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.