Some Good Quality R & R

Last week Focus had sent two IT guys (Bill and Ben) from Utah to hire and train some tech people here in the Philippines. We thought that after they had spent a full week of working both night and day shifts they deserved a weekend away from the city for some R&R. We thought we'd take them to Sipalay, a small town 2 1/2 hours south of Bacolod. The weather was perfect and we were able to rest on the beach, do some snorkeling on the coral reef and see the vibrant fish, starfish and coral. Ryan and Bill ran into a sea urchin conference and had to dodge some jellyfish in their journey. I also had the chance to punch the head of a jellyfish and was shocked by the hard slimy texture after expecting a jelly type mush. The kids enjoyed playing with their sand toys and the best part about the weekend was that there was no one else to share the beach with:

To the kids it doesn't seem to matter that there's a white sandy beach with warm water filled with starfish to play in; if there's a pool near by it's better! I'm assuming that after a while of playing in that salty water their eyes were burning and it probably felt good to flush them out in the pool water!

Everytime I see the golden sunset on the ocean it takes my breath away. To be relaxing in the warm breeze with the palm trees above is one of my favorite feelings.

School's Out For Summer

Today was Brayden and Sydneys 2007-2008 school year recognition. Brayden moved from the Teddy Bear class to the Panda Bear class and Sydney stays at the Gummi Bear age.
The best part of the recognition is the dances that each class does. Both Brayden and Sydney's classes performed 3 dance numbers before the finale which put every student in the School for Creative Beginners (SCB) on stage.
Here are a bunch of pictures with the kids dancing in their costumes:

Poor Sydney just didn't really know what to think up there and stood staring for the majority of the time with a little wiggle here and there. Brayden on the other hand has come a long way since the same time last year when his performance resembled that of Sydneys. This year he was dancing, do the moves and having a good time!

The theme for the school recognition was Disney so all the performances were to Disney remakes. For most of the kids the nannies were in charge of the costume changes but of course for us having no nanny it turned out to be quite the busy event for me. Running back and forth from watching one kid, changing them and racing back to watch the other. Thankfully I was able to watch everyone of their dances.

At the end of the performance the teachers handed out their report cards and Brayden was even happy to pose with Teacher Mia and Teacher Tina!

They Grow So Fast *sigh*

Well summer holidays are almost officially here as Brayden and Sydney had their last day of classes on Friday. After Wednesday's year end concert we will enjoy 2 months of 24/7 Beattie children!!
We have noticed such great changes with both our kids since being enrolled in school! Brayden loves his friends and playing with them. He is much more social and outgoing, will listen to other adults directions and has started to teach Sydney her letters, numbers and colours.
Just today Sydney was able to count to 10 as she took her 10 big steps. In the shower with her foam letters she was able to point out X,W,S,A, "B for Brayden" and ramble off half the alphabet.
I think our biggest accomplishment to date was our potty success. Although we aren't really trying to potty train Sydney yet she's starting to understand the different feelings that happen when you pee and has told us on a couple of occasions these last days and pee'd on the potty. Just this morning she was able to come to me and ask to use the potty to poo. Yay for one less stinky diaper to clean up.
I guess that she almost 2 so this is all just normal stuff but I'm a mom so I'm proud of my kids ;) I'm really enjoying the silly things they say and do, watching them try new things and seeing the sense of accomplishment on their faces when they get all the puzzle pieces together and see that big picture they created.

Now I Need Some Chaps to go With That Bike

Yesterday I decided to try to drive Ryan's motorbike again. I have had a lesson or two before but haven't tried since we left for our visit to Canada in October. I've really been feeling that it would save us a lot of money if I could drive the bike around when I'm doing small errands or visiting people so I think it's time I really learn.
Ryan got me to drive around our subdivision for a while, practicing stopping and turing until he felt comfortable enough behind me and then we went out onto the open road.... well sort off. Once you get out the gates of the subdivision there is long road leading to the major roads. This road is lined with little shops, jeepneys, tricikads, motorbikes and cars. We were going out to get some charcoal for our BBQ and it was only a little ways up the street so I wouldn't have to do passing or intersections.
As I'm sure you can assume since I'm writing this that everything went well. Ryan was sitting behind me the entire time and that helped me feel more confident but it was great! I even summed up enough courage to pass someone. I'll be driving the main streets of Bacolod in no time.... well MAYBE the side streets.

A Trip to Central Market

One of the best spots we like to take our visitors is the Central Market. It's kind of your one stop shop for anything that you might ever need. The prices are right and the environment is amazing! It's a busy hub of people and shops from sun-up to sun-down and then some. The market is set up on a square patch of property with a one-way street circling the entire thing. Along the outside are little shops crowding onto the sidewalk selling jewlery, clothes, household items, fruit, eggs, anything really. Once you get to the center of the block there will be a entrance that looks like another shop but when you look inside, it's endless. Once you turn into the Market you are in a maze of hallways filled with peoples stores. It's really buzzing with sounds and smells.

When you walk in one entrance you are met by the "wet" market which is meat, poultry, and fish. They will chop it up there for you if you find something you like. They sell all parts of the animal, pig legs, pig head... you get the picture:

Once you get into the market a little further there are aisles of fish, crabs, prawns and veggies!

From the main aisle with the veg and fish you can turn off onto dozens of different aisles filled with crafts, clothes, jewelry, restaurants. There are tailor shops with the busy sound of old Singer sewing machines buzzing away as they quickly stitch up beautiful dresses, uniforms and traditional clothing. They have farming tools available for cutting the sugarcane crops, rice fields, chopping coconuts and just for own protection. They have wonderful woven purses, hammocks, mats, window blinds and hats that must have taken hours to weave together. They also sell household items like dust pans, pots, rags, wash basins and other small necessities. One of our favorite spots has tonnes of pretty necklaces, bracelets and rings. She also sells some really nice place mat sets, wind chimes and an endless supply of key chains. Everytime we buy something from her she throws in a little trincket for Sydney, who now has quite the collection.

On our way from the Market there is a small market made up of maybe a dozens stalls on the side of the road quite close to our house. It has a fruit stand, a couple of veg stands, fish stands and then our favourite.... the MEAT. If you drive by around 2pm sometimes you get lucky and you can watch them unload a pig out of the back of a jeepney and they'll chop it up on the table right on the street. Spreading it open and then hanging the cuts up on display for people passing by to check it out!! There is always a pig head or two on display. You always know how fresh it is based on the colour. The longer it's been sitting out there the darker the head gets, with black spots starting...

Our Bohol Tour

The last time we were in Bohol we stayed on the beach the entire time, barely venturing out of our resort at all. This time we decided that we would check out exactly what Bohol had to offer! The day started at 8:30am when we all piled into our tour van and headed into town. Our first stop was "The Blood Comtact" site where the Filipino's and the Spaniards made a friendship of the two countries through blood.

After a long drive through the man made forest of mahogany trees planted by the people we were at the famous Chocolate Hills. These hills were all made from a once flat landscape when the water from the fresh rain forced the coral up forming these 1268 symmetrical hills. In the hot summer months the heat and lack of moisture cause the hills to turn brown in colour.

After the hot climb to the top of the viewing spot for the hills we climbed back into the air conditioned van and headed to the hanging bridge that crosses the Loboc river. On the other side of the river were all venders selling coconut milk, bbq banana, and many different crafts and jewelry.

It was almost lunch time when we boarded our Floating Restaurant. We found our seats and started to eat from the buffet lunch when the Restaurant took off and we cruising down the river. During our river cruise we listened to the live entertainment of a man and his guitar singing classic oldies. We pulled over once to watch a group of people sing and dance before turning around at the waterfall to head back.

Finally after our lunch we headed to the Targiers. They are the smallest primate in the world with eyes bigger then their brains!!! They were so cute, tiny and ugly all at the same time. After a fun photo shoot with the little guys we were back into the van and heading to yet another destination...

This time we stopped off to see the largest Python in Philippine captivity, below is a short clip of the MALE tour person at the python spot...

Next and last stop on our Bohol Tour was the original church of Tagbilaran which our tour guide told us was 400 years old!!

Bohol Bound

We had decided to head to Bohol Island with my family. It had been quite rainy here the last week and a half so I was excited to get off Negros Island and head to sunnier skies. We started the journey by taking the 25 minute flight to Mactan, a little island right off the coast of Cebu. The two islands are actually joined by bridges so the drive to our hotel in Cebu city was short and easy. We spent our day in Cebu doing some shopping and relaxing by the pool which was on the roof of the hotel over looking the city.

The next morning we made our way to the Pier and took a ferry to Tagbilaran city, the main gateway to Bohol Island. We then drove over another bridge to the small Panglao Island where we checked into our hotel. It was such a great feeling to know that we were finally on holidays, a place where we could relax, let the kids play on the beach and in the sea and not worry about anything. The water was warm, clear and extremely inviting. We were all anxious to jump in for a swim!!

We spend the next day just lounging on the beach in the hot hot sun until we were all a little too crispy! The kids had a great time playing with the starfish and digging around in the sand. My sister, Kaitlyn, got a couple stings from a sea urchin, we found some booger looking jelly type creatures in the sand. We also found an abundance of "D.O.M.'s" (dirty old men) with their pretty young filipinas with them. I don't think that I could ever get bored of waking up to white sand, warm water and the hot sun shining down on me...

We did make one quick into town to pick up a couple things from the grocery store where Brayden was able to hop into a jeep his size and take Sydney for ride!

An Easy Sunday Afternoon

We had a busy Sunday afternoon showing our guests some of our favorite spots in Bacolod City. We started by feeding the fish at the "Lagoon" which is in front of the Provincial Capital Building, then on to the "Negros Showroom" where they have native arts, crafts and furniture. We finished with a quick drive by of the kids school. After a delicious dinner we went for a quick walk to a coconut tree where Ryan, in perfect form, quickly climbed up and chopped us off some coconuts for dessert. Back at the house everyone was able to have a taste of the fresh coconut milk and meat before retiring for the evening.

First Visitors of 2008!

Well we got our first family out in 2008! My sister flew out with Grandpa Moffat and Grandma Peggy for a some Beattie family lovin'. After what they claimed was a peaceful, comfortable flight from Vancouver they were ready for some good quality Filipino fun and we were ready to show it off.

We started off with a quiet, relaxing drive home from the new Bacolod-Silay International Airport. I think Ryan was trying to show them how FUN it can be to drive with in a place with little legal inforcement on road regulations. After quickly weaving in and out of traffic, driving on the wrong side of the road and driving through the different parts of the town we were finally home. Ryan had some work to take care of so the rest of us just stayed close to home letting the kids have a "rest" and letting the family get used to the new environment. The kids were very happy to show off for their guests, running around and acting extra silly. We then went out and got our tickets for our weeks adventures and finished with some delicious foods at 18th Street Pala Pala. Then back home for an early night and R&R.