Month: June 2012

It is now about 9:14pm (10:14am Philippine time), a little over one week after we left Uncle James’ house for the Manila airport. It was a fun, educational, and eye-opening vacation/experience.

I enjoyed getting to know most of my relatives a little better- even those that I didn’t know I had. I liked going to visit all the pastors and learn about their ministries- especially Pastor Amar’s prison ministry. It was fun driving on the roads and seeing how everybody drives. The rice terraces were awesome and the roads leading there were almost just as fun and scary at the same time. Read Full Post

As we came in sight of the city of Seattle, we tried to find anything that looked familiar to us. We had our best landing of the trip at about 2:15pm PST (5:15am Philippine time, 4:15pm CST) not having found anything familiar. I took a last look at one of my favorite airplanes, the 747 Jumbo Jet, owned by one of my favorite airlines, and then we moved on. Read Full Post

[Because the Philippines is half a day ahead of the US, we left the Philippines on Sunday, July 4, and arrived back in Minneapolis over 24 hours later on the same Sunday, July 4. I will split the return trip into two blog posts.]

This morning, we left the Philippines. Dad had stayed up most of the night packing our stuff. All we had left to pack when we woke up were some shells that we had collected from the ocean beaches in Sta. Maria. However, at breakfast, Uncle James told us that there were some shells that we should not take with us. Read Full Post

On Saturday morning- today- we came to the dental office for one last visit. On the way here, we went by the house where Dad was born and first grew up in. It was not much compared to the house we’re staying in that he later lived in. The bakery that used to be across the street from them, Moonlight Bakery, is not there anymore. Dad said that he didn’t even recognize the street anymore. Read Full Post

This morning, Friday morning, we woke up and left the hotel around 8:26am (7:26pm CST) after eating breakfast at Chow King again. I thought we were going to go straight back to Manila, but it turned out that we had more relatives to go see.

This time we went to meet Jessie Rose’s inlaws. They had a very nice seven-bedroom house in Urdanetta. It was more like a normal house you would expect to find in America. We had a tour of it and everybody talked for awhile. Read Full Post

It’s 7:02am Thursday morning, and we are headed toward breakfast. I slept better last night, although I had to wake up earlier today than I had to yesterday.

After eating breakfast, we headed toward Baguio. Uncle Job had gotten hold of Uncle Joseph and he had said we could come. We took the Marcos highway and it didn’t take us long to get there. Read Full Post

It’s Wednesday morning, and we just left the hotel. I don’t know where we’re headed right now, but I guess I’ll find out soon. I slept pretty well last night; at least the beds were comfortable. It’s about a quarter till eight right now.

The place we went to next was another oceanside hotel. We decided to try to find a different one to stay in tonight. This new one wasn’t the best either so I don’t know where we’re staying tonight. Read Full Post

It is 4:41am on Tuesday morning and we just left a few minutes ago. I don’t know who had the idea that we would leave at two of the clock, but I’m glad that we didn’t. I made some room in the back seat here, so I will try to get some sleep with my sweater jacket pillow and a suitcase resting right above my legs. Read Full Post

On Monday, we went to Uncle James’ office again. Today was supposed to be Dad’s last day there, but once again (for the second time in a row), it wasn’t. We spent about five hours in the waiting room only to find out that we have to go back. I did get a lot of writing done though.

I found out that we have to get up at two of the clock tomorrow morning to go to Baguio again. I am guessing that we are getting an average of six hours of sleep each night. We either get back very late at night or we wake up before the the crowing rooster gets up- or a combination of both- and I’m surprised that I still have energy each day. Maybe it’s the food I’m eating. Read Full Post

At 3:30am on Sunday (2:30pm Saturday, CST), we woke up and got ready for church. We were going to go all the way around Manila Bay to the Baptist church that Edgar Palotes pastors. On the way down I slept in the back seat, which was just about the right length for me.

We ate breakfast with Pastor Palotes at Chow King, and then we headed on over to the church. It’s called Bible Faith Baptist Church and I think it’s four years old now. I played my piano for them and Dad preached the sermon. It was exciting to be with them that morning. Of course, it would have been nice if I could have understood everything they said, and I wouldn’t have minded if it was a little cooler, but I still enjoyed it. Read Full Post