Philippines (Day 1-3)Day 1 - Thursday, 17 April 2008
It was 3.30am, the alarm clock rang, it's time to wash up and head to LCCT! McD was not open (tipu orang it was written there 24 Hours!!!) and there's only 1 restaurant that's open at that time, we had nasi lemak, donuts and croissant. At 5:00am we checked in our luggages and head to the waiting lounge.
 
 
 
Kiasu-ly I walked as fast as possible to get a good seat, the window seat  and YES we got it haha Our flight departed on time, 7:45am. The view was beautiful. Saw a few islands here and there but not sure what is it. As we flew into Philippines, the first thing I noticed was the geographical landscape. It's kinda hilly, with lots of hills and mountains everywhere. The clouds is puffy & nice!
AirAsia! Now everyone can fly~
We arrived at Diosdado Macapagal Internation Airport, Clark at 10:40am. We took a 2 hour bus ride into the Manila city, where we will meet & pick up by Uncle Ronny at Megamall, Mandaluyong City in Manila. Driver seat is on the left side of the car! Thus we're on right side of the road. Kinda weird coz in Malaysia, we drive on the right side of the car. Took me some time to get used to it coz if I'm to sit in front, I tend to walk to the left side of the car but actually that's the driver seat haha Below are the photos of the city, taken while sitting inside the bus
 
 
 
 
As we enter Manila city, we saw lots of buildings with Christian or Bible phrase or churches, huge billboards, public transportations vehicles such as jeepney (above left) and tricycle (above right). Even the jeepney has Christian phrases, verses or Jesus's pictoral image on it and a normal convenient store name is "Christian Store".Cool eh  Apparently, traffic jam is a normal thing in Manila too. It was afternoon when we reached, quite jam.
Uncle Ronny brought us to lunch at the local fast food chain, Chow King.
It's Chinese fast food! Wow
After lunch, we went back to their house in Antipolo City, in the Province of Rizal which is about 30mins drive away. Okay Philippines is HUGE! With many provinces, thousands of islands with the population approaching 90 million people and out of that, about 50 million are youth. Manila is the capital of the Philippines and 1 of the cities that make up the greater metropolitan area of Metro Manila. To read more on Philippines, go to this site
This is their dog, Lunar 
Lunar was given to the Lows when she was about 3-4 months old because they need a watchdog, and was named Lunar by the original owner because her face is almost devoid of spots and looks like moon! 
We then settled down a bit, met Aunty Sharon and then we went to Ee Ern & Bry Ern's school to pick them up. The school name is Faith Academy. It is an international school for the children of missionaries working in Asia. All their staff are volunteers and it is by faith. It's amazing to see God's hands and His blessings upon this school
Bry Ern showing us around~ This is his class
Bry Ern having fun at the school playground
OOoohh I LOVE THE SWIMMING POOL!!!
Too bad didn't bring swimsuit!
That's Ee Ern, Aunty Sharon & Keat San chatting
After touring the school, we went back to their house, unpack a bit... Discuss and brief regarding our agenda this trip and other things as well while Aunty Sharon prepared us a lovely dinner.
After dinner, we continued more on our trip's itinerary and Uncle Ronny also shared more about what he's currently working on. Tomorrow a lot of things awaits us, so head to bed early to sleep as soon as possible and pray that everything will go smoothly
Day 2 - Friday, 18 April 2008
The day begun at 6:00am, the sun is up way earlier, about 4:00am. So 6:00am felt like it's about 8-9:00am. And 9:00am felt like afternoon hot sun already. So then we got ourselves ready, followed Uncle Ronny to send the 2 boys to school and then head on to our first agenda of the day, which is a breakfast meet-up with the Palangoy Christian Gospel Church leaders and workers at Chow King in another town, called Angono (we're still in the Province of Rizal). According to them, Angono is a town of artist.
Let me introduce to you, from Harry side, clockwise
there's Flor, Ate Jesmah, Kuya Murel, Uncle Ronny, Irene and me!
Kuya and Ate are calling for older brother/man and older sister/lady with respect. Kuya Murel & Ate Jesmah are the full time worker in Palangoy Christian Gospel Church, while Flor & Irene are the Saturday School teachers and also CG leaders. They both work as school teachers. We had a good get-to-know-yous session and chat together
The sight of Angono town
Very colorful hor especially the jeepneys
Next, we proceed to a place called, Barangay Tayuman ("barangay" means village) located in Binangonan town where the church have recently bought a land and it is under the process of construction now. Oh the climate and weather there, in the morning till afternoon it can be very hot and sunny but it's very very windy. So you can imagine the construction workers work under the scorching hot sun.
 
 
One of the construction worker is 1 of the church worker's father that we met this morning. After that, we proceed to Barangay Palangoy (also in Binangonan town) where the Palangoy Christian Gospel Church is located. We did quite a lot of travelling coz it's all quite far away and along the way, we learned little by little some Tagalog words or phrases. Tagalog is 1 of the major languages, most often spoken in Philippines. But newspapers are almost completely in English.
 
 
 
This is the Palangoy Christian Gospel Church~
We also learned about Bukas Puso Scholarship Programme, where children can be 'adopted' and get help financially to continue their studies. While the children are in the Scholarship Programme, they are to join the Young People meeting and fellowship and their parents to join the church Cell Group. Through this, many has come to know Christ and accepted Jesus as their personal Lord & Saviour. It was a great meet-up with them as we learned more about God's works in this part of the world and how the need is so great here in this land and in our hearts, thank Him and praise Him for He is working actively among the hearts of the people here  This trip isn't just about us from KL going to Philippines to bless them but also vice versa as we're also blessed and encouraged by having the change to witness God's work there.
 
From the main hall, we went upstairs to check out the view from rooftop. Do you see how narrow were the staircase?
And do you see a lil tiny door on the right? That tiny room is the house/room where Kuya Murel and Ate Jesmah lives in (which is 1 level above the main hall). Although the place is small, their lifestyle is not that rich before people's eyes, but yet they're very happy people serving the Lord faithfully! Really gotta learn to be thankful for what we have here in KL! 
 
The view above is SUPERB! Clear blue sky!
I think I've said it many times, but many not here,
I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES' CLOUDS & SKY!
C'mom if you see all the outdoor photos with the sky, it's ever ever so BLUE 
(more pictures of the clouds & sky in another day)
Harry's expression in this picture is PRICELESS hahahaHAHA
At about 11.15am it was time to make a move and head back to the house, where we prepare for the children Saturday School's Awards Day tomorrow. On the way back, it was then that Uncle Ronny suddenly said, "Why don't someone share a testimony?" And thus I was chosen (I already had a feeling it's gonna be me). In the preparation of coming, I already prepared my testimony although it wasn't in our itinerary. But I prepared myself for the unexpected and to do whatever that is needed or necessary. Afterall this is not a holiday/vacation trip. I gotta be prepared to be use by God in whatever way He see fit.
Anyway I picked up a new skill from this trip! That is to make those balloons where you can twist-twist-turn-turn into different types of SHAPES! You usually see clowns making them, I don't know what do you call it.
Keat San taught Harry & I how to do poodles & swords
 
 
Harry was kinda helpless coz he couldn't manage to make any as the balloons kept bursting in his hands. So his task is to fill up the balloons with air and Keat San & I will do the twist-twist turn-turn
My first POODLE DOGGIES & SWORDS!!!
Later in the late afternoon, we went to pick up the children and Aunty Sharon from school. And then in the evening, we head back to Palangoy church for TEE (Theological Education by Extension) class, attended by mostly the young adults and adults.
Day 3 - Saturday, 19 April 2008
To be continued. Panjang giler lebar.
* k r i S h i n G * | 
