CEBU : temple trip

went to cebu with the ward for a temple trip and celebrated thanksgiving in a whole new way. it was amazing to be able to worship, find inspiration, and refocus life.
my awesome ward.

i absolutely love the temple and the gospel of jesus christ!

CEBU : the hilton

we were originally going to stay at the temple housing which was around $2/day, but a few people missed their flights and couldn't get refunds on the hotel they had booked. they transferred their rooms to us and we got to stay at the hilton for free!

we had a great view


enjoyed the beach


ate an expensive snack
had sister time!

CEBU : shopping

the philippines has awesome shopping. i look a little crazy-delirious, but happy with all these deals. it was black friday, after all. and i think santa is pretty dang happy with being 80% done too.


tried some baked ice cream. it's just like mexican fried ice cream, but it's baked instead.
filipinos are very devout. i guess it's not that different than utah, where there are whole stores dedicated to their religion.
enjoyed an authentic filipino meal.
sinigang, sizzling sisig, tuna belly, and calamansi drink.


oh man. it was fun to see these two in action.
kei, the bargain-maker and jessie, the taxi-sheriff.
do. not. mess. they will regulate. lol!

the only problem was, i only had a carry-on. what was i thinking getting 20 yards of fabric and 40 packs of silly bands? thank goodness for the hotel help, which earned me the title of ghetto-fabulous queen. lol!

CEBU : driving

i used to think singapore was bad. cebu is insane.
beeping horns are as common as smiling faces. easily given.

the jeepneys
(thanks jessie for the photos!)

CEBU : orphanage

one of the young men in our ward organized a project to take christmas gifts and various items to an orphanage near cebu. i'm so glad i went to help deliver it. you always hear about places like this, but it is so different when you actually go there and see their beautiful faces. i was so overwhelmed and had so many different emotions. it was an experience i'll never forget.
this girl was born with deformities. she was getting her nails painted.
gifts were given. songs were sung. games were played.
little friends were made.
these sweet little girls ran all the way down the street waving as our bus left. i wanted to scoop them up and take them with me.

CEBU : sightseeing

we took off one morning to see cebu's sights.

magellan's cross
ps. how about we wait three minutes until the rain stops? crazy americans. :)
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it took me forever to get a waving philippines flag.

the wishing well

sister time is the best! love ya kei!
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friday morning mass


this is really the first time i've ever encountered real poverty. i've driven in downtown compton, but never felt the effects of starving, destitute faces looking at me. as we were leaving the basilica, two little boys, about the ages of my own followed us back to the taxi. i couldn't stop thinking about my own rhett when i heard this little filipino boy grunting and pointing at my drink the same way rhett would when he is hungry. my mind kept saying, "he doesn't even want money. he is just hungry. he's starving." i didn't even care if he was slum-dog millionaire-ing me as i lowered my can and he snatched it away. i wish i had bought a whole feast for the other little boy who followed us to the taxi and put both fists up to the window with his sad frown and sorrow "please" as we drove away.
how can we be okay with this?

rain

it rains a lot here. i guess we're in monsoon season.

in the morning, it seems like it will be a fantastic day. and then when 3pm rolls around, it's almost always thunder-and-lightning-raining. i can't speak for the whole island though. it's the wierdest thing. i feel like i'm at universal studios, on that ride where it has the pretend rain and then at the appointed place abruptly stops. that's how it is when i go to pick up ty from school. it's raining so hard, even on the highest wiper setting i can barely see out the window, but every time i hit ang mo kio ave 1, boom! not a drop on the ground. it's bizarre.

WISE LITTLE MONKEYS

Malia and I made a deal years ago that if she would take the primary responsibility of getting the boys the priesthood, I would take over and have the primary responsibility to see them to temple marriage--then I figure they are on their own for the most part.

So far she is doing a great job. I spent the past 3 days with them while Malia went to the Philippines and these 'two' wise monkeys really are good boys. Ty embodies all three virtues completely--he always has and I hope always will. Rhett has got the first two down and as soon as he starts pronouncing the "r" in fork, he'll be 100% as well.

gobble what?

in our family, the pies are the star of the show. thanksgiving isn't thanksgiving without (oh let's say conservatively) ten pies. you have to have enough for first round pies. second round pies. and breakfast the next morning pies.

moving here, i knew there was no way i would have ten pies. i would settle for three.
pumkin. obvs.
apple. duh.
and my speciality chocolate haupia.

i'm going to cebu this weekend so i ordered our thanksgiving feast from ty's school. not exactly the same as what we're used to. but it would do. this is what i ordered:

sauteed green beans
vegetable stuffing
maple-glazed turkey breast
carmalized sweet potato
mashed potato with gravy
cranberry sauce
apple pie
pumpkin pie

i pick it up and get this.
they forgot.
the.
pies!

luckily steve and the boys will be attending a proper feast while i'm away.
and i will be celebrating thanksgiving in an entirely new way. {more to come}

tarzan

best mexican food in singapore

we haven't tried too many mexican places here. i've only been to the one at dempsey hill. steve's been down to one at clark quay. honestly, i didn't even want to go here that night. why drive all this way, just to get disappointing food? ask steve. good food = happy mamma. i'm glad he dragged me to cha cha cha's at holland village.
first off, they had this:i hadn't even tasted the food, but at the very least knew i was going to have an enjoyable dinner. even on mute, it worked like a charm.

the chips and salsa were major. the perfect amount of heat, salsa-ing on my tongue. and the chips were fresh!
very unorthodox, we were able to get some salsa to go.
(not a very appealing photo, but only shown because) they had white meat. pure white meat chicken in a tasty chimi!
homemade churros. but eat quick! the ice cream melts fast.
we have found our mexican food heaven. the world is a good place.