Sunday, December 16, 2007

I'm home!

Well the 13 hour flight was awsome and so was the airplane food... pause... NOT! I've almost had my fill of traveling, which never happens for me. Must be the jet lag talking. Either way, my stay in the Philippines was the best one yet. After the last blog, I made the decision to turn off my computer for the rest of the trip. There was so much to do and less than a week left. The Ring of Fire turned out to be a great sucess. Team Shamrock and Barnett both won all of their fights (5 each) and turned out Tanya on Ken Shamrock's team won for fight of the night. You rock girl! Heath's good friend Mike Whitehead also won which was great for us to see. Mike is the one in the photo with Ken's back to the camera. Sitting ring side was pretty intense, but I loved every second of it. This was my 2nd MMA fight I had been to and I think I'm finally ready to watch Heath's next UFC fight. As long as I have a couple Valiums first! Watching these guys go at it is a lot for a little girl from Texas to watch. Especially when the fighter's nose gets broken. But about 15 minutes into the fight I really started to enjoy all of it. Sitting with the wives and hearing them yell, "Finish him!" was just about the coolest thing I heard all night. That and a comment from Bill telling us there would be no strippers at the after party; Only to walk into a strip club with 20 Filipino girls there to greet us. LOL. Oh and one more quote from Mike.
The after party was actually a lot of fun especially with the on going joke of the night that there would be no strippers at the party. Everytime we saw Bill walk by one of the wives would chime, " Hey Bill, great party, but it needs some strippers." This was the first time Heath and I have been to a strip club together, if you can believe it. Now that I've done this, I know I'll have no problem going to the Rhino from now on. Everyone had a great time... some more than others. :)

But the best part of the night, which I will always remember was the cab ride home. Heath, Mike and I all decided it was time to leave so we stepped out of the smokey club into the rain and jumpped into the first cab available. The cab driver spoke only a little bit of english and looked quite shocked to see two big fighters get into his car. Mike rode shotgun and quickly noticed that the car didn't have any lights. " Hey man, you realize your lights aren't on? Oh wait the gas light is on and he's on E!" We all laughed, even the cabbie. For those of you that don't know, the drivers in Manila are crazy, there is no such thing as lanes and for the most part they signal by honking their horn. But you never see any accidents, so their system is working, I guess. The cab driver was pretty good aside from the speeding and cutting off a row of people stopped at the red light- as per Mike's orders. He even started honking for the driver, about every minute or so. We couldn't stop laughing. Even when we came 2 inches from ramming into a bus that was merging. Quote of the night after our near death experience-

Mike: Hey I think I just pooped myself back there. You know what 'pooped myself' means?


Alright time to force myself to sleep. I'll be posting about the rest of our trip soon.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Having the best time in Manila!




We are one day away from the fight and things are b-u-s-y. I'm lucky to get some free time while Heath is running around doing interviews from tv show to radio and back to more tv shows. While I'm waiting in the room for an inhouse massage, I decided this is the only time, untill after the fight, that I'll get a chance to blog.

So far we have explored all around Manila, but have yet to travel to the beaches. Hopefully after Sunday we can make a quick trip, as long as another coup attempt doesn't happen. Two days before we arrived in Manila, the former Vice President, Government officials and other rogue military officers drove an amored personnel carrier right through the front on the Peninsula Hotel. That would be like Al Gore and a bunch of Democrats storming a 5 star hotel in the middle of D.C. and demand that President Bush resign. Which in my eyes, would be really "effen" cool. Sadly I won't be visiting the Peninsula for their famous Halo Halo like I did on my last trip to Manila. Halo Halo is a Filipino dessert with different types of ice cream, coconut, toasted rice and other yummy goodies. You have to try it if you ever visit the Philippines.

Out of all the places in the world I have visited, the people here are the nicest and most polite. Everyone speaks Engligh (some better than the Americans back home) and Tagalog. Most Filipinos don't see caucasians very often, so... Heath and I have been getting A LOT of attention. Think of two Texans, one blonde and the other 6'4, walking down the street. It's quite a funny sight. Now think of 20 fighters and a hord of other white people all in one hotel... looks like we are staging our own coup attempt. Just kidding. Well that's all I have time to write for now. Maybe I can sneek some time in after dinner tonight. ;)

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Mabuhay!

Hey everyone! Yes I'm still alive... and busy as usual. I didn't even have time to blog about the coolest trip to Vancouver, ever. I'll be posting a blog all about that trip in the next few days.
This past week I've been in the Philippines and can't even describe how much fun it's been. This is my third time to Manila and hands down, it is the best time I've had here. Instead of traveling for poker tournaments or modeling jobs, I'm on Vacation!!! Woo hoo. I'm traveling with my boyfriend
Heath Herring, who isn't on vacation. Among being a UFC fighter, he is the spokesman for a new team fight organization. This coming sunday, Ring of Fire, the biggest event since the infamous "Thrilla in Manilla" ( Ali vs. Frazier) will be held at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. The same place where Muhammed Ali fought back in 1975. There is so much to talk about and not a lot of time to spend writing a blog. So... please bear with me for the next few days and I'll make sure to post all about this amazing time here in the Philippines. As for now, it's time for dinner, and we can't be late. :)