Will's 11th Birthday!

For Will's 11th Birthday we decided to take a little sightseeing trip. We spent 2 days on the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. As any self-respecting homeschooling Mom would, we prepared beforehand for this adventure by learning about it's history. Corregidor was a key pacific battle site during WW2. It is the place MacArthur left when he gave his famous "I shall return" speech. It was a crushing blow to the American Army in 1941 and a great victory when MacArthur fulfilled his promise of return in 1945. During the war, this small island was bombed so heavily that it was left desolate. No building escaped being hit and all suffered major damage, including the 1000 bed hospital.

The kids (and Al and I) had a great time stomping around the ruins and making history come alive. Our favorite part of the trip though had to be our expedition into the recesses of Malinta tunnel, a huge set of tunnels carved under a mountain to be used as a bomb shelter. The kids liked crawling through these tight spaces with hard hats and flashlights. This is only open to those visitors who spend the night on the island. Since most visitors just take a day trip, we were alone in our adventure. We had a great Filipino guide, who really taught us a lot of history.

While the kids loved Malinta tunnel, they weren't crazy about all caves. They have always loved exploring and I thought they would jump at the chance to explore other caves, but they decided they don't really like bats and therefore were hesitant to go too deep into "Bat Cave". We did enjoy hiking the 300 stair shortcut. (We chose to hike down) Our eyes were peeled for bomb craters, fallen structures, and monkeys.

In the afternoons we enjoyed strolling the coastline picking up shells. There were more beautiful, unbroken shells than anyone person could ever collect. The search wasn't for a perfect unblemished shell, but for which perfect shell was the most unique. We have brought home 2 bags full and we didn't even make a dent on the shell-filled shore.

We arrived home after 2 days of scampering over and through ruins, batteries, tunnels, mountains, and coastlines tired, but thrilled with all we were able to do. It is a birthday gift Will will long remember.

Halo Halo

I know I have blogged about halo halo in the past, but I thought I would share a picture of the kids eating some. Recently we went to the pool after dinner and stopped for a treat on the way home. The kids kind of debate whether this was a treat or not. They would have rather stopped for milkshakes, but that's not an option. For those of you who didn't read the earlier blog or don't remember, halo halo is kind of the national dessert for the Philippines. While there isn't one particular way to make halo halo, it is basically a mixture of crushed ice topped with milk or coconut milk, sweet beans, coconut, jackfruit, other various tropical fruits, pinipig (pounded dried rice), ube (a purple colored sweet yam), cream flan (leche flan), shreds of sweetened plantain, and jello cubes. Sometimes the whole thing is then topped off with a scoop of ice cream. Halo halo literally means mix mix and I think it accurately describes this dessert. I was a little skeptical about a dessert with beans, but they are actually not bad.

On another food related issue--while we were at the missions conference a couple weeks ago, Em went fishing with some girls. She has always loved to fish, but mostly just throws back what she catches. Here the fished were cleaned and cooked by the staff and served to her for dinner. She had caught quite a few and so we shared them with some friends. Em decided she really likes talapia. It's amazing how much better something tastes that you have caught yourself. The week before conference she had eaten part of a fish head (OK so we bribed her with cold hard cash to try the head). That night I talked her into trying the fish eye. She wasn't wowed by it and probably wouldn't eat it again anytime soon. In our ministry here, people always laugh about the Holmes twins fighting over the fish eyes. Em would gladly give them her share. I guess she is truly an MK now that she has eaten fish heads and eyes. By the way, I'm not sure I've ever seen a fish here served headless.

Sights along the way

I took this picture when we stopped for gas on the way home today. This is a carabo plowing a rice paddy. I love getting out of the city and seeing some of the beauty of the Philippines.

Time to head home

Well, it is time for us to head home. The kids have had a great time running around playing and swimming with all the other MKs. They have had a children's conference run by a church from Hemet, CA. Here is Em gettting into the van this morning with 3 shirts on. A t-shirt, a thin sweat shirt, and her conference t-shirt. When we get home, I am going to have to call my Mom and Sister-in-law and ask them to buy up some sweat shirts and sweaters on clearance for the kids or they will never survive furlough.

Em and Will sitting in the back of the van.

Coconut Croquet

They have a fun game here called coconut croquet. Instead of a ball you use a coconut. It's not as easy as it looks. Here is Will giving the ball a good smack.

"I won!"

DR. AL

One of the reasons we are at this conference is for Allan to do some medical consulting and teaching. Most of the missionaries here work in remote tribal areas of the PI. It doesn't matter what their background, they often become the medical expert of their area. Allan spoke this year about TB--a common illness here. One of the most common things he seems to do each year at conference is look in people's ears.

Coconut Trees!

We are really enjoying our trip to the country. The weather has been very cool here. The kids have worn a sweat shirt every morning and evening. It has been great to be able to sleep under a blanket without a fan. Tonight at dinner the temp was 70 degrees. I can't wait to see how cold the night feels.

The camp where we are is in a coconut grove. I love the look of coconut trees. Here are a few pictures:

A baby coconut tree

A Trip to the Province

Each year, just after New Year's we leave home to take a trip out to Laguna for a missions conference. It is great to get out of the city and see some of the beauty of the Philippines. Today, we stopped for lunch along the way at a restaurant called Exotic. It was quite an exotic experience for some of us. Allan ordered Kambing Caldereta. Kambing is the Tagalog word for goat. It was quite delicious, although with the sauce, Al was a little skeptical of what all was in it. I ordered a something semi-safe-Korean Bulgogi and then I split an order of sawa with Scott. Sawa is the Tagalog word for Python. It was actually pretty good. Too many little bones though. I was quite proud of my adventurous self, but I am still not ready to eat balut (a half formed duck egg).

The kids would not be quite so adventurous as their parents. Will ordered his standard cheeseburger and Em ordered a club sandwich. Oh well, I was young once and I definitely wouldn't have eaten snake or goat. Actually, I really disliked rice unil I was in college. Who would have thought that it would play such a vital role in my adult diet.

Python cooked in coconut milk

About to take my first bite!