It is Christmas Eve today. The first thing we did was head to the beach to spend some time with the fish! Snorkelling was great, the fish here in the Dauin marine sanctuary are huge! There are so many varieties that are different to the last reef in Moalboal. Dauin is fairly well known to the macro dive photgrapher (likes taking close ups) for the weird and wonderful creatures that live on the sandy areas. It is a great spot to see some of the more unusual tiny animals such as the flamboyant cuttle fish, pygmy seahorse and blue ringed octopus. Darryl managed to spot a seashorse and was of great interest to a remora (sucker fish), who followed him everywhere!
Whilst at the beach a local family were collecting coconuts. They had cut small steps into the tree to make the task of climbing to the top a little easier. As we walked past, the coconuts fell from the tree and made us jump! The family found this hilarious and gave us a coconut each as a Christmas present. How generous of them, the people here are so kind!
Lunch today was 'blood' with pork pieces. Mmm... tasty but very rich!
After Christine had finished adding the chocolate sprinkles to the the beautifully prepared trifle, we made our way to Christmas dinner. In the Philippines it is traditional to have this on 24th December. We were given the job of helping the children pass rice (a gift) to the carol singers from the balcony. The owners of the house had rigged a clever pulley system to deliver the rice in a light bucket! You pulled the rope and the bucket was sent down towards the front gate for the carol singers to take the rice. Very cool!
Dinner was an amazing mix of international cuisine that each person at the party had carefully prepared. From Hungarian goulash made by a German to home made chocolate coated marzipan, which was truly divine and Darryl's favourite! Other contributions included fresh prawns provided by the Thai chap whose family own a fish farm. Rice pudding was carefully prepared by a Norweign, fish and vegetable skewers by a Filipino lady and the most amazing caramel potatoes (Christine loved these!) and roast pork provided by the Danish. The list goes on.... caramel tart made by the Swiss, garlic peanuts by the French and it was all soooo good!
We had a special visit from huge rhino beetle and Santa Claus managed to find the time to drop by and deliver everyone a Christmas present. The kids and Christine were so excited! One of the little boys got a nice bike and we received a beautiful painting, painted by a Danish artist at the party.
Following dinner we walked back across the street and checked out the carol singing coming from the old Spanish village church. After fireworks on the beach the party continued on the decking back at our homestay, long into the night!
Whilst at the beach a local family were collecting coconuts. They had cut small steps into the tree to make the task of climbing to the top a little easier. As we walked past, the coconuts fell from the tree and made us jump! The family found this hilarious and gave us a coconut each as a Christmas present. How generous of them, the people here are so kind!
Lunch today was 'blood' with pork pieces. Mmm... tasty but very rich!
After Christine had finished adding the chocolate sprinkles to the the beautifully prepared trifle, we made our way to Christmas dinner. In the Philippines it is traditional to have this on 24th December. We were given the job of helping the children pass rice (a gift) to the carol singers from the balcony. The owners of the house had rigged a clever pulley system to deliver the rice in a light bucket! You pulled the rope and the bucket was sent down towards the front gate for the carol singers to take the rice. Very cool!
Dinner was an amazing mix of international cuisine that each person at the party had carefully prepared. From Hungarian goulash made by a German to home made chocolate coated marzipan, which was truly divine and Darryl's favourite! Other contributions included fresh prawns provided by the Thai chap whose family own a fish farm. Rice pudding was carefully prepared by a Norweign, fish and vegetable skewers by a Filipino lady and the most amazing caramel potatoes (Christine loved these!) and roast pork provided by the Danish. The list goes on.... caramel tart made by the Swiss, garlic peanuts by the French and it was all soooo good!
We had a special visit from huge rhino beetle and Santa Claus managed to find the time to drop by and deliver everyone a Christmas present. The kids and Christine were so excited! One of the little boys got a nice bike and we received a beautiful painting, painted by a Danish artist at the party.
Following dinner we walked back across the street and checked out the carol singing coming from the old Spanish village church. After fireworks on the beach the party continued on the decking back at our homestay, long into the night!
