Jun 25
Philippines, Day 18: Fond Farewell
By Joshua Huang

[Because the Philippines is half a day ahead of the US, we left the Philippines on Sunday, July 4, and arrived back in Minneapolis over 24 hours later on the same Sunday, July 4. I will split the return trip into two blog posts.] This morning, we left the Philippines. Dad had stayed up most more »

Jun 24
Philippines, Day 17: Into the Maximum Security Prison
By Joshua Huang

On Saturday morning- today- we came to the dental office for one last visit. On the way here, we went by the house where Dad was born and first grew up in. It was not much compared to the house we’re staying in that he later lived in. The bakery that used to be across more »

Jun 23
Philippines, Day 16: Back to Manila
By Joshua Huang

This morning, Friday morning, we woke up and left the hotel around 8:26am (7:26pm CST) after eating breakfast at Chow King again. I thought we were going to go straight back to Manila, but it turned out that we had more relatives to go see. This time we went to meet Jessie Rose’s inlaws. They more »

Jun 22
Philippines, Day 15: Family Reunion in Baguio City
By Joshua Huang

It’s 7:02am Thursday morning, and we are headed toward breakfast. I slept better last night, although I had to wake up earlier today than I had to yesterday. After eating breakfast, we headed toward Baguio. Uncle Job had gotten hold of Uncle Joseph and he had said we could come. We took the Marcos highway more »

Jun 21
Philippines, Day 14: Sights and Sounds of Santa Maria
By Joshua Huang

It’s Wednesday morning, and we just left the hotel. I don’t know where we’re headed right now, but I guess I’ll find out soon. I slept pretty well last night; at least the beds were comfortable. It’s about a quarter till eight right now. The place we went to next was another oceanside hotel. We more »

Jun 20
Philippines, Day 13: Headed to Santa Maria
By Joshua Huang

It is 4:41am on Tuesday morning and we just left a few minutes ago. I don’t know who had the idea that we would leave at two of the clock, but I’m glad that we didn’t. I made some room in the back seat here, so I will try to get some sleep with my more »

Jun 20
Philippines, Day 12: Another Day in the Dental Office
By Joshua Huang

On Monday, we went to Uncle James’ office again. Today was supposed to be Dad’s last day there, but once again (for the second time in a row), it wasn’t. We spent about five hours in the waiting room only to find out that we have to go back. I did get a lot of more »

Jun 19
Philippines, Day 11: Bible Faith Baptist Church and Bataan
By Joshua Huang

At 3:30am on Sunday (2:30pm Saturday, CST), we woke up and got ready for church. We were going to go all the way around Manila Bay to the Baptist church that Edgar Palotes pastors. On the way down I slept in the back seat, which was just about the right length for me. We ate more »

Jun 18
Philippines, Day 10: Shopping Adventures
By Joshua Huang

On Saturday, we went back to Huang Dental Office because Dad needed something done with his teeth. But when we got there, we discovered that they didn’t have any electricity. We waited around for awhile in the terribly hot office and finally left after lunch. Aunt Becky Lim, Aunt Lisa’s sister, took us to a more »

Jun 15
Philippines, Day 9: Greenhills Shopping Center, Again
By Joshua Huang

Friday was the day we got most of our shopping done. We went to the Greenhills Shopping Center again and shopped basically for souvenirs for our family and our friends. This time, Dad did a lot of bargaining. For example, there was one model boat in a bottle that we got for 135 pesos; its more »