Pink + babies

There are years when several friends and relatives are all marching down the aisle, there are others when it seems it's all about babies, and then years when it seems everyone I know has a death in the family. Over the last two days, I have received consecutive emails from girlfriends about pregnancies. One is having her second child, and will return to Asia from her posting in Europe just to give birth. Her first pregnancy had its rough moments, and I can only surmise that she's returning due to similar health concerns. That reminds me of the relatively recent birth of the second son of a good friend. She, too, returned to the Philippines to give birth, as she had a difficult pregnancy. There's comfort in working with the same doctor and medical specialists that kept you and the baby safe the first time around.

The second friend who told me today of her future baby is my soul sister S, whose wedding I attended in Germany. She and her husband are in Beijing and as their work plans have been unsettled so far, it is not sure where they will be when the baby is born. I would love to see her before or after she gives birth, but it may be too difficult to plan right now. Time will tell, and I can always avail of the low airfares to see both ladies while they are within the continent.

Nothing to do with babies, except for the color being highly symbolic of girl babies, but I was able to sink my toes (slightly pink in their own way) in the pink sand of Santa Cruz island off the mainland of Zamboanga. After years of visiting Zambo, I had my first visit to Sta Cruz with friends over the weekend. The sand is more salmon color than rose, the source due to crushed red coral mixed in with the beige sand. We also got to walk to the mangroves on the other side of the island (facing Basilan), where we frightened the bright red tiny crabs into their dens. The mangrove islets are awash with the red shellfish, and from afar, it looks like the muddy mounds have red dots, then they move and you realize those aren't flora. Since Zamboanga is better known for its curacha, another crablike creature, we avoided trying to nap the baby shellfish and tucked into several servings of the curacha instead, doused in not so red Alavar sauce. More of an orange hue if I may say so.