Beautiful Borocay....

Sarah couldn't come all the way here without seeing paradise, so we jetted off to Borocay on the weekend. Yes, the water really is that clear. It's the clearest water I've ever seen. We could've spent all day bobbing around in the beautiful waves. I've got the sunburn to prove it.

Evening on our balcony as the sun went down.

The hotel where we were staying offered free sailboat excursions on weekends. We sat suspended above the water on plastic netted seats, leaning over to watch the sea urchins and starfish on the reefs under us.

It was such a relaxing trip! Now, Borocay isn't completely straightforward to get to, so you'll need a little info to duplicate our trip. First, you'll fly to the Caticlan airport. Once you arrive, you go outside the airport to the Southwest Tours office. Ask for transport to Hey Jude South in Station 3. (Station 3 is the quietest section of the beaches in Borocay.) They'll put you on a bus to the ferry port. After a short boat ride of about 10 minutes, you reach your area, and then you take a van to the hotel.)

We mostly ate at the hotel right on the beach, and the food was good, but there were plenty of restaurants around to choose from. Complimentary breakfast is included, and the have American and Filipino breakfast. The rooms are clean and spacious, and the AC is good, but it's not fancy. The beds are also comfy.

Massages can be had for 400 pesos per hour right in front of the hotel. :)

First visitor....

My girl, Sarah, came all the way to Manila, and all she got was fresh rambutan. ;)

Well, and fresh cacao.

I guess she didn't do so badly. :) We've been living here 5 months, but there's nothing like having a visitor to make you feel like you really do live here. 

Sarah and I have been doing life together since we were 6 years old. Back then, it was tea parties and doll theft and playing with bunnies. We were both homeschooled, we went to the same small church, we each had a little brother. We ended up at the same college, got married within 6 months of each other, moved to large cities, and ended up in Raleigh together to have our babies. We're the closest thing each other has to a sister.

She came to the Philippines to see it, but she really came to see me. And that means a ton. 

When I tell her I'm eating too much Din Tai Fung, she'll be able to picture it and empathize because she chose it twice while she was here visiting. :)

It felt like her 9 days here went by just like that. And like she'd always been here. I'm sorry I had to put her back on a plane, but I guess her husband and kids need her and stuff. Sniff. 

To the market...

When your mom gets you up early to go shopping for vegetables, and you're a 10-year-old boy, you might look something like this when she asks for a picture. :)

A sweet expat lady offered to show us how to market at the local palengke, so we decided to take her up on that one weekday when David was traveling and wouldn't need our van to get to work. We picked her up at her place, and she directed us to the side streets of Makati where the everyday magic happens.

You want fresh, shredded coconut? No problem. Just buy a coconut for about $.80 U.S., and then this guy will use his shredder to clean it out for ya. This makes those plastic bags of shredded coconut I always bought at Harris Teeter look pretty sad.

What's that you say? You want coconut milk? And not from a can? Well, this guy will take those coconut shreds the other guy gave you and squeeze them in this little vise you see here, and then the milk will run down this clean pan and into a plastic bag. Take that home and put it in a pitcher for a refreshing drink. It'll last a few days in the fridge.

Last stop before heading home was the local panderia. The locals buy their rolls fresh daily from places like this. We got a bag of steaming hot pandesal, but that wasn't all. We also discovered pan de coco. That's pandesal with shredded coconut baked inside. It's about 6 cents a roll, and it's just a little sweet and totally delish.

(Evan is ready to go home in this pic. But he definitely enjoyed the pandesal on the way home. Don't cry for him, Argentina.)

If you're local, you can find this daily market off of Evangelista St. in Makati. Go before 8:00 to find it fully open. I hear it closes up during the heat of the day and starts up again as people are headed home from work.

The Fun Farm in Ste. Elena....

We took a gorgeous morning to visit The Fun Farm in Laguna. It's about a 45 minute drive from us because we can use the Skyway, and the more I experience Manila traffic, the more I appreciate something only 45 minutes away!

Anyway, I was totally impressed. For 400 pesos per person ($8 U.S.), you can fish in the little farm pond. (They'll even keep baiting your hook for you when the wily and experienced fish nibble off your worms.) You can feed the sheep and the guinea pigs, climb all over their play equipment, ride a horse, take a carabao cart ride, and even use the zip line.

Our driver, Rey, will walk around with me when I'm out with the boys and having trouble keeping an eye on them. He'll even go on the seesaw if you ask him nicely, which Evan did. :)

I rode with Ben. He's at the age where riding with Mommy and Daddy is much more appealing than going alone, and I loved getting to talk to him as we plodded along in the dappled shade.

This carabao was kind of a grump, but that's ok. The only problem was that when I was trying to get a picture with him, he tossed his head in the direction of Evan and managed to hook the edge of his horn on Evan's sleeve. It was a stressful couple of seconds there, but I managed to get them untangled quickly. No harm, no foul. :)

We all got multiple rides on the zip line! It was great to be able to go on a weekday when it wasn't crowded. :)