Hello again! I'm still in the Philippines. The past few weeks have been busy and tiring. I am still trying to adjust to the change in time zones. It's weird because I have been getting very sleepy around 8pm and waking up at 7am while here. Usually back in the States, I can stay up as long as 3am and can usually sleep until 1pm. I'm sure it's the 12 hour time difference and the jet lag. Another element I am battling is the heat and humidity! It's is very humid and hot here during the day and sometimes at night. I fell so gross and sticky from sweating by the end of the day that all I want to do is take a shower and go to bed!
So on our second day in Bacolod, we were planning on going sight seeing around the mountain areas, but ended up spending the day in Bago. A family friend named Diday (actually her nickname) was at my aunt's house giving manicures, pedicures, and massages. I ended up getting both manicure and pedicure, plus a massage. Hubby got a massage too. It was amazing and just want I needed! The massage was 300 PHP (Philippines pesos) which currently has a convention rate of around 42 peso to the US $1. So the massage was about $7 for a full body, one hour long massage. This is actually slightly high than what spas around the area charge since she does it at your house. The mani/pedi was 200PHP. We also visited an area in Bago near the river where part of a fiesta was taking place. The area was celebrating a "charter fiesta" which consist of different areas/neighborhoods around Bago and celebrates when they becomes a town or charter. Each charter had a little House/hut built along the river and sold different products from their area. My cousins bought a lot of local fruit... Indian mango, star apple, etc. My cousins and I had lunch in a little food stand, where I got to try Filipino style fish balls for the first time. They were more like fish flavored deep fried dough. Yummy!
Yesterday (02/15) was spent celebrating my birthday. My family planned a large party with lots of extended members. It was nice to see more relatives! My birthday is actually on the 17th, but my cousin's wedding is taking place that day. Our scheduled plan was mixed up and changed due to the recent earthquake that affect the other half of the island we are on. The island is separated into Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. We are in the Occidental side and the earthquake affected the Oriental side. This was where the wedding was to take place, but the earthquake and subsequent landslides had destroyed much of the area and made the roads and bridges impassible by car. Our family had to re-plan everything and now the wedding will be held in Bago and the reception in my aunt's house. Anyways, my birthday party was a lot of fun! My cousin got me a large pink "princess" cake and we every had a karaoke machine! Us filipinos love our karaoke!
Today (02/16), was a day trip to a large neighboring island called Iloilo. My parents had two places they wanted to eat for lunch and dinner and I wanted to go shopping at one of the mega malls. We took a large, fast ferry called an Ocean Jet from Bacolod to Iloilo which took an hour. Once there we ate breakfasts at a small local eatery by the water called Nora's. The meal consisted of fried fish, eggs, rice, and pork chops. I also tried little squid cooked in the ink... It was delicious! Now, I do know what lots of foodies are raving about. After breakfast we spent a few hours shopping in ShoMart aka SM mall. We took a local bus called a Jeepney to the mall. Lunch was at this restaurant in the outskirts of Iloilo, by the water called TaToy's. We had grilled chicken (their speciality and will the head still attached!), scallops, oysters, and garlic rice. My hubby and parents also had young coconut juice right outs of the coconut shell called Buko. I'm not a fan. Afterwards, we took the Ocean Jet back to Bacolod. It was raining at this point and the water was very choppy, making for an interesting ride. We ended the day having lunch with my cousins who were in Bacolod for some shopping. Nothing special in the fare, but the atmosphere was nice... Family, food, drinks, and lots of laughs. What more can you ask for?
Now it's time for bed because I have to wake up earlier to get ready for the wedding in the morning!
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