Enjoying a little Carrie...while looking for 'Take My Heart'

Ok, can't find our wedding song #3 of 3 Carrie Akre's 'Take My Heart but since I was enjoying 'Breathe', 'Stupid Is' and others thought I'd share! XOXO Carrie (and I was there way back in 2007)

A song from our wedding...

Some day I'll get around to posting all our pics and stories from a year of planning our wedding to the days leading up to it...but until then here is the first song of the three from our wedding that David sang so eloquently 'Geriatraphilia (Old Men)'. The other two songs being a duet with David Clement and Carrie Akre, Jason Mraz's 'Lucky', and Carrie singing her 'Take my Heart' which is the description on my ring too: Yes, lots of tears!!!

The International Dateline is mind boggling

Yes, we have been back from the Philippines for over over 48 hours. The jetlag is definitely better today than yesterday. Damn that 16 hour difference can really mess with you (I write at 11pm Wednesday, meanwhile it's 3pm tomorrow afternoon in Manila). Unfortunately both Noel and I have headcolds too I think from all the A/C in P.I. and 16 hours on the plane. Though things are looking up, and we both got back in our routines with working full days and even the gym tonight.

So let me look back on our last day and a half in Manila.

I woke up at 9am Sunday the 6th. Noel had left earlier and gone down the block from our condo to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and brought back some sweets and a large coffee. What a good husband! The sun was out (much of the trip was warm but overcast)...so I went to the pool and laid out along with dipping in the pool. So nice! Magic then came over for lunch down from Quezon City. We both cleaned up and she took us across town from Bonafacio Global City to Pasig City and the super yummy PANCITERIA SAN JACINTO: http://www.panciteriasanjacinto.com/. Yes, if you know spanish this means the House of Pancit! She knew what I like, tons of different types of pancit, and adoba, and dim sum.

Then we went down the street to the big Market, and seeked out a huge wooden spoon and fork. We were on a mission for the Spletzers (and secretly us too!) It was a huge market and lots of cool stuff. There was also a dog show going on. They were all so cute but all so hot. It was funny to see all these big fans blowing on big Chows and little poodles.

We then went back to our hood and went shopping at the fancy stores (like the Gap, Nike, Aldo, Von Dutch, etc.), and waited for Noel's Mom, Dad, and brothers to show up. We were going to have our final dinner at this funky modern Filipino restaurant where I was excited to have Corned Beef Sinigang (usually chicken, fish or tofu). No one was hungry at the time of our reservation so Noel suggested we go back to other mall 'Market! Market!' and look for some fast food or a coffee shoppe and just chat.

DEAR GOD! Never go to the mall in a Catholic country after church on a Sunday. It was crazy packed. I've never seen such a thing in my life. Millions of Filipinos and me crammed onto 5 stories of escalators.

Long story short the family and I ended up at an American deli called Chelsea, and I had a Ruben sandwich after 2 weeks of Filipino food and such. Hilarious. Noel's family is so nice. I think his Mom finally warmed up to me by the end, and was real sweet. At the end it sounds like his parents may be coming to Seattle in the Spring of 2012 and us returning to Manila in the Spring of 2013. When we do go back we have a long list of places we want to go like Bihol and the island of Palawan. We all know that Noel still wants to swim with the whale sharks too...

MONDAY, MARCH 8th -

We got up at 7am and the landlords of the condo came to check us out and give us our deposit back at 8am. It was a cool condo with a loft, and such a great location.

We taxi'd to the airport by 9am because that is what Asiana Air recommended, 4 hours before (yikes). When we got there the ticket counter didn't even open till 10am, so there we waited...the start of 4 hours. Then there was a 3 hour flight to Seoul, Korea. Some where in there Noel lost his iPhone and my ear plugged up so much I got a migrane and thought I was going to die. (My ears are still partially plugged right now). Then we had only minutes to transfer to the next plane from Seoul to Seattle. The 10 hour flight was all in Korean with beautiful Korean flight attendants. The only bad/funny part is that a couple were total plane nazis. Everything was demanded but in a quiet, sweet geisha like way, all with a smile. Kinda hilarious.

So now we are back in Seattle. What an amazing trip.

Next up...a little recap of our amazingly beautiful perfect wedding...

Fam Roadtrip to south Luzon for Volcanos and Churches

What a day we had with the family. We got up early and Noel's Mom, Dad, sis Magic and bro Jun came and picked us up at 7:15am to leave Manila, to drive south for a couple hours to the crater lake volcano at Tagaytay and some of the colonial Spanish architectual history in Taal down in Batanga.

So weird that between our condo and all the way through the country or atleast the island of Luzon in the Philippines, there is not only a Jolibee on every stop/town along with a predictable McDonalds and/or KFC...but there is also a STARBUCKS on every stop/town. Seriously, Filipinos are hooked on Seattle's Starbucks. Very weird. They are all busy and all look the same.

On the way to Taal we stopped in Tagaytay, a resort-y kind of town. We hung at their beautiful 2 story Starbucks (I know, can't help it) and looked over the foggy/cloudy morning over the valley into the huge crater lake and the second crater that is an island in the middle. So gorgeous.

Many of the homes and government buildings were beautiful with the plantation Spanish colonial architectual like this one from the 1700's in this pics. After us checking out the Cathedral at Taal and crashing a wedding going on there, we found one of the mansions of the town's influential. Noel asked if we could tour it, and the housekeeper let us in. As we walked through we found out that this was where Jose Rizal and friends used to meet and talk about and plan the Revolution against the Spanish in the late 1800's. We even found a trap door in the grand dining room where they could escape all the way to the Cathedral underground so no one could find them. Totally cool, and so much Pinoy history I didn't know and have learned since coming to this lovely country of 7,100 islands.
After many quality hours with the parentals we got caught in a 3 hour car ride home stuck in serious traffic. The roads here are so funny...no rules really reply: driving in the shoulder, driving between cars/motorcycles in between lanes, driving on the opposite side of the road and making another lane on the wrong side of the road...all no problems. Nerve racking, scary and hilarious. Did I mention trucks, cars or otherwise just parking in the right lane where and whenever they feel like it? Geez! It's freeing that there aren't any rules but also really annoying.

It was so nice to get to spend some quality time with Noel's parents. They are really fun. His Dad is quite but his Mom she seems to come to life with the kids. I see where Noel gets alot of his goofiness.

The last pic is at Sonya's Garden, a bed & breakfast and spa resort, in which I fould a beautiful chandelier hanging in the jungles next to a very simples mess hall feel. Hmmm. This country keeps surprising me. Can't believe we are leaving in 2 days.

Lunching, and Shopping, and Spas oh my!

Today was out last Friday in Fliplandia, and a nice mellow one at that. We had a quite morning and then walked to Serendra and met Noel's old Chicago friend Rina for lunch along with Chip and Gordon who followed us from Boracay and are now back in Manila like us.

After a nice long Vietnamese lunch Rina went back to work and the boys went shopping. Back to Noel's favorite chains 'People are People', 'Folded and Hung' and 'Bench'. Noel wasn't feeling well, but the shopping (and the A/C) was making him feel better. Then Chip and Gordon were on their way.

Bench has great stuff and for cheap! Cooler and cheaper than Old Navy, and hot models in a hot marketing/branding campaign...check it out: http://www.benchtm.com

We had a 5pm Spa appointment in Bonafacio High Street, and we decided to keep it since Noel was feeling better. O.M.G. this Spa was amazing. We had a couples room with 75 minutes of Filipino massage 'Hilo', which is kind of a mix between Swedish and Shiatsu. WOW! After we were so relaxed, we bought new shoes. LOL.

Tonight we went to dinner at a Spanish Tapas place in our hood on Borgus Circle in the BGC. It was 'SARAPE!' (yummy), we enjoyed it along with our third diner a HUGE COCKROACH! Yikes

...and then dessert at Noel's favorite chain 'Sugarhouse'. We really love this hood.

We are now watching a back to back 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' and 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer' with the lovely Jennifer Love Hewitt or boobaliscious. Soon off to bed though, since the parentals are picking us up at 6am, yes 6AM, to go driving south on Luzon for a family day trip.

XOXO

Hangin' in the BGC

Now that Noel and I are back in Manila we are renting a condo in the new hip "Bellevue" of Manila called Bonifacio Global City or the BGC. It is surrounded by new high rise condos and bank skyscapers with hip restuarants and 3 beautiful malls Bonafacio High Street, Segera, and Market! Market! BGC was Fort Bonifacio a Filipino military base, and now that is not being used anymore its a new place for the crazy 12 million person city to expand into.

Today we had coffee at Noel's favorite Austrian (Japanese) coffee shop UCC, then off to shop at the malls for a couple hours.

Then we had a long crazy hour long taxi ride down to old town Manila called 'Intramoras' for a 2-1/2 hour long walking tour of the last 400 years of Philippino history. The tour was awesome, very informative. I learned alot about the Spanish colonization and the Catholic churches strong hold (1571-1898), and then the American occupation (1898-1945), and the Japanese/American massacre during WWII.

So interesting and brought a lot of light to the subject, like the reason the Filipinos don't speak Spanish today is because for the 300 years under Spanish rule it was ran by the bishops of the church and not by the state since they were too far away. The priests decided to learn Tagalog to spread the gospel instead of teaching the Filipino people Spanish. I also

learned that there was never a flag flown over the Spanish Philippines since it wasn't even considered a colony of Spain but instead a province to the colony of Mexico. Manila was simply a stopping point for the Spanish between China and Acapolco Mexico. Weird!

Then we learned the good and the bad of the US running the Philippines from 1898 to 1945. Manila was the most forward and beautiful city in the Far East, the best architecture, water and sewage, fashion, food, etc. The Americans also switch over all the governmental documents and roads from Spanish to English, so there was 30o years of history erased. Everything seemed perfect in what they called the Pearl of the Sea. Then in WWII the Japanese came in to occupy the Philippines. in 1945 they massacred 75,000 people of Manila, so the US flew over and bombed the old town killing a total of 120,000. Poor Flips were in the middle of the Japanese/American battle, and the ones who lost were the Filipinos and their land.

After WWII Manila had to start over culturally and with their physical architecture. Interesting and sad. The Philippines also were campaigning to be the 50th state in the US, but by 1959 Hawaii became it instead...and the Flips went independent instead.

After the tour we zipped back up (hour in a taxi again, in the worse traffic I have ever been in) to BGC, and had dinner with Noel's Mom, Dad, sis Magic and bros David and Jun. Very fun, and yummy Flip food. After the family left Noel and I found a awesome wine bar on the way to walking back home. I am loving Fliplandia!

Boracay Paalam sa ngayon!

Tuesday was a lovely mellow day of beach laying, book reading, pancit eating and ocean swimming!

We did the normal go back to the room and veg/nap/tv watch 5-8pm. As we were getting ready to clean up and go out on the town (peruse the beach), I notices a loud sound. The sound was torrential rain beating down and flooding our pool area outside, capsizing our little island. Along with the rain came a lightening show. It was pretty. The rain stopped by 8:45, so we ventured out with our umbrellas to find some food and drink.

We walked down to this little Italian restaurant called Aria that we like, and sat on the beach under the tarps between the palm trees. Suddenly before we could even get order drinks, it started pouring again. This wa

sn't rain like Seattle, this was a tropical downpour and also included some wind. People started scattering trying to find shelter. Meanwhile as the wind blew the rain under our restaurant's tarp probably about 30 of us all stood up and gathered to the center of the tarp as all our tables started to get drenched. We stood there for a good 15-20 minutes and watched the tarp starting to fill up with pools of water and sag. Yikes!

As soon as the rain again slowed down to a slow drizzle we both put up our umbrellas and hopped between sand puddles to a different Italian restaurant Don Vitos that has inside seating. We were kinda soaked from the waist down but so was the entire town. As soon as we sat the rain came again, but this time we were safe. The best part of then watching the crowds scatter again, was that the restaurant had Grey Goose and made me a yummy dirty martini and it was only 120 pesos ($3 US).

We finished the dinner and ran across to the tent by our hotel where our favorite trio group was singing. There were awesome and sang Go Go's 'Head over Heals' for us and then Ga Ga's 'Pokerface'.

Today, Wednesday 3/2/11, we breakfasted in our hotel's yummy buffet for the last time. Then we hung at the beach under cover and read our books until our pick up at 2pm.

Boracay Paalam sa ngayon! Good bye for now oh beautiful island.

We then vanned back to the south shore, and water taxied to the bigger island Malay, and bussed to Caticlan, and then flew the 1 hour back to the north biggest island of Luzon and got to Manila at 6pm. It took an hour to taxi across town, and we ended up in a new upcoming part of town called the BGC, or Bonifacio Global City. It's all high rise condos and planned hoods. We are renting a condo now for then next 5 days. It is an adorable 2 story loft.

We had some yummy sushi with Noel's sis Magic and bro Jun at 9pm. Now after watching a little TV...it's off to la la land. Tomorrow...shopping, spa, and walking tour of old town Manila.