January 2008, we traveled with Nate and Suanna Bruinooge to the Philippines.

This is actually one of Suanna's photos.  Many of these shots are from Nate and Suanna.

Pictured here is the boat that took us to Coco Beach Resort.

First stop, Manila.

Theressa and Benoy work for the Canadian embassy.  They graciously hosted us at their house in Manila.  Here is the front gate.

Though their house is in the heart of Manila's high-rise shopping mall district, they still had a garden, which featured these...

...and these...

...and these.

All the flower pictures are courtesy of Suanna.

In Manila, we went shopping.

A bazillion shopping malls are in the area of Teressa-Benoy SQ.  I was excited to find real bookstores.  Sarah wanted to buy a GPS device.  Neither books nor GPS electronics are easy to get in Vietnam.

I think this statue is the Spirit of Shoping Mall Buccaneers.

w00t!

Shopping malls are teh awsum.

This one time a huge sandwich totally sneaked up on Nate.

Sadly, we never found a good GPS device.  But at least I got some books.

Follow the sword-pointe to great shopping!

Back at the house, Nate and Sarah did a session of yoga.  These are their butts.

Fort Santiago

The historical walled city in downtown Manila is called Intramuros.  At the Northwest corner, Fort Santiago guards the Pasig River.  The Japanese used this fort in WWII to house prisoners of war.

The fort is a hodge-podge of architectures.

They got chickens.

Cock fighting is a big deal in the Philippines, but these particular specimins were not obliging.

This iron lady is about eleven feet tall.

This guy was important.

I think he got executed here in the fort.

Sarah and the tin man.

Suanna is all like... eh?

Past the fort wall, the river, and then regular modern slummy Manila takes hold.

View from the fort wall, across the Pasig River.