Hello everyone! We made it home safe and sound. We spent our last days in the Philippines shopping for pasalubong (gifts) and for ourselves and spending time with my family (which includes several Salon at home phone calls for foot massages after a long day of shopping - all for a mere $5). We shopped at my favorite place - 168 in Divisoria (the China town of the Philippines). I love it there! Clothes, Shoes, Purses galore! I didn't buy as many clothes as I did last time but did add quite a few items to my summer wardrobe. :) Jimmy, [View Full Entry]

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Hello again! Sorry it's been awhile this may be one of the last installments of my blog. Like I said the trip has been pretty hectic since Nancy got here. I would blog about the Underground river but I have so much to say about it with so little time. I will say this though - it was an amazing experience however one that I will probably never do again. hehe. For three reasons - 1. the trip took all day long 2. Water Snakes 3. Bats - lots and lots of Bats. I will fill you all in over bloodys [View Full Entry]

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Sorry I never got a chance to tell you all about the Underground river...I'll have to fill you all in later. It's about 8:23am - just added some pics from Palawan on the previous blog (they don't do our trip there justice). Nancy and I leave for the airport in 40 minutes to go to Boracay! Woo Hoo! We will be there for the Chinese New Year - which was at Midnight. Happy New Year - Year of the Ox. Anywho, Yesterday was Lola & Zoe's (our niece) Birthday Party. Lola Mamang is 91 years old! It was a very special [View Full Entry]

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Dad, Nancy and I arrived Thursday morning in Puerto Princessa, Palawan. Woo Hoo! It was about 27 degrees celcius when we landed and humid as hell. Nancy had a stellar sleep (as she says) the night before we left (her first night in Manila) but I on the other hand only had about four hours sleep before we left. Dad, Nancy, Ann and I decided to have some drinks on the porch after dinner and after Nancy and I had packed for Palawan. Dad went to bed around 9:20p and Nancy retired not long after but was a complete trooper. Ann [View Full Entry]

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For all of you back home wondering, Nancy made it here safe and sound and on time. We picked her up from the airport around one pm and came back to the house. She had a good flight and slept well on the plane and naturally made a travel buddy (thats so Nancy). After eating a late lunch we went to Glorietta (a mall) in Makati. Did some flip flop shopping and then went to the salon for pedi'si, mani's and foot spa's - all of which for me and Nancy cost a total of $15 - haha! Afterward we came [View Full Entry]

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Last night I had a nice laid back night out with my cousins to see Adel (Milie's Husband) sing in his cover band "Midlife Crisis." It was a fun night out in Makati, Manila. We went to Strumm's where Adel sang and then headed to this Japanese Style lounge (you sit on the floor) afterward. The drinks and food are so cheap here! I love it! Today Mom, Tita Helen, Tita Nen, Uncle Bonnie and Brian headed out to Tagaytay so Tita Nen could see Tita Helens house there before they left. They stopped over at Tita Mila & Uncle Mikes [View Full Entry]

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So we made it to Tita Cyn and Tito Pete's in one piece. The live in the Provence which is like our country side. The roads there are a combination of dirt and cement. Take every pothole in the city of Chicago and put them on one street- thats how it felt driving through some of the provinces. We have potholes because of the snow plows - they have potholes because of all the rain. Apparently typhoon season in the Visayas can get bad. Tita Cyn & Tito Pete have farmland where they grow rice. They harvested it last week so [View Full Entry]

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Okay - good news - Milie's Driver found my coin purse in her car. Woo hoo! I knew I was being pretty careful about how I held my purse! Anyway, It's been pretty relaxing over the past couple days which is nice since it's been go, go, go since we got here and as soon as Nancy gets here it will be more of that! So yesterday we got to see Ann (Paca) and her son Matty (Mateo Raphael Paca Mercado - as he would say). He's about 3 years old and absolutely adorable. We on;y got to spend a couple [View Full Entry]

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Good Morning! O well for you it's actually Good Afternoon! It's about 5:45am Monday here - so 3:45pm Sunday for you. I slept in Moms room last night and we both kept waking up all night. I guess we haven't evaded jet lag. :) So yesterday after we went to Church we went to go see Lolo. His ashes are actually just behind the church. It's a beautiful memorial for him. There is this veranda type thing that has several peoples ashes almost entombed there - I don't know if that makes sense. It's hard to explain. He was actually buried [View Full Entry]

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It's 8:20am here. Mom and I just finished having breakfast...Dad left for Cebu this morning. He has his 50th High School reunion this week. So far jet lag hasn't been too bad. I think leaving at 1am helped since we were able to sleep at a normal time. So to back track...we landed in Manila at about 12:30pm Manila time. Going through immigration wasn't bad but it took about 30 minutes - the lines weren't that long either. We all were getting a bit flustered but I am sure it's just because we were ready just to be there and out [View Full Entry]

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