The Plants...

There is no way I could photo every beautiful flower and post it here... and there's no way to share the smell - a little bit of heaven...
But these are some of them.

Waterfall.......

This little boy was super cute! He was soaked playing in the water. Made me miss Gavin even more!

Me, Ryan, Rey, and Carla.... the Call Center Operations -CCO- Outing!

My sweet sweet Carla. In case I haven't told you enough, Carla. I appreciate you more than I can say. Thank you for being my number one companion here. You are the BEST!!!

The water had it's own brown beauty....

After lunch under the waterfall we headed back to the beginning.

Lunch in a Waterfall.... yes IN...

At Hacienda Escudero... we were pulled over to a beautiful place...
The feast...
Pansit - this is the noodle dish - it was AMAZING, Roasted chicken, YellowSquash/Coconut/Green Bean yumminess, Caldereta - a delicious beef/potato/carrot thing, with jicama and cucumber next to it.




The view from the top...

The walk amd the ride

Museum....

The sunshine waited for us outside... it was a gorgeous day in this tropical place....

Museum view from the top.

An interesting graphic from an old newspaper....

A picture made out of butterfly wings...

Pictures of the Daddy Long Legs - they were pretty cool.

The Museum at Hacienda Escudero

First Stop - Bathrooms! This sign was near the door and I liked it.

Second Stop - Tickets! For a package price we got tickets for a Museum Tour, Carrabeo Ride and Buffet Lunch in a waterfall.

The museum was a huge beautiful pink building.It was two stories - big and open. Inside there were all sorts of things - Catholic statues and displays, Natural History (stuffed animals etc.), Artifacts of Asian countries, displays of the fashions/dress through the centuries, War Artifacts, LOTS of things. It was nice to walk around.

Photos were not allowed inside so I only got 5....

Yes Real Bugs... there were real Butterflies... all sorts of things.

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Destination Hacienda Escudero

This is about a 4 minute video of the drive. Warning: could be bumpy. There were lots of street vendors and a variety of things - schools, businesses, homes of all sorts and sizes. I feel so lucky to get to see so many different things and so many parts of the country with my kaibigans (friends).

The drive...

You know how sometimes it's as much about the journey as it is the destination - I believe that's true in The Philippines. We drove south - driving where lanes are more guidelines then law and traffic in Seattle seems to have little validity as 'bad traffic' in my book anymore. It's a beautiful landscape - the 'tropical and exotic' are all over. Orchids are blooming and trees have fragrant flowers. Some of the most beautifu things I've ever seen. Drive was interesting. Again, they drive by different standards here. It was fun to listen to the radio and chat with everyone.

The Long Day... Stop 1 - Farmers Market

After work - first thing on Saturday Morning here, I set out with 3 of my favorite people. Carla, Rey, Ryan and I hired a car and a driver for an adventurous day. The car met us at 8 AM at the condo. Carla and I walked to the market that is only on Saturdays. It was pretty neat - got a Christmas present for my mom and my sister. It's a surprise ladies can't tell you! :) We went back to the car and were off.
This is more of an 'upper-end' market.



Here's the view of the tents from the condo.

Also - survived my first Filipino Earthquake

Not very strong - the thunderstorm my first day here was much more dramatic to me!

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/international-14/1253265149320990.xml&storylist=international

French Pastries at "LA CUISINE"

Noel took the new CCO staff members out to Pastry and Cafe at a French place around the corner from the office. The pastries were delicious - the owner's wife, Michelle came and said hello. She was so friendly - a beautiful little Cafe. From left to right - Me, Carla, Rey, Ryan and Noel.


Peach Cobbler Pie thing...

Pecan and chocolate Pie

Flaky dough with pudding between light layers (nope, don't remember the name but it was good)

Some sort of Tiramisu maybe? - lots of layers - delicous thick chocolate on top

Breakfast of Champions! And lucky travellers...

At Robbie Harding's suggestion ... :) .... Chicken and Pork Adobo - Brought in by Noel from a great place 'Adobo Republic' 'Ang Bahay Ng Pambansang Paborito!'
This was very delicious. Kind of salty and savory.... I need a recipe for this dish to take back with me.

The Filipino Feast!

Lengua - it looked good with mushrooms and onions in a sauce over meat. It was after I ate most of it that Carla asked if I liked it. She said it's usually eaten on a special occasion. Then I learned the meat was tongue. Never did figure out what animal's tongue. Hmmm.

Sinigang na Baboy - a delicious soup with gabi (similar to potato) pork etc. Tasty. This is one of Carla's favorite dishes.

The feast - all of the dishes came with their own serving utensils in their own little trays.

Bibingka or Salty egg - with shaved coconut - a sweet cakey treat. With egg. And Salt.

Puto bongbong - this was a huge treat. Carla says she usually eats it at Christmas. These purple rolls were very chewy and delicious - I liked them with the Coconut - also served with dark brown sugar. We were too full to eat it all so we have leftovers for later.

An adventurours fancy Filipina meal.

Also - learned that it's silly to call a business between 12 and 1:30 - businesses close for lunch. Good for them!

Video - Riding On the Jeepney!

We rode to a mall that was really 5 malls all spread out and combined. There are guards everywhere here- it's kind of neat. Glorietta 1, Glorietta 2, Glorietta 3, you get the idea. Everytime you walk through from one section to another - over a skybridge or what not - you get to walk though the guards. They have metal detectors and search inside your bags/purse. We found wandered for awhile up and down hallways - must have been 5 or more stories - past tons of stores and found a great place to eat!