Another Day, Another Mall-er

Today we went with the Hables to the Mall of Asia.  It's just a little bit north of us and is the 3rd largest mall in the world.  I know it seems like we are constantly at malls, but here the museums are in malls, the movie theaters are in malls, playgrounds are in malls.  You just can't get away from the malls.  One of my favorite things here is the names of the stores- they don't exactly sound right in my American mind (similar to the TV station "Balls" that I may have mentioned), like a restaurant called "Racks" (they took one look at me and said, "Ma'am, you need to leave.") or another place called "Cockstore."  We don't know what they sell yet.  Other than the cocks, of course.

We played in the kid zone and took a ferris wheel ride.  We ate lunch at Burger King ("It smells like America in here," I said.).  We bought ice cream from this awesome place that gives you 5 mini ice cream cones stuck in a painter's palette for only 80 cents or so. 

We went and saw the ocean.  Flat Stanley (and I) thought the humidity sucked so we went back inside to Hypermarket, which is the closest thing to SuperWalmart I've seen since our arrival.

Cathy and I have done lots of stuff with our kids but no pictures of us.  Until now. 
We celebrated the occasion with Manny Pacquiao.

Christmas is in full swing.

If I were to write an essay about the Philippines, this would be the title: "The Philippines: We're 90% of the Way There!"  This is why: The Philippines, Metro Manila in particular, has almost anything that we want or need.  But, things always fall a little short.  I know I've talked about the bathrooms here: I appreciate that we've got the indoor plumbing, the toilets, the running water...yet, rarely do you find a toilet seat, toilet paper, or paper towels.  That last 10% really makes a difference.  Or, I can usually find about 90% of what's on my grocery list.  Or, I was happy to find plastic wrap for the kitchen, but the metal blade fell off the first time I used it.  Or, at the Hypermarket today, a totally modern store, I noticed that the cashiers kept their tills in wooden boxes.  Here is another example:

What;s missing?  Just the nozzle.  Had to look all over town to buy starch in the first place, but sure enough it was available.  That missing 10%, however, renders this purchase USELESS and made me so ANGRY I thought I might hyperventilate. 

 On a brighter note, we continue to enjoy dining out.  Last night we tried a place called Uncle Cheffy's (again with the names!  It doesn't even sound appetizing, right?).  It was so good.  Kiki demonstrated her acclimation to the local culture by asking, "Do you think this chicken leg came off a fighting rooster?!?"

Kate's been doing lots of sweet art projects.  She is such a good-hearted kid.

We've booked some trips- Corregidor next week (an island that is full of WWII history) for Thanksgiving, and Bohol (rhymes with "The Hole."  We are staying in a place called "Flushing Meadows" so it's pretty much non-stop cracks there) over Christmas.  I'm excited every time we get to get out and see more of this beautiful place.  Life is happy here and we feel like we are adjusting and feeling more comfortable.