Mindoro Island

Sunset in San Jose, Mindoro Island

Coconut delivery truck- notice the coconuts are inside and the kids are riding on top!!!!!

Water buffaloes just chillin'

Beautiful fish and coral- Dauin marine preserve

Siargao Island and Cloud Nine Surfbreak

This is a little slice of heaven in the Philippines- one of the most famous surf breaks in this corner of the world. Really great people- most of them surf- we feel like we are back in California! We stayed at the Boardwalk at Cloud nine- the picture is a view of the totally cool pier that the surfers walk down to get to the surf break- the stairs are towards the end. There are several International Surfing Championships here- from May to October. You gasp when you see the wave break- it is the most beautiful color of aqua blue- super clean water here- it could be love!!!!!

Meet Twix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is Twix- a too cute puppy that Shay and Donny got the kids! Jacob is officially the parent, but everyone takes turns taking care of and playing with her! She is part Doberman and part Rottweiler- not usually my favorite combo, but she is really sweet!!

SCOTTY AND IZZY- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY B-DAY TO SCOTTY AND IZZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU IN APRIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE (GRAMPA) STEVE AND  (GRAMA) SUSIE

Rice and basketballs

While going by Ilin Island with captain Boyet, we came across three little children about 1/2 mile offshore- approximate ages were 8 or 9 for the oldest boy, 5 or 6 for the little girl, and 18-24 months for the baby! They were out trying to catch fish because the family didn't have enough to eat. We are all so paranoid about safety for our little ones that we go overboard to make sure nothing happens to them- can you imagine a baby on a raft 3 feet wide in the ocean??!! Several hours later on our return to our hotel on the Island of Mindoro we saw the same kids still at it trying their best to catch something.  Anyway, we asked Boyet what we could do to help and he said that if we got a bag of rice (50 kilos) it would feed the family for about 5 weeks. So we went back the next day with four bags for the little group of homes. The kids can't break the cycle of poverty if they can't go to school, and they can't go to school if they have to work. So much need...we are praying for wisdom on how to help.

On a lighter note, one of the sports that is really big in the Philippines is basketball. On Ilin island is a basketball court and Boyet's son Lester even has his own hoop- a bit broken. The only problem is the only basketball had worn out...... so we bought a new hoop, net, basketball and pump! very fun! 

White Island and Grace Island

White Island

White Island and Grace Island are between a 1/2 mile and 5 miles respectively. You can spend the night at cottages on either- White Island is primitive (you can get a cottage for 1500 pesos a night- about $38 and Grace Island is fancy- and pricey- starting at 4500 pesos- about $125!

Altho they both have gorgeous white sand beaches and crystal clear waters, there are not many fish to see. Grace Island has a unique "fish tank"- an area about 30 feet wide and 50 feet long- it has netted sides and you can swim in there if you want. There are hundreds of different colorful fish and turtles. I was thinking these were samples of fish in the lagoon; not so- when I swam over to the bay, I only saw a few fish. Several cool kinds of coral, starfish and a few 4 foot long sea slugs that looked like snakes!!!!

Starfish off Grace Island

Trip to San Jose, Mindoro

We are heading up north to San Jose on the island of Mindoro. We met two wonderful people, Linda Fernandez, a retired neonatal intensive care resuscitation nurse- that's a mouthful- hope I said it right! She goes around the different islands teaching this course at her own expense. This is a required course for nurses and paramedics in the US, and she is sharing it with the nurses in her beloved Philippines. Linda has been in the US for years working at Kaiser Permanente running this program and supervising nurses.

Sonny Gordovez is a retired telecommunications consultant for AT&T and had several financial planning, securities, insurance offices in Southern California. Both were raised on Mindoro and have the Montesa Foundation that has been formed to help the people on the Islands of Mindoro and Ilin.

They have several properties that they want to be used for ministry and are talking to Pastoral Training of Asia about working together to make that happen. Donny and Shayla are working with PTA.

We stayed at a lovely hotel owned by Edith Park called the White House- the grounds are immaculate and gorgeous- and it sits on a beautiful beach that goes on forever - we finally got our beach walk!

Dumaguete market

I think Pastor Jim would have liked us to taste the durian- the big cut fruit in the center- luckily I saw it on Anthony Bourdains show- it smells like dirty socks and is banned from taking on buses!

What do you think, Scotty? Sushi!

 Steve and Pastor Jim- he's showing us the ropes...like "buy your fish on Saturday morning so it will be fresh!!!!!!"

This is how we get our fresh shredded coconut! Yum!!

The downtown market takes up an entire block- just for fruits and vegetables on the right half and fish market on the left.

R&R

After a week of long flights and getting settled in, we went down to Dauin, about 30 miles south of Dumaguete. On the water is Bahura, a  hotel that reminds me of old Hawaii. The grounds were beautiful- plumeria trees, coconut palms, flowers and a great pool for the kids. There was snorkeling in front, but the water was a bit rough so the kids still haven't gotten to snorkel yet!

 Banana mango pancakes and mango shake...yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!