Training up north in Olongapo

 Beach along Subic Bay

 

We drove up to Olongapo on Friday, March 14th. It took us just over three hours to get there. We had a very good road for most of the way. It was nice to drive through some open country and it was nice to drive on a 4 lane road for most of the way. There are not a lot of 4 lane roads in the Philippines. The Olongapo-Subic area is where the U.S. navy base was once located and the area looks more modern than most of the country. There are nicer homes there and fewer slum areas than we see anywhere else. We stayed in a fairly nice hotel just off of the highway in Subic Bay. We got there a little after noon because we wanted to look around some. We drove along the shore and got out and took some pictures. It is a pretty nice area although it is on a large bay so you do not see any waves coming into shore.

 

The beach close to our hotel

 

We found the nicest hotel listed on the internet and decided to go there to see it and have lunch. It was called the Lighthouse Inn. We decided to walk around the property first and look at the beach area. We walked out to their dock before a security guard came out and told us we would have to leave and that we could only enter through the main doors. He said that it was private property and that the hotel only wanted guests in there and they wanted to keep others out. He showed us the neighboring beach area that wasn't so nice and explained something about not wanting the people from over there to get on the nice property. This is the Philippines and there is a very big difference between those who have and the rest. We went into the hotel and it was very nice even by American standards. We sat down for lunch and the people next to us started asking us questions. It turned out that they worked for the Hotel. One was in the Marketing Department and one was the manager of the restaurant. We told them where we were from and what we were doing there. They were very nice and talked to us for quite a while. They were interested in the PEF program and shared some opinions about the Filipinos and what they needed. They suggested something for lunch and we ordered. The manager came back and talked to us some more during lunch and then when we asked for the check we found that he had given us a 10% discount.

 

Carabao pulling a cart

 

We left at about 6:30 am to drive up to Iba. We were not sure exactly how long it would take and we needed to be there for a 9:00 am meeting. The weather was very nice and we could see very well during the morning hours. We saw mountains, rivers, the ocean and lots of Mango trees on our way. The traffic was light so Dale was actually able to look around some. We saw a lot of carabao along the road and several of them pulling carts down the road. We finally got a picture of a carabao pulling one of the carts. We also saw mango trees everywhere and signs advertising a mango festival that had just been held. When we got to the Iba chapel a sister told us that they have the best sweetest mangos in the Philippines there.
 

Green mangos



We had a little trouble finding the chapel in Iba, but when we did the gate was still locked although we only had to wait for a few minutes to get in. We had plenty of time as we had arrived about 45 minutes early. The District President was there and helped us set up for our meeting. We received a text from Sister Abanggan who was in charge of the training telling us that she would be late and to start without her. We were not sure exactly what to do, so we pulled up a small presentation on Self Reliance Services and started with that. The plan had been that she would take the first 30 minutes and then we would divide into two groups and we would train one group on how to teach the Planning For Success Workshop and Sister Abanggan would train the Self Reliance Committee. When she arrived Dale asked her if she wanted some time and she told him to just go ahead and keep everyone together for our Training. Things never go as planned here but we were not too worried. We presented all of our training and they seemed very interested. We had about 30-40 members there and they have a lot of young single adults and others who could benefit from this. We finished and starting wrapping up. The District President had left a little early and went to the nearby Jollibees to purchase lunch for everyone, including us. We were surprised and pleased by this because we did not have much time to spare before we needed to leave to make the next meeting in Olongapo.

Chapel in Iba
 

 On our way back to Olongapo we saw rice being dried right on the side of the highway.  We have seen this happening in many places.  It must be the best place they have to dry it.
 

 

We stopped at the Olongapo Mission Office and visited with the office couple for a few minutes on our way back to Olongapo.  The office, Mission Home, and church building were all together in one fenced in area.

 

Olongapo Mission Office

Olongapo Mission Home

We drove back down to Olongapo, arriving at the chapel around 1:15. The training was to start at 2:00. We met with the ERC service missionaries and they helped us set up for the meeting. They already had the chairs and a table set up in the cultural hall. We met the district president who was just recently called. He was very helpful and explained how he was hoping to reactivate people using the new PEF loan program. He was very positive and excited about everything. We did the training for about 50 people there. Some of them were young people who wanted to know more about the PEF loan program. We handed out materials to those who would be teaching the Planning for Success workshop and also gave materials to the Branch Presidents as well. The district president helped with answering questions in Tagalog at the end of the training. The people here are very excited about the new program and we think we will see many more applicants from this area.

 



Dale training





Anna training

 

The drive back to Manila wasn't bad and we got back to our apartment at about 7:30 pm. We had stopped for 20 minutes at a Service Center so the total drive was only about 2 1/2 hours but we were glad to be back.

 



A statue in a roundabout in Olongapo

 

 

 



Training in the Paradise of the Manila Mission - The Island of Palawan

We arrived in Palawan with Jomel and Franco after about an hour flight on Friday, Feb. 28th.  We took a van to our hotel and got an early check-in.  We saw tourists everywhere. We saw more Americans and Europeans here than we ever see in Manila. It looked like we were the only people who weren't tourists on the plane. There was a tourist kiosk in the outdoor hotel lobby which was run by a company owned by President Mosquera who is the District President for the Puerto Princesa District. We met several members of the Church who work for his agency. We were offered a discount on a tour but we did not have time to really go anywhere outside of the city. We were of course invited to come back for another visit. Palawan was very nice with clear air, blue water and mountains. We know they also have nice beaches but we did not see any. It was nice to breathe clear air for a while and to be able to see the mountains without looking through smog.

 

Anna at the Baywalk in Puerto Princesa 



 

We had a training session planned for 5:30 pm in the District Center. I had been worried because I had a hard time getting any response back from President Mosquera so I wasn't really sure if anyone was coming. When we arrived there were only a few people there which was not surprising, this is the Philippines after all. Pres Mosquera told me that we would probably start around 6:30 pm to give people time to arrive. He sent out a bunch of text messages and people started coming. We ended up with almost 40 people which is more than we usually get from a Stake. The training went well and everyone seemed happy about it.

Dale, Jomel, Franco, & Pres. Angoy at Baker's Hill

 

We left Saturday morning around 7:30 am for the long trip to Narra. Like most trips here it is not the distance but the time that counts. The road is famous for being a very bad road but has been improved a lot in recent years and there are only a few bad places today. Most of the road is now paved with only short distances of dirt and rock. The road is windy as it runs near the coast and very bumpy but passable.   There was not much traffic and we saw a lot of carabao. In some place people were riding on the carabao and in other places they were pulling carts loaded with goods just like we see in the souvenir stores. It was a very pretty drive through the jungle along the ocean in many places. We drove through a canopy of trees where the branches touched above our heads and past a crocodile park. It took about 2 hours to get to Narra.

 

 

Here is how most people travel on the island.

 

When we arrived at Narra we starting setting up for the training in one room, but the District President, President Betita, decided that we should have everyone who was at the building attend our training. So we waited for another meeting to finish and then had everyone attend the meeting in the chapel. Again, Jomel and Franco did the presentation. Dale and I got up and bore our testimonies about PEF/Self Reliance.  There were about 45 people in attendance. The meeting took from 10:30 until 1:30. We were impressed with the spirit of the humble people attending the meeting. Many of them had come from far away to be here. Some told us that they had to leave their homes at 5:30 am to attend the training and that it would take nearly 4 hours to get back home. We were impressed with their dedication. 

We got back from Narra about 10 minutes before our ride was coming to get us for a fireside in Puerto Princesa.  Elder and Sister Newson gave us a ride to the fireside.  At the fireside we had a group of about 40 people again. Dale and I did our presentation and answered questions about the PEF loan.

Puerto Princesa Bay

 

On Sunday we had another busy day.  We attended church at Santa Monica Branch and met with several PEF participants there.  We then did another PEF presentation for the whole branch during the last hour of church.  We hadn't planned to have such a large group, but the Branch President wanted to have everyone hear our message.  There were about 100 people there.

On Monday,we then walked through town looking like tourists when a man with a tricycle approached us and told us about the WW II museum and offered to take us there and give us a ride anywhere we wanted to go that day. When we asked how much it would cost and he said that we could just pay whatever we thought it was worth. We decided to get in and he took us to the museum which was further than we had guessed, so we were glad to be riding.  The driver waited for us and then took us to a souvenir store where we bought a few things including some pearls for Anna. They had all kinds of pearls there in all different colors. The Philippines and especially Palawan is famous for having pearls.

Anna at Kalui Restaurant (The Tiki  Room)



We then had the driver take us to a place for lunch. We had been talking to him about the Church.   He knew someone who was a member and knew where the church was located. While we ate lunch he went home and took his daughter to school. He said he was concerned about her and wanted her to be safe. I thought, he should be a member of the Church. Lunch was very good, probably the best food that we have had in the Philippines. The restaurant was built of bamboo with a thatched roof and reminded us of the Tiki Room in Disney world. After lunch we had him take us to the mall next door to the hotel and leave us there. He gave us his card and invited us back and invited us to meet his family the next time we are in Puerto Princesa. We talked to him some more about the church and told him that we would pay him 500 pesos for the rides but we wanted him to meet with the missionaries. He agreed and said he would be happy to meet with the missionaries. We told him he had to meet with them at least once and than after that it was up to him. (We are missionaries, after all)

 

 

 



A Volcano within a Lake within a Volcano - Taal

We left a little early to go to Tagaytay on February 21st. It is about 60 kilometers away and takes a while to get there. It is a very pretty area on a plateau that is higher and cooler than Manila. The town is surrounded by pineapple plantations and banana trees and over looks Taal Lake. The Lake is in an ancient volcano and has a couple of craters sticking up out of the water on islands. One of the big tourists activities here is to take a boat out to the island and hike up to the crater. The crater has a lake in it so it has the distinction of being a lake in a volcano crater on an island in the middle of a lake.

 

Here we are in a boat on Taal Lake going to the volcano.

 

 

It is pretty unique and we heard about it when we first arrived and thought that Derek would like seeing it. The boat ride was a little more expensive than we thought and the ride was a little rougher than we had planned for. The boat is basically a large outrigger canoe with a motor. The lake was rough with white caps. The wind was blowing pretty hard which is unusual. They gave us a sheet of plastic to hold in front of us to keep some of the water off. Even with the plastic we got more than a little wet going to the island. Most of the tourists ride horses up to the top but we planned to hike up except Anna who was going to decide for sure once we got to the island. She was still a little sore from hiking in Banaue but after she saw how small the Filipino horses were she decided to hike up. The hike was about 4 kilometers up the hill but not near as steep as walking up stairs. It was very dusty and dirty with quite a few people riding up on horseback. It was funny to see large men riding these small ponies with a guide following behind holding the ponies tail to make sure that he didn't go up too fast. I was glad to be hiking.

It was an interesting view. We saw several steam vents along the way and steam coming up along the shoreline of the lake in the crater. There were sulfur deposits and it reminded me a little of Yellowstone. We walked back down rode back across the lake and had lunch before heading back to Manila.

 

 

 

We decided to go back a different way and went through Naic where there are some Filipino beach resorts. We stopped at one of them so Derek could see it. It would not qualify to be called a resort at home but it did have some covered picnic areas and a few huts. The beach was a dark almost black sand and the water did not look very clear. A lot like in Manila. We then headed back to our apartment.

 

 Naic Beach Resort

The Beautiful Banaue and Batad Rice Terraces

 

We left at 5:00 AM on February 12th to drive to Banaue to see the rice terraces. It was a long drive up. It took us about 8 hours to drive there. We stopped in Lagawe and had lunch at a small café. We ate some kind of soup dish with noodles and chicken. It was called Chicken Mami. We continued up the very windy mountain road to Banaue. We checked into our hotel room and then rode on a tricycle up to the view point for the Banaue Rice Terraces. We took a lot of pictures. It is an amazing sight and a wonder that these people have farmed these terraces for over 2,000 years. The terraces in Banaue have mud walls. We walked back down the 4 km to town, much easier than having to climb. We had dinner at the Sanafe Inn, where we were staying. We were definitely eating Filipino food here because there was no other choice. It was nice and cool up here and there was a nice veranda at the inn for viewing the terraces. Our room also faced the terraces and had a nice big window to look out.

 

This is a picture of the rice terraces in Banaue.  Notice the water flowing from one terrace to the next.

 

 



The next day we rode in a jeepney up a steep, windy mountain road.  The road to Batad was rough, windy, and dirt in many places. They were doing a lot of work on it and there was quite a bit of truck traffic and other vehicles but no cars. We arrived at the Batad Saddle for our hike down to the rice terraces there.  The Batad Saddle is a very busy place with jeepneys and other 4 wheel drive vehicles dropping off and picking up people and supplies. There is very little room to turn around and several small buildings with people selling supplies and souvenirs. We got out of the jeepney and Anna rented a walking stick for 10 pesos and we started down the mountain. The saddle is at about 1500 meters in elevation or almost 5000 feet. We had to first walk down 412 rough very uneven steps and then a path of about 4 kilometers into the town. It is the only way to get there. All of their food, supplies, clothing, water, etc are carried down by hand with no animals to help. A few of the newer places have electricity but not many, mostly only the inns where the tourists stay.

 

 

We arrived at the sign welcoming us to Batad and took a few pictures. The Hillside Inn was one of the first places we came to right after they collected 50 pesos each from us at the tourist center which was basically a lean-to. They said they use the money to maintain the terraces which was fine with us and it was only a little more than $1 each. We ate lunch in the Inn and then talked to our guide, Charlie, about what to do next. We decided that we wanted to hire him to take us through the village and on to the waterfall. We thought we could probably do it by ourselves but it was confusing with paths going in all directions and no roads at all. We also thought it was a good idea to help out the locals and it was not very expensive. I think it was worth it not to get lost and to hear a about the history of the village and the rice terraces. Charlie's family had basically been there forever so he was a good guide. He was also the head of the Batad guide association and he had strong ideas about how important the guides could be to the tourists and obviously did not like the guides from Banaue who come to Batad sometimes and steal their business.

 

 

 

The view in Batad was even better than the one in Banaue. The Batad rice terraces are much steeper and are surrounded by mountains. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It is truly amazing to think that these people have lived in this village for more than 2,000 years. We hiked down to the town across the rice terraces. The terraces here are supported by rock walls and are very steep. You don't want to fall off.

 

 

It was very difficult for me to climb up and down on the terraces. Sometimes we had to walk on very narrow steps on rocks that jutted out from the wall and other times we had to step up on two foot steps. After we walked down to the village we went back up the terraces and walked toward Tappia Falls going up and down many more times. When we got to the viewpoint of the falls I sat down to rest. Derek continued on with our guide down to the bottom of the falls. We watched him get in the water and swim in the little lake created by the falls.

 

 

After he came back we again walked up and down arriving back at the rice terraces near the town. We then hiked across the terraces going up and down again traversing them. We stopped at a souvenir shop in the middle of the terraces. It was newly created because the owner's previous shop which was located on the trail coming down from the saddle had been burned down by some people who our guide thought were from Banaue. We felt sorry for him and bought a fruit bowl and stand from him. The tripod stand had been carved out one piece of wood. I slipped down on some loose gravel and landed on my rear as I walked down from the shop.

 

Our guide showed us a home that is typical for the Ifugao people who have lived in Batad for more than 2,000 years.

 

Then we continued on our journey across the terraces. I was very tired by this point and ended up falling again as I slipped on some loose dirt. This place was too much up and down for me and I was worn out.



The guide took our picture at the end of our hike.

 

We stayed in an inn on the side of the mountain called "Hillside Inn," an appropriate name.  The view of the terraces from there was wonderful.  Here's a picture of Derek in front of the window (no glass) in our room:

 

 

We made it back to the Inn and relaxed on the veranda. We then went and took showers after having sweated all day on the trail. After returning to the veranda, we noticed there was a monkey tethered to a tree down below the Inn. Derek went down and took some pictures of him. Later we ordered dinner and ate looking out over the terraces. I ordered a pineapple pizza which was pan fried. It was very good. We talked with fellow boarders at the inn. One young woman was from Holland and was taking a few months off from her studies to travel. She had already been to Bangkok and planned to visit Vietnam and other places in the area. A gentleman we met was from Germany and travels a lot in the winter time to get away from the cold. It was interesting to meet people from around the world in this tiny little village in the mountains of northern Luzon.

 

Going back up the 412 steps to the Batad Saddle.



 

The next morning Derek got up early and hiked to the highest point to get a good view of the whole area.  Dale and I stayed at the inn and waited for him.  While he ate breakfast we got a head start hiking back up to the saddle. We noticed some young boys climbing up the trail ahead of us. There were three of them and they moved very quickly. We wondered where they were going. Derek caught up with us before we were halfway up. When we reached the top we looked around and saw the same three young boys getting ready to carry supplies back down to the village. We were surprised when two of them, about 9 to 10 years old, were tying two cases of soda cans together so they could carry them back down. The other boy, about 6 years old, was preparing to carry a big package of sandals. I took his picture and gave him 20 pesos. We thought they were just goofing off when we first saw them going up the trail, but it looks like they had an important job to do.

 

 



 

Our jeepney driver arrived very soon after we got to the top. We got in the jeepney and rode back to Banaue. We had thought we might have the driver take us to see another rice terrace, but we were all tired and sore and ready to hit the road for Manila.  We weren't sure if we could make it all the way back to Manila and planned to stop and stay somewhere if it got too late. Dale was able to make pretty good time driving down out of the mountains. He got behind two other vehicles and followed them down as they passed trucks on the windy road. It was a little scary at times trying to get around the slower vehicles around the curves in the road. It took us about 8 hours to drive back and we got to our apartment around 9:30 at night. It was a nice trip, but we were glad to get out of the car and into our beds.



 

 

 

Corregidor Island Visit with Derek

 

We went to Corregidor Island on February 10th, the day after Derek arrived in the Philippines. We walked about 35 minutes to get over to the dock and when we got there we looked around and saw a large group of senior Missionary Couples. The Senior Missionaries from the Cavite Mission were going on the same tour as we were. They probably do not often get that many Mormons on one tour boat at a time. Here are Derek and Dale on the boat going out to the island:

 

 

 

 

And here is a display showing the island:

 

 

 



The trip to Corregidor was nice. It was warm and sunny. It took a little over and hour to get to the island. When we arrived we got on open air shuttle buses. There was a breeze blowing on the island, so we were fairly comfortable. When we stopped to go see some of the bunkers and big guns we got a little hot and had to put our hats on.

 

 

 

The tour took us all around the island to different batteries, tunnels, and memorials.  We saw a gecko in one of the tunnels we went into.   We had lunch at the hotel dining room and then finished our tour. The last part of the tour was a walk through one of the tunnels and they presented a light and sound show. The presentation gave a history of the island of Corregidor during World War II. It was quite interesting.

 

 

 

It was an enjoyable day. I thought about my Dad who would have loved to visit the island. He always loved history and especially anything about World War II.

 

And by the way, MacArthur did return!