A Philipino Chinese New Year

As I mentioned in the last post, I never paid attention to the Chinese New Year (CNY) very much, but I am certainly appreciating it this year. I don't claim to be any expert, but this is what I know about the holiday:

1. It celebrates a new lunar year, and this year will be the Year of the Horse
2. It is tradition to give red envelopes filled with money (hong bao) to people who work for you, children and single people. The money should be new and not have the number 4 in its amount (4 sounds like death in Chinese).
3. Everybody goes home or at least travels, it's the largest human migration in history.
4. Everything closes, and for China, which never ever shuts down, it's a big deal, restaurants, schools, stores, and sometimes for more than a week.
5. It's a huge deal. (I put this one on the list because I didn't want to be unlucky and end with 4.)

So on Wednesday, I gave out our hong bao, a large amount to Amy, a small gift for her son, and for my assistant and cleaning lady at work. Everybody seemed pleased, so hopefully I didn't offend anybody, even though they probably wouldn't tell me if I did.

The boat over to Boracay

Thursday was the start of our CNY holiday and we were headed to Boracay in the Philippines. So we set off bright and early for our ferry to the airport at 7:45am. It was a smooth travel, no lines and no long waits for anything and we were even early to catch our connection in Manila. Unfortunately, when we went to check in for our flight, it was cancelled. :( Our flight was originally booked to Caticlan, a small airport right across the water from Boracay, but instead of flying there, the airline booked us into Kalibo. Kalibo is a two hour bus ride to get to the ferry to get to Boracay. So instead of arriving at 5:30pm like we had hoped, our next flight wasn't even until 5:45pm. We killed some time in the airport, shopping, eating and letting our hotel know we would be late. Our flight was late of course, and we arrived at Kalibo around 7:30 where we boarded a bus. The bus ride was reminiscent of our ride from Panama to Mexico, bumpy, winding and long. We finally got to the ferry jetty around 9:30 where we paid our way onto a small boat that sped us across to Boracay. Luckily, the kind staff at our hotel had waited for us and escorted us to our lovely hotel by way of collectivo-style truck (a pick-up truck outfitted with benches in the bed and a cage or cover over your head). It was an adventure to say the least. We were happy to settle into our sweet one - bedroom condo and unwind before falling asleep close to midnight.

So happy to be done traveling!

All I could think when I fell asleep last night was, this better be worth it. It became very clear pretty much as soon as I woke up that all of that travel was more than worth it. Our hotel is located up on a mountain in Boracay, about a 10 min ride from the main part of town and the famous White Beach. The hotel is a collection of apartments around a really nice pool overlooking the island. The staff is so friendly, the food is delicious and not expensive, and they run a free shuttle to and from town every hour.

So we woke up early (even with the late night) and had breakfast by the pool. Paul could barely focus on a few bites of pancakes before going for a morning swim with Donnie. Thankfully, we borrowed a pair of the puddlejumper swimming floaters like the ones he had in Hawaii, so we all felt comfortable while he was swimming.

After convincing him that the beach would be just as fun as the pool, we jumped on the shuttle down to the White Beach. It's called that because it's a huge stretch of white sand with incredible blue water. The water is super shallow and gentle, and besides being a little bit crowded, it was perfect. We set up camp at some loungers with an umbrella, made friends with a local, Richard, who kept us stocked with whatever we needed and actually hung out with us for most of the day. After four hours of fun in the sun, we were all ready to head back. Paul fell asleep on the way home, and Donnie and I had a yummy lunch by the pool while he slept on a lounger, then we all napped for a long while.

We had planned to go back out tonight for dinner and to see the fireworks for the new year, but the sun took it's toll on us and we're all nursing minor sunburns and room service with Disney Junior is our big night in. :)

I'm in love with the Philippines, it feels so much like Mexico and that feels like home. It's vibrant, beautiful and filled with adventure. You can pretty much do any outdoor activity you want to and it's not cost prohibitive like HI. People are super friendly, the food so far is amazing and the weather is awesome. I'm not sure I ever want to leave. The funny thing is, if you had asked me a year ago to point out the Philippines on a globe, I would have had difficulty finding it. And now here we sit, in a place I never thought I'd come to, that I never want to leave. Life is pretty amazing in that way.

Another amazing thing happened today unrelated to our vacation. As many of you know, my dad just took a new job with Apple and moved to California this past month. One of the perks (in my eyes) is that he has to travel to China to check in with suppliers and such (I won't pretend to know what he does really...). He emailed me that he's coming to Shenzhen at the end of Feb! EEEEK! I am so excited for him to see our lives here. I know he'll be busy with work, but just seeing him will be so fulfilling. :) I hope it's the first of many trips, and I'm so glad.

Life is good. Happy Chinese New Year. Hope the Year of the Horse is lucky for you. Love to all..