Day Five: Movin' on the City

Today was not very eventful. We lazily hung out at the hotel because the person who was going to pick us up was going to be three or four hours late. So we just ate, napped, walked around the lush hotel grounds, put our feet in the pool, and packed all our stuff. The hotel's internet server was down, so I couldn't email, blog, Skype, Facebook, nothing!

The nice slow pace of the morning was actually nice because previous couple days had been pretty hectic. It's nice to recharge every once in a while. It also lent itself to some quality bonding time with Camille.

Right after lunch, Regina's godfather and his driver showed up to pick us up. As we left the town, we all said goodbye to the only place that Camille has called home. She has no idea just how different her life will be away from this place. I hope we can be back in less than five years so that all my kids, including Camille, can see where she was born.

We ended at our hotel in Quezon City. Whereas our first hotel was surrounding by lush trees and nature, this one was in the middle of a concrete jungle. It's surrounded by buildings, large an small. There lots of cars, people and SMOG! Yuck. The hotel room is nice. Not five star. Not even four star. But it was cheap and we had to accommodate 5 adults and a child. So that's why we chose it.

Reg, Camille and I were dropped off at the hotel, while Reg's mother and her aunts went off to visit relatives. They'll spend the night in a different city, so Reg, Camille and I will get to explore Quezon City alone.

We crossed the street to go the mall. If you haven't been to the PI, crossing the street is like a life-like version of Frogger. People just cross the street whereever and whenever they feel like it. Crossing lanes? Don't be silly. Here, the pedestrians, the cars, motorcyles, and the jeepneys all interact like a dance. The pedestrians actually understand that cars are bigger than people, so they let the cars go by before scurrying across the lane. But the window to cross is brief and crossing between two speeding vehicles is the norm. It really is like Frogger in real life.

Before we crossed, I checked all directions. Reg, who was carrying Camille, was right behind me. When the coast was clear, I signaled to her to follow me, and I took off -- the human Frogger. I got across no problemo. It reminded me of Berkeley. But when I turned around, Reg was still on the other side of the street with a big smile on her face. She hadn't crossed a Filipino street since our last visit to the PI fifteen years ago, and this was first time crossing the street with a baby in had. So understandably, she was a little gun shy. But with a smile on her face, she crossed no problem. Yes, she's still a TRUE FILIPINA! (BTW, the secret to crossing the street is just to follow the guy next to you. They all know what they're doing).

The mall was really cool. We wanted to explore all afternoon long. Other than getting money and finding an internet cafe, we were free to roam. We ate some of the snacks from the food carts (empenada at Yumpenada ... waffle sticks filled with cheese ... fruit shakes). Unfortunately, we couldn't stay at the mall long because Camille was having a mini-meltdown. She was really sleepy, and couldn't really sit still in our arms. So we left the mall after about an hour. We crossed the street like pros.

We spent the rest of the night relaxing at the hotel. It was really quite relaxing, except for the hum of traffic below (we're on the 11th floor). We ordered in food service and put Camille to bed at about 7. Reg watched some TV, I read a book, and ... just like in the States, I fell asleep after less than 10 pages of reading. I guess things don't change when you go to the other side of the world.

Camille Update: Camille's adapting fine, but there are obviously going to be hiccups here and there. She's definitely comfortable with us. I think being able to speak to her in Tagalog makes a big difference. And she was given pictures of us months and months ago. I'm sure that helped as well. Again, given some of the adaptation horror stories we've read, we feel really blessed.

The problem is that her schedule is totally off. At the baby home, she was on a very, very rigid schedule. Wake up at this time. Eat at that time. Then vitamin time, play time, nap time, then lunch time, etc. Because we're out and about all the time, her schedule is totally out of whack. Poor Camille.

Interestingly though, she is totally testing us with some old-fashioned whining. If she doesn't get something she wants, she'll open her mouth wide and pretend cry. (She's actually kind of adorable when she does it). The problem with Camille's whining game (from Camille's point of view, at least) is that Reg and I have played the whining game about 467 million times in the last ten years. We know every counter-whining move in the book. In fact, WE could write the book on how to deal with whiners. After four kids and two dozen of nephews and neices, we're professionals at the whining game, for goodness sake!

So far, it plays out like this: Camille will want something. We say no. She'll whine as described above. We'll explain to her why she can't get what she wants. She'll whine some more, then we'll repeat what we told her and not give in. After a few minutes, she realizes that her whining isn't working, so she'll reach to mommy for a hug, and guess what ... the whining stops. It's as predictable as the sun rising in the West and setting in the East. Huh? Yes, it's going to unpredictable. She'll probably throw a full on tantrum today or tomorrow. We'll see. That's what parenting is all about, right? So far, everything's working out (although we are DREADING the 15 hour plane ride home). Lesson learned: the whining game is played the same whereever you go, whatever baby talk language you speak.

She's also became quite attached to one of Reg's Aunt (Tita Imelda). Maybe we can take Tita Imelda home? Hmmmm ....