Holy Colee!

Sunday was lovely. Ompong took me on a tour of the city(ies). We even went to part of mass… that totally counts for church ;) The coolest part by far was the WW2 Memorial and cemetery. Words would not do justice to the feeling there.

Monday I kind of just hung out until my flight. The airport was interesting and frustrating. You’re supposed to present your ticket twice before you can get to the counter that actually prints the tickets out… yeah. So then, after all my repacking to get everything into the right place… I was over the luggage weight limit. They weigh by passenger instead of by suitcase. Grr, but it was only $10 so, whatever.

Landing in Cebu was the first time I have really felt like I might actually be on an island. It is completely different than Manila. There are not as many cars or people or building, heck I even saw cows and chickens :) Feels like I home. I checked into the hotel and tried to nap, but it didn’t work, so I tried to take a bath. They have bubble bath – I was very excited. Then I realized I couldn’t get the water hot enough to stay warm while the rest of the tub was filling. Total bummer.

The center here is also very different. It’s more than just the set up. I haven’t quite put my finger on it yet. But I am really enjoying the work week again. I am having a rough time trying to get my normal work done – stupid end of month reports – but it’ll work out. Everyone is telling me how nice the beaches are… do you think anyone would notice if I called in sick???

After work yesterday Ompong picked me up and brought me up to the new hotel. I am now staying at the Peninsula. It is a lovely hotel. The view is awesome. I can finally see Manila in the daylight :) I got checked in and settled and then Ompong and I headed back out. I was going to take a nap and wait for Noreen to come, but Ompong convinced me I needed to go early. We went to Greenhills. OH MY stuff. Stuff and people everywhere. I got my first round of shopping done in record time. Ompong hooked me up with the best vendors and prices on my knockoffs. And, yes, I spent too much money with Mimi, but the pearls are beautiful. Technically I didn’t spend too much, just more than I had planned on. We also went to Balakbayan for souvenirs and then he took me to Max’s for lunch. There is a reason he is our family driver. He showed me how to eat the things we ordered and ordered the tastiest little uve cream dish for dessert….

Then we came back to the hotel and picked up Noreen. We went back to Greenhills because I now needed an extra suitcase. I actually had that part planned… the part I didn’t have planned is that even with the new suitcase, I am struggling to find space to get it all in. This time we wandered. Wandering is dangerous for me. It proved to be so this time as well. After wandering, Ompong brought us back to the hotel and after dropping things off, Noreen and I walked down to the mall across the street. We wandered some more. Good times :) We stopped for dinner and then made our way back. Neither of us had slept in a really long time…. Really long time… I am pretty sure I passed out about 2 minutes after Noreen left.

Today I had a lovely breakfast at the hotel and this afternoon Ompong is going to take me on a tour :) Should be a lovely laidback Sunday.

Thanks Gail for sending these over. I have some of Jason and Kevin that I still need to pull off my camera, but I wanted to post these, so I did :)

Lisa, Debbie, Gail


Lisa, Debbie, Nicole

Today I went wandering. I know you’re not supposed to wander alone, but I did it smart ;-) I went to the mall. I have never seen so many security guards in a mall, ever. I had no problem feeling safe.

So, the mall… oh my goodness. If I were a shopper, I would have been in heaven. There is everything you can imagine in this place from flipflops to DIY supplies. I wandered around for a few hours. I am not much of a name brand girl, but they were everywhere. My biggest struggle is trying to convert the prices in my head. It’s about 40 pesos to the dollar. So 100 pesos is about $2.50… after 4 days, it’s almost starting to click. I am also a little leery of being suckered, so I am super excited that Noreen is going to go with me this weekend when I do my pearls and purses shopping.

For dinner I had sizzling sisig. What is that you ask? I still have no idea. I think she said it was pork… I know it had onions and garlic in it, but as for the rest of the flavors, no clue. It was super tasty though, but I wish I had ordered it with rice. It needed a side dish. I had a lovely dish of mango ice cream while I waited for my shuttle, I got home just in time to walk across the street to work.

So I suck at posting lately. You should be used to it by now. Last week I was in KC. It was great to finally put some faces with names – as well as see some of my favorite faces again. :)

This week I am in Alabang. The only thing I haven’t loved so far is the ride over. The ride itself was actually awesome too. I have never been treated so well or given so much food in my life on an airplane. Being fed every 2 hours was quite a shift from my last flights where I didn’t get so much as a pretzel. If they treated every customer the way they treat business class, no one would drive again ;) The only thing I didn’t love about it was the duration, really, I am not complaining at all.

I got in to the hotel and I was told that I HAD to sleep. Yeah, it didn’t happen. I got in, took a nap and then went across the road to work. It was Monday, there was simply too much to do. But after I got my Monday work done, my brain had no trouble at all falling asleep for 10 hours. When I woke up – at 7pm, I got a phone call asking me to go to dinner. Other than the meals are opposite of what I am used to, I think I have the time difference down :) kind of…. Oh, I had adobo for dinner. Ryan, yours is better.

Today was a work day like I wish all my work days were. I love meeting with the people who are actually impacted by the things I do and the decisions that we make. I especially love when I actually have the ability to fix some of the things they are frustrated with. LOL, it doesn’t happen often, so I enjoy it when it does.

My goal for today is to get out and explore the hotel. Tomorrow maybe more of the city. I am still not 100% sure how to get to places I can’t walk. So, I’ll have to ask tomorrow.

So, I have had about the coolest weekend ever. So cool infact that this is the first time I have had a chance to sit down and tell you about it.

Yeah, so Friday night, I am sleeping (that's what I do on Friday nights) and Monica comes into my room to ask me if there is anyone trying to climb into my window. Huh? is all I could muster. Anyway, so there is this guy trying to climb into her window. About the time he took the screen off, she called 911. The cops showed up and took the very drunk man away. I have no idea what the official charge is, I just know they arrested him. If you want the rest of the story, you'll have to talk to Monica. All I know is that the boards in the windows aren't going anywhere any time soon.

Saturday afternoon, Monica comes out in to the living room (again, super exciting life I lead) and asks why the carpet is wet. Yes, again. This time, I was able to locate the source of the water very quickly. It was coming out of the bottom of my ancient water heater. So, I call my mom - cuz that's what I do when I don't know what else to do... and lo and behold Justin is at my mom's house. He tells me it's alright and that he'll be down the next day to help me get a new one and install it. We decided it wasn't actually the end of the world though, so we also decided it was better done on Monday than on Sunday. I thought I had figured out how to make the leak run into the drain instead of my hall way, but I woke up Sunday morning to a half inch of water in the back hall though, so instead, I just shut ALL the water off. At least until we could make sure the water heater was the only thing leaking. It was. Today I spent the day being broke, but the water heater is in. The shower is warm. And, I am ready to fly to Kansas tomorrow. YAY ;)

The weird part is, I can't even figure out how to complain about it. Life is good. My family is awesome. My home is safe, and I get to meet people I've been working with for years, tomorrow. How cool is that? Anyway. I should probably sleep. I still have to go to work before I fly out...
See you soon, Rod! I know you're so excited you can hardly contain yourself ;)

So, I am not going to start on Dancing with the stars, but does watching Priscilla Presley scare anyone else but me??? They commented on her face never giving her away - HOW COULD IT? There is more BOTOX than blood in those veins.

Sooo I had a fabulous weekend. Mom came down and we had a little retail therapy. What I was shopping for was a bargain... I don't really need anything. So, Friday night we went to Sears Grand - off a tip from the ladies at work. I did NOT have a good experience. I found a basketfull of stuff I liked, and it was all marked BOGO, but when I got to the register, it was BOGO if you get the same thing, in different colors... Who really needs multiple shirts of the same in different colors? I was less than pleased.

Saturday we went downtown and tried to catch the second half of conference. We didn't get in, but we did watch from the theater in the North Visitor's Center... so it was all good. Then I took Mom to my favorite Sushi place and taught her how to order only things that were cooked :D Then we found the REAL bargain shopping :D I got 2 new dresses and 2 tops that will be fun to wear. The only thing I didn't find was a new jacket - so that is still on the list.

Sunday we watched conference and then Mom went home. It was fun to have her here though. I hate living 3 hours away from my family. One of the best weekends I have had in a long time. Thanks Mom!

A few photos... finally


Everything was SO green

Diamond Head

It was kind of an iffy surf the week we were there.

The temple is beautiful, inside and out :) It was not flower season, but still so pretty.

My Hawaii

Mom in her pretty new dress and a gorgeous sunset

Did I mention I was fascinated with the sunsets? I have about 30 more photos that look a whole lot like this one

Oh I am going to a Hukilau.... it's a long story.

Another sunset, I couldn't resist

On Saturday I decided it was time I finally get in the ocean. I never did actually put my new swimsuit on, but I DID get in the water - this far. Now you know why I NEED to go back!

Ok, so, I missed American Idol again last night. But, believe it or not, once in a while - I DO actually have stuff going on.

Last Thursday I was listening to the radio. They were running a contest - be caller x- for people to come to The End Zone with A Fine Frenzy on Tuesday, April 1. Well, I was near a phone, and I figured, why not... So, I was caller x. COOL, I say. They told me I could bring a friend - So I talked to my friend Trista. She is BY FAR my favorite concert buddy. No one mocks as well as she does. Period. Even cooler, she's able to rearrange her Tuesday stuff so she can come play :)

So Tuesday - we go to the radio station to see The End Zone. It was great. The song I knew from this girl is called "Almost Lover." It is quite possibly the saddest song ever written. If you are looking for a good cry/break up song - I highly recommend it. If you're even slightly emotional, you'll be wiping tears half way through. She sang it as well as a couple of others, including a cover of "I'll Follow You Into The Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie. Trista tells me this song will be played at my reception. She's the DJ, by the way. Then when we were waiting in line to get our autographs on our free singles and our awesome pictures ;), they had 10 extra pairs of tickets for the actual concert that evening.


HECK YEAH, I say! So we got 2 pairs, and called our friend Matt and my roommate Monica and we went to the concert :)
The opening bands really stunk, but again, A Fine Frenzy was really cool! I know she's not huge yet - as evidenced by the venue she was playing in, but it was fun, and she's really young, but she's having a good time, and her voice is amazing. I like her better with out the synths, but still, really cool. If you want you can check her out on the radio's web page... there's a link to the actual endzone. http://www.1019theend.com/PhotoWall.asp?id=38375