The first time in 24 years!

In August I was so blessed to have my older sister visit us here in the Philippines. It was so much fun to take her around and watch her experience life on our turf which I might add is quite different to life in New Zealand....
Thank you to those of you who prayed for fine weather. God answered your prayers. We had torrential rain before and after her visit! Well here are some scenes of that memorable time in no particular order!

Eating rice at least twice a day was one of her new experiences....Here we are at the Mall of Asia's Ice Skating Rink even though the temperature outside is 35. C

Not all Kiwis like eating rice that often so now and then we would take a cultural food break and eat Pizza!

Here Mel is bargaining for a cheaper eco-friendly ride around the tourist belt....but to no avail.......Well it was good to walk and afterall it is the most eco-friendly way of all!

Ice cream anyone??

We even dropped by Bocaue Bulacan to visit our former neighbours.


They happen to be immigrating to New Zealand this year....Joanna's best friend when she was 5 years old is now living in Hawera with her Dad! It's amazing how things work out.

Wow all the houses have a new storey since we left ten years ago. Progress!..There is Mel cooling the car down before we dare to hop back in...remember it's 35.C and very sunny!

Another culture break....Banana Split anyone?

High School girls going home from school along the beach near China Sea Beach Resort La Union.

Now who said 'Missionary Life' is difficult?
(Susan treated us to an overnight stay at the Final Option Beach Resort in La Union. Thanks Susan..so refreshing!)

Beautiful Philippine's Scenery!

Delicious Philippines Food......

Here is our faithful and forever willing driver...... taking a rest in the Nipa Hut with his wife!

Baguio City Cathedral

Baguio City Cathedral has the 10 Commandments on display in the church grounds.

Baguio City's Burnham Park....Boat ride anyone?
( Notice the large SM shopping mall in the background)

Another cultural food break..McDonalds!

More boat rides above and below!

Visiting Baguio is not complete without a visit to the Philippine's Military Academy!

(Notice the words on the building above COURAGE - INTEGRITY - LOYALTY)

Every Saturday the soldiers parade.

So orderly and clean!

"United we stand divided we fall!"

How many soldiers is that????

Whoops it looks like these two forgot their uniforms!

At PMA we met up with some of the present YWAM Baguio DTS students that Mel had the pleasure to teach the week before!

Baguio City Mines View Market is very intriguing and has so many steps, and stores......

They even have local tribal clothes to try on for picture taking.......at a price of course......

Here are some local Filipino tourists trying on the clothing.....

And when you need a comfort break while in Mines View you need to know what you want to do before you pay.....different toilets with different prices for different events!

Off to the Market now to buy a .........

Fish anyone..Tilapia at the city market.

Our favorite ... Boneless Bangus..

Blind, singing beggars are forever present on the city overpasses and so are snatchers and pick pockets!

More fish! Amazing amount of fish considering we live in the mountains.....

Suasages anyone.....yes thats right..what did you think they were?.....flowers???

Every flavour under the sun available! (Yes literally hanging under the sun)

Giant crabs for sale......yumm!

Now this I can handle..strawberries....mmmmmm

More strawberries..the problem was we were so busy taking pictures we didn't buy any food!

Look at all these pirated DVD's ..don't worry we didn't buy any.....

For all of you who have never seen a kalamansi..well now you have!

Now that's a lot of chicken meat!

Mussels, clams........

One of the industries in Baguio is growing flowers and selling the cut flowers..here we are at the flower market!

The gown stores are very close to the food market..

'The Mansion House' The President of the Philippine's summer home!

Good exercise!




Horse riding anyone the price is P300 for one hour...($NZ10)

A woman in our neighbourhood carrying her firewood home to cook dinner. Charcoal is in her other hand.....

Our neighbours son catching the jeepney to school along with his yaya (babysitter).

Even the cows look different here. In Baguio they are on a kind of leash and not fenced in.

Here is a farmer walking his cow.......oh and rocks are blue in Baguio...(sorry just kidding!) Garbage is an ongoing problem here...notcie the garbage pile in the background....

There I am on the runway about to direct the next flight in!

Another picture of the airport runway..this was our children' s playground for a number of years....

The Lion' s Head

Swimming at ' Klondykes Hot Springs'

The Famous Zig Zag Road (Kennon Rd) built by 4000 men from different nations!

Mel gave Susan the tedious task of removing all the 'Malunggay' leaves to place in our soup for our evening meal..he helped her out in the end...as for me.... I did the picture taking!

Watching the local women at Easter Weaving weave their works of art is always a treat......
They are very talented and extremely patient women!

We even dropped by one of our local sponsored children's home......

..and delivered a sack of rice to the family...a regular gift from their sponsor......

....the family is so happy to have enough rice for the month......

Life here is full of contrasts especially between the rich and the poor......here are some scenes for the more privileged......the local Country Club Golf Club.......

A beautiful entrance with locally hand crafted wooden figures that are none too friendly....

...........I surrender!

Beautiful pine trees in Camp John Hay the former R & R Base for American Soldiers

The Beautiful Manor House..... A five star hotel here in Baguio

The Manor House Entrance..

Beautiful Camp John Hay above and below....

A former gas station turned restaurant named appropriately..'The Filling Station'

Recycling is big here!

Ok back to reality...yes that' s a man sleeping in a hammock in the back of a truck..by the time he reaches his unloading place he is very refreshed from his comfortable sleep....NOT!

Stuffed Barbeque Fish..our favorite Saturday lunch..just $1.50 per cooked fish....now that's a bargain!

Our area is also known fondly as ' the vegetable bowl of the Philippines' ..fresh vegetables are abundant!

The cemetery which is walking distance from where we live ..this is a family tomb of a wealthy family.....

Well it's time to say Goodbye to Susan..here we are at the Shalom Guest house in Manila shortly before her flight....thank you Susan for your visit and thanks every one for joining us on this tour....Blessings!