I’ve been in the Philippines 6 weeks now. Saturday night we left for Baguio. November 16th was F.B.’s Dad’s birthday and the whole family went to Baguio for his birthday. F’s parents, his sister & her boyfriend and F and I. F.B.’s father paid for the whole trip, which was very nice.

We left the house around 10pm Saturday night. We rode tricycles to the front gate of F.B.’s village where we could get a taxi cab. In the Philippines another form of transportation is the tricycle. It’s basically a motorcycle with a metal covered sidecar. (I’ll have to get a picture of one!) F.B. & I rode in the covered part and F.B.’s parents on the back of the motorcycle behind the driver. Pretty crazy!

UPDATED: Here's some pictures of the tricycle:





























We got a cab at the front gate to the bus station. F.B.’s sister & boyfriend followed us to the bus station. There was a lot of traffic getting to the station though. Our bus left for Baguio at 12am. It was a 4 hour nonstop drive. F.B. & I watched movies on my ipod and listened to music, we couldn’t sleep. The type of bus we were on was like a Greyhound bus. I’ve never taken a travel bus before in the USA but they sure drive crazy in the Philippines! Picture speeding down a narrow mountain road with lot’s of sharp turns with the bus driver driving in whatever lane he pleased. At some points you would see headlights coming at you and the bus driver would change lanes.

We got to Baguio around 5am. It’s much colder up there since it's way up in the mountains. (Still no snow though, haha!) We had to put on our jackets and hoodies. We took a taxi to a local church. The service was in another Philippine dialect though. There were a lot of birds flying around up near the ceilings of the church because it was an open church. One landed on a pew close to us.

After church we went to breakfast. Here are some pictures of F.B. & I at breakfast; you can see we are all bundled up because it was cold.

Saturday F.B. & I took our day trip to Tagaytay City to see Taal Lake and volcano. It’s about a two hour drive. We arrived in Tagaytay around 12pm and headed to Taal Vista Hotel. We stayed there two years ago and there’s a nice view of the volcano around the back of the hotel. Lot’s of tourist’s were there taking pictures. It was sunny on and off during our drive and when we finally got to see the volcano it started to rain so we didn’t get too many pictures.

























































After seeing the volcano, we went to Yellow Cab pizza for lunch. We had the Hawaiian pizza and pasta. The restaurant had an even better view of the volcano, so we took more pictures from the balcony.











































After lunch we headed off to the SM City mall in Santa Rosa. We got a little lost looking for the mall so it was around 3pm by the time we found it. We didn’t stay very long though, it was an okay mall. We also checked out their Robinson’s Mall, but that was even worse. Pretty boring.

Around 4pm we headed off to find the Enchanted Kingdom amusement park. F.B. had to stop at several gas stations to ask for directions and each one kept giving different ones. We were lost for awhile, but ended up seeing a pretty rainbow.



















F.B.’s cruising picture:















After driving around for an hour we finally found the road we had arrived on. We could see the Ferris wheel in the distance, but couldn’t find the road to get there and there wasn’t any signs for the park, so F.B. had to ask for directions again. We arrived at Enchanted Kingdom at 5pm.




















Some pictures from the park:

































F.B. wanted to ride the swinging ship so we got in line for that. I think we spent most of the time waiting in line, than on the actual rides. I used to like those swinging ships when I was younger, but I was pretty scared this time, F.B. says the same thing. I think we’re too old now… hmmm. Heehee.

I wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel, which we got to do. That ride lasted the longest. It went around pretty fast too! Here are some pictures from our Ferris Wheel adventure.



















































































By the time we went to our 3rd ride it was already 7pm and starting to rain. They had a small roller coaster that we wanted to try. (We were too scared to try the big roller coaster that went upside down and backwards, haha!) It was dark & raining by the time it was our turn on the roller coaster. Never been on a roller coaster during a rainstorm!

I got some souvenirs at the gift shop to take home to my brothers and F.B. bought me this light up pig pen which is also a fan! Whoo hoo! Check him out!





































We left around 7:30pm and it was raining pretty hard. I wanted to stop at a rest stop on the way back because they had Cinnabon!!! They also had Starbucks. So we stopped and got a cinnamon bun to share and some Starbucks coffee. Yum! The Cinnabon tasted just like the USA, though it could have used a bit more icing.






























Oh yeah…. And when I went to use the restroom at the rest stop the floors were all slippery because of the rain and I fell on my knees walking out of the restroom! F.B. saw me from the doorway… and about 3 other people… how embarrassing…

It was still raining when we arrived back around F.B. neighborhood around 10:30pm. We hadn’t had dinner so we went to the 24 hour Burger King near his house. F.B. showed me how to eat a whopper without making a mess! He doesn’t take it out of the wrapper all the way.















We got back to his house around 11:30pm. It was a long day…. We couldn’t get to sleep right away though and ended up staying up until 4am.

Oh yeah, F.B. and I tried Pizza Hut in the Philippines on Thursday. It was just okay though, we like Yellow Cab best. The only thing I really liked, was the plates they use, I wanted to steal one! (But I didn’t haha!)















I find it funny the phone number they use for delivery. (Don’t use that number in the USA!)



















At Pizza Hut:















I also mailed a package home of Philippine goodies to my family on Thursday through DHL. F.B. & I bought a bunch of their favorite Philippine snack foods. Kopiko coffee candy, Clover Chips, Tempura chips, Choc-Nut, dried mango, etc. It was pretty expensive to mail home though. 3,800 pesos…. Almost $80!!!

P.S. Oh no! There was just a lizard on my laptop!















Then he jumped on F.B.'s shoulder!!!



















Oh wait... just a fake! Haha!



















But I really did see a lizard in the bathroom the other night, it ran away pretty fast behind the sink! Ewww!

I’ve been in the Philippines about a month now. November 1st was ‘All Saint’s Day’, a big holiday in the Philippines. Relatives go to the cemetery to visit their relatives that have passed. And put flowers on the graves and light candles. It’s a big celebration though. Relatives will get up at dawn and spend the entire day at the cemetery. They set up tents or umbrellas around their loved ones graves and spend the day with family.

F.B. & I woke up around 5:30am and left around 7am to go meet up with his family who was already at the cemetery. It was a pretty cloudy and rainy day though. Lot’s of traffic and detours on the roads. Tons of people were at the cemetery, almost like a festival, they were selling stuff, there were food stands. F.B. & I met up with his family and made an appearance. It was still raining so we hung out in the car for most of the time. Then I had to use the restroom, which was flooded. Ewww.

Around 10:30am F.B. & I headed off to the mall. First we stopped at Starbucks since we were both sleepy. Then we went to Sta. Lucia mall so F.B. could look for a game. Then we headed to Market Market so I could get a pink Coca Cola t-shirt I saw there last time. I got another Pepsi t-shirt too in black. The last one I got was red. I already have 2 soda t-shirts from the USA. A Dr Pepper one and another Pepsi one, so I added to my collection.

We had lunch at Tokyo Tokyo, (the place we had our first date.) They have Japanese fast food. We both had chicken teriyaki and we ordered California Maki sushi. In the USA they put avocado in California Roll, in the Philippines they put mango and it tastes 10x’s better. Philippines Mango’s are amazing! We headed to Mega Mall for church around 5pm. They have a chapel right in the mall. It’s a big church too. Then we headed home around 7pm because we were exhausted from the long day.

Friday we went out to see 'City of Ember' at SM Marikina Mall. The girl that plays Briony in 'Atonement' is also in this movie. It was okay. I had a cold though and my throat was pretty swollen so when we ate out at KFC I just had mushroom soup and mashed potatoes, hehe.

Here are some silly photos we took the other day. F.B. & I posing with my pretty umbrella I got at Watson’s drugstore in Mall of Asia. (I know… its bad luck to open an umbrella indoors! Haha!)
















And here is F.B. in the parking garage at Market Market. We parked next to pole F3, but F.B. covered the 3 to look like a B. It’s his own personalized pole. Heehee!













And some of us being silly with Miss Daga (rat) the stuffed animal F.B. gave me.

















































This weekend we are heading to Tagaytay for the day. We’ll take pictures of Taal Volcano and later in the day go to the amusement park ‘Enchanted Kingdom’. Should be fun! I think later this month we are also taking a day trip with F.B.’s parents to Baguio for F.B.’s father’s birthday.