And yes, seeing those elephants makes me want to spend another full day with them.  And we didn’t ride them, because after riding them bareback, sitting on those seats just doesn’t look as much fun (plus they seemed a lot more weathered than the ones we hung out with – I felt bad for them).

And how cute were those monkeys??

Tomorrow is our first day in a week with no plans – aside from shopping!  Lots of markets to explore here, but a too many things are similar to what we saw in Thailand, and since it’s all in dollars (good thing we didn’t exchange money for the local currency!), it’s a bit inflated.  I can get used to the prices of food here though!  An “expensive” restaurant has entrees for $5-$7.

On Sunday we’re off to Ho Chi Minh (former Saigon) in Vietnam, before heading back to Manila on Tuesday.  I miss my fur-babies!

In a few hours we’re hopping on two more flights and landing in Siem Reap, Cambodia, later today.  We’ll get to see Angkor Wat and it’s amazing ruins!

So so so many pictures to share – I have taken near a thousand by now (and yes, half of that is of tigers and elephants), but need to sort it through when I’m not so busy exploring! (So you’ll get to see everything after we land in Manila, but I’ll be sharing bits and pieces as I have a chance, no worries!)

More updates after I land on country #23!

And it was as wonderful as I hoped!  (And scarier than I expected – at least for the first few minutes.)

My parents rode them too, but only for the first ride (out of 3 total), and decided to walk the other times.  My mom is afraid of heights, my dad complained his butt hurt after the first ride (Karl complained of the same thing).  They enjoyed walking with the elephants though!

If you’re wondering why at times we’re looking down at other elephants, it was because Karl and I rode the biggest/tallest elephant there (a good 4 feet taller than the smallest adult one).  It was awesome, but I was totally terrified at first when it stood up with us on top!

We went to Ran Tong Elephant Training Camp, and I totally recommend it!  More pictures to come – we get a CD of pictures too, delivered to our hotel tomorrow!

This was a once in a lifetime experience that I’m definitely hoping to do it again!

Yes, if I was this happy playing with tigers for an hour at Tiger Kingdom, I can’t even imagine how my heart won’t explode of happiness tomorrow when I get to spend the day with elephants!  I don’t even care how fat my arms look in the pictures, I am still too giddy from the experience!

Bangkok

Ayutthaya – former capital of Siam (Thailand)

I’ll post more updates from Chiang Mai! With pictures of elephants!!!  (Am I being too repetitive?)

I have a feeling internet connection will be iffy, so it might be quiet around these parts, but I promise I’ll share some pictures when I can, and needless to say I’ll share a crapload of pictures when we get back!

SO EXCITED! 

My mom is feeling uneasy about the whole riding elephants thing, but hopefully it will all go well!  (And yes, my parents arrived in Manila ok, and I’ve been busy showing them around for the last few days!)

The skyline is beautiful, you can walk around the water doing a full 3.5km loop admiring the view (and there are a bunch of little bars and coffee shops if you’re being lazy) and the Marina Bay Sands building, only open for the last 1.5 years, takes a prime spot.  You can’t deny that the building is impressive! 

We went to Marina Bay during the daytime and at night, and both gave us gorgeous views!

On NYE the lights were the most impressive (sadly, it was not as colorful the rest of the days).

Marina Bay Sands on New Year’s Eve

The famous Merlion…

DNA bridge on the left, Marina Bay Sands and the Science Museum (the flower looking thing on the right)

Inside the Singapore Flyer…

Incredible view from the Flyer

DNA bridge lit up at night!

The skyline, with the Science Museum on the left

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these next few pictures!  I love how pretty the reflection looks!  (None of these pictures were edited – I have no skills to edit photos, sadly – it really is this cool looking in person!)

The Merlion at night (and if you’re wondering it’s basically mermaid + lion, you know?).

Singapore was a really cool city, but life there is EXPENSIVE.  We are definitely spoiled by living in Manila – sure, we don’t have as many cool neighborhoods here, nor an impressive skyline, but heck, we save so much money by not spending a fortune every time we eat out, that it allows us to travel and explore places like Singapore! 

Singapore is not as clean as I was made believe (the whole “no chewing gum” thing can fool you), but it’s no doubt the cleanest city in Southeast Asia (definitely NOT the cleanest city I’ve ever been to though).  It is super organized, very developed and crime is virtually non-existent. 

It should definitely go on your travel list!

They now have two of my pictures on the contest (all you have to do is click on this link, put your email, validate it and vote, it takes like 2 minutes, no need to set up account, is just validating your email to make sure you’re not just faking it to give extra votes).

Anyway, click on this link to vote for this picture: 

And this link to vote for this picture: 

And if you vote, thank you thank you thank you!  They need a couple of hundred votes if they want to win it (and we only have a couple of dozen now…)  I think the contest closes today.

Here are some more pictures from Singapore many different neighborhoods!

I loved that there are so many different pockets of town, each with their own little thing going! 

It was an exciting year!  (You can click on the link for each month if you feel like reading those posts – I admit I was too lazy to link post by post here…)

JANUARY

We had a super-fun NYE, Karl started his new job with the State Department, I gave my 30-day notice at the IMF, I thought I was going to vomit waiting for the results of Flag Day but it was good news:  we found out we were moving to Manila!

FEBRUARY

I officially left the IMF and we adopted a puppy!

MARCH

I ran two half marathons (my only half marathons of 2011) and visited Tracy in NY!

APRIL

April was a busy month!  I ran my last race in DC, we traveled to Brazil and the day we got back, the movers came to pack us out.  I had a bittersweet goodbye party with my favorite people in DC.  After a quick stop in San Francisco, on April 21 we officially arrived in Manila!

MAY

We explored more around Manila, finally moved to our permanent housing in Makati after a month in temporary quarters in the compound, I found a tiny kitten and we nursed him back to health, I ran what turned out to be my last race of 2011, and took our first trip in the Philippines:  Bohol!

JUNE

We found amazing parents for the stray kitten and took our first international trip in Asia:  Hong Kong and Macau!

JULY

Our car arrived and we got all our stuff!

AUGUST

We learned how to dive!  Then took an awesome diving trip to Moalboal, Cebu!

SEPTEMBER

We traveled to Coron for yet another diving trip, then celebrated my birthday in Cebu!  We also hosted our very first guest from the US!

OCTOBER

We traveled to Korea!

NOVEMBER

We traveled to Taipei, the park near us started a light show (that I never blogged about, but I have pictures to prove how ridiculous it was!), I said goodbye to one of my favorite people in Manila, my friend Irida who moved back to Italy, then my friend Liz visited from DC and we explored El Nido and Puerto Princesa!

DECEMBER

I started Muay Thai classes nearby, then became an American citizen in Guam and got to see my friend Margaret!  We finished off the year by spending New Year’s Eve in Singapore!

2012 should bring us even more adventures:  my parents are visiting in a few days, we’re hitting 3 new countries in January, we will be swimming with whale sharks in February and also be getting our bid list for our next post in a few weeks.  In April we’re going to Jakarta AND Palau!  At that time, we should also find out where we will live in next…  (Oh please please please let it be Brazil!)

I thought it was totally cool, and took pictures of a bunch of them – they certainly deserve their own post!

(And have I mentioned how much I freaking love my little Panasonic camera?  I have NEVER been able to take fireworks pictures like this without using the burst mode, specially with a point an shoot!  This, and a ton of other great firework and night pictures, were all taken using the “intelligent auto” mode, I didn’t even have to do anything else!)

More pictures after we get back to Manila, of course!

Have a very happy new year!

We will be visiting the fabulous Traci, who was Karl’s classmate during his          A-100 training at the State Department.  It’s our first time in Singapore, and that will mark the 6th new country/territory we visited this year!  Including the United States, we will complete 2011 having been to 8 (!!!) countries/territories this year!  (US, Brazil, Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore!)

My “Where I’ve Been” page has definitely been busy with updates! 

And to add to the excitement, a new box arrived through our DPO yesterday, carrying my Fitbit!  It’s teeny tiny! 

I don’t know why every time I post a picture of my hands they look like man hands?  I don’t have tiny hands, but they’re not manly either!  (They just look like old lady’s hands, but that’s ok.)  My ring finger is 5.5 size, and the ring is loose since I got gigantic knuckles, see, not man hands! 

Anyways…  I’m excited to see how much we actually walk on vacation.  We usually walk everywhere because we find that’s the best way to explore a new city, so hopefully the Fitbit agrees!  (Of course, we counteract all that walking by eating, since that’s part of exploring a new country as well…) 

I already took the elevator down to the 6th floor of our building – basically the first residential/non-garage floor – and took the stairs up!  I about died on my way up to the 19th floor, but yay, it recorded my ascent!  Sounds totally dumb, but I can see myself doing this everyday, since now it “counts” (I know, I know, it always counts, but still…)

Since I won’t be posting again until 2012 (ready with Singapore pictures!), have a very happy new year, everyone!

But…  But…  Lately I started to get iPhone envy…  And my Nokia C3 that doesn’t do anything aside from calling, texting and taking marginal pictures, started freezing and shutting itself off – even had the nerve of deleting all of Lily’s puppy pictures from my micro SD card in one of those fits.

Then in El Nido I realized that an iPhone would be SO convenient to check email/blog when I was traveling and had wifi but didn’t want to carry my netbook around (since when you’re traveling around with your backpack, even a netbook is too heavy, so we often leave it at home).

I hadn’t been shopping lately and had a bit of money, then Karl threw some money in the iPhone fund as my Christmas gift.  Perfect!

After a LOT of research, turns out the cheapest place to buy an unlocked iPhone was from the US Apple website itself.  Of course, they won’t ship it DPO (really Apple?), and I even tried getting them to ship to Guam (it let me until the very last checkout page when suddenly my zipcode is invalid – you’re a tease Apple!).  So I had to suck it up, pay for the taxes (remember, DPO is not a state, therefore we’re sales tax-free) and had it shipped to Michelle, who is visiting family in VA.

The iPhone has already arrived!  The one caveat?  Michelle doesn’t get back until mid-January, and I’ll be prancing around Southeast Asia with my parents then – I won’t get that phone until January 24th, a whole month and a half after I ordered it!  (The joys of living far away…)

But, for all of 200 pesos (that’s about 5 bucks), I already bought a cute case to welcome the phone to Manila…

Fancy, no?

Now since I’m SO late in the game, tell me, what is your favorite app?

They’re staying with us almost a whole month, and for almost 2 weeks, we’ll be traveling around Asia!

This is scary and exciting.  Scary as I haven’t taken a trip with my parents since I was 18, and it will also be the longest I’ve been away from Lily, the troublemaker-with-constant-health-issues dog.  Exciting as it’s my mom’s first time in Asia, and also my first time visiting 3 new countries:  Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam!

If you’re too lazy to click on that link on top, these are our stops…

Bangkok for some of this…

Chiang Mai for some of this…

(Seriously, people, put me on top of an elephant, cover me with puppies and kittens, and I might just die of happiness right there.)

Siem Reap for this…

Ho Chi Minh was a last minute addition.  The travel agent was wondering if a 2 hour layover in Vietnam was enough for our flight back to Manila, I asked Karl about it, and he said “2 hours?  Let’s make it 2 days and visit!” and we extended our trip and added a new country to our itinerary!

Ho Chi Minh (if you never heard of it, you likely have heard of its former name, Saigon), is a city with lots of shopping and a bit of history.

My parents arrive in 10 days, and in exactly 2 weeks from now, we’ll be off to Bangkok for the first leg of our adventure!  Now lets hope I can fit everything in a carry-on…

What is a Fitbit?  Well, this is what the company says:  “The Fitbit Ultra monitors your all-day activity to provide you with real-time feedback on steps, distance, calories burned, and stairs climbed to encourage you to walk more and be more active. It wirelessly uploads your data to Fitbit.com so you can gain deeper insight into your daily or monthly fitness and sleep levels with free online graphs and charts.”

So yeah, it’s like a pedometer, but with more features (it even counts steps!).  I don’t know anyone who has used it yet, but the Amazon reviews were pretty encouraging.  I had a friend that used the BodyBugg and swore by it, but the thought of using something around my arm all day (when I mostly wear dresses, where the band will definitely be visible), and having to pay monthly to use a website otherwise the device is useless, was not exciting (plus, it costs about $60 more than the Fitbit).

I actually almost bought one a couple of years ago, when there was a month-long waiting list that turned out to be almost a year-long.  I gave my credit card info and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  So when I finally got the email that mine was ready to be shipped I just had to confirm I still wanted it, I was broke, and therefore no longer interested.  Funnily enough, now I’m back and buying it!  (Yay for no longer being broke?)

The Fitbit is not some miracle device, but from reading the reviews people say it’s the motivation they needed, since they feel like every little thing counts so it makes them do more.  We’ll see.  If any of you have used it (or something similar like the BodyBugg), feel free to pipe in!  I’ll definitely do a review after I’ve used it for a while!  And once I calibrate it, wearing alongside the Garmin might make my runs outdoor in Makati slightly more accurate…

I told Karl that I was really proud of us for going to Guam and really taking advantage of the amazing gym at the Hilton.  He laughed out loud:  we never saw the inside of the gym, nor did our workout clothes ever leave our suitcases…

This week, I’ve gone to two muay thai classes, planning on my third one on Friday, so I’m not a complete bum either, but I haven’t run once (unless you count the 10 minute warm up at the treadmill prior to class – I don’t count it as running when it’s part of something else and less than a mile).

I’m still desperate for a routine.  But with all the traveling we’ve been doing, it’s really hard to fall into one.  Next week, we’re traveling again, the following weekend my parents arrive, the week after that we’re gone for almost 2 weeks…  I’m not complaining about the traveling (hello?  It’s awesome!), but damn, it’s hard to get back into shape.  I haven’t lost weight, and I’m afraid I’ve been gaining some.  It won’t make running any easier either!  Or fitting into the clothes in my closet.  Or feeling good about myself.

How does one even get off a rut that has lasted that long?  Ugh.

I’m also super-home sick this weekend.  For Brazil and my family thanks to Christmas.  After everyone canceled on us for our Christmas Eve celebration, it’ll be just me and Karl – which will be very hard, since that’s the time all my family gets together, and I’ve hosted Christmas Eve in Arlington for the last few years as well, so I always had a crowd around.  At first we were going to have about a dozen people here.  And little by little everyone canceled.  Some people didn’t even reply to our invitation.  (We did get invited to go munch on Christmas cookies that afternoon, and for Christmas lunch at a friends house, but actual Christmas Eve dinner is the tradition in my family, and that will still be lonely, even if Karl is there.)

And I’m also home-sick for DC.  Maybe it was seeing Margaret in Guam, or being in US territory for a bit, but I miss my friends, I miss my old life (but I admit:  I still don’t miss my job one bit, though I do miss the IMF).  I miss biking.  I miss the running trails and training for long distance races.  I miss the stores.  I miss eating good beef.  I really miss driving.  (And by driving I don’t mean what we do here in Manila, bumper to bumper traffic while avoiding jeepneys and pedestrians, but actually being able to press on the gas and not worry about the brakes for a minute or two, you know?)  But heck I DO NOT miss winter, so I better keep things in perspective, no?

So yeah, this week?  Not the best.  Hence the lack of posts – who wants to read me whining?  The only thing worse than whining on a blog post is reading one where the writer is whining.  So things might be quiet this week around here. 

Here’s hoping my mood improves!  And hoping everyone else is having a great week!  (In this case, misery does not love company!)

The water was amazingly clear and the visibility was even greater than here in the Philippines…

We snorkeled a lot, and even got to stalk an octopus while he swam from spot to spot, changing colors in less than a second!  So much fun!  We saw another octopus the following day, but he was staying put in his hole, only coming out for a peek.

Sadly, I didn’t want to swim holding the camera the whole time, so there are no pictures of any octopus, but I did take a couple of pictures of pretty fish!  And there were so many!  And so many different types (way more than these pictures show)! 

And of course, let’s not forget one of the highlights of the trip, that out of pure coincidence, Margaret, who I haven’t seen since I left DC in April, was in Guam for work and staying in the same hotel we were!  We only had one day overlap, but it was awesome going out for drinks with her and then stuffing our faces with Brazilian BBQ (the last time she had Brazilian BBQ was with me in Rio, a year ago!).

Ah, yeah, and that whole citizenship thing…  Now I’m officially an American Citizen!  Luckily they have no problems with me also being a Brazilian and a Portuguese citizen (my mom is Portuguese), so I’ll have a collection of passports, even though unless I’m entering Brazil, I have to travel with my US passport from now on (as a Brazilian citizen I’m not allowed to enter Brazil with anything but my Brazilian passport).

We didn’t do much exploring in the island due to the ridiculous amount of rain we encountered.  We actually drove a loop around the island once, then it started to rain, then storm, you could barely see a thing, so even though we probably passed lots of cool historical sites, we stayed in the shelter of our car…

We did go back to The Beach, this amazing new bar right on the beach.  It would totally be my hang out if we were to ever live in Guam.

And we enjoyed an amazing sunset while at The Beach.

Though our night there got cut short when it started pouring again.

After spending another day snorkeling, we went over to Jeff’s Pirates Cove for lunch, before heading back to the airport.  The food wasn’t the greatest, but it was a neat place to chill. 

Karl even got to enjoy a couple of beers while waiting for our flight!

I loved Guam!  I would never have gone if it wasn’t for the citizenship test, but I’m so happy that circumstances put us there, and that Karl was able to take time off and go with me too!  We had a blast, even with the rain.

FAVORITE MASSAGES:

QiWellness (pronounced “chi”) Hands down the best massage I’ve had.  I’ve tried The Spa and a lot of other local places and I never get a massage quite consistently good as in Qi (though I admit The Spa’s atmosphere cannot be beat!).  My favorite massages are both 90 minutes long, and cost P1080 ($25):  QiVitality massage, is a bit deeper pressure with some stretches (perfect after a workout!), and QiTranquility is a combination of lymphatic drainage and a bunch of other things to relax the hell out of you…  Once in a while I go for the Hot Stone massage, just for variety.  QiWellness is located at: 119 L.P. Leviste St, Salcedo Village, Makati.

FAVORITE FOOT MASSAGE: 

QiWellness does a great foot massage, but I’m cheap, so 99% of the time, you’ll see me going to Lotus My Massage Place for a one hour foot massage for only P350 ($8).  I always go for the reflexology one:  it’s super relaxing and even includes a great lower leg massage – awesome after a run!

FAVORITE MANICURE/PEDICURE: 

NailTropics, Greenbelt 5.   Great prices and you can splurge for the foot/hand treatment if you’re feeling fancy (or want to relax).  It includes a foot/hand massage and scrub, and it’s awesome.

FAVORITE THAI RESTAURANTS: 

This is a tough one…  People’s Palace in Greenbelt 3 is an all-time favorite, and their Pomelo Salad cannot be beat. 

But I have had equally amazing meals at Simply Thai in Greenbelt 5 (they’re 3 Sauce Softshell Crabs are yummy), and Mango Tree, also in Greenbelt 5, has impressed as well!

FAVORITE SPANISH PLACE: 

Alba, in Polaris St, Makati.  The ham croquettes are fried to perfection, and the paellas are amazing.  I love their paella negra with squid ink, while Karl is a big fan of the peppered steak.  The pitcher of sangria is only P600 ($14), and if that wasn’t enough, they have the cutest band there, serenading you with Spanish and English songs as you eat.

FAVORITE MILKSHAKE: 

Have you heard of a cake being blended in with ice cream?  That’s exactly what CBD, on Ayala Triangle in Makati, does.  Though their burgers and cheesesteaks are nothing to write home about, their milkshake is to die for (and really, eating a burger before a milkshake is not the way you want to go about this!).  If you’re a peanut butter fan, I highly recommend their peanut butter vanilla toffee.  There are chunks of peanut butter!  Karl’s favorite is the chocolate cake one – and you guessed it, chocolate ice cream blended with chocolate cake.

FAVORITE FROZEN MARGARITA: 

I know the local favorite tend to be Chili’s (yes, that Chili’s), but it’s always crowded and you wait forever for a refill.  I recently found Mr. Jones, and aside from great American food (their macaroni and cheese with mushrooms is to die for), they have great frozen margarita.  At P225 ($5.25), it’s not cheap, but it’s at least twice the size of the one at Chili’s making this a great deal!  If you prefer a margarita on the rocks, I have yet to find a place that does them better than Chili’s so go for it.

FAVORITE SUSHI: 

Seryna, in Little Tokyo, right across from Makati Cinema Square.  When you’re eating sushi and listening to Japanese being spoken around you (not that I can understand a thing), you know you’re in the right place!  I go there for lunch a lot, since their bento box is only P350($8).  If you want to try the bento box, they’re open every day for lunch until 1:30pm, including weekends.

FAVORITE INDIAN: 

Swagat Indian Cuisine in Rada St, Makati — it was recommended by my friend Irida (who is the true expert of Manila, seriously, but to my despair she has now moved back to Italy), and I’ve been there with her and it was delish!  We liked it way better than the famous Queens of Bollywood in Greenbelt, even though Bollywood does have a better atmosphere.

FAVORITE VEGETARIAN SPOT: 

Corner Tree Cafe, on Jupiter Avenue, Makati.  I know, I know, I’m far from a vegetarian, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy dishes lacking meat.  Corner Tree Cafe has great food (even very-carnivore Karl agrees!) and there’s enough variety that you won’t even be missing meat, I promise!

FAVORITE PERSIAN RESTAURANT: 

Arya Persian Restaurant, in Greenhills.  This was another one of Irida’s recommendations, and though I hit Persia Grill more often than not (it’s cheap, and it’s a couple of blocks from our place, perfect for rainy days!), Arya definitely has better quality food.

FAVORITE SUNDAY BRUNCH: 

The champagne brunch at the Spiral at Sofitel.  They’re closed until the spring, due to damage from the typhoon, but the brunch is being served at the bar and it was just as nice.  I recommend making a reservation, skipping breakfast that morning, and if you call they’ll tell you the brunch opens at 11:30am, but keep in mind they only start serving champagne at noon, so make your plans accordingly.  I totally ate my weight in cheese when we went there for our anniversary, and though it’s expensive (I think P1,800/person?) it was worth it, so worth it.

FAVORITE DRINK:  If you like lychee, the best drink I’ve had in Manila so far is “A Long White Cloud” from People’s Palace (linked above).  Lychee, elderflower, citron vodka, lemongrass, rosewater.  YUM!

FAVORITE PLACE TO SHOP: 

Uh, I have already talked about this one:  Greenhills!  I’ve been to Divisoria too and wasn’t as impressed, Greenhills on the other hand, tugs at my heart each time!  It’s overwhelming at first, but every time I go back I feel more and more at home.

FAVORITE GYM: 

Of course, I’m totally biased because that’s the only gym I’ve been to here, but I did tour Gold’s and Fitness First (both were PACKED when we went).  FTX might not be best if you like to just hit the weights or the cardio machines, but if you want to do something different, like circuit training or take classes, I highly recommend them!

FAVORITE FACIAL:

Coras Derm Centre (they don’t have a website, but this is the best place to link them to).  I really should go more often, I know…  It’s the only place where I’ve been so far where they actually take my face seriously and give me a facial (I went to a place in Salcedo, and I got a 5 minute facial and a 55 minute head massage, I was livid – I don’t even like head massages!).  I also get a “hydra-diamond peel” there as well (basically a microdermabrasion with serum).

To see another perspective on Manila recommendations, check out Sarah’s post from earlier this year.  And the facials was totally her recommendation too!  (I go to the same threading place as well, but I have mixed reviews of it, so not recommending just yet…)

Bad sucky news:  no one told me it rained so much in Guam!!!  So no beaches for us yet.  It’s also much cooler here than in Manila, specially with the rain (I wish I had a sweater!).

Also, k-mart wasn’t as exciting as I expected:  no crystal cat litter, no canned pumpkin, not much xmas decoration, but we did some damage on our bank account nonetheless.  Yesterday we were eating sharp cheddar cheese slices in the car, and it hurt my tongue – hurt SO good, that is!

Awesome news?  I got to see my friend Margaret, that I missed so much since we left in April, and she had exciting news of her own!  We caught up drinking margaritas and eating Brazilian BBQ.  Yum!

Fingers crossed for sunny days from now on!  The more it rains the more we shopped out of lack of things to do…

There is a shopping center/market here in Manila called Greenhills.  If you ever been to Manila, for sure you have heard of it, because that’s where people go to buy pearls.  Lots and lots of pearls.

I have to be honest, before moving here, pearls didn’t really excite me.  But I had no clue how much variety there was to be found!  I have since stocked up on many different colors and styles of freshwater pearls, and also bought a tiger eye necklace, a lapis lazuli one, a couple of turquoise ones… 

Yes, one can say I have a problem…  (But wouldn’t you have one too if you could score all of the necklaces below for a little over $150?)

Now where does one store all these new necklaces?  Well, in pretty jewelry boxes also bought at Greenhills, of course!  They’re made with coconut shells, seashells, seeds, bamboo…

Another one of my favorite Greenhills purchase?  This awesome vase made of coconut shell!  I think the asymmetrical sides are so cool!  I have a feeling I’ll be buying a couple more of these before we leave Manila…

Boxes and vases aren’t the only thing made of coconut shell – there are many bowls made with a technique similar to the boxes and vase above, or just a simple shell, glazed on the inside…

And let’s not forget my collection of coasters made with seashells…

And if none of this excites you, they also sell clothes, pillow covers (our couches are a lot prettier now!) and other tapestries, handbags, backpacks, electronics and even furniture!  (I’m in love with a dining table they sell, and though I like my dining table ok, I’ve been wondering if they can make it into a coffee table for me…)

So though I’m walking distance to fancy-shmancy Greenbelt mall, I never shop there.  I wait to do all my shopping at Greenhills.  I can’t wait to take my mom there, as I know she’ll fall in love with that (crazy) place as much as I have!

And yes, if you ever decide to visit me here in Manila, get your wallet ready for some shopping!  And that’s my biggest problem:  every time I go there, either to buy gifts or to take a new person to Greenhills, I come home with more necklaces for myself…

(Photos of Greenhills were taken by my friend Liz when she was visiting.  You can check out her other photos of the Philippines, or all her travels at her photo website.)

Why Guam?

If all goes well, I should be arriving in Guam a Brazilian citizen, and leaving as an American citizen (luckily I will not lose my Brazilian OR my Portuguese citizenship with this – citizen of the world, anyone?).  My naturalization test is on Thursday, and I’m actually pretty nervous about it, so send some good vibes my way!

Now the other thing I’m super-duper-excited about, aside from Guam’s amazing beaches?  Believe it or not, this…

I miss my beloved Target so freaking much here (I miss the days I could walk into one store and get everything I need), that I’ll take a visit to its less-exciting cousin any day!  I already have big plans for it, hoping to find crystal cat litter, my favorite deodorant, canned pumpkin, Monster Lo-Carb drinks, Christmas decoration…  I know I won’t find everything I need (after all, it’s still located in Guam, so I’m sure like every island it runs out of things here and there), but we’re bringing empty suitcases with us, just in case!

And I almost peed my pants when I found out there’s a proper Brazilian BBQ place in Guam!  (Nothing can be found here in Manila, aside from a small place in the Fort that came with very bad reviews from my Brazilian friends.)  Eat my weight in meat?  YES, PLEASE!

Oh, and if k-mart has cheese, I can see myself just taking a bite out of a chunk of cheddar and calling it breakfast…  I miss cheese…  (Full disclosure:  you CAN find cheese in Manila, but the prices are so exorbitant – say 10 bucks for a little bit of cheddar, even more for more exciting cheese – that I refuse to buy any.)

I also dearly miss driving (not bumper to bumper traffic driving, but actually stepping on the gas for a bit without needing to slam on the brakes), that I’m sad my VA driver’s license is expired and I won’t be able to take the wheel of our rental car.

The only sucky thing about going to Guam?  My friend Tessa lived there for 3 years (THREE YEARS, PEOPLE!) and she just left it a couple of months ago.  Boo!

Update:  After I wrote this, I found out my friend Margaret (who has been featured here before, we ran many long runs together in DC) is going to be in Guam until Thursday!!!  We have a one day overlap and I’m so super excited!  We’ve skyped a few times, but I haven’t seen her since April!

Due to plain stupidity and tiredness, I said “sure put it in storage” when the movers asked about our xmas stuff, and I arrived in Manila with absolutely no decoration, aside from some ornaments I bought during the after-season sale last year.  Even my tiny 3-foot tree stayed behind. 

But once again we’re hosting Christmas Eve this year (last year we hosted too and ended the night belting out karaoke songs, it was a blast), and I knew there’s no way it would look like a true Christmas dinner if we were lacking a tree…

So off to Target.com I went, only to have them tell me that they’re not shipping no tree to DPO (they’re surprisingly REALLY strict with what they ship DPO!  Even Lily’s Halloween costume couldn’t be shipped through it…).  So I was off to Walmart.com, hoping that they would be nicer with their shipping rules.

And nicer they were!  2 weeks later, I got to open this box:

And after going to 5 (!!!) different stores,  I finally had enough lights and ornaments to decorate our tree. 

Since I was used to tiny ornaments for my tiny tree, I definitely erred on the side of small balls (they really only sell balls as ornaments here, at least that’s all I could find after hitting 5 stores for xmas loot, good thing I had bought a few a year ago!), so the tree didn’t look exactly as I hoped.   Jokes aside, I think I needed bigger balls…

To be perfectly honest, during the daytime the tree just looks plain crappy…

But luckily, it looks much better at night!

Now we just need to find a skirt for it, so it doesn’t scream fake, but I rather drag my fake tree from country to country than have to deal about not having a tree at all.  (Plus, let’s face it, I grew up in Brazil, fake tree for me IS Christmas!)

I figured it’s about time to try something different, since I can’t seem to commit to anything lately.

I tried zumba years ago, and looked like a white-girl dancing and was afraid I might get my Brazilian citizenship revoked if I ever tried that again.  Needless to say, I decided this time to try muay thai.

I was super nervous going to my first class – I never done any type of martial arts and I wasn’t even sure what muay thai really was (aside from the “Thai kickboxing” explanation).  I didn’t even google for fear that I was going to chicken out.  (Hint:  I do not look like the picture below.)

Much to my surprise, I was the ONLY person who signed up for the class, so I basically had one hour personal training session.  The hardest part of the class?  The warm up.  We’re taking jump rope, burpees, push ups, runs, alternating kicks…  But once the looooong warm up is done, there’s a lot of punching and kicking, that though still tiring, they are a lot more fun (turns out I have a pretty strong round kick, but my jump kick?  Couldn’t be more girly if I tried).

So far I’ve only gone to three classes (all of them I was by myself), but each one left me sore for days.  Tomorrow we’re traveling, but I’m hoping next week I can finally make it to three more classes!  The instructor kicks my ass each time, and now I’m really hoping no one else will show up to them…  I’m getting used to the personal training session and having all the attention.

Have you tried a muay thai class or another martial arts class?  Considering my lack of commitment lately to anything else (like bikram, and even running), I’m really hoping muay thai would keep me coming back!

Karl and I also tried their “Rip60” class, which is basically a TRX Suspension Training class – kicked our butts, and we’re definitely going back for more!

So far there has been no change in the scale, but hoping if I keep at it, I’ll finally start getting back into shape.

We are off to Palau on April 10th, and we’ll be gone for a whole week, but we knew that we didn’t want to spend Easter weekend in Manila, even if it would mean April would start as a super-busy month. 

We arrived on Easter weekend this year and on Good Friday the whole town was dead, shops and restaurants closed, which makes for a very long 4 day weekend stuck at home.

Cebu Pacific’s ticket options did not allow us to spend the 4 day weekend in Jakarta, but it DID let us get there Wednesday night, and fly back on Friday night.  Again, exactly 48 hours to explore!  But why not?  It’ll also allow us to have a weekend back at home to relax, and there’s nothing like visiting a busy city then relaxing for a week at the beach afterwards, no?

So Indonesia will be the 5th country we’re already booked to visit next year!  And hopefully that’s only the beginning…

Now where to stay in Jakarta?  It seems that the city is very much like Manila: busy and with not many touristy things to do.  But there must be good food and a good market somewhere, no?

Remember that hip pain I kept having earlier this year?  It started after my December 31st run, after taking a few weeks off due to my highly inflamed plantar fasciitis.  My first run back triggered a weird right side hip pain, and I took time off and didn’t go away. 

I went to an orthopedist in VA, who had no answers except “stop running.”  So I scheduled an appointment for a second opinion.  The second doctor took an      x-ray that showed no issues and gave me a cortisone shot that didn’t do anything, except for give me hopes… 

I went back to running, despite the pain.  I started physical therapy, but saw no results…  I kept running, as the hip wasn’t getting worse, but it was constantly sore, even when walking. 

I took a bunch of time off running when I moved to Manila, sure that the time off would make things better, and that made no difference, once I went running, the hip was still hurting…

I was recommended an orthopedist who quickly diagnosed me with weak core and hips, and sent me off for more physical therapy (which turned out to be $60 a pop, so I never went back – I can do planks on my own, thankyouverymuch).

But even doing weightlifting, working on my core, nothing improved my hip.

And then, one day back in September, Katie posted about her broken butt and her own issues…  (Definitely worth reading if you have hip issues!)  And though we didn’t have the exact same problems, there was enough similarities that it convinced me to at least try to “engage my glutes” during a run.  How does one engage their glutes?  Well, at least for me, I gotta clench my butt, then it actually makes it feel like it’s not just my legs carrying me on runs.

And from then on, I have been constantly aware of my butt and have clenched my glutes during runs, to make sure I’m engaging my hips with each step.  Always.

It has been 3 months since then, and I’m happy to say that since day ONE of doing that, I’m PAIN FREE!  No more weird hip pain triggered by runs!  No more wasted trips to doctors!  All I needed to do was engage my glutes with each step.  Soooo simple, no? 

So if you are also having weird hip pain, it might be something to consider. 

As for running, I got another 3 miles in this week, not an easy run, but not a bad run by any means.  I even pushed myself a bit in the last mile, getting what is probably my fastest run since arriving in Asia.

(How do I wish the treadmill gave me a mile by mile split, like the Garmin does…)

So many different types! 

Karl says he doesn’t understand the appeal, that everyone makes such a big deal about something so small, but they’re so cool looking (and pretty!), how can you not get excited?

Can’t you tell? 

El Nido, we’ll meet again.  Next time, I’ll bring Karl with me, I promise!  And here’s hoping wherever we end up next, I can be right by a clean beach for daily dips in the ocean.  Nothing makes me happier.

But turns out that I did 3 miles, non-stop, at 0.5% incline and a 5.1 speed that I was even able to speed up a bit towards the end, and aside from the usual treadmill boredom, I finished feeling I could go longer (but I didn’t, since I want to get back at it taking it easy, instead of hurting myself).  It’s nice to have an ego-boosting run, specially when it’s been so long since my last run!  I didn’t want to push it on my first day back, so this felt great!

I also tested it my super-cute brand new Saucony Kinvara shoes (that I bought it at a great deal at Shoebuy Private Events – they don’t always have running stuff, but every other week something athletic shows up, worth checking out, specially since it’s not limited to just shoes!). 

I scored them for 45 bucks (they cost between $72-90 at Zappos, so this was an awesome deal!), and figured if I didn’t like them for running, they’d be great travel shoes (so pretty!).

They have a smaller heel to toe drop, encouraging a more midfoot/forefoot strike – I totally need to video myself running to see if it made a difference (my calves are killing me today, so I think it did).

The only problem I had was that they don’t come in wide sizes, and my feet are super super wide, so I have to limit them for shorter runs (don’t laugh, I do plan of having long runs again!  But yeah, right now shorter runs = all runs).  I could see them getting super tight if I tried to do double digits with them though.

But aside from that, my feet felt great, and no pain today, aside from the sore calves.

Have I mentioned I’m off to a Muay Thai class in a few minutes?  This should be interesting…

Oh, and do you think I got red after my run?  Yikes!  (Compare the color of my neck to the face.  Seriously, what is that?)

Go to Jill’s post here and sign up!

Only a minimum of $10 to participate, so why not?  It’s Secret Santa style, so you just have to keep it a secret until everyone gets their gift!

Even if you don’t read Jill’s blog you can participate (to be honest, I didn’t find her until today – I saw her link through SUAR).

And based on the comments, there’s almost 150 people signed up!  This will be fun!  (And you might just be lucky enough to get a gift straight from the Philippines…)