May 3, 2026

MASON'S ELEPHANT SANTUARY was a little slice of Heaven! in crazy, congested Bali! I really wanted to treat the Spa Manager Stacy and our Entertainment Manager Kelly, to a fun, non-stressful event that they could truly enjoy! Stacy had never seen elephants before and her squeal of delight, when we first laid eyes on them was pure joy!

We walked right into the male ( with long tusk) getting frisky with the female, in the swimming hole. Note, the female then mounted him!   Then they both cooled off, for awhile, before exiting the pool for some food. Then we move over to feeding them and the trainers had them posing for photos with us all.

After feeding the elephants we cleaned up a bit and went to watch a 20 minute documentary about the history and mission of the Santurary. We heard all about the Australian founder, who married a local Balinese woman, and started the whole mission over 25 years ago and who now continues to run the Foundation with their 2 sons. We no sooner walked out of the movie tent and who do we walk straight into ? the Mason Family ! They were celebrating the wedding of the son. We chatted with them for a bit and then got the below photo with them. So impressive what they have created and sustained over all these years!

Next we were off to jumbo wash an elephant, a first for all of us! This beauty lady is 45 years old.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Shopping & Fashion

By Pat Patrick • June 11, 2026
Shopping is huge in Manila - there are sooo many malls! Probably because it is so stinky hot! The air condition draws you in, plus the malls have everything - giant Hyper supermarkets, movies, entertainment venues, sport complexes, spas & medical services, tons of restaurants and every retailer you can imagine. SH Mall of Asia is the 5th largest Mall in the World! I went here 2 different days, first with the ladies- Anna Sherrie & Sarah. Then back the next day with Terri, mainly because I was now familiar with the layout, and could move faster and get what I needed quickly.

MAKATI, MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Nightlife

By Pat Patrick • June 11, 2026
Metro Manila is a massive urban jungle with a population of between 18 to 20 Million. Makati City, specifically the the neighborhood of Poblacion and P. Burgos Street is the heart of night life scene, this red light district is heavily concentrated with bars, pubs and go-go venues. I saw a Get your Guide VIP tour of some of the best clubs offered and Bosco and I, decided to check it out. When we arrived at the first venue, we found five other shipmates! We run into ship people everywhere! It's kinda nice, The Community is what we love about this lifestyle!

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - INTRAMUPOS

By Pat Patrick • June 8, 2026
The Intramuros section of Manila, Philippines is the historic walled core, of this Capital City. Today, the surrounding stone walls are ringed by a golf course, in lieu of the moat from long ago. Below shows comparison from rendering 300 years ago, under Spanish Colonization to Today. Many of the historic buildings, churches, fort and prison remain. Kimberly and I walked it for over 4 hours, and we saw maybe a quarter of it. We sadly gave up due to the heat, humidity and our exhausted feet and missed the Corpus Christi procession to the Manila Cathedral with the Bishop, by just a half hour! If only we had known ahead of time!