The Sister Trip, Week 3.2

First, I just realized that a whole slew of pictures from the trip were imported with the wrong date, and I just discovered them today. So, I'd highly recommend rereading all of the posts from the Sister Trip, as I just beefed them up with additional pics. We all know everyone just wants to see the pics anyways :)

The trip to the Philippines was mainly to go scuba diving and have some beach time. But, in between scuba days, we went on a river climbing trip with an adventure tour group. It was a fantastic experience and worth every penny! Most people hike by themselves to a waterfall with a nice pool for swimming. We couldn't believe how blue the water was in this river! We went hiking right on past this idyllic spot, but it got way better. We spent the next 2.5 hours hiking, wading, swimming, and climbing our way up this river. The water temperature was perfect for a nice cool down, and it was stunningly clear. We had lots of fun scrambling up these mini-waterfalls, putting our muscles to the test! 

Safety first! 

Swimming in a deeper stretch of water. 

Sure footed as a mountain goat! 

This river canyon was so beautiful. Lots of high rock walls that the guide's nephew clambered over like a lizard. 

Time to climb up a mini-fall! Look at those shoulder muscles Stephie! 

And Kane makes it look easy. 

Cliff jumping! 

Can't get over how blue the water was! 

Perhaps our second night at the house, our cook make a banquet for us, her daughter, and her daughter's friends. Needless to say, she made a feast! It was WAY more food than we could eat. The feast included sautéed veggies, satay skewers, squid cooked in its ink, fried rice, and so much more! Kane absolutely loved the squid. They were whole, not cut up like calamari normally is. Kane asked for the recipe, and after looking at it, he noticed there was a "flavor sauce" which turned out to be MSG in a bottle. No wonder it tasted so good! But squid definitely remained a favorite dish throughout the trip, and we ate it was often as we could!

No evening was complete without a trip to the bar to watch the sunset. Never gets old! 

 

The Sister Trip, Week 3.1

The third week of the trip was a getaway to Moalboal on Cebu Island in the Philippines. Drew and I had been to the Philippines before with his parents over Christmas, but it was a first time for everyone else. The trip began with a quick 3.5 hour trip into Cebu Airport. We got picked up by a hired driver, stopped at a few ATMs, hit a local fast joint called Jolly B's, then hit the road for a "2 hour drive" to Moalboal. It was definitely longer than 2 hours, closer to 3, but we made it all in one piece, and that's what matters. It happened to be Good Friday, and the Philippines is a very Catholic country, to they were definitely celebrating. Well celebrating isn't the right word. Remembering? This included street parades with figures of holy men and women on floats, and even a recreation of Jesus' walk to be crucified. A very serious recreation. We also passed by numerous churches with people milling all around the grounds. We didn't take these pictures, but we saw these same sights.

I think everyone sighed in relief when we finally made it to our rented house in White Beach. Drew and I were prepared for the sights along the drive, but I don't think anyone else was really. The country is incredibly poor, so most people live in shacks. This is a picture of the slums in Cebu, which we drove past on our way out of the city. It's easy to see how a typhoon can cause so much devastation in a place like this. The rules of the road are also iffy. So many dogs, cows, chickens, kids etc. in the street, it feels like someone is going to run over something. But, they are used to it. We are the only ones having mini-panic attacks.





And it doesn't seem like birth control is widely used because there were little kids running around everywhere. I asked a family about this later, and the mom thought the average family size was 6-8 people. Yikes. Can't tell you how many times we saw kids taking care of kids.

The main source of transportation for a family is a scooter or motorbike. I think the most we saw riding one bike at a time was 5 people, 2 adults and 3 kids. Helmets were not common. 

For visitors, the main form of transport was a trike. These were essentially motorbikes with a large side cart attached. A local family could fit 5 or 6 people on a trike, but with our broad shoulders, we couldn't fit more than 3 :) We road these trikes every day to get to our scuba shop, which was about a 20 min drive away, depending on the short cut the driver took. 

Our house was right on the beach, had a nice patio, and we hired a lady to cook all of our meals for mere $8/day. It fit our needs perfectly.





Every evening after a day full of fun, we'd head to a bar to see the sunset and have a cocktail. The scuba shop was located in Panagsama Beach, a town full of hotels, bars etc., so finding a drink there was easy. Near our house, there was one bar literally right next door that we frequented quite a bit, and there was another bar a few minutes walk down the beach.

The Sister Trip Week 2.2

On Wednesday, we hiked the Dragon's Back, a really picturesque hike that is fairly easy, but with great views. It was a tad cloudy that day, but it was nice to get out and get some exercise.

Where does the sea stop and the sky begin? Nobody knows....

Overlooking Shek'O Beach.

We stopped for lunch at Shek'O, and had a great variety of curries and seafood.

That evening we went to the horse races, of course! We had gone the week prior also, but it is so much fun, you can't help but go back! Since it near Easter, they were giving away Bunny Ears every time you purchased a pitcher of beer. Trig didn't like it very much.

Thursday we went to the Peak, as the weather had finally cleared up. Got some great photos up there!

Afterwards, I took Kane and Stu to our local tailor to get fitted for suits. They had a fun time picking out what patterns and cloth they liked. The suits are just so cheap, it is really hard to not buys whole wardrobe full! No, that is not the color of suit Kane got... It's just a pattern for the jacket.

That night we went out for drinks at one of our favorite bars, View 62, then went to the American Restaurant for some Peking Duck. Reservation for Miss Mo!