Hong Kong 2006

We arrived at the Disney Hollywood Hotel late on Sunday night. The hotel has a very Hollywood Art Deco feel, with hidden Mickey’s all over the place. It was quiet in the hotel and just a few people were at the pool.

On Monday morning, we decided to eat breakfast at Hong Kong Disneyland. We made reservations for 9:00 (an hour before the park opens) at the Main Street Café. We jumped on the shuttle bus at the hotel and made it to the park area about 8:45. There is a long entry way from the bus and train station to the park gates. We strolled down the walk and took some pictures. We got to the gate right at 9:00 and were the very first people in Disneyland! We wandered down Main Street towards the restaurant, and as we approached, the cast members said “Welcome Mr. Raymond.” We guessed they figured out it was us because of the group size and the non-Asian name. As breakfast went on, we found out we were the only people who were eating there before the park opened!

For the first hour, the crowds were very thin. We went on Space Mountain and the Toy Story Blaster ride a couple times without having to worry about waiting. As the day went on, the crowds were sizable, but the lines were all 10 minutes or less on all the attractions except the Winnie the Pooh ride. We never did make that one, but we did everything else including the Lion King stage show and the Mickey PhilharMagic musical review.

One of the highlights for all the kids was the photo taking with the characters. They had a nice garden area with about 5 photo spots that they rotated characters in and out of. The wait was usually only 10 minutes or less, and they let you take your own photos along with the park photos.

As the afternoon wound down, the park got quieter, although there were still a lot of people around for the fireworks display at closing. The transportation back to the hotel was easy as plenty of buses were on hand to handle all the people leaving at once. Ray and Kara walked back and it took about 20 minutes.

We heard a lot of people warn us how small Hong Kong Disneyland was. Although it is smaller than the US parks, we found it to be right sized for a day’s worth of entertainment. We did not feel we had to rush to do things or choose things not to do. Also, this being the kid’s first exposure to Disneyland, they did not have a basis for comparison and all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Tuesday brought us to a tour of Hong Kong itself. We took the MRT (their train/subway system) from the Disneyland Transit station to Central Station in downtown Hong Kong. Our plan was to take the incline railway tram up to Victoria Peak. Well, sometimes plans in foreign countries don’t always work out. We got on a bus that took us to the top of the peak rather than the tram station at the bottom. Oh well, we enjoyed the bus ride up. Once up there, we got our tram tickets and rode down to the bottom and then back up. So at least we got to ride the tram. Once we were back on top, we walked around part of the peak and then had our photo taken at the top. The entrepreneurs up there had a full portable digital photo and printing station, all run off battery power. Since it was hazy and cloudy that day, they would take your digital image and place it on a background from a clear day or even a night shot. You can see our photo and the clear day photo we had taken below.

We then took the bus back down to central station and hopped on another going back to Stanley market on the south side of the island. If we would have known our routes a little better, we could have saved some time by catching buses along the routes rather than back to the station each time. The merchandise in Stanley market is of a higher quality level than we have found at many barter markets, and is generally fixed price. The aisles were comfortable in width and it was a pleasant shopping experience.

We then returned to the central area and hopped on the Star Ferry for a quick 10 minute ride across the strait. We got a nice view of both sides of the strait, the Hong Kong Island and the Mainland. We walked a couple of blocks to the Hard Rock Café for dinner. We have tried to go to the Hard Rock in each of the cities we have visited that have one. One last train ride back to the hotel, a swim for the kids, and our quick trip to Hong Kong was over.

Our Despedida (Going Away Party)

Today we had a going away party (or despedida in the local language Tagalog) for all of the household help we have and their families. This included both children and parents of the staff. We had over 50 people in attendance, including about 20 kids under the age of 10. We wanted to say goodbye to everyone and thank them for all the support and help they have given us during our time here. They have all been wonderful and given us much insight into the Philippines.

We ordered food from a person in the village that does catering of Filipino fare.
Our menu consisted of:
Pancit Mix—Noodles with shrimp, pork cubes & vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, pea pods, & others sautéed and mixed.
Calderetta —Tomato-based beef dish with potato, bell pepper & green peas. Grilled &/or
Lumpiang Shanghai—Spring rolls made of minced pork, shrimp and several spices cooked deep fried.
Chicken/Pork Adobo with Chicken Liver Sauce—Adobo is the Philippines national dish. This particular version is composed of chicken and pork cubes cooked in vinegar, garlic and other spices with crushed chicken liver for a thick sauce.
Pork BBQ—Pork cubes on wooden skewers cooked over a charcoal grill
Eggplant Salad—Roasted eggplant, mashed and then seasoned with garlic, vinegar, pepper and onion,topped with very thin slices of onion and tomatoes.
Steamed rice
Leche Flan—A custard like dessert.
Spaghetti and tomato sauce

We were a little concerned about having enough food, but in the end we had plenty. It was enough to send left-overs home with the guests.

The young kids were initially drawn to the pool. We had purchased water wings for the kids to wear in the pool as a lot of them have not had swimming lessons. The kids were a little fearful at first about letting go of the wall, but our kids were in the pool and playing with the kids and helping them feel comfortable in the water. We had trouble getting them out for lunch, and they went right back in after lunch. They all took their water wings home with them, so hopefully they will have other opportunities to use them.

The kids also enjoyed the trampoline. They bounced and rolled and kicked balls around inside the net around the trampoline. Some of the older kids played volleyball and badminton (although without a net). Towards the end, we had the dance mats out to play the dancing game DDR (Dance, Dance, Revolution). Two people go head to head trying to hit 4 spots (forward, left, backward, right) on a sensor mat that correspond to directions on the TV screen that match the beat of a chosen song.. Not only is it fun, but it can also give you a good workout.

We will miss the people who have become a part of our life while we have been here. We wish them and their families the best of luck

Good luck Ray, Tining, Elena, Dante, Jun-Jun, Vicki and Lillian.

2006 Philippine Golf Open

Today, Ray & LeAnn attended the 3rd round of the 90th Philippine Open golf tournament. It was held at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club on the east side of Metro Manila. The course itself is very picturesque with the water, trees and then the skyline full of tall buildings in the background.

The name Wack Wack comes from Tagalog words for the sounds the native crows make that inhabit the area. They had a couple of crows in a large caged area between the 16th and 17th holes. They were not very loud. We did see some other large birds going across some of the fairways that looked somewhat like very large quails but with the heads of small turkeys.

The course at Wack Wack is made up of the large bladed and course carabao grass. It is cut very short in the fairways, but does not grow real deep in the rough. However, it is difficult to hit out of because the grass catches your club head and slows it down significantly. The sand was somewhat course, but the pros we saw had no problems getting out of it. There is a lot of water going through the course and a lot of approach shots over water to the greens. Most of the greens are elevated and have lots of undulations. The par 3, 17th hole (aptly named Camelback) has a small hump backed green that rose at least 10 feet from the level ground and sand traps surrounding it.

There were no tickets sold or admission charged to watch the tournament. The crowds were very sparse (I would guess only a few hundred all told), so we could watch anyone we wanted from anywhere. We walked the course backwards so that the players would all come through us in time and we could see most of the course also. We didn’t make it all the way around, but saw everyone who was playing.

The Asian Tour is going to take over the tournament for the next 5 years to bring it up in stature and try to elevate the prize money. They want a tour stop here because of how long golf has been played in the Philippines. This is by far the oldest tournament in Asia. We are hoping it can hang on. It would be wonderful to see it played at Sta. Elena with their Bermuda fairways, but tradition has it that Wack Wack will host more often than not. It has been awarded the tournament for the next 2 years.
The father of one of Mariah’s schoolmates plays on the Asian Tour, so he was playing today. He is originally from Canada, but has lived here in Manila the last 16 years. He was tied for fourth going into the 3rd round, but was 3 over for the day and was tied for 11th going into the final round. He was 3 over again on Sunday and ended up tied for 18th for the tournament.

Sorry for the quality of these photos. We had brought our regular camera only to get on the course and turn it on to find we had left the memory card back in the PC at the house, so these are taken with a camera phone.

School's Out!!!

Today was the last day of school at Brent Intenational School-Manila. It was a day of mixed emotions for our kids as we will return to the US this summer and resume school next fall in Eagan. It was very sad to see so many friends for the last time, but with the world getting smaller every day and world wide communication easier all the time, they plan to keep in touch with a lot of their international friends.

While they attended Brent, they met many great people—kids, teachers, and parents. They will miss the people and the school. It will be change as they go back to a much larger school back home. It was a good opportunity to be a big part of a smaller student body.

Last week was finals week, so the kids were busy taking tests and studying. This week was totally different as it was time for classroom parties, saying goodbye and awards. School got out early every day.

We are so proud of our kids and what they accomplished. Mariah won the outstanding freshman female athlete of the year award and received a nice plaque at a ceremony on Tuesday. She played JV volleyball and varsity basketball and soccer. She was also the class valedictorian earning a 4.0 for both semesters and getting a special Bishop Brent Award for academics.

Kara earned a Brown Belt in a math problem solving and was also on the Headmaster’s honor roll both semesters. She was also in the middle school play King Midas and the Palace of Gold.

Hailey made the Headmaster’s honor roll both semesters also, and was named the best all around PE student in 4th grade. She received her yellow belt in TaeKwonDo after starting in the second semester.

Hailey's Yellow Belt

Hailey started to take TaeKwonDo here in March after school 2 days a week. She has enjoyed the class and learning the various series of moves, kicks and punches. Last Sunday, April 30th, she was invited to test for her yellow belt, the first rank above the initial white belt that everyone starts with. She was very nervous even though only those that were ready to advance were invited to the testing.

The tests were held at a gym in Manila and had kids from many schools throughout Manila participating. Members of the Philippine national team were also present to lend a hand and help with the testing.

The tests consisted of both mental and physical tests. The tests included doing a sequence of moves and positions, measured stances with a partner, and questions about TaeKwonDo. The master was very stern and was somewhat intimidating for the kids.

Hailey passed all the tests and was awarded her yellow belt. She now will be able to spar with other kids in her class as they master new skills to advance to the next level--green belt.

Shanghai

Ray and LeAnn spent a couple of days sightseeing and shopping in Shanghai in conjunction with a business meeting Ray was at. LeAnn came in on Wednesday evening and spent Thursday on her own looking for bargains. She found a few at the fabric mart where she got some silk to make a cover for a blanket we had purchased in China on another trip. In addition, she picked out some fabric to have a couple of coats made, a long coat with dragonflies against a black background along with a nice red cashmere jacket. One of the custom made coats was completed and deilvered to the hotel that evening, and the next was brought in the next morning.

On Friday, Ray and LeAnn spent the morning at YuYuan Gardens, which is an old park area with traditional buildings and gardens. We stopped at a golden tree inside the YuYuan Garden area to throw lucky coins into the tree. The coins were tied to red ribbons which represented good health, family, wealth, and luck. The buildings now hold businesses selling to the tourist market. It is a "barter for the best deal" environment, which can be fun, but gets tiring after a while when you just want to get something quick. Prices usually start about 5 times higher than what you will end up paying. We picked up some embroidered displays and some Chinese porcelain dolls.


After returning to the hotel, we made our way across the street to the Urban Planning center in People's Square. Inside were historical photos, maps and future plans for the city of Shanghai. The most impressive part of the exhibit was a scale model about 100'x100' of the entire city of Shanghai showing the buildings, roads, bridges, parks and rivers. All the buildings matched the shape and style of what they represented. The time to put this together and keep it up to date must be tremendous.

We then hopped on a subway to go down near the US embassy and French Concession area for dinner. Since Ray had been eating Chinese food all week, we decided some Mexican food would taste good for a change of pace, especially since it is not readily available in Manila. A final stop at the fashion market for a few more bargains and souvenirs and then it was back to the hotel. Many touts hound you and try to get you to come to their stalls, especially if it is not on a main walkway. LeAnn asked one where the toilets were, so we started to follow him. We went past the signs for the toilets, and ended up at his stall. Another gal there said he thought LeAnn had said chocolate, not toilet. We all enjoyed good laugh over that one.

Saturday we got up early to go to the Oriental Pearl TV tower and the observation floor 263 meters above the ground. You get a very nice view of Shanghai and the surrounding area, except it was a little smoggy on Saturday. After multiple trips to Shanghai, seeing it from above helped pull all the pieces together. There were hundreds of local school kids on a field trip to the tower, so it was very crowded, but a lot of fun. Many of the kids would come up to say hello or ask you how you are doing. They like to use us to practice English. We walked down to the riverbank to visit with some of the terra cotta soldiers on the walkway and look across the river to the Bund area, which has old European style buildings from the 20’ and 30’s. The tower is on the newer Pudong side of the river while the original Shanghai is on the Puxi. The first large river crossing bridges weren’t constructed until the early 90’s, and this allowed the huge growth on the Pudong side.

We are going to miss our trips to Shanghai once we return to the states. It is such a fun and exciting environment. It is easy to get around between the subways and cabs in order to see the different parts of the city.

John Bloom 1930-2006

My dad passed away on Wednesday morning, April 12th. He was 75 years young. He was born on the easy to remember 10-20-30, which always got a chuckle out of people when he had to give his birthday. He died of Mesothelioma, a nasty lung cancer related to asbestos exposure. We do not know where his exposure came, and must have been indirect. He first went to the hospital on Dec 30th with shortness of breath, which turned out to be pneumonia, and has been in and out of the hospital and rehab centers ever since.

He was a sportsman while growing up, enjoying hunting and fishing. He had some terrific stories to tell about his hunting trips like dumping a borrowed shotgun into a lake (and later having someone retrieve it and passing it on to me) and nearly burning down an island. However, once he married and had kids, we were his passion.

As a father, he was always involved in his kids and family's activities. We played catch daily, and he came to my games to watch or coach. He was an Indian Guide and Boy Scout assistant.

We took family vacations up to visit my grand parents every summer. Along the way, we tried to do something different each time.

He worked at Peavey Company all his working life, a great work ethic that he passed on to his kids.

He switched roles to grandfather very easily. Every year, he rented a cabin for the whole family to be together at the end of the summer. It is a tradition that we looked forward to every year, as did he.

I’ll miss my Dad.

Ray

Ho Chi Minh City April 11-14

After leaving Singapore, we went to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in Vietnam. The first thing you notice is the number of motorbikes and scooters everywhere. The roads that are two lanes each way have the large vehicles in the inside lanes and bikes in the outside lane. The mass of bikes at an intersection can be tremendous as the bikes line up for the light to change. Many bikes carry 2 people and are driven as taxis.

Our next experience was becoming a millionaire by going to the cash machine (no, not the slot machines in the hotel). Since the exchange rate is about 16,000 VND (Vietnam Dong) to the dollar, a withdrawal of just $100 US gives you over a million dong. The notes have values of up to 500,000 dong, but we only got 100,000 dong notes. Another interesting observation was the use of US$ in pricing and payment. Many of the vendors at the market priced their products in US$ (at least for us), or at a minimum would take the dollar in payment for items

With nothing planned on Tuesday, so we took the hotel shuttle into the city center and went to the local vendor market called Ben Thanh Market. You can find all varieties of goods at this market, such as handicrafts, shoes, watches, fabric, clothing, bags and food. Again, prices are low to begin with, so bartering is not very necessary.

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Day 2

Wednesday began with a city tour with our guides Phu and Bao. We headed off to China
Town and stopped at a temple, very similar to those in China. Incense was burning throughout, and offerings of fruits were given to the gods and placed on the alters. This temple was dedicated to the gods of the fisherman. Prayers are often made for the safe return of the local fisherman every time they go out into the ocean to fish.

From there we walked over to a wholesale market in China Town, which was laid out by product. Stalls and stalls of hats, then dishes, then hair accessories, cleaning supplies, etc. Crossing the streets here can be quite an experience, as there are very few stop lights to control the traffic, so you just kind of work your way across lane by lane.

Next we went back to Ben Thanh Market and wondered through again and picked up a few things. Being time for lunch, we then went to Pho 2000, a famous local noodle house. Bill Clinton ate there back in 2000, and there were numerous photos on the wall of the event. Amazing that we can come all the way over here and eat where a president has eaten, but never in the US have we eaten in the same place as a president (unless we happened into a McDonald’s that Clinton had gone to at some time). Pho is noodle in the Vietnamese language.

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Day 3

On Thursday, we visited Cu Chi, an area north of Ho Chi Minh famous for the underground tunnel system built starting in the late 1940’s. The Cu Chi tunnels stretch for about 200km (130 miles) in a spider web configuration. The tunnels were built out of clay and connected various rooms together. These rooms served as eating, kitchen, sleeping, and meeting areas for the Viet Cong. During the day, they took shelter in the tunnels and rooms and then moved out in the night to do all of their activities.

Elaborate systems for ventilation, camouflage and concealment, and protection (booby traps, trap doors, etc) protected the inhabitants from their enemies. Barbed spikes were made from the casings of unexploded bombs. The openings were very small, preventing many of the Americans from even having the capability to fit into the openings. Smoke from kitchens would be exhausted over 100m away after being cleansed to make it almost invisible.
Some of the rooms were at ground level, while others were up to 8-10m under ground, which offered better protection from the bombings. We crawled through a couple of tunnels connecting various bunkers. The bunker roofs have been lifted and openings enlarged to make them accessible to all. Actual tunnels remain the original size and you have to stoop halfway over to walk through them.

The evening ended with a trip to Ngon restaurant. This was a Vietnamese buffet style restaurant, where they take your order and go and get your food and bring it back to the table. The food is already prepared at each of the individual food stalls that surround the eating area. There were about 20 different stalls making the various foods, such as soup, stir fry, barbeque sticks and different desserts.

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Day 4

Today we toured the Mekong Delta area of Vietnam. It is about a 1-1/2 hour drive from our hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. On the way, we stopped at a Buddhist pagoda, which is the largest such pagoda in Vietnam. This temple is somewhat unique in that the architecture is a combination of Oriental, French and Vietnamese styles.

Next we got on a riverboat to cross the upper Mekong River. We went past a floating fishing village and saw many boats in the river, both riverboats and ocean vessels. There were large drive-on/drive-off ferries constantly going from one side of the river to the other. The area we were at was about 50 km from the ocean and 170 km from Cambodia. The Mekong River is the 8th longest river in the world, at over 4000km from its starting point in Tibet. Our destination was Unicorn Island, one of 4 islands in the river in this area.

Our first stop on the island was a small restaurant that specialized in honey tea. This is a combination of honey, mini limes, and bee pollen mixed in with green tea. They also provided candied coconut strips, lotus seeds, ginger and a type of peanut brittle. We next moved down to a candy shop where they made coconut candy. The coconuts are split and then the meat is separated from the husk and broken up into small pieces. They are then put into bags and squeezed to get the sugar water and oils out. The sugar water is mixed with powder and to form a paste, which is put into trays to form the coconut candy.

A walk through the jungle brought us to another place for a snack. This time it was fresh fruit, including mini bananas, mangos, pineapple, jackfruit, sapodilla, and longan. We then listed to some music and songs played on traditional instruments. One instrument only had one string and made a different sound depending on where it was plucked. The kids tried playing it, and found it very difficult to get the sound to come out crisp.

From here we jumped into some small canoes and traveled in some narrow creeks back to the edge of the main river. There were people at the front and back of the canoe paddling and controlling the boat. In some areas we could barely fit between all the boats tied up along the creek. We put on traditional Vietnamese hats (conical shaped with a tie under the chin) for the ride up the creek. They do a good job keeping the sun off your face and neck, but they got caught easily in the wind, so have to be tied on tightly to be effective.

Back on the river and time for our lunch. We had elephant ear fish that was wrapped with cucumber and noodles in a rice paper wrap to make a type of spring roll. The shrimp were the largest I have ever seen—about 6 inches from tip to tail. We also had a soup with pasta in it, fried rice and some large chips. On the way back across the river, we had coconuts milk right from the coconut. After drinking the milk, the coconut was split open so that we could eat the meat.

Vietnam has been a very interesting place to visit. It has not been over run with tourists yet, although the tourism industry is growing all the time. We felt comfortable in the places we visited, and enjoyed meeting the people along the way. The food is unique and delicious.

Singapore April 9 & 10

During the Holy Week holidays of 2006, the Blooms spent a couple of days in Singapore the first part of April. Singapore is a city-state on its own small island at the southern tip of Malaysia. It is just north of the equator. It is known for its cleanliness and orderliness, and this shows. Up until last year it was illegal to chew gum as it was considered a messy habit, both for the packaging and the left over gum. It has been made legal to chew now, but you must take care to properly dispose of the chewed gum. Traffic, although heavy, is very orderly and flows well. Most people live in high-rise flats as land is at a premium

On Sunday, we got up and began a self-guided tour of the city on the Hop-On, Hop-Off tour bus. This allowed us to take some time at any of about 25 tourist stops throughout the city. Our first stop was in Little India. There were many restaurants and souvenir shops in the area. There was a noodle shop along a side street that was making noodles on a long, multi-level continuous conveyor machine. We were invited in and saw the whole process from making the dough, the submersion heating in boiling water, pressing of a 12” wide web of pasta, the slitting of the wide web into strips, the long drying process, and the final cutting and bagging of the noodles.

We stopped by the Raffles Hotel, home of the original Singapore Sling, and then walked over to the harbor side theatre (ala Sydney), and the Merlion statue. The Merlion is Singapore’s symbol. It is a combination of the fish’s fins and body with a lion’s head, similar to a mermaid except being a lion rather than a person. The one at the harbor is also a fountain that spews water back into the bay.

Our next stop was Chinatown, another area of food and souvenirs. As opposed to some markets in other countries, prices are very close to rock bottom to begin with, so the bartering is very minimal. An artist was drawing names in Chinese characters using various local animals and vegetation to form the characters. A walk to Clark Quay and the last leg of our ride was to Sentosa Island, a recreation and resort island just south of the main island of Singapore. At Sentosa Island, we went to the top of a 10 story Merlion Tower to look out over the island and area. There are man-made breakwaters that make well-protected beach areas for swimming. After the bus ride back to Clark Quay, we took the subway home for the evening.

On Monday, we took a bus tour that went up into Malaysia. That meant crossing the border and going through immigration in both countries coming and going. While in Malaysia, we saw a show that demonstrated a customary Malaysian wedding dance, and toured a typical home, decorated for the wedding. We then saw a demonstration on making pewter, went to a large mosque, and then toured a batik (using wax and dies to create patterned clothing) factory.
After returning to the hotel, we walked down the Hard Rock Café for lunch, something we have tried to do in each city we tour that has a Hard Rock. The evening ended with a trip to the Singapore Night Zoo. The zoo has a tram ride through the park and multiple walking trails. The animals are more active since it is their normal eating and activity time. The lighting is a little brighter than a bright moonlit night, so you can see the animals fairly well. The animals are also fed about dusk, and the feeding stations are very close to the paths, making the animals easy to see.

King Midas and the Palace of Gold

Written by Kara

On March 15, 16, and 17, I was part of a play called King Midas and the Palace of Gold. King Midas was the first Middle School Play production. The play was about the king, King Midas, loving gold so much he got the golden touch! Whatever he touched turned to gold, even his daughter. King Midas felt really bad about it, so finally, the three magical sisters took away the golden touch, but gave him donkey ears instead. King Midas felt like a fool with donkey ears, so the three magical ladies thought he learned his lesson, so they took off the donkey ears to.

There were many roles to play. My role was a citizen. There were two other citizens, and we would give gifts to the princess on her birthday, and just be regular people. Everyone would be in the songs dancing and singing, so everyone got a chance to be on stage.

The costumes were beautiful. Most people were in togas, but the royalty were in really nice dresses with jewelry. Ricky Reyes Learning Institute did everyones hair and makeup. Everyone was in there for hours getting their hair and makeup on. Most peoples makeup was really dramatic, even mine! That's me in the middle of the picture on the left

On March 15 and 16, we performed for the lower and middle school in the afternoon. On March 17, we performed for the parents in the evening.

Spring Training

Ray went to a Twins spring training game today. He was in Florida for business and it just so happened the Twins were in Clearwater playing the Phillies.

The Phillies play in Bright House Networks Field, which is a very nice 3 year old stadium. It has a grass berm seating area in left and right field, which is where he sat. Enjoying the game on a grass field, with the sun shining, a cold beer and hot dog is the way it is supposed to be. Both bullpens are out in left field, and above the bullpens is a large tiki bar. After the game, there was live entertainment at the bar. A large concourse above the main seating area gave plenty of room to wander during the game. A very nice facility

Johan Santana was on the mound for the Twins, but got into trouble in the fourth. The Twins had scored early and had a lead of 2-0 after one and half innings, but ended up losing 8-5.

Current Political Climate

There has been a lot of news coming out of the Philippines recently regarded attempted coups, military command stand-offs, a declared state of emergency and the like. So far, we have not been adversely affected by the actions.

We live about 10 miles SW of the EDSA shrine, which is ground zero for the protests and actions. It is a shrine commemorating the People Power Revolution of 1986 which overthrew the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. It was done without bloodshed and was a peaceable transition. EDSA is the name of a main thoroughfare through Metro Manila and the center of the marches back in 1986. The current president was put into office through a second People Power Revolution (EDSA II).

On Friday February 27th there were extra roadblocks going into Manila on the expressway. We stayed around home on Saturday, but Ray went to the airport in the afternoon to pick up tickets and LeAnn went in the evening to catch her flight back to the states and everything seemed very normal.

The following was put together by a friend at work and probably best summarizes the political climate here in the Philippines.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) declared a State of National Emergency in the Philippines late last week, amidst coup threats, street rallies and civil disturbances. The various opposition groups have since failed to muster a crowd to mobilize another People Power that in the past had unseated Presidents. It usually takes the confluence of forces of the Catholic Church, the Business sector, the Military and the middle class civil society to spark a successful people power. It does not look like this will happen anytime soon. Most probable reason is that these groups have not identified one credible and qualified successor to GMA. Thus, it's a wait-and-see situation for most Filipinos.

Attempts to unseat the President is not foreseen to cease anytime soon. Various opposition groups and some ranks in the military --- united solely in their rejection of GMA (accused of cheating in the last election) but divided in their political agenda --- will continue to agitate and mount destabilization moves. While most of the actions are confined within Metro Manila, the Philippines will continue to grab the global headlines for political unrest.

Filipinos have learned to ride the tide of political upheavals in the country since the time Marcos was ousted (1986). They brace themselves for the expected --- the coming and going of rumors, threats and attempts of a coup. Anyone familiar with the terrain of Philippine politics gets used to it.

We will keep you posted as to any changes or further developments.