Wherever I go I always like to see the zoo.  Before I even had Adam I’ve dragged Randy to the London zoo, the Genoa aquarium, even the Staten Island Zoo (this was one of our earliest dates). 

So now that I have Adam and Grandma is visiting there really isn’t any excuse not to go to the zoo.  Except Randy has warned me over and over that the general consensus is that the Manila zoo is depressing.  So when my friend invited me to the Avilon zoo (also in Manila, but smaller and with a better reputation) I said yes right away and packed Adam and Grandma in the car and off we went.

The Avilon zoo is small but surprisingly chock full of animals.  For the animals rights advocates out there you’re correct, the math doesn’t add up.  The animals are in pretty small areas.  But all in all the zoo was pretty good and Adam was in heaven.  He is in love with ALL animals- no discrimination here.  This includes the beetles in the playground that he insists on bringing up to show mama- thanks Adam, the fish in the aquarium at his school, the fish in the wet market (this one may get awkward soon, since they’re already dead) and any dog he can get his hands on (even the strays).

Right away, before we even paid for our ticket they had small animals for sale, hamsters, rabbits, turtles. Adam picked out a rabbit to bring home.  Ha, just kidding.  I’ll save the rabbit history of my family for another time but lets just say they don’t generally last that long.

In the middle of the glass cages though was where it was at.  First up, some birds- exciting.

On the other side of the fish was a snake that Adam wasn’t afraid to pet.  NO fear of animals from this boy.

A little way past the snakes and fish though is where it got very interesting and you realize you are FOR sure not in a western world zoo or any zoo where there is a fear of lawsuits.  

First up are the two wild bear cats that hang out on a shelf just out in the open.  You can buy a banana and feed it to them.  One can only hope these bear cats are more cat and less bear.

After the bear cats are these huge fish that you can buy and feed chicken heads to….no pictures of this because I did not partake.  The thought of touching chicken heads and of fish eating them equally grossed me out.

Then the Pièce de résistance.  In the middle of the zoo was sitting a live orangutan.  You ask what is so exciting about that.  When I say just sitting in the middle of the zoo,  I mean just that.  She, her name was Jenny, was on a bench just waiting for hordes of children to come up and sit next to her and take pictures.  This wild animal was just sitting there while child after child came up to her right into her space.  For the first half hour I refused to get near to Jenny, but after enough time I figured, when in Rome.

The smile plastered on my face was pure fear and preparation to throw Adam out of the way if Jenny attacked.  Luckily she was too occupied with Grandma Gretch’s necklace.

It’s hard to follow up an orangutan especially with the petting zoo that followed upstairs, but Adam loved that too and loved feeding the army of gerbils their carrots and the goats their greens.

So, Avilon zoo, I think we will be back.  Although I can’t promise I’ll feed the bear cats, the chicken head eating fish or let the huge birds sit on my shoulder (I think those birds can do more damage than people think) but I think I will let Jenny put her arm around me, because hey how much damage can one 200 pound orangutan do 🙂
 

When we left Bali we luckily weren’t faced with the usual leaving vacation blues because the Jordans flew back to Manila with us! We did have Thursday blues when we woke up and the Jordans weren’t here anymore which resulted in this.  Das if of course Aunt Daf, as she forever will be now known 🙂

We all flew back Saturday morning and had the Jordans with us until Thursday.  We had an amazing week.  Everything just fell into place perfectly and the Jordans had a great visit.

There was a lot of this:

 

We miss you Aunt Das and Uncle Das 🙂 We are counting the days until we see you again!

 

Bali I will miss your beautiful sunsets and can’t wait to come back.  I can say that and mean it now that you are only a four hour flight away 🙂

1) Being able to read my book by the pool.  This is high on my list.  While I love playing with Adam in the pool and the beach, it is definitely a treat to be able to sit out in the sun and finish my book.  I read Someone Knows my Name by Lawrence Hill in Bali.  It’s the story of Aminata, who was taken out of Africa as a young girl and forced into slavery in the US in the early 1800s and follows her life through most of the century.  I have to say this book was great.  It was written well and still uplifting despite the awful situations the main character is faced with.  When I took this bag out of my suitcase I got worried it might perhaps be a little heavy for beach reading but it ended up being the perfect book to read.

2) Being able to sneak away with Randy for some lunch dates.  We headed into town and grabbed some Greek food.  Not a bad looking lunch date 🙂

3) Getting to go out every night to an adult dinner with Daf and MJ at a dinner time that is not 5 pm.  The food in Bali was great (Greek restaurant aside).  It was so nice to have long yummy meals and get to eat my food hot.  We missed Adam of course but he was sleeping away in his travel crib being looked after by his wonderful nanny.

My favourite meal of the trip was Ku De Ta in Seminyak.  This place could have been in Miami.  It was a beautiful restaurant, modern and with a beautiful deck that led right out to the beach.  In fact I felt like I could have been in Miami a lot when I was in Bali.  Bali is like a cooler, more relaxed, beachier, more beautiful, Buddhist Miami.

There is nothing more I love on vacation than showering after a full day in the sun and getting dressed up for dinner.  My only regret of the trip was only taking Iphone pics at night. If Adam comes with us to dinner it’s the one time he takes his bath before dinner, to wash all that sand off and to get into a cute outfit.  But before you get your hopes up for some cute pics of Adam dressed up for dinner, here is how Adam ate most of his meals in Bali. 

This place had the most delicious drinks.

and delicious food.

After dinner we headed out to the deck which was full of candles.  It was a beautiful restaurant.  I would have gone back but I’ve learned never to try that on vacation after Mexico.

We decided to bring Maria, our nanny, to Bali with us.  One of the many benefits of this was that we were able to go to lots of fun dinner with Daf and MJ (more on that later) and we were also able to spend a whole day exploring Ubud.  Ubud was about an hour and a half away from Nusa Dua where we were staying so the three hours in a car, plus trekking around rice terraces, plus the late dinner we had planned meant Adam would have much more fun at home taking a long nap and hanging out by the beach. 

It was a great day and wonderful to have the whole time to focus on sightseeing and spending time with Daf and MJ.

Our first stop in Ubud was for a yummy lunch.  We went to Three Monkeys and sat out back by the rice terraces.

 

What did I do to get ready for Bali, you ask? 

Well, I had to pack all the appropriate clothes. 

 

In between Bohol and Bali we were home in Manila for a week.  We decided to relax and take it easy 🙂 Just kidding. 

We headed to school.  Lots to do there, painting, water tables, toys galore.  This  class is twice a week for an hour and I go with Adam.  It’s such a great class.  They always have an art project and a sensory project and the teachers are great and just a couple weeks in I can already see what a change in following the structure of the class Adam has already made.  It’s so much fun to see him discover new things and meet new kids.

Oh yeah, and Kate managed to beat Gavin in some basketball even at 5 months pregnant!

Once again Kate left and we have not one picture of us together.  But at least we had a fun two days!  Such a busy month.  Next up, Bali!
 

You’ve all been deprived Adam pics long enough! Get ready for more than you can handle 🙂

A couple week ago Randy mentioned he would have to go to Bohol for work on July 2nd.  By some bit of luck the signing ceremony Randy had to attend was moved to the third.  This meant Randy could take the 5th off and we would have a 6 day trip to Bohol!

The plan was to fly in on the 2nd, Adam and I would amuse ourselves while Randy was taken on some work sightseeing events.  The next day Adam and I would attend the signing and see daddy’s speech and then we would all head to the beach for four days of sun. 

Small snafu, we booked Adam and I on the 8am flight to Bohol, but by the time Randy’s travel orders were approved that flight was all booked.  He headed out at 6am and Adam and I took our flight alone. We boarded and the seat right next to us was empty.  I kept waiting for someone to board and take that seat. The plane was booked after all, that’s why I was flying alone with a toddler…in the end the seat remained empty along with half the flight.  It was great for Adam to have a seat, not great to have a toddler throw a fit for the last 20 minutes with no one to help me.  Adam’s 12th flight was for sure not his best.  The Ipad was put away for landing and it was downhill from there.

While we were having fun at the hotel Randy was on a sightseeing extravaganza for work.  He was taken on a rowboat and got to see this.  This is the spirit of the river (or a man covered in mud meant to symbolize the spirit of the river). 

 The next morning we woke up and had some breakfast and played with some dogs.  There were a lot of dogs at the bee farm.  This wasn’t great since Adam has no fear of any animals and will walk up to any dog and there were too many dogs to be sure they were all friendly.

After dinner we had non stop dancing and drinking for the next 7 hours.  It was AMAZING.  Everyone spent hours on the dance floor.  I loved every minute of it.  It was like being out with all of my best friends dancing and having the best time.

Whenever you needed a break from dancing there was always the photo booth to keep you occupied.  I love the photo booth pictures. I have them all and am still thinking about how I want to display them all.

Then it was time for more dancing.  There was even some Egyptian dancing.  My friend Kate tried to convince me the red belt tied around my waist was a fertility belt.  I was never given a clear answer, but maybe Adam is all the proof we need 🙂