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Philippine Perfection

After we left Australia we headed to Boracay island in the Philippines. We have heard that this is a popular spot for people to visit during Chinese New Year since it is a really short distance plane ride from China. Who knew?! We were excited to relax and not have an itinerary while staying on the island. 




Funny story- While doing our planning for our trip we made sure that all the airlines we were flying on would allow me to fly with them (30 weeks pregnant.) I thought I checked all the airlines, except last minute we had a change in our itinerary and we were already on our trip by the time we found out that a certain airline requires you to have a note from your baby doctor to allow you to fly. Ooopps. We most definitely did not have a Doctor note. Airplane flying day I wore a big heavy sweatshirt, and sucked my baby into my body as we were at the check-in counter. (Not as easy or as comfortable as it sounds.) We ended up getting on the flight and made it to the Philippines. I'll never forget the time that I had to pretend I wasn't pregnant while being 9 weeks away from actually giving birth. 


When looking for a place to stay, Peyton  found a hotel on Trip Advisor that got great ratings, called the "Spider House." It is a legitimate treehouse. He showed me pictures and I agreed that this would be very different and it had tons of character. Although, I did have my hesitations. For instance, our room would not have walls or ceilings. I kept asking Peyton, "but...why do they call it spider house?" Our view would be amazing, but we would have a mosquito net around our bed, and fabric curtains to give us a little privacy. We decided to go for it. I am so glad we did! The treehouse had about 13 rooms total, it had a restaurant downstairs where we ate breakfast every morning, and a ladder that literally led down to the ocean. Every day we went swimming multiple times and lounged on our balcony. It was hands down the coolest "hotel" I have ever stayed at. 

                 




We were obsessed with our little treehouse and we rarely left. We spent our days lounging on a bamboo raft in the water, drinking banana and mango smoothies, taking naps, sunbathing, and reading. It was the greatest vacation and I never wanted to leave. 





                  

We were also able to meet some fellow "Spider House" guests and we met one guy named Phillip who pitched the idea to Peyton for them to jump off our balcony into the water. What?! I kept reminding Peyton, "Babe, please be careful. Our baby is arriving soon." It was pretty crazy, and I am glad he got his adrenaline bug out of his system and was satisfied with only one jump. 




                  

                            

                     

One night we had a steak dinner on the peak of a mountain at a nice restaurant. I haven't had steak in probably 4 months so I was very excited for this. The view was amazing and we caught sunset just in time. 







The next day we headed to a place called Puka Beach, where the sand was littered with puka shells. The water was so clear and warm. We relaxed in lounge chairs, swam, and took naps. 







 Our last full day in Boracay we hired the Spider House sail boat to take us snorkeling around the island. It was so fun to be on a sail boat. I have wanted to go sailing forever and this was the perfect opportunity. They even sent us with two experienced sail men who knew what they were doing, so we didn't die. Double bonus! 




We enjoyed taking walks on the beach to watch the sunset each night. The sunsets were the most beautiful ones I have ever seen. I looked forward to them all day.










The Philippines made such a great impression on us, and sitting here right now in China avoiding the laundry and errands I need to run makes me miss it even more. It is definitely somewhere I would go back to. 


Crickey, that's one great Vacation!




For Chinese New Year we were able to get outta China for a few weeks and decided that we wanted to go to Australia and the Philippines. We took a long flight to Australia and got there where we embraced the blue skies and no pollution. We also arrived with very swollen legs and feet. I don't think I walked enough on the plane, or drank enough water. I could barely walk, it was so gross. 

We started our day taking a tour on a double decker bus around the city. We loved the heat (its summer there) and the sun was out! It was a "hop on/hop off" bus so we decided to get off at the Sydney Opera House to take some pictures. Heres a million pictures of the opera house for you to look at. 







From the Opera House you can look over and see the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It is such a beautiful city! From the Opera House, we went and toured the botanical gardens that were right next door. It reminded me of an arboretum. It was really nice to have people speak English and no one was staring at us for being caucasian! Its the simple things you begin to notice when you leave China for a bit... We also noticed that the Australian people are extremely friendly and extremely beautiful. 





 We have a friend who recently just went to Australia (Hey, Brandt!) and he told us that we should check out a place called "Featherdale Wildlife park". I am so glad we did! It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Its a small zoo, and they let you feed the kangaroos and pet/hold the koalas. It was so fun to get that close to the animals. We had a pretty good time there. Definitely recommend it if you visit Australia! 






Side note: Did you know that koalas sleep about 20 hours a day? What lazy bums! 





After we went to Featherdale park we kept driving to a place called "Blue Mountains" about 2 hours outside of Sydney. This is a National Park and the views were breathtaking. We did a small hike, and took some pictures. We were still loving the blue skies and the weather! It was a gorgeous day. 





G'day Mate! The following morning we wanted to climb up to a look out point on the Sydney bridge called "Pylon Point lookout." The weather wasn't too great, but it was a really cool view from the top. I am also pretty proud of myself for climbing all of the stairs. There was about 200 (I asked) and while that might not seem like a lot, to a pregnant woman, this is a small victory. 




We then headed to the Sydney Temple, which is about 30 minutes from the Harbor. We were able to do a session and also visit a distribution center. I was so glad we got to go to the temple because we don't have one in China we can go to. I love visiting different temples all over the world. Its so fun to see the differences and character of each one. This one was small, but very nice (as always!)


Our last day we took a Ferry boat to Manly Beach on the other side of the island. We saw a million sail boats and took a nap on the beach. Manly Beach reminded me of Southern California and I miss my beach, so much! I felt like we were in Newport. It made me quite homesick.









Our Australia vacation was amazing and we loved seeing all the sights. I would definitely come back!
I tried to put a kangaroo in my suitcase, but sadly I was filled to capacity. One day we randomly turned a corner and saw a Target! I could recognize that bullseye, anywhere! I was so excited. We went and got some clothes/baby stuff and I was a happy girl. Unfortunately, this also meant there was no room for a little Roo in my suitcase. Til next time, Australia!