Sunday, May 13, 2012

Two More Distributions

Yesterday we had two distributions:
One at the Philippine General Hospital to the rehab ward
And one that was at the dump in Manilla
Pictures are on face book.
The hospital was built in 1910 by the Americans and has operated continually sine. During WWII, Japanese soldiers used the hospital.Now it is a hospital for the indigents.
Lizl, our Rotarian guide, gave each of us a necklace for Mother's Day.
It was a trasfr Day, so we are now I the heart ofManilla at the LancasterHotel. Last night we ate at anger buffet, Filipino style. For lunch yesterday we had Yum, hamburger at Jollibees. Not like a burger in the states.
Our hosts gave us a rose that we hauled around all day, but it was still fresh when I put it in water at night.
Ron tried the watermelon shake
YUM

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Philipines

Friday in Santa Rosa

I have begun to post pictures to face book,as I am still unable to post pictures.
The Rotary Club of Cabuyao hosted the wheelchair distribution Withh a meeting at a school, Angels in Heaven School.
We distributed 57 wheelchairs to small children all the way to adults. We were surprised that there were several polio victims in the crowd. Some were victims of amputation and lots of birth defects.
I feel in love with one small child with no legs and one arm. He spoke excellent English and was smart as a tack and his attitude was amazing.
We ate lunch at a buffet of Filipino food - all you can eat. Lots of tempura veggies, fresh fruit and rice. We had ripe mango shake.
The we went onto Tagatay - a mountain range resort which was much cooler. We descended to Lake Taal, a volcanic basin. We rode on boats to the volcanic island and rode horses to the top to peer into the crater full of water. Ron even rode a horse. I will see if someone took a picture. We retuned by boat and then the vans Tom us home. We got lost on the way there and on the way back.
After a dinner of Japanese food, we collapsed into bed.
As you look at the pictures of the distribution, look at the sweat on our faces. We were soaking wet.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

On the road again.
Now we are flying to Manilla for the second part of our trip.
we returned to the airport, an exciting hour by van. We are flying Cathay Pacific, part of the American Airline One World group. Compared to airlines in America, it is much newer. They fed us lunch, rice and chicken, with fresh cut fruit and a tasty dessert. It was coconut with chocolate.
Now we are in Hong Kong waiting for our flight to Manilla.
A few,more tidbits before we change countries.
Thailand is a constitutional monachary. This means there is a King, Rama IX, he is aging,but has children. They have a constitution and a congress that enact the laws. There is also a PrimeMinister.

We arrived and slogged through customs - HOT HOT HOT. Lizatte and her team met us and we traveled an hour to the first province after Manilla, Lagoona. The mayor has arranged for us to stay at a lovely hotel and we all went to dinner together. It was preset with a variety of foods. We dug in. Everything was wonderful. They followed up with ice cream and a cAramal pastry. Ron was in heaven. He has discovered that he likes papaya juice!
On to bed. We put out electronic key in an electronic pocket inside the door so we have power. Cool idea!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Touring Outside Bangkok

Yesterday, many of us went to the River Kwai. We visited the cemetery and the museum and had lunch a the bridge, For many of us this was very emotional, an amazing story of courage and friendship. Lunch was a buffet of Thai traditional food - sticky rice, veggies and fresh fruit. I thoroughly enjoyed the cashew  chicken.
Frank Dean and I needed to buy shirts that were not brightly colored for the next part of our trip - I found a lovely native blouse. Then on to the Tiger Temple. Young tigers were found abandoned by their  mother. Claimed by the Budhist monks, these tigers were hand raised. Now several generations of tigers are nourished by the monks. This temple and its grounds have become an animal sanctuary for deer, pigs, and water buffalo. We got to walk the tigers on a leash and many have pictures with the tigers in their laps.
This area is about 2 hours away from Bangkok. By the time we returned back to the Courtyard Marriott, we were exhausted by pleased with the day - we all ate an Italian buffet at the hotel which pleased Erik, our Italian exchange student on our trip immensely.
History lesson.
Thailand was know as Siam until 1939, dating back 700 years. Thailand literally means land of the free - interesting that the USA considers itself the same. in 1939, Burma, Cambodia and Laos were claimed by european countries, but Thailand has remained free. You may remember the musical, the King and I? the young boy in the story became King and his English teacher's influence helped him maintain freedom for Thailand.
The principle religion is Budhism. Lord Budha's teaching lead followers to enlightenment. They believe in reincarnation and strive to better themselves in each life to reach Nirvana.
Thanks to Logan Gilespie for sending suggestions to add pictures, but I am still not there yet! More instructions? Somehow, bloodspot on my iPad is in Thai and I have difficulties remembering where all the buttons are!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Thailand



Opening ceremony was yesterday. The king is regaining is strength so the princess welcomed us. Interesting entertainment by children. The parade of flags as always a big hit.
RI President's speech should be on rotary.org.
Carol and I visited temples I the afternoon.
Word of the day is Wat, it means temple. There are 411 in Bangkok.
We saw a HUGE reclining Budha image and the largest golden Budha image.
The story just above from Wikipedia tells the interesting story of the golden Budha discovery.

We continued back to the hotel and onto a bus to the Southland cruise and saw the sites lit up along the river. By the time we returned to the hotel by bus, it was midnight and we were worn out yet again.
Pictures to come.