Cebu, Philippines Temple

One of the best things about Cebu City, Philippines is that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is building a temple there. Cebu City is one of the most central points in the Philippines and easy to get to by boat, bus and plane. This is such a huge blessing to the all the Church members in the Philippines. Right now for us in Bacolod (and we're pretty central) it is a 24 hour boat ride north or an expensive plane ticket. Also because it is such a long boat ride the Saints have to sacrifice a week of paid work on top of the expenses already required. Not only do they have to think about their travel expenses but also their housing and food while they are staying in Manila. The temple is also far from the airport and boats so you have to consider the fare to get to the temple area itself. To most of these people it is a big sacrifice to save this amount and get their families there to be sealed for all time and eternity. With this new temple opening in Cebu City it will make a huge difference to all those in our area and south of us! Very exciting!

We attended church very close to the temple and were able to take a shot as we quickly drove by. We could also see it from the roof top pool at our hotel. It's already looking so beautiful and lit up at night, I can't wait!!

The Only Way To Shop

So I have decided that there is only one way to shop! Ditch the kids at a playroom for $1.50 and go wild for an hour. Although we didn't buy anything, the kids defiantly had a great time!

Cebu City defiantly out does Bacolod in the mall department but you really have to pay the price... the US price. We were able to get ourselves a couple of yummy meals and let the kids run around outside the mall courtyard after pumping them full of gelato ice cream. I had yummy raspberry, Brayden had green apple flavour, Sydney had chocolate chip and Ryan had forest berry. Sydney got a little upset when it started melting down the cone making her messy which doesn't make sense since rolling around in dirt seems to be just fine with her!?

Philippine Taoist Temple

There is a section of Cebu City named Beverly Hills. You drive up some steep roads and near the top of the hills is the Chinese Taoist Temple. You climb up 81 steps which apparently represent the 81 chapters of the Taoism Scriptures where there are rooms where the Saints will kneel and pray. Unfortunately we made the trip on a Thursday and missed the fortune telling done on Wednesdays and Sunday. It was really beautiful with a lot of "Mushu" dragons as the kids referred to them. The scenery was very beautiful with a view of the city below. It was a nice stop and the kids used up some of that never ending energy!

A Drive to Cebu City

Ryan needed to take a trip to Cebu City for work and we decided that we would take an extra couple days and go together as a family to explore the city. We've been there a couple times before but only for the night as a pit stop to some other destination. The flight is only 20 minutes but ultimately we decided to drive so that we would be able to explore on our own without being dependent on a taxi. I have to admit I was a little hesitant thinking of the 20 minute flight vs. who knew how long in the car with the three kids but I couldn't fight the logic of it all and off we went... all packed up in the Revo.

I was very surprised with the ease of the whole trip and how quickly it actually went. It only takes 1 1/2 hours to drive through Negros Island to a small town named San Carlos which is the port to Cebu Island. The drive is very beautiful and I have posted pictures of it previously. It's filled with rice terraces and sugar cane. It goes up to the top of the mountains and you drive through the clouds and small villages. It doesn't seem to matter how many times we drive through this Island, I'm always awed by it's beauty! We arrived with perfect timing; 30 minutes to departure. We parked the car in the boat and ventured around a while on the boat before going back down to the car to watch a movie for the remainder of the 1 1/2 hour boat ride. From Toledo to Cebu City it takes about an hour. Ryan used the GPS on his iPhone so we didn't loose our way once and it made the ride a lot more relaxing for me not having to constantly be on the look out for road signs that don't exist. Once we arrived in Cebu City it was time to start exploring and finding things to do.

My Favorite Urinal .... EVER!

There is only one word..... AWESOME

This is the best kept secret in Bacolod City. Ever since we discovered this gem I've wanted a picture. Unfortunately the one attempt turned into a disaster where all the trisikad drivers wanted to be in the picture so we couldn't even see the urinal. Since that time they've done some major upgrades... for example: adding a face! Well, two years later I finally got my picture! This urinal makes me wish I could pee standing up!!

Ever Wondered "What If There Were No Tow Trucks?"

I've witnessed some pretty bizarre things when it comes to Philippine traffic but one that always get a chuckle from us is the lack of tow trucks. Come to think of it I'm not sure I've even seen one over here... ever!? So what do they do when a vehicle breaks down, you're asking.... well, they do this:

Yes that is a tricycle (motorbike and sidecar) pulling a taxi with a rope... and no, it just can't get any better then this :)

Newest Addition

I went to the pet store yesterday to purchase a small plastic aquarium for our new frogs
(2 of our 4 tadpoles are now jumping around!) and came out with a different animal all together! I was quickly able to aquire a great tank, a filter, air pump and rocks for a couple dollars when I noticed a tank full of little turtles. They were only $3.00 so I thought rather impulsively "why not!?" The guy helping me thought that the tiny new frogs would be safe in the same aquarium as the turtle and I figured if not, no harm done we can always go out and catch another, joke... well, kind of. So far they seem to be co-existing fine together! One of the little frogs likes to hop under the turtles tummy to hide from the kids when they start peering over the aquarium, kind of cute in a reptile sort of way!
So far SHE has no name, help me name our new friend!!

Round and Round

Since we brought no toys with us to the Philippines my children have been forced to be very resourceful when it comes to play time. They mostly run around outside like wild beasts which is much better then them running around inside the house! Today they were playing with their friend Matthew and I went out to check on them and they had salvaged some old tires in our yard somewhere and were having a great time rolling them down the streets, running after them, and using them as hula hoops. I really miss those carefree days when anything was a toy and my biggest worry was getting wet when the rain would start to poor. *sigh*

I'll Never Know

Madison sleeps in a playpen that is covered by a large mosquito net since the mosquito's seem to know how to find her. Today I go into her room to get her from her nap and I find that she's mysteriously wrapped up in the netting... how she got it down I'll never know but when I went to pick her up she looked so proud of herself I couldn't resist the picture.

Science 101

As you enter into our subdivision you have to drive around a little pond the kids love to walk to. Sometimes you can feed the fish they keep in there and it's quite the fun time for Brayden and Sydney. On one of our walks to the fish we noticed that there were dozens of little tadpoles lining the perimeter. I promised the kids that we would come back during the week with a bucket and catch a couple so we could watch them turn into frogs. They seemed pretty excited about it and of course have been mentioning it everyday since.
Today was the day we took of with tupperware in hand to catch us some baby frogs! Brayden got right in there and scooped up a tadpole in no time. After a couple minutes we left satisfied with 4 little guys in our batch and set off home to make them a cozy habitat.

From last week to this week most of the tadpoles had already popped out little legs and we were even lucky enough to catch one that had arms also. We were able to set up a make shift home for our 4 new friends (1 with arms, 3 without) in our tupperware container along with a couple little snails and some rocks. Hopefully they last through the night... so far so good.