After a crazy week of packing and last minute preparations, Adam and I barely make it onto our flight. We are completely exhausted and pretty much sleep the whole way to Taipei. We have a quick layover and fly to Manila. My Tito (meaning “Uncle,” my dad’s cousin) Selit, his daughter Bianca and their driver Dennis pick us up at the airport. They live in Quezon City, which is only about 30 miles from the airport, but with horrendous traffic worse than the bay area, one quick stop at a mami noodle shop and 2 1/2 hours later, we finally arrive at their home. At this point, we don’t have any actual plans in the Philippines other than a departing plane to Japan on April 5th and a desire to swim with whale sharks. As Adam’s recovering from an agitated ankle from recent surgery, we decide to keep the next few days low key and relax. Tito Selit is the ultimate host  and spoils us non-stop for the next week. We visit ACE water spa for some hydrotherapy massage. I have no idea what that is until we arrive but we LOVE it. A series of indoor pools with different jets strategically placed – I post up by the head, neck and shoulder station to work out some knots in place for the past month.  Adam and I both love the herbal hot pools, scented with mint, lavender and jasmine.  Fully relaxed – mission accomplished!   AROUND METRO MANILA Tito Selit is very knowledgeable about the history of the area, so he spends a few days giving us guided tours of Metro Manila. He attended University of Philippines at Dilliman, so we check out the campus where he and his wife, Tita Des, met.  We swing by the Coconut Palace, a building erected in 1978 by Imelda Marcos for the visit of the Pope, constructed with over 70% coconut materials.  Next we head to Rizal Park, a memorial with a giant statue of Jose Rizal, a prominent figure for Filipino reform in the late 1800s. A national hero, his execution in 1896 was one of the causes of the Philippine Revolution. I later make the connection when I see that just about every city and town has a Rizal Avenue. Nearby is Intramuros, the old Spanish hear of Manila, where we see the gold plated path of Rizal’s final steps as he walked to the site of his execution.We also visit Fort Santiago, a fortress from the 1500s, among other Spanish colonial relics. Adam and I both had our work phones shut off when we left Adobe, so we decided not to get phones with a US carrier since we would be on the road indefinitely.  We jailbreak my iPhone 3G and get a local SIM card.  Of course in the first few days of our visit, I accidentally drop the phone and the screen cracks.  It seems a bit pathetic now, but we felt completely helpless until it was repaired. Bianca took us to the SM (supermalls) at Greenhills to get it fixed. As shopping in the Philippines is nearly a sport, the SMs are quite a site. We had visited MOA (Mall of Asia), one of the largest malls in all of Asia and were tired after one of hour of exploring, only covering about a quarter of the entire mall with brisk window shopping. Greenhills does not disappoint either. We enter what looks like a gigantic warehouse with rows and rows of every cell phone gadget under the sun. Known as the Cyberzone, I realize if we had these in the US, this is where I could send Adam while I went shoe shopping. While I may not be into gadgets as much as he is, the variety is impressive albeit overwhelming.   HAPPY EATS AND TASTY TREATS Halo-halo Mmm, halo-halo, one of my favorite Filipino desserts!  Literally translates to “mix-mix,” it’s a combination of shaved ice, evaporated milk, ice cream, sweetened beans, various fruits like jack fruit, coconut or mango and/or candied jellies.  Bianca takes us to one of her favorite spots, Razon’s.  For halo-halo #1 with hopefully many more to come – I am pleased as it’s topped by another of my favorites – leche flan (custard). It’s gone in about 45 seconds and followed by another tasty treat – silvanas, the specialty of the local bakery  chain Sans Rival. A small round, frozen cookie sandwich, with what tastes like a super indulgent butter creme frosting. More please. Balut One evening we have dinner with my Tita Des’ in-laws. I have been asked if I ever had balut and since I have not, like every good Filipino, I must try it. Wikipedia explains it better than me, but essentially it’s a boiled duck or chicken embryo. I have eluded this for over 30 years but with 15 eager faces watching me, I have no choice.  Adam plays the “she is doing this for the ‘team’” card and thus I am tasting solo. I squeal, whimper and scream like a little school girl for about 10 minutes as I watch Koji, one of the dinner guests, provide a demo first. Crack the shell on the table. Throw in some salt to my liking.  Peel back the shell. Slurp out the juice. (Okay, they were right, it tastes like chicken soup). Slurp out remaining juice.  Easy. Peel back remaining shell. Be careful of hard cartilage. Now chew. [Gag. Double gag.] I chew quickly, swallow fast with my eyes watering and look up. Not too bad. Just like a hard boiled egg only slightly chewier. I lucked out – I got a “young” one so no legs or feathers to surprise me. Thank goodness. Jollibee Ah, good ole Jollibee. Essentially Filipino McDonald’s but “much better” proclaims every local. Of course we must try it. There are over 4,000 Jollibees worldwide and the Philippines is the only country where this fast food chain outperforms McDonald’s (affectionately known as MacDo) in the fast food burger chain category. I notice they are everywhere, sometimes two restaurants right across from each other. I start to count every time I see a new one and by the time our trip wraps, I have counted 55 different