Chapter 8: Makati Intermission

Mason flipped out in the Mall when we went by a store that had an Elmo in the window. Here he is about 30 seconds later with that same Elmo. Dad is a sucker but how can you resist when it makes him smile like this.



After the Naga Wakeboarding letdown we took a break in Manila and waited for Anna's brother Jose to arrive before we took our next trip. It was kind of up-in-the-air as to where we would go. Boracay(again), Cebu, Bohol? I had time to plan so I procrastinated and chilled out a bit.

Food, food, food! It's all about the food here in Manila. The last time we were here Pa took us to this place called King Crab. It's just the name. They don't have King Crab....but that have awesome crabs. Not sure what kind but they're big like Dungeness crabs. Instead of boiling them they fry them in Garlic, Sweet Chili, Seseame Miso, Ginger, Sezchuan, ect. It's unbelieveable. Mason didn't know what he was looking at and he was okay with not getting to know dinner. Here he is looking a little concerned.



He's going through this stage now where he likes shoes, Mom and Dad's clothes and shoes and hats. Sometimes he'll just be in a diaper and go put his shoes on. Then 5 minutes later he's got a different pair on. He gets this from his mom. It's the same sometimes with shirts. He'll say "shirt off" and then go to the closet to get a new one. A couple minutes later he'll want that one off and then goes for another. Little Brat! Again, he gets this from his mother. Here he is with my shirt on and my hat on. He loves copying daddy and mommy.

Mason started School at Mother Goose Montessori School and goes every day from 8:30 to 11:30 am. Yesterday he scored 2 goals at recess. I missed it but Anna was walking by the park with Ma and Pa and they all saw him score 2 goals. On the second he raised his hands above his head and clapped yelling yeah!!! He's a natural like dad I guess.

Here he is walking the steps to school. We hear from his teachers that he listens and communicates well, he interacts with the other student and he talks a lot. A little social butterfly like Mama.

And lastly here is Mason in the ball pen at his cousin Enzo and Manu's house. Anna has no nieces. All boys. Robby, Luis, Enzo, Manu and Mason. It's a trip watching them all play. The family is counting on Anna or her cousin Ria to have a girl. We shall see. I think Mason needs a brother to surf and play soccer with. Then a sister later so the older brothers can bully any potential boyfriends. But "life is what happens when you're making plans" right Pop.

Chapter 6: Tagaytay and Batangas day trip

When we were last in PI in 2007, Pa took us to Tagaytay(Ta-guy-tie) and more importantly to a restaurant there called Antonio's. The town is up in the mountains and over-looks Mt. Taal (Ta-all), an old volcano that sits in the middle of Lake Taal. We were leaving for Naga the next day but it didn't take too much convincing when Pa asked if we wanted to go with him to Batangas....we would stop at Antonio's in Tagaytay for lunch on the way. We were in! And so was Mason.   

             

Since we last came here, Antonio's has opened up a second site which is not as fancy but has the same awesome menu. It's high end traditional Filipino. I was in the mood for something different. Several years ago when I proposed to Anna in Hawaii (she eventually said yes after lots of bribes) the Filipino Mafia (the deck department on the ship) through us a party in Kauai. One of the guys who lived there and made a goat stew. I was hesitant but it was awesome so when I saw it on the menu I didn't think twice. Again, it was awesome. Anna wasn't paying attention and ate a couple bites. Had she known it was goat before trying it I'm not sure she'd be into it. But it was too late. She loved eating that little goat! As you can see, the food had no chance. Ma hates wasting food so we did our best to make sure there were no leftovers.

It was a really hot day but the view was amazing. That's Mt. Taal in the background. Mason was all about saying "cheese" for the camera on this day. At some point in time after Taal irrupted a lake filled in around it. Now fish farms cover the whole lake and restaurants cover the cliffs of Tagaytay.

After Lunch and pictures we went down to Batangas, a coastal town about an hour south of Tagaytay. Pa designed a house for a friend and had to go down and discuss the plans. It was unbelievably hot but lunch at Antonio's made it all worth it. Tomorrow we would leave for Naga so after the meeting we drove back to Manila to pack and start Chapter 7. But sadly no pictures of Mason because he had to stay in Manila to start summer school at Mother Goose Montessori School.





Chapter 7: Naga (NADA)

After a week of relaxing in Manila it was time for Anna and I to hit the road again. I can only stay in Manila for so long before the urge to explore and find some country kicks in. Apparently the "Best Wakeboarding Park in the World" is a 6 hours south of Manila in a town called Naga. It's called Camsur Wakeboarding Complex (CWC) and it was dubbed the best in the world by wakeboard magazine and held the 2011 world Championships. I'm in! Got some boards and gear from some friends of Anna's Cousin and we were off to Wakeboard at a cable park. Instead of being towed behind a boat there is a 6 point cable that pulls you around the park to hit the jumps and rails. I was really excited because I hadn't surfed in a while and any board sport was fine with me. Anna was also curious to try it so we left for 2.5 days.

We arrived at the airport 2 hours early and experienced a new type of customer service from Cebu Pacific. Apparently, instead of rewarding those passengers that arrive early, they choose to make them suffer and stand in line while they call all the dumbasses that arrived late to the front desk to check in before it's too late. Anna and I stood in line about 5 people back and didn't move for 1.5 hours. Then, with 45 minutes till our flight we were finally checked in. In the US we are used to getting our bags weighed. They do it a bit different here and I like it a lot. They weigh you. Thankfully I didn't have to pay any extra. I guess if you are too fat you pay extra. I was prepared to argue that any extra pounds could be transftered to Anna as she would be well under. But none of it was necessary. We both made it.

Naga is in the South East region of the Luzon Province also known as Camerines Sur. It's lush and green and also sometimes hit by typhoons. The region is definitely a lot different from Manila and has been evolving as an X Sports destination with wakeboarding, kiting, surfing, hiking/climbing and skateboarding growing in popularity. Our flight was quick and we were off to CWC after a few domestic flight pictures.

Sometimes in life you have to take the good with the bad. And this time ranks high up on the list. After checking in and getting the credit card swiped we found out that the park was broken. It was hard news to swallow and the sweet little girl at the recepetion saying it all cute and polite made it even worse. I told her that kind of information was kind of important and next time it would be better to hear it before getting my card swiped. They informed us they hoped to have it up the following morning.

Anna in her Nipa Hut

The fun and broken cable park with Mt. Isarog in the background

Things got worse when we found out the next morning that it was not a simple fix. A cable bearing had broken and parts were being flown in from Manila. Now we were looking at the very good possibility of not being able to use the park at all. Things happen but what really got Anna and I mad was the fact that we called them the morning we left to confirm and they already knew the park was broken. They said nothing and we got on our flight to Naga. That changed my whole outlook on things and I marched up to the desk and demanded they comp our stay and also pay for our ticket change fees if the park was broken again tomorrow. They comped the room but did not agree with helping us change our flight. So we dealt with our anger by getting drunk! We headed out into the town of Naga and had some dinner.

Bob Marlin Restaurant and Cafe Rasta did the trick and the good food and alcohol turned our frowns upside down.

 

Our luck didn't change and the next morning the park was still broken. So we went to hike Mt. Isorag and checked out a waterfall. Anna and I said the Mountain and hike reminded us of Maui and Haleakala. Sort of like we were up in Kula looking down at the bay. For those of you who are familiar with this, you may see what we are talking about in the picture of Anna below.

                                                                             

The only thing we saw on the hike was this Caribou so we hoped that we'd have the waterfall all to ourselves. Unfortunately it turns into a local drinking hole on hot days. It was a hot day and da local Filipino Boyz were very happy to see Anna headed down the trail. We were both our normal selves. I was clueless of the 12+ perving out half drunk Filipino guys grunting at Anna all waiting for her to take off her shorts and top. She never got down to the Bikini. Of course she never said anything either and as normal I was supposed to read her mind. So the waterfalls were a let down for Anna but it was too cold for her anyway. I almost forgot to tell you that on the way down she saw a snake and instinctively grabbed my balls and squeezed unmercifully. Not sure if a second child is now possible. It was really weird that she chose that as a defense mechanism. But I'll be ready next time we see a snake.

We never did get to use the park and heaed back to Manila with our tails between our legs. We got punked big time. The icing on the cake was looking out the window on the left side of the plane and seeing the cable park up and running. Some how, some way I will find a way to come out on top down the road.