Every year, for 2 or 3 nights between Christmas and New Years, my dad’s side of the family goes to a different island in the south of the Philippines. Some of my favorite memories has been roughing it out on a tiny, family run island with no electricity (Isla Naburot, 1996), staying on a wooden cabin built on stilts in the middle of the sea (Coron, 2009), or exploring some of the nicer, more developed resorts that have sprung up, attracting Europeans and Australians to the country.

For as long as I can remember, my dad and his siblings have been wanting to go El Nido – a clump of islands with pockets of ritzy resorts built into them. The name literally translates into “The Nest” and they’re draw is that they have claimed a little piece of heaven. We’ve never gone, because the price has always been too high, but this year, they decided they might as well go all in, so they can enjoy it before they get too old (ha! Like they’re ever going to get old).

So here we go – the islands my parents have been dreaming about.

My parents. Celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, and they’re still as grossly adorable and in love as when they first met. My family arranged to have a private dinner catered for us on one of the other islands. We were boated there and had dinner by candle light. Part of what I love about the Philippines is the food. I try to lose 5 pounds every year before I go to the Philippines because I know I’m going to gain 10 in the two weeks I spend there. This is my paradise breakfast: garlic rice, fried eggs, fried fish, some tapas, corned beef, and some salted red eggs. YUM.Philippine send off. The works.