These are just my observations and not intended to be rude and argumentitive. The opinions you draw from them are your own.
With some spare time and not wanting to get too far away from Manila, Honey and I decided to see what sites were available around Manila. We found that there was a park called Nayong Pilipilno after passing by a “6 Flags” style park. It’s another of the old Marcos properties that at one time was a superior hotel, right beside of the airport in Manila. If you look directly across the freeway from the new NAIA PAL airport you’ll see an old hotel with all the lights out. 200 Hundred rooms. It’s very eerie to see this hotel closed. It could have continued to be an increditable place but I guess the government didn’t get an offer they wanted so it’s closed and the grounds are used as another “peoples park”. Its one big “ghost place” now. The land around it was converted to a park of sorts. Many of the attractions of the Philippines are copied here. I think it’s not what we would consider a superior or even well kept park but there are some nice things to see. The volcano mountain mock–up of Mayon, the chocolate hills, rice terraces, different points of the different cultures and areas are all sites to be seen here. BTW, they charge Filipinos P15 to enter, foreigners pay $1. It also has a nice little lake in it and we took a boat ride around. Some pretty good tourist items but I was told that all these items could be purchased for much less in Baguio so we’ll wait till we go there. From one end of the park you can see the NAIA 3 airport being built. It is humongous.
We decide to eat at a restaurant there and walked into a wedding being conducted in one part of the facility. The wedding was very nice to see from a visitor point of view. We got some great laughs and some remembering smiles by watching from our private veranda view. Honey would not let me go over and make a toast to the couple!! They played some awesome love songs, so Honey and I were serenaded all through our meal. It seems we have found something’s we can both agree on to eat too. We both like green salads and fruit salads. So we had some soup, rice, lettuce salad, and fruit salad with mangos, watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges, grapes, pineapple and bananas in it.
We had planned to go to Baguio today but rescheduled for Friday. Most of the items I need for the business purchases I want to make I have been assured are there and I have found someone who can do the purchasing and shipping for me.
It never fails to amaze me the extend people will go when faced with poverty or what one will do to feel safe and secure within the realities of their lives. Since I started this chapter of my life I paid special attention to many things and events I saw. I personally knew/know so many Asian-American marriages. Seems that they withstood any/everything that confronted them, with some exceptions of course. Till this year I had only known of one divorced couple and one “problem” marriage. The girl who got the divorce wanted to make up but was refused and the girl who had to deal with the “problems” caused by a controlling husband refused to give up a life that was better than anything she had ever known.
When I saw these things and was more than a little intrigued and I knew if I ever had to make a change in my marriage I would do exactly what I did. But since then, particularly this year, I have seen people take drastic and totally unbelievable choices without any logic to the course of events. How people make these choices amazes me totally. Most people must have a reason, a plan to their course in life, perverted but a reason. Others seem to be completely controlled by these plans and purposes. Still others are the victims, willing and unwilling, of those with a plan. Fellas, this trip has put me in touch with two stories you all have only heard parts of. None of you know the whole truth and I am not allowed to say all I know. Both parties have indicated their intention to post their full stories because if you are looking here for a wife/husband you need to know the extremes as well as the norms.
I will always have respect for those who stretch out and do the hard, difficult and different things in hopes of finding the comfort zone they feel they need. I guess to me the disgust I felt with much of American family life, the things I see and hear and the anti-God aspect it seems to have to me sent me here. Many of you seem to believe like me but more along the lines that there just isn’t a woman for you where you live. When I talk with these Filipinas here and listen to why they would do this I am truly humbled. Many have nothing and want only the same things as you an me. They honestly believe by what they see and hear in the media that American men make the best husbands. Most want love, security, and loyalty. Yeah poverty and opportunity are motivating factors. Even as of late, I have seen how controlled some of these ladies are by their poverty, family and later husbands/boyfriends and yes even some by their desires. I will always think that there are no more courageous people in the world right now that these ladies. They give up their home, family, way of life, even their language to come to a different country to marry a guy they have know but a few short months hoping that the same things that you and I want will be found there. They have no one but you and possibly a few friends in a network of others who are going through the same thing to help. Most often and I do mean most often, the wall that brings them to an end is communication. Its like no one wants to talk. Everyone has his or her plan. Every one has a reason. But no one realizes that the smallest part of society is the family not the individual. We are all dependant on others for so many things in our life but the thing we should believe in and feel the safest with is our family, not ourselves. We let to many things cloud our view of the final results. Still we must make our own choices and we fail to use the tools provided to us to prevent mistakes – counsel with our spouses and prayer.
I am grateful to have Honey to share my life with and I hope there will be more good times than bad in our future. A family to grow and share with. Those of you who read this I hope you realize what courageous and awesome creatures have blessed your life and manage to hold on to them. Talk people, talk. The events I have seen the last few months and the last two days in particular would not happen if you would just talk.
More to come.
Bear
