The Day after the day before

On the 26th, the Day after the wedding we all met up for lunch at a local pub and got to say lots of farewells to everyone as people started to get on their way. That night, we all had a meal in the local pub.

The next day (27th) we packed up and left the barn and went to pick up the jar we bought from the BFG art auction, but discovered it didn’t fit in the car - annoyingly. So carried on to Hitchin to drop off our suitcase (with all our wedding outfits) and other bits to be shipped back to NYC, and instructed them to get the jar. Met Mum and Dad one last time for some lunch in Welwyn and then in Codicote to pick up our Rucksacks and headed off to the airport for the next leg of our adventure.

The Big Day

What a fantastic day - great weather and guests. Needless to say drank too much (which the kids had great fun reminding me of in the am) - but made it home via taxi in one piece. Our wedding gift was arranging for Vicki to take the photo’s, so here’s a selection of those and some of ours…(but mostly hers!)...

Getting ready

Thursday/ Friday 22/23rd

Amazing what can be done with a lot of love, friends and creativity. Sally orchestrated everything while Sarah blowed the cob webs off her floristry skills and made untold table placements, bouquets etc. Me, Paul and Dad put up lights, helped dress the barn and did food and booze runs - while everyone generally helped get the barn ready for the big day. The boys did their part too washing elvis (the VW) and helping with flowers and decor. By Friday evening we were all knackered, but everything was almost done and people started turning up including Eleanor - who I hadn’t seen in ages. As I said amazing what was achieved and it was really fun being involved...

Odd Jobs

Day of hanging out at the barn and running around getting a few outstanding jobs done. We got our 2nd top up jabs for rabies, I had a haircut and shave with Jamie in a greek place near them, while sarah had a wax. Then back to Gritnam to meet up with everyone else and have a big dinner together and plan the next few busy days.

Sussex

Sarah was excited about doing some washing, so once that was done and out drying we headed out to see Jamie, Hayley and Edison before my mum and dad turned up at the barn. Had dinner with the Sales at the Toby carvary before heading back to the Barn to meet mum and dad. They had met Paul for diner in the local pub - so we popped in there to met them first and say hello to Paul. Weird, but nice, being back in the UK.

OMAN > UK

A very symbolic moment as this feels like the half way point in our family adventure as we head back to the UK for a week for Eleanor and Jakes wedding. If it was anyone else’s wedding, then I’m not sure we break the momentum of the journey to head all the way back to the UK. But it will be fun to go back and see everyone. Landed back in Heathrow after a 7 hr flight. Used Avis this time, rather than Hertz as I had a discount code I needed to use,  plus I fancied driving a Range Rover envoque for the week. Got to Sussex and checked into our AirB&B barn which was very nice.  Plus it was accessible and big enough for my mum and dad to share with us.

Market Day

The 2 girls had school and Andy had to work, as its a Friday/Saturday weekend in Oman. So Tina took us for a walk around the sulk market. Sarah bought a lamp, as did Sid, and Oliver brought an ‘antique’ compass. Weird eclectic selection of stuff there - but a good way to waste a few hours. Had some lunch in a very english cafe before picking the kids up from school and back home to finalize the packing before being dropped off at the airport for the next part of our trip.

Small boat - owned by the crown prince I belivie

Not my size

Boys getting into the spirit

Wipe Out

After a short drive we all took a boat ride down the coast to a big hotel resort that had a little inflatable water park to run around. Turns out I was the only adult (stupid enough) to have a go! So proceeded to fall off most things before getting some kind of dignity back on the last few obstacles. Sarah went out for a go after witnessing me embarrassing myself. We had a nice lunch there before the boat ride back along the coast. Oman has a surprisingly beautiful coast line and quite an amazing landscape which I wasn't really expecting. Back home to chill before the Squires cooked us a lovely BBQ and salad.  I was aching in the morning...

Girls on film...

Sitting Pretty

Falling over - again.

flying Oliver

Hang time Sidney

Sunset boat ride home

Philippines > Oman

Another day of travel. Left Manila on a 8am flight to Oman. Sarah had purposely booked this stop off via Oman to the UK so we could see our old friends from Knebworth. We arrived around 12.30pm and were met by Tina and Jasmine who drove us to their house on the outskirts of town. Once everyone was home we went for a walk along the beach wth the dogs. Weird how popular the dogs were - as it turns out not many people in Oman have any. We had dinner at the golf club, which was very close by and very expat - and found out that outside aircon was a thing!

Walking the dogs

Journey back to Manila

Leisurely morning of packing and breakfast before our speedy boat transfer back to Taytay. We left around 11.30am on another speed boat. We were meet by the same car company we used n the way out (that we had pre booked). Bumpy, windy car journey back to Puerto Princessa for our 5.30pm flight to Manila. Poor Sid got car sick, thank goodness for the random plastic bag and the knot I made because of the holes in it!
Turned out our flight was later than we thought so another long wait at the airport but not too crazy.
Airport shuttle to the hotel at Manila was easy enough and then straight to bed for a few hours sleep before our early flight to Oman in the morning.

Room with a view

Beach views

And we're off...

Best snorkeling ever!

9am boat trip to Isla Blanca today, beautiful little island 30 minutes from our hotel for a snorkel. Wow! THE most amazing coral/drop off we’ve ever seen. The colours were so vivid and so much of it. We were swimming for a while over sea grass, fish and the odd bits of coral and were just about to head around to the other side of the island to see if it was any better when we all of a sudden saw the dark blue signs of the drop off. So glad we spotted it - truly amazing. Lots of the usual fish, but the real highlight was the coral. Spectacular - everyone should just go and see it now before the masses ruin it.
The boys went off for their first attempt at scuba diving in the afternoon which they absolutely loved of course! They were naturals which didn’t surprise us one little bit.

Oliver the fish

Picture  doesn't do the color justice

Heart shaped

SEAN - In the afternoon I took the boys on a introduction to diving with an instructor - who they had all to themselves. Which they loved, which was really great to see. Although I couldn’t keep up with them the whole time as they where out for around an hour and went down at least 5-6 meters. The 2 seem to have caught the diving bug and are already talking about doing their open water.

Snorkel & caves

10am little boat ride to the other beach on the island ‘West Beach’ for a short snorkel. Nice coral and fish, and very exciting to see a baby black tip reef shark. I thought it was strange how it was hanging around and looking at us until I noticed the dead fish hanging by Sid’s mask! I had a mild panic to get us out of the way of the shark and his dead fish and managed to drop my snorkel! Thankfully with fins it was within reach.
In the afternoon we went out by boat to see the caves which was fun, if a little hot!

One of the good things about this resort was that all the excursions were included in the price, so plan on making the most of it!

Our room

Don't see that in many bars

Snorkel Beach

Cave trekking

Apulit Island Paradise

After a rather rough night of sleep at the airport from 1am - 6am we finally boarded our flight to Puerto Princessa. Quick one hour flight and little car service negotiations at the airport and we were on our way to Taytay for our boat to our hotel. A very bumpy 3.5 hour drive! With all the delays we missed our connecting boat, and had to wait for the next. But luckily they decided to arrange a speed boat instead for us when we got there, so we were able to get on our way to the island a little earlier than expected. Nice lunch when we got there and then all off to bed for a much needed power nap before dinner. 
Our room was a little duplex water bungalow with stairs down into the sea below. The sound of the waves hitting the shore was beneficial in helping us to all sleep! Sean went off for a massage which he said was great. (The best I've had yet on this trip - Sean)

Trike ride & sunset surf

Nice lazy morning after our late night with a little dip in the sea, before we headed out in a tricycle for lunch. Nice Irish bar, Paradiso for some much needed hangover food! Then back to Crystal beach. The tricycle was a fun way to see the local area and the kids loved seeing how many we could squeeze in!
The kids, Eddie and Sean managed a surf in the afternoon. Sean managed to get up and ride at lease one good wave which was awesome - so impressed. I didn’t even try much to the boys disappointment. I wish I’d done it yesterday when I felt human.
We got to see the sun setting as the kids were surfing and go a great sunset before we left. Stunning.
After showering and packing we spent our last couple of hours at the restaurant hanging out before our drive back to Manila.
We really had the best time with The Lavelle’s who showed us what felt like the real Philippines, and was so nice to just slot back in with such lovely friends. They also, of course gave me my first hangover of the trip! Thanks Katie!! Love you all - you really are a beautiful, inspiring family.
We left at 9pm in the end fearing our journey back might be as horrendous as our journey out, but actually we ended up getting to Manila in 3.5 hours so were now super early. We headed to our gate as quick as we could, found some chairs to stretch ourselves out and tried to sleep. Not the best, but managed to grab the odd half hour here and there, while Sean drank lots of coffee.

messy night

Our house of Abraham

The posse

Surf's up

So nice for the boys to wake up with some friends after our weeks on the road. They were off getting their own breakfasts and hanging out with their pals before we even surfaced. Before we knew it they were all off with Eddie arranging surfing lessons! What an amazing experience - the kids were all up on their boards in no time, even ours who had never even tried surfing before. Such an ideal place to learn. So happy Katie had suggested we meet here so the kids could have this experience and were happily entertained. They extended their lesson into the next hour so caught lots of waves - and the bug for surfing!
Ended up having an extended lunch that rolled almost into dinner because of a huge downpour and storm. Thankfully Katie was prepared with wine, and we'd bought Sake, so we were happy to sit and chat. Quick shower and change and then back for dinner! Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see the sunset but the lightening out at sea made up for it.

Visiting the Lavelle Family

Early 6am start from the hotel for two hour transfer by car to Osaka Airport. The flight left promptly and landed in Manila a little early. Our car was waiting and we got on our way. We had been warned about the traffic but wow, I was not prepared. I lost count of the hours in the end but we left airport around 12.30pm and got to the hotel around 7.30pm I think. So insane. We’d just flown from Japan in half the time. Still, it was a Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend so not surprising I guess. 
So happy to get there and see The Lavelle’s, our Brooklyn friends that moved out to Philippines two years ago to teach in an International School. They’d arrived at the same time so we were all hungry and went straight for food and to catch up on the last two years. Lovely evening catching up with lovely friends. The resort they chose for us all was right on the beach so super relaxed with one room sleeping 9 in bunkbeds and another for two which me and Sean got. The kids loved sleeping in their dorm with their pals.

Nara Deer Park

Woke up to pretty heavy rain so had a slow morning before heading out to check out a shopping area with a couple of big department stores. Everything is pretty expensive so not much worth buying. We did find an amazing food hall in the basement though so grabbed some yakitori, tempura and gyoza to eat on the go which was super fresh and yummy.
We decided to head out to Nara in the afternoon on the train which turned out to be well worth the trip. As soon as we arrived we saw deer everywhere. We bought some deer food and fed them on our way to the big bronze buddha. Lots of fun till Sidney got butted by one. All ok though. The big buddha was huge and as it was getting late we had the place almost to ourselves which was nice.
We found a restaurant online called Okaru, which we thought was a tepinyaki but it turned out to have these cabbage pancakes called okonomiyaki which we’d been told about but hadn’t tried yet and they were delicious. So glad we stumbled across it.
Ended up getting back quite late so showers, pack and bed ready for our early start.

Kyoto

A day of temples, castles, shrines and zen gardens. Yet again we pre booked a guide as an introduction to the city - which we're finding invaluable (although I can never remember any of their names!). It was a really hot day so the kids did well as we dragged them around. Weirdly bumped into Grant and family while having some a cold drink and arranged to meet them later. The Shogan castle with it's amazing 'nightingale floors' was cool highlight, but also really enjoyed the bamboo forest, golden pagoda and zen garden. Fun, hot and busy day topped off with a easy curry and a few beers with the Hunters.

Hakone > Kyoto

Reasonable early start and taxi to the train station to get the local train back to Hakone man station to get the 10.10 bullet train to Kyoto. Has to be said it makes the US MTA and UK WAGN look bad when you consider the punctuality and awesome design and speed of these things...

Once we'd checked into the hotel we wondered out for some Goyzo lunch and a Kimono and tea ceremony along with some origami which was fun. Once we'd changed back into normal clothes we headed out for a stroll to explore our new surroundings or Kyoto - which felt quite different and more upscale than Tokyo. Dinner was in a local, cool yakatori place. 

Sid making tea

Origarmi Frogs

Hakone

Sad to say goodbye to Tokyo, but today we traveled to Hakone via train - and very efficient and punctual train. Nice comfy ride with cool swivel seats which literally arrived exactly into Hakone on the exact minute it was supposed too. Grabbed a taxi and went to our traditional to check in. Once we dumped our bags we decided to head up into the mountains via the local train. Stopped at the Picasso out door art museum on the way and spent way too long wondering around there - but it was really nice. Wasn't helped by the fact I dropped our day tickets at the station and had to go back to where we started to find them. Unsurprisingly they where exactly where we where sitting waiting for the train. Once I rushed back we carried on walking around the space before heading further up the mountain. Unfortunately we got to the top to find that it has closed for the day - and really smelled of sulphur so heading back down to out Inn. This area is famous for it hot volcanic baths which our inn had - so we also went for a soak. The boys first experience of naked communal bathing. Then a multi course dinner that none of us where really feeling hungary for, so struggled through it before retiring to our futon beds for the night.