3 Guimaras, Philippines pt.2

So we're on the RORO (ride-on, ride-off) boat and on our way to my parents' farm in Guimaras. It's about a 30 minute boat ride to the island.

Here are some of the things we saw on our excursion.
***Gilligan's Island theme song playing in the back...***

Once we docked in Guimaras, it's a 2 hour drive to get to our destination. Now... keep in mind there are 10 of us and 1 truck.
Yes...
10 people.
1 truck.
The girls LOVED it. They sat in the back along with MR., my nephew and niece, while the rest of us sat INSIDE. Crazy kids. I know-I know... not the safest or smartest thing, but...
ha-HA! Welcome to the Philippines!

Motorcycles and "Tri-cycads" (upper right corner pic) are the preferred method of transportation on the island. You can easily pack a family of four on one motorcycle. I wish I had a picture to show you. It's quite a sight.

Pigs on a joyride! Awww... poor guys... little do they know.

On our way, we stopped for some bananas and veggies.

Ahhh... home at last!
The architecture is a bit different here. Anything goes. No, your eyes aren't playing tricks... the columns underneath the deck are turquoise. My parents' are cool like that.
The upper right corner pic, you can see part of the their rice field (just across from their house). It's not planting season, so instead they plant corn and other various vegetables for themselves, friends and family.

On the other side of the property, there is an old mango tree. And I mean OLD. At first first I thought it was about 200 years old, but it's actually around 130. It's massive. There is so much history with this tree. The locals believe it to be enchanted. Inhabited by the "little people", something like dwarves, only not as nice. It was struck by lightening long time back and was split in half. It thrived... 
ah-mazing.

Picking mangoes.

At one point in time the tree produced upwards of 30 bushels of mangoes in one season, providing a good source of income along with their rice production.

Here's another view of the tree. Look, all the mangoes are wrapped in newspaper. Every single one.

This is our form of pesticides. It's crazy to see the entire tree with covered mangoes, but it works! You're probably wondering, "Who the heck covered all of them?!"
An older lady who's kinda like a distant relative is the one. Yup... she's in her late sixties and does it all herself. Maybe if I was chased by hungry wolves, I'll climb a tree.
Okie-dokie my friends... I'm off to do more photo editing.
Be back soon!

4 back from the Philippines pt.1

Kamusta ka?

(How are you?)

Ahhh... back home... it feels good.

We got home late Wednesday night and we're still jet lagged. Slowly gettin' back to the groove of things. I've got a gazillion pics to sort through and share, so rather than bombarding you with oodles of pictures at once, I'm going to break it up in parts.

So here's the first set... enjoy!

LAX to Manila International Airport

This is the oldest Catholic church in my dad's hometown, Miagao (me-yag-ow).
Photo courtesy of my awesomely talented nephew, "Kiwi".

My aunt's vacation home in Lanotan (lah-noo-tahn).

After our visit to the oldest Catholic church in my dad's hometown, we went to my aunt's vacation home. The beach is literally steps from her home.

With clear warm water and black sand, the girls cooled off with a brief dip... and I mean BRIEF. Sophie saw a jellyfish float by her and swim time was quickly over.
What a bummer!


After a few days of rest in the city of IloIlo (ee-loo-ee-loo), it was time to hop on the "RORO" (Ride-on, Ride-off) ferry and head to my parents' farm in Guimaras.


We packed up the truck, rode on the ferry and it was about a 30 minute boat ride across the channel.




Okay, so I'll stop here for now.
Next stop... Guimaras (Gi-mah-rahs)!!!