Today was supposed to be a beach day, so I got up and dressed for such, but then the rain came, which threw plans off. We wanted an adventure of sorts and not so excited to go back to the mall, so Chris' uncle took us off to see the city in his SUV. We headed first through the city and through some slums but stopped at a little slice of beach where there was a massive gold statue replica of David. Kind of random to find it with big frogs hopping around it's base and goats meandering eating foliage around it and some ostriches behind a fence nearby. It was very pretty looking across the water at the tallest mountain, I believe in the Philippines. We hopped back in the car and he decided to drive us up into the mountain for some coffee.
As we were walking out, we saw a pet monkey, or at least it looked like it was a pet because there was a rope tied from a tree to another tree that had a little house on which he went back and forth. It was quite cute.We drove back down from the ridge and stopped in at a pasalubong (translates to souvenir gifts or the like). There was a lot of interesting items and some very beautiful paintings that I loved the colors and lines used by the artist. I didn't purchase but I am hoping to find a nice painting. The only things we bought were some candies and banana chips.
We headed to the mall to meet the rest of the family for lunch. On our way was an import shop that we stopped at, it felt much like a flee market/Goodwill with a lot of used or older items. It definitely had random things. We continued on to the mall, but discovered upon walking in that we were at the wrong mall and had another to go to. We fought through the heavy traffic and came to another, even nicer mall, SM Lanang. They also checked our car and our bags, and our bodies as we walked in. First we went to lunch at a traditional Filipino restaurant where I had some good fried rice, even tried a scallop in a shell with garlic (I am not a shellfish person, but they were right, this didn't taste like shellfish - just toasty garlic), some sinigang with pineapple (the sweet and sour was nice) and this tasty coconut flavored beef. My stomach isn't completely back to normal, although it's just discomfort without the sickness, so I ate lightly. We went to the mall where we stared at Kultura, a shop with traditional Filipino gifts. There was some really lovely items including pearl jewelry, beautifully embroidered tablecloths and table runners, some handsomely carved serving pieces of wood shaped like leaves, lots of shirts and little touristy items for Davao, and some traditional clothing. Interestingly I bought a top from Anthropologie a few years back that I wore in our engagement photos. Mine is colorful and beaded, but Chris' mom had commented that it looked like traditional Filipino tops. Today I saw why - it was almost the same exact shape and style, just not as colorful or beaded (my top is by an Indian designer, so maybe it was a mix of the two?). I know what I want to go back an purchase on our way out when we hit this store up again in Manila! I did find a cute fedora that was only 200 pesos that I thought I'd buy since I had left mine at home - too hard to travel with such a structured hat that long on the plane. My skin on my face particularly doesn't take kindly to the sun and I get melasma easily so the more I can cover up especially in the tropics, the better. When they went to ring it up it ended up being 100 pesos - or just over $2.
I went with MJ and Christine into the supermarket to do a little shopping - I thought some bread for my stomach might be a good thing. I split from them to get the bread and then got caught in the cookie isle. I found Tim Tams (an Australian cookie I believe) for a good price, so I had to buy some, a pirouette type cookie that did not end up tasting very good, and then some McVities digestives with chocolate on top (a favorite from my time in Scotland - they sound weird, but it's really just a biscuit...so good dunked in tea). I thought the McVities were cheap, but it didn't end up being much less. I was supposed to meet the girls in the front, but they weren't there, so after waiting awhile I went up to the Globe store, where the rest of the family was working on getting a hotspot for our internet. It is really amazing how much we have become spoiled by having internet all the time. There are pros and cons, but getting separated from your group in a large mall makes it more concerning when you can't just text to find out where someone is. The girls weren't up there, so Miguel and I went back down to see if we could find them, but they still weren't there. I thought they were almost done, but then again it is easy to get stuck in the store looking for more.
We ended up joining Chris and his uncle in this place called Bread Talk which looked like they had a limited selection of bread and pastries much like a favorite back at home called 85 degree bakery. I ordered a coffee and bought an "eggstraordinary" pastry that looked like a milk bun and much to my pleasure it was very similar and so yummy - soft sweet bread with a custard like filling. Chris bought a chocolate/cream cheese bun, which was also good, but I thought had an aftertaste I didn't love. We decided that sitting way back in the cafe was not a good idea because if the girls were looking for us, they wouldn't easily find us. We moved out to the center of this large rectangular mall and sat at a French Bakery where before long the girls joined us as did the rest of the family with our goodies and I was given some bibinka to sample from a local shop. It was so delicious. I have never yet found a country I can't like their sweets. I definitely have too many sweet teeth (I clearly have more than the standard "sweet tooth").
On our way out we stopped at a drink kiosk that served the interesting combination of cheese, rock salt and tea. Miguel was kind enough to buy a few for us to try - one a green tea base, one a chocolate base. I tried the chocolate based drink, and I was surprised that it actually had a very nice flavor. Chocolate and salt - that's an easy combo, but the cheese was a surprise. We were all so full already, and I still not completely back to full stomach ease, didn't drink much of it. I would get it again though.
Outside was lit up with a tree that looked like it was created from lights, a water fountain that changed colors, and then several purple trees, as well as some large stars of light. There is a certain name for the stars they use in decorating for Christmas and you see them everywhere. I love getting to see different Christmas traditions in other countries. We headed to the van, piled in, made another stop back at the first mall, Abreeza, in order to pick up an order, and then continued battling traffic to get home. Tired, we all split up back to our rooms for a little nap before dinner. Dinner didn't happen, instead Chris and I walked with his parents down the street to a little convenience store for some soda and stopped at Shakey's Pizza Parlor (same as the states, but more popular here) where we ordered Allan's favorite - the manager's choice. It wasn't my favorite pizza personally, but it was small and easily consumed. Upon arriving back at the hotel, we found our hosts - Chris' aunt and uncle, relaxing outside a little beer bar. The night was cool (for the Philippines) and so sitting outside in the lovely courtyard was very pleasant as people discussed good place to visit and things to do and how many changes have come, etc. A few small drops of rain hit me occasionally, until I decided it was time to come upstairs and call it quits for the day.
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