Day at the Spa - Oct. 16

Today I got to experience both sides of living in the Philippines.

First I got to experience the pampered life. My Dad and Uncle Jun took me to a spa in Alabang Town Centre. I've been to spas before, but have never signed up for massages. At this spa I signed up for 3 types of massages. Sorry people, no pictures: first of all they don't allow cameras in the spa, and secondly I was in my birthday suit for most of the time.

First I got a Swedish massage which is this relaxing massage from head to toe. The lady told me the same thing that my Chinese herbal "doctor" guy tells me, and what my endocrinologist (hormone) doctor tells me. I have a lot of stress. What do I have to be stressed out about? I think my problem is I always sweat the small stuff. Oh well, I guess that means I should go to the spa more often!!! After the massage I was so relaxed, I felt like a blob of jello.

Next I got to soak my calves and feet in hot water and got a nice foot and calf massage. She used different lotions etc while massaging me. I'd like to tell you more, but by that time I was so relaxed I was practically asleep!

While the one lady was still working on my feet, another lady began to give me the most relaxing scalp massage. She even massaged my face with lotion while a warm steam was sprayed over my entire head. She tried to remove my blackheads, but after a few minutes of it I told her to just skip that step......I was there to relax!

By the time I had finished showering and fixed up I had been in the spa for almost 4 hours! Crazy!!! When I stepped out of the spa, I was surprised to find out that a bunch of my relatives that I haven't seen in many years had come to meet up with us! In the picture that's my dad, my cousin Cecil, my cousin Raymond, me, Auntie Patsy, Auntie Tess, Uncle Danny, Thellie and Auntie Necy. We went to Starbucks to have a snack and catch up. I kept confusing uncles and cousins , but I think I got most of the names right. It was quite an exercise for my brain that had been in sleep mode while I was having my massages!


Anyways after that we decided to go to San Pedro, Laguna, the town where my mom and dad grew up in. This is where I got to experience the other side of life in the Philippines. This is the place that was just hit by the floods a couple of weeks ago.

We went to the block where both my mom and dad grew up on. Whenever they tell stories about where they grew up, they describe a sleepy little town where there were no stores and everybody knew everybody else in the neighbourhood. It looks nothing like that now! It looks more like the Las Vegas strip with neon signs everywhere. There are a million stores and a million people hanging around. The building that used to be my dad's house has now been converted to a whole block of stores with people living on the second floor. My mom's house was around the corner - we tried knocking on the door there (her aunt lives there now), but noone was home.

Across the street is another bunch of stores. However, on top of the stores is a building space that is now housing about 200 people who lost their homes in the flood just 2 weeks ago. You'd think everyone here would be depressed and walking around dreading the future. Total opposite of that! I'm so proud to be filipino! These people living in such bad conditions still have so much joy in them. It was Friday night and everyone was out on the streets having fun. You would have no idea that these people had just gone through such an ordeal.

Well, I'm exhausted and my bed looks really comfortable. So good night everybody!

Philippines - October 15 - my first day

My dad told me the flight to Philippines would be about 10 hours. Try 13 hours! I don't think I've ever been on a plane that long! But we made it! I haven't been here in over 16 years and last time we had a stop over in Japan, so the flight wasn't as long.

We're staying at my Auntie Angie's place in Quezon City. I was worried that there would be no computer for me to use on this vacation. No worries there - there are 3 in our room!

Today my Uncle Chito and his son Scott took us to a huge mall to do some shopping. I'd just like to say a quick thank you to God for getting us there and back safely with no accidents: Driving is crazy here! Cars are driving as if there are no lane divisions, pedestrians are crossing streets wherever they want, peddlers are selling peanuts in between the lanes and my seat belt didn't work properly.

It's so busy here. We left in the late morning and returned in the late afternoon. During both drives the roads were crowded! I guess there's never a lull in the traffic. There are people everywhere - and it's so weird - did you know that everyone here is filipino! ;) In Canada you get a nice multicultural feel and usually hear Mandarin being spoken. Here it's tagalog! And the store clerks all assume I understand what they're saying. Then I have to give them a sheepish look and tell them I'm from Canada and don't understand tagalog. They give me a pathetic look, and say it in English. How embarassing! What kind of filipino am I?

And there are billboards everywhere. It's like I'm at Time Square in New York again. (Except all the models in the ads are filipino.) The shopping malls here are enormous! Thank goodness there is no bargaining at the malls - that's too much pressure. I ended up buying a nice pair of black pants and 3 exercise pants. The best thing is that I don't have to get any of them hemmed! I love Philippines with their nice short people!

I haven't mentioned the weather yet. I'm lucky that I was just in Cancun and Cayman. The weather is about the same, if not cooler. Probably less than 30 Celcius. Plus it's rainy season, so it's been raining off and on all day. Plus there's strong air conditioning everywhere. I brought a few pair of pants and lots of shorts. I think I'll only be wearing the pants while I'm here. That's why I bought more pants today. I thought I would be a weak Canadian who can't take the heat, but I'm more like a tough Caymanian who enjoys the heat now!.....if only I could get dad to stop turning the AC on so high!

New York and Seattle

I'm finally back home in Vancouver. After Cayman, me, Monette and 6 month old baby Coco went to New York City. Monette had business meetings and it was my job to babysit Coco.

We stayed at the fancy Waldorf Astoria. This is the historic hotel that royalty, presidents and famous movie stars have stayed in. It's always featured in movies and tv shows. My suggestion is if you are going to splurge and stay at a fancy hotel, you should go to the Waldorf and take lots of pictures. Then jump in a cab and stay at the Four Seasons. While it is very beautiful, the building is very old. When people are walking in the hall by your room, you can hear their conversations!

While we were there, Monette did have some free time, so we did the tourist thing and walked around Time Square and did some shopping around town. When Monette had to work, she was nice enough to get Coco a babysitter for part of the time, so I could take my nap and walk around 5th avenue (shopping capital of New York City).

I know I've gushed about Coco a lot in this blog, but I just can't help it. She is the cutest baby ever! It's was so hard to go shopping with her, because everyone wants to stop you and ask you questions about her. Usually with other babies people just walk by and say "Cute baby!" But with Coco, they want to know everything about her. It's because she loves to stare at people with her huge eyes and gives them a smile. What a flirt!

New York City was great, but it was time for our next adventure: A 7 HOURS FLIGHT WITH A 6 MONTH OLD BABY! It was from NYC to Seattle. It took that long because at JFK all the planes have to line up for about an hour waiting to take off.

We got to the airport over 2 hours in advance, checked in, went thru security and found a "quiet" corner facing the planes landing. Monette bought a blanket and we all sprawled out, letting Coco roll around and spend lots of energy.

The flight itself went off without a hitch. Coco didn't cry once during the flight! She didn't sleep that much either. However, she did "talk" a lot! I think she knew she had a captive audience! She smiled and laughed whenever someone looked at her. I can't say it often enough - she is such a flirt!

When the plane landed everyone that went by had to comment about how good and how cute Coco was. But the compliments didn't end there. We all had to take that indoor subway system to get to our baggage. Monette walked with Coco and her co-workers. I was slightly behind them with all Coco's adoring fans asking me questions about Coco. I told a bunch of cute things that Coco does and her fans were elated. Yup, I definitely love being in Coco's "entourage".

On the way to the hotel me and Monette talked about how Grandma Venus and Auntie Marites were going to be so excited to see Coco. We talked about how they would totally ignore us when we got there and focus all their attention on Coco. Never mind ignoring us - Mom literally shoved me out of the way to get to her grandbaby Coco! Not that I blame them too much - Coco was smiling and squealing with delight when she saw them. Too cute!

The next day Monette worked while we mostly stayed in the hotel and played with Coco. Then early this morning Monette and Coco left. Me, Mom and Marites drove home to Richmond (with a short stop at the Tulalip Factory Outlet for some quick shopping).

What an adventure this trip has been: Mexico, Grand Cayman, New York, and Seattle. I'm so glad to be home. I have just enough time to do my laundry before I leave for Philippines with my Dad in a few days. Oh, it's hard being a spoiled brat!

Margaritaville - Shaking what the good lord gave me!

Today me and Jing went to Margaritaville for lunch. That place is so fun! It was jam packed full of people from the cruise ships. We watched as people volunteered to go on the centre stage and do crazy things for t-shirts and shots of tequila. There was one game where couples had to pop balloons using their bodies in certain sexual positions. The funniest couple were two grey haired ladies that pretended to be a "couple"!

When they asked for a bunch of ladies to come up and dance, I was the first one on the stage! I have never volunteered to do anything at that restaurant before, but it was Jing's first time there, so I had to keep her entertained. There was about 10 of us on stage. Each of us had to go to the front of the stage one at a time. Then the DJ would play "I like big butts and I cannot lie!" Then we would have to dance for about 30 seconds. So when my turn came up, I shook what the good Lord gave me (which isn't all that much). The other contestants were pretty funny too - especially the older lady who danced with one finger waving in the air. But then came a last minute entry. This big black lady jumped on stage and boy did she have a whole lot of junk in her trunk. She was amazing! Her bootie moved as if independent from the rest of her body! Everyone was very impressed!

Anyways, that night Jason, Monette, and the girls came home. The girls ran in and gave me great big hugs! I heard all about their amazing trip to DisneyWorld and played with them til way past our bedtimes. It's good to have them home.