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.

Diaper Run

IF you are ever going on a little vacation that would include a 3 1/2 month old I would suggest to NOT forget the diapers. I guess it has been so long since I've had to worry about packing diapers that it was one of those things in the back of our minds. It wasn't until we were done the slow very bumpy swerving road off the highway to the resort that we realized we had not packed diapers for our stinky little girl. Thankfully we had our backups in the glove compartment of the car to last until the next morning when, we decided, we would make a trip down to Sipalay to buy some.
Sipalay is a very small town with no grocery store or real restaurants by American standards. It does have one nice long strip with a bunch of make shift shops, a market place which of course is inclusive of the fish market. This is where we went one of our very first drives after we got our vehicle after being in Bacolod for 2 months. We drove down the 3 hours and spent a couple hours on the beach and drove home. The best part about the whole trip was all of a sudden these 3 guys come running out of the water carrying this huge swordfish Blue Marlin. It was so huge it took all three guys. They were running as fast as they could to the top of the beach where the fish market is. It happened so fast and we were in such shock after seeing such a huge fish come out of the water that we totally missed it with the camera. Very upsetting!
SO, this time, no swordfish BUT we were able to dip our toes in the water.
It was Madison's first experience really in the water. I've only taken her to the pool one time prior and the water was so much cooler then this, she really seemed to enjoy watching the waves roll in and out covering her chubby little toes with the warm water!

It was nice to take this trip after being gone for so long because I was able to see a lot of things through new eyes for the first time again. After 2 years it seemed that there was very little that would shock us enough to whip out the camera and take a shot. The different types of plants all seem to blend into one colour of green (except my favorite shade of green... rice field green, right as the stalks are starting to go to seed, absolutely the most brilliant shade of green) and I had forgotten how amazing it all is. I was also reminded that I have never ever taken a picture of bamboo before! This realization shocked me and then to see how abundant it was on our drive I couldn't believe after all the time spent here I hadn't yet captured it, well I obviously got on that one!
On the way to Sipalay we had to drive through the bumpy dirt road to the main highway. We've done this road a couple times before during our stays at Punta Bulata and I think that on one of our first trips I took a picture of a Caribow standing alone in some rice terraces. Well I think this weekend we were able to take a snapshot of the exact same caribow, only this time he was instead of standing in the beautiful green he was chilling in some mud.

Last Minute Vacation

Friday night Ryan and I were on our way home from the late showing of Transformers when we decided that it was time for us to get our toes in some sand. Since it was midnight we were limited in choices but decided to head to one of our favorite destinations; Punta Bulata. It's a white beach resort and spa just north of the town Sipalay. It takes about 2 1/2 hours (when Ryan is driving) and the drive is really beautiful once you get out of Bacolod and it's surrounding municipalities. It's filled with jungle, rice fields, sugar cane, bamboo trees and a lot of smiling faces. Nearing the end of the drive you follow the coast line up the mountains for some amazing views of the water.
We didn't end up doing too much other then our quick trip into Sipalay but it was relaxing and defiantly nice to get out of the city for the weekend. It was extremely quiet and I think for the majority of the time we were the only people other then the resort employee's. The rooms are amazing and view from the balcony in our usual room is fantastic, especially when the sun is setting over the water!

The weather was nice and so we were able to spend some time on the beach dipping into the warm water.

We were also able to capture our very first family picture since Madison joined us!

My Bestfriend a.k.a. Coackroach Killer

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Rumour has it that these spiders kill coackroaches! They are defiantly big enough to do the trick! This isn't the first time that we've seen one of these spiders and from what we've been able to gather, they are quite common but I can't help but let out a yelp every time I see one of these suckers crawling along our floor! I decided to try out my new camera (thanks Dad and Peggy!) and get some good pics of the guy which nearly gave my kids a heart attack. I think that they were genuinly afraid it would take my life... "ok, mommy, I think that's enough pictures now!?" "mommy, come on, kill it" "MOMMY, he's going to BITE you!" After I carefully explained that these spiders eat coackroaches they really seemed to settle down and actually show some respect (Sydney is very very afraid of coackroaches, especially after being locked into a bathroom with one at Focus. She was literally screaming and clawing at the bathroom door). So... for now he lives in our "dirty kitchen" helping me out with the roaches!

Ready, Aim, Fire

So last Saturday Ryan was able to get out for some "man" time. I could not imagine a better way to bond as a group of males then getting together, driving out into the jungle with a bunch of weapons, camouflage and meat on a stick to eat together and shoot at each other.
Apparently these airsoft guns that they use are weight to weight and inch to inch to the real gun that they are modeled off. You also need to obtain a special permit in order to carry one of these airsoft weapons that costs around 1000php ($20ish) which makes sense since they look a little to scary for someone like me who has only shot off a gun once in my life in Utah (you American's and your guns!).

Now Ryan just needs to figure out how to get one of these guns across the border!?