I heart Rice Krispy treats

I think my new favorite hobby is island hopping. There's something about snorkeling in crystal clear waters and laying out on pristine white sand beaches that speaks to my soul. I know some of you are wondering how my pale skin could possibly manage this hobby. I'm tan. Yep! OK, maybe not extremely tan, but tan enough to only use 30 spf when I could use 50. My previous burn has flaked off to reveal honey colored skin. I'm pretty dang proud of it. I've come a long way from the pastey, blinding white I used to be. The beaches are treating me pretty good and we are having a great time with Hbf's parents.

I pretty much inhaled all of my Rice Krispy treats in the first 2 days. I would eat at least one after every meal, and sometimes before, too. They were so delicious... But this has only increased my appetite for Rice Krispy treats. Those Rice Krispy treats were only my Rice Krispy treat appetizer, and now I am anxiously waiting for my Rice Krispy treat entre. Hbf and I try not to talk about it, but we will be home in about 15 days. A part of me is excited (Helloooo Rice Krispy treats!) and a part of me is very sad (hello daily grind).

The Philippines has been a really great place to wind down our trip. It's more like the states, but still has the SE Asia feel. Maybe I won't have such culture shock when I get back, but I'll surely have sticker shock. Meals for this trip have ranged from $1 - $10 for both of us. In the states, we'd have to eat fast food every day to rival that (and I don't want to die when I'm 30 from a heart attack). Maybe it will help us live a little bit cheaper in the states.. Who knows. I'm not going to miss the mosquitoes though. No matter how much DEET I put on, the mosquitoes find that teeny, tiny spot that I missed. One skeeter bit me in the eye bag. You know, the sensitive area right below your eye.. Yeah, it swelled up and I looked like Quasimodo for a day. A couple of days ago, something bit me on the lip and I looked like I had gotten a reeeeally bad collagen lip injection for awhile. I've also been bit on the tip of my finger and my forehead. How can these be good places? The mysteries of a mosquito.

Tomorrow we have another round of island hopping. So far, I think we have seen maybe 15 islands of the 7000+ here in the Philippines. So far, so good.

Back off ladies.. He's mine

After a charming week in Bohol, capped off by the best diving yet, we went back to Cebu City for 2 days. Cebu City is a typical big/small city with a mall (hooray!) and apparently what looks to be a river of garbage (boo.. and very stinky). After eating a delicious lunch at the mall, we headed to the Crown Regency Hotel, home of the Edge Coaster (which has a 3 verse song singing its praises). Basically, you sit in a roller coaster-like contraption and it tips you over the edge as your ride around. EXTREME! We made it back all in one piece and decided to head back to the hotel. Hbf claimed to have scoped out the way back to our hotel so we could walk it and save the dollar it would cost to take a taxi. Walk in the stifling heat and through busy streets to save 1 dollar? Sure... Why not.

Right off the bat things went wrong. I stepped in some wet cement and my flip flops flipped it all over the back of my legs. I started yelling about how my legs were going to turn to stone until Hbf informed me that it takes like 12 hours to dry and he was sure we'd be back to the hotel by then. I quieted down after that.

About half way there, a little beggar girl ran and jumped on Hbf's arm, screaming 'DADDY!' over and over again. It must have been her gang's signal because before Hbf could get her off, 8 more little kids ran over and surrounded him. One girl ran to me with her eyes on my purse, but when I covered it with my hands, she went for Hbf with the rest of them. I tried prying them off but they held on and were trying to reach in his pockets. He happened to have both of our cameras in his front pockets so I was a little concerned the chitlins were going to snatch them. All the while, Hbf is trying to shake them off and keep our cameras in his own pockets, but it wasn't until we both started yelling at them that they finally let go. I saw one girl had a hand in his back pocket and pulled out a receipt, but she let it drop once she saw it wasn't money. Fortunately, we escaped with all of our money and possessions and now I get to tease Hbf that he was assaulted by little girls.

Later that day we went back to the mall (hooray!) to see a movie and eat some dinner. We saw the Wolfman (Um.. I'm very disappointed in you, Benicio Del Toro) and ate at Shakey's (Don't go there). Today we flew to Palawan and we are meeting Hbf's parents in a couple of hours. They are bringing me Rice Krispy Treats and I'm wondering if I will eat all of them in one sitting. Probably.

Paradise is just how I pictured it

I think the Philippines should be renamed Paradise. Over 7000 islands, perfect weather, nice people.. I could definitely get used to this. Our first couple of days were spent with Hbf's college friend, who I'll call Pea. She lives on the island of Davao and is studying to be a nurse for prolly 1/4 of the price it would cost in the states. While she was in school, we spent 2 relaxing days at a place called Paradise Island (I'm not making this up). It was perfect.. White sand beach, warm, clear water, delicious food and even a towel swan upon arrival! There were crab races, a mariachi band with excellent harmony skills and LOTS of BBQ chicken. Hbf and I thoroughly enjoyed our time at Paradise, but we were excited to get back to the main island to hang out with Pea. Her uncle is the grand poobah of cock fighting, and it's the national past time (and Hbf was dying to see one), so I was coerced into attending a real cock fight. I did my best to protest politely because I hate seeing animals fight or die for human entertainment, but I was outnumbered.
I found myself at the cock fight and did my best to close my eyes when they fought, but there was no ignoring the ripped out feathers in the ring and occasionally I would glimpse the losing bird being taken away.. Needless to say, I don't think I would do that again.
After a great day hanging out with Pea, we headed to Bohol island. Yesterday we spent the day sun bathing and snorkeling off the shore. If you swim out about 100 yards, there's a cliff of coral where you can look down into the abyss and all you see is fish. Pretty amazing. After an awesome day of activities, we headed home and relaxed for a bit before I started complaining that my skin felt a little bit.. Burny. Sure enough, I am burnt to a crisp and will be staying out of the sun for the next few days, if that's even possible. Hbf is having an 'old man' moment and can't move his stiff neck more than 2 degrees either way. Apparently laying on the beach and snorkeling for an hour is just too much action for him. We're both recuperating by looking for jobs via the internet, with depressing results. Other than that, the Philippines is totally sweet. Once my skin blisters and peels off, I'll be right back out there in paradise!