Rob and Jolene

November brought one of our biggest treats since we've been here - a month long visit by my brother and sister in law, Rob and Jolene.  Getting here from North Carolina, 12 time zones away, is no easy task, so I was surprised and delighted that they actually followed through on threats to come here.

One place on Jolene's bucket list was Angkor Wat, so just a few days after arriving here, and with them still suffering from jet lag, we boarded a plane for Siem Reap, Cambodia.  About a three hour flight west of here, Siem Reap is home to dozens of ancient temples dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries, Angkor Wat being the most famous.  We spent several days wandering temple ruins under the care of our tuk tuk driver, guide and friend from a previous visit, Da.  We also managed to see a silk farm, visit handicraft centers, and get leg massages after all the walking.  Cambodia remains one of my favorite places to visit.

For more photos of Cambodia, CLICK HERE.

After a few days back in Manila, we drove to our house in Tagaytay for a few days of rest.  Tagaytay is an excellent place for restaurants, and it didn't disappoint.  There are also great views of the volcano in the middle of Taal Lake, and we enjoyed those over lunch or afternoon drinks or coffee at Starbucks.  We also took a drive down to the lake to get a better view of the volcano and all the fish pens in the lake.  I even tried to get Rob's help on a house project, but of course he left it only half finished.


Next up after a couple more days in Manila was the island of Bohol.  About an hour's flight south of here, Bohol is a tropical paradise with white sandy beaches lined with coconut trees.  On the first full day, we got up at 5:30 am to catch a boat for a morning of dolphin watching.  After watching the dolphins feed, we headed over to a small island for some snorkeling.  Neither Rob nor Jolene had ever been snorkeling, so I think they were a bit nervous about it, but once we got in the water and they realized breathing with a snorkel isn't hard at all, they were amazed by the number of colorful fish swimming right up to them. The second day included a tour of the chocolate hills in the interior of the island and lunch on a boat headed up the river at Loboc.

 CLICK HERE for more photos of Bohol.





Our final trip was to spend Thanksgiving at the beach at Anilao, a couple hours south of here.  We stayed at our friends' delightful place there which is right on the water.  I was a little afraid that we might get bored there, but that certainly didn't seem to be a problem.  It was so easy to sit in the lawn or the "living room" with a drink in hand and visit while watching the water.  In the mornings, we were even treated to dolphins feeding off shore.



For more photos of Anilao, CLICK HERE.

Those were just the highlights and trips outside Manila.  We also toured our neighborhood, Makati and other areas nearby.  Jolene seemed to especially like buying pearls at the nearby markets since they're so cheap.  Rob loved losing at farkle (a dice game).  Both of them were real troopers about exploring new things to eat and getting up at odd hours for our travels.  I think we probably wore them out, but we sure had a great time.  I hated to see them go.