R&R in Manila in February

Trying to catch up with past happenings . . . 

When the temple was closed in February for semi-annual cleaning and maintenance, we went with the other couples to Manila for a week of R&R.  Plus we needed to do biometrics for our long-term visas to the Philippines.  This included having several photos taken from different angles, scanning all ten fingers, and filling out and signing papers.  Now we have been fingerprinted in Kenya, Sweden, and the Philippines.  We had better watch our behavior!

The flight from Cebu to Manila was so interesting.  For the one-hour flight, we flew on an Airbus A330 with two aisles, and seats in a 3-3-3 configuration.  And it was right full.  About 300 passengers, all flying to Manila.  It was like an international flight without the food and movie entertainment but only one hour in the air.  Crazy!

Be sure to click on the pictures to enlarge.

The day before we left for Manila, the Filipinos on our floor here in Patron Housing had a dinner Sunday night to say goodbye to several who are leaving.  They popped across the hallway and invited us to join them.  Filipino food is not our favorite and we had already eaten, so we just joined them for a visit. 
Here are the Gisons (pronounced gee-sohns); Brother Gison is a counselor to our temple president, and Sister Gison is an assistant to the temple matron. 

You can see the fish (complete with eyes) if you click and enlarge this photo. 
Reminded us of the time in Kenya when we were served fish head soup (complete with eyes) and it was actually delicious (other than the eyes).

Here's a good view of the fish being carefully eaten.  And no, I did not try them.

Filipinos love to sing.  LeRon brought his keyboard and everyone sang and sang.  L-R: LeRon, Brother Hermosura (who loves Beatles music), Sister Olorosa, Sister Nagana (upcoming Temple Matron of the Bacolod Temple).

Monday morning we left very early to fly to Manila.  And here is Manila from our 27th floor window at the Holiday Inn & Suites Manila Galleria.  Just looks like a big city to me.  Thank goodness I'm a country girl!

Our hotel is part of the Robinsons Galleria Mall and shopping complex.  (Robinsons is a big name here.  Yeah for my Robinson grandchildren!). The Galleria is 5 stories with about 500 shops and eating and entertainment places as well as corporate offices.  It's decorated for Valentine's Day.  We're on an upper level looking down on the basement with its bargain shopping area.  On the bargain floor, there are no changing rooms.  If you want to try on, you just slip whatever you want to try on over your clothes.  LeRon found a good shirt there but we had to return it the next day for a different size.  So much for trying on over your clothes.

The Chinese New Year is a big deal here.  LeRon's discovered, that because he was born in 1953, his Chinese symbol is the "Snake."  Oh my.  Well at least it says that his "health outlook is positive."

My symbol is the dragon!  My Torrie grandchildren will be happy to know that, since they like dragons.  You will notice that I had to buy a sweater because the mall, and our hotel, is so COLD!  It was the only sweater I could find.  Not too classy but it works.

Interesting escalators.  This is a very high-end mall.  Seems that there are people with a lot of money here in the Philippines and then are those that subsist on 500 pesos per day (about 11 CDN) and have never seen the inside of a fancy mall.  There seems to be no middle class here.  Either you have it or you don't.  Sad to see so many struggling while others have so much.

The Church has a large compound in Manila --  with the temple, the Missionary Training Center, Area offices, and patron housing.  The Manila Temple was the first in the Philippines and there are now 4 operating temples, with 10 more in the works.  Because there are 26 missions (with 5 more coming in July), there are many foreign missionaries, so the government immigration officers come to them, here at the area offices, to do biometrics for their long-term visas, which is so nice. 

We met with a roomful of young and senior missionaries awaiting our time for fingerprinting. While we waited, we thought back to the time in 1989 when the Manila Temple compound was occupied by rebels during a failed military coup.  The temple ground became a battlefield, but the temple itself was miraculously spared.  Our current prophet, President Oaks, regards the sparing of the Manila Temple as a modern miracle.   

We're outside the Mission Training Center here in Manila.  All missionaries study the gospel and learn teaching techniques, and foreign missionaries also learn the language of the people they will be teaching.  Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English are the major languages, but regional languages include Cebuano, Ilocano, and Hiligaynon.  All told, there are about 175 languages/dialects.  It is another miracle that young men and young women can become fluent enough to share the gospel after just 6-9 weeks of language training.  They can only do it with the help of the Lord.

And another thing . . . The Filipino people, most of whom are poor in worldly things, can speak up to 4 languages.  We in the west should be ashamed of ourselves.

Notice the windshield wipers on this car.  I wondered why so many were sticking up.  We decided that it was because if they were left down, they would melt in the heat of the windshield!  Yes, it's very hot here.  Hot and humid.  But we are surviving and adapting.  Manila, apparently, is generally hotter than Cebu.

We met up with some friends from Raymond who are on an MLS (Member Leader Support) Mission near Manila.  You can see Sister Mary-Rose McMullin in the bright pink shirt and the headless man holding her hand is her husband, Elder Ron McMullin.  LeRon and Ron have been friends and co-workers for years in the irrigation water distribution business in Alberta.  I knew Mary-Rose when we were both freshmen at BYU-Provo in 1969-70 when her roommate dated my brother, Bruce Conrad, (who is now on a second senior mission with his wife, Sara, in Hawaii).  

We are heading northeast of Manila to a protected area on the Marikina River to hike to the top of the Wawa Dam.  The Wawa Dam used to be the main source of water for Manila.  

First stop on the way to the dam is the village of Rodriguez.  Elder McMullin is on the far left, in the white shirt, with bright pink-shirted Mary-Rose, bargaining for some delicious tiny bananas.  Fun street scene, and not just for tourists.  In fact, few tourists go here.

These are normal Filipinos living their normal lives.  Property here is sold by the square meter.  Residential properties average about 84,000 pesos (almost 2000 CDN) per square meter, with commercial properties being more.

Motorbikes are the main mode of transportation here.  

You can buy anything here -- fresh vegetables, chicken plucked and ready for cooking, whole fish with the eyes staring at you, and clothes for sale too.

And if you want to kill and pluck your own chicken, you can buy them on the hoof (or rather, on the leg?) This salesman, holding a chicken in his lap, is probably comforting it:  No soup pot for you today!

Fresh seafood.  Well, maybe fresh from the river?  I asked google what this is and learned that "it is available for sale today."  Hmn . . . not much help.  But for sure it's some kind of shell creature that you're going to eat.  But not me.  Not today anyway.

Children run very free here.  No technology.  Just other playmates and the beautiful world.

Ah . . . here's the banana stand with those delicious tiny bananas, and a young man eager to try out his English with Elder McMullin.

Homes come in many shapes, sizes, and building materials.  Many homes are basically shacks made of corrugated tin, cement blocks, cardboard, or tarps.  They make do with what they have.  A good lesson for us all.

We're hiking up the trail to get to the top of the dam.  Thankful for the handrails to prevent a long tumble into the gorge.

Looking down into the gorge.  Too bad the camera doesn't see what our amazing eyes can see.

We are hot and sticky!  But it's a beautiful view, and so nice to be out of the city.

The Wawa Dam is actually a weir.  A weir doesn't stop the water like a dam does; it just changes the flow.  LeRon and Ron McMullin like to be very clear about terminology when it comes to do with anything about irrigation water.

You can hike down to the bottom of the weir and have a picnic in these picnic shelters.  Your legs and feet can soak in the falling water while you eat.  But look out.  Sometimes your party can be crushed by a falling rock.  Sometime in the past two weeks, that huge rock (on right) crashed over the fall and smashed some of the picnic places.  Thankfully, no one was picnicking at the time.

Now we're in a tiny boat traveling against the current above the falls.  Yes, I have a smile (sort of), but actually my bottom was hurting really badly.  I have no natural padding, and there was no padding on the flat board I was sitting on, and no rest for my back.  But it was fun times on the river.  Our boat pilot steered the poor boat over rocks of all kinds.  LeRon cringed every time we heard the scrape.

See all that bamboo the man is cutting down and dragging to water's edge?  In a later picture, you will see how he transports it.

The river is not very deep, but I wouldn't want to fall off that bridge.  It's probably not as precarious as it looks.

Close-up of the bridge so you can see the interesting construction. 

Yes, our boatman took us through those rocks!  We thought for sure he would turn around, but no, he kept right on going.

Again, you make do with what you have.  Some of the homes in this area are where people live, and some are where they vacation.

For our sons and daughters: This reminds me of one of our pump shacks that started getting undercut by the water in the pond.  You kids helped tear it down before it could crumble into the dugout.  Hopefully this owner has an answer to his problem.  And maybe it's the new home on the right.

Click on this beautiful picture to enlarge.  This is the kind of boat we are traveling in, but our boat is powered by a small motor.

No, those are not fall colors.  Just the setting sun on the deciduous trees, palm trees, and other foliage.

Taking bamboo poles to market.  The poles are floating and the man is guiding them.  Not sure where he will stop because if he keeps going, he and the bamboo will plunge over the weir and interrupt the picnicking people.

We were intrigued with this giant tree and its roots searching for refreshing water.

We're not the only missionaries here!  It's quite a climb to reach the Pentecostal Mission.

Yeah!  We made it over all those rocks and saw some amazing scenery!

A successful boat trip with a very fun guide who was so happy to get the generous tips we gave him.  After we turned our backs, he whooped for joy!

Looking down on the boats that were for hire.

Now we're heading back down the gorge.  And this is a better view of the huge rock that crushed the picnic shelters.

It's almost 6 p.m. and school children are coming back to their homes after a long trek from school.  All children wear uniforms.

Wow.  Look at that huge jackfruit, especially when compared to the size of that man.  Jackfruit can weigh as much as 50 kgs (110 lbs)!!  It can grow up to 90 cm (35") in length and 50 cm (20") in diameter.  A mature jackfruit tree can produce 200-500 fruits per year!  The ripe fruit is used in desserts and the unripe fruit has a meat-like texture and is sometimes called "vegetable meat."  It's used in Asian cuisine.  No, I have not tasted it.

Cute children were happy to get their picture taken.  And they didn't even ask to see it.  They live here amongst the tarps.  Happy to have not much.

This young man is washing up after supper.  He and his mother live here and operate a Comfort Room (aka washroom, restroom, bathroom).  For 20 pesos (.50 CDN), the mother flushes the toilet with a bucket of water before you use it.  You put the used TP in a bag and then she washes your hands by pouring water over them as you hold your hands over the gorge beside the house.  That way her flowers on the hillside get watered too.  When the next person comes along, she flushes the toilet again with a bucket of water.  Nice that there is plenty of water here.

Fun day with Mary-Rose and Ron McMullin.  Fun for Canadians to get together.  We had supper at the local Burger King.  An armed guard stood outside the door.  We are getting used to seeing armed guards everywhere.  In the malls, outside restaurants, and of course beside banks.  They are very nice people to talk to and if you need directions, an armed security guard knows more than anyone else.

And so ends our 2nd day in Manila and area.  The next two days we will visit more sites, including the Old Walled City (Intramuros), a couple of museums (LeRon and I usually do museums fairly quickly), and the American Cemetery.  

Stay tuned . . . I will get it done as I can.  But remember that we are back to full-time working in the temple, so we don't have a lot of free time.  

Bohol Holiday -- Days Two & Three

Bohol: Day Two.  Today was a lighter day as far as activities.  Just perfect for our tired bodies after yesterday's long day that included an hour-long very bumpy ATV ride (that was definitely over "all terrains") and then the long ride to our hotel.  We're used to being our own driver so it's hard to let someone else do it. In fact, it's been a bit hard to not have a vehicle entirely at our disposal.  In both our previous missions - Kenya and Sweden - we had our own vehicles.  That's what we get for asking for a temple mission. 

Day Three was basically checking out and waiting for the ferry back to Cebu.  Lots of time to talk with people about why we are here in Philippines.  In contrast to Kenya, people never ask us why we're here.  In Kenya, people stopped us all the time to talk about Jesus.  They saw our white faces and name tags and wanted to talk.  Here, we need to be a little forward and we have been doing just that. 

View out our hotel window.  Palm trees and Pacific Ocean.  We've seen so many oceans in our lifetime - the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian, the Southern (Antarctic), the South China Sea, the Mediterranean, the Northern Sea, the Tasman Sea, the Baltic. . . so many oceans for us landlubbers.  Vast oceans are such a foreign thing to us.

The Bellevue Resort on Panglao Island is a lovely, relaxing place to stay.  You can walk on the beach or swim in the pool or just do nothing.  That's a bit hard for a farmer.

Interesting scents . . . purple kale, parsley stem, and maca root (which is related to the radish family).

Hungry colorful koi hoping for a bit of food.  I used to want an aquarium, but after I had a goldfish in a little bowl, I disliked cleaning out the bowl daily.  So . . . no aquarium for me.  Still . . . they are so fun to watch.  Our first mission president in Kenya, President Hicken, raised koi as a hobby.

I'm not an engineer nor an architect, but I found the roof structure at this hotel so fascinating.  How did they design it?  Why did they design it like that?  Is there a purpose to it all?

Lovely sandy white beach here on Panglao Island.  It's actually a nice temperature, although very humid and a bit windy which keeps down the mosquitoes. 

This tree was knocked down by the wind but continues to grow as it roots down.  So resilient.  My dad always said that trees are determined to live; even trees back home have several sets of buds so if one bud is killed by cold temperatures, the next set are there to take their place.  My dad loved to quote the poem Trees by Joyce Kilmer (who is actually a man): "I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree . . ." ending with "Poems are made by fools like me But only God can make a tree."

The lovely "crinum asiaticum," aka giant crinum lily, or spider lily, or poison bulb (gulp!) is different from those that grow around the Cebu Temple.  This one has long purple filaments, rather than white ones.  So pretty.  And red hibiscus too.

I can't get enough of the different kinds of palm trees.  The one on the right must have blown over in a wind but is now sprouting new growth.

These very different trees caught my eye . . . so feathery and light compared to the mighty palms.  This is a Variegated African Talisay with variegated cream and green leaves.  Almost like a willow.

A replica of a bigiw amakan, a traditional lightweight boat used by local fishermen.  Bigiw means "to run," referring to its speed, the sharp prow easily cutting through rough water.  Amakan refers to the woven bamboo matting used for buoyancy. 

First stop today:  Hinagdanan Cave.  There are 1400 caves on Bohol, with Hinagdanan being the most popular.  The caves are karst limestone formations, some with natural pools that you can swim in.  I was excited because I love caves and have been to many.  This one was a little underwhelming but still cool, because, after all, it's in the Philippines.

You go down about 20 steep steps and there it is:  the cave.  People swimming in the cool water.  The cave, unlike most caves we've been in, was very warm.  Stalactites hanging from the roof.

Colleen & LeRon (aka Sister and Elder Torrie) in . . . "the cave."  The cave is entered through a 1-meter wide hole.  If it had been 1-meter wide for very long, I couldn't have done it due to my claustrophobia, but once you were through the small hole, it opened up.  So it was definitely do-able. 

Have been trying to remember all the caves we've been in -- Lewis & Clark Caverns in Montana, Timpanogas Cave in Utah, Jewel Cave in South Dakota, Marvel Cave in Branson Missouri, Mark Twain Cave near Hannibal Missouri, Thien Cung Cave in Ha Long Bay in North Viet Nam, and Skocjan Cave in Slovenia.  Someday I will go to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico -- either in this life or in the eternities.  Caves are fascinating but they can be tricky.  In 2002, our son Eric was trapped for 36 or so hours in Gargantua Cave in the Crowsnest Pass area of Alberta.  That's another story.  And yes, he survived.   

Next stop . . . the Bohol Bee Farm.  Sadly, the bees were all destroyed during Typhoon Odette in 2021.  But the business still goes on . . . producing sustainable food products, entertaining tourists, and employing many people.  We were impressed with their business model of helping those in need by providing employment.

Food in the restaurant was filling.  Edible flowers in the salad, black rice, beef adobo.  Beef a little tough.  Chicken would have been better but it wasn't on the menu.

First stop on the Bohol Bee Farm tour was the coconut processing station -- dehusking, splitting, grating, etc. to get the coconut milk out to make the ice cream.  Most things are done by hand but they do use machines to get the milk out.

Homemade ice cream . . . or rather, coconut cream ice cream, sweetened with honey and flavored with dragon fruit, avocado, buko (young green coconut), malungay (a root crop), ginger, tsokolate cacao (chocolate), ube (purple yam), charcoal (yes, charcoal), honeyed caramel, jackfruit, pandan (Asian vanilla), peanut kisses, melon, or star apple.  Also durian, which is a really stinky fruit that is outlawed in many hotels in Asia because once you eat it, you stink like it does, and it causes stinky sewer too.  Not sure why they are offering it here. 

But notice the pebbly looking wall.  It's made of the shells of coconuts.  All the buildings here are made with these shells.  Nothing is wasted.  The shredded coconut, once the milk is removed, is fed to cattle. 

Look at the size of that bread dough in the bakery!  Thankfully they had a machine to knead it, but a lot of things are made by hand.  And thankfully, they have air conditioning in the bakery.

Love this sign: Plant Seeds; Grow Blessings.  Here at the Bee Farm, they grow as much of their own produce as they can in their garden area. 

When asked what kind of crops we grow on our farm, LeRon always says, "Well, the best crop was three sons and two daughters."  And now 11 grandchildren.  For sure, that's the best crop, and the best blessings.

We tasted a bit of pure cacao.  Very strong.  Very bitter.  I'm a chocolate lover but this was too much.

These women are deep frying cassava chips.  Cassava chips are like potato chips but honestly, they are tastier and crunchier.  Delicious.

Trying some coconut milk ice cream.  It was kind of tasteless and the creaminess was almost too much. Not my favorite.

Wanted you to see my charcoal ice cream.  Yes, it's really got charcoal in it.  They say it's good for the digestion.  Hmn . . . I'm not so sure.

An internet picture of a buri palm tree.  The leaves can stretch to 40 or 50 feet and each palm branch is made of 80-100 leaflets that are then cut and torn off in parallel lines, giving a long continuous fiber.  These are woven into "raffia".  The raffia fiber is soft, pliable, durable, easy to dye, and biodegradable.  It's used to weave all kinds of things.

This woman is weaving buri fibers.

South Farm is just down the road from the Bee Farm.  LeRon has discovered that bougainvillea vines have sharp thorns.  Yes, they do, but they also have beautiful flowers that are actually colored leaves (bracts) surrounding tiny white flowers.  I have grown bougainvillea at home but it only grows very small and of course doesn't make it through the winter.

Notice the green papayas growing on that straight trunk in the center.  Coconut shells create borders.

More garden plots at South Farm.  Chives interspersed with dragon fruit.

Internet picture of dragon fruit.  We've tried them in various countries and they are tasty.

These "Silkie Chickens" were darling.  So fluffy and white, even down to their toes.

LeRon and I enjoyed this farm even though there was no wheat or canola or even rice.  Here's a papaya tree.  Not ready for eating yet.

A gorgeous "Torch Ginger," also known as Red Ginger Lily.

More herb gardens.

I learned something new.  I knew that a doe is a female rabbit, and a buck is male.  But I didn't know that a kit is a baby.  And that rabbits have almost 360 degrees vision.  They are born with their eyes shut, like kittens.  Hmn. . . kit. kittens.  

These parakeets (budgie birds to me) felt very strange as they clawed to stay on my hands.  My sisters had budgie birds but I don't remember ever holding them (the birds I mean).  It's really hot and humid here, and I am sweating to beat the band.

This was the most fun experience of the day!!

LeRon thought I was having too much fun so he had to jump in too.  Tiny cups of bird seed in our hands definitely attract the budgie birds.

LeRon is touching a "magic fruit."  It's also called a calabash fruit.  The shell is very hard and you cut it open and boil the pulp and make a juice.  It's supposed to be highly medicinal.

Farmer LeRon checking out the old Caterpillar tractor.  It has seen better days.

Crossing a bamboo bridge to check out the mangrove trees.

So interesting to see trees growing out of salty seawater.  Most trees would die, but not Mangroves.

Not just the short shrubs are growing out of this VW Bug, but also that big tree trunk.

One of my (many) BYU roommates, Bonnie Webb, drove a VW Beetle.  So fun.  I remember driving with her down I-15 in the pouring rain with non-functioning windshield wipers.  She would stick her head out the window and wipe away the rain so she could see to drive.

Question: How many people can fit into a jeepney?   Answer:  One more!  They usually seat about 26 but there's always room for more even if they have to hang on the back.  

Here's the new way of water bottles: lids that stay attached.  No more bottle caps everywhere.  But a little harder to drink from.

Getting ready to board our ferry for the 2-hour ride back to Cebu.  Water, thankfully, is calm.

 LeRon had some pass-along cards printed at home.  They are simply cards with questions that might pique interest, with a link to answers and how to contact missionaries.  The Church used to produce them but doesn't anymore.  Now missionaries just share phone contacts with those they meet.  But LeRon and I still like pass-along cards.  We strike up conversations and pass out many.

Waiting for the ferry, we sat by a Filipino young woman and had a nice conversation, and at the end, I gave her a pass-along card.  She said, after seeing the name The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Oh, you are Mormons.  I have relatives who are members of your church." I told her to check into it for herself.  So fun to share the gospel in an easy way.

More fun times waiting for the ferry to Cebu . . .  I noticed three young people speaking a language I couldn't pick out; it wasn't Tagolog or Cebuano.  Then I noticed a Hebrew word here and there.  So I tapped the young man's arm and asked if he were speaking Hebrew.  He (and the two girls) were so surprised that I recognized their language.  No one on their trip to Philippines had ever guessed they were from Israel.  We had a fun conversation with them since we have been to Israel 5 or 6 times and have friends there.  And no, I did not share the gospel with them.  Tempting, but no.  Our Church and the government of Israel have an agreement that church members will not try to proselyte Jewish people in any way.  In exchange, Israel let BYU (Brigham Young University) build the BYU Jerusalem Center in Jerusalem.  That's another story.