Okay, so we’ve launched back into our veritable mountain of photographs from our trip to Asia last summer. Here is the second of three installments documenting our summer ‘08 adventures in images. I will split them up into island and city.
There is so much that could be said about The Philippines, but I’ve already covered most of the basics over at our other blog, which we kept updated during our trip. Basically, the people were great, the food was sooo tasty, and it was the best feeling to spend a week with Justin and Erin McDonald, who will be back in California for the month of March, incidentally.
Photographically speaking, I’ve never encountered a better place to click the shutter than the tropical island region of Bicol, which is where the first half of this post is from.
I hope you enjoy the images.
island
This picture pretty much sums it up. Mt. Mayon is an 8,000-foot-tall, perfectly-shaped cone volcano that rises straight up out of the ocean. It is an imposing backdrop everywhere you go in Bicol, a region that encompasses a chain of small, lush islands.
We walked everywhere during our island visit, but with scenery like this, we didn’t mind…
True to the island theme, there were plenty of interesting creatures, such as this water monitor lizard, which became dinner. It’s called “Bayawak” in Tagalog. Chewy is what I’d call it.
But not all the creatures were exotic…
Where we stayed, there was a miniature zoo with four monkeys and assorted other animals. Three of the monkeys were mean and one was sweet-natured, but shy. He loved crackers.
Justin shredding coconut for dinner.
Dori is actually riding on the front of a boat here.
The construction site.
No cars, just water buffalo.
…and ornery goats with sweet beards.
city
So our first night in The Philippines, less than an hour after my flight landed, Justin and Erin took us around the corner to this amazing little restaurant, where we had barbecued chicken, garlic rice and iced tea. Our waiter brought us a small plate with several small limes — actually called “Calamondin” or “Kalamansi” — and a handful of little peppers, along with a bottle of soy sauce. These became this:
View from the top of Justin and Erin’s condo building.
A typical knees-to-knees, shoulder-to-shoulder jeepnie ride.
The jeepnie drivers have these signs posted in the windshield to let potential riders know where they’re headed.
One of the highlights of our time in Manila was the Passion concert we attended. The armbands they handed out said “Manila” on one side, and “Kuala Lumpur” on the other, to remind us to pray for the next city where Chris Tomlin and company were going to be playing.
The Philippines is a country saturated with Christian symbolism, and yet there is a lot of crime in Manila. (Dori’s camera was stolen right after the Passion show, as we were in line to buy CDs.) One afternoon, we visited the Manila Cathedral, also known as the Basilica Minore de la Nuestra Señora de la Immaculada Concepcion — whew! That’s not what I’d call it if I lived in Manila. Anyways, it’s the sixth Catholic cathedral to be built in Manila — the first was constructed in 1581 — and I strongly encourage you to go read about the series of calamaties that befell the five previous structures. What I liked the most were the carvings on the doors out front, each with a Latin inscription that’s fairly decipherable.
From the cathedral, we hailed a couple of bicycle cabs and headed to Luneta Park.
This is Jon, an orphan who Justin and Erin were taking care of on the weekends. He hung out with us for a couple of days while we were there, and we got to visit his orphanage.
On Sunday, the day before we left, we visited a shelter for abused women and children. It was a bittersweet way to conclude our trip, but fitting. I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures of the women and children, however, so their faces are preserved only in our memories.
Justin and Jon.
