Photo of us with buko on our hike

posted by batik billy @ 1:13 pm

Watching Star Wars Pinoy style and why you don’t want to be caught outside when it’s raining in Maynila.

We decided to stay in Manila this weekend, partly so we could enjoy some sleep-ins, but also because Neil was again feeling pretty sick. So on Saturday we decided to go see the new Star Wars movie. We’d already been told that going to the movies is pretty cheap, but that Philippinos talk all through the showing. Gee was that true!! Dad, you would have loved it – the guys behind us didn’t stop talking for the whole movie. Melissa – you would have enjoyed the guy sitting next to me who sounded like he was trying to burp up his entire stomach. Sadly, it wasn’t funny – it was disgusting. And mom – sorry to say, Philippinos can’t even get popcorn right! It was stale and had salty fake cheese flavour on it – I think it was the first time I haven’t finished popcorn in a movie ever! But, the movie was good and at $3.50 I’m sure we’ll be back to enjoy many more – just remember to bring your patience.

On the way home it poured with rain and of course we forgot to bring our umbrellas. But it was only about a 10 – 15 minute walk from the station to our home so we made a run for it. Now, it wasn’t too bad getting wet from the falling rain – the worse thing was that water was coming out of the drain pipes rather than flowing in and half the road was flooded. Which meant that we were walking through drain water to get home. With all the lovely smells you encounter walking down the average main road in Manila, we knew exactly what we were walking in – lovely. And I can’t wait until the real monsoon comes. Apparently you need a change of shoes and pants when going to work . . . nice!

posted by batik billy @ 1:15 pm

Hiking in Batangas - Environmentallica, lots of waiting and Neil up to his old tricks

Last weekend Neil and I, along with two other AYADs here, Natalie and Sally decided to join a Pilipino hiking group called 'Evironmentallica Pilipinas' (http://www.environmentallica.org/home.htm) for some hiking in a region south of Manila called Batangas. Our aim was to climb a picturesque peak called Manabo Peak on Mt. Malipunyo.

We woke up at 4.30 am on Saturday morning to catch a taxi down to the bus station to make the 6am bus. After waiting about a half hour at the bus stop for the 6 Pilipino Environmentallica members (how could we forgot about Pilipino time!) we caught the bus down south to Lipa City. After arriving two and a half hours later, we again waited around for about half an hour while we organised a jeepney to take us to the 'jump-off point' (the start of the climb) and for the Pilipinos to order some lunch from the local turo turo store (point point store - basically someone cooking meals out of their house for you to buy). We arrived at the jump off at about 9am where we again waited around while deciding whether we should have lunch now and then start the climb up the mountain, or 3 hours later at noon. After a prayer to start the walk – the group finally decided that we would hike up half way to a rest spot and have lunch there.

Neil with our leader, Ace

Earlier we had thought we would be doing some serious hiking with this group, but later discovered that it would only take 2 hours to get to the summit! While initially we were a bit disappointed that we weren't doing a bit more of a challenging hike, it is still really hot here and after 5 minutes we were all hot and sweating and happy to be doing a smaller warm-up hike in the Philippines. Plus it was fantastic just to be out of Manila and in the real countryside of the Philippines.

Em half way up

We hiked along a small dirt track surrounded by coconut trees and lush jungly forest. Along the first part of the hike we would occasionally come across local houses with their families and give a wave or stop and chat. After about an hour we reached the water source and had lunch while cooling down under the ‘fresh’ water coming from the local stream. Next to the water stream were two Christian alters near the water source as well as a small hut and some bamboo benches. We rested there for a while as it was still quite hot, and got to know the Pilipinos a little better. I tried some melhado (liver) and 30 day old aborted chicken egg – not balut – which is aborted duck egg which is semi formed – this was more like small little round balls which tasted pretty plain and chewy. (Is everyone impressed with this funky food that I have been willing to try? I am!) After ‘making chikka’ (chatting), resting and eating, we then departed for the summit which was only about 45 minutes away.

A large white crucifix marked the summit which showed picturesque 360 degree views of the surrounding landscape – from Laguna (where we were last weekend) south to Taal Volcano. It was beautiful.

We then went down to the campsite which was pretty close to the summit and rested before putting up the tents. Fortunately we got them up before the weather started moving in and the rain started coming down. It rained for about 2 hours and we were pretty much stuck inside our tents (although the Pilipinos were happy to be outside in the rain in their shorts starting to prepare dinner and drinking the local cheap spirit tuba - a sugar cane alcoholic spirit!). Once the rain started to subside we joined them in preparing the meal and sharing the tuba. Neil had already started on his cheap 18 peso (AUD$0.20) 375 mL bottle of rum while it was raining so he heartily joined the Pilipinos in their drinking antics.

The rain coming in

Once dinner was prepared we all sat down in front of the tents to enjoy the meal of rice, chicken adobo, tuna with vegetables, and spam. Afterwards Neil led everyone in conversation and in singing popular songs common to both the Philippines and Australia. He was funny . . . for a while until the shots of tub, whisky, gin and brandy got larger and larger!

After a while we went to bed while Neil continued to extend his ‘diplomatic’ topic conversation pieces with the Pilipinos (such as “I will shoot Marcos” – response = “he’s already 6 feet under”, and “if you see any old white men with pretty Pilipino women, call the Australian Embassy line” answer = slightly confused nods of the heads!).
The next morning, unsurprisingly, Neil was very hung over and stayed in bed while we were cooked a nice breakfast. We headed down from the summit pretty early because by 7.30 is was already getting hot. Half way down we bought some buko (young coconuts) from some local boys who cracked them open with their machetes for us to drink the juice and eat the flesh. We reached the jump off point at about 10.00 then waited for another 2 hours while lunch was cooked (so the food wouldn’t spoil?) before catching a jeepney and bus back to Manila.

So while all in all we only did a little bit of walking, a lot of waiting and a lot of sweating, it was a great weekend. The Philipinos (Ace, Nads, Nivram, Leo, Joma and one other whose name I can’t remember) were so friendly and hospitable (they cooked all our food and carried all the supplies) and it was great to get to know them a little. The surrounding countryside and view from the summit was beautiful. And it was great just to get outdoors and see how local Pilipinos live outside of Manila and the cities.

posted by batik billy @ 10:27 am

Tharindi Karunaratne

I try to make my blog a positive one, recording experiences and events here in the Philippines. But today I heard some very sad news that an old friend in Canberra died last Friday. Tharindi went through the graduate program with us in immigration and had been working in Defence for the past few years. It was a shock and saddening to hear that she is no longer here.

posted by batik billy @ 2:31 pm

Work at NCRFW

I thought I would write a bit about what I will be doing at work for the next 11 months. Basically I will be assisting the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) in the division responsible for promoting and implementing gender responsive governance throughout the Filipino Government.

As Government Agency under the Office of the President, NCRFW responsible for implementing the Filipino Framework Plan for Action (FPA) which calls for 'a holistic and comprehensive response to the gender gap in the Philippines, and attempts to 'address 'systematic and structural causes of gender inequality'. NCRFW focuses on 3 main strategies to achieve this: promoting women's economic empowerment, upholding women's human rights, and promoting and strengthening gender responsive governance.

My division, the Program Development Division (PDD) focuses on mainstreaming gender throughout the Philippines Government and promoting gender responsive planning and budgeting to make the Government bureaucracy more gender responsive. More specifically, I am assisting in strengthening and facilitating the operation of some gender mainstreaming 'tools' including the support of:
· Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Points (GFP) - these are government employees in various national agencies who are mandated to advocate and oversee gender mainstreaming efforts. (Things like training management in gender sensitivity, inputting gender into the Agency annual planning and budgeting processes, and preparing and implementing GAD plans which are meant to ensure that Agency priorities, programs and activities are responsive to gender considerations). Basically NCFRW oversees the operation of GFPs throughout the bureaucracy and provides 'technical assistance' where required or requested.
· GAD Resource Network (GRN) - this is a network of gender specialists (mainly from universities) that is pretty much dormant at the moment. GRN members are seen more as possible resource points rather than an actual network of gender specialists working together to achieve tangible outcomes. I'm to help formulate some sort of solution to either revitalise or restructure the GRN.
· GAD Resource Centers (GRC) - these are resource centers mainly based in universities in regional areas. They serve as gender information hubs which also advocate and provide technical assistance on GAD and women's concerns more locally. Again, NCRFW basically coordinates the GRCs and I will assist on strengthening and expanding GRCs nationally.

In addition, I will be helping to advocate for the passage of legislation called the Local Sectoral Representation bill (LSR - Can you tell Philippinos like their acronyms too!). If anyone has any innovative ideas for advocacy materials - please leave me a comment!! As NCRFW does not have anything like a Minister assisting the PM/President on Women's Affairs, and as the President is preoccupied with the economic crisis, pushing for these types of bills to be passed is proving difficult.

More broadly, I'll be assisting wherever I can on gender and governance initiatives and I've already attended a number of meetings on gender budgeting, NGO participation in the budgeting process and on various projects that NCRFW has been implementing with funding from the Canadians and UNIFEM. Getting funding for anything that comes out of this office is a challenge with the National Government's current austerity measures. Even the GRN and GRC mechanisms have been previously funded from the Canadian project and pretty much all core NCRFW funding is purely 'departmental' and spent on salaries, maintenance of the building and basic admin - and even this is pretty minimal. (I think I mentioned that staff pay for their own toilet paper, soap, washing detergent?) Another big issue is the creation of additional work. From the UNIFEM and CIDA governance projects, a lot of demand has been created for NCRFW to assist other agencies to improve gender consciousness in their planning, budgeting and every day work. The implications of which are already resulting in high workloads for the staff in PDD. I see that it would be good to strengthen some of the networks that are already formed, but this will create additional work for the staff here. This is fine while I am here to help, but whether it can be sustained (like the outcomes of the CIDA project in setting up resourced GRCs and a technical GRN without any sustained future funding) is the more challenging aspect to my job here!

But all in all, my workmates here are highly educated, are strongly committed to achieving greater equality throughout the government and are such nice, friendly and helpful people that I know my time here will be great. I just hope that I will be able to impart some knowledge and lasting assistance while I am here.

posted by batik billy @ 4:47 pm

Monsoon Season is coming!

Yesterday seemed to be the first indications that monsoon season is heading our way. At about 5.45pm a huge storm hit over Manila. By the 6.30 and home time it was in full force with strong winds, heavy rain and lots of thunder and lightening. We waited at work for about half an hour hoping the storm would die down. It did a little and we all headed out for the walk to the LRT station. Of course I hadn’t brought my umbrella because it has been hot and clear (well – clear in terms of not much rain – it’s never really clear here in Manila thanks to all the smog) since we arrived with little sign of rain. Luckily I was able to share an umbrella, but that did not stop my shoes, socks, feet, pants, shoulder and bag from getting totally wet. Because the storm was so strong, all public transport was packed. It was impossible to get a taxi, the jeepneys were full and by the time we arrived at the LRT station at 7:30ish, we found out that the LRT had been closed because of the lightening! Instead we decided to grab some food (Wendy’s) and wait for people to go home. Finally we were able to get a taxi which dropped me off near home at about 8.30. I was absolutely exhausted! But I’ve been assured that there are plenty more days like this to come over the next 3 months!

posted by batik billy @ 8:19 am

Los Baňos - Hot Springs and Buko Pie

On Friday night Neil and I escaped Manila to head 2 hours south to a town called 'Los Baňos'. Situated on 'Laguna', a large inland lake, and surrounded by agricultural farming fields Los Baňos is well known for its natural hot springs and resorts. It took Neil and I about an hour and a half just to get out of Manila because of the traffic and the very full buses heading south out of the city. We eventually arrived at our accommodation - City of Springs - where we had dinner, a swim in the warm pool and some drinks.

The next day we headed out for a walk to observe the local Los Baňos community. It was very hot (mainit!) but it was great to see a more relaxed pace of life. After a while we decided to head out to the university and to the starting point to a climb up Mt. Makiling, a mountain (about 1400 meters) framing Los Baňos to the west. A tricycle, jeepney, long walk and another jeepney later, we found the start of the hike. However by this time, we were already tired, had ran out of water and were hungry for lunch. We headed back down to get some supplies and decided to head into the Botanical Gardens which were close to the starting point of the hike up the mountain, and which had a swimming pool located in the middle of the forested area. It was very picturesque and very refreshing after our tiring morning.

After chatting with some locals at the pool we decided to give the climb a miss. While the guidebook had indicated that it would take 2 hours to climb Mt. Makiling, they said it would take up to 6 and had become fairly dangerous with some hiker having recently been held up by knifepoint and all their belongings stolen. We were keen to see the hot mud springs, about an hour up the track, but decided to heed the warning and instead wandered around the Botanical Gardens.

It was a beautiful setting with tracks leading all through jungly forested areas. We walked up to see the Philippine raptors - mainly threatened and endangered native hunting birds, such as owls, hawks and the large and impressive Philippine eagle. On the one hand it is always to see these graceful large birds caged, at the same time they are being protected, are at least situated in a natural environment and are fed live natural food (like rats and rabbits!).

posted by batik billy @ 4:44 pm

Isaw

Well it had to happen - the girls from work have been very excited that I have been trying the local Philippino delicancies. Fortunately for me, so far these have consisted of things like monggo bread (mung bean bread), sweets, different types of rice cakes (buko, puto and babinka), fried fish balls and things that are definitely edible. Yesterday however, I had the honour of being treated to a popular Philippino delicacy at the University of the Philipinnes after a UNIFEM workshop meeting in Quezon City with my workmates - isaw.

Isaw baboy and isaw manok - pig intestines and chicken intestines on a stick. Yum yum! Wasn't too bad actually - a little chewy!

I was able to find a picture of the same isaw stall at UP on the internet!

posted by batik billy @ 11:52 am

37 degrees and toasty

It's been a pretty constant 37 degrees here in Manila for the past week. In our kitchen I am sure it is well over that - which makes for some fun cooking. Thankfully our appartment has great air conditioning, but unfortunately I am sure the hot weather and the airconditioning at both home and at work has caused my painfully sore throat. At least I am keeping away the amoebic bugs . . . so far!

posted by batik billy @ 1:55 pm

My Monday the 9th of May

Today I was up and out of the house by 6:50 to get to work before 8 for a flag raising ceremony. In the rush I got on the train going in the opposite direction (towards the shopping mall!) and was the stupid white person who rode 1 stop before changing to get on the traing going in the right direction. After a very brisk walk from the train station to the office, I changed shirts before joining my workmates in the conference room for the ceremony. I had little idea of what this ceremony was all about, but it seemed to be an internal get togehter of staff. Apparently they are held at the beginning of each month.

The meeting started with saying a prayer (I think - it ended in an amen), sang the Philippines national anthem while facing the Philippino flag, then pledged an allegence to the Philippines and then to the Government as public service employees. One of the staff gave a presentation on a legislative bill being introduced into Congress which aims to regulate and introduce working conditions for domestic workers (who of course are mainly women). They then gave out little presents to those who are celebrating their birthdays in May, as well as a present to the one person who has been on time to work every day since early April and the introduction of the 4 day working week. This is no mean feat as staff are expected to work from 7:30 to 6:30, 4 days a week (and often more than that on their days off and until late in the evening). Then I was formally introduced and was asked to say a few words. Ahhh! I think I babbled something about being happy to be here, thanking everyone for their warm welcome, hoping to get to know everyone better and hoping that i will be able to add to the work of NCRFW during my time here. We then sang another song to the Philippines and had orange juice (which was really a powdered orange flavour mix) and some 'buko' - sticky rice cake - which tasted ok, but was very heavy.

Work consisted of doing some reading on a bill being introduced into Congress called the 'Local Sector Representation Bill' (LSR) in preparation for a meeting in the afternoon at the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) - the central planning agency in the Philippines. After lunch 'I' (the officer primarily responsible for the LSR - Irene) and I drove over to NEDA for an interagency meeting to consider and prioritise legislative priorities to achieving the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). These would be submitted to the legislative 'Multi-Sectoral Committee on International Human Development Committments' to be fed into Congress. The meeting was interesting in learning about how Philippinos operate: limitations of doing core business in English, the importance of gaining consensus, the reluctance to make committed statements or agreements on an individual level and the very long and descriptive input of participants made for a long (4 hours) and fairly unproductive meeting. If the meeting had taken place in Australia, it would have frustrated all involved! However, reflecting on inter-agency meetings in Australia, I shouldn't be so critical of the Philippines Government Agencies - Australian ones can also be extremely frustrating!!

As the meeting was in Ortigas (quite far away from the office) we were able to go straight home at about 5. I took me to a gourmet deli which was selling a bunch of celery for P345 (about $8.50) - ridiculously expensive even for Australian standards! We then caught the MRT back through Cubao where I-Irene was able to meet Neil, who arrived at about the same time. All the girls think (and I-Irene confirmed) that he looks like Bill Murray!

posted by batik billy @ 5:51 pm

Quick Weekend Update - 7 - 8 May

Friday - day off for Emily. Slept in and went down to explore the huge commercial district of Cubao/Araneta Centre.

Saturday - slept in and went shopping with Neil. Ate a bit of a dodgy hamburger at 'Burgoo' and went searching for some new work pants. Paul J returned from Boracay in the afternoon and came over to our place. We met up with some of the other AYADs and went out to Quezon City to 'Conspiracy' a local music venue. We had dinner and watched a live performance of a fairly well known local Philippino singer. We then headed over to 'Xamaca' (Jamaca), a popular reggae club for a couple more drinks before heading home.

Sunday - Said bye to Paul and finally bought some work pants for Neil. We cooked a yummy dinner, watched some tv, and had an early night. Neil did some study for his new job!

All in all it was a nice relaxing weekend in preparation for a long week at work - there are plans for an operational planning meeting over the whole weekend that I will be attending!

posted by batik billy @ 5:40 pm

Kitchen measuring cup for $5!

After my proud purchase of $5 shoes I headed to the grocery store. Among other things I needed a measuring cup. And what do you know, the cheapest was $5!! How very unexciting.

posted by batik billy @ 2:18 pm

Pilipino food

This is what Philippines tourism sites say Philipino food is like. In actual fact, it's more like this:



Which isn't so bad when you are feeling like junk food. But it is hard to find restaraunts serving traditional type local food which is actually very nice when you do find it.

If you are interested, here are some other Philippino fast food places:

• Jollibee: Probably the most popular takeaway here - the local version of McDonalds. http://www.jollibee.com.ph/default.htm. There is also McDonalds here (of course) as well as Wendy's and Burger King.
• Chowking: A takeaway Asian restaurant: http://www.chowking.com/
• Tropical Hut: A Philipino variation on Pizza Hut. There is Pizza Hut here too.
• Hen Lin: An Asian type take away: http://www.henlin.com.ph/
• Shakey's: An American-style resteraunt chain.
• Country Style: An all the basic's takeaway - not too impressed with this one.
• Delifrance: About the only place that sells bread that isn't sugary. Greenwich is another sandwich type takeaway store which is everywhere: http://www.greenwich.com.ph/
• KFC: Otherwise known as Kapag Fried Chicken. There is also a Kenny Rogers Fried Chicken! I'll have to try this one.

note: half this post got cut off and unfortunately I can't remember what else I was writing about!

posted by batik billy @ 2:20 pm

Great shoes for only $5!

Just wanted to let you all know that I just bought a pair of shoes for about $5! Cheap cheap!! Come do some shopping!!

posted by batik billy @ 1:58 pm

Amoebic dysentery

Well, it seems Neil doesn't have giardia - it seems he has amoebic dysentery! Poor guy!

Amoebic dysentery (amoebiasis) is an infection of the intestine (gut) caused by an amoeba called Entamoeba histolytica, which, among other things, can cause severe diarrohoea. Amoebae are parasites that are found in contaminated food or drink. They enter the body through the mouth when the contaminated food or drink is swallowed. The amoebae are then able to move through the digestive system and take up residence in the intestine and cause an infection. There are several different species of amoebae, but the most dangerous, such as Entamoeba histolytica, live predominantly in tropical areas. These potentially life-threatening species are able to burrow through the intestinal wall and spread through the bloodstream to infect other organs, such as the liver, lungs and brain.

Hmm, sounds fun. . .

posted by batik billy @ 1:23 pm

Update on Neil!

Because I know Neil has been pretty slack on updating everyone on what he is doing I though I would just add a bit about what he has been up to here in Manila. Well, apart from being pretty sick (as most of you know, he never really had strong guts to start with) he has been working pretty hard at the Embassy. This seems to have paid off as he was recently offered full time work in processing visas. Initially Neil was contracted on a 'casual' basis, without any guarantee on how long his employment would last, or how many hours/days he would be working per week. Now he has a bit more certainty around his work and income here which is great!

Back to his guts, at first we thought he had giardia so he took a strong dose of antibiotics to kill those evil bugs. He went to the doctor on Tuesday who said that amoebic somethingerather was pretty common in Manila and that he might have this instead and prescribed some additional antibiotics. As those close to Neil know how much he enjoys enlightening us on his bowel movements as it is, it is making for 'interesting' conversations! But otherwise he is doing well and seems to be getting a bit better.

posted by batik billy @ 3:33 pm

Travelling to work

To get to work each day, I walk 10 minutes from our apartment at ‘Valencia Hills’ to the nearest LRT station ‘Gilmore’. At about 7.15 in the morning, by this stage it’s already hot and humid and I'm already sweating. Fortunately the LRT trains come every 10 minutes, so it's not long before starting the 15 minute ride on the clean, air-conditioned, but fairly busy train ride http://www.moveandstay.com/manila/guide_skytrain.asp.

From the 'Legarda' station where I 'alight' (as Filipinos say!), it's about another 30 minute walk to the NCRFW office. While the majority of the walk is quite pleasant, along the main road near the station, the pollution from the jeepneys, buses, FXs (a communal taxi), taxis and other vehicles can be quite suffocating! I'll try to take a picture of this road because it's very typical Manila!

The final portion of the walk is along the locked gates of Malacañang Palace - the Presidential Building. Initially I thought that I would be working with in Malacañang itself - but instead I am in an old restored Spanish building right across the road. While this sounds pretty nice, each division (consisting of about 4 - 8 people) is located in a different room, each quite small with minimal natural light. Particularly working 10 hour days, I'm ending up spending a lot of time with my workmates. Fortunately my 'team' is very friendly and fun, but still, having no personal computer or phone is strange!! Must of us walk back to the Legarda station in the evening together which is actually a really nice way to finish the day.

posted by batik billy @ 3:30 pm

Thank you for patronizing the Megatrend/Purple Line

Pilipinos speak excellent English. 'Good morning sir maam' is a daily greeting as you walk into stores, get onto the train line and eat at resteraunts. However, sometimes there are things written in English that just make you giggle. Like, "Thank you for patronizing the Megatrend/Purple Line". The Megatrend/Purple line in the train I ride to work and while of course you know what they mean, really patronizing the line is the last thing i would do - it's clean, there are guards on every carriage, it's cheap (about 25 cents) and best of all fast and air conditioned!

posted by batik billy @ 2:33 pm

Touring Manila

We then walked down through Intramuros to the San Agustin Church and San Agustin Museum. They are both national heritage sites and at first glance they seem pretty unexciting. However, inside the San Agustin Museum, which is attached to the church are a lot of objects of ‘great historical and cultural merit’. There are also some beautiful gardens surrounded by an old moat like edifice which make for some nice photos (hope to post some here soon!). Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn’t get to explore the second story, but will definitely have to head back to this one.

Emily in San Agustin Gardens

Here's a great map on Intramuros. You can click on the separate sections which show a bit more detail: http://www.tourism.gov.ph/intramuros/intramuros.htm

We then went back in to meet Neil who had finished work for the week for a couple of drinks in ritzy Makati. Paul was keen to hit the more local ‘Malate’ area and while initially Neil and I weren’t too keen, we ended up going along. I’m glad we didn’t pike as Malate was great. There were people everywhere and they had closed one part of the street off to allow diners to sit out on the main street. They had also set up a large stage where they had a band and some singers performing some pretty decent covers. We joined the crowd in having a couple of rounds of San Miguel Lights and some nachos out in the open before doing some bar hopping. We went to a small place called Bedrock where there was a large crowd and some great singers. And then went on a mission to find ‘The Hobbit Bar’, a folk bar with ‘little people’ as waiters. After a bit of a trek we found it – it was playing fantastic folk music and the vibe was great. Pilipinos are really keen on their music and are very talented musicians!

Neil at Manila Bay

We then headed back to Makati where we got changed, had some dinner and then met up with some more friends and went out to a bar to watch some local bands. The bar turned out to be someones house and was absolutely packed. We were still pretty tired from the night before and bailed pretty early (about 12.30).

The President has declared Monday a public holiday for Labour Day, but Neil will have to work.

Neil has what we think is Giardia. He’s not doing too good.

posted by batik billy @ 2:29 pm

Rizal Park / Luneta

Here are some pictures of Rizal Park, also known as Luneta.



We hope to have some of our own up too - still waiting to get the home phone line hooked up!!

posted by batik billy @ 1:41 pm