The Children's Safe Home

After all the craziness of exploring Bangkok we were ready to escape up north. Through a friend’s contact back at home we were able to meet up with a great program which sponsors at-risk children. Each one has such a unique story as to how they actually arrived here, but every child seems very grateful to be here. After viewing the great need, we are so thankful for being here too!



The kids gave a very warm welcome, tackling us strangers with huge hugs as we arrived. We knew from that moment that this would be the highlight of our entire trip. The kids range in age from 1 to 15 years and each one has such a distinct and colorful personality, coming from such unfortunate backgrounds. We thought communication would be a problem, but it really is not... we are already much better players of charades!


The children normally go to a eegufer school for B children from 8:30-3:30 everyday, and learn everything from math and science and Bible classes to Thai and some English. But this week is a holiday for them, so we spent more time with them and took them on field trips.


We went right to work on some basic repairs around the home and taught them how to do it as we went. They are all so eager to learn. There are only two boys in the orphanage but they love Anders and are so happy to have another guy around! All the leaders and most of the kids are girls. But the two boys follow him around everywhere and love to do things just like him:) Since the lumber is so expensive, locals use bamboo. The kind owner of the gas station let us chop down a bamboo tree in his parking lot.

Chiang Mai

We took the overnight train up to Chiang Mai. The green views were breathtaking! Rainy season is about to end; we're not looking forward to the heat!

The Floating Market

Just a couple hours outside of Bangkok is the floating market. And in fact, the entire town is pretty much on stilts and even transportation around town is by boat.

Bangkok

Bangkok is a crazy place of pure sensory overload. We arrived in the city around 1 am, which is just as the city is beginning to come alive. There are people selling you clothes, pad thai, scarves, and throwing fire all within steps of each other!









Bangkok is also home to some amazing Thai foods, our favorite is a street cart called Mr. Yim’s. Yim means “smile” in Thai, which is something he is always doing:) Lori was able to shadow him for a day and help out at his food cart. Westerners were reported to have been looking at her very strangely! The Tom Kha (coconut soup) is really something amazing for your mouth. The bugs were not so good.


Something also that we’ve learned very early on is how much the Thai LOVE their king. They seem to absolutely adore him, but, out of reverence, no one is permitted to speak about him. But, there are photos of him everywhere- literally. You can find them in the train station, on the center road dividers, in the banks, on buildings, in commercial centers, everywhere. In fact, every Tuesday most people wear pink because it’s the king’s favorite color! I love pink Tuesdays!

Recovery

We have done practically nothing but lay in bed and watch American politics dominate the world news. Go McCain!! (that’s for you Kevin) Every now and then we hobble out to buy groceries or take a dip in the beautiful crystal clear water.

Also, big news for the day…our two month anniversary! But we’ve both discovered that marriage doesn’t seem to be good for our health. As we vowed to love each other in sickness and in health, we sure hope the next fifty years brings just a little more health. To date, between us both and without any exaggeration, counting my hernia surgery, Lori’s stay in the hospital, various colds, food or water poisoning, gravel rash, sunburns, horrible jellyfish stings, numerous mosquito and ant bites, muffler burns, diarrhea, and constipation, we’ve been on three rounds of anti-biotics, used 250grams of antibiotic cream, used six wheelchairs, one cane, one walker, two rounds of vicodin and other pain medications, one IV, two blood tests, one x-ray, one catscan, one surgery, ten wounds, two impaired joints, spent about twenty five days (and counting) limping, two- almost four syncopal events, one admit to the hospital with two complimentary meals, nine uses of the thermometer, eighteen tablets of “stop-cold”, met six doctors, countless nurses, and spent twenty seven days in bed. We’ve really come to appreciate our time together between hospital visits! Now who wants to come on our next expedition?

Compared to John McCain’s torture and Jesus’ crucifixion, we really don’t have much to complain about and are truly thankful to still be alive!

What’s funny is that we signed up for this!

Boracay Island

After the long journey out of Bohol, first tricycle, to overnight ferry, to taxi, to airplane, walking across town to another tricycle, to another ferry, to another tricycle, then walking down the dirt road and up the hill to our beautiful little honeymoon suite, it was all worth it. We have finally arrived in beautiful Boracay, proclaimed to be home to the whitest sand beach in the world! We think this is the best place in the world to recover.


Although we were planning to be more active here with the stellar scuba diving, mountain biking, and windsurfing, we are perfectly content to spend some R&R on the white sand. We’ve been learning to be flexible. Sometimes, plans change.

We thought people stared at us before the accident, now we’ve determined everyone stares at us. Now I sure don’t know why.


Picture this, we are quite possibly the only white people on this island, Lori’s wearing a bright yellow sun dress while much of her remaining skin is covered in bandages. Having so much pity, the bathroom attendants don’t even bother charging her the $.10 fee.

Christmas Already? Not for us...

It appears to be Christmas here in the Philippines after noting most shopping centers are already displaying Christmas décor and playing Christmas tunes. But we don’t feel so cheery after our little mishap…

In reference to motorcycle accidents, I’ve heard the following quoted a number of times: “It’s not a matter of if it’s going to happen it’s a matter of when it is going to happen”. To sum things up, we found our when.
Encouraging Lori to learn how to ride a motorbike with a manual transmission, I jumped on the back and handed her the controls. I figured it was time for the third lesson. She’s mastered riding an automatic motorcycle in Bali and quickly learned how to drive a stick shift in our rental car. In my lack of teaching, I didn’t say much about dirt roads, and you guessed it- we shortly found ourselves backtracking on a dirt road after overshooting our destination. As if riding a motorcycle on a dirt road with slick tires wasn’t already against better judgment, I was encouraging Lori to drive faster, but fortunately she didn’t listen to me. As we were cresting a hill of rock and gravel, we rounded a corner a little too sharp causing the handlebars to turn sideways and sending us flying off into the highly-uncomfortable surface.

We remember the event in slow motion. After landing I was thinking, boy this is going to hurt, I sure hope Lori’s alright. I turned to Lori to see her pulling her foot from underneath the bike and noticing her to have quite a gravel rash to match mine. I was relieved to see her also being able to stand up and walk around, even if it was in a daze. Repeatedly telling ourselves to just chill, it’s ok, I sat Lori down and had a local help me move the motorbike off the road. While doing so, I burned my other leg on the exhaust muffler after my left leg had just healed days before from a prior muffler burn. But, that was the least of my concerns. Thinking we were on a desolate stretch of road, neighbors began turning out from the woodwork. One brought us water to clean our wounds, while another offered to call the ambulance. Now, not being one to abuse the ambulance service, I quickly turned down the offer.

After composing ourselves and rinsing our injuries, we hobbled back on and carefully rode to the nearby health clinic. With great discomfort, they thoroughly cleaned our wounds with some peroxide and iodine. I felt very badly for Lori who appeared to be in great pain.


Not having another way home, we again hobbled back on our motorbike and slowly made our way back down the mountain. Thinking our day’s adventure had finally come to an end, we settled back down for some pizza in our hostel. Before we could eat one slice or even dress our wounds, I found myself catching Lori as she passed out. If that wasn’t enough of a surprise, one minute later as I was helping her back from the bathroom, she collapsed in my arms again. Not having an ammonia tablet for her nose, I found myself blowing in her face and calling out to her awaiting her to regain consciousness. Thankfully this wasn’t the first time I’ve witnessed syncopal events and had people collapsing in my arms. Not being one to abuse the ambulance service, the nice hostel staff helped us down the stairs to catch a taxi to the hospital.

Eliminating most possible causes for a syncopal event, two of the few causes remaining on the list in my mind weren’t too favorable (brain injury, hemorrhage) and couldn’t be determined without the aid of an ultrasound or catscan. Our woes were not over… the on duty ER Doc couldn’t locate another Dr to read the images. Apparently he wasn’t qualified to read a scan. Finally three hours later, he found a surgeon that could read. Knowing that a brain hemorrhage is often inoperable and praying fervently this was not the case, we were all relieved to see the catscan and x-ray. The surgeon didn’t feel an ultrasound was as necessary as spending the night- so we ended up renting two rooms that evening (a hostel room and a hospital room). The surgeon was unable to diagnose what caused Lori to become unconscious, but I’m sure keeping a close eye on her. So far, the only problem seems to be constipation.

Unfortunately we didn’t remember to take a picture in the moment, but finally remembered at the clinic. But look who’s in the wheelchair now!


Above all, we thank the Lord we are alive and able to walk, given the circumstances.

The Deaf of the Wild West

The Garden Café, but more akin to the Wild West, hires about 35 local deaf people to work in the restaurant, and in turn support a deaf school. They also sell paintings, pottery, baked goods, and local handicrafts to support this noble cause. Customers order food using the phones at each table, while the deaf staff wait on tables.

Jalopies

Jalopies everywhere. They call them Jeepneys and pack almost thirty passengers in them!

Bogo

Tricycle driver and his son riding shotgun.


Church


Police Crime Task force busy at work:

Life in Malapascua

Malapascua is a unique island in itself and very isolated from the rest of the Philippines with their own rules and regulations such as no cars allowed and electricity is only available from 6PM to 11PM. That said it is also somewhat touristy, with plenty of bungalows throughout the island. All the bungalows are pretty much the same. The only variance is hot water showers or A/C. These variables double or triple price. So we said sayonara to these luxuries a long time ago!
The boat schedule to get back to CEBU or any other island goes somewhat like this- you wait by the boat until at least 10 passengers show up (or they would have you to believe-26), and then they leave. Or if you’re a tourist in a hurry you can charter your own boat for about 10 times the price. Through our various travel here, we’ve been learning to be flexible, so we decided to just wait it out. A local woman, who seems to be the one organizing the charters, kept approaching us and telling us that “there might not be any other boats today!” Fortunately, we knew better! A nice local even leaned over to whisper in our ears that one usually leaves around 1 pm everyday…only a 30 minute wait! Oh, how we appreciate the locals who tell us how it really is! So after we waded out to the boat and literally climbed the bamboo outriggers to get in, we noticed 3 more tourists approaching the boat. Without wasting a second, the boat crew started the engine and pushed out to sea. We were shocked, so we spoke up and said there were 3 more passengers ready to board. To which they laughed and with a sly smile said they had a “schedule” to stick to. Obviously doing anything to get more money:( But fortunately we were able to talk them into staying and the tourists paid off a boat at shore to carry them to the ferry.

Snorkeling

Boat out to Malapascu. Their dock consists of a 4” narrow plank connecting the boat bow to the boulders. If you’ve found the right crew, two men will even hold a bamboo stick for a handrail!
Forgot the pic, but here’s a pic of the boat.


Bargaining down from $10 to $2 each, we rented a boat for the day, with other couples from the Czech Republic and Israel, to go on a snorkel trip around the island. Coupled with dynamite fishing destroying the coral and our amazing diving experience in Bali, we weren’t as impressed as we had hoped. However we did observe beautiful coral in every color and the black dotted starfish- unfortunately not native and causing problems with local species.

Not only did we get to see the jellyfish, we got to touch the jellyfish! At one point we stopped swimming and looked around to find ourselves in a school of them! It didn’t remind me of the Balinese massage. Turns out, Lori reacts the same to jellyfish as she reacts to mosquito bites! Miserable itching and scratching, we finally found a use for our lidocaine loaded aloe vera gel. It seems to numb the sites enough to provide a little relief. Poor Lori :(

Philippines!

We packed light, compared to other airport travelers:


Walking off the plane in CEBU, airport security provided us with sunbrellas? for our long 30sec walk. But, Lori's prepared for the typhoon. The royal treatment.


Finally things are a little bit cheaper: a 1hr taxicab ride costs $3, 4hr bus ride $2.50. But, you get what you pay for… the bus was much rougher than the mass transit system of Signapore. Too bad we can’t post the video. The A/C is the open windows and doors. Vendors hop on and off at various bus stops to sell their homemade snacks of rice cakes and peanuts. The conductor, wearing an NBA basketball jersey, hangs out the open door of the bus finding more passengers along the way. The bus driver honks at everything (approx once every second) to clear himself a path, weaving in and out of traffic, all the while keeping the accelerator fully depressed. He doesn’t stop for potholes, and the bus runs as though he hadn’t ever slowed.



Finally arriving late in the evening in Maya, we, unfortunately, didn’t arrive in time to take the boat to the island of Malapascu. But a nice Filipino couple offered to let us stay in their cousin’s house in town. What a God-send and blessing for a random family to take in white strangers off the street without even wanting to accept any form of payment. They are true examples of Christians. Lori found a new friend or did the new friend find Lori?

Notice the national pastime being performed by the little girl in the bottom of the photo.

Reflections of Singapore

Apart from enjoying the spotless city itself, there is so much to explore in Singapore. While we are leaving with the feeling that we only have scratched the surface here, it has been so interesting spending a week here! Even after learning of all the various government regulations we only realized the extent of the government-induced OCD behavior while watching videos of small children freaking out in a panic over some spilled milk!
Similar to our Bali experience toilet tissue is not provided in most public restrooms, costs $.10 from the attendant or tissue dispenser- so you’d better remember before walking into the stall!

And after the cigarettes are taxed 100% (along with alcohol and cars), they must put in a photo of someone affected by a cigarette-induced disease:

Shoppaholics- have never seen such a frenzy of shopping, endless malls connected to more malls by mile long corridors of more underground malls! We found ourselves lost on more than one occasion!
And to sum it all up, Singapore is one HUGE, tasty, well-groomed treat! Just do as you’re told!!

Abnormal food, Normal Hosts

Our last night here and our great friends Stewart and Dianna (and cute kids-Lily and Charlie) invited us out for a special dinner! We had met the New Zealand natives a month back on our flight to Bali and hit it off. They took us down to the local “Hawkers Centre” and we got to try some great local delicacies. With so many options here, we opted for the flog legs. It was such a tasty treat and actually was very nice! Although, we probably won’t go seeking it out back at home, we were pleasantly surprised and cleaned our plates!