Limary Family in Siquijor
My grandfather is from the Philippines. He left the islands when he was in his 20’s and left behind a wife and two sons (read the full backstory here). My father and his immediate siblings (except for the youngest) had never visited the Philippines before. But since I moved here in 2012, we have been able to convince my parents to visit us here twice. This past May my dad’s sister came out to visit us as well and she got to see where her father came from. It was a really special experience for us to be able to show our family (parents, aunt, cousin, sister, brother) the island that grandpa came from (Siquijor) and introduce them to our long lost relatives.
On the day of our departure to Siquijor, Matt picked up my parents and brother from their international arrival, while I took those who had already arrived to a different airport terminal. We finally got to see the whole gang and relaxed at Cinnabon before our domestic flight.
Kalani got to hang out with her aunt Kalani, whom she is named after for a week.
Welcome to Coco Grove in Siquijor. It has become our “other home” in the Philippines!
We showed our family where and how our cousins live in Siquijor.
Salagdoong beach with the two of our Siquijodnon cousins.
We took the family to the beach across the street from where our Filipino relatives live.
We went to the lookout tower that is the the middle of Siquijor Island.
View of Siquijor from Triad Resort
More than 20 of us woke up by 5am to take a boat 3 hours away to Oslob to see whale sharks.
We are already to make memories together by snorkeling the whale sharks.
Hello whale shark! There were 6-10 sharks being hand-fed at Oslob.
After seeing whale sharks, we headed to the nearby Sumilon Island to snorkel, swim and play in the ocean.
Since the festivals were taking place, our family fed us a couple of different times at their home. We would eat at a private area on the second floor of the home as guests of honor.
While waiting for the festival performances to start, our family took naps since they were jet-lagged, and the performance started an hour late.
We took our family to the famous Balete Tree and they were able to experience a “fish spa”.
One cousin from California and the other from Siquijor. Same age and similar build.
Siblings spent a lot of time together “talking story”.
Before we left Siquijor the girls wanted a photo with a jeepney.
Good-bye Siquijor. Until next time.
