I think if you know B-Rod and I, it’s obvious that we are “challenged” when it comes to planning. We’re not necessarily good at coming up with things in advance. With B-Rod’s job making planning in advance somewhat difficult, I think it has, intentionally or not, spilled into other areas of our lives and we may have gotten into the habit of thinking about/planning for things last minute. Which, once again, is the case for our latest adventure!
With scheduled vacation for B-Rod in November (that we knew about a year ago), we “kind of” planned months ago that we’d go somewhere to go diving since it’s been awhile. We had tossed around a few places including the Philippines, but it wasn’t really until about a week-ish before we left that we started to commit to this idea, and then fully committed and listed on flights two days before leaving.
As there had been a typhoon that had recently hit the Philippines, I contacted one of my cousins (lets call her “B”) to see what conditions were like in the country and if it was even advisable for us to go there. She confirmed that their area and the south would be fine AND it turned out her spouse (let’s call him “G”) even knew a dive master we could do our refresher dives with . . . . PERFECT!
So, we threw some things in our bags and the next day we left. 😆
We had a few hours to kill in Vancouver, so we ventured out on a quick adventure for handmade Udon, then were ecstatic when we got back to the airport and got seats on the flight we were hoping for, which meant . . . . . direct to Manila with no layovers!!!
Despite having been to Manila a few times both as an adult and a child, I don’t really know the city well. It’s usually either a jumping off point to somewhere else, or simply an opportunity to be with family. This time was no different.
Though we ventured out a bit and experienced the chaos and grid lock of the city, it was nice to spend most of our time in the calm, quiet space B & G’s house where everything you needed was within walking distance.
B & G were so generous to pick us up at the airport at an obscenely early time in the morning, house us for a few days and welcomed us to be part of their Manila for the few days we were there.
The original plan was to be in the city for a day of rest, before all of us adventuring to an area where B-Rod and I would do our dive refresher while B, G and their daughter (let’s call her “V”) would enjoy the area. We’d then hang out for another day after that before heading to our next destination. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans when a typhoon bound for the Philippines turned into a super typhoon (the country had just finished being slammed by a previous typhoon) and our time in Manila turned into waiting out a storm.
So once again we were back to not really planning and taking things day by day.
Fortunately, we very much enjoy B, G & V’s company and were happy to make this about family time and reconnecting since the last time we got to spend time with them was 10 years ago!
Some of the things we got up to while hanging out included . . .
- getting out a bit to experience the streets and grid lock of Manila
- experiencing the full on Christmas cheer that has probably been ongoing since September 😮
- Trying out a jump shot (though our timing needs a bit of improvement! 😝
- having our first taste this trip of “in the Philippines” Halo Halo
- watching B-Rod be a mosquito hunter and taking pointers from B
- going to one of their coffee shops by the airport and watching planes take off while B-Rod and G continued to nerd out on planes 😆
- despite B-Rod’s initial resistance, we learned to play poker and had lots of fun!
All of this along with the many good chats and laughs we had made for a good time of hanging out and simply being with family.
*** unfortunately, it wasn’t until I was leaving that I realized, my cousin’s teenage daughter “V” had managed to escape having ANY pictures taken with any of us! 🤣😂
When the skies cleared, we said goodbye, and made our way south where I have more family ties . . . . but more on that later.
