Christmas trip Part 1- Thailand

It's hard to be away from home for Christmas, so for the three Christmases I've spent away from home I've traveled. My poor husband, has spent many more Christmases away from home, but he handles it better than I do- he handles most of life better than me as well! :) This year we decided to travel around another part of Asia we'd never been. We found some good priced tickets going to Singapore, so we bought them and started planning. We found out it's pretty easy to travel through Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, so we decided to head straight to Bangkok from Singapore and then work our way back down to Singapore over the next week. Over the next couple days we'll put up pictures to show what we saw. It was a once in a lifetime trip, and we won't bore you with all the stories, but if you have an extra 4 hours on your hands, give us a call, and we'll give you the long story! :)



Sitting in the tuk tuk in Bangkok. We only got to ride it once, but it's a fun way to travel. We were all about public transportation on this trip!



Uche enjoying the river taxi. Another great way to get around Bangkok. Sometimes we weren't sure what stop to get off at, but we just figured we'd follow the other foreigners since they hopefully knew where to go. The strategy worked pretty well actually.


View from river taxi. Not a sight you see everyday... unless, of course, you live in Bangkok. We really enjoyed seeing sights from the river. You can see how big these river taxis are.

This was outside the Grand Palace- not bad for a self portrait. This was before we decided to pay the admission to go inside. We debated whether to spend the money since admission was over $10 a person, and we were budget traveling.

We were glad we paid to go inside or we couldn't have gotten a picture like this! We have a lot of pictures from inside, but we'll only post a few here. Everytime we turned a corner we'd see another amazing building.

We had to wear long pants inside. In fact, they wouldn't let you enter in shorts. So, outside the palace there were quite a few small shops renting sarongs and pants to people who weren't in dress code. We had our handy dandy zip off pants to wear, so we didn't look ridiculous wearing the rented clothes. I tried to get a picture of a guy wearing purple pants he had rented, but couldn't manage it!

Isn't this building gorgeous? The colors were fantastic! Towards the end of our time there we were just overwhelmed with the beauty of the place and it was hard to get excited for another fantastic building.

The shapes of the buildings were so different from anything we'd seen before. There were lots of people taking pictures, so sometimes it was a bit of a juggling act to get a picture without other people in it.

The buildings were huge, as you can see in relation to me. The Grand Palace was totally worth the entrance fee, so if you get a chance to go see it- do!

On Christmas Eve we traveled from Bangkok to Hua Hin which is a beach town about 3 hours from Bangkok. We only had one night there, but once we arrived we wished we could stay much longer. It was great!

After we arrived in town we wandered around checking out the beach, restaurants, markets, etc. I had seen on the internet that there was an international church that met at the Hilton, and we had talked about seeing if they were doing any special services while we were there, but we didn't know where the Hilton was. As we were walking along the beach we looked up, and there was the Hilton! So, we went inside to see what we could find out. At the time we were both in our bathing suits- totally not dressed for the Hilton! They told us the church would be having a Christmas Eve service in 30 minutes. We rushed down the road to a restaurant for dinner since we hadn't eaten in a long time and scarfed down some fabulous food and went to the service bathing suits and all! It was a wonderful service and we met some neat people and it was soooo nice to fellowship with brothers and sisters during this special holiday service. After the service we headed back to the hotel, but were distracted by a night market on the way where we spent a couple hours eating fun stuff and just hanging out there.

Christmas morning breakfast- mocha, vanilla latte, chocolate croissant and almond croissant! :) For most the trip we ate street food- lots of rice and noodles, but for Christmas morning I forced Uche to go to this coffee shop because I just couldn't do rice on Christmas morning!

This was our spot for Christmas Day. We sat here, swam, sat some more, ate, sat some more and swam again. It was super relaxing!

This was the first Christmas I'd spent at the beach. It's a great way to spend Christmas if you can't be home with family. There were lots of people to watch and the sand and breeze felt great!

The Hilton is the large hotel in the background. We didn't take too many pictures at the beach because we were too busy relaxing and enjoying it! :)

Unfortunately we had to leave Hua Hin Christmas night. We took a bus from there to Penang, Malaysia. I'm looking a little red as I wait for the bus...

Stay tuned for more trip pictures....

Happy New Year!

We got back from our Christmas trip the evening of Dec. 30, and we're still trying to organize our thoughts and pictures, so before I share about that, let's talk about New Year's Eve here in Manila. This was the first year I'd been in the Philippines for New Years (Uche's spent a few here) because I had always been visiting outside the country for Christmas when we lived here before. I've heard alot about the noise, partying, fireworks etc that happen here, so I wanted to experience it at least once. I have to say it was something else!

I've spent New Years with large crowds before, 50,000 for the year 2000 in Portland, OR, and 20,000+ at two different Urbana conferences, but last night was the noisiest ever! We got together with our neighbors for dinner, watched a movie and around 11:30 we went up to the roof to watch fireworks. People have been setting off fireworks here for weeks. All through the Christmas season you can hear and see them; the two big malls near us had a big fireworks show every Saturday throughout December, but the climax was last night. It was pretty noisy during dinner, but we could still carry on a normal conversation with each other. When we went up to our rooftop at 11:30 the noise of the fireworks and firecrackers was deafening. We had to shout in each other's ear to be heard! It went on like this for at least an hour before it settled down a little. I have no idea when it stopped because it was still pretty noisy when we went to sleep around 1:00 am.

I'm glad I was able to experience New Year's Eve here. I've never seen anything like it before, and I'm not sure where else I celebrate quite like that. According to our friends this year's celebration was a little subdued because people aren't doing as well financially as in years past, plus there were major national tragedies that occurred here during 2009. BUT if that was subdued.... I can't imagine what normal is like....

This is the group we had dinner with. We enjoyed tasty food and lots of laughs.

This scene was repeated on thousands of streets throughout the Philippines. So the noise was coming from the street and from the sky.

During the height of the fireworks. From every angle on our roof this is what we saw. It was pretty amazing.

Two worlds

Within the last week we went from one side of the metro area to the other. It began with a trip to Manila to go to immigration. We actually live in Quezon City which is bigger and more populated than Manila, but is part of metro Manila. When we have to go to Manila we always combine as much as possible in the trip. Immigration trips are often paired with trips to the barber for Uche. There's one guy in the city that cuts most of the black men's hair here- they've trained him! Then we usually head to a Middle Eastern restaurant for lunch. I LOVE hummus and we tried a new place last week, and it was fantastic. We then headed to a Christmas bazaar at the World Trade Center where I was hoping to find Filipino handicrafts- I'll tell you about my disappointment in a bit.

You can see the hookahs behind me. While we were there a few different men came in to chat and have a smoke. They're really cool looking I think.

I was excited when we walked into the Christmas bazaar and saw this display. I saw the traditional Filipino huts with the poinsettas and I thought how the whole place must be full of local handicrafts. I was specifically looking for a very Filipino looking nativity. Then we walked into the hall, and I was soooooo disappointed. It was full of stuff you can find at any market- cheap t-shirts, cheap plastic toys and no Filipino crafts to be found. I was bummed, but glad I hadn't made a special trip for it!

A few days later we headed to the total opposite end of the metro area to a place called San Mateo. During the floods this area was hit really hard. A pastor who has been planting churches in a couple different communities there has been working to help people to rebuild their homes that were destroyed in the flood. We went to go see what has been done in the recovery and try to see if there's the possibility of us doing our internship in one of the communities.

The last community we visited is really on the edge of town, and the name of the community translates as edge of the town. It's hard to believe we were still in the metro Manila limits, because it felt like it was worlds away. The people have to cross this rive to get from the town of San Mateo to their homes. Many people living there have carabaos (like these in the picture above) which are water buffalos that they use in farming.

There're also cows. We had to keep reminding ourselves we weren't out in the province (rural areas).

We took a boat ride across the river. I was ready to wade, but the boat ride was nice. This little guy was helping his dad transport people back and forth.

I was a little concerned how low the boat sat in the water with all of us, but no worries, the driver was very good and we made it safely across without a drop of water getting in.

In the community there some homes like this one. With the second story the husband of this family was able to stay on the roof during the flood to watch their home while the rest of his family fled, with many others from the community, to a nearby hill when the waters rose. This family was fortunate to have that second story and a house built with cement blocks.

This is an abandoned home that a woman in the church plant is considering buying because her home was totally destroyed during the flood. It was in pretty bad shape. It's hard to imagine a family living here.

This little girl was too cute not to photograph. Her family lives on the edge of the community and their living conditions are horrible. It's hard to see people living in such dehumanizing conditions.

Here's her little brother retrieving the tire he was playing with. I kept trying to get him to smile for me, so I could take his picture. He never did. He did smile when I showed him the pictures I took of him and his sister- he got quite a kick out of that.

All in all this week was kind of normal for us. There's such a contrast of wealth and poverty in this city. We have our feet in both worlds. We hang out in restaurants and enjoy fun activities around the city, but we also visit with people who live in conditions that depress you. This is how we see our future- being a part of these two worlds.

Taal

Last Saturday Uche and I joined our friend Holly for a day trip a couple hours outside the city. We didn't know exactly how it would all work out, but we just decided to head down and try to hike the volcano Taal. It ended up being a super fun stress free trip. Sometimes it's crazy traveling in foreign countries when you don't know exactly what you're doing. But with help from a lot of friendly people we met along the way we got to hike the volcano and enjoy a day in a beautiful place. Holly was super fun to hang out with; we were sad to say goodbye as she headed back to Nor Cal a couple days after our trip, but maybe we can hike another volcano with her in California!

We had to take a banca (boat) across the lake to the volcano. Taal is a volcano that sits in the middle of Lake Taal.

This was the last picture we took on the boat ride as soon after this was taken we were getting soaked from waves of water hitting us. The lake was really choppy and water would just fly in, fortunately the water was warm!

The hike wasn't too long, 4 km or almost 2.5 miles up. It had some pretty steep parts, but it wasn't bad. You could rent a horse if you wanted to so they would have to do all the hard work. This guy on the horse kept riding by us trying to convince us to rent the horse. We kept assuring him we were fine and wanted to walk. I noticed he always showed up on the steep parts! I guess he was hoping we'd see the lunacy of walking ourselves up the steep path, come to our senses and rent his horse. The lady up ahead of us did succomb to the temptation of sitting on the horse and enjoying a ride to the top.
Part of the way up. The views were fabulous. We had to keep stopping to take it all in.

The three of us. See we're still smiling, so the hiking must not have been to hard! :)

View from the top.

Once you're on top of the volcano you can see another lake inside the crater. So, we were by a lake which is inside a volcano which is in a lake. Did you follow all that?

Yay! We're at the top. There was a fabulous breeze blowing and it was just a perfect place to relax after the hike and enjoy the beauty around us.

Uche took this cool picture. I just love it.

Fore!

Yesterday was a holiday, so our landlord invited us to join him and two of his kids to go hit some golf balls at a driving range near our house. We enjoy doing this at home, so we were excited to join him. Uche has gone once before, but this was my first time going to the driving range here. I'm not sure I'll want to do it again in the States.
At home I have to haul my own bucket of balls to the area where I will hit. I also have to set up each ball I want to hit- not so here. See the girl in the picture below. She not only arranged to have bucket of balls delivered there, but she also set up each and every ball I hit. She would set up a ball on a tee, or if no tee was needed, she would set the ball on a little mound of packed dirt. Pretty much I just hit balls over and over. No bending over for me! I was a little scared at first that I would hit her, but she was unfazed. I guess she's gotten used to it since she does it all day, six days a week! Oh, she also cleaned the clubs when we were done and hauled them out to the car. Seriously, golf courses in the States have a long way to go....

I'm quite proud of this picture I took of Uche during his follow through. I used the sport setting and I like how it turned out!

I hope this picture was captured when I hit a ball, and not one of many swings and misses! You're not allowed to make fun of my form.

Can you see a spot of green past the 75 yard sign and a little to the right? This was one of my favorite things at the driving range. That's the guy who has the unfortunate job of collecting all the golf balls. He has a shield (the green thing) he holds while he does his job. I managed to hit him once when he was a little closer- it cracked me up. He probably didn't think it was as funny as I did. It was great to have something to aim for!

Fiesta!

This past weekend was fiesta time in our barangay (neighborhood). I'm not quite sure what the celebration is for, but it has something to do with the Spanish culture that was brought to the Philippines during their colozination of the islands. It is also related somehow to the Catholic church down the street. I should google it! Anyhow, fiesta is party time. The week leading up to the fiesta had many groups like the one below going up and down the streets. They're loud so you hear them long before you can see them. They dance some dance routines and bang on drums, making a big ole ruckus. They also hand out envelopes so people can make donations to their group. They tried to hand us one, but we put on our dumb foreigner face (sometimes we manage this look without trying) and they moved on.

On Sunday evening the parties were in full swing. The streets were closed to traffic and people were out in the streets eating and enjoying hanging out. There was a live band playing on the street behind our place. At one point we could hear the band playing and two different karaoke songs going on in two different places. It was worse than it sounds!

The owners of our building had a nice party up on our rooftop (we have a great covered rooftop garden on our building) so we went up to join the merriment. The karaoke was going strong and the lechon baboy (a whole pig roasted) was ready.

Up close and personal with the baboy.

Karaoke provides many hours of entertainment in the Philippines. Filipinos love to sing and perform, so a karaoke machine is a must have.

We had a good time eating good food and visiting with our neighbors and listening to people butcher songs.

I suppose that's an appropriate picture to finish off this post.

Time in CA

We're back in Manila and excited to be starting our last semester of school. We arrived late Monday night and started classes on Tuesday. We're still trying to adjust to the time, and are way too acquainted with 2:00 am! We had a great month long visit at home, and we enjoyed surprising people. Here's some highlights from our time in Nor Cal. Sorry, they're out of chronological order, but I can't be bothered with moving them around... I got to get ready for class!

Celebrating my birthday a few days early with a German chocolate cake with two cans of frosting- my favorite! It looks like it's on fire! :)

Slagle family get together. A little pre-Thanksgiving dinner. We'll enjoy another Thanksgiving here, but one can never eat too much turkey and stuffing.

Uche on the river trail. We enjoyed being outside in the cool air and exercising without sweating profusely. Of course, in Manila we sweat without exercising....

Trick or treating with my niece and nephews. They're too cute.

Uche and I got to work together washing windows. It was pretty fun and we enjoyed the time we got to do this, and we were so blessed to see God provide work for us. I have decided that manual labor is not for me, and look forward to many happy years working in an office! :)

Because I am my mother's daughter I enjoyed the fall colors. Sometimes fall doesn't happen in our area- summer just suddenly turns to winter, but our month there was perfect fall weather. We enjoyed every second of it!!