prayer candle vendors standing in front of santo niño basilica

prayer candles set at the foot of magellan's cross, placed by the women who will perform a prayer for you by request

a reconstruction of magellan's cross--the original cross is buried in stone underneath

momma lee posing with her new tarsier friend

Bohol is the name of the island to which we took a 1.5 hour ferry from Cebu

Chocolate Hills, named after the color that the grass takes on during the dry seaon

on a mission to find these nocturnal lil dudes

tarsiers look a bit like if a really tiny koala was crossed with a tree frog

TWO sleepy lil floofs

in love with the coco

30 philippines pesos (~80 cents USD) for a fresh coconut. you can give back the empty coconut to the vendor for him to hack it open--the sweet, gelatinous coconut meat is the best part!

beachside of cuartel heritage park

maybe it's maybelline, maybe it's $1 hotel shampoo~

taken at cuartel heritage park

traditional Filipino silog

left to right: momma lee; billy, our tour's instagram boyfriend and all-around helper; ah-wei, our local tour guide (he's taiwanese tho); me; coco, our tour guide/ extra chaperone

homemade chicken steam buns + sesame-marinated carrots & bok choy

recipe from Blue Apron

phil's bbq (full rack)

açaí bowl

from The Brazilian Guys

brazilian hand pie + avocado salad

from The Brazilian Guys

brazilian hand pie

filled with ground beef, banana, and mozzarella - from The Brazilian Guys

monarch butterfly

spotted right out side Balboa Park's Botanical Building

gorgeous orchid

poké for lunch

at Poki One N Half - generous serving sizes, and three scoops of fish in their regular bowl for $10!

chef's special

at Súp - unlimited noodles and soup!

açaí bowl

from Sambazon - açaí base topped with granola, strawberries, pineapple, chia seeds, bee pollen, coconut flakes, and coconut yogurt tinted with blue algae spirulina