Philippines, here we come!

We are so excited for our upcoming trip to the Philippines! This will be my first time back in 12 years and Jamie's first trip back since 2003. We have a busy 2 weeks while in there as we will be traveling the first leg of the trip with Jamie's parents, Don and Kristen and then heading off to the famous Boracay Island for our friends Jon and Anya's wedding celebration!

Set to leave Singapore this Friday the 18th, our first stop is Makati City, Manila. Here we are going to be meeting up with Don and Kristen and we will enjoying dinners with both my mom's and dad's side of the family. I am so excited for the local cuisine! Lechon, pansit, lumpia, adobo, bangus....ohhh YUMMY!!!! Our last night in Manila (20th) we are meeting up with Jamie's close group guys, "the nuts" as they call themselves, for a night out in town. This will be the first time since High School that these "nuts" are all together in Manila (Jamie, Jon, Grant, Troy and Andy, all were in our wedding party.) I anticipate that this will be a long night for the boys and that Jamie will be ready to hit the beach after our 7am flight on the 21st!


Makati City, Manila


For Christmas, we will be on the island of Siquijor, just South of Manila and located in the Bohol Sea. Siquijor is known as the "magical mystical island"of the Philippines. It used to be part of Negros Oriental (province) and it was at that time named by the Spanish as the Island of Fire, as the sun sets the island glows in red as if it's on fire. Siquijor is said to have witches and potions and yada, yada yada...... so most Filipinos will not stay overnight on this island because of this superstition. I'm in for a treat as I am super superstitious, CRAP! The island is quite rustic and is mostly known for it's diving. Apo island which is located just a few minuets away is 1 of the top 10 diving spots in the world! Wish I had my diving certificate! I will just be snorkeling while the Booths dive.


Siquijor

From the 28th through the New Year Jamie and I will be at Boracay Island while Don and Kristen fly off to Bangkok. Jon and Anya are getting married at the lavish Shangri La Hotel and we are so excited! I have heard so much about Boracay from Jamie and all of his friends, and now, I get to be there! From it's famous white powder sand beaches and crystal clear waters to it's rustic bars and restaurants, it will be hard find another beach that can compare!

While in Boracay I will also be meeting up with one of my sorority sisters from Seattle, Shauna, who has been in the Peace Corps stationed in the Philippines. I am so excited to see her and to be able to catch up!!!


Boracay Island



ahhh heaven!!!!!!!!

I am so excited for this trip! Looking forward to spending time with mum and dad Booth as well as my extended family and to exploring and experiencing the culture of the Philippines! I'm going "home!"

Bali......

Last weekend I attended our good friend Anya's surprise bachelorette weekend in Bali. (Going to Bali is a similar concept as to going to Vegas for us Seattle folk.) I was so excited not only for the big surprise but to also to see this exotic island that I have always heard so many great things about. Bali was wonderful, but I would have to say, if we were to compare the beaches, Thailand and the Philippines beat this island, hands down! What's great about Bali is it international flare, night life, restaurants, shopping and the stunning villas, all over the island! We stayed in a lavish villa located in the heart of the village, Seminyak, located on the west coast of the island just North of the famous Kuta Beach where all of the surfers and back packers are known to travel to (also known for having a big night life).

We had a wonderful girls weekend of tanning, bonding, great food and pampering! The villa we stayed at had a spa that would come to us to do pool side massages, facials and body scrubs (all at around $17 USD!!) What a great way to send Anya off to marriage!

The beach just a 2 minuet walk from our villa

Jackie, Sonia, Anya and I

Villa Shanti Dewi. I love this door! I want a Balinese door made for my house in Seattle some day!

Ahhh the entrance wall with a window view of the pool

View of the pool from the kitchen/dining area.
The building in front is the master bedroom, the whole building!

Living room

Upstairs living area, loved this space!

Dining area, the stairs lead to the upstairs living area

Me, Sonia, Amanda, Anya, Alesya, Jackie, Leanda

The bride to be and me

Tree Top Hike - beautiful and lush and very very humid!!!!

On a slow afternoon Jamie and I decided to go on the well known "tree top walk" in the middle of Singapore with our friends Mike (Canadian) Kristina (American) and Grant (Super Canadian). It was lush and beautiful but as it is a rainforest, it was so humid!!! You literally sweat from standing!!!!

The "tree top walkway" is a free-standing suspension bridge spanning Bukit Peirce and Bukit Kalang, the two highest points in Singapore.

At 25m above the ground, the walkway gives you a wonderful look at the canopy. Some 80 species of birds and 18 rare trees have been spotted in the forest.

The walkway is the first of its kind in Singapore and in the region. Work on the S$1.6m bridge began in August 2002 and was completed in July 2004.

Jamie, getting ready to hike with his little pink backpack

Grant, Kristina, Mike and Jamie watching the turtles swim

look closer you can see a lizard climbing the tree

Mike and Jamie

Tree Top bridge

Birthday Dinner

I am so lucky to have a husband that can cook so well! What a treat! For my birthday dinner we had our good friends Roisin and Kasper over to join us in the celebration and to devour all of the food that Jamie had prepared! We celebrated my 26th birthday over Swiss cheese fondue, CRISPY pork belly (YUMMY!) and Parmesan crusted chicken Caesar (with homemade dressing) and to end our evening, Roisin, Kasper, Jon and Anya got me a rich, sweet, chocolate truffle birthday cake! WOW! After all of the food, a fasting is in order!

LOVE cheese fondue!

My ALL TIME Favorite crispy pork, if its not bacon, it's pork belly....slurp!


To add that "healthy" feel to the meal, my favorite salad!

What a great way to start off my 26th year......FULL!!!

Dining table!

Oh the small things in life that make us so excited! Well, I am excited to share our new dining table!!! FINALLY, no more eating on the couch! After months we finally found the "right" table for our dining area. It has that vintage feel to it that we were looking for and for such a steal! Looking forward to enjoying our first dinner on our dining table over my birthday celebration tonight! More to share on that later, but in the meantime, here are a few photo's of our new joy!

By the way, that silver bucket you see is the fondue set we got from mama Booth from our wedding shower last year, and this is our FIRST time to ever use it! Can't wait!!!

a little bit of heaven....Pimalai Resort, Koh Lanta

We have just returned from our long weekend holiday and boy were we spoiled! A big thanks to Grant and Caroline for having us, the resort was unbelievable! Located on the southern tip of the island Koh Lanta it was the perfect location for a peaceful, quiet getaway.

While there we were discussing what a perfect location this resort was for celebrities since it was so secluded and what do you know, we ran into one! As we were having mid-afternoon cocktails at a nearby bar just down the beach from the resort a couple sat at the rustic bar and Carol noted, "he looks familiar." As we contemplated who it could be we said, he looks like that Jerry O'Connell guy who is married to Rebecca Romijn, or it could be his brother since he is not with Rebecca, not using our inside voice of course! I'm sure they could hear us trying to figure out who they were. After a while we decided they could not have been anyone famous and that they must be guests at the resort that we've seen before, we moved on to other topics of conversation. As we were leaving the bar, chatter box Jamie pulls up next to them, says hello and they started up "small talk" as he introduced himself he said "hi, I'm Charlie." From there, my ears perked up, sun glasses off and I thought OMG it IS him, Charlie O'Connell and Sarah Brice (from the Bachelor!) Small world!

The "celeb's"

Here are some photo's of our wonderful getaway!

The private boat to the resort from the dock at Krabi

Caroline and I on the boat

Arriving at the dock of the resort. The dock is made of floating boxes attached together to move with the waves. It made for a great "toy" to run on through out the weekend!

"Sawasdee Ka" - Welcome

The villa!

Sunset from the villa

View of Pimalai from the bar down the beach

no comment

View from the Upper Village pool (there are two pools at the resort, upper village (50 meter pool) and another at the lower village by the beach

Cheering on Manny Pacquiao as he beats Cotto!

View of the resort facilities from the pool looking up the hillside, love that tree!

Sailing on the catamaran

ahhh sunset, beautiful

not sure how this happened, but the a car went over

the dock, broke the railing and fell into the ocean!

Bey bey Koh Lanta, thanks for the wonderful weekend!

What a wonderful treat to spend a weekend here, I love Thailand more and more, the people the food and culture, all so amazing! Looking forward to many more adventures throughout Thailand in the future!