manila, philippines

we spent last weekend in the capitol city of the philippines visiting k&j and their cute little girls. we'd always wanted to check out manila, and k&j were kind enough to host us in their home. it turned out to be great timing with the terrible haze in singapore--we left on a plane right when the haze was the worst (and luckily, it's much better now).

we woke up saturday morning and went out to breakfast in "the fort." fort bonifacio was a dream come true for my pregnancy cravings...jamba juice! texas roadhouse! california pizza kitchen! lots of american choices that we don't have in singapore. i also picked out fabric while we were out and k's helper, who is also a talented seamstress, made sage a dress in just a few hours. amazing. 

the ultimate bargaining happened at green hills, where we picked out pearls and longchamp bags.

the girls were patient as we waited in the heat for the car.
manila's traffic is epic! i think it ties with bangkok.

sage was in heaven the whole weekend.
strollers, play mates, coloring, baby dolls...all of her favorite things at once.

on sunday, we went to church then drove to the manila temple to walk around. i'm not quite out of the "looking chubby" stage, but i definitely have a belly.

the grounds were completely empty. very peaceful.

we stopped at the american cemetary right by k&j's home too. it's a circle of calm overlooking the busy city.

on monday morning, we trekked out to tagaytay sans husbands. we saw a lot on the hour long drive...nice malls, sketchy areas, markets, shops. as we slowly rose up the mountains and out of manila, this was the view.

we had lunch on the patio overlooking the lake and volcano in the distance. smoothies are always a must in hot, humid asia.

the girls were pretty happy with their fancy drinks and plenty of space to run

we happened to get a glimpse of some traditional filipino dancing too.

sage didn't want to leave and kept insisting, "song! song!"

we made a pit stop for buko pie at collette's and for fruit at the street market. fresh mangos, pineapples, mangosteens, dragon fruit, bananas, papaya. i will really miss all the tropical fruit.

we had to fit in our traditional photo of sage on nate's shoulders, but unfortunately it was at the end of a sweaty, busy day when sage wasn't in the greatest mood. 

our favorite part of manila was hanging out with k&j.
 a fun, relaxing weekend in a new city was just what we needed.
thanks hill family!

cebu, philippines

the main reason for our trip was to visit the temple in cebu city.




i didn't enhance the colors. the sky is so perfectly blue here.
i also have no idea how the women wear their hair down.
it is so hot. i think i tried wearing it out of a bun for maybe three minutes.






mariel and spencer are friends of my uncle and were the best tour guides


the warrior lapu lapu








we went to this restaurant where you choose your fresh seafood,
then they cook it however you want.

our lobster was looking around at us before he met his fate in the kitchen.
we also tasted scallops, fresh seaweed, sour green mango, prawns, lapu lapu fish,
oysters, squid, and these things that look like a tongue rolled up in a shell.
nate was much braver than i was.

this guy was huge! he would have cost 7,000 pesos to eat

i'd say this sums up our flight home. wild woman.

bohol, philippines

we spent thanksgiving in the philippines this year.
there was no pie, no turkey, no leftovers, and no family.
but
there were beautiful sunsets, geckos in our room on the beach, mango smoothies, and massages.

our beach hut

we went to go see the tiny tarsier monkeys, but you're not allowed to hold them anymore
because too many people were smuggling them in their pockets.
didn't get any great pics of the real monkeys, but i think this monkey is pretty awesome.

the chocolate hills are naturally shaped like hershey's kisses.
sage wanted to sit on them...

nate wanted to jump over them...

and when it got to my turn, sage was d.o.n.e.

so we snuck in a quick family shot before the crying ensued. it was bright and hot.

this woman named her pet turtle after my uncle matt, who was a missionary on this island years ago.
she makes fresh, tasty empanadas from scratch and wouldn't let us pay for them.
she even sent us home with a bag of snacks. all the people we met were so humble and kind.

acuna's empanadas and pastries

who needs snorkeling when you can go in a glass-bottom boat and see the same thing?

my kind of laying on the beach: hammocks

to me, the best part of traveling is seeing different cultures in action.
we saw the rice paddies mid-harvest, men carrying palms on their bare backs,
cows and roosters roaming everywhere, naked little kids running through the fields,
and the lush, green landscape of the island.
i hope we can come back to bohol.