www.Betsy and Terry.fun

Today we went on a tour of the Manila American Cemetery and WWII War Memorial. It was quite profound to see the 17,206 graves with crosses and the additional 36,285 names of the missing soldiers engraved on the walls.

25 beautiful hand tiled mosaic maps detail the story of
different battles in the Pacific during WWII

This chapel stands in the center of the memorial.
The image as well as all walls are covered in hand tiled mosaic.

36,285 names of missing and unidentified soldiers are engraved
on the 48 pairs of walls which are arranged in the two hemicycles of the memorial.

Each of the 17,206 graves are marked by name and the home state of the soldier buried there.

Sunday, February 5, 2006

After church we took Papa to our favorite restaurant, Pasto. It is a great little Italian Bistro that serves Crostini with delicious dips and pizza with really thin crust. Terry had to work so I took Dad on a driving tour of Chinatown, Tondo, Binondo, and Quiapo, some of the most populated, polluted, and poverty stricken areas of Manila.

In the evening we were so blessed to attend the birthday party of Mark Francis Rivera, one of Terry's employee's children. It was in Tondo in a community center. In this country the 7th birthday requires a special celebration consisting of presentations to the birthday child of 7 candles, 7 balloons, 7 presents, and 7 roses. 7 boys and 7 girls, all dressed in their finest, danced and entertained the partygoers. It was a wonderful cultural experience!




This game is like a pinata, the grid is lowered and a blindfolded child reaches up and grabs a toy


Saturday, February 4, 2006

Allison and team ISM played their final regular game of the season today against across town rivals Brent. ISM came away with the win by 2 points after a 5 minute overtime. It was an incredibly exciting game and a great way to start their journey to the IASIS tournament in Singapore. They will play teams from all over south east Asia, Feb. 9-11.


After the game, we took Papa to Green Hills which is a great place to find beautiful pearls and bargains of all kinds. Then we went to eat at Bubba Gumps before going to see "Walk the Line" It was a great day and Papa outlasted all of us, not a sign of jet lag! He is incredible!


Friday, February 3, 2006


Daddy/ Papa Ralph flew into Manila at 11:00 PM!