Maligayang Pasko! (Merry Christmas in Tagalog)

As many countries that were Spanish colonies, the Philippines also seems to celebrate Christmas Eve more than Christmas morning, so in the morning we were pretty low key.  I ate my normal - beef tapa - for breakfast.  I wore my new black top from Chris' aunt and uncle so I wouldn't feel too scroungy.  We joined everyone in the main house for a big Christmas dinner (lunch) with much of the same food as the night before, but this time I tried a dish that was kind of like the meatloaf version of chicken.  It had chicken, egg, and sausage.  It was pretty good.  We had a delicious dark chocolate and cheesecake layered cake from a shop owner in this little hotel/shop complex.  More people came to join us, friends of the family or other family.

In the afternoon we drove up into the mountains again to a large gated community.  Here, one can purchase land and then build on it.  There were some nice homes, but the clubhouse/pool area was incredibly nice.  From the pool, you could see out over the city.  The pool was build to look like it just dropped over the edge of the mountain.  I would say this rivals the nicest clubhouse and pools in southern Orange County.  The water was too cold for me, so I just relaxed on a lounge chair, as did most of us.  Chris jumped in with a cousin's daughter and one of his sisters.  They played for a very long time.  Chris is so good with little kids - one of the many reasons I married him and know he will be an excellent father.  He is so good with my nieces as well.

In the evening, the lights turned on and the trees were wrapped in Christmas lights and there were dangling lights that almost looked like moving icicles (it's the new decoration in the states, too).  The pools had lights that changed color from pink to purple, green and blue as well.  Some large bullfrogs came out to keep us company.  There were some refreshments served next to the pool like burgers and mango ice cream.

On our way up to the mountain, we had barraged Chris' uncle with questions about living there.  Teachers make about 15,000 pesos a month (approximately $340).  That same amount is about how much you would spend for an upscale apartment.  So, most teachers live in a house, which was around 5,000 pesos a month (to purchase).  We discussed that for $100 (American) we could easily purchase a house here in the Philippines, but they won't sell to foreigners.  Chris is still a citizen here, so we discussed what kind of home we could buy for $600 a month (if the family all chipped in $100), staffed it and rented it out.  This is why people retire here.  It is very common for people with some money to have servants here.  You can staff so inexpensively.  It actually makes me feel like I've moved back 100 years in American time.

After we arrived back, we sat downstairs at a little tapas and bebidos bar in the complex and enjoyed a delicious flatbread pizza and some drinks.  I had a lychee margarita sans the alcohol (it doesn't normally set well on my stomach, and probably certainly not now with my digestive issues).  It was a nice evening, and we chatted and I asked more questions about the government and politics to try to understand how the country is run.  It is set up very democratically, much like the US, which makes sense since I believe the US set it up before they left after WWII (it had been a US protectorate between the Spanish American War and the capture by the Japanese in WWII).  The government does have quite a bit of corruption and the elections are not always so fair...shall we say.

We made it quite an early night since we were getting up early for a boat trip out to Pearl Farm, arranged by his aunt who is very close to the family who owns it.