I (Sal) had an educational (cultural, spiritual, social, political, emotional, physical), eventful, and personal self-growing fun vacation during my 17 days in the Philippines (Luzon mainland area: Valenzuela-Metro Manila, Isabella, Laguna, and Pangasinaan) with my mother and sister. There were up and down times as I was personally adapting to the cultural change from my American way of life (I went to Mexico this summer, which somewhat prepared me to the Non-American conditions). It was also a time of reflection, examination, and seeking God in my life to this point of 24 years during my quiet times (prayer and read the Bible) or just staring out of the car window looking at the daily outside activities (both rural and city) of the Filipino people. I intriguely watched with amazement of this predominate Catholic-Christianized nation, which I was encouraged to see His wonderful work going on ("God" was publicly and unashamedly mentioned throughout public parts of the country to the city through jeepneys, schools, and other forms of signs displayed to get the attention of passerby). I just want to thank (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18God for answering my prayer (Matthew 7:7-see Bible Search Online) for giving me this opportunity to visit my parents' homeland, which I have much long awaited and anticipated for a long time. I never really got the heart and desire to come here until I went to college at the University of Minnesota-Morris (1995-1999) when I went full speed in searching my identity as a world citizen, Asian -Filipino American, and most importantly and recently-a Christian (since April of 1996). Like in the Bible "�for such a time as this!" (Acts 17)
One more share, I had a chance to get prepared for this trip when I went on a mission trip with 9 young adults to Sonora, Mexico earlier this summer. Meeting many people that looks like you was something that I never experience living in Minnesota. I felt like I blended in with the people of both Mexico and the Philippines. However, I don't think my heart will feel like home until I go to Heaven when my Father and His Son Jesus are there to hold me with the other children in His Kingdom.
10.03,Wed-04, Thursday-"Arrival in Manila". We left Minnesota 10.02.01 @2:30p CDT. We stopped over at Narita Int'l Airport in Tokyo, Japan and landed in Ninoy Aquino Int'l Airport on 10.03.01 @11:30pm (11 hour flight from Minnesota to Japan and then another 8 hours due to a delay to Manila, which usually takes 4 hours). It was 1am by the time we got out of the airport, which we met our relatives (Uncle Ely, Cousins: Erwin, ?) outside (there is a particular place outside the airport for visitors alphabetized A-Z by name-very orderly!). It took an hour to drive to the place we were going to stay in Valenzuela-Manila (located in the northeast section of Manila). As we left the airport, my eyes were drawn to the BIG billboards advertising the local businesses; such as Jollibee (fast food restaurant chain), Sony, and Coca-Cola. I had a chance to see the very beautiful color neon lighted buildings-big and small of downtown Manila along Rizal Blvd. that runs north and south along Manila Bay from the airport (located south of downtown Manila). There was not much traffic according to my relatives since it was late at night/early morning. During the day or rush hour, it would've taken 3 hours instead of an hour. It was 2am, and I was still wide-awake as I slept in the long plane flight because I thought we were going to land in the Philippines in the late morning. I decided to stay up late and chat with my relatives (Uncle Ely, Erwin, Reely, Redeen) outside the house till 4am. We talked about the current situations (Sept. 11th WTC fall) in America and in the Philippines. We then talked about family and relatives.
10.4.01-Thursday "Manila Tour" I woke up around 10am this morning to the beeping jeepneys outside, which was a sign of a busy Thursday in our neighborhood of Pag-asa in the north side of Valenzuela-Metro Manila. The house we stayed in was far enough from the busy congested MacArther Highway, but I was still able to hear the jeepneys and tricycles that would past by our house on and on. In the afternoon, some of our relatives took some time to take us to downtown Manila. We went south on the busy MacArthur Highway to visit Makati. I met the very close (I mean close!) friends of my relatives (Marevick, Relly, Chris) at the mall. It was a beautiful mall that had pine trees growing inside towards the skylight ceiling windows at the center. We went out to eat our maryenda (snack) at the Pancake House (similar to the International House of Pancakes in southwest U.S.A.). We then went around to visit the Hard Rock Caf� (outside only), video arcade, and other stores that I would not find back at home. Later on the evening, we drove around (had a chance to sit in the back of the pick-up to smell the city air and salty Manila Bay) the city to drop off the friends of our relatives throughout a particular area of the city I don't remember. We passed through this neighborhood that was flooded with water, which Sidney said was normal. We got home to dinner already made for us at 9pm!
October 5, 2001-Friday "Trip to Isabella (del norte)" I woke up and my mom brought me next door (it's very common in the Filipino culture to have relatives/family live next door to you) to visit Auntie Tita (mother of Marevick) for breakfast. She had a BIG breakfast prepared for us (more than you usual American cereal and milk!). We had rice, fish, photo (baked pastry size of a muffin), and some other specialties mixed with rice. I got so... full that I didn't eat lunch at all-I think? I had a chance to walk around the house and learn more about the culture-language through television, radio, and other forms of mass media-communications. I was very fond of the similarities and differences between American and Filipino culture. I was surprised too of how American culture has had an influence (positively and negatively) here, which I will mention more in this journal. We (mom, sister, and uncle Ely) left noonish for Isabella (a province close to the northeast corner of Luzon) because of the long 11 hour drive (about the same amount of time from the U.S. to Japan). Uncle Ely preferred to leave at night to avoid the traffic during the day, but my mom wanted during the day for more of a visible safe travel. Our relatives that were around during the day stood by to see us leave, which I felt like we were in the Love Boat (American television show that starts off the guests of the show waving goodbye as the colorful confetti falls from the top of the deck to the onlookers to see the ship set sail).
*see My Videos
We passed again through the highly congested traffic of north Valenzuela to enter the highway going north from Metro Manila. We had to go through a toll before we entered the 100km max highway. During the 1 hour on the highway, I observed the many coconut palm trees, the far distance hills, the usual gas/fuel-fast-food shops (Burger King), cars (mostly Japanese made: Honda Accord/Civic, Mitsubishi, Nissan, and occasional/very few-Ford pickup trucks) that would pass all the time on the side/emergency lane, and other beautiful landscapes of the Philippines. After we got off the highway, we had another 10 hours of countryside driving to go. I took my book on the Philippines and look at a map of the cities of the several provinces we were going through on our way to Isabella. I played some of my Christian tapes I brought from America and enjoy the ride. I would asked Uncle Ely or mom at times on what I saw that was unfamiliar to me along the ride, but I stayed quiet most of the time observing with amazement of the differences (skinnier cows, carabous, trashburning on the side of the highway, rice fields being plowed with man-animal power, and similarities (occasional farm equipment) in the provinces or rural areas. The highlight of this road trip was going up and down through the big hills/mountains towards the end of our 11-hour road trip. Sometimes the road wasn't smooth/paved in both lanes, so some cars had to wait to let the cars from the opposite lane pass through the narrow one lane stretch of the road. Rocks and other sediments that have slid from erosion of the hills when it rains overtook some roads. My eyes were also drawn to the different structures of houses and other buildings along this 11-hour journey. I was especially fascinated to the very large church buildings (Catholic, Iglesia de Christo, and others); some old and very modern. The houses varied from region to region, which I recorded on my video camcorder the traditional old bamboo made houses with rooftop coconut tree leaves. They also have the huge modern mansions located in isolated areas of the countryside. One of the rest stops along the way was at a fast-food restaurant, Jolibee, which I was surprised of a cop that opened the door for customers at the entrance. They menu contained: hamburgers, hotdogs, rice, pancit-noodles, chicken legs, and other small finger food. I slept the last 2-3 hours of the trip and we arrived at our destination in San Mariano, Isabella around 11pm-on time! My mom and sister went straight to bed, but I was somewhat wide-awake. I decided to stay up and chat with my relatives and their friends till 12:30am.
October 6th 2001-Saturday "Caves of Callao, Cagayan" My mom and sister went to the river this morning that goes outside of San Mariano, Isabella. For me, I was still sleeping because I was knocked out and my stomach wasn't feeling well. I took my bath, which I had to pump water from a well outside of the house. I then just pour water on myself with a small pail. I then chatted with my cousin Al as we watched television in the living room until another planned trip by Uncle Ely. Later that morning, we ventured off to another long drive (only 4 hours this time). Our destination was to the Caves of Callao in the province of Cagayan (south of Isabella). The journey was another beautiful countryside drive under the sunny, but partly cloudy skies. In this area each morning, there are workers who would lay out corn seeds on the sides of the road to dry under the hot sun during the day. Then right before the sun sets each day, the workers would gather all the dry seeds (some that stretch a mile long on the road) in big bags and would get collected by large flatbed trucks. Along the way, Uncle Ely stopped over at this roadside restaurant. We had a meal that contained various Filipino delicacies. My sister was more drawn to the techno-music, which she went over to talk to the employees there. We arrived at the cave around 3pm, which the last stretch of the trip was bumpy, but beautiful as the scenery was mountainous covered with forest with a river basin-tropical rain forest! We had to first climb up some rocky stairs (75-100) before reaching the cave.
I was able to videotape God's beautiful geologic natural-made caves (ceiling was about 7-10 stories high and stretched about 7-10 different atriums). We went up to 4 atriums and then stopped because it was becoming more dangerous (slippery due to the mud caused by the water dripping from the several open holes above some of the atriums). In the cave there were 2 rows of pews facing a lighted statue of the Virgin Mary high above at the center along the wall. We left the cave and saw some more visitors arriving at this popular tourist spot. My heart was drawn to a mom asking us for money for her children. They were dark in feature and had clothes that weren't from any store-more like tribal clothing. We gave them some peso and I said, "Jesus loves you" in a quiet tender voice. I've been thinking about them since I've left; wondering if this group of people (dressed very different and appeared darker than others) has been introduced to Jesus (Romans 10:14-15).
I read this book about the "10/40 Window" (an imaginary area between 10 degree parallel north and 40 degrees parallel north of the equator that extends from Northwest Africa across the Middle East and Asia that was introduced at a mission conference in Manila back in 1990) and how 85% [Changing the Shape of World Missions by Byrant L. Myers] of the 10,000 "unreached" (group of 2.1 billion people-as of year 2000, who do NOT yet have a church to equip their people to share the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ-John 3:16 and don't have a Bible in their own language/dialect) people groups (ethnic group, tribe, or nation) live in this area. According to Signs & Wonders on pp. 404 by Pastor Dante Veluz of Jesus the Heart of Missions Team, 14 of these people groups live in the Philippines. I've been wondering if those people I met by the caves belonged to one of these 14-hmmm? Anyway, there are more stories from this trip on related mission type opportunities later on this journal.
We arrived in San Mariano in time for supper that evening. I joined my sister, Al, and other friends to go to this place that had a videoke machine. We stayed there till 12 midnight singing and talking about all types of topics-it was a good old time! That night, I took awhile to sleep because of the dogs barking outside.
Earlier on Saturday, I had an opportunity to share how I became "born-again or saved" my first-year in college with a relative of mine. He asked me, "what is this born-again". I pretty much told him that we were all born to sin due to the Fall (when Adam fell into sin in the book of Genesis). Humans are NOT perfect, only Jesus Christ! Philosophy, good works, going to church, or religion itself will not get anyone to Heaven. Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will. This starts when anyone acknowledges he/she is a sinner and that Jesus died for you on the cross. Ask Him for the forgiveness of your sins (Romans 10:9). He rose again the third day to show that we will have eternal life (John 3:16) after you have invited Him to come into your heart-life (Revelations 3:20), so that you give your total dependence on Him each day until Jesus comes!
more on the way..............
10.7.07, Saturday �Sabbath Rest� I was suppose to be up for the early 8 am service at the local Catholic Church, but I wasn�t able to get myself awake. My mom and sister were already at the service when I woke up at 8am. By the time I got myself ready after rushing with my morning bath, I thought it would be too late into the service. Cousin Al happened to be watching television in the living room. I joined him in watching a live/taped service of a Catholic-charismatic Sunday service in Hong Kong-called El Shaddai. I was fascinated with what I saw because of hearing of El Shaddai before from people I knew back in America. Also, I was drawn to the message, which the pastor/reverend was sharing a message outdoors to a large congregation on the need of unity amongst the churches (referring to how they must follow the examples of churches uniting in America during National Day of Prayer after Sept. 11th�s WTC Fall) in this region (John 17)-Jesus last prayer was on unity on believers before his crucifixion). We had to leave after awhile because he wanted to show me the born-again church in town. He wasn�t sure what time the service started. We walked only several blocks in town in the beautiful warm sunny morning of San Mariano. The workers already had the dry corn set out on one-side of the road to dry for the day. As we walk to the church, I notice some would be staring at me as they kind of knew I was not from that town (my clothes, my walk, and overall appearance). I decided to take my glasses off in most of this trip, so I don�t stick out. Not many wear glasses in the province or rural areas, so I didn�t want to appear more intellectual or above them. There were many times throughout the trip, I just wanted to blend in to feel apart of the community or people. Also, my Aunt Toni in the States and I talked about how we (sister and I) should be careful how we dressed (don�t wear clothing that might make people think we are from America) here because of possible anti-American feelings due to the political situation since Sept. 11th and before! Plus, people that think you�re from America presume you might have money and fit the stereotype they see on television. We reached the born again church, which was called Jesus the Word of Life Ministry. It was a small comfortable building, which the service already started as someone was sharing a message (Tagalog). I somewhat understood whenever they mentioned a verse from the Bible. They played some praise and worship (kids played the instruments) music, which I understood more because it was in English and it was familiar. Then the pastor came up and shared a message, which he shared a message that had some reference to Sept. 11th too. The service (9-11a) ended with some more praise & worship songs (one or two was in Tagalog/Illocano-local dialect), which I left and spoke to some of the leaders about who I am and how I�m related to Al. We went back to the house and decided to do a tour of the city. First, we stopped over at the store (my uncle and aunt owns) and picked up Thelma to join us. Al drove us out of town and showed me the river that goes outside through town. The bridge that goes over it was only big enough for a car and a jeepney to drive through, so other cars had to wait if another car is on it. When we went on the river shore, I had a chance to get close to the nation�s famous and national animal-the caribou (almost big as American cows)! However, it would not let me get closer to touch it because it walk or move away from me. Al shared us some stories of this river and the mayor that lived along the river. Currently, the town folks are not too happy of their corrupt mayor (who has a nice new car!). We headed back and rested throughout the day. I watched a channel called Lakbay television, which was a national tourist/travel channel that showed the various beautiful places of this country. I heard the term balikbayan for the first, which is a term used for any Filipino coming back to the Philippines or back to their homeland. For lunch, my mom brought several chicken eggs called bulot, which was ok for me to eat as my stomach (answer to prayer-Praise God!) has gotten better after it wasn�t earlier for the past several days. My sister taped this on videotape because eating this particular food is like a challenge to people outside of this country. Later that night, our cousin Erdy wanted to hang out with him and his wife at the local video hangout. We did more singing and chatting with him, Al, and their friends till 11pm because we had to get up early the next day for another trip. I went home and I just stayed up for an extra hour to watch a Filipino made movie with some of the people at the house. It was an action Filipino-made movie as there was some fighting and romance/drama! I went up to bed, but couldn�t sleep right away after my quiet time (read Bible and prayer) because of the loud dogs barking outside of the house.
10.08.01, Monday �Trip to Medella, Quirino� (map)
I did it again, I woke up later-around 10am. In fact, I was being waited on for our long 3 hour trip to visit the waterfalls in Medella, Sorino (a province south of Isabella). I got ready quick and went for another beautiful countryside road trip. We (Uncle Ely, mom, sister, and I) stopped over at this restaurant and had ihaw-ihaw (barbecued fish). It was an open-wall place made out of bamboo and rooftop palm tree leaves. We headed out to the waterfalls and got there around 2pm. The path to the waterfalls was not too reliable or secure (no rails preventing any tourist from falling into the falls or stream), so we really had to watch our step! The beautiful sight was nothing comparable to our video shot. The falls was so curvy and high to the top that we couldn�t see where it started. We enjoyed the view and got some pictures taken for an hour or so, and we had to leave for another long 3 hour ride back before it go too dark!
Sal trying to climb a cocount tree in the base of the waterfalls
Bisangal Waterfalls (Maddela, Quirino) LUZON-Philippines
"Some beautiful views of the bottom of this waterfall in Quirino Province (north -east central part of Luzon)-Phillippines..."
Waterfalls: "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me."-Psalm 42:7
Related Sites:
Along the trip back, we stopped over at this place to have coconut juice-fresh from the source. It was hmm...good! I then enjoyed the rest of the scenery of how people lived in this province on our way back to San Mariano, Isabella. One heart touching scene was a young smiling adult that had large tumor that covered part of his face that made his face look awkward. I last saw this on a documentary on television in America, which I didn�t expect to see in person. I started to pray for him in my spirit that in God�s will and the young man�s too that this tumor will be gone. It was around 9pm when we arrived, which we stopped over at the store...
...to find out there was a blackout. They had candles to light the store up and Uncle Ely parked facing the store for more light from the car�s headlights. The blackout lasted for a short time, and several us made our way up to the store�s rooftop to talk. It was a beautiful night as the stars were out. Uncle Ely, Aunt Helen, mom, and Thelma talked about church. While, I talked with Al, Erdy, and a couple of their friends about variety of topics (Christianity, Sept. 11th-WTC Fall, America overall, and life itself) till the late hours. Cousin Al put a huge beetle on my arm and told me not to pick it out or I�ll start bleeding. This scared my sister when he tried to put it closer to her. Cousin Al and I started to look at the stars as we talked about our dreams in life, which I told him that God knows his heart desires (Psalm 20:4). Al then saw a falling star (actual meteor showers: big/small rocks going through Earth�s hot atmosphere), which he shared his wish/dream out loud. The clouds got thicker covering the beautiful star filled sky, so we decided to head home. I watched more news on t.v. to see how things are going in America and found out a new development-America has started air raids over Afghanistan. They are beginning to target hot spots where they believe the Taliban are hiding. I went to bed with many thoughts, but got it cleared during my nightly quiet time with God (prayer and reading a chapter from the Old Testament in the Bible).
October 9, 2001-Tuesday �Last Day in San Mariano, Isabella� We weren�t going to leave for Manila until evening, so we had the whole day to spend time with our cousins and check out the places in San Mariano before we left. Cousin Al and Erdy bought a videoke machine (karoke machine with a video monitor that displays words for the song with a video in the background). They brought it in the front driveway of the house, which we sang most of the later part of the morning. Mom even sang one song, �Do, Re, Me..� from the popular family movie Sound of Music. Al took me to town to meet Pastor Bill from the church I attended yesterday at the store he owns at the market in town. It was a small store that had Christian resources: books, music tapes, etc� He also ran a little candy booth for kids. I had a good long 1-hour conversation with him on the work God has called him in his life to do in the city of San Mariano, Isabella. It was an encouraging personal story that I would like to keep his story private. I asked him what God is doing in this area. He told me that JHMT came over to do a crusade in 1998. I told I knew JHMT, when they too did a crusade in my home area of Minnesota-U.S.A. He shared several other stories on the strongholds (anything that hinder God to do his loving work) in this area, which God has overcome through their prayers. One example, was a healing of a deaf/mute person that visited Jesus the Word of Life Ministry. God willingly, I would like to continue in contact with him as I got his mailing address before I left. My sister and Al were still waiting for me, so we left and went back home. We did more videoke till sunset. I watched more television as I was amuse to Filipino shows, movies, and the primetime network (ABS-CBN) overall because of the unique similarities and differences. Pastor William and friends from the church came over to the house to visit my relatives and family. We talked more about each other�s calling to serve God and a possible opportunity to meet one another again in the future to do mission work. They left after about an hour, and we left one another by doing a group prayer (including my mom) holding hands. We (Matthew ) prayed for each other�s calling to serve God, our families/relatives, and the city of San Mariano that God will pour out blessings (financially, spiritually, physically) to the people here. I then finished packing and got ready to leave around 10pm saying goodbye to our new friends we met and the relatives at the house. One of the friends told me, �don�t forget us�. I told him, �I won�t as you and the others will be in my prayer when I go back to America�. We (Uncle Ely, Thelma, mom, and a friend of the family) then went to the store to pick up Aunti Helen and then left at 11 o�clock in the late evening for another long 11-hour drive. We stop several times along the way; including a restaurant that was opened late in the early morning (1or 2 am) to eat chimpirado (warm rice with cooked chicken). I pretty asleep most of the night, which I opened my eyes for awhile especially during up the narrow steep windy road going up the big hills.
October 10, 2001-Wednesday �Back in the City of Manila� Early in the morning, many of us were awake, so we stopped again at our becoming favorite fast-food restaurant-Jolibee. As I was getting out of the car, the familiar salesperson (newspaper, sweets, fruits, souvenirs, and other hand-made items that pleases any tourist) ran up to a car if we wanted to buy the morning newspaper (War on Terrorist was a frequent topic in the front-pages during our vacation). Yes, they serve breakfast, which we ordered pancakes and sunny-side up eggs. We were now close to our destination-Manila, which we arrived around 9am! Uncle Ely just went straight to sleep in the couch in the living room. I decided to take a nap too after talking with our relatives there on some of our experiences at San Mariano, Isabella. There was no big trips plan today, so we pretty much stayed home and relax. I reflected on a week�s worth and then I wrote on a rough draft journal entry of our trip so far. Many of our relatives were out of the house doing errands in town or at work. Cousin Larni and his husband Roy invited us to go shopping for the up-coming baptism of their son-Jim �Boy� Lourd. They took us to another Mall just north of the start of Rizal/Roxas Boulevard. It was supposed to be a discount mall that had more affordable prices compared to the one in Makati. As we entered the mall (like many of the others), the security was very high compared to America. There was a metal detector we had to go through, and another entrance had a police/security officer that had a metal wand detector to check our body up and down for any weapons. We found a beautiful cute barong (traditional formal Filipino thin see-through dress/suit in special occasions) for Jim. Due to the lower monetary rate/value of the Philippine peso compared to the US $, prices for various items were cheaper. For example, I bought a pair of formal dress shoes for about 500 pesos, which is about $10 dollars! I was reading a magazine that contained the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) or average annual income (GNP/population): Philippines GDP $324 (78 million people) compared to U.S.A�s GDP $33,000 (260 million people). *These figures are just a rough estimation. One restaurant that we saw at the mall that I later found out was a national chain was Kenny Roger�s Roasters (a chicken restaurant with several popular American hotdishes/food). For mayeyenda we went to a popular national chinese fast-food chain. We each had different chinese noodle soups with various ingredients, which tasted good and appeared healthy! Cousin Chris came home at his usual time @9pm in the evening from work. I talked about his old friend in San Mariano, Isabella whom I met when I attended a church this past Sunday. We then talked about both of us being �born-again� (we both got �saved� in our first year of college) and how life has changed ever since. The day was coming to an end and there was another long trip plan for tomorrow.
October 11, 2001-Thursday �Visiting our Uncle in Paranaque� We got up around 6:30am to beat the early morning rush hour to Paranaque (south of downtown Manilla). Our relatives� friend Muding, who drives a city cab for a living, drove us. The purpose of the trip was to visit Uncle Totoy(Dad�s brother), who we visited at Marcelo Green Village (private guarded housing area). I videotaped the area because the name of the village inspired my dad to name my brother Ceo (fullname is Marcelo). When we got there, we notice the old pictures of our (sister, brother, and I) youth. My sister and I got more surprised when we saw the old pictures of our Dad, Auntie Toni, and Uncle Totoy. Uncle Totoy gave us a photo album containing pictures that we sent him of us 10-15 years ago. Also, they had pictures of his friends and other significant people in his life. We visited an old friend of his in another village around this south Manila suburb. This meeting was the first time with our Uncle Totoy since we were kids (Sal-3 & Thelma 4), so we went out to go shopping. We went to the Super Mart Mall in Paranaque. According to Uncle Totoy, this mall is just 1 years old. My favorite part of the mall was House of Praise Incorporated, a worship music, video, and literature booth. I was able to find Steve Kuban�s CD (performed at a recent JHMT �Hear & Obey� Conference in Minnesota early September of this year. I also found various Christian CD�s that I would not find in America-I think. What got my attention to this booth was the Christian music (Psalm 150)-a great evangelism idea! We went to the popular chain store, National Book Store (like Barnes & Noble), where I bought my Filipino-Tagalog Bible. Shopping made us hungry, so we went to Jolibee for lunch. This eatery has become a favorite of my mothers during this trip! We went to a cathedral church located downtown along Rizal/Roxas Blvd. facing Manila Bay. There were many people coming in and out to pray during the afternoon. After prayer, we went to seek the open-market outside (food, clothes, gift souvenirs, etc�). As we drove back home to Valenzuela-Manila, we passed the �slums� or poor neighborhood. We�ve been passing this area many times as we traveled in an out of Manila. It really made my heart sink everytime we passed this area. I remembered watching a video from Compassion International. They did a brief story of a poor girl that would go dig in the city garbage dump for food. Watching it on video for the first time just upsetted my stomach and got my eyes glued to the t.v. set because I never knew something like this happens. I finally got to see this unpopular city garbage dump that the many poor in this part of the city have open access to because their shafts are built right behind it! The gap appeared to be bigger between rich and poor based on my observation compared to America. It was very unfortunate to see this huge difference wondering if anybody cares. I watched the news right before I left the country torwards the end of my vacation here, and found out the government was doing something about it as it was shown in the local news. My relatives told me that the government has been doing something about it. They built new houses for them, but the poor ended up moving back into their streets. As I watched them in their living conditions when we passed them, my sister and I noticed how happy (child smiling in their parents� arms) they appeared to be happy. I notice a church sign in one of these �shafts�, which I thank God for sending a servant to be willing to be used to reach these people (Luke). After a long traffic, we came home in-time (around 6pm) for maryenda. Someone bought a baked cake from the popular national chain bakery-Goldilocks. I see this as the Philippine version of Dairy Queen! Our relatives were going in and out of the house when we arrive (a common sight). I watched the news again, which I frequently did (especially the new development of Anthrax cases). The security in the post office heightened in the country after the first case of Anthrax found in a letter in Florida-U.S.A. One news story they televised in the evening news that got my attention (both my eyes and heart) was this: A postal worker was aware of the heightened security in getting mail. She got a package with no return address and it was mailed to Abu-Sayaaf (the terrorirst group in southern Philippines that have been charged for kidnapping and is linked with the world known leader-Osama Bin Laden) in the large southern island of Mindanao. Following security measurements, she contacted her supervisor and the national bomb squad and intelligence agency came. When they carefully opened the package, they found: a Jesus Video, a True Seeker booklet/track, and a letter addressing to the Muslim group that ��Jesus loves them and I�ll be praying for you� (I�m paraphrasing as I still try to recall or remember). I was soo�touched that my heart sank with love and excitement about this evangelism outreach to the �enemy� (Matthew 5: 44)and also a light to the viewers that saw this in the evening news from across the nation. According to the report, they later found out the letter was sent from Virginia-U.S.A. Cool huh-praise God!
October 12, 2001-Friday �Valenzuela-Manila� Thelma and mom went to town with some of our relatives for a family ?. Cousin Chris, Sebastian, and I went to the neighborhood market to rent some movies from the local video store. It was cool to see videos in Tagalog, which we rented one that was about values of the traditional Filipino family. We played it Friday evening, but no one seem to be interested as some of our relatives were barbecuing (shiskabobs) out in the front yard. Most of the men were outside joining the barbecue, while most of the woman were in the house. Earlier this evening, I went with Cousin Reley, Chris, and Sebastian to play pool/billiards. I rode the national vehicle of form of transportation for the first time-the jeepney! It was a unique personal experience as it was a small passenger service (seats up to 20 people facing each other). After watching these jeepneys drive by from another car, it was pretty exciting to finally ride on one. The ride was only a couple of minutes to the pool hall, which it was packed-up as it was a Friday night. Chris told me that the game of pool has been popular these past years because a Filipino won the pool/billiards world professional championship. This explained the many people playing this sport I saw when we drove through the country and city. I didn�t stay up too late that evening because we had to get up early the next morning for another long trip.
October 13, 2001-Saturday �Narcalan, Laguna Trip� We had to wake-up very early again. This time, we woke up at 5am for a weekend! Yes, a weekend! The weekend around here in the city gets jammed up to because many people travel to the country outside of the cities to visit their relatives (like what we were doing) or to escape the hectic congested city life during the week days. We left by car around 6am and picked up our Uncle Totoy to head to our Dad�s, Aunt Toni, and his hometown of < Narcalan, Laguna. We visited several old friends of our dad�s and his when they grew-up in this area. Laguna seem to be more hilly and filled with more trees compared to the northern area of Luzon of Isabella. The cities, towns, or barrios we went through were: San Juan, Nagcarlan, and Majajajay. I was reading this book on the Philippines called �The Philippines-Odyssey Passport� by Evelyn Peplow. An interesting fact about the province of Laguna was that the movie �Platoon� and �Apocalypse Now� was filmed here. The terrain or natural surroundings are similar to Vietnam, so I�m guessing that was the reason for having these films made here. The big difference I saw between here and Isabella was the greener and much forestry tropical forest. Laguna is about located in the southern tip of Luzon, and a bay in its northern border mostly surrounds it. We then left around 1pm to get back to Valenzuela-Manila. The drive back was like another beautiful scenic ride. There were huge beautifully tree covered hills touching the cloudy sky that you can see miles away. We drop Uncle Totoy over along the way and went to our frequent favorite maryenda stop-Jolibee. I tried another Filipino specialty (pancit, shrimp, and another ingredient) there, which I wanted to try a dish that I couldn�t in the U.S.A. We went home and found our relatives cooking up some more ihaw-ihaw (barbecue shish-ka-bob) out in the front of the house. Our relatives chatted with my sister and I for awhile; talking about variety of topics as we get to know each other more. Tomorrow was going to be a big day for our cousins� kids (Josie and Jim Boy), who are both getting baptized (Christening).
October 14, 2001-Sunday �Josie & Jim Boy�s Baptism� My sister and I woke up around 7am because we were planning to attend an early born-again church service (didn�t know what time) prior to the baptism of Josie and Jim Boy at a Catholic service @11:30am. Our cousin Chris called a neighborhood church, and it was going to start at 10am. We decided to attend this other Catholic church (Fatima) in Valenzuela (8am-service start), which it already started. To avoid missing the whole service, we (Chris, Thelma, and I together) took a tricycle to MacArthur Hwy. Then we took a 15-20 minute jeepney ride to the south part of Valenzuela-Manila. The building was already packed, but we were able to squeeze our selves into a pew. Growing up in a Catholic church in most of my life, it was nice to see the differences of the services between the Minnesota-U.S.A. and this particular one in Valenzuela-Manila. One distinct difference was the bowing of heads and eye contact with each other instead of shaking hands during the "peace be with you� in Minnesota. After the service ended at 8:45 am, we got some time before the 10am service at this born-again church. We then rode the jeepney a little further south of Fatima Medical School from Fatima Catholic Church. It was around 9am and we still had an hour to wait, so we looked at some CD�s being sold on the streets. Chris and I heard some contemporary praise & worship music coming from this other church by the CD booth. Instead of waiting for this 11 o�clock service, we decided to check this church out. The music drew us to this upstairs 2 story building, which there was a large (50-75 seated) room with surround sound speakers. A couple of people were at the door to greet us. This helped us feel welcome! They had an open mike for shares/testimonies after praise and worship, which only 1 shared. I wanted to share as Chris encouraged me to do so, but I didn�t feel right doing it as a visitor. Then the pastor shared a blessed message about �God is in Control� as she talked about the recent Sept. 11th-WTC Fall in N.Y.C-U.S.A. Please contact me if you would like more details about this prophetic-inspirational message, which I don�t want to go in detail. I kept on looking at my watch as the service went close to 2 hours because we had to get to Josie and Jim Boy�s baptism. The pastor was just finishing the message and did a group prayer. That�s when we left and headed out for another church service (3rd one). Chris and I talked about the message for awhile, which I shared some of the Biblical verses that were given. We talked more about the message a couple of days after, as we were personally touched! It was time! -The moment we�ve been all waiting for, which encouraged my mom to visit the Philippines at this particular time in the first place-Josie (Cousin Erwin and Josie�s daughter) and Jim Boy�s (Cousin Larni and Roy�s) baptism. On our way, we stopped over at McDonald�s to meet Chris� girlfriend. From there, we took another jeepney further north on MacArthur Highway to the baptism. About 7 other babies got baptized, which I was able to videotape Josie and Jim Boy�s.
Many of our relatives were there to help celebrate this big event for both families. We all went home and continued this spiritual celebration with a BIG lunch as many tables were set up in the driveway of the house. This was probably the best meal I had this whole time I was here because pretty much all the popular Filipino dishes (lechon, pancit, fish, chicken etc�) and desserts (kare-kare and a decorated frosted not too sweet/sugary cake) were represented here. It was a good time eating and fellowshipping amongst one another. There were so many people in the house that there were some that I haven�t met yet. During the festivities, Marivick's friend took some of her time to teach me some Tagalog. We did this most of the afternoon as we did various activities, such as playing frisbee out front, swing sets in the neighborhood playground, lighting up firecrackers, and launching firecrackers up in the sky above the house. Sidney, Thelma, and some other relatives talked more about some various topics/issues between American and Filipino culture. Again, more ihaw-ihaw was getting cooked on the grill, as it has been the past 3 nights now! I headed to bed early because we had to get up early again the next morning.
October 15, 2001-Monday �Labrador, Pangasinan Trip� Another early morning to wake-up @4am! Muding drove us (Thelma, Mom, Aunti Fely, and I) to Labrador, Pangasinan. This ride (only 4 hours) was a lot shorter than the one to San Mariano, Isabella (only 11 hours). I was so tired that I just slept most of the way with occasional glances of the scenic drive. We got there @8:30am and met more relatives in our mother�s side. One of them was Aunti Fay, who is the younger sister of my Mom. She appeared very excited to see my Mom as they hugged each other with all smiles and affection. The house we were at was Grandma and Grandpa�s (Mom�s side) old house, which they have already past away. I met my grandparents once when I was 3 years old, but it was such a young age that I don�t even have any memories of them at all. When they died, I did remember this time because my Mom was crying when she heard the sad news over the phone when I was young (?). I could just feel the presence of my grandparents as we got a tour around the house-downstairs and upstairs. Our relatives then served us some fresh coconut juice fresh from the coconut tree. They cut the coconut in half over a bowl to save the fresh-pure-clean juice. Then they served the half-cut hollow coconut to us, which we ate the juicy thicker fruit of the inside. I heard this is the purest and cleanest form of liquid on earth, which is very good for your immune system. We then skipped a house down the road and met more of our relatives. This time, it was Aunti Lita and her children (Uncle Lou was in the United Emirates): Sherwin �Sylvester�, Jong-Jong, and Amelia �Mia� or �Diana Ross� (after the famous African-American singer in the 70�s). While waiting for the Jong-Jong and Sylvester to come home from their day at college, we went to visit more of our Mom�s side relatives just across the street. We met Aunti Tita & Uncle Aster and only one of their four children: Herald (Gigi-Saipan Vanny-Dagupan, Gladys-Toronto, Canada). Later that evening, Aunti Lita and her children all went with us to a mall an hour drive from Labrador. It was located in the bigger city of Dagupan. It was a very newly built mall, which we went a huge supermarket to buy some groceries. Thelma bought a pair of shoes. It was getting late, so we got some food from McDonalds and headed home to Labrador by 9pm or so.
Tuesday, October 16th 2001-�Labrador Tour� We had to get up early @6am�well, I chose to as I was awakened by my cousins getting up for school the same time. Amelia had to go to high school-palaraan , but Sherwin and Jong-Jong had classes at the college (in Dagupan) a little later (separate times) in the day. My Mom, Thelma, Aunti Lita, Jong-Jong, and I went to a high school where my Mom taught for many years (10-11) when she used to live here. It was like a great homecoming for her! Aunti Tita made a large bowl filled with delicious pancit for a welcome back party for our Mom. My Mom too brought something as a gift to the teachers that were present at the party. She had Aunti Lita, Thelma, and I pass pens and snack food to each teacher (a hand few of them has taught there since my Mom left, which the rest were new teachers). Several kids then performed a modern techno-dance for my Mom. Then the teachers wanted my sister and I to dance-no specifics of what happened! My Mom then joined some other teachers she has known for a long time to dance together to the rest of the audience present at the party. I caught a little of this �kodak moment� (happy once in a lifetime event) on videotape. It was indescribable, but it was awesome to see our Mom so happy! Yes, we had to leave this great moment. As the party ended, Thelma and I ended up talking to the only male teacher present about all sorts of topics and Sept. 11th. We then drove to visit one of our relatives (92 years old woman!). After a long conversation between my Mom and her, I asked if I could pray for her. I wanted to pray for her that God would give continual physical strength to live longer (God willingly 100 years old!). She wept and hugged me. Then did the same with the others that were with me as we left. We had our lunch (seafood: crabs, shrimp, and fish) and then I took a short afternoon nap. Uncle Ely happened to be in town to go fishing with some friends he knew in this area of the province. This man seem to be the �energizer bunny� when it comes to driving because he has been driving long distances since we came to the Philippines. Our cousins told us that he does this often-he drives a Nissan pick-up if you readers are wondering what type of gas-mileage vehicle he drives. I�ve been up so early this morning, so I decided to take a short nap. Later in the afternoon, we visited Uncle Aster (mom�s brother) and Aunti Tita, who lived right across from Aunti Lita�s. They shared some past stories of our (sister and I) last visit when we very young. My sister, Mia, and I played a game of badminton out in front of the house. We waited for Mia�s brothers to come home before eating our supper. It was not till 8pm when Jong-Jong arrived, when we started to eat (Hapunan). After our fellowship time, we went to bed at 10pm because of another day to get up early.
Wednesday, October 17th 2001-�100 Islands�
We woke up around 5am! We (Aunti Lita, mom, Thelma, and I) had our small breakfast (noodle soup) and drove to Manaway, Pangasinan for an early morning service. The message by the priest that morning was still memorable, as he shared about (paraphrase) when you go to heaven, what matters is what is inside your heart (right with God?).
The service was like the one back in Valenzuela-Manila. We toured the facility area of this pretty large church building. They had a store to buy Catholic memorabilia (statues, rosaries, crosses, hymn books, etc�). On our way back home to Labrador, we went through the big city of Dagupan. Prior to downtown, we went to a beach looking at the Langayen Gulf-South China Sea-Pacific Ocean. It was only for a short time because we planned to be going to another beach closer to Labrador. Dagupan had a very busy downtown packed with small buildings, people, and cars congested together. We just went through it because Thelma and I just wanted to check out the beach. Outside of Dagupan, we met our cousin Vanny (son of Aster and Tita) working at an open outside market. He used to work in Saudi Arabia as an oversees worker, which is very common to many Filipinos. It was around 10am when we arrived at home in Labrador-in time for our morning maryenda! After our stop at home, we continued on the coast towards 100 Islands (northwest of Labrador in Pangasinan)...
100 Islands in Luzon-Pangasinan, Labrador- Philippines
*see YouTube.com-Goodnewsusa
The 30-minute (estimate) ride along the Langayan Gulf was a scenic route. About halfway, we stopped on a hillside and look at the beach were earlier on in Dagupan City (videotaped!). It was around 12 noon when we arrived at our beautiful destination. It was a tourist spot, so as we came out of our cars-some lady came to us trying to sell us some souvenirs (beautifully and colorfully decorated seashells with painted words on them). Instead of our intended 30-minute boat trip to one of the 100 islands of the coast, my mom was drawn to the merchandise/souvenir shop. The beautiful different types of seashells caught our attention so much that we didn�t have time to take the boat ride. We were able to get these seashells personally made with whatever we wanted to say (e.g. �God/Jesus Loves You�) as the artist asked us to write down what we wanted painted or printed. After shopping around, we got back in the van and headed to the beach close to Labrador. At the beach, we ran towards the in-coming waves and dove straight at it. The waves left a salty taste in my tongue when I came out from the water. I felt like a kid again as I played on the water and searched for seashells underwater. My cousin, Sherwin, was able to find a seashell with a baby crab in it-cool! I decided to collect some seashells and brought it to America in a container for memory-sake. Sherwin and I talked with a group of young ladies at the beach after Thelma was conversing with them. They came from Sam Miguel, and they were in town for some sport camp. After the beach, we went back home and had our late lunch (fish and rice). We were planning to head back to Manila this afternoon, so we spent the afternoon packed and saying goodbye to neighbors and friends. As we left, our relatives and friends gathered together to say goodbye. I was here only for several days, but it seem like I�ve been here the rest of my life as I�ve grown to know and love my relatives. It was a 4-hour drive to Manila-much shorter than the drive from Manila to San Mariano, Isabela. I was more awake on the way back to the city compared to away, so I enjoyed the scenic drive as we drove through a fairly large city-Tarlac City. We stopped over for gas only, but I wished we could�ve toured the city of Tarlac. The city appeared to have a lot of restaurants and unique places to check out. It was late evening (9:30pm) when we arrived home in Valenzuela-Manila. Our relatives there asked us how our trip was, so I stayed up a little late sharing our short trip in my mom�s birthplace. I stayed up with Chris and Reden watching �Here on Earth� (American movie), which was a good movie about a young woman and a young man meeting in a �divine� way in a small town of Putnam, Massachusetts. As I was about to go to bed, Uncle Ely arrived with his friends who fished (shrimp, crabs, and fishes) with him in Pangasinan.
Thursday, October 18 2001-�Antipolo-Manila� There were no plans today, so we slept in and relaxed throughout the day. Thelma and I watched more Filipino television-
Friday, October 19th 2001-�Last Day in the Philippines� I didn�t want to sleep all day in this last full day in the Philippines, so I slept only 5 hours. I got up and at a short small breakfast-pandisal (bread) with special cream (?). My sister and I spent time together as we watch more Filipino television (Asian-MTV)-reflecting our 2 and half week trip here and how our experience here will effect our life back in America. We did our last karoke too! I also did my last networking with the Christians here, so I went back to the Christian bookstore nearby. I got some Christian praise & worship tapes (Ang Diyos Ay Mabuti-JHMT, Pupurihin Ka Sa Awit-Musikatha, , souvenirs for friends/relatives, and a contact address of a youth pastor to possibly network in the future. Before going to bed, I spent my last evening hanging out with my relatives. They told us �not to forget us when you go back home to America�.
Saturday, October 20th 2001-�Flight to Minnesota-America� Thelma and I (mom was going to stay another 2 weeks for �Saints Day�) were all packed and ready to go as we woke up around 5am. Our mom and relatives took 2 cars to say goodbye to us at Aquino Int�l Airport. Our plane left at 8:30am and arrived 1pm CDT in Minnesota-America.
*Note, everything above might not have the right spelling or the information on particular sights in the Philippines might have not been accurate. If you happen to find any mistakes, please contact me with any correction. Thank you!
Transportation
The Vice Guide to Travel - Philippines Jeepneys Part 1
Travel
Philippines tour part I
Reccomended Resources
" To see Part 2 go to: http://www.vbs.tv/player.php?bctid=11...
In case you're a little fuzzy on your South Pacific history, here's a quick little primer on the complex state of Filipino-American relations in the early 40s from a fresh Swedish perspective: Americans wanted back what they rightfully owned by purchase, so they gathered a bunch of Filipino troops and chased out the Japanese. This was just a couple of months before a little device called The Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, thus ending WWII and warfare as it was known up until that point.
A couple years later they decided/were forced to jam. Apart from the kids born out of soldierly love, the Americans also left their army supplies behind. It would have been more expensive to bring it back home, and anyways war as they knew it was over so who gave a hoot, right? Among the stuff they left floating around were the infamous Willys Jeeps. Even if you're a girl or hate the History Channel, if you've only ever seen one war movie or flipped past an episode of M*A*S*H you know exactly which vehicle I'm talking about.
Metro Manila, with its estimated 18 million inhabitants, is a transportation nightmare the likes of which my spoiled Swedish brain cannot even begin to wrap itself around. I'll start getting mad at "the city" when it takes 20 minutes to take the train across town, but who do you get mad at when there are millions of busted down old Toyotas and overloaded scooters between you and the other side of the city? Apparently, if you're Filipino, you don't. You just take whatever car you've got, rip the roof off it, then flip the roof over and graft it to the back to double your carrying-capacity and call it a bus. This healthy attitude toward open-car surgery is what spawned the Jeepney and made it a mainstay of Manila's dusty network of roads. Wherever you are in the city, all you have to do is wave and one'll stop for you. They're the perfect blend of a taxi and a bus and they are really (bleeping) cheap.
As with cars in most parts of the world, completely tricking your buscab out soon became an essential part of the equation and you will rarely a Jeepney pass by that is not covered in layers of chrome and airbrushed paint, and filled with a disco's worth of party-lights. If you look close enough, you can sometimes even make out the influence of 50s American hot rods through the piles of Filipino insanity. (less)
Added: August 01, 2007 "
" Not a masterpiece of documentary in the world. Just some messages I want to share with y'all"
...more on the Philippines
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