Phillippines

Manilla

Wow after a 6am departure from Suzhou we finally arrive in the CRAZY city of Manilla.  Phillippine airlines was great on service and short on leg room.  Now that's saying something as we are not exactly tall people.  Manilla was chaotic - trying to retrieve our bags was a challenge in itself.  Note to self buy some bright coloured bags - black bags like everyone else has is not good.  I am standing where the bags come out - official job bag spotter, Mackenzie is bag messenger to Bev who is further down the luggage bay and he is the muscle.   Samuel's job is to sit in the pram and look good.

Finally we have all our bags and embark on the 2km ride to our hotel which takes 40 mins - traffic is out of this world.   Meet an Irishman who works in Poland for CBRE and his Canadian girlfriend (international school teacher).

Bohol

Alona Beach

The following day we are out the door at 7am and arrive on the island of Bohol.  Tagbilaran airport is the smallest I have seen - one plane in, half hour turn around, one plane out.  We feel happy to have arrived on Panglao (small island to the side of Bohol), connected by a bridge.  Our accommodation is everything we hope for - cheap, spacious, across from the beach, awesome pool and shop close by that sells cheap beer.  We can sit on the verandah drink our beer and watch the kids swim - good times.  The resort is called Alonaland.  The internet is having a spasm and not working on apple devices so Bevan is feeling very very twitchy and irritable.  I think it is a message from above to take a technology break.

Virgin Islands

The beach was magic, clear water, restaurants upon restaurant.  We booked an early morning trip - 6am (again) to go dolphin watching, out to Balicasag island and snorkeling off the reef.  The kids loved it.  They were great at snorkeling and very happy to see alot of nemo fish.  They also have sea turtles out there although we didn't see them - too much excitement in one daywhich we didn't see.  We also stopped in at the Virgin Islands which while pretty wasn't really necessary as it is more white sand and blue water which you can enjoy on Alona Beach.

Trip to Balicasag

Cebu

On day 5 Bevan organised a DAY trip over to Oslob on Cebu island to see the Whale Sharks.  Another early start.  I had a bad feeling about the trip as when we first turned up for the trip there wasn't enough room on the boat for us, then miraculously there was enough room.  The boat ride over was 3 hours and it was rocky, I thought we were going to capsize a few times.  I had white knuckles while it was lucky for the mood on the boat that the kids thought it was an adventure and were shrieking with laughter.  Oh to be young and just enjoy the moment without knowing the potential dangers.  Due to the rough weather the boat anchors 50 metres out and in true phillippino style there is no small boat to bring us to shore so having travelled 3 hrs to get here we take the only option which is to jump off the boat and swim for it.  Samuel and Mackenzie were amazing swimmers and made me proud.  I personally was feeling nervous but they were great.

After a considerable wait we finally get onto a small boat to go snorkeling with the whale sharks.  This is epic.  They are around 4-5 metres long and so graceful.  The water is quite choppy so we need to be careful not to bang our heads on the boat while trying to snorkel.

Once we are finished I am trying to work out a plan on how to get back to the boat when we see the coast guard standing on the beach to announce that we will not be going back on the boat due to a typhoon warning.  The next mission is to then get to a ferry port which is a 4 hour drive away.  We manage to hire a mini van to take us but between the 14 people on our tour 2 vans were organised and we only needed one.  Unfortunately they both arrive at the same time so a big conversation / debate starts as to which one we are taking.  We take a back seat and let the Spanish, Israeli's and Phillippinos sort the drama.  4 hrs later we arrive in the city of Cebu to find that all ferry services have been suspended so we find a cheap hotel and camp out for the next 3 nights while the storm washes over us.  As we only have our swimsuits and snorkels this was getting old by the third night.

The que to get ferry tickets was hours long so I use my acquired chinese style queuing and befriend an Irish guy further up the que to get tickets and get out of there.  We just make it to the next ferry out - arrived at the terminal at 6.30am and depart at 8.30am - yippee.

Bohol

On arrival back in Bohol the kids and I  take a taxi to our next resort while Bev goes in the opposite direction to get our bags from our first accommodation.  When we arrive at the lovely Loboc River Resort it looks like a war zone.  The river flooded the previous evening and everything is flooded out completely so I guess we are not staying there.  We manage to get hold of Bev and tell him to stay at Alonaland as we will be returning.  Unfortunately our spacious bungalow has been occupied but they find somewhere else for the James family.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          We take a tour around the island of Bohol and visit the Chocolate Hills - in the summer these mounds turn brown hence their name.  We stop in to see the cute little tarsier monkeys and also at The Butterfly Farm.  We have lunch at the Bee Farm - an organic farm with Bee hives.  The food is amazing.

As there are so many eating options we take turns at choosing places to eat and manage to get cocktails two for the price of one.  The kids know how to order pina colada by singing "I wanna pino colada".  Entertainment is good with no shortage of phillipino bands doing great covers.  They sure can sing up a storm.

For our last three nights we stay at the incredible Bohol Beach Cub Resort which really was a nice way to finish the holiday.  The service, food, rooms and amenities were awesome.  They had a games room with board games and a wii which was great when it rained.  They had a massage area on the beach, hammocks.  Food was to die for.  We took a glass bottom boat trip and hired a kayak - staying in the kayak proved a challenge but we managed.

The kids loved swimming in the pool although Samuel needs to work on his swimming style as twice people dived into the pool to save him and he is like get off me I am swimming just fine.  I look like the very responsible parent on the side with a cocktail.

Samuel participated in a fire eating show which was very exciting, we built sandcastles and memories on this relaxing trip - stay tuned for our next adventure.

Suzhou Gardens

Tiger Hill

Tiger Hill is a man made hill with a big Pagoda at the top surrounded by lovely gardens.  The Pagoda is chinese version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it was constructed in the 10th century and has been leaning for about 400 years.  This place is the final resting place of He Lu one fo the founding fathers of Suzhou.  There is an impressive bonsai garden, waterfalls and a lovely tranquil feel to the place.

North Temple Pagoda

We visited this temple on a lovely winters day with our friends The Bell family.  The 9 Story Pagoda is pretty impressive and if the smog is not too bad the views around Suzhou are pretty awesome.  The Pagoda is the tallest of its kind south of the Yangzi.  The grounds are nice and not too big so as to bore the easily tired (so the children were entertained).  We found the rather rotund Budha near the entrance most entertaining and the little bridges also worth seeing.

Sometimes the journey to the garden can be just as entertaining as the garden itself.      

West Garden Temple

Yet another garden however had its own personality with mustard coloured surrounding walls.  There is a museum inside housing 500 statues of monks which was pretty impressive.  There is also a lake with some pretty cool turtles.  We were lucky enough to be joined on this excursion by the Bells who always make any outing entertaining.

Bangkok

I was fortunate to travel to Bangkok for the Learning2.104 conference. It was a blast , both the conference and the city.

Suzhou in the Autumn

What a different Suzhou we have experienced so far since returning in August. Last year e had relentless heat and 40deg for what seemed like an eternity. This year we have had much lower temperatures (mid to low 30s) and a lot of rain. In fact it has often felt like home there has been so much.

A new bunch of teachers and their families have arrived and the children and us are meeting new people which makes the moving on of friends a bit easier. It is a strange feeling knowing that many fiends that we spend time with are only temporary - this is the life on the International Teaching circuit. It does force us to make the most of opportunities otherwise we'd just miss out.

Mackenzie and Samuel are very settled in school this year. They know what to expect and didn't have to endure the creche at school which may have scared them for life last year. They are  enjoying meeting new friends and there  is a large group of friends who are always willing to play at our compound.

G5 Camp Fairmont Hotel

With Charlie and Roma at the bbq

Loving Shanghai

Hanging out reading

Mackenzie turning 8

In September Mackenzie turned 8. With life getting in th way I nearly forgot to share her special day. She got a super healthy start to the day with an ice cream - Of course Samuel also had to have one. The following weekend Mackenzie, Cindy, Melissa and a bunch of her friends wen to KTV to bust out some songs. Samuel and I came along near the end, it was full on.  I know Mackenzie had a great day.

London for 8 days

We have taken Europe by storm and loved it.  Here we are again in the lively city of London.  Oh how I love the buzz and excitement of this city.  It was so great to be able to share this with our children.  We stayed with our good friends Maria and Kev in Essex - gotta love Essex - "you know what I mean yeah".

We met up with Bevan briefly for two nights (before he had to come back to China for work). He took the kids to the Natural History Museum which they loved.  We also encountered some of my other friends from 10 years gone by - Mr Mark Jefferson who hosted us for lunch while our chaffeur for the day was Patrick and his adopted company Autumn (a dog).  Maria, Terry (Marias lovely daughter) took us to Kensington Gardens for the day where we played on the pirate ship, strolled through Kensington Gardens past the Palace, then cooled off in the Princess Di memorial fountain - bliss.  The kids and I then hit Oxford Street briefly before heading to the Baumbers for dinner and some devine wine.

We spent a day at Legoland in Windsor - left home at 7am and got back about 10pm so it was an epic but fun filled day.  The rides were fun and the miniature lego cities were impressive.  Got soaked on one of the water rides - lucky it was a hot hot day. We visited the Science and Technology Museum, hung out at Covent Garden watching the street performers which the kids loved - not bad entertainment for free.  Our chaffeur Patrick Spears took us and his sister to Greenwich which was a fun day hanging out in lovely London.

We so so so enjoyed our trip and seeing all of our amazing friends again.

Jefferson Boys, Mr Spears, Autumn (dog) and Cindy

Kevin Onslow teaching Samuel how to express himself

Maria Onslow and Kenzie strutting their stuff at Kensington Gardens

Squirrel that Samuel fed his snacks to.

Princess Di Memorial - Mackenzie, Maria and Terry

Maria and Cindy

Legoland

Greenwich

Rome - August 2014

We arrived in Rome in one piece to be greeted with a familiar and friendly reception by my Aunty Val and Uncle Carmine.  We stayed with them for 8 glorious nights.  During this time my Aunt cooked, cleaned, looked after the children and we generally had a brilliant time.  My Uncle was our Chaffeur - does life get any better.  It was pretty hot so we went to the beach several times.

We went into the centre of Rome twice and saw the amazing sites including the Colosseum - lucky I had prebooked tickets for this as the line was massive.  Samuel was very interested in the fighting that took place here as was desperate t get a gladiator outfit which was subsequently purchased.  We took a tricycle ride to Piazza Novana then walked to the Pantheon and onto the Trevi Fountain which funnily enough was being restored and covered in scaffolding - this occurs at at least one major site seeing destination everytime. The kids thought the Pantheon was pretty amazing with the hole in the ceiling Our next adventure into the big smoke was to St Peters Bascillica - we used our skills aquired in China to skip the 3 hour long que by joining a Chinese tour group.  I engaged in some small converstation in chinese and before you knew it we were inside.  We then made our way to the Spanish steps where Samuel had the great idea of racing me to the top on a very very hot day. As you would expect he was much faster than myself.

Beach in Rome

Colosseum

   

Piazza Novana

Pantheon