Temple Mall and Market

The first thing we did after sleeping was go to the temple.  Nothing culturally different there.  It was a very small temple with the smallest session I've been in, but nothing unusual.  Everything was even in English.

Later we headed to the mall where I saw all kinds of different things.

They had unique ice cream flavors like cheese and avocado.  I did try a cheese flavored popsicle once and it really did taste like cheese.  I couldn't do more than one taste.

Lots of little fish thing for sale everywhere.  We saw them at the market and at the breakfast buffets of our hotels.  They had a pretty strong smell that was hard for me to handle.  I did not taste any of them.

The coolest thing at the mall was the cotton candy stand in the middle.  I got the flower shape for about $2.  Most of their food was amazingly cheap.  Much less expensive than I was used to.  Each different color had a different flavor, one was even buttered popcorn flavor.

The mall was super crowded and loud!  We saw a marching band walking right through the mall.  Another store had Karaoke out front.  I also saw a different band and a guy in full costume blasting music and dancing in front of Dunkin Donuts.  It was like the stores put on a little show to get you to go in them.  The grocery store even had karaoke going on inside.

Another thing that was strange about going to the mall was all the security and employees.  They have tons security gaurds!  We had to walk through a metal detector and get our purses looked through when we entered.  Throughout the mall there was lots of security and they had big huge guns too.  They stores also had tons of employees.  If you are looking in their section they will come up to you and say "Yes Ma'am."  Then they will stand right next to you staring until you move on or buy something.  I was called Ma'am more times in two weeks than I was in my entire life up to this point.  In the tie section there were three employees working.  Each time I switched rows the next worker would come stand next to me.  The same thing happened in the lipstick section.  They seemed to stick to their small sections and if anyone enters their section they stand next to them ready to help.

The last thing about the mall was that we saw many people and they all saw us.  We were not in a tourist area so we were really they only white people.  No one seemed to have a problem openly staring at us.  It was awkward.  The guys seemed worse because they were so blatant about it.  A few women even told me that I was beautiful or something similar.  When in Japan I felt out of place but not anything like here.

Later that night we went to the market.  It was pretty much their version of Pikes Place.  The main differences were that it was sooo hot and smelly.  It was actually pretty hard for me to be there at all.  It was also pretty crowded and I felt like at any minute I was going to get hit by a car or their trike things.  I wasn't used to all their honking and zipping around.

Next is a picture of us out to eat.  It seemed like most of the time I could get a full meal for around $3.

I saw a few help wanted signs like this, mostly at restaurants or sales jobs.  They have no problem specifying age, gender, or even marital status when hiring.  I do not meet the requirements.

Philippines Flight!

I've been back from my trip to the Philippines about a week now and I think I've adjusted to the time change.  It is hard to say for sure because with this pregnancy I'm tired all the time anyway.  Now I'm ready to post all my pictures!

I was a little nervous to go on a two week trip without Bob or the kids.  It was by far the longest I've left them and adding on being 30 weeks pregnant I just wasn't sure how things would go.  I thankfully wasn't too nervous and I wouldn't let nerves or being pregnant stop me from missing out on a great opportunity anyway.

It sure was a long day of traveling though!  I think over 24 hours but with the day change things got tricky.  I started out with a ferry ride, then a few block walk to the link that took me to the seattle airport.

Once in the airport I went on what was supposed to be a 15 hour flight to a layover in Hong Kong.  Instead we were on the plane for much longer, probably 16 or 17 hours.  Just before take off we had a sick passenger and had to go back to the gate.  We weren't really sure what was going on and they even called over the PA system for a doctor.  It turns out there was an unaccompanied minor who was throwing up.  They decided to leave him in Seattle but it put is all behind.

I had an aisle seat, which was great for getting up and walking around, but I couldn't sleep at all!  I did watch several movies though.  The food was kind of gross.

Unfortunately when I got to Hong Kong I missed my connecting flight.  I had a few minutes and was hoping to make it but when I walked off the plane an employee was standing with a sign with my name and 6 other passengers names on it.  She was there to escort us to the next flight.  But we had to wait for all the other passengers on her paper and 2 took a very long time getting off the plane so we all missed it.

I spent a couple hours walking around the airport.  My feet were getting swollen at that point.  I felt a little bit silly laying down and putting my feet up in the airport, but i was tired and didn't really care that much what others thought.

This water bottle filling station was cool to me.  You get to pick the temperature of the water you get.

My second flight was pretty short and also pretty empty.  I was in the very back section of a giant plane and got the whole row to myself.  In fact here is a picture of my area after the plane was fully boarded.  It was kind of funny because the front of the plane was full of people.  I don't think they realized how empty the back was or they would have moved on back to get more space.

Once I arrived in Manilla my dad was waiting for me.  It was good they got my message about me missing the flight or they would have been waiting wondering where I was for two hours.  It was past midnight there and I could immediately notice how hot and muggy it was there.  We got a little lost heading to the temple patron house and get to bed around 2am.  I was exhausted but somehow had a hard time sleeping.  It was a super long trip, but I was happy to be there!

Vacation

I'm going to the Philippines!  My parents are there now finishing up serving a mission and I'm so excited to go visit them!  I'm a little nervous to leave the kids for two weeks, but I'm sure Bob will be fine.  The kids are looking forward to me leaving as much as I'm looking forward to going.  Whenever mom leaves they get to party with dad at home.  Bob's parents are even coming out to help with the kids while Bob works so I'm sure they are going to have a great time.

Tomorrow I'll be busy with Valentines day and packing because early Wednesday I am heading to the airport for a 14 hour flight.  I then have a layover and one short flight to land in Manilla.  It is going to be awesome.

Unfortunately my phone and internet usage is going to be very limited for the next couple weeks so I doubt I'll be able to post on here.  If I do get the chance I'll post on my instagram page dorandaw  so wish me luck and follow me on there.

Escape from Alcatraz

We went on a mini vacation to San Fransisco for a day and a half and one of the major highlights for me was touring Alcatraz.  We were late getting tickets and so there was only one time available.  Bob was so nice and watched the kids for 3 hours so I could go on the tour.  I made sure to take lots of pictures for him.  We even watched an history channel about the jail before hand so we knew more about it.

This is the view of the island as you pull up.  It is pretty small, and I think only about a mile away from San Fransisco.  The building on the top is the jail.  This was supposed to be the worst of the worst jails.  They moved prisoners to Alcatraz when they were being bad in whatever jail they were already it.  It was made and publicized to be a feared.

The crazy think is that the guards families live on the island.  The jail, school house, and play yard are all next to each other.  Families said that they were never scared and often they wouldn't even lock their doors.

I don't remember what this building is behind me but the decay is obvious.  The decay from the salt water air is one of the main things that made the only successful escape possible.

This next picture is of the showers.  I took this to mostly show my kids.  I knew they would be shocked at the lack of privacy.

In the next picture you can see three rows of cells.  The top ones were said to be the most coveted cells because of the way the sun comes in.  The cells on the bottom right were the worst, solitary confinement.  I had the chance to get locked in one of these.  It was pitch black and had nothing but a toilet.  The prisoners were given a mattress during sleeping hours only, and if they were good in their they kept the small window on the door open.  If they were bad they didn't get the mattress or clothes and had to be chained in a standing position onto the bars.

This next picture shows how inmates might have decorated their cells depending on how they spent their time.

The view was great!  That is another thing that was said to make it so hard for the inmates.  They could see everything just across the water.

Here is the control room.

Three people dug holes in their walls and were able to escape.  They used paper mache heads so people wouldn't notice.  Once they got to the water they disappeared and no one knows what happened to them.  I personally think they got away, some think they drowned.  I think they said they would be in their 90s now.

And the last picture is of a morgue.  I just thought it was pretty crazy that they had their own small morgue.

Even visiting it and learning about it I don't think anyone do didn't experience it can really know what it felt like to be imprisoned there.  I'm glad I got to see it though.

Blackberry Cake

For my birthday this year (I'm 29 now!) I wanted this blackberry lemon cake.  Bob offered to make a cake for me but every year I like to try something new and extra fancy so I usually tell him that I'll make my own.  This cake was fun because we even picked our own blackberries.  I usually opt for something chocolate but it was so hot I wanted something a bit lighter.

I turned out messy and not at all like the picture, but I like how it tasted.

The kids thought it looked pretty even though it was messy and goopy.  I think the girls would say anything pink looks beautiful.

I forgot to get pictures, but Bob and I were in Canada on my actual birthday.  When I got home Bob's mom and the kids made cinnamon rolls and put a candle in them and sang to me then.  Then a couple days later I went out to eat with friends, it was great!

Last Vancouver Day

These are a few random pictures from different days on our trip.  We spent time walking around downtown and looking at the different tourist shops and the cruise ships.  Bob kept reminding me every time we stopped to take pictures that I looked like a tourist.  I'm sure I did.  I was a tourist and I wanted to take pictures :)

One day for breakfast we stopped at the little diner.  It had good reviews online so we decided to go for it.  If we had just driven by we definitely would not have stopped.  It was kind of a grungy  whole in the wall type place.  We both ended up liking it.

Every time there was something on the menu I didn't recognize I ordered it.  I wanted to try the few local dishes they had.  You would think everything was the same because they are only a few hours north but there were quite a few differences.

This gelato was sooo good!  It won some sort of worldwide contest and was totally worth the hour long line.

I thought the money was kind of cool.  I haven't really seen money that was clear before.

We had fun on our short weekend trip up North.  It was especially great to just spend a couple days with Bob and no kids.  I can't remember the last time we did that.  Hopefully we won't go more than a year without a couple days alone again.

Goodby Canada!

Capilano Suspension Bridges

Our main reason for choosing Vancouver BC as our destination was the Capilano Suspension Bridge.  Everyone I talked to talked about how cool it was and it didn't disappoint.  The bridge was built in 1889, I think they said in 5 days, and is 450 feet long.

We went on a hot Saturday in August so it was pretty crowded.

The bridge was very wobbly as we walked across.  Neither Bob nor I was scared but we did see one Adult guy hunched over two handing the rope looking very scared.

This next picture shows how high up the bridge is.  I wasn't even at the bottom when I took the pic.

Once we got to the other side there were several bridges suspended between the trees.  These weren't as high or as long but it was cool how they were attached to the trees.  They have a way of doing it so it doesn't hurt the trees.  And they get higher and higher up as the trees grow.

It was hot outside the day we went, but it felt nice and cool in the trees.

After the trees we went out onto a ledge suspended out over nothing.  I think they call it a cliff walk.

The name Capilano came from Kia'palano which was the name of a great Squamish chief who lived in the area in the early part of the 1800s.  They had a short tour explaining the history and a few totem poles.

It was a pretty cool place that just gave me more reason to have a big yard with beautiful trees for the kids to climb and play on.