Day 13: Back in Manila

We woke up a bit late because our flight was at 10:10 am and there was nothing much to do but to pack up. Being a Sunday, there was buffet breakfast at the hotel. We packed up and went to the airport.

The airport was very crowded. There were four flights coming into Puerto Princesa! Their passengers would disembark and they would take on the outbound passengers and off they went to their next destination. I did not know the airport was that busy. With flights now coming from Korea, the airport will be a lot busier.

Some final reflections on Palawan. It is God's paradise on earth. The place is very clean. Even when we passed through the old market, you could not see a single litter on the streets. There is still this innocence in the people. When we were buying pearls, the sales lady just put them on the counter. People at the hotel were very friendly - always ready to serve.

These people know they need to take care of the environment - and they do take care of them. There is a replantattion program to improve the environment. The streets were well paved. Traffic during peak hours is not as bad as Manila.

I have seen God's face in the place, the people and the time I spent here. All these are God's grace.

The flight was uneventful. It was very smooth. Manila was sunny! Finally, the sun broke through. But there was talk of a low-pressure area to hit the country Tuesday. Lord, not another typhoon.

On the way home our driver passed through the South Expressway. He passed through NAIA3 and it looked very beautiful! From the outside, it looks world class.

The SLEX is also impressive. When I saw it, I was overwhelmed by the complex interchanges. It looked more like the interchanges in Seattle.

On arriving home, we rested and then went to mass at 5pm. The church was packed! The strange thing is I found it hard to breathe inside the church because there were too many people. It was very hot but we went through the mass. It is really interesting that after the priest says, "The mass is ended" and people responded, "Thanks be to God", everyone clapped their hands in thanksgiving to the Lord. Is this liturgically accepted? I do not know.

Day 12: Crocodiles and Fireflies

The day started with a tour to a weaving factory. They use ordinary grass, boil it and dye them and weave them to produce beautiful materials that are later used to make bags, table runners and table mats and other things.

One of the things I see here is the intelligence of man. Imagine, something as useless as grass can be made into beautiful works of art and materials that could be useful. This reminds me of how God works. Many people think there is no hope for themselves, that they are useless. But this proves them wrong. God has made everything beautiful. There is no such thing as wasted material. Everything has a redeeming factor. God can use anything and change anything to make them beautiful.

After this, we went to the crocodile farm. This made me realize how much the Philippines has come. With facilities like this, it has shown that it is capable of supporting these researches. There were also animals they rescued from the wild to rehabilitate and later on release them. 

We went to Rancho de Mitra. This ranch is owned by the Mitra family. The patriarch used to be a senator before martial law. He was imprisoned when Marcos declared martial law. After the EDSA revolution, he became the Speaker of the House and ran for president. He did not win though. Now, his son is the governor of Palawan.

The ranch is very large. Situated on top of the mountain, it has a 3 part zipline. The guide told us that the road is where the rich people live. And not surprisingly, the houses are huge! One is owned by a retired Commodore of the Philippine Navy.

The walkway was beautiful. One of the things our guide told us was that it used to be a slum area. The mayor cleared it after a fire and made it a walkway. We also went to the fort where soldiers in WWII were massacred by the Japanese imperial army. There was a tunnel that was used by the US armed forces use to escape but the Japanese killed those in it.

The site is right across the Cathedral. The Cathedral is very simple. It was set up as a small church in the late 1800’s but was destroyed during WWII. The current Cathedral was built about 50 years ago. We went in and said a little prayer. There was also a baptism that was about to start. What is strange is the parents were not locals. I would assume these are foreigners living in the city - because their entourage was all foreigners.

We had lunch at Bilao’t Palayok. They had boodle - which is a meal served on a square board about 4 feet on each side. Everyone was satisfied and we had some to take out. Cost including shakes for everyone - P1600 or CA$40 for six people.

We ordered the boodle for 4-5 persons and it was more than enough for six! It seems that in Palawan, the servings are larger than normal.

We headed back to the hotel and at 6pm, our tour guide picked us up for dinner. We went to Leslie's. It was buffet and they cook the food as you order it.

After dinner, we went back to the walkway for the firefly tour. The problem with this tour is that the river was too dark that our camera could not even take pictures.



The fireflies were amazing. The trip to the place was amazing also. It was very dark and you could see stars in the sky - lots and lots of it! I was trying to imagine how Abraham felt when God told him that his descendants would be as the stars in heaven. It must have scared him and he probably thought - really? That much stars?

We rode a big boat to the mouth of the spot and had to take a smaller boat into the site because the waters are shallow and the large boat would not pass through it. And when the boat passes, the fireflies would light up like Christmas tree lights!

God uses the darkness to show beauty in his creation. The lights even if they were small could be seen meters away. Darkness cannot conquer the Light. God will always win over evil.

After watching it, we went back to the walkway and called it a night.

Days 9 and 10: Slow Day and off to Palawan

After the flood, things settled down. I was able to go to mass. It turns out the destruction from the rain was greater than expected. Even after the rains have stopped, a lot of towns are still underwater. One thing that has come out of this disaster is the generosity of people. You hear of people who go out of their way to help others. You hear of cops and military - where these are stereotyped as corrupt - staking their lives to help others. Lord, bless this land. Bless the people and the leaders.

Day 10 begins again with rain - heavy rain. We had to leave at 5am. And it was raining bad. The roads were starting to flood and we thought the flight was cancelled.

When we reached Makati, the rain stopped. All the way to the airport - the roads were drying up. We arrived at NAIA terminal 2 and am I really impressed with the airport. It is well lit, and clean.

The flight went without any problems - relatively smooth. We arrived in Puerto Princesa, Palawan and it was sunny and hot! What a sight to see the sun again. I don't recall seeing it  since I arrived in Manila.

The airport is very small and if they are expecting more visitors, someone needs to upgrade that airport pretty quick. The airport was different from what I recalled the last time I was here in the 1980's. But it was an improvement.

The tour operator was very efficient. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and he took us around.

We immediately went island hopping. The boat ride was smooth and we went to the Luli (not sure if I spelled it right) Island. It was called Luli from the Tagalog (Lulubog-lilitaw) because the island appears and disappears based on the tide. My party went snorkeling while I stayed at the beach.

We had lunch. Very simple but tasty food. Kangkong, fried hasa-hasa, crabs, pork chop and local bananas. After that we went to Cowrie island to see it. According to the guide, they just started to develop it. But I am impressed.

We went to check in at the Microtel Hotel and were quite tired. The hotel looks small on the internet but the rooms are quite large. The beds also were quite large and very comfortable. We all slept through the night!

 

We had dinner at Kinabuch. We were 6 people and had squid, fish, seafood soup, steak and the total came to about P1200 or about CA$30. Not bad considering the food was very good.

All in all, a satisfying day.