Church, Spa, Church

Got up early and ready for church. Church services were great. The choir sang and it was a packed choir. They had 2 special speakers, both Americans. Pastor Mark Hodges did an excellent job of incorporating mission history in the Philippines with his message.

We got out a little earlier than expected. As soon as we got out of the gates of the church there were several local vendors trying to sell french fries (which they were cooking on the spot), newspapers, fruit, and lots of other stuff. I don't know if they are there after every service or just spotted the 2 huge tourist buses sitting outside and tried to make a little extra cash. We passed them and got on the bus.

The bus took us to the local mall for lunch. Chris and I stopped at an Italian restaurant this time. He ordered some sort of tortellini with a white cream sauce. He wasn't sure what the meat stuff in it was but he said it was pretty good. My philosophy is if it tastes good, don't ask what's in it. It might ruin it for me. I ordered spaghetti pesto and it was absolutely delicious. I've decided if I get hungry from lack of eating normal food, I'll go back there or to TGI Friday's. It's just like in America.

We finished eating before 1 but the bus wasn't leaving until 2 from the mall so we caught a taxi back to the hotel. It cost 68 pesos which is about $1.25. I came to the room and called the hotel spa. They had an opening available and so I went upstairs to the spa. I had a body scrub, massage, and facial altogether lasting almost 3 hours. It cost a whopping $20 and that included a more than 10% tip.

I came back up to the room and showered, threw on some clothes and Chris and I headed downstairs to catch a cab back to church. The bus left 10 minutes prior and we didn't make it. Church services were again very good and it was packed full of people. There was a gentleman who was saved out of the religion of Islam 40+ years ago who now runs an institute in Colorado teaching people who to win the Muslim community. He was very interesting to listen to and incorporated some of the things currently going on in Cairo and other middle-eastern countries. The last speaker was the man who helped start Asia Baptist Clearinghouse which is a sending agency for Filipino missionaries. We got to meet several Filipino missionaries last night. That was a cool experience. They just might be the ones who are able to take the gospel into the middle-east since Americans have a harder time getting visas than they do.

After church the bus brought us back to the hotel. We walked down to the local supermarket that also has a few restaurants around it. We ate at Pizza Hut, real authentic, I know. They only had 2 kinds of pizza, cheese and bacon or ham and pineapple. I ate one of the ham and pineapple. Chris had cheese and bacon. They were pretty good, but still a little different.

Got into bed and slept good until about 6am when some guys were hollering down the hallway right outside our room. Oh, well! I guess it was time to wake up.