The Beginning of 2012 (sort of)
The New Year started out with a trip up to Tarlac. Levi and I visited Mike and Kat at their little bungalow up in the province...
Mike and Kat's
Levi and I in the Province
Behind the Gate
Trapped..!!!
Views in the Province
Rice and Corn
More Province..!!
Then, in February, we were able to visit Singapore... We traveled with Mike and Kat, tho' we did separate things while in Singapore... Levi and I were able to spend some time with my good friend from MTHS, Pat Hogan and his family...
The view from our hotel was great... Especially looking at the Marina Bay Sands...
A close-up of the Marina Bay Sands... And yes, it does have an infinity pool on the roof... The next time we visit Singapore, we are going to stay there...!!!
We are enjoying the nightlife...
Here is Pat and I after a good feed...
We certainly enjoyed ourselves....
Playing tourist down at the Harbour...
Showing off one of my famous grandkid T-shirts...
Hmmmm, Shopping...
OK, still shopping....
More shopping....
Finally, my kind of store..!!!
Relaxing after a long day....
Lunch with Mike and Kat....
I thought that we were done shopping...
Cigars, ahhhhhh.....
I have corrupted Levi... She looks good smoking that cigar tho'..!!
The beginning of March, we decided to head to Legaspi and swim with the butanding (whale sharks). We also went island hopping by banka... In order to get to Legaspi, we decided to take the Bicol Express which is a train from Manila... It was an overnight trip and a lot of fun... Levi and I were joined by Tony and Jenn... Riding the train was kind of like being in a war zone as it became a target as we ventured deeper into the province for rock wielding Filipinos.... Every so often, a large chunk of concrete or a big rock would slam into the train... Exciting... Upon arrival in the Bicol region the next morning, we immediately headed out to look for butanding.....
Levi and I goin' whale shark hunting...!!!
Tony and Jenn ready for butanding...
Our guides looking for sign....
Ahaaa, found one.....
We saw 4 or 5 different ones...
From a baby to a HUGE 35 footer...!!!
Mt Mayon in the background...
Levi and Tony waiting for signs from the guides to jump in...!!!
OK, who is having fun now...???
Going Island hopping....
Beautiful volcanic islands....
Crystal clear water....
Very nice beaches....
Here are the four of us, all tired out from a great day....
The sunset Saturday night...
Boarding the plane for the trip back to Manila...
Mt. Mayon is still active..!!
The end of March saw us visiting Levi's family up in Bulacan... Everytime that we visit, we always have a big cook-out, rent a tent and videoke machine... A really fun way to spend a Sunday...
Levi's youngest sister Myra used to work in Ortigas and she would always come over for Sunday meals... She loved my cooking..!! Now that she is back up in Bulacan, we miss her...
Here is Myra with her son, Sedi...
Sedi, Krissy, Xander, Lita (another of Levi's sisters) and Trish...
Pako and mushrooms... For all you New Englanders out there, pako is very similar to fiddleheads... I really enjoy the different produce that is available here....
The dinner table....
Alvin (Levi's son), Myra with Krissy on her lap, Levi, me, Sophie, Angela, Lita, Levi's mother Alexandra and Sedi.....
Cigars and a grankid t-shirt...!!!
The girls - Krissy, Sophie and Trish......
OK, I need to address our great big, week long family reunion that we had in Florida in April... I will do that in a separate blog post...
In May, it was time to celebrate Pahiyas.... So we ventured down to Quezon province and stayed in Lucban for the party....
Pahiyas is the time when people in Lucban, Quezon give thanks to San Isidro Labrador for a good harvest. Pahiyas means "decor". Every May 15, the fronts of houses are are elaborately decorated with brightly colored rice wafers, called kiping, a type of rice dough made from a traditional recipe.
The resort we stayed at had dinosaurs... Oh my...!!
Beautiful swimming pools....
For all the devout Catholics, there is always the stations on the mountain side with the final station being the statue of JC....
Levi outside of Noah's Ark...
More dinosaur fun....
King Kong was there as well....
Beautiful Pahiyas decorations...
More Kiping decorations....
Celebrating the harvest...!!!
Very typical situation...
I am about 2 heads taller than everyone here...
At least I always have a good view in crowds...
The obligatory t-shirt and cigar....
Levi is in on the cigar action as well....
Beautiful Filipinas in traditional dress for the parade...
The dresses were gorgeous....
Another couple....
And another.....
Carabao pulling the sleds that had the parade floats on them....
A float laden with fresh vegetables of the harvest.....
Cooling off after a long day....
OK, so it was very cool...!!! haha....
That's it for Pahiyas...!!!
