Sunday, July 14, 2013

Bohol; On Our Own

We are currently in Bohol and are now on our own!  We were just a tad bit nervous about travelling on our own but it was totally fine.  Just from yesterday...we went to the mall in  Cebu.  That is the big thing to do in Cebu.  It is massive and the parking lots are CRAZY.  This first picture is kind of silly but it shows you by the lights which spots are taken and where there are free spots (with the red and green lights).  Cool huh?

Our first family photo on the trip is taken at Jollibee's. So funny.  It's the most popular fast food restaurant here and there are soooooo many of them.  We ate there once, don't need to again!


Koen had the fried chicken and the spaghetti with sweet sauce.  They like their sauce very sweet.  I do not.  Filipino's love their chicken and pork.  Koen's meal below was 100 pesos which is equivalent to $2.50. What is a lot cheaper than home?  Mangoes and pineapples!! Yum!!


Ate (auntie pronounced `Ah-tay) Jen reading `The Gruffalow'.  She also read another book about a groovy button and that song has been in our heads all day long:)  


Jen and Andrey hosted a bbq which was really nice last night.  Yummy grilled veggies and chicken!  Nice to meet some of their friends too.  Jen and Andrey are amazing hosts and we wouldn't have done this trip without them! 

Everyone wants a picture with Ella!  

Have I mentioned how much everyone loves Nya?  Non stop `Hi baby!' and taking photos of her.  They don't care about the rest of us at all...it's kind of interesting.


{Teething Nya keeps her tongue out all the time, drives Koen bonkers and he keeps trying to push it back in}



Today we took a taxi so the port and went on our first fast ferry.  It was a 2 hour ride to a local touristy island.  It was a very fast ferry.


The kids each got a dunkin donut, I got a mango smoothie (so good here!), and Gary got fries :)


Nya loves the smoothie!  Nya is not my favourite to travel with.  She has started shrieking non stop.  This makes me so nervous for our bigger flights.  Today I just ended up giving her half a gravol and then breastfeeding her and then finally she passed out with just 20 minutes left to go.  She is a stubborn one, folks.


Then, we took a taxi so the south end of the island where our `resort' is.  It's actually across the street from the nice resorts.  Therefore, instead of spending $150/night, we spend $40:)  We have two double beds, a kitchen, pool and air conditioning.  We can walk through the resort on the other side of the street and be at the beach in just 3 minutes.  It's pretty awesome.  It was recommended on trip advisor and is called `Alonaland Resort'.  It's also a lot quieter than being with all the other resorts!


{Walking around the resort}


We are just 20 feet from the pool.  We were in it within 5 minutes of arriving and it cooled us off nicely :)


We walked around the beach for a bit.  It is pretty touristy but we still have yet to see a Caucasian family with kids!  Some couples but that's it.  There are actually a lot of families from  China here.

{Koen and Nya were VERY tired so we didn't stay at the beach long tonight.  We will go back in the morning.  We put them to bed by 6:30pm tonight so hopefully that helps!}


You can get a one hour massage on the beach for 300 pesos ($7.50).  Crazy.  We'll see if I do it.  It would be a bit difficult for Gary to manage the 3 kids for an hour on his own, at the beach.  I would say that 1-10 times an hour I think, `Oh man, this would be so easy/romantic/fun if it was just Gary and I!'  but then I think `I would rather do it with the kids than without them'.  But wow, they are tiring.  Nya may have had her first time out several times today for shrieking non stop.  I've never given a one year old a time out but I think she got it.


If Nya was 4, it would be a WAY easier trip but I really didn't want to put it off for another 3 years.


The beach is really pretty.  There is a lot of English here so it is really easy to get around.


Kai and I are reading `Charlotte's Web' together right now.  Two chapters left!  Then, it's on to `Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.


And, here I am blogging away.  The kids are now asleep so I may head in and sleep in the nice air conditioned room!  Nya has been getting up 1-3 times a night.  I'm exhausted.  

Do you see our kitchen here outside?  So handy! We bought most of our groceries yesterday so we will probably only go out for dinner.  Great way to save money with 5 people and it ends up being less stressful too :)

Thankful for safety and health and friends and beaches.

Love, Team Chapman





5 comments:

  1. Enjoying all of your updates

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just so u know, I'm reading your posts often in the middle of the night! Looks like yout having an incredible time!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. i love that Koen wants to push Nya's tongue back in ;) so funny!
    Glad you arrived to Bohol safely. hope you are able to get some good sleep and have a great time there together :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. why is the kitchen outside? glad the resort is a bit more affordable - $2.50 for chicken and spaghetti is a smoking deal! too bad you cant use groupons there...
    hoping nya gets back on track sleeping through the night soon, so you can feel more rested!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the update! Thinking of you as you travel with a 1-year-old (we just got back from a trip to Victoria and I feel exhausted after chasing our almost 2-year-old around the ferry :)) Those mango smoothies sound amazing!

    ReplyDelete