Embracing the Adventure

Justin was given the day after Christmas off work, so we decided to take a tour of a local area that we had heard about. Tagaytay is a region that is about 1.5 hours away from Manila, and it is most notable because it is the home of Taal, one of the Philippines' active volcanos (although the last time it erupted was 1977). Tagaytay is also famous for its fruit markets. Its climate and soil make it just perfect for growing fruit, and many people even drive down from Manila to take advantage of the delicious fruit. Our first stop was a fruit market, where we got to try some local produce for the first time.  We loved the jackfruit (the gigantic yellow one in the above picture), chico (has the most amazing taste - just like honey!), and guyabano (also called soursop). We also got to see how pineapples are grown, which is this area's biggest export. Check out the pineapple fields! To grow pineapples, they collect the tops off the previous crop of pineapples and jus...

There is yet another cool fun kids' play place in our neighborhood, called Adventure Zone! This one is members only, as part of a fitness club. However, one of Justin's coworkers has a membership there, but doesn't have any kids, and so she offered to let Elias come and play on her membership sometimes. That was so nice! Justin and Elias went there on Saturday, and they had a fabulous time! I love the photos and videos below, because they show the expressions of pure joy on Elias' face. He is such a delight! Thank you, Bernadette! :)

We let Elias open up one of his Christmas presents early... His own digital camera that can go underwater! We have some snorkeling and beach trips planned, and we know he's going to love being able to take his own photos. So he and Daddy took the camera down to the pool to give it a try! They had fun!! Note: This is the camera, a Vtech Kidzoom Action Cam 180 . We love it so far!

Elias and I visited another cool place in our neighborhood this week, called KidZania . The premise is that it's a miniature city where kids can learn to do all of the jobs and earn "money" that they can then spend to buy or do fun things. There was SO MUCH to do there! We'll go back over and over again, because there's just no way you can get to it all in a single day. So much fun! Each of the shops is sponsored by a real local business, so it really helps the kids connect what they're doing to the real world. It is such a neat idea! Elias' first job was working in a Yellow Cab pizza shop. He and 6 other children actually made their own pizzas, and then they got to eat them, too! Elias is in the back right.  They kneaded and rolled the rough, put on sauce, and put on toppings. Then they baked them in the oven and ate them... Yum! Elias' next job was becoming a member of a street band! One neat thing about this place is that parents don...

Elias' class had a gingerbread house building party, and I was able to go celebrate with them. It was so much fun! The lady in the red shirt in the back of the below photo is Elias' actual teacher. All of the other adults you see in the photos are classroom moms! Elias was very proud of the house he made! I got to meet a lot of the other students and moms, and I am definitely looking forward to being more involved at Elias' school next semester! Now they're on Christmas Break for a full three weeks, so I'm sure there will be lots of adventures for me to post about in the meantime.

I already posted about how Manila is Christmas Crazy , but it just keeps multiplying! I can't even believe it! Last week, these seven Christmas trees were put up around the corner from our apartment: Then we were delighted to discover that they are lit different colors at night! The mall nearest us is decorated with a mermaid theme, and Elias was acting scared of the jellyfish... "Bad squishy!" You can see in the bottom of this picture the entrance to the little walkthrough.  It turns out it was just a walkthrough virtual aquarium, not a Christmas display, but we still loved it! Elias said, "I found Nemo!!" Downstairs from the aquarium display was this holiday gourmet food popup sale. Popups like these are all over the place! Finally, there is a large central area of our neighborhood called High Street, which is about 5 blocks long, and is jam packed with stores and restaurants. We saw signs advertising that there was a light show there t...

The Consular Ball is an annual event hosted by the Consular Corps of the Philippines. All Embassy personnel are invited to attend, but since Justin works in the Consular section, it was even more appropriate that he should go and mingle with consular representatives of many nations here in the Philippines. Our new friends Walter and Eugenia helped us with finding formal wear, hair and makeup stylist, and they even gave us a ride to the event! We had formal wear made by a seamstress here in Manila, and we LOVED the job she and her workers did in making exactly what we wanted! (Elias didn't even recognize me with the hair and makeup!) We enjoyed the delicious meal! Below are the main course and dessert course. I forgot to take pictures of the salad and soup courses! Then there was a fun evening of dancing with friends! We really enjoyed our first ball!!