~ Shopping & Night Life ~

Heading out early from the hotel. We had lots on the agenda today.

This morning we took a taxi (the first time we have been in one since the ride from the airport) to Greenhills Shopping Center. This was quite the experience. I had looked Greenhills up on the internet before going so we kind of knew what to expect. It is a huge indoor flea market with tons of new inexpensive items. Purses, sunglasses, watches, pearls, toys, clothing...you name it, they had it all. We kind of enjoyed the bartering also. It was so funny, because every booth we stopped by would say, "you are first customer of the day, so we go down 50 pesos". Umm, the place was packed and I am guessing that an hour in, we were not their first customer. It was quite entertaining to barter with them as they tried to work a sale. Wes bought 2 pairs of authentic (definitely not real, but they tell you they are) Oakley sunglasses. The girls tried like crazy all morning to coax me in to buying their "authentic" Gucci, Prada, or Coach purses. I resisted the temptation. Besides if I bought one, everyone would easily know it was a knock-off because I don't really shop above Target. :) We did get a few gifts for the girls. Hello Kitty is big here in the Philippines, so we got them each a hello kitty purse and a little hand held asian fan to go inside. They had tons of crocs and I really wanted a pair of the flip-flop style crocs, but apparently Asian women don't have feet bigger than a size 8/9. I needed a size 10 and they didn't sell any 10's in women's. But, they tried like crazy to sell me a men's flip-flop. Ugh!






We ate lunch at California Pizza in San Juan just across from Greenhills. That would be the 2nd meal in a row that we have eaten there. I wouldn't be surprised if we eat there again before we leave.

We had heard that the sunset of Manila Bay was beautiful and a sight to see, so tonight we decided to live it up and enjoy some night life in the Philippines. Wes has been in bed asleep at 7:30 the past two nights, so this was a big night for us. Ha! Manila Bay, aka Baywalk is located just off of Macapagal Avenue behind the Mall of Asia. Before sunset we took time walking the boardwalk, strolling through a small portion of the Mall of Asia, and looking in on a Catholic Mass service that was about to begin. We ate at Pier One Bar & Grill. Actually, Wes ate and I watched as I just couldn't bring myself to order anything from the menu. Unfortuneately, it was very cloudy this evening and we couldn't even see the sun set. We loved the baywalk and even though it was somewhat crowded, it was still a relaxing, enjoyable family atmosphere, so maybe we will come back later in the week with Levi. They had a live band at one of the restaurants so we sat around for an hour or so enjoying the music. It was quite entertaining as everytime they didn't sing a song in English, one of the male singers would do actions on stage so that the foreigners (us and a few others) could follow along. You can probably imagine some of his actions when they were singing love songs. Quite funny!


Mall of Asia


I missed getting the name of this church. The church was very large and the pews were packed for the 5:30 pm mass on Sunday evening. There was standing room only at the back and you can see in the picture the amount of people standing outside.


Yes, they have Hooter's in the Philippines too! I am not sure why Wes was so adiment about getting his picture outside the restaurant. Must be a guy thing!

Pictures from the BayWalk.









I know I have been warned not to eat anything from the outside vendors, but I could't resist. Hot, buttered corn on the cob on a stick. Besides, it was my dinner.

Okay, so this part of the post is especially for my sister, Jill. She and I are both extremely picky when it comes to food, so I just wanted to share some of the appetizers on the menu of the restaurant that Wes ate at tonight.



Crispy Kangkong - deep fried swamp cabbage
Mangga't Bagoong - green mango w/ fermented shrimp paste
Balut Ala Pobre - unhatched baby duckling in garlic ~ a Filipino delicacy
Tokwa't Baboy - fried beanweed w/ sliced pork ears
Crispy Tenga - crispy pork ears
Chicharon Bulaklak - deep fried pork intestines
Dinakdakan - grilled pork belly w/ liver in vinegar & spices
Kalderetang Kambiry - spicy goat meat stew

Wes had Laman Dagat Sa Bilao which consisted of a processed, grilled seafood variety...squid, salmon, mussels, and shrimp.





So I have several taxi related comments:

- Not a single taxi that we have ridden in since the airport shuttle taxi has seat belts in the back seat. It is frightening to not be strapped in. These taxi drivers are crazy. You should see the bumpers of most of these vehicles. Most of our cab drivers that we have had have seat belts, but don't wear them. However, on one ride today about 1/2 way through the drive the driver puts his seat belt on as he is swirving through traffic. OMG! How is that supposed to make us feel as we don't have a choice?

- Almost all of them have, "How's my driving?" with a phone # printed on the back of each car. Seriously??? Wes and I just crack up everytime we think about it.


- I believe that anyone who can drive here in Manila can be successful driving anywhere in the world. I would never want to get behind the wheel here.

- I am extremely nervous about traveling with Levi in these circumstances. I would feel so much better about him being in a car seat, especially with the way the drivers drive. There is just not a lot of caution involved.

- Oh, and for those of you who will be traveling to the Philippines, we have found the taxi fare rates to be very reasonable. All of our drives have been 25 minutes or less and I don't think that any of the fares have been over 200 pesos and even with a flag down rate or small tip, they are very inexpensive way to get from one place to another.

For tomorrow, we have booked another Grayline tour and will be visiting the majestic Pagsanjan Falls. We will be riding on a native banca (canoe) to the falls. I think we even get to go in a cave and take a swim if we want. We are excited to be doing something a little more on the adventurous side.

Only 1 more day until we go get Levi!! We are so ready!

Day 2 Notes

Just had a few more things that I wanted to note from yesterday.

In Response to Emilee's comment on our blog:
Yes, it has been a nice experience to be here during this time with like you said, so much history in the making. We noticed on our drive yesterday that there were several little memorial type areas set up and signs hanging on posts honoring and expressing gratitude towards the late President Cory. The news channels have had lots of little media reports and newspapers have had front page write ups. About 4:30 am this morning (wide awake again) I watched a President Cory special on TV. It was an interview with her daughter about her last days. The newspaper said that there are approximately 1000 people visiting her grave site every day to pay last respects.
There was also a big write-up in The Philippine Star about the GMA group that wined and dined in New York for $20K. In fact, our tour guide mentioned it yesterday and was pretty disgusted by her actions. The newspaper today said, "the extravagance is a manifestation of the Arroyo administration's insensitivity and hypocrasy while thousands of families suffer hunger and the nation was mourning the death of former President Corazon Aquino". The amount spent would have fed 18,000 Filipino's for one day.
Our tour guide from yesterday also didn't have much nice to say about former President Moraco and his wife. He said that his wife is still living and is very "generous" with the Filipino's money, but doesn't share it with people in her own country. He said that she bought George Hamilton (US) a house in Beverly Hills. On our tour he also showed us the bank that would have absolutely nothing if she took her money out. He said that if I have never seen a bullet proof dress to check out her attire. Apparently she is really despised by most in the Philippines.
While most of it is so sad, I really enjoyed learning the political side of the Philippines.


Oh and I wanted to share 2 little tidbits that I picked up from our guide yesterday.

- He said that Filipino's smile often because when they are starving and hungry they believe that air enters through their mouth and helps fill their bellies.

- Filipino's have lots of children and devot their lives to them because it is the children that take care of them when they are old. There are not a lot of senior citizen type facilities in the Philippines.

~ Manila Old & New ~

First off, I want to wish my parent's a Happy Wedding Anniversary. Sorry I missed it earlier this week. Hope you had a great time celebrating it with Jaidyn and Addy! Did you get to have a nice dinner out at McDonald's. :)

Last night was a night of restlessness. My body still hadn't adjusted to the time change and I was up from 2:30-4:30 am. I watched a little bit of the Asian Living channel for about an hour (interesting stuff) and then played around on the internet for awhile. Wes didn't seem to have any problems sleeping, probably because he is used to time change schedules since he goes from nights to days every two weeks with his job. Hopefully, tonight goes much better. I didn't take a 4 hour nap today, so hopefully I will sleep much more.

Change of plans! We got with the travel agent located in the hotel this morning and booked a "Manila Old & New" tour. For any of those who will be traveling soon, I highly recommend taking this tour. It lasted about 3 1/2 hours driving Makati and Manila. It cost us about $50 each, but was definitely worth it. Our tour guide, Rick was fantastic. He was a retired (or as he would say "a tired")university history teacher, so he was very knowledable about the area.

We were drove through Forbes Park, which was a ritzy residential area dubbed as Millionaire's Row. Rick told us that in the Philippines, 70% of the population is very poor, 20% make an average income, and 10% are very, very rich. He said that the very rich only continue to become richer and the poor, poorer. Sad statistics. He too, also said that Levi is a very lucky baby to be coming to the US. He said that here he wouldn't have any opportunity and would be part of the 70% statistic. I have to admit that this tour was very eye opening. Yes, I have read plenty about the Philippines, but until I actually saw it first hand, it just wasn't a reality. I have many very vivid images in my head right now...mainly consisting of the small street children.
These pictures are from a distance, but you can see some of the poverty living circumstances.



Our first stop was the American Cemetery and Memorial which is reputed to be the largest and most beautiful of American memorials outside of the Continental US. I wish I would have brought a notebook with me on the tour so I could have jotted down some of the statistics throughout the trip, but I am very sure that I remember Rick saying that the white crosses represent 10,000 missing in action American Soliders and 60,000 Filipino soldiers from the Baton death march.












48 states were represented with their state seal in the memorial.








Flags were only half massed today in honor of the former President Corazon who died on August 5th. The tall blue buildings in the background are condo's that can be purchased for $30 million each if anyone is interested. You even have your own helicopter landing pad on top so that you can avoid Manila traffic. Hmmm!

We then proceeded on to Rizal Park which is in memory of the country's national hero. A beautiful park, lot's of history.









We also passed the "Walled City" of intramuros. Here we saw ancient walls (which had bullet holes in them), church ruins, and other relics of the Spanish Conquistadores. We also stopped at the San Augstin Church which was historically beautiful, but we were only able see in from the entrance as there was a wedding in progress. I kind of felt sorry for the wedding party as there were many tourists such as ourselves snapping pictures from the entrance. It just didn't seem to be a very private ceremony. Rick told us that weddings are big ordeal here because in the Philippines it is until death do them apart. They don't do divorces so they have to be sure from the beginning. At another old church (the one that they held President Cory's wake at last Wednesday for 2 days), we witnessed the bride getting out of the vehicle in front of us. She had approximately 10 bridesmaid in her wedding party. Rick shocked us when he said, "Ugh, she's ugly, but you can tell by her dress and the size of her wedding party that she is very rich." Yep, he was one of those truly honest type of guys and says things as he's sees it.


Look closely and you can see the bride and groom kneeling at the alter.

I think it was an Italian architect who crafted the ceilings for the church.

Heavy wooden doors to the church.


This is the church where President Cory's wake was held. It went on for 2 days and Rick said that the lines to witness this event were very long and people walked a long ways to be a part of the ceremony. We wouldn't have been able to get remotely close to the church a few days ago.

Here is the "ugly but rich" bride entering the church.

Our last stop was Fort Santiago, a spanish fortress that watched over the entrance to the Pasig's River. This is also where the country's national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, spent his last days before being led to which is now known as Rizal park for his execution.









Dungeons where prisoners were kept.



The Philippines posesses so much history and I really feel that by taking this tour it helped us to more truly appreciate Levi's birth country.


A row of Jeepney's parked at the Mall of Asia. This mall is bigger than the Mall of America. We didn't go inside, but the drive around it was a long one. They have little cars inside for senior citizens to use so they don't have to walk.


This is a picture of the open seafood market at Manila Bay.

Thank you to all of you posting on our blog. We really appreciate all of the comments and well wishes. Wes and I have never eaten at a California Pizza before and after several of you raved about it through the comments we decided to try it out for dinner. We will definitely be eating there again before we leave. I had pepperoni pizza (I never try anything new) and Wes had the Chicken Adobo Pizza which is only made in the Philippines. They were both fantastic! I left about a 4th of a piece of pepperoni (which Wes ate) on the tray just so I could say that I didn't eat the whole pizza! ha!


Earlier today, Wes and I had some time to enjoy the pool.


I just love all of the little ball shaped lanterns that look to be floating in the trees. They close down the pool area at 8:00 about an hour after it gets dark, so I hope we get to see them all lit up sometime before we leave.

We think we are going to visit Manila Bay tomorrow. The typhoon that came through earlier in the week left the area trashed, but we did drive by some of it today on the tour and we still think that we would like to walk the boardwalk area. Wes may even try out some of the fresh seafood available.

We're here!

Greetings from the Philippines! We're here! It feels so good to be on ground again. Flying to Manila is one looonnnnggg day. Over the next week, I hope to post almost everyday about our trip. We won't get to meet Levi until Tuesday so until then we plan to keep pretty busy getting out and about. Sorry if the posts are long, but I want to be able to document as much of our trip for Levi in the future.

August 5th/6th
Our drive to the STL airport on Wednesday morning didn't start off very well. Shortly before we left the house, I took my Malaria pill since we are supposed to start taking them 2 days before we arrive. Because I can't swallow pills, I have to break the capsules open and dissolve them in liquid. As soon as we started driving I got extremely sick to my stomach almost immediately. Wes was able to pull over on the side of the road so that I could take care of business. Luckily, it was extremely foggy so hopefully all the cars passing us didn't recognize me or know what I was doing. I have decided that I don't think I will do the Malaria pills, but instead cover myself in bug spray everytime we leave the hotel. It sure beats throwing up.
When we arrived at the airport, Wes had to walk through security 4-5x as he kept setting off the beeper everytime. Flustered he left his wallet, watch and sunglasses in one of the security bowls. Not sure how we both managed to not pick these items up. Luckily at the same time he realized that he was missing these, the airport intercome announced, "James Collins, we have some things at the security gate that we think you may really need." Knowing they had his wallet, they were asking him for his picture identification...glad they could joke about it.
My ticket at the boarding counter beeped when scanned and at first my heart sunk when they first told me that they had given up our tickets to someone else...but had
bumped us up to Business Class! I think the others in business class seats must have known this was our first time to sit in these seats as we were the only ones to order a Bloody Mary before 10:00 am. Hey, they were free and we were on the start of our "vacation". Jared, you would be so proud of Wes. He ordered a Budweiser product, but they only had Miller products, so he got a Sprite instead. No Budweiser products on our flights, just thought you would want to know. (My brother is a sales promoter with Budweiser so our family tries to be faithful.)
On our first layover, we called the girls and found that Papa had removed the training wheels from Jaidyn's bike and she was riding without them. Grandparent's work magic! We can't wait to watch her ride when we get back.
To those who will be traveling to the Philippines in the future, I am not going to lie...The Minneapolis to Tokyo flight was completely exhausting. We flew economy and it was miserable. Tight, cramped seating with only about 2 inches of recligning. Wes and I tried wine with dinner hoping it would put us to sleep, but no such luck. We didn't sleep at all during the flight and at that point we had been awake for an entire 24 hours. Here is a little exert from my journal, "Wes and I just looked at our watch as we are timing our 12 hour flight to Tokyo and realized that we are not even half way there. Only 2 1/2 hours in. I am trying so desperately to fall asleep as my eyes are watering because I am so tired, but just can't get comfortable. I can see the business class seating just up ahead-what was I thinking booking economy seating? Fluffy, reclining big chairs, yummy dinners of fruit kabobs and icecream, and each individual has their own personal tv. We are stuck watching an old rerun of Frazier." A crossword puzzle and 2 suduko puzzles entertained me to the 1/2 way point. Mom, you would be proud of my puzzle skills although I could have used your help on the crossword puzzle.
I did manage to finally fall asleep on a bench once we arrived at the Tokyo airport for about 25 minutes. I also slept through the take-off on the flight to Manila. Wes and I took turns sitting by the window on the Manila flight so that we would have a place to lean our heads.
The flights did feed us very well. Rice and chicken was one of our choices for every meal. I even had Chicken and rice for breakfast, which was a first. So much food was served during our flights that we didn't even need the snacks packed in our carry-on. Bread, salad, fruit, desert was served with the main entree every meal. Good thing I had a human garbage disposal next to me so I didn't feel like I was wasting so much food.
A typhoon was somewhere during our flight to Manila so we experienced some pretty good air turbulance, which didn't set well with my stomach. Wes turned all of the air jets on me and luckily I was able to get through it. I know, what you all are thinking...I am a wimp!
We took the hotel shuttle to our hotel and finally arrived around 12:30 am. We were going to take an airport taxi to the hotel, but when we asked we were shuffled towards the airport shuttle area, which was actually a taxi car anyways. The ride was CRAZY to say the least. They have lanes, but don't use them. Our driver rarely used his blinker, but instead would just honk his horn and then fly around another driver. We almost side swiped a huge bus, but somehow our driver managed to manuever us through the cement wall and the bus. Wes and I had our seatbelts on tight in the backseat and I am shocked that the driver wasn't even wearing his. I had been warned about Manila driving, but until we experienced it we really didn't get it. The hotel shuttle rates were 975 pesos which I think was a lot more than a taxi would have charged, but at that point in the trip, we just wanted to crawl in to a bed. We opened our room door and instead of the king bed with a crib that we had requested we had two twin/full size beds. It was fine for the night since Wes and I were glad to be sleeping in seperate beds as we had plenty of snuggly time sitting so close together on the 20+ hour flights. They are supposed to move us later this afternoon to another room.

August 7th
Not sure why, but we woke up around 6:00 am. Excited to start the day, I guess. We ate breakfast in The Jeepney hotel restaurant (part of the package stay). It was deicious and buffet style. My favorite thing was the fresh juices. I think they must have been made from a juicer. They were so much better than the overprocessed, sugary juice drinks that I am used to. Wes loved the salmon and fried rice the best. I can't wait for breakfast tomorrow and definitely won't be starving while we are here. Ha!
We walked the streets just outside of the hotel this morning just to observe the morning traffic. Everyone was very friendly considering the city atmosphere and the fact that they were all more than likely going to work. It was not at all like St. Louis and the "not-so-friendly" attitude that people in the city seem to give. We passed lots of people and I didn't see another blond and trust me, I was looking for one. I am sure we stuck out like a sore thumb. I have also noticed that all of the women were wearing panty hose with their skirts. In my opinion, it is way too hot and humid here for pantyhose. In fact, I don't even own a pair. The shopping experience is also quite interesting. In every area of the ShoeMart shopping center, the staff were all dressed exactly alike. There are tons of staff members. and every time we turn a corner, we would hear "Good morning Mam, Good morning Sir". It is almost like having a personal shopper right at your side. It seems that they don't want you to take anything off of the shelves. They are right there to grab it for you. We were also looking for some outfits for Levi today and everytime I turned a corner, I got asked, "What size?" You can imagine the looks that I got when I said "I really don't know what size he is". In the toy store, we were followed almost as if they thought we were thieves. They followed us down every isle. We didn't hang out in the toy store very long. Weird???
Later this afternoon Wes went and worked out in the hotel gym and I took a nap, a long 4 hour nap. I was so tired that I skipped lunch and anyone who knows me well, knows I rarely give up an opportunity to eat. :)
For dinner tonight we went to the Makati Hard Rock Cafe. Our waiter was very friendly and gave us lots of suggestions for our stay while we are here. Wes and I both bought a souvenier shirt, but I am thinking that we will try not to wear them on the same day so we don't look like a dorky tourist. We then cruised around the Glorietta Mall. It was so busy!

Our first day thoughts of the Philippines:
-All of the staff in the hotel, shopping centers, and restaurants are extremely friendly.
- The few people that we have told that we are here to bring home our son have told us that he is one lucky little boy. We however, feel that we are the lucky ones.
- Everyone is so tiny. I am as tall as most of the men. Wes is a good head taller than the general Filipino public. I also noticed that there are very few people who would be considered overweight.
- The Nalagan's warned of us the heavy pollution. I have to agree as there is a consistent smoggy feeling about the air and a distinct smell.
- Too much traffic, lot's of people, just a very busy place. It makes me appreciate the small one little stop light town that we live in. :)

I think tomorrow we are going to take a taxi to Manila Bay and Rizel Park. Hope the rains don't spoil our fun. That reminds me, we still need to purchase an umbrella.


Bags are packed and we are leaving for our drive to the airport.


The Intercontinental Hotel that we are staying at for the week.



A walk around the block from our hotel.


Busy morning traffic.


Hotel security officers hang out on several street corners. Wes was quite impressed with the guns they had strapped on them.


View from our 1st hotel room window.

View from our current hotel room window.

Makati Hark Rock Cafe









A Gold's Gym in the Glorietta Mall. Wes just couldn't help himself and had to pose beside Arnold Swarteneger.


Filipino's love Micheal Jackson too. Many people were gathered around the 2 large TV screes watching MJ videos and there was also a big memorial sign next to the TV's in which people could sign.