Back in Brissy safe and sound

My Plane landed at 6.30pm on the 17th of January in the Manila International airport and got all my bags and stuff by 7pm, the weather is not too bad, the humidity was slightly higher than Brisbane but it wasnt bad at all, it didnt feel like you were in the oven :) Mys sister Linda came to picked me up. I forgot how crazy the traffic was, we didnt get to my sister's place until 9pm!! YES you read it right 9PM, 2 hours drive for what you normally drive for just 10-15 minutes if you are in Brissy. Anyway, first day back in the Philippines - my other siblings, my mum along with my other 3 half brothers, and some cousins came to see me, We had a big feast and all, lots of laughs, singing karaoke, etc, Good times:) And that was my routine while Chad is still in Australia, but on the 2nd of Feb Chad came to join me and it was even better because i feel complete (haha!! sooooo corny - Jerry Macguire:) we then traveled to see my Dad in Isabela which is 10-12 hours bus ride north of Manila, (Chad loves the bus rides - kidding haha, i'm being sarcastic - he hates it with a passion:) We stayed there for a few days, we had fun, enjoyed the river and the enjoyed the Rice paddies and never ending corn fields and then when we had enough of it, we went back to Manila, and in between those travelings we had to meet some friends from Hong Kong and stuff, then more bus rides for Chad yahoo!! (poor thing) went to my visit my mum in Laguna (3-4hrs bus ride south of Manila depending on the traffic).. man Chad must be loving this, but hey its all worth it in the end because he adores Laguna, he loves it because its really Green, lots of Coconut trees and bananas, the Weather is beautiful - nice and cool, very different to Manila type of weather, Chad and i also just had our 5th year wedding anniversary on the 7th of February and this is one of the reason why we had to go back to Laguna because we wanted to take a picture at the same place spot we took our picture 5yrs ago - Charming!! haha just kidding:) the place still looks very pretty as it was, but Chad and I gained a few extra baggage since then (what a shame!!). Overall our trip back to the Philippines was very pleasant, we enjoyed catching up with family and friends, enjoyed the foods, the shopping (this was only applicable for me - because Chad hates shopping:) pampering and everything..aside from the incident at the airport when we're leaving and you dont even want to know about it, trust me..its totally different story, Got to see and meet my 2 nephews and niece for the first time, 40 days over was well spent and worth it!! I'm feeling a bit homesick right now, but I am also very happy to be back at my homes comfort:) Below is the before and after picture i'm talking about..


taken 5yrs ago before we got married in 2003


just taken recently Feb 2008

My plane landed at 6.30pm on the 17^th of January in the Manila International airport and got all my bags and stuff around 7pm, the weather is not too bad, the humidity was slightly higher than Brisbane but it wasn’t bad at all, My sister and her husband along with their eldest daughter (2&8mths old) picked me up at the airport. I forgot how crazy the traffic was, we didn’t get to my sister’s place till 9pm!! Yes 9pm – the driving distance would normally take about 15 minutes if you are in BrisbaneL. First day back in the Philippines- my siblings, mom and my other 3 half brothers and some other cousins came to see me, we had a big feast and all!! Lots of laughs, singing Karaoke, etc. Good timesJJJ!! That was my routine while Chad is still in Brisbane, on the 2^nd of Feb Chad came to join me and it was even better, we travelled to see my Dad in Isabela which is 10-12 hours bus ride north of Manila, Chad hates those bus rideL we stayed there for 4 days and we went back to Manila, after 2 days we travelled to my mums place (in Laguna) which is 3-4hrs bus ride south of Manila (poor Chad – more bus rides!) but Chad loves Laguna because it’s very Green and the weather is really nice and cool, very different to Manila, Chad and I also just had our 5^th yr wedding anniversary on the 7^th of Feb and the photo below was taken at mum place in Laguna (which we used as our wedding invite photo then) and we took another picture 5yrs after on the very same spot – charming (kidding), the place still looks pretty as it was but Chad and I gained a few extra kilos since then as you can see. Overall our trip back to the Philippines was very pleasant, I really enjoyed catching up with my family and friends, enjoyed the foods, shopping, pampering and everythingJJ I got to meet and see my nephews(2) and my niece for the first time. 40 days was well spent and worth it!! I am still feeling a bit homesick right now but I’m also happy to be back J.