It was nice to not have to be up too early, and when breakfast was served, it was on the second level of a building overlooking the ocean. There was a nice open air feeling with a hut roof to keep with the tropical resort flavor. The coastline curved around both ways. The waves were not so big and there were many boats out of the water fishing.
Family on Chris' mom's side started to arrive by 10 am. I am terrible with names, but I mostly got it down by the end. As with everyone I have met here so far, the family is so friendly and warm. We had a chance to meet new cousins (or for Chris some cousins he hadn't seen in 25 years). One interesting tradition here is that of "mano". It is a sign of respect when you meet someone to take their hand and touch it to your head. We saw it done once in Davao, and Chris' uncle explained it, but now one of the cousins had her children come and greet us this way. I always find it awkward and hard to accept when someone goes out of their way to show me respect. It was very nice though to have the youngsters show us how it is done.
After chatting, lunch was served, which was full of seafood (when is it not here?) and bbq meat. The chicken adobo was especially tasty to me. We talked about getting our clothes washed and even loaded it into bags to do so, but later someone came back telling us that it couldn't be done soon enough for us to get it back. I was glad I had hand washed some items. For dessert we had a type of bibinka malagkit - which is a sticky rice with some sort of sweet sugary topping, and hot ginataan (like a sweet soupy mix).After lunch I relaxed some in the room, and could tell that the large outdoor hall was being set up for what looked like it was going to be a wedding. This place is definitely perfect for a wedding, it has everything you'd need right there along with a lovely grass courtyard and a pretty little pool.
After family pictures and everyone leaving, Chris and I walked along the beach some, since I hadn't been out there yet. It was nice and breezy. Up here it doesn't seem so warm and really doesn't seem too humid. It was pretty pleasant. A little ways down there were a bunch of colorful boats and a little village. I'm guessing this is a little fishing village. We had a little down time and the internet seems to be very intermittent here. I went up to the top to try, and couldn't get on, but on the way back down the stairs I did get a lovely picture of a pastoral scene with cows grazing. The fog rolled in a little giving it the perfect sleepy effect. That evening, we went out for a drive so that we could look at the places they lived and where Chris was born. First, we visited the cemetery where Chris's maternal grandparents were buried. Then, Chris' dad quickly found the mortuary they lived behind and we drove in. I guess it's still owned by Chris' uncle, and so there is a caretaker there who they know. We were let into the gate, and back to the cemented yard that served as parking. Parking was also under a few units. Chris lived in the front one, closest to the mortuary. The mortuary was actually run by the family and Chris remembered playing hide and seek in the coffins. Kind of a funny thing, but if you are a kid and that's what you are used to, it makes perfect sense. A few of us went into the mortuary for a little tour. I guess things had changed a bit, but Chris had a few memories of the place.
After that, we drove around a bit trying to find the hospital where Chris was born. That wasn't so easy, but we did eventually find it and Chris hopped out to take a picture. We then went to the mall needing to do some money swapping and eat dinner. We ended up at Chow King. The food is good enough for fast food. The mall was definitely smaller and a bit run down. We went back out to the pharmacy, and at 8:55 we heard a whistle blow. Just as fast as that, people started to pull down the doors, cover up the stalls, and it was a mad rush outside to the line of tricycles waiting to take people away from their jobs.
We, too, went home after a short stop at the mini mart to get some waters and sodas (there is a definite addiction to Coke Light in this family).
No comments:
Post a Comment