I really liked the ocean side bungalow that they finally gave us. The facility was not as fancy as the first one but it was much more cozy, half as expensive, and right on the beach as we had been promised. One problem down and one to go.
I enjoyed the time alone with my new husband despite the fact he was not in good condition. He was still bleeding intermittently, swollen & sore and his fever was increasing. I was nervous and told him that he needed medical attention. We found out that the resort had its own resident doctor and that she could be there within minutes. We sat outside on the veranda to meet her and she soon arrived.
At first she wanted to examine the wound but my husband was too shy and asked if she could just prescribe something without seeing it. She was very accommodating and, in fact, had already brought along the medicine that she was sure would help him. The medicine that she gave him started working almost immediately and within a day or two he was nearly back to normal. At last, we could finally sit back, relax and begin to enjoy our tropical honeymoon.

Each of the three times that my husband has come to the Philippines he has managed to get very ill at least once while he was there. Before arriving at the honeymoon resort he was already beginning to feel the effects of a severe infection that had begun to set in to the area from which the bleeding had occurred prior to his long trip to the Philippines. He was already beginning to experience severe discomfort and a high fever which was compounded by the hot and humid tropical weather. His mood was already deteriorating before we were escorted to our bungalow. When we arrived there, we were greatly disappointed to find that the place for which he had paid a high premium to be ocean side on the beach, was in fact nowhere near the beach and ocean which could not even be seen through the trees and other cabins in front of us.

Unlike many other people, my husband has never been shy about lodging a complaint when someone tries to rip him off. My husband is a very large man even by American standards and Filipinos are relatively diminutive. Although I know in reality he is just a big teddy bear he is not above using his intimidating stature when trying to make a strong point. When he called the front desk the anger in his voice was self explanatory. We had just come from there and I am sure that the staff had seen him and could already tell he was not in a good mood for whatever reason. Not only were they able to quickly find an open ocean side bungalow but to our great surprise it also turned out to be about half as a expensive as the initial lodging. We are still trying to figure that one out to this day. Oh well, one problem solved and one to go.

The next day after our wedding, we departed for our honeymoon on the beach near Cebu. Before he had left for the Philippines, my hubby had booked a beachfront bungalow by phone for our one week stay. I knew about the resort and recommended it since the owner had other resorts nearby.  In fact it was the same owner of the resort where we had our wedding.  I had booked an overnight ferry because, at that time, there was no flight available from Butuan to Cebu. My hubby thought that the ferry ride would be a romantic trip, but he did not realize that at the time that I was afraid of water and boats.

The Philippines has a long history of ferry accidents and many lives lost in ferry sinkings.   I had also had a near drowning experience as a child but had not told him about it or my fear for the water.  Despite my apprehension, it was a smooth sailing adventure in the deep blue sea and we arrived in Cebu early in the morning. The resort’s driver picked us up at the port and in about thirty minutes, we arrived at our honeymoon destination.

I was excited at the same time nervous about our first night together. Anything could have happened that night but if nothing happened then it would still be OK with me. I understood because my hubby was so tired and exhausted from his long flight, not to mention the fact that he had lost a lot of blood. I could have waited for our honeymoon trip which would be starting two days later.

Even though I was prepared for the possibility that nothing might happened that first night besides sleep, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe it was because I was so seductive and sexy . Maybe it was because he was a superman? It was not the best night we ever had together. We were both in desperate need of sleep and it wouldn’t be long before we were both blissfully dreaming. The best part is that we did not start it at the top and then have things go down from there. We started slow and things have only gotten better and better. Much better!

The wedding reception was held at the same outdoor pavilion as the wedding itself. The beautiful tropical setting was starting to cool as the reception started at about dusk. My family, close friends and relatives had traveled from as far away as Guam to be there. Like any other traditional wedding, there was dancing and throwing of the bouquet. My sister caught the bouquet and sure enough she ended up being the next one to get married.

The food that was served was fabulous and everyone stuffed themselves except me. With everything going on I was still too excited to have much of an appetite. The newly weds had their first dance together as a couple. Then they were split up and began dancing with family, friends and relatives. When my hubby danced with my mother, it was the first time that he was able to have a conversation with her alone. It was a little awkward because he did not know what to say. All he could think of was that she must be thinking this was all very crazy so that was what he said. Her one word answer was “yeah”.

He was thinking that she meant the marriage to her daughter was crazy but I think she was talking about all the crazy stuff that happened leading up to the wedding that almost did not happen. I know that it was a big relief for my mother that the wedding had finally happened and her daughter’s dream had come true. The wedding and reception were short by Philippines standards, only three and a half hours, but it felt like an eternity to my hubby despite the fact that he thoroughly enjoyed it. It was the beginning of a new chapter in our lives as a couple.

My father delivered the wedding message in Visayan (my native language) so my hubby did not understand most of it. I later had to translate so he would be able to understand the essence of the message. He did pick up on some of the more important parts because when my father was quoting Bible passages my hubby was already familiar with them. It was a solemn wedding ceremonial that brought my grandma and my mother to tears of joy.

Despite the long flight, exhaustion and blood loss my hubby managed to kept from passing out. The ninety plus heat and high humidity was also taking its toll on him and he was anxious for the ceremony to end. Thankfully I did not ask him to wear a coat and tie but only a short sleeve shirt and long pants. Even then I am sure he would rather have worn shorts and a t-shirt at the time. He was sweating and you could tell from his eyes that he was in bad need of some sleep in a fully air-conditioned room. I felt guilty seeing him like that. It was kind of my fault because I chose an outdoor wedding without considering that he had just come from being used to the cold temperatures of a north country spring. Nevertheless, despite his trials, tribulations and discomfort I could tell that he was very happy to be there.

Here comes the bride . Imagine just a few hours ago, we had just met face to face for the first time and now the wedding ceremony was about to begin.

Everyone (including myself!) still couldn’t believe that I would actually be getting married to a man that I had personally met just a few hours ago. Many people would prefer to call it insanity. I didn’t care, I just followed my heart.

My father performed the wedding ceremony. My younger sisters were my bridesmaids. I didn’t want to cry but it was hard to hold back the tears. They were tears of joy and besides I think it runs in the family because at that time both my grandma and my mother were also crying. On top of that, we were being carried away with the songs that were sung as I walked down the isle. One of the most memorable was the Power of Your Love. It seemed like I was walking on air. I felt like a ball of cotton that was being blown with the flow of the wind. It was all like a dream and then I woke up in front of the altar.