Philippines Part 1

I'm back! Before I go into anything else, I have to say, the trip was AWESOME!!! I had lots of trepidation about it before going, but I'm definitely glad I went. I had the time of my life.

The adventures started before we even got to Manila--we were in for a surprise at the Tokyo airport. I'm not sure if it's been on the news or not, but getting off an airplane in Japan can take 15 to 30 minutes longer due to the Swine Flu scare. Before we landed, each passenger was asked to fill out a Health Questionnaire (which was poorly translated, with slightly humorous results). Then when the plane landed we were told to stay in our seats while a group of "quarantine officials" boarded the plane and reviewed our paperwork--one at a time. I didn't take a picture, but I found this picture online that was taken at the same airport. The plane fell into an eerie silence when the first official stepped onto the aircraft pointing his heat sensor at everyone. My throat suddenly went dry and I felt like a cough was coming. I drank the last of my water--but it didn't help! It seemed like an eternity before they gave us the all-clear.

We landed in Manila and had to find my brother, who was going to pick us up from the airport. Once we got our luggage and went through customs, we were not only greeted by the humidity, but a crowd of people waiting for their travelers in a designated waiting area. My brother found us and we were on our way--or so I thought. We couldn't go to Tarlac until we found a mechanic (at about midnight) to fix the van my brother had rented for the week. After about an hour, we were on our way to Tarlac.

We stayed at La Maja Rica Hotel, which my brother said is the nicest hotel in the province. There were no box springs in the beds, but other than that I didn't have a problem with it.

In the morning, we went to run a few errands. The van was at another mechanic for a more permanent fix-up, so we rode tricycles instead! It's like a taxi, only more fun. I rode on the inside of one with Jonah and her sister Jingle. Joyce was on the back, behind the driver, and the others were in another tricycle. P.S. no seatbelts, so hold on!

Matt pointed out this store as the place where they got Jonah's wedding dress.

We drove to an all-you-can-eat buffet in Angeles for lunch. This was definitely an adventure (those are snails in the top right corner, not mushrooms). Nobody really explained what any of the food was until after I ate it. As soon as I brought
this plate back from the table, everyone gasped and asked if I was really going to eat the black stuff. It was probably the stuff I liked the most that meal(turned out to be a dish made out of pig's blood). Dessert was a Halo Halo (Tagalog for "mix mix"). Basically, you put a ton of stuff into a glass, add shaved ice and milk, and mix it up. I decided not to put any beans in mine, or most of the gelatin options. This one has sweet potato-like vegetable chunks, bananas, crispy rice, tapioca, and some sort of coconut gelatin stuff.

It was about this point that I realized that my camera came with a really small memory card. Matt had a memory card that I borrowed, but I can't post any of those pictures until I get them from him. So this is the end of post #1. More to come!