Corrigador

We went to Corrigador yesterday - that's 29th December. It was a very hot day trip, but really worth the effort. For any WWII buffs, this is really a brilliant site to visit from a 'hands on history' point of view. You can see the canons used during the war to defend Manila. The sad part is that it's hard to see the guns and the ruins without thinking of the lives lost defending the island and attacking the island.

We went with a bunch of wonderful people we have met through our church. Thanks Jamie for organising the trip. This is us all in the back of our fake jeepney. A jeepney is the equivalent here of the South African mini bus taxi. This one was fake because it didn't look the same as typical jeepneys on the outside.

The fake jeepney.

Ayala Triangle Christmas Lights

We went to the Christmas Light Show at Ayala Triangle Garden the other evening. I felt like I was in a mini version of Disney Land in a way, because the music had the same kind of sound to it. Anyway, it was short, but enjoyable. And so colourful!

Mall of Asia at Christmas and Hooters

Obviously, the Philippines is severely hot. So it was pretty interesting to see this snow bubble at SM Mall of Asia. The snow falls out of the circular vent at the top. 

Then after seeing the snow bubble and reserving movie tickets for Ghost Protocol, Brad decided I needed an introduction to what by all accounts is a good family restaurant. So off we went to Hooters...lol. In fairness the food was really good, but perhaps the decor could be a little less euphemistic :-)

Starbucks and Data Capture

So we went to get our 'data captured' - yet another step in the visa process. We made allowance for the traffic, which can truly stand still here beyond anything I've seen before, and unfortunately ended up arriving an hour too early. So we found this funky little starbucks over the road. They're on just about every corner. 

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was bittersweet this year. It was our first Christmas away from family. However, God has given us some wonderful friends who spent Christmas day with us. After church in the morning, they came over for what turned out to be a very late lunch. We've decided that's Linner... cheesy but an apt name I think :-)

Anyway, below are some pics from the afternoon. This is us with a serious cook up. Deboned, stuffed chicken and a rolled roast, which ended up being unrolled and roasted as a fillet instead...lol. Dior and Lindsay were fantastic in the kitchen. Hats off to all the culinary efforts!!

Dive weekend Philippines no. 1

So this is a quick blog about our qualifying dive trip. Can't believe it's taken this long to blog about it!!!!

Anyway, it was great fun trying to get kit like fins and masks. Thanks to our dive instructor and the very helpful folk at Scuba World in Makati for all the help and advice!