San Diego

One of the fantastic perks of our jobs is R&R. During our four years in the Philippines we are eligible for two paid trips basically anywhere, as long as it is not more expensive than a ticket to Sydney. In 2012 we went to San Diego and had such an amazing trip that we decided to go back. This time for 26 days in a rental house in Encinitas. It was a perfect home base, with Moonlight Beach and a playground just two blocks away.

After living in Manila for three years, the best part of San Diego was just being outside in the fresh cool air. In the words of this little one, "There's so much space!"

The entire family was able to spend a week together, and although it was crazy, it was really fun.

Towards the end of the trip we spent three days in Joshua Tree.

Other Highlights

Holiday Wonderland at Petco Park
Nutcracker at the Civic Theater
Garden of Lights at the San Diego Botanic Gardens
San Diego Zoo
Best fish tacos at Haggo's Organic Tacos
Siblings Brewery Tour
Sunsets at Moonlight Beach
The baby really learning how to walk
Playgrounds at Balboa Park

R&R in numbers

Mountains hiked: 5; 26 miles total
Breweries visited: 8
Miles ran: 27
Yoga classes: 3

Until next time San Diego!

Japan: Yudanaka

And back to Japan, folks. Yes, this trip occurred in March and it is now May. Carry on.

The original plan was for The Shark to do some skiing in Nagano (shocker: there is no skiing in the Philippines), but since we had limited time with Sister and her Hubby, we decided to nix the snow and stay in a traditional ryokan in Yudanaka, a small town outside of Nagano.

From Nagano it was another 30 minute train ride out to Yudanaka. Our tiny van pulled up and all 6 of us crammed in. Our driver spoke mostly no English and it was hysterical when we tried to ask him how far the hotel was from the station. He held up 5 fingers, then 4, then 10, while we shouted out guesses, Kilometers? Miles? Minutes? Hours? It turned out to be pretty close. Then we saw this cat. Maybe it was better he couldn't understand us.

Just, why?

The hotel was amazing. The whole room was covered in tatami mats and we slept on thin futons. The best part of the hotel was the many hot spring baths you could relax in, including the one attached to our room.

Every night we had an elaborate multi-course dinner.

That's Toto's seat in the middle with the Hello Kitty silverware. She mostly ate the rice.

It always looked pretty and tasted fresh.

The highlight of the trip, besides seeing Sister and her Hubby, was the snow monkeys. We decided to forego the bus and head up there on foot. There were lots of signs.

The monkeys were adorable soaking in their hot tub. And so docile. I am generally very wary of monkeys, especially after I saw one grab a woman's glasses off her face in Bali. But these guys were way used to humans and weren't looking to snatch any of our stuff.

And luckily there was a sign warning of us, you know, this:

We sampled some local soba and it was delicious. Funny story about this place. We had to wait outside for a table, so obviously we bought some beers while we waited. There are no trash cans in Japan, so we put all the bottles in a bag and stashed them under our table while we ate. And of course mine wasn't empty and may have spilled a little. I didn't even want to have that non-versation with the restaurant lady so we left a good tip, and got out of there.

Because more drinking was in order, we went to a sake brewery. This man was very nice. It was self-serve, which seemed like a bad idea. But was awesome.

Yudanaka was a nice break from city life, even if it did snow our last day. I, being from Manila, immediately assumed someone was burning something and that was ash in the air. It was Toto's first snow by the way. At least now she can recognize it in books.

Hiking Philippines: Taal Volcano

For our third Philippines hike we decided to check out the top of Taal Volcano in Tagaytay. Since we were going to be all the way down there we figured breakfast at Antonio's was in order. The new breakfast restaurant overlooks the volcano and is beautiful. The service was a little slow, maybe because they were new. And the omelettes were a little salty, but overall a good experience. 

A friend had given us the number of a guide in advance so we texted him on the way out of the restaurant and decided to meet him at the bottom of the hill. About halfway down a motorcycle starts circling our car, so The Shark rolls down the window and the driver shouts, "I'm Albert, follow me." The Shark turns to me and asks, "Is our guide named Albert?" Of course I have him listed as "Taal Guide" in my phone and couldn't quite understand what he was saying when we talked. So we followed him and turns out he was our guide. We parked and then traipsed though his house out to the boat. 

The 40 minute boat ride was uneventful. Then we arrived. I don't know what I was expecting, but a bunch of makeshift houses and some guys washing their cows in the water was not it. The registration area was in shambles and immediately the sellers swarmed us. Did we want to ride a horse? No. Did we want a mask for the dust? No. Did we want a hat for the sun? No. Turns out maybe we wanted all three. 

The hike was brutally hot with almost no shade, luckily it was only about 90 minutes roundtrip. The trail - of a major tourist attraction mind you - was literally covered in horse poop. Which meant lots of flies. And the dust was real bad.

Fortunately the view at the top was nice, despite the shacks selling crap, and The Shark and Sister's Hubby got to shoot a few golf balls into the crater. Oh, and they had buko. 

I definitely wouldn't go back, but nice to check it off the list.

Japan: Kyoto

We spent 10 days in Japan. Lovely, crazy, cold, and oh so foreign Japan. It was tough to decide where to go, but we narrowed it down to Kyoto, Yudanaka, and Osaka. First stop, Kyoto.

After a quick 3 hour flight from Manila, we landed in Osaka. Getting our JR (train) passes was a major pain. It took over an hour. And this was after we pre-paid for them online. We missed our train, so grabbed some soba and beer. Which Toto loved--the soba, not the beer. And Yaya got to try chop sticks for the first time. I have to say that surprised me as she lives in the ASIA. And has travelled all over the world. But she got the hang of it pretty quick. Once we started riding trains, we fell in love. They were clean, on time, and spacious. And had vending machines. The best part was that Toto didn't have to sit if she didn't want to, which she never does.

Where we slept

Kyoto Royal Park Hotel, nice ambience in the lobby, expensive breakfast, friendly staff, cramped quarters, convenient location. But the best discovery? Heated toilet seat. 

What we did

The Shark booked us two private tours and a group tour through Tours by Locals, and we were impressed. My favorite activity was the private cooking class. We started out by shopping in the Nishiki Market, which was about a ten minute walk from our hotel. Thank god for our guide, or we seriously wouldn't have known what 90% of the food was. Most stalls had samples and I was in heaven when we hit a huge shop of dried fruit. We ended up with some cranberries, strawberries and kiwi. And an awkward encounter when I tried to buy the display items. 

Persimmons 

Then we walked over to our guide's apartment. We tried to act like we weren't staring at everything, but we were. And the toilet seat was heated there too! We had a blast learning how to make sushi rolls, spinach salad, and miso soup. And by the time we finished cooking, we were STARVING and wolfed it down.

Pretty and delicious.

Just like all the Asian tour groups we saw in Washington, DC, we had to reciprocate and joined a huge bus tour to see some palaces and temples.

Stay with your buddy and be back to your bus in 1 hour!

We spent a whole day on a private guided tour of Fushimo-Inari, a Shinto Shrine built up a mountain to honor a huge rock at the top. We walked several flights of stairs and saw smaller shrines along the way. When we came a map, our guide showed us that it is possible to go all the way to the top, and laughed as though we would even consider doing that. Then her eyes bugged out of her head when I said of course I wanted to go to the top and see that rock. So we did. And it was beautiful.

Just a few more steps...

Top o' the mountain

What we ate

As soon as we arrived we found the closest organic store and headed out to stock up on milk for Toto. It was called "Help" for reasons unknown to me and I couldn't read anything, but just felt better knowing it was a natural grocer. We got some fruit, milk, and tons of snacks. Toto ended up loving these rice crackers with seaweed. If I would have known, I would have bought 20 bags.

We had dinner twice on Pontocho, a narrow road near our hotel. Once for the best sushi ever (Kappa Zushi), and the other for an awesome Italian meal to celebrate The Shark's birthday. Yes, Italian. You can only eat so much soba and fish. On the other hand you can never get enough sake.

You'll love the food here. If you can find your restaurant.

What we saw

Kyoto did not disappoint in the blossom department. We were fortunate enough to be there for the end of the plum blossoms and the beginning of the cherry blossoms. 

The we hopped on a train to head for the mountains and meet up with Sister and her Hubby.

Running March

It's officially summer folks. And it is HOT. Fortunately, we spent 10 days in chilly Japan eating soba and drinking sake. Unfortunately, it led to lots of not running. There were a few difficult hikes, and lots of walking. But more eating than working out. We still managed to squeak out a decent month. And I have my mom's running group to look forward to - every weekend we are out there running and talking about our kids.

Week 1 (March 1-3)
The Shark: SCUBA, Basketball
Moi: 9.6 miles, Yoga

Week 2 (March 4-10)
The Shark: 16.2 miles, Basketball
Moi: 24.2 miles, Yoga

Week 3 (March 11-17)
The Shark: 16.4 miles, Basketball
Moi: 26.3 miles

Week 4 (March 18-24)
The Shark: 12.42 miles
Moi: 19.2 miles

Week 5 (March 25-31...JAPAN!)
The Shark: 0
Moi: 0

Want to go for a run? Sure, let me just finish this soba and beer.

 And then a little more soba. And beer.

 Can we just grab some quick sake with this guy?

 And a little sashimi?

 Oh, hell. We're not going running. Might as well have some curry, sweet bread and ice cream...

March Totals
The Shark: 45.02 miles
Moi: 79.3 miles

2013 Totals
The Shark: 204.92 miles
Moi: 260.5 miles

Our only run in Japan was the first morning we arrived in Kyoto, on March 23. It was cold. But the views along the river were beautiful. Funny how fast you get acclimatized, and 55 degrees feels like the Arctic. But we are back in the saddle, squeezing in runs at lunch.

Hiking Philippines: Pico de Loro

As I have mentioned, we have been avid hikers in most places we have lived (or visited, like San Diego), but have only managed to hike Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. February 18 was an American holiday so we set out with 3 colleagues to hike Pico de Loro in Ternate, Cavite. First, without GPS we may not have made it. The jump-off or trailhead is on the Ternate road. Basically take the Cavitex until it ends and then follow the major coastal roads until you get there. And by there, I mean a faded "DENR" sign, which according to other blogs says, "Magnetic Hill." Maybe it's in Tagalog because I did not see it. Luckily, The Shark recognized the DENR symbol and we pulled into a little dirt lot. A very old woman, who apparently has been working for DENR for decades, charged us about 50 cents per person and had us write our names on a sheet of paper. Presumably to alert someone if we never returned. Then we were off.

The trail is well-marked with random strings (or sometimes garbage) tied to trees. Seriously. We knew we were going the right way when we could see a red ribbon tied to a tree trunk in the distance. Many other blogs mentioned getting lost, but we managed to stay on the trail. And luckily we did because we got to see a dead cow on the trail. Yes, on public land managed by the government, there was a giant dead cow. The great thing was that before we looped back, someone chopped it into pieces and carried it out of the forest. Who needs ribbons when you can follow the trail of blood?

Also, interesting to note, was the tin structure along that was manned by god-knows-who, where we had to "register" (again) and pay 50 cents (again). According to the DENR woman, these people charge illegally but "there is no way to stop them." Like kick them off government-protected land? No, couldn't do that. 

It took about 3 hours to reach the summit and about 2 to get back down. Luckily it was a Monday wo we only saw a few people and had the peak to ourselves, as well as the base camp for lunch. The DENR lady keeps a stock of cold drinks. Sprite never tasted better.

Leave a comment or email me at paceyogawellness@gmail.com if you have questions!

Hiking San Diego

My sister's copy of Afoot and Afield in San Diego County was an awesome resource for hiking. We managed to do four hikes while on vacation. Toto's performance on the first hike meant she stayed home for the last three. She refuses to be carried in a carrier (or ride in a stroller), preferring to squat on the ground and play with rocks or hunt for flowers. Adorable, yes. Practical, no. And the only way to keep her quiet was to run while carrying her. At least it was a great workout.

The East Rim Trail of Black Mountain was about a 1.5 hour round trip hike. A lot of the trail was steep, and like the other hikes we did in SD the trail was pretty rocky with no tree cover.

Toto the Explorer

Mt. Woodson was a challenging hike of about 6 miles, with huge boulders along the way and the "potato chip rock" near the summit. While pretty to look at, the thin rock should actually be called the "dangerous rock shard." Of course The Shark and my sister's husband insisted on terrifying us by dangling their legs off the edge.

Viejas Mountain was a beautiful 3-mile hike, with great views enjoyed even more so with some Rubicon sandwiches.

Pack your sunscreen.

Unfortunately we did not get any pictures on Iron Mountain because we ran/hiked it. It took my sister and I about 1 hr 24 mins to finish 6 miles, and The Shark did it in about 1 hr.

We also took Toto to Torrey Pines State Reserve and did a short walk hoping to see some whales. No whales, but still beautiful.

San Diego reminded us of New Mexico - moutains, desert, dry climate, but it was surprising that there were so few trees on the trails. On most NM hikes, parts of the mountains were covered in gorgeous pines. But San Diego wins with the ocean.

Back in the olden days. In 2005.

Swimming in an Active Volcano

The Shark and I love hiking. We have hiked in New Mexico, Colorado, Michigan, Virginia, Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana, Mali, Uganda, Indonesia, pretty much everywhere we have lived and traveled. But the introduction of Toto has put a halt on hiking since she prefers to be carried in our arms to being carried in a carrier. Although, she was a trooper during some hikes in Michigan and Indonesia.  So on another Philippine holiday (how I love all these holidays), we headed out to hike Mt. Pinatubo.  

We used the Filipino Travel Center, and for about $75/person, we had a car, driver, 4x4 jeep, and local guide. The van arrived at 4am, which was sadly way before Starbucks opened and even more sad was that there were no Starbucks anywhere near the start of the hike. At the registration "center" we hopped on a 4x4 jeep for a 1-hour bumpy, at times terrifying, ride across Crow Canyon. The 7km hike through the desolate, dusty wasteland created by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo was rewarded when we got to the crater lake.

Luckily they sold cold water and gatorade at the top, despite the fact that it was double the normal price. Kind of like a beer at a baseball game, but I digress. We got in our swimsuits behind a bush and jumped into the surprisingly frigid water.  Even though the sun was out, the breeze was cold and dry. We could see smoke rising off a hot area of the volcano and that freaked me out a bit. 

The hike back and subsequent jeep ride seemed to take an eternity and my calves got burned, but overall it was a great experience. I recommend you bring lots of snacks, a big lunch, change of clothes and socks, a towel, lots of sunscreen, and a big hat.

Want to know more about the devastating eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991?  Great wikipedia article here. Yaya told us that she thought "the world was ending" that day and rushed her 5-month old baby to the capitol city to stay with her father for 3 months. She said it was pitch black for over 24 hours after the eruption. 

This jeep was 40 years old. I am not kidding. The driver was about 14.

Ended up belonging to the senior citizens.

Made it.

Is that smoke rising from the sand? I'm hot, let's swim.

Praying we made it back.