OH, THE PLACES I'VE BEEN!

This is just to keep tabs of the places I've been and the miles I've racked in hopes that in the future I'll be able to document here in my blog and share a memory or two from each of my travels near and far. Having said that, this entry will be updated every now and then.

PHILIPPINES

My hometown.

I grew up in an era when tourism wasn't as affordable and accessible as it is now, and for that I wasn't able to travel as much as I should've. Being raised in a city at the South, our family took pleasure on summer outings to the hot springs and resorts in Laguna.

Tagaytay was the next option especially when the weather got scorching hot, and I remember having been there a few times with my family, one time with high school batchmates on a retreat, and another time with my college friends.

My paternal grandmother was Ilocana and if my memory serves me right, I think I've been to Ilocos Sur twice or thrice. I have memories of going to Vigan very quickly on our first trip to Ilocos when I was about 6.

My paternal grandfather hailed from Southern Leyte, so my my family embarked on a road trip one time to go there. This trip is one for the books. It was my first time to go on a looooong drive as such. Of note, this happened in 1993, back when ferry transportation was not easily available. The travel took longer than the actual vacation itself. We drove all the way from Muntinlupa to Liloan, Leyte and back jampacked on a not-so-comfy jeep. I celebrated my 13th birthday partly stranded on the Matnog port waiting for a ferry that would take us across the island. One of the highlights of this trip was seeing Mayon volcano on its active state. It was nighttime when we passed by Bicol, and so the fiery lavas dripping down the volcano's perfect slope was a sight to behold. It looked like a lighted cigarette in the dark. The volcano continuously spat red, oozing lavas out of its mouth, and I can still vividly picture it in my mind. It was just amazing to watch especially for a young urban girl like me. It looked dangerous and scary but so beautiful.

My mother is from Pampanga, and for a couple of years we lived there. I went to school in Bulacan while we were there. I got to go to fiestas on several occasions, and witnessed Mahal na Araw traditional parades and ceremonies.

I visited Baguio twice.

In 2010, when I went back home for the first time after being away for 5 years, Vince and I took my family to Boracay. Another first time for me. We also visited his family in Caramoan Sur. We went island hopping and saw Gota Beach from afar. We also stayed overnight in Naga and visited the Cam Sur Watersports Complex.

Other than the regular pasyal around Manila and nearby urban cities, trips to StarCity, Enchanted Kingdom, and the likes, and mall trips, unfortunately for me, I haven't really explored much of the touristy side of the Philippines.

CANADA

My home away from home.

I moved to Toronto 10 years ago. I pretty much stayed within Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Ontario. You know, Vaughan, Mississauga, Scarborough, Markham, North York, Barrie, Brampton, Niagara, etc. I occasionally went on camping and fishing trips as well as fruit picking with my church family. I used to play volleyball (beach and court) with my BFF and later on with Vince too. One time I went with few friends to Montreal, Quebec, and spent a day *speaking* or at least pretending to speak French. Hehe! Oh, and one time, when Vince was looking for a job, we were interviewed in Kinmount, Ontario.

I had a lot of fun in Toronto, AND a lot of heartaches, disappointments, and frustrations as well. It was a coming-of-an-age experience for me, and that is why, Toronto will always be in my heart.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

My current home.

The first time I stepped on Uncle Sam's soil was in 2009. It was because of Vince that I hurriedly applied for a tourist visa, so I could come and see him when he moved here. I wasn't a Canadian citizen then and I procrastinated on obtaining my citizenship but when Vince left, I sensed the urgency. Talking about what love can do to someone. LOL.

Anyway, I'll jog my memory the best I can to list the places I've been to around the US. I'd rather not stress myself so much though in making this list extensive, so for states or cities that I've been to several times already, I'd just list the state name and not go into elaborate details anymore.

• New York
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania - I lived here for a couple of years.
• Maryland
• Washington DC
• Florida
• Georgia
• South Carolina - Anderson and Hilton Head Island
• Missouri - St. Louis and Kansas City
• Hawaii - Oahu. Babymoon. I hiked, ziplined, jet skiied, parasailed, snorkeled, ocean kayaked, stand-up paddled, and a lot more fun things I did while there. I was able to cross off a lot of bucket list items in this trip including Pearl Harbor. I was 6 weeks pregnant and it was a rollercoaster vacation for me. My pregnancy hormones weren't very cooperative. I was nauseated and sick for the most part but I was undeterred. Girl power! 
• Illinois - Rushville, Chicago, Schaumburg
• California - San Diego, San Francisco and Bay Area (San Pablo, Daly City, Concord, etc.), Monterey
• Nevada - Las Vegas
• Arizona - Grand Canyon West/Skywalk and Hoover Dam
• North Dakota - We visited my sister-in-law and her family in 2017
• Massachusetts - We went around Boston, and visited Thomasland in Edaville in November 2017.
• Virginia - My parents visited the US again in 2018, and we did an East Coast trip with them while they were here. We stayed in Virginia for the most part of our week long tour.
• Alaska - July 2019
• Tennessee - November 2019

CARIBBEAN

You can take me out of the island but you can't take the island out of me. We are water babies!

• Jamaica - Late honeymoon in April 2010. Came back in May 2015 for my birthday and Mother's Day with our first born. Yeah mon!
• Bahamas - May 2014
• Mexico - Cancun and Chichen Itza in October 2015. Chichen Itza is a bucket list item crossed off ;)
• Dominican Republic - Punta Cana in October 2015, March 2017, May 2018, May 2019
• Puerto Rico - Carolina and Old San Juan in March 2015
• Bermuda - Vince attended a conference in August 2017. Vonn Kaleb and I, of course, tagged along.
• Grand Cayman - Another conference for Vince in December 2017, which means, another out-of-country family trip for us. Score!

EUROPE

• Switzerland - September 2019
• Italy - September 2019
• France - September 2019
• Germany - September 2019

~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~

As you can tell from my post above, I have yet to explore a lot of places - South America, Asia, Australia, and even Africa. The world is sooo vast and big but in due time and if God allows, I'm making it my oyster ;) So, in that regard, I'm making a separate post for my bucket list. Stay tuned, and recommendations are very much welcome ;) Let's do this!

You can read more of my travel stories and see pictures here: GLOBETROTTING

THE MARVELOUS CHICHEN ITZA

One of the highlights in our recent Mexico vacation was our trip to Chichen Itza. It was memorable to me for several reasons:

1.  I had always wanted to see a Mayan ruin. From the moment I first saw a picture of a Mayan step pyramid in my high school history book, I was fascinated by it. After seeing Mel Gibson's Apocalypto, it went straight to my bucket list.

2.  We stayed in Cancun, Mexico, which is about two to two-and-a-half-hour drive from Chichen Itza. Going there by a tour bus would've been our best bet IF we didn't have Vonn Kaleb. Bus tours leave sooooo early, and having a toddler who loves to sleep in like her mother, there was no way we could get our arse out of bed by 7:00 a.m. So, that left us with our only other option, which is to drive ourselves there. Yay! (or more like nay???)

3.  With a little prodding, I was able to convince Vince to rent a car and drive ourselves to the famous tourist attraction. The first challenge we encountered in this plan was the rental car associate who was no habla Ingles. Oh dear! We wanted to rent a car with a car seat but language got in the way, and so we had to wait another day for an English-speaking associate to assist us.

4.  Car seat - check! Rental car - check! GPS - uh oh! Nada. Although the resort staff and the rental car associates were very helpful in giving us directions and were confident in saying that it's very easy to go to Chichen Itza, we definitely needed a GPS. Going from the resort to Chichen Itza was a no brainer. Vince drove while I sat at the backseat with senyorito Vonn Kaleb -- I was paranoid that the car seat would malfunction. Vince really didn't need any help navigating our way to Chichen Itza - it was pretty straightforward.  We took the scenic route as per the rental car associate's advice. There weren't a lot of cars taking the "scenic route" -- which could either be a good thing or a really BAD thing -- but anyway, it was a safe route and led us to our destination as it was supposed to. While driving, we entertained ourselves by once again pretending that the Valencias habla Espanyol. Hehe!

5.  So, when I said above that we definitely needed a GPS, you probably figured it out already that we did get lost. Yup, going back to our resort from Chichen Itza, what was supposed to be a two-and-a-half-hour drive at the most, it took us a couple of extra hours more. Oh Dios mio! First off, it was raining crazy -- thunderstorm, zero visibility, the like that reminded me of Philippines and made me want to shout, "Delubyo!" We drove inter-barrio on the way home, where I saw small houses and sari-sari stores that were (once again) reminiscent of Philippines.  Amidst the heavy rain, Vince drove steadily. We passed by barrios after barrios until we were back on the road leading to Cancun. We took the exit to Cancun, and by that time, it was already starting to get dark.

6.  I remember seeing a mall on our way to Chichen Itza earlier, so I asked Vince if he would like to check out the mall and grab dinner there. Might as well since we're not returning the car until the day after anyway. So he drove and drove to what we thought was headed to downtown Cancun, but the next thing we knew, we were getting deeper and deeper into the city without any sign of the mall nor our resort (or any resort)!

7.  It was getting late already. Vonn Kaleb had not had any real food yet. He had been sitting in the car for almost four hours already, so he was getting bored and antsy and starting to be really fussy that time. The maps we had on hand weren't very accurate, so Vince thought it best to ask people for directions. We saw a car dealership and so we stopped to ask. No luck for us, however, because the people at the dealership did not speak English. We tried to ask at the gas station when we gassed up, and as expected, we once again were lost in translation. Oh jeez! We were starting to get worried, so I turned to my last resort, Siri. Guess what, she wasn't very helpful either :( We were driving around in circles, trying to put together bits and pieces of English direction we were able to gather from the people we had asked, until we saw a road sign that pointed to where the resorts are. We were finally able to breathe!  It was already dark and still raining, and some motorists were not very cautious, so when we started seeing resorts we were familiar with, we were so relieved.

8.  Eventually, we reached our resort.  I was really grateful to God for his protection and travelling mercies and for bringing us back to our hotel safe and unscathed. Whew! We were very proud of Vonn Kaleb for being the trooper he was. He held on and cooperated and behaved himself very well the entire time we were lost. I am so thankful to my husband for being courageous enough to step out of his comfort zone and obliged wholeheartedly to do that road trip, albeit his reasonable apprehensions and fears. If it wasn't for him, we would've missed out on that chance to see one of the seven wonders of the modern world. A big hooray for team Valencia! Woohoo!

Anywayz, now that I've finished outlining why our Chichen Itza trip was memorable to me, I think it's high time to share pictures of the astounding Mayan ruins, right? ;)

This mango smoothie was a lifesaver. It kept Vonn Kaleb hydrated during our drive back to the resort!

To read about Chichen Itza, here's the Wikipedia link:  Chichen Itza

HOLA, ADIOS AND GRACIAS, CANCUN!

Our family of three (or two-and-a-half as we always say) intended to do a two-week trip to London and Europe, but lo and behold, we ended up once again in the Caribbean!

First stop was Cancun, Mexico. Actually, scratch that. First stop was Disney World. We flew from Orlando, and coincidentally, a dear friend of mine gave us free tickets to the park, so it made perfect sense for us to do a pit stop in Magic Kingdom before we arriba-ed to Mexico.

In Mexico, we stayed in Club Med Yucatan, an all inclusive and kid friendly resort. We chose this resort because it always came up as one of the top 10 kid friendly vacation spots when we did our online research. Now that we have Vonn Kaleb in tow, the first thing we look for in a vacation spot is, you know, if there's something for him to do there. Although unlike other Club Med resorts where they have daycare facilities for babies his age, the one in Yucatan doesn't have one. They have Kids Clubs ranging from 2 years up, and Teens Club, both of which Vonn Kaleb obviously did not qualify for. However, they do have a baby welcome center which provided in-room crib, stroller, bottle warmer and baby tub, and the main restaurant served baby foods and provided baby food makers, microwave, and bottle sterilizer should guests need them. We're at the toddler stage where feeding could get pretty challenging and so having baby food in the buffet restaurant was a lifesaver.

Anyway, here are the highlights of our trip:

1. Crocodile sighting at the beach. Big guy was lost and headed towards the shore. Good thing he changed his mind before he reached the guests.

2. Road trip to Chichen Itza. We drove and we got lost but we found our way back. Thank God! A 20-month-old who had been sitting in the car for about four hours, iPhone map that didn't have info for Mexico, Mexicans who hardly speak English, us who hardly speak Spanish, thunderstorm, zero visibility driving inter-barrios...whew! The car rental gave us fair warnings regarding driving in Mexico, so when we finally got back safe at our hotel at around 8:00 pm, we were mightily relieved. The experience was well worth it though, and more importantly, we had fun. Vince was thankful I motivated and encouraged him to drive. I was thankful that Vince stepped outside his comfort zone within reasonable limits and agreed to drive to Chichen Itza. The Mayan structures were marvelously amazing. No wonder Chichen Itza is one of the seven wonders of the modern world. This deserves a separate blog post and I will share pictures... lots of them! ;) Bucket list item crossed off!

3. Pretending that Vincent and I habla Español. We conjured the craziest, silliest, most ridiculous pretend Spanish phrases and sentences, it cracked me up darn good. LOL! ROFL! This is my most favorite memory of our Cancun trip :)

4. Thunderstorm almost every day we were there. We had one bright sunshine-y day and that was the day before we left. Boo! We hardly had the chance to swim, so I pretty much just ate, ate and ate  I may have to diet and bootcamp myself to skinny now that our two-week Carribean all inclusive vacations are over. 

5. Authentic Mariachi over dinner. I wish I understood the lyrics but the mere fact that I was in Mexico listening to a Mariachi band was enough happy thought to cherish. Needless to say, another bucket list item checked off.

6. During dinners, Club Med guest relation officers join guests to eat and mingle with them. So when a Mexican guest officer sat with me at dinner one time, I gave him some witty remarks he surely won't forget. Haha! He told me he wants to travel to New Zealand, Bora Bora, and Philippines. I told him that if and when he visits the Philippines, don't say nothing about Manny Pacquiao. Hehe! That, and that how we were once hit by Thalia of Marimar and Maria del Barrio fever. He was entertained by me rather than the other way around. On a more serious note, I recommended Boracay and Puerto Princessa to him ;) #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines

7. Feliz cumpleaños, Vince! My husband celebrated his nth birthday on our last night in Mexico. I feel really bad and guilty for not having planned anything on his special day :( We didn't even have dinner together then. We had to take turns eating because our senyorito Vonn Kaleb had countless early terrible 2 moments during our holiday. I know that Vince felt that our holiday itself (and shopping spree later when we got back) was suffice but still, I should've done something other than that. Sigh! Oh well,  I'll make it up next time... pinky promise!

By the way, the reason why our London and Europe trip did not push through was no other than our precious little boy. My in-laws went there in September and they gave us the advice that we may want to hold off our plans because apparently London, Paris and Rome are not very kid friendly. The flight to London alone may be too exhausting for Vonn Kaleb and we didn't want to risk him getting sick while we're there. So our Caribbean trips were literally last minute but I'm really glad we pulled it off and we had a memorable family time. We're all getting better at this traveling-with-a-child thing especially Vonn Kaleb whom at his very young age is proving himself to be a trooper like his parents ;) Of course, we're so thankful for God's traveling mercies and protection all the time. We sometimes do get adventurous when we travel but God has always kept us safe and sane, and has allowed us to enjoy and spend quality family time during our vacations.

So that's about it for now. I'll make separate blog posts to share pictures from our vacation and I'll explain more in detail our two-week holiday in future posts :) Until then, vamos Taquitos and hasta la vista, baby ;)

POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER

Continuing on day 3 of my Hawaii trip...

The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is a theme park/museum which celebrates the culture and tradition of the Polynesian triangle featuring the islands of Hawaii, Samoa, Aotaeroa (New Zealand), Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga and Marquesas.  In this park, one gets to experience authentic villages and mingle with natives of the featured islands.  Aside from learning a lot of things about the Polynesian culture first hand from natives, there are so many activities to do such as learning how to throw a spear, how to husk a coconut, how to make fire, how to cook the Polynesian way, how to dance the hula, get free tattoos, etc., so it can really get exhausting but at the end of it, the trip is definitely worth it.

Our PCC tour started with a buffet lunch which served authentic Hawaiian delicacies including poi and kahlua pig.  We then walked around the park, stopping on villages to watch shows and participate on activities such as spear throwing and basket weaving.  We also had a guided canoe tour around the park which allowed us to catch an overview of all the villages.  After that, we watched the canoe pageant which again showcased the featured islands and various performances from the natives while riding a canoe going around the park.  Every island has their own unique tradition and culture, but my favorite is Samoa because I loved the natives' sense of humor and fun-loving nature.  I envied the Tahitian ladies the most because, wow, if only I could learn how to sway and bounce my hips in a Tahitian dance, man, that would be sweet!  I fancied the gracefulness of the Hawaiian hula dancers as well as the easy-on-the-ears Hawaiian music.

Samoan guy

Canoe ride

Spear throwing challenge

Basket weaving lesson

Canoe pageant show

Canoe pageant show

The pregnant me was beyond tired, nauseated and winded at the end of our day trip, and to think, we didn't even get to see all the shows.  If you think I had enough by then, of course not!  Our PCC experience did not stop there but continued on until about 11:00 p.m...  which I will tell more about in a separate blog post.  Sorry to keep you hanging, guys!  Thank you for taking time to read ;)  Stay tuned for more of my Hawaii vacation.  Until then, ciao! ☻

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You can read more of my travel stories here:

TUESDAY TRAVEL

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HONG KONG TRIP

Not mine, but my mother's and my cousin's. Hehe!

I have yet to complete writing about my Hawaii vacation, but I wanted to take a break from that -- not that I didn't have enough hiatus in blogging already -- and take this chance to share my mother and cousin's first out of the country trip.

Traveling was not something I or my family grew up doing.  Every year, my family would go on outings but nothing big of a trip, mostly just going to resorts in Laguna or visiting relatives in Pampanga and Ilocos.  One time, in the summer (my birthday) of 1993, we went to Leyte -- I really enjoyed that because of the ocean -- but that was the first and last time we traveled that far within the Philippines.  Having said that, my first out of the country travel was obviously when I left in 2005 for good, and it wasn't until I met my then-boyfriend-now-husband, Vince, that I started exploring the world ♥

Recently, Vince and I had to send my mother on a trip to Hong Kong.  Sending our parents to trips have always been part of our plan since we got married, but my mother's trip was rather unexpected.  For valid reasons I will not divulge at the moment -- don't worry nothing fishy or suspicious here -- it was just imperative that my mother travel outside the Philippines PRONTO!

And how did my pretty little cousin, Kate, get involved here you may ask?  Well, the travel agent advised us that it's better for my mother to have a travel companion rather than going solo.  Apparently, solo travelers raise a red flag in the Philippines border.  I was told that it had happened at times that a solo traveler would be "off loaded" from the flight - meaning not even allowed to board on the plane simply because of the tendency that one might not return to the country (mag TNT *tago ng tago*).  It's unfortunate that no one in my immediate family could travel ASAP with my mother because none of them has a passport -- I told you we didn't grow up traveling -- and fortunate for my dear cousin, Kate, that she has a passport.  So, I guess you can all conclude what happened and how she ended up traveling to Hong Kong with my mother.  Lucky girl!  Anyway, Kate always has been like our little sister, and me, my sibs and her are really close, and since she also recently passed her nursing board exam and graduated cum laude, Vince and I thought that she well deserved a"gift" from us ☻

So, originally it was a Hong Kong/Shenzhen trip, but what do you know, true enough, 5 of the 12 travelers in my mother and Kate's group went TNT.  One was off-loaded and four went missing in action when they arrived in Hong Kong.  Tsk tsk.  The travel guide did not allow my mother and Kate to go to Shenzhen anymore -- I'm assuming because of the bad impression of the TNT-ers in their group -- so the twosome stayed in Hong Kong.  My mother got a little rattled with her first-time experience with the border officers on top of the fact that her supposedly travel mates went MIA, and then she told me she also was "babysitting" Kate throughout the trip, but it sounded like she enjoyed it albeit.  After we heard her whole story and how she was "traumatized" from her border experience, I teased her that I'm willing to send her to another trip if she likes... uhmmm, Singapore maybe, to which she replied with a laugh.  Hehe!

Anyweiz, what's a trip without pictures?  Is there such?  So, without further ado, allow me to share some pictures from my mother and cousin Kate's Hong Kong trip.

The face that launched Papaleng's ship!

This pic made me smile because MamaRose is a big fan of Jet Li :)

...and of course, Bruce Lee!

MamaRose seemed to have enjoyed this "happy" place a lot ;)

MamaRose was quite disappointed because she said they only had few Disney character photo opps.  

Well, MamaRose, hopefully, God willing, we can take you to Walt Disney World one day, and there you can take all the pics you wish with any Disney character you want ;)

Okay, that's it for now.  I'll be back to continue on day 3 of my Hawaii vacation ... and all my whatever ☻ Ciao!

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You can read my travel stories here:

TUESDAY TRAVEL

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DOLE PLANTATION, SUNSET BEACH AND LAIE POINT

Continuing on Hawaii Day 3...

After our sentimental visit to Pearl Harbor and USS Arizona Memorial, our tour group headed on to Polynesian Cultural Center where a buffet lunch was waiting for us, but before that, we had quick stops at Dole Plantation, Sunset Beach and Laie Point.

DOLE PLANTATION

I was excited when I found out that Dole Plantation was part of our itinerary that day because about a couple of weeks before we left for Hawaii, I read in Yahoo that Dole Plantation has the world's largest maze as per the Guinness Book of Records.  However, we were scheduled to stop for about 15 minutes only, so our friendly tour guide warned us that it takes at least 30 minutes to finish that maze.  That having said, we unfortunately never got to experience getting lost inside the maze.

The world famous non-dairy ice cream, "Dole Whip."

We met a lot of people in Hawaii who were wondering if we're newlywed
or honeymooners.  They thought we're "cute" and all "giggly" plus
matching Aloha outfits.  We told them that we often get that
impression from people whenever and wherever we travel - matching outfits or not ♥

So after a few photo opps and a quick stroll around the plantation, Vince and I headed back to the tour bus.  Our tour guide joked that if anybody's 10 minutes late, they'd have to do the hula on the bus, but if 15 minutes, they'd have to do the hula where the bus was.  Hehe!

SUNSET BEACH

This beach in North Shore of Oahu took my breath away.  We stopped here for a quick 5-minute bathroom break but I couldn't resist not testing the waters.  This beach is known for big waves during surfing season, with waves that go as high as telephone poles!

Sunset Beach is where several famous surfing competitions are held including Duke Kahanamoku Classic surfing competition, O'Neill World Cup of Surfing competition, and also Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational.

LAIE POINT

Puka rock

Final stop before Polynesian Cultural Center was Laie Point.  We could already feel drizzles of rain then so everyone in the group was in a real hurry to take a picture of the "Puka Rock." According to our tour guide, a big, strong wave crashed against the rock and caused that hole.  Just as everybody got their chance for a picture of the famous rock, it started pouring like crazy.

Okay, I'll end this here now because Polynesian Cultural Center is a different story.  There are so much things we did there and lots of new info I learned - it's better I make a separate blog entry for that :)  Until then, ciao for now!

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PEARL HARBOR AND USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL TOUR

Hawaii Day 3 was a looooong day for me and my husband, Vince.  The six-hour timezone difference worked to our advantage in that regard especially for someone who's not a morning person like me.  It wasn't too hard for me to be up and about waiting for the tour bus to pick us up at our hotel as early as 6:30 a.m. (translates to 12:30 p.m. EST). We had a busy itinerary planned that day which started at around 7:00 a.m. at Pearl Harbor and ended at around 11:00 p.m. at Polynesian Cultural Center. Whew!

PEARL HARBOR AND USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL

Our tour group arrived early at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Park.  While lining up to enter, our Filipino-Hawaiian tour guide made sure that none of his "ohana" brought any bags or fanny packs as well as cameras with lens longer than 6 inches as those items are not allowed inside the park. *Ohana means family and that's how our tour guide referred to us in his tour group.

For me, it was a sentimental journey to the past walking on the grounds of Pearl Harbor and viewing memorabilia and remnants of what a tragic day it was once.  There were a lot of tourists from different parts of the world visiting the historic harbor but what struck me the most was seeing US veterans in their uniforms wheeling around amongst Japanese tourists.  I couldn't help but feel a bit emotional for the fallen heroes of the attack.  I guess I was just empathizing too much but I honestly felt a sting inside my heart towards the Japanese tourists.  Oh well, it must either be the pregnancy hormones kicking in or the flashbacks I got of Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnet's heartbreaking scenes in the movie, Pearl Harbor, that caused me to feel that way, but anyway, if there's one virtue I realized from this trip, it's FORGIVENESS.  It must have come by really hard for the veterans and loved ones of the victims to forgive such stab-on-the-back senseless attack but at one point in their lives I'm sure they came to terms with it, or else the national monument stands meaningless to date.

I think you've had enough of my dramatic spiel, so let me just show you some of the pics we took at Pearl Harbor and USS Arizona Memorial, and I'll let them speak of the story they tell.  Feel free to click on the pics to enlarge :)

December 07, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy

"With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people,
we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God."
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt, Day of Infamy speech

"The United States was at peace with that nation, and at the solicitation of Japan,
was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the
maintenance of peace in the Pacific.  Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had
commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the
United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent
American message.  And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue
the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack."
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt, Day of Infamy speech

USS Arizona Memorial
The sunken remains of the battleship also serves as the final resting place
for over a thousand gallant sailors who died on the USS Arizona during the attack.

One of USS Arizona's gun turret remains intact and on the ship.
There were over 180 ships and vessels in Pearl Harbor when it was attacked.
Twelve of these ships were sunk or severely damaged, with another nine also
needing extensive repairs.  However, all but three (USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma and USS Utah) returned to service.

The "tears of Arizona."  Oil slick visible on water's surface above the sunken ship.
Seventy one years later, the ship still leaks 2 to 9 quarts of oil each day.

There were 37 confirmed sets of brothers assigned to the USS Arizona.
The explosion and subsequent fires killed 1177 sailors and marines instantly.

♪♫ I'll keep a part of you with me, and everywhere I am there you'll be ♪♫

That's the end of our Pearl Harbor and USS Arizona Memorial tour. Stay tuned for more of my Hawaii Day 3 escapades ☻

Reference

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TUESDAY TRAVEL

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SNORKELING AT HANAUMA BAY

A short drive from Waikiki lies a gorgeous snorkeling heaven, Hanauma Bay. Preserved and protected, this marine sanctuary is home to fragile marine life including corals, reef fish, honu (green sea turtles), sharks, rays, eels, as well as the colorful Hawaii state fish, humuhumunukunukuapua'a.  The park is dedicated to conserve and safeguard the bay, so all guests are required to watch a short video regarding a few things and rules to keep in mind when visiting Hanauma Bay.

Rule #1: Do NOT step on the corals.
Rule #2: Do NOT touch the fish, honu, and all other marine life in the bay.  Our body sweat, bacteria, etc., are harmful to these animals.

The park is open daily except on Tuesdays, and operates from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.  As this is one of the major tourist attractions in Hawaii, guests are encouraged to come early.  There is a $7.50 entrance fee and $1.00 parking fee.  Snorkeling and diving gears are available for rent at a reasonable price in the beach park.

For better snorkeling experience and to explore the deeper part of the bay, Vince and I joined a guided tour by Hanauma Bay Dive Tours.  There were five of us in the group plus a certified diver tour guide.  Transportation and snacks were included as well as quality snorkeling gears.  Although we had to shed extra buck$$$ for this tour, we never regret it because it was all worth it.  I remember the other lady in our tour group saying, "This is the most awesome thing I've ever done in my life!"  I definitely agree.  That was the best (and most scraped and bruised) snorkeling experience for me as well.

These are just a few of the various marine life that thrives in the bay.

A honu (green sea turtle) in action

...and here are a few more pics from our Hanauma Bay trip.  Feel free to click on the pics to enlarge:

That's about our second day in Hawaii.  Day 3 was another full and exciting day, so stay tuned to find out ☻

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TUESDAY TRAVEL

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