ginger ale once again.  Unfortunately they were out of the wonderful frozen buck and mango dessert.

I had held off completely this for about 3 weeks hoping Tom would have pictures to add, but he's been so busy so this is going to be posted without them.

Goodbye now from the Hidden Gem of the Pacific

It has been a long time . . .

A friend from home mentioned that I should keep a blog about living in the Philippines.  Oh wait, we do, but it has been a long time since anything has been posted.  So here is a little update of our life in the Philippines.

We are pretty much in a routine here.  Tom plays basketball every week with guys that work for him.

I do a lot of sewing or making Christmas gifts.  I have also become involved with a humanitarian aid group called DaysForGirls.org.  Check them out.  I agreed to put together the sewn part of 100 kits.

Let's just say, finding fabric here is a hard thing to do.  But with the help of fellow members of our ward, I think we are going to pull it together.


The need was for over 130 yards of fabric of assorted types and colors.  Plus another 40 yards of PUL fabric, polyester thread, a serger, snap setter and snaps, and a few other things.  Fortunately here, if you can find it, you can find cotton fabrics and street markets cheap  ($1.20/yard  for cotton flannel and cotton fabric).  When you need so much fabric, then cheap is good.

 They actually don't use scissors to cut the fabric.  These young men measure and then tear the fabric.  It gets so bad back in this little area where they have rolls upon rolls standing up against the wall, that they actually put masks over their faces so they don't inhale all the particles in the air from tearing.  It is quite an experience.  We can't get the PUL here, so my visiting teaching companion who is helping me with the project is able to order it for me from the states.  Now all the fabric has to be pre-shrunk.  Before doing that, I need to zigzag all the edges of each pieces so it doesn't fray in the wash.  I guess we won't start sewing until January until after we get back from the holidays.

Street market where we bought all the fabric.  The front part you can see is mostly small quilts, leggings and a few odd and end fabrics.  The back part (in the darker part of the store) is where all the cottons are.

The 130+ yards of fabric.  The middle row are all polka dots.  Lisa who was with me thought it would be cool to make all the tote bags for this project in polka dots because they are girlie.

Tom had posted awhile back about using Uber.  It is rare now.  Tom got his drivers license and actually did all the driving last week since our driver was sick.  If you didn't know, Manila has before classified by Waze as the worst place to drive in the world.  I certainly haven't driven here, and have no plans to, but Tom is doing a great job.  It just gets a little crazy at times.

Tom and I try to go out to eat every Friday and Saturday night.  Since it is pretty affordable and since there are only 2 of us it works within our budget.  There are all sorts of cuisines here.  However, Mexican is very limited and not that good.  We will try a place, like it, and return a few weeks later and wonder why we liked it before.   You always carry an umbrella here.  Many nights we have returned from dinner in downpour.  My poor leather sandals have had to dry out many times after returning back to our condo.  It seems like it rains at least one of the two nights that we go out.  I know they say that August is the rainiest month, but September was a lot worse.

One of my favorite things about living here is that we have the most wonderful views of the sunsets from our 40th floor condo.  Unfortunately we have a building blocking our view for the sunrises.

As you can tell, I have learned from Tom, one of these has had a little bit of enhancing.  The top picture I love that the clouds look like the city in the back, but it is really clouds.  So cool!


Goodbye for now from the Hidden Gem of the Pacific.

Singin' in the Rain!

Friday, September 4th was LaDawn's birthday and when I asked her what she wanted, at first she didn't really know and then it occurred to her that perhaps we could go to a Broadway play currently showing in Manila.  Singing' in the Rain!  So we researched tickets and snagged a couple (it wasn't sold out) and began to make our plans.  Meanwhile, LaDawn got to know Carol Jensen from church a bit and invited her to come along with her husband.  Because of Jonathan's work schedule we weren't sure how it would work out, but in the end, everything, including traffic, cooperated and we had a great evening.  Raffy (our driver) and LaDawn picked me up at the office at 4:45 pm and then we went over to Glorietta 5 where the Convergys offices are and picked up Jonathan and Carol (she had made her way their earlier).  So by about 5:10 pm we were headed to Solaire Resort and Casino (and Theatre) directly on Manila Bay.  On the way there, I called and made reservations at the Finestra Italian Restaurant there in the Resort.  

The Finestra Restaurant at Solaire Resort at sunset

You can see by the picture, that we were the only ones there.  That was because they really don't open the restaurant until 6:30 pm (the time of our reservations), but because we got there early, they saw us outside the door and opened it up and let us start.  I think the bar in the restaurant opens at 6 pm, so they were going to open the doors anyway.  In any case, as we were coming into the restaurant the sun was setting over the bay behind where we were sitting.  You could not have asked for a more beautiful scene.  

As if that wasn't enough (light traffic, golden sunset, wonderful new friends), we then had just an absolutely outstanding meal!

All of us had pasta.  LaDawn had the Carbanara with linguini noodles and I had the Tartufati with Penne noodles.  Carol also had the Tartufati, but with Gnocchi.  Jonathan had a pasta dish with Italian Sausage in it.  I have to say that this was some of the best pasta I have ever eaten in my entire life.  The portions were perfect.  We all had a Ceasar Salad to start off with.  I enjoyed a bottle of Pellegrino sparkling water.

In front of the stage of Singin' in the Rain

Around 7:35 pm we left the restaurant and made our way to the Theatre to watch Singin' in the Rain.  I don't ever really remember seeing the whole thing before, but clearly I remembered a part here and a part there.  It was really well done for the most part.  There was one dance scene that I thought was unnecessary and a bit suggestive - other than that it was excellent.  Here is a picture we took at the end of the show before leaving the theatre.

On our way out I was having some fun sort of "singin' in the rain", and I mentioned all we needed was a little rain to go along with my antics.  Well little did I know that at about that time, the heavens opened outside and the rain poured down.  LaDawn reminded me I needed to be more careful about what I wished for!

Right before we left the building I turned and took a couple of pictures.  The first is the stairway being reflected in the mirrors and the second is a B&W picture of the fountains near the entrance.

Raffy drove the Jensen's to their place and then we returned to BGC and our home there.  Overall, it was a wonderful evening of food, friends and fun!

-Tom

Family Visit and Mystical Islands

It has been some time since I have written this blog.  Dad takes the pictures, not me so sometimes I wait for him and he figures I'm not going to do it so he does.  Doesn't matter to me who writes as long as something gets written down.  In fact, I will be having him add pictures to this for me.

The past 2 weeks have been so wonderful.  Garen and Kaitlin flew in Monday night, August 3rd to

At Green Hills Mall

spend a week with us.  Tuesday we decided to go to Greenhills mall.  I wasn't sure what that would entail, but everyone talks about it so we went.   Unfortunately the traffic was crazy there.  We found out when we were leaving it was because the president of the Philippines was somewhere there.  We only went into one area of the mall.  It consisted all these booth set up that were selling imitation name brand stuff.  It was crazy.  I actually had one woman grab my arm and pull me back to her booth because she wanted me to buy a purse.  Everyone else was ahead of me so they had no idea that I had been abducted.  I was so grateful to finally leave.  It was driving me crazy to be there.  Dad, however, loved it.  Garen (because he found a pair of "Vans" for $12) and Kaitlin seemed to enjoy it too.

Early Wednesday morning we had arranged to take a trip to a beach.  Heck you can't come to the

On the boat over to Siquijor.  It was a bumpy, wavy ride!

Philippines and not have a beach trip so we took them to Siquijor --pronounced  Seek-ee-hoar.  A beautiful small island about 1 hours 15 minute flight from Manila.  We actually flew into the island of Negros (city of Dumagueta) and then had to take a ferry or speed boat to Siquijor.  Going we took an enclosed speed boat and it was a rough ride.  There were several that were sick.  They gave everyone little barf bags it got so rough.  It was so rough that I actually felt motion sick and I never do.  Leaving to come back we were able to get on a open air ferry. It took a little longer but it wasn't quite so bad.

The island was beautiful.  If you haven't seen all the pictures yet, I will have dad post a link right  here (it works now!).

We stayed at the Coco Grove Beach Resort. The first day we got there it poured and continued to pour off and on for

Coco Grove Beach Resort (the ocean is just out of view)

most of the time.  We hadn't arranged any activities for the next day because the forecast said rain.  However, when we got up the next morning (Thursday) it was a beautiful day.  The front desk arranged for a driver to come take us around the island.  Our first stop was Batele Tree.  Here we soaked our feet in the water and the fish came and nibbled on our feet eating the dry skin off.  I thought it felt wonderful especially when the bigger fish would nibble.  Garen and Dad didn't care for it so much.

Fish Spa

If fact, if you could have heard those two --they kept screaming out 'ouch'!  Not so tough when it comes to little fish nibbling on your feet!

140 year old Convent

We stopped at Lazi convent and the old church across the street.  The bottom floor of the convent has been turned into a school and the upper part a museum, but the museum was closed that day.  We did meet an American who had once been a covert spy for the US but retired many years ago to the Philippines, married and has 4 children.  He was an interesting man.

Next stop was to Cambugahay Falls.  We had

to walk down 137 steps to get down to the falls.  It wasn't a very big falls, but the water felt really good.  We jumped in by the falls, enjoyed the water and swam behind the waterfall.  It was nice until we had to climb the 137 steps back up to the van.

We then headed to a government owned beach called Salagdoong beach.  They have there some diving platforms you could jump or dive off but it was so windy and the water so rough that no one was doing it.  So we ate lunch ( Dad and Kaitlin's food was yucky). Then walked around.  The diving platforms were across a bridge so we walked over to check it out before we left.  There was a guy there trying to decide if he was brave enough to jump.  We took a few pictures and left.  As we were walking we watched the guy jump and then a girl.  Garen thought, if they can do it, so could he.  So back he went and jumped off too.  Way to go--you are forgiven for being such a baby when the fish were nibbling on your feet.


A few other things, that were not a high "cool" factor on my list was the first house built on the island, a mangrove area that was once upon a  time a small resort built out on the water but now is used sometimes by backpackers.  And somewhere along the way we had this really good bread that we bought along the road.  All in all it was a good day and the rain started soon after we got back.

Linckia Sea Star

After dinner we went to the desk and asked about doing some snorkeling. The beach at the hotel was rough but  Joy, who was working the desk but is higher up then a desk attendant, but we could never figure out exactly what her roll there was, set us up to do some snorkeling in the morning and another part of the island along with a trip to Lugnason falls.  That morning (Friday) we went to the drive shop and rented some snorkeling gear and headed off with the driver. Let me just say that the place we went to snorkel took us on all these back roads.  We almost got such in the mud, but the snorkeling was great.

It was low tide so we were rather close to the coral and stuff in fact, I scratched my knee up on coral one time when I was trying to stand up.  The coral was large and interesting.  We saw lots of fish and even more starfish including a blue one.  We saw "Nemo" and "Dory" too.

Lugnason Falls

From there we were to go to Lugnason Falls according to Joy.  We didn't really care whether we went there or not, since we had already been to a waterfall, but are glad we did.  It was a delightful place.  Kaitlin was the first one into the water and I followed right behind.  At Cambugahay Falls I was the last to enter, but decided I could be brave and get in ( It was also easier to get into).  The water was cool, but we soon warmed up and enjoyed the time we were there.  The workers there showed how you could grab a vine, climb up the side of his hill and swing over a shallow area and then jump into the deeper area.  Once again Garen was brave and tried it.  He was one brave man to do it because the vine just reached the outside edge of the deep area and between the deep and shallow area was a concrete wall.

Leaving Siquijor (bye!)

Then back to the hotel and more rain.  Saturday morning when it was time to leave the sun finally came out.  But while we were there we were able to do everything we had wanted to do and the weather was pleasant and not hot like it was going to be on Saturday.  Back on the ferry (which left several hours earlier than we had planned to leave because we changed what we were going back on),
then to a restaurant to hang out for 2-3 hours to wait for our driver to take us to the airport.  All in all, a wonderful trip.

Lunch at Coco Grande

Chinese Cemetery

Sunday morning we had our driver take us to drive past the Chinese cemetery in Old Manila.  Interesting place.  Some of them have these gated house type places built around 2-6 tombs.  They had chandeliers hanging in them, pictures of those who have died and benches to sit on.  Definitely different than anything I had seen.  Of course, it was pouring, so we just looked from the car.  Then back to the condo for lunch before church.

At Green Hills Mall

Monday, Dad and Garen wanted to go to Greenhills mall again.  This time we got there right as they opened and the sellers were not so aggressive.  Garen and Kaitlin were able to get something for her mom for watching the girls.  I got a purse and a wallet (the bills here are bigger than US dollars and I kept getting mine stuck in the zipper so it was something I really needed) a picture for our bathroom and Garen and Kaitlin got little jeepneys for the girls.  We came back to our condo, then went to David English for lunch and then to Mission Impossible to a theatre that consists only of 24 recliners with a small table between each pair.  They brought each of us a big box of popcorn but unfortunately no water.  I really enjoyed watching the movie from a recliner and managed to stay awake for the whole thing!!!!!

We had a great time with Garen and Kaitlin and look forward to each of our children coming to see us and the adventures we will have.


Goodbye for now from the Hidden Gem of the Pacific

Paradise Found!

Pacific Plaza Towers (where we live)

When we learned that on Thursday, July 16th the power in our bulding would be shut down for the day so they could repair the electrical system, LaDawn suggested I take a day off and we do something together.  So I did so and then later learned that Friday had been declared a holiday for Ramadan.  That meant we would have a 3 day weekend (we wanted to be back for Sunday).  So LaDawn started searching and found a nice little resort in Palawan near the Underground River which we had talked about wanting to see before ever leaving Houston.  Could this be the opportunty?  Well, the resort had a room available (since it is the rainy season, the resorts are not full at all). She then had to fnd a good airfare, which she did (she s the world's greatest travel agent and trip planner), we decided to take the plunge and go on an adventure.  What a great trip it has been!

Terminal 3

Day One
Our driver (Raffy) drove us to the airport Thursday mornng, leaving our home around 7:30 am.  We were at terminal 3 before 8:00 am.  Miraculous in Manila traffic! Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:00 am.  We boarded around 9:45 and then sat on the tarmac until about 10:30. The flight was right at an hour, so by 11:30 we were in Puerto Princessa, Palawan Province.

Our Cebu Pacific Jet

Puerto Princessa Airport

We had hired a private van from the resort to take us from and to the hotel.  As it turns out, we could have booked a much less expensive option, (it was about $70 each way), but it was nice to have a van to ourselves as well as a trusted driver.  The drive from Puerto Princessa to Sabong was about 2 hours.  A winding mountainous road, but generally in good shape.  I think everyone drives too fast on it!  I was glad I still had some bonine in my system from the flight, otherwise, I would have gotten car sick.  When we arrived in Sabong, we stopped along the road and a guy came out and opened a upwardly swinging pole gate   The driver paid him 20 or 50 pesos and we proceeded down a very bumpy dirt road surrounded by rice fields.  At that point LaDawn and I were both thnking "oh-oh".  Turns out the road is the only entrance to the resort and it is owned by an individual that charges the resort to come in and out on their property.  When the van stopped and we got out and walked to the registration desk, we could tell then that everything was going to be just fine.

Cabana 401 (bottom)

View from our veranda

They gave us room 401.  A bottom room on a two story cabana facing the South China Sea.  The room was small but clean.   First thing we did was head to the restaurant (Pawikan Restaurant) and eat some lunch.  We hadn't eaten since leaving home, so by this time it was close to 2 pm.  We both selected pulled pork sandwiches.  Served on small mini buns, with some pulled pork and coleslaw right on the bun.  Delicious.  That was definitely a good sign that the food was going to be good.  As it turned out, the food was consistently excellent while we were there.  It is amazing that they have such a creative and talented chef working at this resort on the other side of the world from nearly everything!

Lunch at Pawikan Restaurant 

After lunch we took a ride on a boat through the Mangrove forest.  Mangroves grow in brackish water and are now a protrected tree because nearly 75% of the original mangrove acreage in the Philippines have been destroyed.  During our ride down the river we saw a couple of mangrove snakes and 2 pythons.  Both are highly venomous.  The mangrove snake is not aggressive, but the python is. The ones we saw were both sleeping (one had a full belly from a recent meal).  We also saw a monitor lizard, which it turns out is very passive, not venomous and on the protected species list.  There are a lot of them in Palawan. Two cheers for our guide (Jane) and oarsman (Romeo).  Jane was a wealth of knowledge and even sang for us as we ended the tour.

The venomous but lazy Mangrove Snake

Python, resting after a big lunch!

The Magnificient Mangrove Tree

The friendly Monitor Lizard

After our ride in the mangrove forest, I asked our guide (Leeford) if it would be okay for me to fly my quadcopter along the beach and take some shots.  He said sure (I don't really think he had a clue what I was talking about), so I went into the room, put the Go Pro on the gimball, inserted the battery and walked out to the beach.  What a beautiful day to fly.  

Daluyon Beach & Mountain Resort from the air

The Beach along Daluyon Beach & Mountain Resort and the South China Sea (looking West)

Although not much of a beach guy, I decided to give the South China Sea a try.  So I put my Phantom 2 back in the room, changed into swimming attire, and then went back to the beach.  LaDawn brought her Kindle, found a shady lounge chair and she read while I went for a swim.  The water was beautiful!  Sparkling clean, white sand beach and a gentle wave action.    As I walked back to where LaDawn was reading, I realized there were some really interesting patterns in the sand, so after lounging a bit myself, I fetched my Nikon and went back to the beach and spent some time taking pictures.  

Sand Warrior?

The Tree of Life?

Muscles of the Body?

The Last Leaf of Autumn...

For dinner that night LaDawn order a delicious clam chowder.  I ordered a Filipino Dish called Insala Chicken with some rice.  It was actually intended for two, so LaDawn was kind enough to eat some of it.  It was delicious.  We got back to the room around 8 pm and really struggled to stay awake after a long day, so we eventually just read scriptures, prayed and went to bed around 9 pm.  A really great start to a min-vacation.

Day 2

On Friday morning we woke up around 6 am and headed for breakfast.  Breakfast was included in the price of the hotel,  so we thought there would be a buffet, but with so few guests I guess they figured it didn't make sense.  So we were able to order ala carte.  We both chose an American breakfast of hash browns (really good), a couple of eggs (over easy of course), meat (I had ham, LaDawn had bacon).  I ordered some toast on the side.  It was VERY filling and very good as all our meals had been.

Boat ride over

The Sleeping Giant

Sabang Boat Terminal

We finished breakfast, went back to the cabana, got my back pack and water shoes and then met back in the lobby for a 7:30 departure to the Underground River.  Again, Leeford walked us down to the Sabang Boat Terminal (maybe a bit of an overstatement). He got us on the first boat leaving which turned out to be a great thing.    In fact, we went with 6 young people who work at the entrance (they have a little staging area with a place for photos, restrooms and registration).   On the way over to the underground river, we could see the mountain where the underground river flows from.  They call it the "Sleeping Giant".  Perhaps you can see him laying down sleeping with a pronounced "non-Filipino" nose.

On the tour itself, we were in a boat with a family of 7 Filipinos.  They had the front seats and we had the back seat.  Our boatman was Richie.

The smell upon entering the cave was pretty bad.  Turns out this is really just a bat cave with a river running through it (smile).  The underground cave is home to 40,000 bats, and they were flying all around us the entire time.  The video above gives you a 3 second idea of what it was like.  At first it was kind of creepy, but then it just seemed like normalcy.  The cave has quite a history, first discovered and documented in 1887, but in reality the native tribes were well aware of it long before then.  The bat poop (officially called guano) is a great source of fertilizer and in some cultures (get ready for this) coffee.  It is apparently quite expensive.  In this national park treasure though it is illegal to gather it. Which is why there was so much of it and why it didn't smell so great.  But like most things, we quickly acclimated to the smell and the flying bats.

We went 1.5 kilometers into the cave in the boat.  Richie was pretty funny, but at times, he turned a bit crude.  There are quite a few formations in the cavern of stalactites and stalagmites,and they have tended to be named over time.  When we reached the most spacious cavern, they called it a temple because there were so many formations that had religious parallels. Perhaps the most striking was a formation that indeed looked like the holy family, with Joseph, Mary and Jesus. 

The Holy Family in the Center of the picture with Joseph on the left and Mary on the right

The entire ride lasted only about an hour, but something I am really glad that we did.  It truly is one of the unique wonders of the world.

After finishing the river tour, we began the trek back to the resort by taking a 3.5 km jungle trek.  Our guide was a college aged young woman named Merly.  She did the entire trek in flip flops.  When we asked her about it, she said her shoes were broken and she couldn't afford to get them fixed.  We later gave her some money to buy new shoes.  Her gratitude was humbling.

You talkin' to me?

Mother & Child Reunion

At the beginning of the hike we ran into quite a few monkeys on the "stairs".  Merly had to pick up a stick and gently "shoo" them away.  She said they can be pretty aggressive.  I did get some great pictures though.  We didn't see much more wildlife, but we saw some amazing forest scenes.  At one point we came to some caves where early tribes lived.  Merly knew quite a bit about the jungle, but was not always the easiest to understand.  She had no English classes in high school, only a semester in college in Puerto Princessa.  She is studying to be a caregiver and had already spent 6 months caring for an old man in Manila.  She said it was hard to be away from her family for so long and hard to just sit in a room at the end of a narrow hallway all day with an old man.  My heart went out to this vibrant, intelligent Filipino who was trying to make a better life for herself.  It was an honor to be "guided" by her thru the jungle.

At one point she pointed out two white doves, but I struggled to see them to take a picture until they flew away.  On another occasion we heard the call of a peacock, but we never saw the majestic bird.

The super high tide meant the end of the walkway was underwater

When we came to the end of the jungle trek, we found that "super high tide" had moved in and we couldn't get to the end of the footbridge that crossed the mangrove river we had toured the day before.  So we took off our trekking shoes and put on our water shoes and waded into the water and onto the bridge.

After we returned to our cabana, we rested for about 30 minutes and then went and had our prearranged lunch that came as part of the tour.  We both had baby back ribs and potatoes.  However, the ribs were not traditional baby back, as we had some end joints, but the meat was absolutely outstanding.

Baby Back Ribs with Potatoes (delicious!)

The rest of the afternoon we rested for a bit again and then went out to the ocean and played in the water for a while.  It was pretty shallow and by the time we got back out to it the tide had begun to drop.  However, there was a bit more power in the waves, so I would walk out and then try to jump right in front of the wave and have it push me into the shore.  It was quite a game.  Good way to burn calories!

After playing in the ocean for a while we walked down to the little village called Sabang and found me a t-shirt to buy.  I also bought a mango banana shake and we shared it.  I was hoping it would not make us sick, and I am happy to say we survived without any consequences.

For dinner that night LaDawn again had clam chowder and I had some delicious red snapper on mashed potatoes.  For dessert we shared a mango crepe like dessert that was a lot like a cobbler and then something that was similar to a cross between a snickers and an almond joy.  Both were delicious!  After dinner we went back to our room and watched the second X-Men movie.  The TV was small and no hi def, but it was still fun to watch.

The sun setting on our min-vacation to paradise

Day 3

We woke up at 6 am and went to breakfast around 6:45.  This time they had the buffet.  After checking out we got back in the van with a different driver and he took us back to Puerto Princessa.  This driver was a lot more aggressive on the road and there were several times I thought he would hit a pedestrian or a car next to him.  At one point we got behind two public transport buses. 

These buses were something you would see in the movies. On the back of the one we followed for quite a while was a crate and a basket of small pigs.  When someone inside the bus wanted to smoke, they would step out, climb the ladder to the top of the bus and light up.  This while the bus was traversing mountain roads at between 35-45 mph.  To see people sitting on top of these things as though it was a hayride, just blew my mind.  I was grateful for the comforts of our private van.

We made it to the airport in about 1 hour and 40 minutes.  Coming back we passed many many vans loaded with people headed to the underground river.  I mean lots of vans.  I am so glad we did that on Friday and that we were first through the cave.  It made the experience much more memorable. 

The flight back to Manila was on time and uneventful.  Just the way we like them.  We took an Uber from the airport home and was so happy to sleep in our own bed again!

We loved Palowan and wouldn't think twice about going back!