P-DAY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Sister Bird looking at China Sea from Vivere Azure Beach Resort

Meal at Sonya's Garden--Ymmmm!

Elder Bird at Sonya's Garden

View of Lake Taal from Hotel

Saturday, May 21 we went on a road trip for P-Day. We traveled to Lake Taal, a former volcano site, Sonja's Gardens, and down to Anilau Beach Resort, a tourist diving and snorkeling site.
It was a beautiful day. Elder and Sister Burningham (San Diego) drove, Elder and Sister Bell (Los Angeles), and the Birds were the travelers. Of course, we were in air conditioning in our van, but at Anilau (pictures by the ocean), it was the hottest we have ever felt.....this is not the time of year most people go to the beach here because it so unbearably hot. I guess if you were out in the water snorkeling, that would have helped. It was nice to see big open spaces of tropical forests. The little villages along this side of the island were a few steps up from the ones we have passed through. Still poverty, but not as bad. We also saw some very nice housing areas.....quite a number of them.....so that was good. The wood carving shops were amazing......we would love to bring some things home from here. They are not so expensive but cost a fortune to mail out!! We will have to find out what kind of wood this is. We also saw a parade as we were coming back from our excurision........traffic backed up forever.....we think it was their barangay festival.......a barangay ( bu-wrong-guy) is like a community.....this would be like Shelley Spud Days...... they each have a festival once a year.....they are a BIG deal. It was fun to see. There is an express way called SLEX that is a toll road and is wonderful that goes much of the length of this island......it was so nice......it was the first time we didn’t feel like we were in a 3rd world country.........except we saw farmers out plowing their fields using hand plows pulled by Carabao. They could sure use some tractors here....we have not seen a single one.