Water Water Everywhere

(Click photo for pictures)

4/14

We woke up around 6am, which has become the normal time here, and looked out at the hazy port of Manila. The air quality is quite bad with both air and noise pollution. Did I mention that summer just started. Man, the heat is actually a news story! Today is the big day at Ocean Park. The Aliwan Fiesta is beginning today across the street. This is a giant fiesta celebrating all the smaller celebrations in the provinces. Maybe we will check it out, but the hotel pool seems way more inviting on such an incredibly hot day. 

Sir Art, Mr. Ramon's counterpart drove us over to Ocean Park. It might be in Manila and in pesos, but to us but it is still quite the traditional theme park atmosphere. Pay for a little, get a certain amount of access, pay for the big kahuna, get slightly more. We went big. The heat made the outdoor areas rough and many inside areas were not much different. We were actually relieved to visit the Arctic penguin exhibit. We had to put coats on to enter and there was actual snow. Probably was the first snow the boy has seen and it won't be the last, that's for sure. Welcome to Wisconsin kid. This will look like home in 7 months. We saw a few really cool things including a jellyfish exhibit and a Philippine eagle exhibit where they were just flying around us. After lunch at a legit Asian restaurant inside Ocean Park which had choices of Pinoy food, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, you name it. 

We were picked  up by Mr. Art and went back to the hotel for more sun and swimming. After a little rest we visited the 19th floor of Hotel Jen called Windows by the Bay. Liza & Joshua were getting a little nervous as the window sitting area extended a bit out. Great view and nice chilled out place. We ordered a nice cheese plate, charcuterie plate, and a pizza puff plate. Joshua mostly made faces at it so we ordered him a ham and pineapple pizza. I've noticed that this kid digs the Hawaiian pizzas yet is ironically scared of cheese. We were pretty tired after the full day and ordered the in room Avenger movie. Everyone fell asleep. One more full day in Manila...

For MUSIC

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ICAB & MOA

 (Click picture to see photos)

4/13 

Today is all about the Inter-Country Adoption Board. We woke up early again and headed down for the breakfast buffet. I still felt a bit full after the crispy pata last night.  Joshua didn't really dig the buffet and we never eat enough to be worth the money. Hoping for the best as far as lukewarm buffet food in Southeast Asia... or anywhere really anyway. Who really likes buffets? Well, we've been okay so far and the food is very good at Hotel Jen.  Excellent staff as well.

Mang Ramon picked us up from the hotel and we were on our way through the early morning streets of Manila. We arrived at ICAB about an hour early and finished shortly after for signing and receiving the final paperwork in the Philippines. ICAB was professional and friendly, not nearly as stressful as I anticipated. Whew... (wiping brow) Diggin the Filipinos.

In between time, Mang Ramon drove us through Intramuros and past some notable sights in Manila including Rizal Park, The Manila Hotel (General MacArthur fame), The Coconut Palace, San Agustin Church (original doors from 1607) and other sights. We really enjoyed seeing the historical buildings, what you don't see in the pictures is the extreme poverty. There were people sleeping by the roadside, mothers feeding babies, dogs eating garbage, people eating and sleeping in garbage, and this was in about 100 degree weather. There are the super rich but mostly the impoverished in Manila. We are very blessed in America. Maybe I should have taken pictures of these things. They are hard to look it and absorb. Mang Ramon took us back to the hotel and introduced our driver for tomorrow, Mang Art. He would be the one to take us to Ocean Park, which everyone is excited to see.   

So, off we were to The Mall of Asia to grab some more clothes for Joshua and to check out one of the biggest malls in this part of the world. Trying on clothes is so much fun in gigantic malls... I'm not sure if I really need to even write anything here. We did get a shuttle over from Hotel Jen and planned our time for pickup. Security at this mall is no joke. Guns and everything, but I suppose that's a good idea in today's world. We were okay with it. We had some crappy mall food (Pizza Hut... we were hungry) and snapped a few pictures outside before our pickup time. Back to relax at the hotel...

For MUSIC

Go to www.timkorry.com

Farewell to SP

 (Click the picture to see photos)

4/12

It is both Joshua's birthday and the day that he leaves SP. Talk about intense. Writing this at 5AM. None of us can sleep. I hope it gets light soon. 

We all sat outside in the courtyard talking as a car pulled up. Out of the car stepped Mr. Marc who flew in from Japan. He flew back in hopes to see Joshua before he left. Joshua has probably been at SP longer than any other kid. It's been ten years of his life and now that is all going to change, We had a good talk for awhile and then stepped in for some pan de sal and adobo flakes while continuing our discussion about pretty much everything. As usual, the food has been great. We will miss that. Marc is a solid guy and this place that he built is amazing and filled with God's love and great people. I would suggest checking out their orphanage and mission and really consider adopting from SP if you are really ready to do such a thing. We consider them family and I know that this will be a very hard day for everyone. 

We packed our bags and headed over to take some pictures in unit 2 with the house parents and kids. For lunch we had some awesome homemade pancit and lumpia with Mama Gena, Papa Joe, and the kids in unit 1 where Joshua lived. Joshua's house parent's and family at Samaritans Place were awesome people. We were only there for 3 days but really got along well and will miss them for sure. They told us stories from their home in Mindanao and then about their way of life in that area. Simplicity is the key. I think that translates through all cultures.We all get so wrapped up in the stress and complexities of life that we don't take a step back and enjoy the basic things that are actually fulfilling. 
After lunch we had a short Skype session with Mrs. Marilen, Marc's wife. She was very close to Joshua and was unfortunately not abe to be there for the farewell. The entire day was very emotional including the Skype session. Mrs. Marilen seems like a great lady as well. Mang Ramon pulled up in his car and we grabbed our bags. We had a very emotional picture taking session and goodbyes. It's really hard to explain or document this moment so I've been struggling on how to write it. How do you put the emotion of so many people all of different ages and experiences into words? How do you compress 20 minutes of extreme feeling together and somehow express it? Well, we still get a little teary when we look back on some of the pictures from that day. I can only imagine how he must feel.
We pulled away slowly, as if Mang Ramon knew something we didn't, and rounded the block. As we slowly passed where the the SP jeepney was parked, we saw the whole crowd waving goodbye. That was a nice touch, and as you can imagine, lot's of tears... from everybody in the car. Up the hill and out through the gate. We were on our way back to Manila.

For MUSIC
go to www.timkorry.com
 

From the First Day 'til Now Single #2

 

http://fromthefirstdaytilnow.viinyl.com/

Free download if you share with a friend!

The second single of the year is out! It was actually written by an apostle. Ya, I’ve never had a co-writer quite of this caliber… This indie rock song was taken straight out of Phil 1 in the bible. It was initially a song candidate for the Above the Snakeline album but did not make the final song list. It has been updated and reworked a bit for the full sonic experience.

So, three months into the year and we’ve only released two songs… Yes, I did say that a single will be released every month.  The new alt country song, Warmer in Dublin, will be released on St. Patrick’s Day! Mixed and mastered in Nashville! In the meantime, check out Riverside & From the First Day ‘til Now.