THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13th

Since we didn't have the motorcycle (see last post) we took a tricycle from the hotel to Tess' parents house.

Tess had her hair straightened while Kim and Bodel took motorcycle rides, like to Punta Cruz, Maribojoc - a church bell tower across the bay constructed over 200 years ago by the Spanish.

Tess' family and friends came to the airport to say goodbye, then we took a 4:45pm flight to Manila.

We departed south then made a 180 degree right turn to head north to Manila. The view of Taglibaran was so good that Kim ignored the "all electronic devices off" and snapped a quick photo. (Still digital cameras don't generate emf and radio signals like laptops and cell phones do.)

We are over Panglao island. To the right is the bridge between the islands, then moving left, Bohol Tropics is just past the big pier/port. Past the end of the runway is Manga Point, and barely visible is the river that we went up.

An hour later we dropped out of thunderclouds to a rainly final approach to Manila, and easily arranged transportation into town. When stopped at a red light some teenage kids approached our van, banging on the windows asking for pesos. We didn't have small change and it would not be safe to open the window anyway. There are so many poor people here living on sidewalks, or in Jeepneys parked on the side of the street.

Our friends from Sacramento are letting us stay at their "second home" condo in Manila. They come a few times per year for business so its convenient for them to have a second set of clothes and furnished household to arrive to.

It's on the 20th floor with a nice view.

We had a good dinner at Cafe Adriatico, but we only brought the cash we would need - and both thought that the other had grabbed the money. When the bill came we had ZERO and no credit card. Kim asked the waiter to bring him a beer so he could at least "look cool" while he waited 20 minutes for Tess to fetch some cash.

Unlike the Manila Kim remembers in 1984 of mostly junky cars, most cars on the road seem newer than the average in the USA, and there were many top-end SUVs parked at the Cafe.