All of these ladies loved Blake at the airport while we waited for our next flight.

Our first stop after getting off the airport was at An-Nur Grand Mosque.

We ate dinner the first night at a local restaurant. One half of the restaurant is enclosed and has air-condition. The other half is for smokers and is open air seating.

We got to visit and stay at CR Rumbai Camp.

The home on the compound that we stayed at while in Indonesia.

These ladies took me out shopping and to lunch and just really made me feel welcomed.

So many different Batik material to chose from.

Lots of different Indonesian accessories at a store I was taken to.

Ancestral home in Indonesia.

Lunch dessert was a type of sticky rice. It was good, but I like the Filipino Mango Sticky Rice better.

Blake got to experience a real play ground and he LOVED it.

Breakfast that was on the table waiting for us when we would awake.

Compound commissary had a descent selection of things in the store.

All over the compound you would see monkeys.

A super yummy treat is fresh and hot rotiboy!

You can never go wrong with Shangri-La.

The ambiance, rooms, food and staff are all so great at every Shangri-La. Mason was able to grab a ride with the bell-hop.

We went back to the Damnernsaduak Floating Market. It is crowded with tourists and locals, but such a cool experience.

They use these types of motors to power and steer the boats.

We bought some yummy soup from this man right from his boat. You leave your bowl and spoon in your boat when you are finished and some how they make their way back to the vendors.

We went back to the Tiger Temple. I was a little nervous to have our “not yet one year old” baby next to a big tiger, but it was fine.

Kalani got disgusted with how sweaty and “stinky” this tiger was while she held the head in her lap.

We were able to go in a small group and feed and play with tiger cubs. Kalani liked to play with this two month old cub. Baby Blake was not allowed in this part and stayed with our tour guide.

Mason learning from his father how to feed a tiger cub.

We ended the day by bathing and playing with elephants.

Mason really had a great time with the elephants. He even did some “cannon balls” off of the elephant’s head and basically saw the elephant as a “jungle-gym”.

Kalani didn’t want to get wet, but we did take Blake out in the water and he got cooled off by an elephant.

We ended the day by eating dinner next to the river and watched a cultural dance during our dinner at our hotel.

Klong Ladmayom Floating Market is more of a food area where you can buy food inside on solid ground, or outside by boat.

I had these small coconut pancakes the first time that we went to Bangkok and loved them. I was happy to find them again at Klong Ladmayom. They are a small bite size snack.

There is a wide array of food options…Squid anyone?

We finally got to experience Chatuchak weekend market. Here we bought some “Thailand” pants that really only tourist wear.

Matt bought a Thai painting from these guys on a previous trip. Besides painting canvas art, they also paint shoes.

Chatuchak weekend market also has an area where there are dogs and cats for sale. Blake was very excited to see all of the animals.

By the time we were leaving Chatuchak, Blake was exhausted and my make-up was running.

Matt and I had a quick date with Blake riding the free ferry that Shangri-La provides to the Asiatique Night Market that is just up the river.

View of Asiatique as seen from the boat. There is a ferris wheel and lots of vendors there.

We only spent two full days in Bangkok, but with our wonderful tour guide Nok, we were able to cram a lot of things in. Nok is super easy to work with, has good English, great with kids, mixes up transportation between private cars and public so you get to experience everything. If you go to Bangkok, try to book Nok as your tour guide.

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.

My sister and cousin’s week in Manila before the rest of the family flew in.

My cousin had a direct flight from LA, California. We let her put her suitcase down and then took her to Matt’s basketball game. She didn’t last the whole game.

The boys had never met our cousin before, but quickly accepted her and would spend a lot of time sitting with her on the couch.

Jet-lag is brutal. These two would fall asleep around 7pm every night when they first arrived.

My sister came from Texas, so we loaded her up with goodies to bring here for us. Many of these treats went to friends and co-workers. The people here really appreciate sweets from the states.

I took the girls to Pagsanjan Falls. Blake and I stayed at the resort while they went to see the falls.

The girls went to Taal Volcano while I stayed home one day. It is always nice to get out of the city.

We tried out the trapeze and my cousin was really good at it.

We went back a second time to do trapeze with the whole gang.

Matt took my youngest brother out to do wake-boarding one morning.

We had to take them to Mall of Asia. In 2006 it was the largest mall in the Philippines, but now it is the third largest in the country.

We also took the crew to Sofitel hotel which is on Manila bay so they could experience Spiral Buffet.

When it was just my sister and I at home, Matt had a hard time telling us apart from the back.

For the El Nido resorts there is a private airport terminal. We are ready to go relax and play with friends.

Part of the Palawan island chain as seen from the plane…El Nido is there somewhere.

The middle cottage is where we stayed at Apulit.

The kids are ready for an adventure. We did all enjoyed a private island hopping tour.

Snorkeling with fish was fun, but the kids really liked jumping off the boat while it was anchored.

We hired a nanny to help watch Blake so Tia could snorkel and play. The nanny was not going to let Blake get sunburned!

During our private island hopping tour, we also had our own private picnic lunch on a deserted island. They brought the resort accommodations and food to us!

The second day we spent time at the resort. We had fun at the beach.

Many hours were spent in the pool playing all sorts of swimming games.

We did some paddle boarding and kayaking as well.

We saw some local wildlife. This monitor lizard was very near our table during breakfast…and Matt may have tried to capture it (on several occasions).

Below one of the cottages we saw a stingray hanging out in the morning.

Walking back from breakfast, we saw a baby black tip reef shark in the shallow waters near the cottage.

While traveling to return to Manila, to remind us that we are in the Philippines, we had to walk through three boats in order to get to the dock where our van was waiting for us. Luckily no one fell in the water.