Indonesian Girl's Camp

 This was a first. We camped in rooms built on stilts in the sea. 

The water was turquoise. 

We had passports and visas. We took a boat to the camp, another boat to the service project, and yet another boat to the hike. 

And finally a boat back home.

We spent all of our time in flip flops. We wore swimsuits and sunscreen most of the day. 

Didn't see a single mosquito. 

 We exclaimed constantly at how beautiful and peaceful it was and how lucky we were to be there. 

Even though it felt like a vacation at a nice eco-resort, it was still girl's camp. We identified plants 

and animals like

mud puppies, hermit crabs, jelly fish (ouch!), puffer fish, rays, and sharks. 

We had amazing YCLs, guest speakers, skits, water ballet show, hikes, service projects, 

crafts and secret sisters. 

Our testimony meeting finished by lighting and releasing a lantern. 

There were too many favorite moments to claim one as the best. But perhaps the most unusual camp experience for me was when we delivered books to a school in a fishing village. 

I was asked to give a speech to the children and teachers. 

First the principal of the school spoke and a translator shared her speech with us. It was all about what an honor is was that we would visit them. 

Then I spoke and the translator did her job. 

The children listened:

In my 35 years of going to camp (most of them as a leader) this was the most unusual and unique experience. 

Morning Scriptures on the dock. 

Details:

Telunas Family Resort http://www.telunasresorts.com/telunas-beach/

Credit to Lachlan Sloan for some of these photos.

Not SCUBA Diving in Moalboal

For Ike's 18th birthday we gave him SCUBA lessons in Moalboal Philippines but found out the night before the lessons started that asthma and SCUBA together are deadly.

Ike was bummed.

 But we improvised and still had a great vacation. 

View from our private deck at the Blue Orchid.

Esmeralda The Bird loved me. 

Local transportation in Moalboal. We used the motorized version.

To ease the pain of not getting SCUBA certified we snorkeled with the whale sharks:

Not my photo. Whale sharks are HUGE. At one point I had 2 swimming directly at me from different directions! A marine ranger tapped me on my ankle (he was below me in SCUBA gear) and made the stop sign with his hand. I held still and the whale sharks gently swam past me on either side. My adrenaline was going pretty strong!

And the sardines:

Not my photo but this is what it looked like. They stay in the top 8 feet of the water. Beautiful. They swim away from you and if they move fast you can hear a "swish" underwater. 

We also hiked to Tumalog waterfall and it was so beautiful it looked like CGI. 

Waterfalls in heaven look like that. 

Then we went to Mactan Island where Roland served part of his mission. 

Mangoes are a big deal in Cebu. An entire supermarket isle full of mango products.

Lapu Lapu Memorial park marks the place where Magellan was killed in 1521. 

We spent the last 2 days at the luxurious Abaca resort. It was very luxurious. I want to go back. 

Mango Cheese Cake

In the cabana at The Abaca. Every half hour or so they freshen your water, or bring you ice cream, or a newspaper, or a cold scented towel. Take me back!

Details:

We had our resorts arrange transportation by taxi for us. 

Blue Orchid Dive Resort

Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines

Abaca Boutique Resort

Mactan Island, Cebu, Phillipines

Regretful Packing (Hong Kong)

Upper left hand is the hotel address, the writing is directions to the basketball tournament for taxi drivers. 

Everyplace else we took the subway.

Packing light is something I strive to do. I wear clothes over and over and bring teeny tiny containers of only the most necessary stuff. It's good to handle all your luggage with one hand so the other hand can show the passport, hang on to the escalator, pass around the hand sanitizer, point at the flight departure screen, pay for the water bottles once you get past security, and push people out of the way so you can board first.

I don't mind not looking like a fashion plate when I travel because 1) I'm done worrying about what strangers think and well, there are no other reasons. Pretty soon I'll be wearing black sandals with white socks and not give a fig what you think.

View from the hotel room (The Cosmopolitan in Wan Chai)

Packing light is satisfying. After a 2 or 12 hour flight, when you are slightly dehydrated, you can still lift your own luggage out of the overhead bin. It's empowering to get where you need to go without assistance (which brings me to the topic of sensible shoes). Traveling can be something of a sport with all that lifting, pulling, maneuvering and, if you are with Roland, speed walking to and from gates.

Stanley, Hong Kong, a delightful beach town. 

However, you can pack too light. In my efforts to keep travel easy peasy I decided not to bring the fancy camera on our recent trip to Hong Kong. Regret.

How many times did I say, "Oh, I wish I had the other camera!" ? Too many times. The iphone does fine as you can see by these photos but I wanted the other camera all week. In fact there were many photos I didn't even bother with because I knew they wouldn't work with the iphone.

This moled man has a thriving business making custom baby onesies in Stanley, his 

fingers on his right hand end at the knuckles, he used three different brushes while 

I took his picture.

So it is time to get a camera case that isn't bulky because the one I have now is so huge

you could change a diaper in it. Any ideas?

Also, Hong Kong! It was cool, about 70 degrees, and people were wearing fur coats, big boots, hats, and bulky sweaters. It was such a refreshing change from the constant heat and humidity of Singapore. Even with a population of 7,200,000 people the people I met were kind and gracious. 

I love Hong Kong, there is so much to explore! The city has an exciting vibe. 

I will be going back many times!

Malaka: Carrot Cake, Peranakans, Tuk Tuks

A few weeks ago I took a little road trip to Malacca Malaysia. It was organized by a woman in one of the Singapore wards. I was one of 4 Westerners on a big fancy bus. I bravely left Singapore and passed into Malaysia clutching my passport and green card. 

Singaporeans like to talk about how terrible and scary the Malaysians are but I felt safe the 

entire time I was in their country and I am looking forward to going back 

if only to get more carrot cake.

This is some fancy carrot cake. Not a single bit of cream cheese frosting. Carrot cake is made of turnip that has been ground and cooked to a jelly state - reminded me of smooth congealed cream of wheat. The texture is very smooth. They stir fry it up with lots of butter, garlic, mung bean sprouts, spicy peppers, and scrambled egg topped with fresh green onion. You can get a sweet sauce on it but I took mine without the sweet stuff.

WOW. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

It alone was worth the trip. I had some yesterday at the uber fancy Marina Bay Sands "hawker stand" (not really a hawker stand...too fancy and clean) and it was bland and boring. But the Malaysian carrot cake was delicious.

Six things I like about this picture: 

1. He loved his job and the huge line at his stand.

2. The fan on the chair: is it keeping him cool or advertising the garlicky sweet fragrance?

3. The pile of egg shells and overcooked turnip in the lower left hand, he would just fling those out of that huge wok.

4. How quickly he moved and kept that food moving across the hot wok. He cooked to order.

5. The brightly burning light bulbs, he started work when it was still dark

6. The ice cream cash box (the pink plate is just barely resting a lip on it) with ice cream at $17 a container, that is a little statement of prosperity.

After driving 4 hours we stopped for lunch at a Peranakan restaurant. I was feeling a little 

picky about what I wanted to eat.

Did you know that the shrimp/prawns here are served with all 

the legs and eyeballs and tail attached? They still taste good. 

In fact, they are delicious, once you get them cleaned up.

 Hmm. Feeling very very picky.

Please pass the rice.

Back on the bus to the Peranakan Museum. 

Peranakans are descendants of Chinese workers who migrated to the Straights of Malacca around 

the 14th century and married the Malaysian women and merged their two cultures. 

It is a unique and beautiful culture only found here. 

 The Baba-Nonya Heritage Museum was our destination.

Peranakan men are called Baba and the women are called Nonya. You will see signs advertising 

"Nonya Food Here". 

I have seen them in Singapore too. 

After the museum we had a few moments to shop and Danielle led us on a run to find the beautiful Peranakan pottery. I fell in love. I got 6 bright colorful little bowls. 

Come over and I will serve you food in them. 

This picture is currently my phone wallpaper:

 Brightly decorated tuk tuks drive you around town any time of day or night playing loud music. 

In Summary: I am glad I went. 

Most of my time was spent on the bus, and getting on and off the bus at tourist trap bus stops. But what I got to see of Malacca makes me want to go back for a couple of days and explore. Once we were in the historical part of the city you could get a real feel for the unique culture there and I want to feel it again.