Update #10: April 17th - Easter Weekend

Hope Everyone had a Hoppy Easter!

Easter in the Phlippines is a big deal. Stores shut down. Churches are packed. People walk the streets with crosses on their backs and everyone leaves the city to head towards the provinces.
We had originally wanted to do an overnight trip to Tagaytay, but were told by many people that traffic would be horrible. Instead, we ended up staying in the city. It turned out to be a good thing as we had a number of things to do.

On Saturday the 15th, I went shopping with Camilla, Pamela and Annabelle to Greenhills in Quezon City. This is the place to get your designer knockoffs, cheap clothes, shoes, crafts, pearls, etc. I ended up buying a pair of shoes, a fake Coach handbag, and some T-shirts that would stretch enough to fit over my big bulk. I saw a ton of pearls but was advised to come back with a Pinoy as they could help barter the price. Afterwards, Dave and I went out for a late lunch and then stopped by the hospital to see Glen and Laine's new baby, Lochlin. He was born on Thursday at Makati Medical and weighed 6.4 pounds.

This is a picture of Laine and Lochlin Scott Odom.


Saturday evening, we went out for dinnner to celebrate the 3rd Anniversary of our First Date. By coincidence, April 15th, also is the anniversary of Donna and Phil's first date (my inlaws). Our favourite restaurant, the Old Manila was closed for Easter so we tried another restaurant in the Peninsula Hotel. While the company, as always, was wonderful, the food was not the same. It was good, but not amazing, like it was at the Old Manila.

Sunday was a lazy day for us. It was just what we needed. Then I had my traditional Easter Egg Hunt. Since I've been experiencing limited mobility, Dave had to hide my chocolates between knee and shoulder height. Even with the small apartment and the restrictions, there were still a couple of chocolates I couldn't find without the assistance of 'hot/cold'.

In the evening we went to Diane and James' house for Easter Dinner. The food was amazing and there was a ton of it! It was nice that even though we were on the other side of the world from our family, we still got to feel like we celebrated Easter.

Earlier this week Dave and I went to visit Clark - the place where we will be living. See the link at the side. It is about 1 1/2 hours from Makati in good traffic and can be as much as 2 1/2 hours in bad traffic. The drive there was a study in contrasts. You start out in huge traffic (full of honking and rapid lane changes) until you leave the Greater Manila area. Then you get to the toll expressway and all of a sudden the traffic drops significantly and everyone stays in their own lane. Plus you go from tons of buildings and people to vaste farmland. The drive was pleasant, but we ran into a number of difficulties every time I had to get out of, or into, the minivan. I needed someone behind me and someone to basically yank me out. I am definitely feeling like I ate a huge bowling ball.

My first thought about Clark was that it was huge. I guess I pictured it as being relatively small, with a lot of residential and the odd industrial area. Instead it is massive - apparently larger than Singapore. Most of the area has not been developed and is slated for growth. While in Clark, we did a lot of sightseeing. We got to see the new office site even though it is still under construction. This is a picture of Dave standing in front of what will be the main entrance.

After the office site, we went to Clark Polytechnic. This is, in essence, an area that is devoted to education. It is where Dave will train his staff and the area also hosts a flight academy, language school, a public school and a facility where judges and lawyers go for continuing education.

After that it was time for lunch. We had lunch at a nice cafe called the Yats Grill Room. It is situated in what is known as Mimosa Leisure Park. This area is home to a huge golf course (I think this is the one where Tiger Woods played at) and includes a Holiday Inn and guest lodges. The food was great at this place, has the biggest wine collection I've ever seen, and the chef even came out to greet us. Chef George was very nice and once he found out that we would be moving to the area, he said he would call his friend, a chef at the sister restaurant at another country club to give us a tour.

Next stop was the Clearwater Country Club. This club is for members only, but I believe you can pay a daily rate. Anyways, it has stables, a large man-made lake for swimming, kayaking and fishing, and camping facilities. It also houses the sister restaurant to the Bistro Vin Cafe. Dave actually went in the cafe, but at this point I was so exhausted I didn't even want to try to make it up the stairs. The chef did come down to greet me and he too was very nice and friendly. While the number of expats in Clark is supposed to be small, in one day, Dave and I met two.

This is a picture of the man-made lake at Clearwater.

After Clearwater, we went to see the third leisure park, Formosa. This leisure park is the largest and houses a waterpark as well as a number of vacation homes. Formosa also has its own Casino. I can imagine spending a lot of time at the video poker machines!!

Next stop was the duty free stores. There are a ton of them and they are all huge. You won't be able to find fresh fruit, meat or dairy at the Duty Free, but you can find canned items, clothing, household stuff, etc. For meat, dairy and fresh fruit, I think I will have to go into Angeles until the new SM mall opens up.

Our last stop in Clark was to see the area where we will most likely be living. It is very close to where Dave's office is and there are about 20 houses in the division - all of them bungalows and all of them look the same. Even though Dave can't stand the thought of it, we will be living in a cookie cutter area.

That's about it for now. I should have more to post about soon once we have the 4D ultrasound and go to Tagaytay. Hope all is well with you.