Mabuhay 2015: Dipaculao and Baler

Blake always raves about the local Filipino bakeries. We picked up some treats on our way out of Cabanatuan. It only took me 30 minutes to realize I had left my cell phone at the hotel and we had to turn back and get it. Luckily it didn't ruin our day too much. 

The drive to Dipaculao and Baler was beautiful. It was so lush and so green. Blake always refers to these places as his beach area. He served there for 4.5 months and all I can say is I wish I lived there for 4.5 months. 

It's a pretty windy road to Dipaculao/Baler and we stopped at a little market to get some snacks and took a picture by this broken down D' Liner bus. This is what all the missionaries would ride in to get to the beach area and back. It would take them 4 hours just to get to the closest zone. Not what I would call traveling in style...

One of the church buildings. 

Ok, so this is Mother Falls. When Blake and I were dating, I remember seeing pictures of him at some waterfalls and I knew I wanted to visit them when we went, so this was big on my list of to-dos. It had been completely commercialized since Blake had been there and it was packed with people, but it was still beautiful. 

We took a tricycle up to the beginning of the hike and walked for about an hour and made it to the falls. We swam for a while and Blake jumped off a big rock and all the Filipinos were cheering for the white foreigner. 

We bought Keen's for this trip and they were really a perfect hiking/swimming shoe. I highly recommend them. I think we should be models for them...what do ya think?

That night we went to Dipaculao and visited with some of Blake's closest friends from his mission. Most of the people there don't have internet, so we didn't really know how to let people know that we were coming, but Blake remembered all the streets like it was yesterday and we just showed up unannounced.

Nanay Lleonora is on the left in the green shirt. I remember she was sitting in her outside hut making dinner and we walked in and immediately she said, "Elder Day!" It was so special seeing these people recognize and remember Blake and visit with them. I couldn't believe that they remembered him so well. I couldn't tell you a single name of missionaries that passed through my ward growing up. Nanay Lleonora kept on telling me that Blake was her favorite missionary. She actually never joined the church, but she is indeed a kindred spirit and I hope I'll get to visit with her again one day.

Next we visited the Sibayan family. Orland (far left) left for his mission while Blake was serving and Blake baptized Orland's mom. About six months later, Brother Sibayan was baptized. They were so kind and hospitable and once again, they had a great time telling me stories about Blake as a missionary. After a while of chatting, it was time to go and call it a night.

We didn't really know where we were going to stay while we were visiting this area, but the missionary couple told us about this beautiful new resort they had built in Baler called Costa Pacifica. We walked in and I was in awe. I was taken aback at how beautiful everything was. We decided to just go for it and booked a King suite with a beachfront view for a night. It was way more room than we needed, but it was worth it.  

We ate at the restaurant that night and had fresh juice and enjoyed our meal and REALLY enjoyed our room.

The next morning we woke up around 5 AM, opened up our curtains and doors and just laid together and watched the sunrise for an hour. Afterwards we got some breakfast and enjoyed our last few moments in Baler.

This is our balcony and view from our room.

We loved our selfie stick

Bedroom

View from the room

Bathroom setup

Living room. 

We started our long drive back to Angeles and Manila and were getting super excited for our trip to the island of Palawan. More to come!

Mabuhay 2015: Manila Day 3

This was by far our most successful day in Manila. It was Wednesday and we got to meet Darlene! Darlene is the little Filipino girl that my brother sponsors in the Philippines. They've been sponsoring her for about 2 years and we only found out they had a sponsor child when we moved in December. I thought it was pretty cool when I found out, but never thought that we'd get the chance to meet her. We visited her at the Children International office in Quezon City and brought her all sorts of fun gifts from the United States.

 In front of the office.

This is Darlene and her mother. Aren't they the cutest?

Everyone in the entire office was so impressed with Blake's Tagalog and I think we literally met every person in the office. We liked what we saw so much, that we started sponsoring a little boy in the Philippines through the same office. We hope that we get to meet him next time we go. 

One of the best parts about the visit was when we gave Darlene a Hot Tamale to eat. She eventually spit it out and told us it was not delicious. Filipinos don't have much spice in their cuisine, so it was definitely something foreign to her to have a spicy candy.

We said our goodbyes and left Manila behind and headed to Blake's mission area. On the way I snapped a picture of this woman giving a pedicure. I don't think state board would approve, but it's good to know that I could make a living in the Philippines if we ever lived there!

After Manila, we made our way to Blake's mission area, Angeles. 

We headed straight to the old mission home and took a picture out front. Blake was a little sad to see that it hadn't been maintained as well as when he lived there. It has since moved to another area, but we did find a senior missionary couple that lived in his old apartment. They were so kind and let us sit in their air conditioned apartment and fed us fresh mango. 

Our next stop was Nayong Pilipino. It's basically a mini Philippines amusement park. They have replicas of famous sites in the Philippines, like the Banaue Rice Terraces, which was pretty fun to see since we didn't get a chance to visit the rice terraces in person.

My favorite part was watching these high school students perform native dances and songs. Blake got to participate in the tinikling dance on stage and it as pretty cute.

 On our way to Gapan I noticed some people playing baseball in a field. Blake said while he was on his mission, he NEVER saw so much as a glove, let alone a full on game. We turned around immediately and pulled into a dirt driveway. Within seconds, every single person from the town had heard that a tall white man drove up in a car to play some ball. Everyone gathered around so they could watch Blake hit and it is seriously one of my favorite memories of our time there.

We made it to Gapan and visited with Lyra and her grandmother. Lyra joined the church when she was about 13 and now serves in the Young Women organization as a leader. It was really special to hear them talk about Blake as a missionary and the role that he played in their lives. They even had an old picture of him on their baptism day. (He's the tall one =P ) 

Blake is in his Filipino squat outside one of his old apartments. We stopped at a hotel for the night and visited his beach area the next day. One of my favorite stops.