Bantayan Islands

I have been living in the Philippines for almost two years now. It is a beautiful country. In fact it has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. And when you consider the fact that Philippines is made up of more that 7000 islands, you can only imagine the number of beaches that have to be explored.

In the one year that I lived in Manila, we didn't really travel to any beach destinations except Subic bay. It was a lovely first experience, but it didn't really wow us. That could be because we had to travel for over four hours one way using public transport. And on our way back we were caught in a massive traffic jam that made our four travel into a six hour ordeal. After this we didn't really travel around much.

When the new year started, Alex and I decided we must take every opportunity to explore this beautiful country, specially since we live in Cebu now, and there are many beach destinations that can be visited over the weekends.

Our first destination this year was the beautiful Bantayan Island in February. It is a small island and fortunately not a commercial beach destination. So there are no shopping arcades or malls. You can buy small souveniers like fridge magnets or keychains from hawkers at the port or if the hotel has a gift shop you could buy stuff from there. But this destination is not for shopping purposes.

We stayed at Anika Beach Resort, and we had a ocean view room for P 3500/-. This did not include breakfast. But they have a restaurant that is open from 6 am to 10 pm. The menu is very basic and has limited options. If you are vegeterian you may have not a lot to choose from. And there are not may options in town too. The food is tasty and freshly prepared, but the only bummer is the options everywhere are very limited.

We, however didn't notice all this on our trip since David and I were busy in the sea all day. It is just so beautiful that the pictures don't do any justice to the place.

On our second day, we did go around the island. We hired a motorbike for P 500, for half a day. We visited the oldest church in Cebu.

We also visited another resort that has some caves where one can swim. We lazed at one of the shacks right near the ocean, sipped our drinks, and listened to the ocean waves. We had planned to go island hopping but we got up late and missed our boat. Our two days at the island flew past too quickly. And we have decided to go back soon. This holiday is one of the best we've had so far.

Change is the only constant in life!

Well the title sums up the last couple of months in my life!

I have made some life changing decisions in the past few months and life has been a flurry of activities. Today when I look back and think of how fast the last few months have zipped past, it all seems surreal. I shan't get into the many mundane and tiresome details of all that happened but will gladly what is current. 

My dearest husband was offered a great opportunity in Manila, Philippines. After much and might I add careful deliberation, we decided to take it. This meant moving to another country with bag, baggage and baby. This decision also led me to take another crucial decision that is of giving up my job after eight great years with the same organization. While it was not the easiest decision it was something that had to be done.

I have been in Manila for the past four months now and I can say the place is lovely. People are warm and friendly, the weather is much like Mumbai so that helps and apart from good eateries there are a lot of activities that one might indulge in.So while I miss home in Mumbai I am also fond of the new home in Manila. My son, David, has beautifully adjusted here, it was one of our biggest worries. In fact he has already started school and loves it.

We have settled in well and since David is in school a couple of hours a day, that gives me some free time. And what better to do than talk about food and save my favorite recipes for my son.

Bon Appetite!

Confessions of a new mum

I am a first time mother.... and at times it can be quite overwhelming. It can also be exhausting, and frustrating at times. Maybe a little more than at times. The whole experience of feeding, cleaning up, playing, putting the baby down for a nap, playing, and back to feeding, cleaning up, playing, nap, playing ...... its a circle that does not end. I have not met any mothers, except for one and we'll discuss her later, have confessed that the circle of constant action can be quite energy sapping physically and mentally. Add to it the fact that any or every social interaction centers around my baby, or motherhood. It's like everything I am, apart from being a mother now, does'nt count.

At times it makes me quite angry that my life has changed so drastically. Specially in comparison to my husband's. I have taken a long leave of absence from work to be able to take care of my child. This decision was made based on certain unexpected personal reasons. There are times when I miss all the office action, the mail wars, the chai gossip sessions, the long tele-conferences (its a joke if u ask me! no work gets done, but what the hell !), and believe me the actual WORK too.

But then I look at my 10 and half month old, and he has the broadest smile for his mum, and he looks at me as its the bestest thing he has seen, it just melts and breaks my heart. Then I am not angry anymore, exhausted and tired maybe, but not angry. And the way he leaps towards me and scratches my face and pulls my hair and laughs when I yell in pain, its so magical. And I say a quick prayer, let him not grow so fast....