Wish I was back i paradise

The view literally right outside of our hut.



Our walk down Mount Tapyas . It's a horrible picture, but I wanted to post it because of the little boy to the left of me. I sort of have a crush on him. He was so cute!! He followed us all 700+ steps and back down 700+ steps trying to get us to buy water and gatorade from him. I had to buy a couple because I could not resist his face!





The view of the islands on top of Mount Tapyas.



This was at the dock at Coron. We were waiting for our boat to get back to the resort, but the tide was so low and there were so many boats that it could not get to us. The boat guy had to swim and push this small boat to the dock and bring us back one (or two) by one. They said that they were scared to step on sting ray!!! What a sacrifice!

Kayangan Lake

The cleanest lake in the Philippines: 70% fresh water and 30% salt water.

To get there we had to hike up a mountain and back down.



This was the view from the top.



To the left there are a couple of caves you can swim in where lots of birds' nests live. The Filipinos use the next to make nido soup. Yum-o!

The Twin Lagoon

Our next stop was the Twin Lagoon, only accessible during low tides. I had to swim underneath the mountain to get to the lagoon.

I think I'm in Heaven

After my bathroom experience, we finally made it to Malikyan Beach? Not sure of the spelling, but I googled it and two korean sites came up. Oh well. I know it started with an M and there was a K in there somewhere. I hope someone can correct me...again, the pictures...















Can you tell we like to take jumping pictures?

I'm feelin hot, hot, hot

In Palawan, there is an area where the water flows from underneath the ground and out into the ocean, this is called the Maquinit Hot Springs. Oh yes...I did some research for you. Better yet, I googled.


My mom and I sychronizing..





My crazy Uncle, Tito Boy!



The walkway towards the hot springs from our boat.



This is a view from the hot springs towards the ocean. The best time to go to the hot springs is during high tide.

I don't know if I felt any kind of natural effect, but it was definitely cool to be swimming in naturally heated water!

Excuse Me, Where's the bathroom?

[GRAPHIC STORY BELOW: Read at your own risk!]



While in the Philippines, we went to the most amazing island, Palawan. We went to all kinds of natural wonders. On this particular leg of the trip, we went to a very discreet island of white sandy beaches, clear water and not a person in sight (well not many people in sight).

This trip was a whopping 1 hour and a half boat ride in open sea. And if you see from some of these other boat pictures that the boat isn't your typical boat that you find in the states. But for this trip, we rented a boat that could carry more gas, more engine and yes a bathroom.

If you were waiting for the graphic part, wait for it, wait for it...

Apparently a virus was going around amongst my family members who were on this trip. The virus consisted of diarrhea a couple of times a day. And knowing my luck, I had the virus on this day. On this day of the trip. On this day when we had to ride an hour and a half to a beach in open sea!

Luckily, haha, and I do say luckily there is a bathroom on the boat. No, it's a toilet surrounded by four wooden walls. No top and one hole to drain the toilet into the ocean. The same water that I will be swimming in an hour and a half from this point.

I could see the islands ahead of us...



From the picture, it probably looks like we're going fast, but we probably had another good 15-20 minutes left and I just could not wait!

So, I ventured into the box. I did my business. where was the toilet flusher??!

The toilet flusher was standing right outside of the box holding a pail of water.

Yes. In order to flush the toilet you have to pour water down the toilet really fast. Umm, no way I was going to let this guy flush my virus down the toilet, especially since I realized during this trip that Filipino guys are attractive. Especially the ones who live at the beach!



So I politely declined the help and flushed that virus straight into the bright blue and green ocean!

Let me Ride that Donkey Donkey

There really are no words to explain how beautiful it was, so I'll let the pictures do all the talking! These pictures were taken by my talented cousin, Marc. :)



My grandparents have a house up in Tagaytay, known for the volcano within a volcano. We drove down the mountain, albeit a very steep mountain, to the lake. We then took a boat ride to the inside crater of the volcano. I would explain how it became a volcano within a volcano, but I would probably butcher the whole story. It's best if you do the research yourself...sorryeeeee!



From there, we rode a donkey all the way up the crater...under the blazing sun. For some reason, a 10 year old boy was leading my donkey and thought it would be a good idea to make the donkey go faster.



Let's just say that my inner thighs were killing me for who knows how long. I did not want to fall off that donkey so I was holding on for dear life!

The ride, although rocky, was definitely worth it...



This is the water inside the innermost crater. It's still active so you can see bubbles in certain areas of the water. They say that you can go down there a bath in the water if you wanted to.







Actually, now that I think about it. I think I was riding a horse and not a donkey.

Happy 80th Birthday

My family and I took a trip to the Philippines to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday! Whenever there is a celebration, there is a show! We all danced to the songs of Grease while the great-grand kids had their own numbers.








Sophie playing Happy Birthday on her flute...and many more...



Iggy Boy acting out the story of Up...Mikey (my cousin) was the bird. You can kind of see him behind the stand. He made some really awesome bird noises! Haha!





We'll be celebrating my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary 2012...what will we sing and dance to next? Sound of Music?

Time Flies When You are...

Really busy...

Let's just not bring up the point that I have been MIA for two months. 2 months?

Things have been crazy around these parts, and I'm talking parts as in career and traveling and family.

So while I have been MIA, there ARE things to talk about.

For two weeks in May, my family and I took a trip to the Philippines to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday. The whole family was there: aunts, uncles, cousins. It's definitely a blessing to have your whole family in one place at the same time. We went to the mountains and to the beach. It was amazing! I will post more stories about my trip because there are some really embarrassing stories.

After we got back, my aunt flew back with us to stay two weeks. In between TJ Maxx and TJ Maxx, we took some time out to visit the Crescent City, New Orleans, for Memorial Day weekend. We saw some not so pretty things on Bourbon Street.

And for the kicker, while traveling, I managed to land myself a new job!

Stay tuned for more detailed stories and pretty pictures.

State-ly Love

You would think that I have lost all my obsession for owls and turned over to "state" items.

I've been eyeing these state pillow cases and towels from Uncommon Goods. I'm loving these because they actually have Georgia and Atlanta ones.

The Heads of State

To continue my love of city posters...

I came across The Heads of State

I just love the illustration and the colors...please can someone buy one for me? Maybe a housewarming gift when I fulfill one of my goals for this year?

An Ork Ork here, and an Ork Ork there

My friend showed me this site: Ork Posters, City Neighborhood Posters.

I love the typography (everyone knows how much I love typography), the color combos and the fact that they can screenprint these!

Here are some of my faves:


This one isn't a city neighborhood, but I thought it was still pretty cool!



Now if they can create one for the ATL!

The Art of It All

To add to the busy-ness that is my life at the moment, we've been having figure drawing class during our studio time on Monday nights. I guess this is more of relaxation time for me.



Last night was our last class so I decided to go all out and actually do a painting.
J. Wo has done several figure paintings for our class. This is my first figure painting. ha! I know I already signed it, but I think it's still a work in progress...her head might be too big for her body and I need to work on her right leg. Any other suggestions?