Finally a Fabric Store

Sometimes Nate has to go do something in another area of Manila and instead of staying at home for another boring day he will drop us off at a mall so we can at least get out of the house. A couple weeks ago before he dropped us off at a mall I checked online to see if there were any fabric or craft stores. I have decided to make a quilt out of fabric I buy here but haven't had much luck so far finding fabric stores. I thought they would be all over the place but they are not. Online there were about 4 stores that seemed like they might be good. Another problem I have been having is that most stores don't have websites so the name might sound like a fabric store (Prints & Plains) but turn out to be a clothing store. I had my list in hand the whole time we were walking around. I even had the location of where they were supposed to be. I found one yarn/embroidery shop the size of a closet that didn't have anything that interested me and the rest of the stores were no longer at this mall. We wandered around for a total of 4 hours until I noticed there was a lower basement level that you couldn't get to from all escalators. When we got down there I found a fabric store!! They had all of the fabric draped from the ceiling so I walked along and touched all of it and tried to figure out what I wanted to get because after 4 hours of walking around I was definitely getting something. Wouldn't you know as soon as we walked in the store Nate called to say he was done and we needed to leave as soon as we could to try and beat some of the traffic home. And my children that had been pretty well behaved the whole time (probably because we told them they could get a small toy if they were good) started going crazy as soon as we walked into the store. No, they did not earn a toy that day! I could hardly concentrate because they were running so wild. I think there must be something in the fabric that reacts with children's brains because I can remember them doing the same thing at Joann's in Illinois. The fabric was more expensive than I wanted to spend so I talked the lady into letting me get 1/4 yard pieces instead of the 1/2 yard she said was the minimum. I figured they would rather have a sale of smaller pieces than no sale at all. I managed to pick out 4 that I liked before Nate got there.


Here it is along with a couple other pieces I found since moving here. After putting it all together like this I realized that not of it goes together at all! Not sure what I am going to do. What I really need is a trip all by myself to a fabric store and at least 2 hours to look around and pick out more. It takes me forever to put stuff together that I like but I love doing it.

Sightseeing

Ninoy Aquino Parks & Wildlife
We got to see a lot of native animals at this wildlife park close to our house. It was fun to see some things we had never seen before but also a little sad. Some of the cages were really small and had a lot of animals in them. The best part for me was walking around the park area. There was a pond in the middle and everything was so green and quiet for the most part.

When we walked to the far side of the pond there were a few houses like this built out of bamboo.

World Peace Bell

Quezon Memorial

A memorial to Manuel Quezon (former president of the Philippines). His remains are inside a mausoleum under the monument. There is also a little museum inside.

The Apartment - Outside

The outside of our building. We live all the way up those stairs!

Everything is green here. I love it!

This is what the boys do when they get to play outside:

run

pretend they have guns and shoot each other

pretend they are Transformers or from Star Wars

This is the lobby at the bottom floor of the apartment where we have to go to use the internet when it isn't working in our apartment and to make phone calls. And where Liam and Jonas like to hang out after they are all red and sweaty.

Time to go back upstairs.

Around the Town

Jeepneys. A popular form of transport here. These things are everywhere and they drive crazy!

Tricycles - They "comfortably" fit 4 but you can pile on more. I guess you can even use one to move house...

...or whatever they are doing!

Driving. Notice how people aren't really in lanes. They mostly drive where ever they can fit. If your nose is first, you have the right of way.

Yes, that would be our green.

SM Mall of Asia. Supposedly the largest and #1 mall in the Philippines. We weren't all that impressed but isn't that world so cool?!

I guess its better to have these than to have them going where ever they want - and they would.

Wacky Brands

I always have my camera with me because you never know what kind of crazy stuff you will see...even in the grocery store.

Manila American Cemetery

August 20th we went to the American Cemetery in Manila. We were the only people there so it was nice and quiet to walk around on the perfectly manicured grounds (but we weren't allowed to walk on the grass) with the bell chiming.

In front of the chapel

Checking out the mosaic maps of WWII battles in the Philippines

Wall of names

Some pretty flowers we found on the ground

Chop Chop

I meant to get a hair cut before I left Australia but with everything else going on I never got around to it. I am so happy I waited because this hair cut cost me 280 pesos. That is under 7 US dollars! And that included a shampoo, blow dry and style! I am happy with the way it turned out (I hope so! Its the exact same hair cut I seem to get every time I get it cut no matter what I tell them). I told them I wanted it to my shoulders, with a little bit of layering and a little swoop bang but not too chunky. Its just a little past my shoulders. I guess maybe it was the language issue. Or maybe he thought I meant I wanted the shortest layer to my shoulders? Not that it really matters because as soon as we got home from the mall I pulled it back into the ponytail that it will be in for the next 3 months. I really just wanted a lighter ponytail. And lighter it is...