Last week I showed you pictures of our exit out of Tokyo to the city of Kota Kinabalu on the island of Borneo in Malaysia. This week we will continue our adventure to Philippines. This Malaysia/Philippines trip happened from the morning of Wednesday, October 16 to the night of Tuesday, October 22.
Some of you (the younger generation) may not know where Malaysia or Philippines are located in this world so I have maps displayed for you to see where "in the world" we are talking about.
Here's a world map. Notice that the United States is colored green located on the left side. Next to that we have the Pacific Ocean and then the paper ends. Now look at the right side of the map and you will see the continuation of the Pacific Ocean. Notice the large yellow continent of Australia. Just above that, you will see Malaysia and above Malaysia you will see the Philippines. I know it's rather hard to see, but if you see where you live in the U.S., you can tell that Malaysia and the Philippines are very far away. Let's focus in a little closer to this far away area of the world so you can see it more clearly.
Here you can see these two countries much better which are located in the center of the map between Asia and Australia. Notice how Malaysia straddles the equator. They don't ever see snow because it is always warm near the equator. Even though the Philippines are above the equator, it is still warm there all of the time too.
This is a more detailed map of Malaysia that shows Kota Kinabalu up in the northeast corner of the island. Kuala Lumpur, the capital, is located across the South China Sea on the Malay Peninsula. On our return flight from Kota Kinabalu, we flew to Kuala Lumpur and then to Manila.
Here we have a detailed map of the Philippines. Manila is the capital and largest city. Notice the many islands that are part of the Philippines. There are 96.71 million people living there. The largest export is the money brought into the country from the PFW, Philippine Foreign Workers. This is a 3rd world country so millions of its people leave the country to work in 1st world countries. It is rather sad to learn that people leave their families for months or years to work in another country so they can put food on their children's table.
I looked out the window as we approached the city and saw.......
groups of huts built on the water. My heart broke as I observed the living conditions of those who live there on that dirty water.
We got to the airport and then got in a taxi to take us to our hotel and what did we see out the front window as we were driving down the road???
A strange bus type thing hauling people in it. This is the cheapest mode of mass transportation called a Jeepney. Don't ask me how it's spelled. Ha! It only costs a few cents to ride it to your destination. People are literally crammed in these vehicles.
Let's get a closer look at them.
You've got your driver. Hey look! He's driving on the left side of the vehicle! It's that American influence!
You can see that people just hop in from the back and ride to their destination. If they have money, they give it to the driver and if they don't, oh well. He won't kick you off. The Jeepnies come in many colors too.
There are other forms of transportation, so let's check those out.
These are "tricycles". Yep a three wheeled motorcycle. One passenger comfortable fits in the carriage at the side and two or more uncomfortably. I'm pretty sure that comfort is only in most people's dreams around here. Two other modes of transportation are......
buses and taxis. However, they are more expensive than the Jeepney.
As we were driving, this was a common sight..........
It looks like Verlud's Store was robbed and is a jail now?.?.?
I'm guessing that this guy doesn't need the bars up around his windows and doors.
Who says dryers are so convenient? I'm sure the sun dries clothes just fine.
A lot of people think the sun does just fine to dry their clothes.
Maybe the sun is okay for drying, but it looks like whatever method they use to wash their clothes isn't a good one. Notice the guy's white t-shirt. It shrunk!!
Once we got out of that area and into the city more, we saw this.......
More Jeepnies..........on nicer roads, in nicer neighborhoods.
I thought that this was rather interesting. Notice the roof above the street. It is built there to protect drivers from falling objects from the building going on right next to the street. Okay.......hmmmm....
We were getting into a more civilized part of town as we drove to the hotel.
With more Jeepnies! They are everywhere!
The covered area to the left is a subway entrance. The street was beautifully kept. Hey, my finger is in the way!
Here is another view of the city and another subway entrance.
We pulled into the property of our hotel to find a man standing there with a machine gun. That's creepy. You can vaguely see him out the front of the windshield. I wanted to go out and take his picture, but I didn't know if that would be a federal offense and he would throw me in prison! So I refrained..... Still creepy.
We then had to go through a check point where two police men search your car for drugs with a drug sniffing dog.
Once we got to the front door, we found another police officer with another drug sniffing dog. He was really cute. No, not the officer! The dog!
Once we got passed the dog, a woman was waiting for us at the door with a........
wand to check out bags again before entering the hotel. You can see her through the glass doorway in the dark suit and tights. This hotel is the Manila Shangra La and you can't get passed anyone without being checked.
Once we got in the hotel, we saw a beautiful entrance with all kinds of people.....
People of various ethnicities and
some of the locals. The employees of the hotel all wear nice uniforms.
We then made our way to our room to find.....
this beautiful doorway and entryway and
this beautiful room with a living room,
bedroom,
bathroom,
and office area. Our our windows we saw........
the city,
the city,
and the city.
The next day we went to the lunch buffet at the hotel. It was pretty amazing. Since I didn't want to be too obnoxious with my camera, I only took a couple of pictures.
We were meeting in a room with glass walls and outside of the walls was the prime rib and "American" style hot food section.
The prime rib and the balls of blurry things that you can't really see because I didn't hold my camera still is Yorkshire Pudding. Yep. It sure is! All you "Brits" out there know what Yorkshire Pudding is, but us ol "Mericans" left all of that back in England in the 1500's. It reminded me of eclairs without the custard and chocolate icing. I think that I'll keep my homemade custard and chocolate icing on my homemade eclairs.....
Who doesn't think that these platters of fruit look divine?
There were more desserts than I could count. So delicious! Let me tell you all of the other kinds of foods...... there was sushi and seafoods, salads, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, make your own pasta, make your own pita sandwiches with real meat on a huge screwer, and breads of all kinds. I'm sure that I am forgetting something. I'm not a fan of buffets, but this was impressive, freshly made, and it all tasted good. I think it was a step above Chuck-a-Rama! However, the great division of poor and wealthy in this country is so evident that I found myself struggling with partaking of such opulence when there are people outside the walls of this hotel who are literally starving.
That afternoon while Kent had his meetings, I went to a fashion expo and here are some of the things that I saw.....
These are stools made our of wooden sticks. You look at this and think, "What was this person thinking? Sitting on that can't possibly be comfortable." Think again people! The sticks are situated on some kind of a base that moves so when you sit on this, the sticks conform to your shape and it feels like you are sitting on a pillow. So cool!
This big brown thing was made from plastic strips. I felt like I was standing under a giant giraffe. I'm sure that would fit just fine in a kid's jungle motif bedroom!
After I walked around, I found a clothing fashion show going on. Hmmmm. Let's check out the latest Asian fashion!
This reminds me of the 70's........been there, done that. Let's move on.....
I was impressed to see the modesty of so many beautiful gowns.
Then it all made sense........
The designer is Muslim.
This designer is a professional gift wrapper!
And this designer doesn't know if he is designing for men, women, or Star Wars. I'm sure he will figure it out some day. Let's move on........
Brooke, I think I found Carson's Christmas present!
Night lights and all are built in! So cool. Should I check on this for you? Anyone else want to get this for their son?
I always dreamed of sitting in a picture. Here's my chance! Oh wait, I can't sit in it? Bummer.
I will say that this was really beautiful.......real wood.
This table was cool with the light in it.
Once I finished walking through this expo, I headed back to the hotel in a taxi to find....
this guy standing in the middle of the street selling water. So sad.
The next day was Sunday, so Kent and I found a 9:00 meeting to go to. We got to the church and found these cute missionaries, but no one else. The meeting didn't start until 10:00 a.m. Hmmm. We got our information wrong, oh well!
These are happy boys! and a girl....
Right next to this ward building was the mission office.
This is the back view of part of the building. Since this meeting didn't start until 10:00 a.m., we found another ward in another part of the city that started at 9:00. We jumped in the taxi and took off to find.....
this building....
We attended the meetings with the dear, sweet Philippine members. The Philippine people are so kind and so unfortunate because of a corrupt government. They told us that if you are a government official, you are in the wealthiest class of people. They pocket all of the tax money instead of putting it into infrastructure or putting it back into the country's improvements.
After our meetings we went to the country with one of Dad's employees and her daughters. This is what the country side looks like......
Pineapple field
She took us to a restaurant that her friend owns for lunch.
Yep, fresh coconut milk right out of the coconut. You have to drink it within a few hours or it starts to get bad. Something else that I didn't know.....
Okay, who's brave enough to eat this? Whole deep fried fish.
This would be thick bacon and deep fried bananas with pickled ginger and a light sauce. Any takers?
Fresh mango juice. Yumm!
You see that fish laying on my plate and the look on my face? Ya, you'd have that look too. Questionable......
Let's stop messing around with the small fish. Let's go for the gusto!
This is a traditional Philippine style soup. Yes, it was good.
Flan for dessert with.......
deep fried wrapped bananas and purple yam. Hey, it was good!
This was coconut mochi. It was good too!
Since the government is so corrupt, there is basically no police force so you have to hire your own police security. This guy was the restaurant's security guard.
The rest of the afternoon, we drove around the mountains. First we went to her friend's chateau. Her friend was President Marcos legal advisor so he has money and has this home in the mountains.
This is only part of the front of the home. The awning on the right is part of a roof over a home for the caretaker. After we left, I realized that I didn't get that home's picture. Let's just say, there is a big difference between the attorney's home and his caretaker's.
This is the back of the home. It is large for the Philippines. Probably around 3,000 - 4,000 square feet.
This is Marga, Chrissy, and Kate.
Yours truly and Kent. Beautiful view from the chateau.
We then drove to a private lodge and walked around. You can see the brown building down below in the picture.
Here is the front of the lodge. It reminded me of Yellowstone Lodge.
Once we finished our drive in the mountains, we headed back to the city to have dinner with Kate's family. As we were driving there, I noticed the incredible parking jobs of many people....
Hey, if there aren't any police, I suppose you can park any which way
any where you want. Who cares if it is on a sidewalk!!
We met at a Chinese restaurant with all 8 of her children and some spouses. They are a very good, educated family. Kate is a good mom.
So if you are at a Chinese restaurant in Asia, the best dish you can get is Peking Duck.
They cut the deep fried skin off and wrap it in a type of wonton skin with sauce and onion. It is so good but bad for you. We all checked our cholestoral after we ate it. We survived.
We are obsessed with whole fish too. Believe it or not, it is not fishy because it is so fresh. No, you don't have to eat the eyeballs or bones. No need to check your cholesterol after this dish.
We also had lettuce wraps that were delicious. I think that I gained about 10 pounds by the end of the day.
The next day, I met Kate's other daughter at a place called Green Hills which is known for it's extra cheap bargain shopping. I'm pretty sure my daughters would have a blast there. On my way, I saw.....
King size billboards. Seriously......
they are like 10 - 20 stories high.
The Philippines are mostly Christian people. This statue of Mary in the middle of the city represents what the people want (happiness, success, and peace) but they struggle with getting that because of the conditions of the country and the government.
These two cute ladies greeted me at the shopping place. The girl on the left is Kate's daughter and the woman next to her is the nanny.
This shopping place had everything including.....
fresh water pearls.
bags,
clothing, food, toys, etc. You want it, they have it...... for cheap!
That night, Kent and I left the Philippines for Tokyo. We had a nice time getting to know the city and the people.
The airport is in dire need of a remodel job.....
This next part is especially for Carson, my grandson, who loves airplanes......
Hey Carson, we got to fly in the 747 and here is the upper deck of the airplane and at the end of the isle is the cockpit where the pilots sit.
This is grandma's seat! I can stretch out flat and take a nice long nap...... but I didn't instead
Grandpa and I went to talk to check out the cockpit and take a picture for you. Here we are!
Can you believe all of these buttons and levers? Your great grandpa was so proud that he helped build and design the Boeing 747. Maybe some day you can build and design an incredible airplane like he did!
The pilot said for us to tell you hello and he would like to meet you some day.
So as a wrap up of our trip, I am again deeply grateful for the blessing of being born into a loving, middle-class American family. Because of that, I have had the opportunity of having an education, a family, and the freedom to do, say, and believe what I want. We don't have a class type system, we don't have such poverty in our country that people live in squalor like so many people in this world, and we have the opportunity to become whatever we want to be. I have nothing but gratitude for the pilgrims who left Europe for religious freedom, for our founding fathers who fought so diligently to create a free society, for my immediate ancestors and their hard work and sacrifice to build a country where I have so many conveniences and opportunities. We are truly a lucky people.
Until next week!
Love,
Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa
Uncle Kent and Grandma Barb
Kent and Barb
