The Scotti Blog.....

Aria at 8 months!

2011-12-10T00:09:00.001-10:00

Here she is and here are some of her cool new tricks.....

G

Pumpkin Face

2011-10-17T22:48:00.002-10:00

6 Months

2011-10-16T11:41:00.003-10:00

Hard to believe it! Everyone told us it went fast but it's still crazy to experience it. Aria is growing and changing so much everyday. Our 6 month doctor visit puts her at 15.13 pounds (but I seriously thought she was heavier then that!) and a whopping 27 inches long. Her first teeth came in at 4 1/2 months, she loves eating, hates sleeping and is working on her crawling skills. She's a big talker (favorite sound = aiyayayayay) and is keeping mom and dad fully entertained with her exuberant personality!

Daddy Time

2011-10-09T04:07:00.003-10:00

Baby Parts

2011-10-07T23:20:00.000-10:00

Aria's first food!

2011-10-06T08:57:00.000-10:00

The video sums it up.....

The excitement of raising this little wiggle pants is too much. She's been such a joy and in the past mont we have done well to establish bed times and naps as well as learn to splash around in the bath. If we could only stop these 3am wakeup calls!

More in a bit from the world of Aria!

Newborn Photo Shoot

2011-04-28T10:08:00.000-10:00

I can't believe how big our little Aria is getting! She had gained more then a pound at her two week doctor visit and now at three weeks I have no doubt she is still packing them on! So I had to make sure and get some of those squishy newborn shots as soon as possible. She did really great, waking up a few times along the way only slightly frustrated by the ridiculous things that her mother was putting her through. So here are some highlights from Aria's first photo shoot at 10 days old.

Aria Olivia Scotti

2011-04-08T10:24:00.000-10:00

The mother and father of Ms. Aria Olivia Scotti are happy to announce her arrival. Riding in on a Pacific storm of epic proportions, our sweet little girl joined the world of fellow air breathers at 6:15 am on Thursday April 7th.

So may things went right during pregnancy, labor and delivery it is really quite amazing. Michelle started to feel contractions with some regularity on the 6th and we both spent the day enjoying our time together and working on middle names. The aquarium kept us busy for a bit and Michelle got to visit with Grandma and Grandpa while I did manly stuff like change the oil in his truck and eat meatball sandwiches.

Around 9pm, contractions started coming in more regularly and as we prepared the last of the bags to head to the birth center it was evident that things were moving in the right direction. Our Bradley Birth course had prepared us for such changes and by 10 I was napping while Michelle was fighting off contractions and sending emails to clients on the mainland. 11pm, water breaks..... now it's go time.

12:30: Contractions are roughly 4 minutes apart and picking up in intensity when we battle the downpour to load the remaining items into the truck.

Lightning, pounding rain and driving wind met full force with the truck as we careened over the Pali Highway. I managed to keep it to a decent speed and it certainly helps that no one is on the road at this time of night and in this weather by choice!

Check in at 1am to a quiet ward and off to our room. Considering Michelle and I had chosen to labor without meds, we couldn't be happier with the staff at Castle Medical Center. They viewed our birth plan then left us alone to labor. Michelle is an all out CHAMPION and such an amazingly tough, composed and together woman in labor. I felt so proud to be by her side for the entire amazing and magical experience.

By 4:30am the contractions were very hard and intense. By 5:30, she was fully dialated and the urge to push took over...... Only 45 minutes of tough and intense pushes assisted by me and a very attentive and confident nurse and the Doc coming in just at the right time and here are the results:

We are so excited to share this wonderful world with our little one and are quickly learning all sorts of fun parenting skills while trying to squeeze naps in. She's doing amazing too! Tons of time feeding with momma and leaving lots of good messes for dad to clean up. We are thankful for the love and outpouring of support from family and friends in the past months and look forward to seeing everyone with our amazing little lady in the months and weeks to come.

Phones are off at this point so please no calls (Gabe's is actually routing to Uncle Drew's phone)...... text messages, emails and facebook messages are fine and we love you all so much! We'll have this little one home tomorrow for the weekend!

Mahalo,

Michelle, Gabe and Aria Scotti

Sunrise on Oahu....

2011-03-31T10:00:00.000-10:00

I guess we are a little restless these days. So much is unknown. Another great checkup with the Doc yesterday and Michelle's folks are here for some Grandma and Grandpa time. A rare morning off for me and both of us awake and unable to sleep at 5am.

Let's go watch the sunrise!

Slow speed of ascent after coffee gave way to an amazing view at Makapu'u. We greeted the first light of the day as we will our daughter, knowing that each are in fact only a matter of time. Sunrise however is more predictable.... and oh so miraculous!

Gabe

Underwater Belly Photos

2011-03-25T10:45:00.000-10:00

First off, a huge thank you to all of our friends and family for the outpouring of love and gifts. Gabe's task today is to build a couple of new shelves as we have run out of places to put things from our baby registry. Thanks also to everyone participating in the baby due date gambling pool. If you haven't gotten in on it yet - today is your last chance to cast your vote!

We are all healthy and happy. Baby Scotti is getting bigger and continues to keep my belly bouncing. As I approach 39 weeks, we are getting very anxious to meet her. Gabe is convinced she will be here next week, I am not letting myself consider that. She will be here when she is good and ready :)

And now a HUGE thanks to Eddy Fong of Renai Photography. He is an amazing photographer and awesome friend. I got it in my head long ago that I wanted to take underwater pregnancy photos. Eddy usually does this with wedding and engagement couples but when I asked him to take belly photos he was all for it. One of the things I had not considered was how hard it would be to stay underwater. I am a freaking Buoy! We spent two hours bobbing around in a friends pool. I had no idea what to expect but besides for being an incredible workout, it was a lot of fun - even Gabe had a good time! We've only seen a few so far and I am so thrilled. Can't wait to see the rest Eddy!

Baby Due Date Betting Pool!

2011-03-16T00:10:00.000-10:00

Because it's always fun to bring a little gambling into the mix, we thought it would be fun to start a baby due date betting pool. It started at the baby shower and we thought we would open it up to include whoever else might care to make a wager. So come and take a guess. Will she be early? Will she be late? Or will Michelle get the best birthday present ever and deliver right on time...

RULES OF THE GAME
1. $5.00 per guess, feel free to enter multiple times.
2. Guess the day, hour and minute that you think Baby Scotti will be born (Hawaii Standard Time :)
3. Closest guess to the minute is the WINNER!
4. In the event of a tie, the winner is the person who chose the closest after the exact time of birth.
5. Half of the final pool goes to the winner, the other half goes to Baby Scotti's college fund.
6. All bets must be placed no later then March 25th.

Instructions:
Donate through Paypal using the button at the bottom of this post. $5.00 donation per entry. When you reach the page asking you to review your donation, click on the line in blue that says: Enter name, date and time of guess here. Enter the date and exact time, including AM or PM of your guess in this box. *Calender will not auto update. Just be sure to enter the date and time on the paypal form and we will add it to the calendar asap.

Check the calendar before making your guess to make sure it's not a time and day that has already been claimed. Guessing is first come first serve. If you duplicate someone else's guess we will contact you to choose a new time.

(Click on the forward arrow next to March 2011 to see April)

We are at 37 weeks so it could really be any time between now and mid-April!

Pregnancy Pictures

2011-03-15T23:43:00.001-10:00

So much going on in Scotti Paradise! Baby is almost here and there are a million things left to do. I (Michelle) got a hold of the blog template and decided to pretty it up a bit :) Also thought I'd share a few of the first round of pregnancy pics that I made Gabe suffer through...

Photos by Hermosa Baby Photography

Hitting the home stretch!

2011-01-16T17:05:00.000-10:00

Well, the Holidays have come and gone. We both stayed super busy and by the time we looked at a calendar we were at 28 weeks..... whoah! That mean's it's 3rd Trimester time. The checklist is growing.

Crib. Done
Stroller. Yup
Baby Clothes. Check
Stuffed Animals. Multiplying by the week in the aforementioned crib.
Mommy and Daddy Classes...... oops, skipped the first one because the Ducks were in the BCS National Championship Game.

Here's how we celebrated.

Kicks and punches are getting more intense and frequent, especially after Michelle eats. The wee one has also decided to turn herself head down as we had hoped and the vitals are looking good!

More from us soon and all the best in 2011.

Gabe and Michelle

Merry Xmas!

2010-12-25T20:21:00.001-10:00

Big thanks to Robin for the photo. Looked like a good place to put the ornament!

G

November Already!

2010-11-02T02:19:00.000-10:00

Almost halfway...... into our 18th week now and things have been cruising along.

My iPhone app tells me our little boy/girl is smaller than a beer bottle (it tells me the size in things I can relate to), while Michelle's says it's about the size of a mango. The wee one is getting fiesty too and was even cheering when Uncle Drew, Gabe and Michelle were cheering the Ducks on as they destroyed USC this past weekend.

We've started talking about names and looked at how best to rearrange the Casa de Scotti to best suit the addition of a new nipper. The Mom to be is busy getting into her fall routine which includes catching up on the heaps of weddings and families she got to spend time with this summer and getting things in order for an exciting spring! Dad is up to his eyeballs in divers and spends his hours underwater amazed that all these years in a wetsuit have left him capable of creating another being and telling everyone he knows about the next Scotti.

Check out Auntie Deeds, The Belly and our little one's lead singer pose/race car driver stance!

Our next adventure.....

2010-09-15T20:31:00.000-10:00

Good news from the Scotti crew! We are having a BABY!

As of right now we are 13 weeks along with a flawless report from the doc at the first ultra sound.... check it out!

Gabe is busy reading books and learning what all the abbreviations mean while Michelle is preoccupied with Pickles and Cheese. Today she wanted hot dogs..... more to come as this project unfolds.

UPDATE: 2nd appointment today and the wee one is about 7cm long and has a heart rate of 158bpm..... all good things. The best news of all is that the due date is APRIL 4th, that's Mama Michelle's Birthday! How cool.....

Love and Hugs,

G and M

New Places and Silly Faces...... Panama!

2010-02-17T16:08:00.000-10:00

I guess when my sister first started making noise about moving her family to somewhere sunny and warm we always knew this day would come. I never thought she would do it but here they are...... Hallie and Joe with kiddos Zach and Isla enjoying life in a small chain of Panamanian islands just south of the Costa Rican border on the Caribbean side.

The island is Bastimentos and it is home to a stunning array of wildlife. In a little over a week here we have seen a few red frogs, monkeys, countless tropical birds, a 4 foot boa constrictor and a grasshopper the size of a hamster. Not to mention lightning bugs, hawks, hermit crabs, toads, starfish and all sorts of other critters.

I'm so proud of my sis and her family for making this move happen. Everyday the kids get on the boat from Bastimentos Island to neighboring town and Carnival Hot Spot Bocas Del Toro. Here they attend school while Hallie rounds up groceries, goes for a jog, gets a coffee and then gets the kids back on the afternoon boat back to their island. Joe in the meantime, has picked up work here at a sprawling housing development putting out all sorts of fires that a large project might have in exchange for housing.

Because the kids had so much time off this week (It's Carnival here, did I mention that?) We have had all sorts of fun. Trips to town, a chocolate contest, tons of beach time, walks at night, walks on the beach, walks to neighbor islands for yummy Thai food, coloring, building leggos, skateboarding and building sand castles just to name a few!

Here are some funny faces from all the new places we have been:

Tomorrow we travel overland to the mountain town of Bouquete, Panama. From there who knows!

G

Costa Rica Photos!

2010-02-09T09:56:00.000-10:00

Two days into the Costa Rican experience....

Day 1: Great local style breakfast at the Double Tree in San Jose. Awesome fruit, amazing coffee and gallo pinto (rice and beans)
Noon bus to Puerto Viejo is full. Gotta take the 2 o'clock. Bummer....... Michelle getting familiar with the guidebook:

4 hour bus ride to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side of the country. Fantastic mountains, rivers and bridges on the way. Very talkative American guy named Clay who claims to have been a drug runner in Florida and a tennis pro, surfed professionally on the tour and now has a rich Costa Rican girlfriend. Clay has a big facial scar and recent dental work from a bar brawl and is starting to look like Gary Busey in this photo:

The stories keep coming but he says he will take us around to look for a few cabinas on his 4 wheeler once we get to Puerto Viejo...... We check a few out and finally decide on Kaya's Place. Check out the link here for photos: Kaya's Place on Tripadvisor

Day 2: Wake early to grab breakfast and head out to explore the area. Tons to do down here in the Southeast corner of this country and I'm stoked to be back in the Caribbean. Puerto Viejo is famous for it's surf break called Salsa Brava. We see no monster waves and head out on a jungle trail that runs along a stunning, palm rimmed beach. Here we have our first encounter with leafcutter ants! Man these are so cool! Check out the Video:

Leafcutter Ants Video

Today, Michelle makes friends with lots of critters. First is a local dog on the trail to Cocles Beach who keeps us company for a half mile or so and next up is the Three toed sloth.

The sloth in Costa Rica is the ultimate chiller. Lounging in the trees they are said to move so slow that moss grows on their fur. We arrived at the Jaguar Rescue Center in time to get in on a massive tour. The tour included 3 toed and 2 toed sloth, howler monkeys, snakes of every kind including false coral and pit vipers, an owl, several caymans (small croc's) famous green tree frog and two jungle cats. The Margay Cat looked like a tiny jaguar..... Michelle has photos coming later. Also in with the monkeys is the Jaguarundi who hunts day and night and is also a legendary swimmer!

Finally, Michelle gets to get up close and personal with her buddy...... the 3 Toed:

These guys were hilarious. They would cling to you like a toddler and wanted nothing more than to relax and to hug an occasional stuffed animal or eat a flower. Fantastic! Make sure to visit the Jaguar Rescue center if you are ever in this area is their end goal is the release of all of their critters back into the jungle. They all have been taken in because of devious acts of man and habitat destruction..... you can help! Go see em for an informative look on the local critters.

Off for a snorkel after the tour where I spotted a huge barracuda in the shallows, a slipper lobster and several parrot fish. The reef here isn't much to look at but the 85 degree water is amazing! Our final stop for the afternoon is Punta Uva where we meet an Argentinian named Guillermo who is running the dive shop. He tells us about the trail to the point so we clamber up the 5 minute trail to an overlook and the water looks so refreshing. I head in for another swim as Michelle explores a cave. Finally, we round out our day with a few monkeys coming down from the canopy to feed as it's getting close to sunset.

All total we treked about 4.5 miles today, met some great people doing valuable work and learned a ton about the issues facing the people and the critters in this area. Tomorrow it's off to Panama to see the Bradfords...... we are so excited!

What a short, strange trip it's been....

2010-02-08T09:30:00.000-10:00

Got off to a crazy start to the Costa Rica/Panama experience as my sister Hallie had us running around Southern California for all sorts of items she said she needed here in Panama. She only conveyed this information to me via email everyother day or so and the shopping list was growing longer:

Honey Nut Cheerios,
Coloring Books for kiddos,
WASHABLE, Repeat... WASHABLE Markers,
and home hair Perm Kits?????

So, combine these goods with our belated birthday/Xmas presents for my nephew and niece (Zach and Isla) and the backpacks began to swell like a howler monkey's chest. Tons of fun in LA on our last night having good Mexican food (there is no such thing in Hawaii) with good friends Farmer, Jodi and Rachel and a 5am wakeup call the next morning.

Halfway to the airport it dawns on Michelle that she has left her wallet at Farmer and Jodi's. So, since we had begun the journey fairly early we had some buffer before the flight was leaving. Farms drops Michelle and I off at the gate and we go about checking bags in and through security. Our phones are turned off and sitting at his house 20 miles away so we have no way to get ahold of Farmer. I take Farmer's phone so he can call me from Jodi's and he races back to his house to get the wallet, Jodi's phone and turn around to come back to LAX.

Farmer calls from the house, "Got the wallet, I'll be there soon" to which I respond..... "Great, I'll get coffee and meet you out by the curb in about 20mins" Looks like everything is rolling along just fine until he texts and says "Got pulled over" to which I respond..... "BS" Apparently he got clocked at 80 in a 65 and the cop happened to notice that his license was expired. At this point we are talking on the phone and he tells me that Johnny Law won't let him leave unless there is another driver. Well, he waits it out and the Law Dog finds another speeder so Farmer makes it back to LAX just in time to switch the wallet for the phone and one last hug. MAHALO FARMER..... we'll pick up the cost of the ticket bro!

LAX to Houston goes quickly but now we have a 6 hour layover to fill. Superbowl Sunday in the Airport! Too bad the game is slated for kickoff right about the time our plane departs to Costa Rica. As we fill in the seats on the plane we notice that Continental has TV sets in the headrests of every seat. A few people find the channel that the game is on and 250 passengers put headphones on simultaneously. $6 for the Superbowl..... I think we can swing that. So we swipe the cards and watch the remainder of the first half as the attendants speak over the audio of the game in both English and Spanish!

Plane takes off, the Who rocks the halftime show and just about the time the second half is supposed to start the feed starts getting glitchy. Read the fine print, Direct TV's inflight broadcasting only works for about 200 miles outside the boundries of the states! GRRRRR!

This is year #2 in a row I have missed the Superbowl..... I hear it was a great game though so I guess I'll have to download it on iTunes when I get back. On the ground in Costa Rica and a quick 5 minute cab ride to our hotel. Big bed, hot shower and a good night sleep. All the luxury is great as we'll be roughing it for the next few. More later!

G

Busses, Caves, Coffins and Dogs!

2009-03-18T20:11:00.000-10:00

WHOAH! Hard to top the whale sharks huh?

After 5 weeks in country, Michelle turned to me and said the words I never thought I would hear come out of her mouth.... "I think I'm beached out." Meaning of course that since we had spent the better part of our honeymoon never more than a balut throw away from the ocean she was ready for some mountain time.

Sounds great to me so we set our sights for Northern Luzon. A quick flight to Manila, a cab driver who knew where the McDondalds was and we boarded a morning bus to the mountain town of Baggio. The bus ride took us through sprawling Metro Manila and gave us a real feel for how large this metropolis really is..... up to 15 million peeps!

With an evening to spend in Baggio before our next leg, we set out to explore the market. How different the climate was up here too and after the sun set we really needed those extra layers we brought! As we snaked through steep streets lined with fish, veggies, fruits, rice and slippers (Miche bought a pair to replace her blown out blue ones) it became obvious that this was a very agricultural area of the country. I had read of great coffee and strawberries and we were excited when we stumbled across another large street which contained a variety of food stalls, crafts and booths to benefit several local projects. Why.... It's the Baggio Flower Festival! Very cool and laid back and tons of students around too as Baggio is home to several universities.

The real treat came the next morning as we boarded a bus to head up to Sagada. Our aim was to get some time chilling out.... hiking, caving and make our way over to the 8th wonder of the world the Banaue Rice Terraces.

Here's the view from the bus about an hour or so in...

The road continued for hours, sometimes paved and sometimes not. Sometimes one lane, other times one and a half. Our bus driver knew the route well and the vistas we got in any direction were incredible. After arriving in Sagada, we checked into on of the LARGEST rooms of the entire trip..... great work Miche!

Next we headed out to Echo Valley to take in the limestone cliffs, hanging coffins and crisp mountain air...AHHH. The locals have a long tradition of putting their deceased in coffins in the caves and even sticking off the sides of walls like this!

Fantastic hike with a small local boy leading us through the valley. After such a journey we decided to check out a cafe for a cup of fresh local coffee..... BEST IN PHILIPPINES I say and found another charming pooch! (Note to reader: This image will be compiled into a Dogs of Philippines album at some point in the future)

Our next day was full of adventure as we headed out to explore Sumaging Cave. Known as the "Big Cave" in these parts, this is one of the highlights of the trip for me! Our guide, George, was excellent and briefed us on how the limestone helped form the caves and underground rivers.

Lit only by kerosene lamp we entered the slippery, muddy entrance to the cave and felt the cool air. So cold in face we could see our breath! Chilly, waist deep water gave way to tight squeezes and majestic formations of limestone "flows" My camera just didn't do the low light thing very well, so if you want to find more images, do a google search for Sumaging Cave Photos. Here are a few of the better ones!

After cruising around and looking at the golden formations 500 feet below the surface of the earth, it was time for a swim! Our guide George stayed dry and lit the way while we plunged 10 feet into a crisp dark pool..... Brilliant!

What better way to end a day of caving and hiking than with PIE. Oh, fresh lemon pie tastes so good, and check out that beard!

Up early the following morning, we caught a Jeepney into Bontoc. The views from up top (Thanks for the tip Brian) were stunning. Michelle took the warm route, but I sat on our comfy backpacks and took in the morning air. Clinging to the rails and leaning into the turns, I felt like I was on a diesel powered stagecoach!

Here's the view.....

And here's what it looked like behind me.....

Stay tuned for the world famous, 2000 year old rice terraces of Banaue.

Holy S*%#, Wow!

2009-03-16T19:04:00.000-10:00

The title of this post represents my exact words in response to our next adventure.... whale sharks. This is a very difficult blog to write, because no matter what I say here I don't think there is any way I can describe the absolute and complete wonder of swimming next to these massive creatures. I had heard about them, seen pictures, video, I didn't get it, I even considered skipping over this part of the trip. Gabe said we had to go, I had to experience it. He was so right.

We flew into the town of Legaspi where Gabe immediately wrangled up a minivan and a couple of new friends for us to share it with on our trip to Donsal. Donsal is a tiny little fishing village that is speeding it's way into Philippines tourism fame due to the discovery of whale sharks in the neighborhood. The tiny Barangay consists of a single road with rice paddies and grass huts on one side and guesthouses popping up along the other. We settled into a room and made our way out to Barracuda with our new friends Kelly and Jeff for a night of pesto, Tanduay and incredibly out there stories from the extremely chatty bar owner.

Despite a late night we were all up with the sun the next day. The local government does a very good job of regulating the tourism and protecting the whale sharks and their environment. After an educational video we were assigned to a boat with 5 other marine explorers, 4 whale shark spotters, a guide and a captain. We spent a good hour trolling the open ocean and I was beginning to wonder if we were going to be disappointed when the boat slowed and our guide jumped in with a backwards shout of follow me!

Gabe on the lookout, beneath the lookout.

We are so ready!

The seven of us splashed in after him but I didn't see anything...then our guide grabs my hand and points directly underneath me. Out of the blue abyss a massive spotted shape forms. It was like staring at a magic eye picture the way it suddenly appeared just a few feet beneath me! I ducked down and swam with the gigantic beast, no thought of my need for oxygen as I kicked alongside in absolute wonder. When I realized that I didn't have gills and I had better make my way up I burst to the surface, took a deep breath and shouted "Holy S*%#, wow!" Gabe got a really big kick out of that :)

We all got back onto the boat with grins lighting up our faces, adrenaline pumping through our veins. The next trip into the drink brought a shy shark who quickly exposed his belly to me as he dove sharply into the deep. Following him was the massive beast that nearly surfaced directly beneath me! We were the first boat out on the water but slowly more and more joined the chase until we counted 17 others in hot pursuit. We searched for the tell-tale shadow, jumped in, swam along an immense gentle creature until it chose to leave us for more exciting adventures down below, then back in the boat and over again. Our final dip brought it all home when we left all the other boats behind and joined a 40 foot giant for a languid swim. It was bad ass.

Kelly's face say's it all.

Our dreams fulfilled in Donsal we left that very afternoon. On our way to North Luzon...

Diving and the Critters of Bohol

2009-03-13T10:50:00.000-10:00

When we last left you we were near Bohol. Bohol holds many surprises for those land based, but we started our adventures here on board a dolphin watching boat.

Now for those of you who have seen them in Hawaii, you know they tend to be very acrobatic and get right up near the boat. Not the case here as a pod of maybe 20 was being chased around by 25 or so loud bangka boats for the better part of the morning.

We weren't too impressed with the tour, but we were able to spend the rest of the morning at Balicasag Island. This small island has some amazing snorkeling and a nice beach to relax on. Michelle read her book and walked around the entire island while I chose to snorkel a bit (twist my arm) with our new friend Payal. Since she had never been snorkeling before I'm sure she was stoked to check out the amazing variety of fish and corals that were showing off just below the surface. Here are a few shots from our snorkel adventure... Come visit us in Hawaii Payal and we'll get you certified to scuba dive in no time!

Our day was cut short as rain began to fall, but no worries. The following morning I had a two tank dive booked and had a great time with Alona Divers. A great boat, good divemasters and intense drift dives were exactly what I was looking for. Too bad it was pouring rain! Here are some of the highlights from my final dives of the trip including a batfish, clownfish and some colorful reef shots.

With my thirst for underwater thrills quenched and Michelle's desire to read her book on the beach, we set out for a day of land exploration. Bohol is home to a variety of wildlife including snakes, amazing birds, and our favorite the Tarsier.

Our day began with a great driver who told us a lot about Philippines in general, the history of Catholicism in their country and the unique wildlife of the region. Greg took us first to visit Prony, a 25+ foot python that eats a small pig or two small goats every month!

Next up was a journey into the interior of the island. Chocolate Hills is a region of almost Mario Brothers like humps that rise up out of the land. It's hard to describe them but they vary in size however all have the same haystack shape. Michelle got this photo from the viewpoint...

When we came down from the grueling 100+ step climb to the viewpoint, we noticed this strange creature.....

From what we had read of the Philippine Tarsier this one was way too big, they fit in the palm of your hand, was exposed to direct sunlight (they hide in the jungle during the day and hunt at night) and had of all things, a beard?

Something just wasn't right here so we jumped in with Greg and headed for the Tarsier Center about an hour away in Corella. The guidebook we used described these little guys as a cross between a Gremlin and ET or a real life version of Furby. With their HUGE eyes and heads that can swivel almost 180 degrees this was sure to be a fun afternoon.

Since we had heard that their numbers are dwindling due to habitat destruction, we didn't feel right just pulling off to the side of the road to see these little guys in a cage. We both thought it was best to support an organization that was doing something to help protect the critters. At last, we arrived at the Tarsier Center, a quiet and lush stretch of Bamboo forest. Our guide says that about 10 of these guys come and go in their sanctuary and took our crew into the massive area. In a matter of minutes we had spotted one..... SO SMALL! His head swiveled around and the tiny hands stayed clutched to the branches. Because they have such massive eyes, they can barely see during the day but mainly hunt at night!

We kept our voices down so as not to disturb them and saw about 4 or 5 in our half an hour. You just can't imagine how small they are and they could really fit in the palm of your hand! Michelle claims she wants one for a pet now.... In fact, our backyard might be just the place.... hmmm?

Our time in Bohol was coming to a close, but the trip was great. Michelle was back to full strength and our next adventure was sure to be amazing. As we headed out on an early ferry to Cebu it was hard to think that we were already at week 5 of our trip! Michelle will have more on the next leg of our adventure, but for now you may want to check out this link...... Whale Sharks on Wikipedia

Survivor Philippines..... Chapter 1: The Visayas and the Temple of DOOM-agette!

2009-02-28T22:57:00.000-10:00

Sometimes while you are out seeing the world, stuff just happens. You try to do all the right things.... learn a bit of the language, understand the local customs and watch what you eat and drink to avoid any gastric mishaps. Last weekend the Travel Gods seemed fit to send a zinger our way. More on this in a minute...

Retracing our steps found us taking a quick 45 minute flight from the island of Palawan to our next destination of Cebu City in the island chain of the Visayas.

Here, the goals were simple:

1) Make our way from Cebu City to Dumagette to re-unite with an old friend of mine from Honduras, the lovely Miss Rae.
2) Collect Michelle's missing contacts (Sent from Hawaii with help from Anna and Mat in the US and Rae's permanent address in the Philippines on this end)
3) Do some diving, catch up with Rae, explore the area.

Of these three objectives, none of them went entirely to plan.

First, our Bus from Cebu to Dumagette was running late (no surprises really, we understand Island time). To make matters worse, when she finally did arrive we realized by talking to a few locals that the reason it was running late was that it was having engine problems (again, not a surprise here). After boarding our Yellow Beast bound for points south, she sputtered, coughed, the AC kicked off and there we sat helpless in the middle of swarming traffic not 10 meters outside of the bus station.

Now before you go on any further, please understand that this IS a developing country and these things happen. However, the issue at the time was that our bus not only needed to navigate down to the southern tip of our island (Cebu) but needed to do so in time to make the last Ferry over to the neighbor island of Negros around 9:30pm. So, our 3pm bus had turned into a 4pm bus and now we sit lame and lifeless in the middle of hectic afternoon traffic.

Within 10 minutes the busy bus boys were able to get it fired up and off we limped into some side street not normally reserved for tourists. The discussion to abandon ship with our backpacks had been scrapped and it was our understanding that we would be heading back to the bus yard to get the right part and then continue on our way.

I realize I'm going on and on here, but stick with it....... 5pm, we depart Cebu and make our way through the outskirts of town. 6pm, Bus breaks down in a small town outside of the main city center. 6:02pm, by befriending a local city councilman and heck of a nice guy Bobbi, I'm able to find out that we'll be leaving the pile of scrap metal there in the street and awaiting the NEXT bus which is only 2 towns behind us. 6:04pm, I order pizza at the local place which just happens to be where our bus broke down.

Bellies are full, Yellow Bus #2 arrives, and we are off. Michelle and I breathe a sigh of relief and as the surrounding skies become darker, the road continues to get more and more curvy. Our driver seems not to notice and we go careening around the curves honking, flashing the lights and slamming on the brakes whenever he seems to feel it suits him.

Now here is where Michelle and I differ. At times like this I choose to put my iPod in and fall asleep (which is exactly what I did). She, on the other hand, was the victim of carsickness on a scale she cannot remember since childhood. It didn't help that we could barely see the road and because of the double crowded bus were only able to land a seat near the back of the bus. The aforementioned habits of our driver certainly contributed to her illness and all we could hope for at this time was for the trip to come to an end soon in our destination.

To make this incredibly long and crazy story short.... we made it to Dumagette around 11:30 pm, a full 12 hours after leaving our prior guesthouse in Palawan. No vomiting took place on the bus but we had the strange feeling that this island chain had it out for us. We coined the bus ride the Bus to Doom-agette and hoped that our troubles were over.

Upon waking up the next morning, I headed off to phone our friend Rae and see what the best way would be to meet up. We decided to get a tricycle and head out of town for the 45 minute trip around mid-day. Michelle was feeling better and Rae was managing a dive-shop at a "way too out of Michelle and Gabe's budget place" in Dauin but had arranged for us to stay next door to her! Sounds awesome right!?!?!

And it was..... seeing the beautiful Atmosphere Resort and all of Rae's hard work getting the dive center up and running was amazing. She's in charge of lots of little things and keeps busy 6 days a week teaching PADI courses in the pool, guiding dives out at nearby Apo Island and doing millions of other small tasks that make her one of the hardest working chica's in the dive biz.

We were excited that she had the following day off and Michelle was stoked that she could take part in Rae's morning Yoga course! I was excited to set up some diving, hike to a waterfall and talk story with an old friend.....

That is until the next day. Michelle took part in yoga as planned, but really wasn't feeling that great. Her stomach had been bothering her for a while but by Thursday afternoon it was clear that something wasn't right. Her pains continued as we treked to an amazing waterfall and told Rae all about our wedding. By the time sunset on Thursday, Miche was not a happy camper. She tried to tough it out and by Friday morning we made the decision that it was time to head to the clinic 5 minutes down the road.

Rae was nice enough to let us borrow her car and we embarked on what we thought would be a quick journey. Not so as the looks on the faces of the locals at the clinic told us that we should probably not interfere. It was a frustrating moment where we understood that we would have to wait like everyone else and the employees at the clinic falsely thinking we demanded to be seen ASAP because of the color of our skin. We made the decision to make the 45 minute drive back to Dumagette on the advice of Rae and try to see a doc at the Siliman University Medical Center.

Now.... remember I'm driving an unfamiliar car, in an unfamiliar place, weaving through traffic but obeying the rules of the road. I see and I assess the situation... bikes, dogs, children, motorbikes, Jeepneys, cars, SUVs, big crazy honking careening Yellow Busses. You name it and I'm dealing with it. Michelle is groaning in pain and mind you I have no idea where I'm heading. I know the road leads to the town but don't know where the hospital is so I dial Rae on our travel cell phone (which quite luckily we picked up used the day before in town) and she gives me directions.

From this point on we feel like we are in good hands. Our entry to the second leg of our journey has been rough. Michelle is in some crazy pain but as our luck would have it the Doc is a sweet older lady who recognizes the symptoms and signs and admits Michelle immediately.

48 hours in a Philippino hospital may not sound like a good time to you all, but we made the most of it. Our Air-Con room had a TV with plenty to watch on it and the staff were terrific. She was diagnosed with some sort of Aemobic Dysentary (sp?) and we were told it was quite common in the area with both locals and Westerners. Sleep was difficult for both of us as every few hours the nurses would come in to take BP or administer meds. She was given tons of fluids through her IV and by the second day was able to take in a bit of food.

Silly Hospital Photo not included as per Michelle's request

We consider ourselves very lucky that this happened where it did. Siliman is a very good facility and by the time we were able to leave we had a great respect for the Doctors and nurses there. Things don't work quite like they do in the West however and I found myself running off to the neighboring pharmacy a handful of times over the weekend as they don't just get the meds for you but rather write you a scrip and then let you shop around for the best price! Can you imagine if that happened in the states?

So, all in all an unplanned visit to the hospital took only a few days out of our trip and cost us around $200 US. We are happy to have travel insurance but were both amazed at the bottom line.... anyone want to guess what it might have cost in the States?

Here we are now a week later and Michelle is almost 100%. She finishes up her meds soon and each day her appetite has come back more and more. Here she is at breakfast today with good healthy stuff like Muslei and Fruit!!!

We managed to get one nice day of diving at Apo Reef before leaving Negros, but were not able to have Rae as a guide as she was busy back at the resort. With our guide Lemi, I chose to do 3 amazing drift dives (Michelle joined for the first) and have nothing but good things to report from Apo Island. From blue ribbon eels, sweetlips, randall's shrimp gobys, a massive school of big eye jacks, several huge 100 pound grouper, schools of barracuda, hawksbill turtle and a man sized bumphead parrotfish they have done a great job keeping it safe as a Marine Sanctuary.

We know that problems with the reefs persist here in the Philippines with dynamite fishing and cyanide fishing along with anchor damage and overfishing in general but the areas seem to be holding on. Each time you visit one of these parks there are fees that you must pay. The fees go to patrolling the are against poachers and for general maintenance. It sure would be nice if we could get something like this going at Sharks Cove.... hmmmm.

Here are some shots from our dives at Apo including the Remora that hitched a ride for half the dive on my calf!

Our journey finds us now on the small island of Panglao off the coast of Bohol. We took a fast ferry over (i put the iPod in and fell asleep and Michelle did NOT get sick) and met a nice American gal, and a Canadian couple. I'll tell you all more about the diving, dolphin watching and more later but here are a few photos to get you started....

Finally, as our trip winds down we look back and find comfort in a few things.
1) Even though it sucks to get sick, we are glad it happened where it did.
2) Travel Insurance might actually pay off this time!
3) Good friends at the right time in a journey can be amazing.... thanks Rae!
4) Never sit in the back of a Philippino Bus
5) Health care is too expensive in America.

Hugs to all at home. We keep rolling on and have just more than a week left. Next up WHALESHARKS!!!! Stay tuned.

Gaberaham

Wildlife and Luxury in Sabang

2009-02-23T22:05:00.001-10:00

There are few things so quintesentially Philipino as a ride on a dusty twisting road on a jeepney. After a dusty busride through the heart of Palawan with a stop off in TayTay, home of an old Spanish fort and the best meal I've had at Casa Rosa, and a quick stop in the provincial capital of Puerto Princessa, we hopped on our first jeepney. So it was on this elaborately painted, overgrown jeep that we clung (literally clung, as we chose to hold onto the back of the thing rather then sit inside) and bounced over dirt roads through gorgeous limestone mountains on our ride to Sabang.

Sabang is home to the famous subteranean river but nobody mentioned the stunning expanse of beach, relaxed atmosphere and breathtaking pink and yellow sunsets. I was in heaven in our little grass hut under swaying palms on a pristine beach.

After a day of me lazing about and Gabe sweating on jungle trails we made our way along the monkey trail to the underground river that makes the region so famous. The monkey trail took us across beaches and up into the jungle then down into a Indiana Jones scene of wooden bridges and stairways where monkeys oversee your passage from the crazy limestone formations overhead. A monitor lizard or three were there to greet us as we came to the end of the trail and made our way to the river. A beautiful azure pool beckons to us after a hot hike, but no swimming is allowed at the national treasure. Instead a dock awaits us where little bangka boats ferry orange life-vested tourists in and out of the limestone cave like orange centipedes. Our turn came up and like Jules Vernes we floated into the dark and vacuous cave, exploring deep into the Earth while bats screeched above us, Gabe held the flashlight and in his awe he sacrificed his helmet to the dark waters.

We decided to finish our time in Sabang in style. We threw our backpacking budget to the wind and spent Valentines night in a fancy resort. We reveled in every little luxury...hot showers, resort robes and slippers, a minibar, and toilets that flush! We topped off the experience by getting all dressed up for a Valentines dinner. Our romantic dinner was attended on by a stellar resort staff, including Mosa, the dog who decided to curl up at Gabes feet, and Princess, the kitten who terrorized the rest of the restaurant before cuddling in my lap and purring contentedly.

Next stop is the Visayas, and just wait until you hear that story...

Lovely El Nido

2009-02-11T01:43:00.001-10:00

I shall pick up where Gabe left off...

After eight hours on the roof of a Bangka, careening past the hundreds of islands of Northern Palawan via the South China Sea we arrived in the quaint town of El Nido. This beach front town, backed up against massive limestone cliffs and surrounded by rocky outcrops looming from the ocean, is quite a sight in itself. Add to that a population of friendly locals, lot's of hammocks, restaurants where you can sip smoothies with your toes in the sand and absolutely adorable children begging to say hello and sing you songs, and you have the little slice of heaven that is El Nido.

We spent our first couple of nights in a little hut backed up against the cliffs...but the early wake-up call of roosters just feet away and motorcycles roaring to work each morning had us packing up to look for something a little more peaceful. Upon the hi recommendations of Michelle and Shelly, we made our way to a lovely place called Sunset Lovers Point...what could be better for a honeymoon. Here we found ourselves a perfect oasis right on the ocean. Many hours were wiled away on our lanai sipping SMB's as we listened to the waves.

The real draw to El Nido is for the island hopping. Just beyond our honeymoon hideaway the Bacuit Archipelago lay before us. This bay of 100+ islands is filled with towering limestone formations. Hidden among the impressive rocks are tiny lagoons only accessible by swimming through cracks in the rock, white sand beaches where you can sit in the sun and soak in tropical rays as well as a vision of the ocean in every shade of blue, healthy coral reef offering more fish then I've seen in years along with so many colors of soft and hard coral. We spent two adventure filled days exploring the islands. What an awesome place!

A sweet hat made by our awesome guide Dodong

Another adventure that must be mentioned is of the culinary sort. Let's call this one Gabe conquers balut. For those of you that don't know, balut is a very popular Philippino snack comprised of a hard boiled ckicken fetus. That's right, fetus. They take the fertilized chicken egg, boil it and serve with a bit of vinegar and chili. This is not my idea of a good meal but Gabe would not be stopped. So despite my thoughts of bird flu Gabe took on balut and I think he won. Our fantastic island hopping guide, Dodong of Seaslugs, was stoked to share his national food with a crazy, hairy American. They bonded over feathers and beaks. You will have to ask Gabe how he liked it...apparently it tastes like chicken!

The obligatory Asia motorcycle adventure, part 1. We named her the green monster. It was a fun ride out to a local waterfall.

On to the next adventure!

Coron Wreck Diving and an 8 hour ferry ride to El Nido!

2009-02-10T23:40:00.000-10:00

Aloha Everyone,

It has been some time since we last posted and we wanted to take a minute to update the travel blog. The past week has been fantastic and Michelle will fill you in on the details in her post..... Meanwhile, I thought I would post a few photos from our time diving and island hopping in the Calamian group.

Where we last left you was flying into Coron. Here, we booked a total of 7 dives (Michelle did two massive wrecks), and one day of island hopping. The WWII wrecks were amazing..... so much coral growth and just gigantic compared to ours in Hawaii. If you took a look at the link in the previous post, it details much of the history of the wrecks so I won't go into that. I will however say that for thrills minus chills (lovely 82 degree water) Coron wrecks are impressive!

Michelle posing like the Mermaid

GO DUCKS

I found myself in heaven while diving these wrecks and Michelle did awesome too. On our first dive at the wrecked seaplane tender, the Akitsushima, she followed our Philippino guide Toto into the bowels of the ship with only a little flashlight and came out with a healthy appreciation for this side of the sport of scuba diving.

Our depth here was a little more than 100 feet and we saw a few lionfish as well as the remains of the deck guns on the boat and some munitions.

Back on the dive bangka boat, Toto cooked an amazing lunch complete with chicken and rice and of course FISH, and before we knew it we had arrived at the Okikiawa Maru.

The OM is an Oil Tanker and she is a great dive. Here we penetrated in the prop shaft and found all sorts of critters from clownfish to batfish and even a nudibranch that resembles the Spanish Dancers we have seen only this one is black with a silver lining..... all around, a great day of diving.

Below is a photo of the common in Philippines, not so common in Hawaii, Lionfish.... look out, they are poisonous!

The following day, we headed out on a small boat with captain Aldo to nearby Coron Island. Here you will find a variety of freshwater and brackish lakes. Our morning started with a trip to Cagyanon Lake. The place was amazing and Michelle even found a small bamboo raft! I of course snorkeled around and lazed in the sun. Because we were there early, we had the place to ourselves..... for about 20 minutes. Before you knew it, the small area was over-run with tourists of all types. Our privacy came to an end, but we met a large family from Manila who were just amazed at the beauty of Coron Island as we were!

Our day continued with a trip to twin lagoons (we had to swim under a cutout in the limestone) a good snorkel at Seven Islands, a protected marine area, and lunch next to the skeleton wreck. Don't ask me why they call it that, but they wanted 50 pesos to take a look and we just thought it wasn't worth the $1.10!!!

On Tuesday, our time in Coron took us on separate paths. I booked 3 dives with new found dive buddy Gareth and Instructor Dean. These two blokes were stoked and we did a total of two more wrecks and a fantastic reef called CYC.

Dive profiles are as follows:

Dive 1: Irako Maru (Refrigerator/Cargo Vessel)
38.4 meters, 35 minutes on Nitrox 28 (Transmission room, engineering room, boiler room)

Dive 2: Olympia Maru (History unknown)
24.7 meters, 46 minutes (Prop shaft penetration to boiler room, cargo hold, bow lockers and shower room) GREAT DIVE.... could do it 10 times more

Dive 3: CYC (Coron Youth Club)
14.9 meters, 74 minutes (no wetsuit thanks, boardshorts only!)
Great critter site. Remora, juvenile sweetlips, clownfish, plenty of amazing corals!

Finally, our time in Coron had come to an end. Not without a final trip up to the hotsprings. What a crazy place this was as we took a tricycle (think motorbike with a cramped sidecar) out of Coron town and into the bush. The springs are the perfect temp though and we met a group of fellow travellers enjoying the relaxing atmosphere. If we are ever back in Coron, this is a must.

We checked out of Seadive and boarded the Jessebell boat (60 passenger "ferry" if you can call it that) last Wed AM. The trip took just as they said, 8 hours and only once during the journey did the engine of this beast come to a grinding halt. The AM was spent up on top of the roof with 4 Italians who were enjoying the panoramic views as much as we were. As the day heated up however, we had to take refuge inside, under sarongs or wrapped up in hankies... hope you enjoy the photos, and yes Mom(s) we are wearing plenty of sunscreen.....

We love ASIA!

2009-01-30T17:58:00.000-10:00

It felt great to jump off the plane (11 hour flight) and feel the humidity in Manila. The sights, sounds and certainly smells of a large Asian metropolis are unmistakeable!

The memories come flooding back in. Horns honk from every direction, cars and motorcycles zig zag through the streets and the thick air, heavy with smog and diesel fumes, envelops everything.

After checking in at our hotel, we headed up the block to the Hobbit House where our little hosts were happy and cheerful. The Air Conditioning was a welcome relief and the man on the guitar was playing everything from Jack Johnson to Johnny Cash. A special request for a Beatles tune yielded a great cover of "Here, There and Everywhere" The music was great but the pizza was not.... not that we had high expactations.

With a great night sleep in our AC room, we woke at a strange hour (4am Manila time) and were wide awake.... nothing a few ham sandwiches left over from our flight on Hawaiian Airlines couldn't cure!

A few more hours of sleep, a nice continental breakfast and an hour walk around Manila put us on schedule to grab a cab and head out for the islands. In fact, that hour walk was about as much as we could handle as most of the time Michelle was drawing eyes from everywhere and even got the nickname "Ms. America"

Our 1 hour flight to the island of Busuanga was fantastic. 11 westerners on a 20 passenger plane where we could see the two pilots and the blades of the props were buzzing next to our heads! The views were stunning out both sides and as we left the sprawl of the 15 million person Manila behind, small islands poking up out of the ocean could be seen within minutes.

Midway through the flight we crossed over Apo Reef, a 35 sq km atoll in the middle of the Mindoro Strait. An amazing sight to see from above, reef everywhere in the middle of the deep dark blue!

We continued on and after skimming countless small islands, made a great landing at our little airport. After the plane came to a halt and the engines were turned off, the group was struck by an amazing silence. After the insanity that is Manila, this was quite a turnaround!

Here's one of the many small islands from above...

We are now settled in the small town of Coron and have a few days of diving booked. We are off to explore the Japanese wrecks that surround the islands. Our room is simple, the staff is friendly and life is great.

We spent some time lounging in a hammock this AM and befriended an Aussie named Gareth who is stoked to dive too! Terrible coffee and fantastic banana pancakes for breakfast today.... all for about $4 for both of us. On Wed we will take a boat for 7 hours to the small town of El Nido. Don't think we'll be watching the Superbowl as we have yet to see a TV here and that's just fine.

A great resource for all things Coron (wreck history etc.) is Philippine Diving

More updates in about a week.... keep checking back in!

All the best,

Michelle and Gabe

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-25T09:07:00.000-10:00

Aloha Everyone,

We have started this blog to document our wanderings for the next few months. The original idea came about when we started talking about how nice it was to journal while on our various overseas trips.

As some of you know we plan to travel through the Philippines for 6 weeks. The trip wouldn't be possible if it weren't for all of the contributions our friends and family made..... so to all of you we say MAHALO!

Planning for our trip continues and the dates are set in stone. January 28th to to March 10th. Among the activities planned are rafting an underground river, playing around with monkeys, looking for whale sharks, exploring local crafts and cuisine and of course sitting on some beautiful beaches and taking it all in.

Please check back for funny stories, tales of adventure and random musings from our trip and our big year ahead. Below you will find photos from Christmas....

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season and a brilliant 2009!

Showing off my new stocking..... A Robin Davies production!

Miche with our new FOOD PROCESSOR! Thanks Robin and Doug

The little elf all decked out in her Holiday Gear.... Hat courtesy of Mama Jane!