Epilogue

We're finally back in Victoria. The trip to Manila was both refreshing and tiring. I planned to make this a trip to refresh my body, mind and spirit. I believe I have achieved this even if I put on some weight.

Day 19 - Aug 24 - Trip to Victoria

The trip back home was uneventful except for one instance at the HK airport again. Our boarding passes were issued for Manila-HK-Vancouver for Cathay Pacific. We were told that we should get boarding passes for Vancouver to Victoria in HK.

Day 18 - Aug 23

This being a Sunday, we went to Church for the 9am mass. We caught the tail end of the 8 am mass and the church was full.

Day 17 - Aug 22 - Pauline's Birthday

This day was Pauline's birthday. She was born on the feast of Mary's Queenship. It was pouring rain. I see this as abundant blessing. On her 18th birthday, the Lord choose to bless my daughter in abundance - since it flooded!

Dao 16 - Aug 21 - Ninoy Aquino Day

The day started quite slow. My son and I were meeting Fr. Rafaelito at the monastery. We took the LRT and then took the jeep to San Beda. This being Ninoy's day, I wore yellow.

The Mendiola Bridge was a battleground for students wanting to go to Malacanang Palace. I remembered when I was in Elementary, coming out of school, I would see people demonstrating against Marcos right outside the school. This was before Martial Law days.

Day 15 - Aug 20 - Talk at the Philippine Computer Society

The day started quite early. I had to speak at the Philippine Computer Society monthly membership meeting. I had to leave at 5 before 7 am to be able to arrive in Makati by 8:30. Traffic along EDSA was very heavy. We got to Makati at 8:05.

Day 14 - Aug 19 - Chinatown for the Boys

I took my son to the dentist for his final check up. Everything looks good. We headed to the LRT after that, on our way to Chinatown. I decided to drop by the Philippine Bible Society along UN Avenue. The building is new but there's not a lot of bibles available anymore. I thought of replacing my old one, but decided to continue using it because it is still good, except for its front cover.

Day 13 - Aug 18

Another quiet day. I went to the dentist this morning to adjust my new crown. After coming back, my family and I went to SM North Mall to buy some shoes and jeans.

Day 12 - Aug 17

It's a quiet day today. I had breakfast with my brother and sister to talk about family stuff. After that, my son and I went to the dentist. Me - to have my crown on and my son, to have his stitches removed.

It was raining and flooded. We had lunch at Chow King. Basically, I have eaten all the food I wanted to eat. I was planning to give my old laptop to my nephews, but it died on me. I think the hard drive just died. The laptop has served me well. Quite embarrassing though.

I was planning to take my son to Chinatown but I slept through the afternoon. Apparently, even after 2 weeks, I still am suffering from jet lag. So I'll take him tomorrow. My crown also feels high so I might have to go back to the dentist.

Just woke up a few minutes ago (7pm).

Day 11 - Aug 16

Sunday is a day of rest and worship. We choose to worship today. We visited to several churches. First stop was our parish church, St. Gabriel. We attended mass at 6 am.

Second stop was the Manila Cathedral. There was mass so we could not stay long. We were able to go to a couple of their chapels and look at some materials on their history.

Third stop was San Agustin Church. It is about 1 block from the cathedral. Thankfully, there was no mass so we were able to take pictures. We then visited their museum. It took us about 1.5 hours to view the museum and we did not see everything! At the side chapel, buried there is the body of Don Miguel de Legazpi, founder of Manila some 400 years ago.

Fourth stop was San Beda - my Alma Mater. Since this is a few blocks from the presidential palace squatter, Arroyo, you can see the signs of an insecure regime: barb wires and fences. Anyway, that was not going to spoil our trip. Mass was about to start in five minutes so we just stayed there and took some pictures and left before the mass began. I plan to go back with my children so they can see the monastery.

We had lunch along the most expensive Highway in the world, that was named after Gloria Arroyo's dad. Ironically, she had the gall to name this highway in her father's name when there's question of corruption behind the funding of this highway. Lunch was excellent. We purchased live sea food and then the restaurant cooked it.

After this, we went to the Mall of Asia which is one of the largest malls in the world. It has a shrine to Jesus within its property. Sadly, it was closed. So we headed to the Pink Sisters' convent.

It started to rain hard as we approached the convent. The sisters in the convent adore Jesus 24x7. They are cloistered and those who profess their permanent vows wear pink. Hence, Pink Sisters. On entry, I felt peace. Of course, the Lord was there!

I spent quite some time before the Lord. It brought back a lot of memories because I used to come to this convent to seek consolation from my problems years ago.

After the Pink Sisters, we took a detour to my sister-in-law's condominium. It was quite impressive. From there, you can see the Lopez Building (where I used to work) and also Christ the King church, where my wife and I got married.

We then went to Padre Pio's shrine. When I knelt before his relics, it was a different feeling. I offered some prayers and then walked around.

We came home at around 6pm. I personally felt tired physically, but spiritually, I was very refreshed. It made me think for a while, that this is one of the blessings of being here - you are so close to all these channels of God's grace.

Day 10 - Aug 15 - Solemnity of Mary's Assumption

It is quite interesting that this also marks the death anniversary for my father. He died 11 years ago after battling cancer.

I went to mass in the morning at our parish here. After the mass, I was able to adore the Lord. I thank God for these opportunities to be able to worship him without being rushed. The morning was pretty quiet.

After lunch, I took my family to the Chinese cemetery where my grandparents are buried. As expected, I got lost on the way because the street landmarks have changed. We finally were able to reach my grandparents' mausoleum. We also took some pictures.

After that, we went to my sister's place as we plan to go to St. Peter's Church where my father's ashes are kept. I had to drive to Fairview and found that driving in Metro Manila is easy once you get the hang of it.

One the way, we saw a driving school car driving recklessly. If that is an indication of how they teach their students, it is small wonder why the drivers in Manila drive that way. It was more offensive driving rather than defensive driving.

Anyway, we reached St. Peter safely and I was impressed with it. When I was there 11 years ago, it was still underconstruction. But now, it looks like a small replica of St. Peter's in the Vatican or at least from pictures of it that I have see.

We stayed there for about an hour and prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and left home.

We attended mass at my brother's parish church, St. Joseph's. And proceeded for dinner with the Yuson clan who are in the Philippines. It was nice to see my nephews and niece. That's right, I have only 2 neices one is in Canada, the other in the Philippines as compared to 6 nephews, 1 in Canada and 5 here in the Philippines.

My brother invited his parish priest and also his compadre. After dinner, we came home - it was past 10 pm. We then called it a night.

Day 9 - Aug 14

Nothing much in the morning. In the afternoon, I went to Valle Verde Country Club to meet some friends. I thought it would be easy to find. My mistake!!! I thought I could recognize the corner where I had to turn.

When I got there, I could not recognize the corner. The layout changed - a lot! What used to be vacant lots are not filled with skyscapers. So it was no surprise we got lost. Thankfully, my nephew knew the place and we asked around.

We met for about 1.5 hours then off to another meeting. This is one thing I should remember, make sure to get the address. I thought I got the address. It turns out, they had moved. So I spent some time trying to contact them. We arrived 1 hour late. Not good for a business meeting. Thankfully, the person I met was quite understanding.

On our way home, traffic was sooo bad. We were stuck in a corner for about half an hour. Finally was able to get home. Went to SM Mall (North EDSA) and had pancit Malabon for dinner. Another ful-filling day for me.

Day 8 - Aug 13 - Chinatown Breakfast

I woke up early. I was planning to go to San Beda again for the Lauds and mass. But I decided to instead go to the Sta Cruz church in Manila. Again, I took the LRT at 5:44. It is very clean and efficient. This is one of the excellent projects Marcos did.

Day 7 - Aug 12 - At the Monastery

Had an early start again. Woke up at 5:00 am and prepared to meet my friends at my HS. Took the LRT to Recto. Manila is sooo polluted. My throat itched when I was in Recto.

I caught the start of the Lauds and felt overwhelmed just by the serenity of the place. The mass was very simple and at the same time profound. How could these monks do that?

Day 6 - Aug 11

Trip back to Manila was smooth. Nothing much happened. The plane was on time. One thing I forgot to mention is, I'm impressed with ZestAir. Considering it is a new airline, their no-frills style was ok. Their seats are surprisingly spacious - I'd say it has more room than the Cathay plane I took from Vancouver to HK to Manila.

Day 5 - Aug 10

Second day in Bohol. Another early day. We were going to watch some dolphins. The waters were rough due to a low pressure area in Luzon. We saw three dolphins only. We then proceeded to Balicasag island. My in-laws and son went snorkeling. I stayed on the beach with my daughter and wife.

Day 4 - Aug 9

The day started quite early 4am to be exact. We had to catch the 5 am mass. I thought Manilans are devoted since we start mass at 6 am. Cebuanos are more devoted. They start at 5 am! I thought well, it's 5 am mass, probably not a lot of people and it would be rushed.

Day 3 - Aug 8

Woke up early again. I had to. We were to catch the plane to Cebu. I was impressed with the Manila Domestic airport. I knew it was old but it still works. It was clean. The flight was delayed for a hour, but that was ok. One thing I noticed is the statue of the Virgin Mary (Our Lady of the Airways) inside the waiting area.

Day 2 - Aug 7

Woke up at 3 am this time. Checked my office email and saw that the major project was going fine.

Went to church again and took some pictures. Not good pictures though. My hands were shaking. The second day was interesting.

Day 1 - Aug 6

I woke up quite early around 2 am. Did my early morning routines and prepared for mass. Mass was at 6 am. I was surprised at my old parish church. The marble walls are now covered with wood. I thought the old style was quite elegant, but this one blows it away. First, the tabernacle was moved from the right side of the sanctuary to the center of the sanctuary, right under the crucifix. Then the floor is now covered with new tiles. The old worn out marble is gone. The tiles give the sanctuary a very elegant look.

The Adoration chapel was also a surprise. They truly give the Lord the respect he deserves. There were morning prayers at the adoration chapel and the pastor joined it. It is refreshing to see that.

We went to the dentist to have my crown made. This costs less than what it would in Canada. My kids had their teeth extracted for a lot less than what it would cost in Canada. They have paid for their ticket already :)

My wife and I went out with my sisters-in-law. My wife and I had to deal with some business and we went to SM Mall on North EDSA. What a sight. I did not know it was that big!!!

We had dinner at one of the many restaurants in SM. It was delicious. When we returned, it was end of the day.

The Trip Home

On my trip back, we passed through Roxas boulevard. It looks quite impressive. A lot cleaner and a lot brighter. Manila mayor Lim has done quite well. Going through Manila city hall is also quite impressive. Jones bridge was also quite impressive, The lights on the bridge makes it look very attractive. Traffic was a lot better also.

Home at Last !!!

The problem with taking naps is you wake up half asleep. My worry about my presentation was useless. It turns out I have brought my portable hard drive which contains all of my documents. So I had my presentation all along!

1 Hour before Boarding Time

Just woke up from a nap. I was able to lie down and still would have stayed lying down. Suddenly, I remembered, I forgot a presentation file I will be using for the Philippine Computer Society (PCS). Panic time!!! Backup plan, I sent a PDF copy to PCS so if I don't have a copy, I can reconstruct from there. Then I remembered, I uploaded it somewhere for backup. I checked my company's backup site, not there. More panic. Then I remembered, it is on another site.

At YVR

So here I am at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR). It's 11:37 pm - about 3 more hours to go. What to do? YVR has free wifi and power supply. Good thing - otherwise, I won't know what I will do.

2009 Pilgrimage Home: From Victoria to Vancouver

The trip was pleasant. My flight was supposed to be at 9pm. I arrived at 5:30. Shows that I had nothing to do but to wait for the time. He asked if I wanted to go on the 6pm flight. Having nothing else to do, I said yes.