Tagaytay and Taal Valcano

Tagaytay is about a two hour drive from Manila in the mountains. We enjoyed the fresh mountain air and cool breeze. This city over looks the Taal Volcano and lake which makes for a dramatic scenery and great photos.

Another popular form of transportation was the tricycle.

We spent some time at the People's Park in the Sky. Words can't describe the peace and tranquility felt here.

Despite hesitation from our driver, Jun Jun, we made the 45 minute steep trek down the mountain. I was determined to check out the Taal volcano, the smallest volcano in the Philippines. My plan was to hire an outrigger and hike the volcano. They also offer donkey rides to the top, but I prefer to hike. Unfortunately the volcano was active and my plan was crushed. However, we still took an outrigger ride and got pretty close.
Our Captain sang to us and pointed out attractions during the voyage. We saw a lot of dead fish in the water, I guess this was due to the volcanic activity.

Finadene

This is signature sauce in Chamorro cuisine. It is served at all the restaurants here. I like it best as a dipping sauce for grilled meat.

I thought all of you at home might enjoy it at your summer cook-outs!

The basic recipe is (although there is lots of variations):

• 2 part soy sauce
• 1 part lemon juice and/or vinegar
  
• 1 chopped white (or red) onion & or green onion
• chopped boonie peppers (a local fresh chili) to taste, substitute habanero peppers or jalapeno peppers
• diced tomato

Mix all the ingredients together and serve.

Manila!

Our first stop in South East Asia was Manila, Philippines over Memorial Day weekend. This was my first time in this part of the world and it was quit a culture shock. Luckily we did a lot of research and stayed in a safe area and had a trusted driver show us around.
I was shocked by how crowed the city was. Traffic was horrific with many traffic jams and people walking out into the streets in front of cars. The most popular form of transportation was a Jeepney.
We stayed in Mikati which is the business district. Makati has amazing shopping, cafes, and bars. It was such a treat to be in a big city! We loved the energy in this part of the city.We spent an afternoon strolling in Fort Santiago which is in Intramuros, the historical district.
Our friend highly suggested we check out the fish market. We ended up ordering enough food for 10 people. It was fresh off the boat and delish! We left in a food coma, feeling a little shameful for leaving so much left over food!
This is a service oriented city. Everywhere we went we were greeted with a "Hello Ma'am-Sir", so much so that it became a joke between us. My favorite part of the trip was a 90 minute $25 Swedish/Shiatsu massage at the hotel spa. You can't beat the currency exchange!

Pagat Cave

Another great hike in Guam. The best part of hiking here is the reward you get at the end of the trail.







In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. ~John Muir

Saipan Part Four: Managaha Island

Our last day on Saipan we took a short boat ride to Managaha Island. This is a beautiful nature preserve with incredible snorkeling! We saw all kinds of fish and wreckage here.

After a day of sight seeing and snorkeling we ended our weekend with massages and dinner before we took our short plane ride home. Saipan is a great little weekend get-away and I see us going there many times during our journey here in Guam.

I am sorry for the delayed posts, I have been busy working again! I also celebrated a monumental birthday in April. I had a great birthday week including; wine tasting, snorkeling, flowers, and LOTS of love felt here from my family and friends.

Saipan Part Three

There are a lot of things to see in Saipan, here are some other places we checked out.

Jay, Tim, and I at Kalabera Cave

Look out to Bird Island Sanctuary. Although contrary to it's name, no one has actually seen any birds on the island.

On Mount Tapochau, the highest point on the island (elev. 1560 ft).

Saipan Part Two: The Grotto

The Grotto is a famous diving spot in Guam. The Grotto is an underwater cave minus the roof. You must walk down over 100 steps and cross over boulders (between water current flows) to reach it. Then you must jump off a huge boulder to enter the cave and use a rope to pull yourself back in on a lower boulder. I have to admit it was really intimidated at first but you only live once!

Once in the Grotto you see tunnels that scuba divers enter to reach amazing diving spots. People claim to see sea turtles and whale sharks here. We spent a couple hours snorkeling here and it was my favorite part of our Saipan trip.

Saipan Part One

Just a short 30 minute flight from Guam lies Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands. We spent a weekend there recently and had a blast exploring it!

Our friends, Tim and Michelle joined us (notice the cute baby bump!). As soon as we landed our adventure began. The first stop was Banzai Cliff. There were many battles fought in Saipan and there are a number of memorials dedicated to this.

Saipan was seized by Japan after World War I and a large number of Japanese civilians lived there. The U.S. defeated Japan in the 1944 Battle of Saipan. Convinced they would be tortured by U.S. soldiers, over 20,000 Japanese civilians committed suicide in the last days of the battle, many jumping from Suicide Cliff and Banzai Cliff.

Views from Banzi Cliff.

Next we headed up to Suicide Cliff in time for sunset. On the way up we met a couple friends.

The view from Suicide Cliff was beautiful but I got an eerie feeling as thousands of people lost their lives there.

We ended the day in Garapan which is the touristy area. Again, we made some more friends.

Spider-Man versus Saipan Teddy!