Weekend Activities

This past weekend Simon went to Kuwait with the Junior Varsity Basketball Team. It was the annual International tournament sponsored by ISAC. The team played 6 games in total and won five of those. They lost by 4 points in the final game against the host team from American School of Kuwait. Simon's highlights of the weekend were Potbelly sandwiches, Garret caramel popcorn, and Ben's cookies. In between eating he did play basketball!

Max was supposed to go to Kuwait also. But instead he went to the hospital. Max has been battling bronchitis for 3 weeks and on the morning of departure we felt it was not safe to send him away. So we took him to see a pulmonologist. After chest Xray, sputum culture, and Pulmonary Function Tests (which he failed), the doctor changed his medications and diagnosed him with hyper-reactive airways and bronchitis. So Max spent the last 4 days resting at home, watching movies, doing homework. Given the sandstorm outdoors, it was the best place for him.

The Philippines -- Country Life

Rice paddy

Our trip began and ended in Manila but the real adventure and the best memories are of the countryside beyond the city. Leaving the noise and crowds of the city we spent several hours driving through villages, lush forests, and rice paddies. We actually ate rice at every meal and the country consumes tons of rice, but they don't grow enough for their own demand. The Philippines is the 8th largest producer of rice but also the world's largest importer of rice!

We traveled to a bustling town called Liliw. Isabelle's family owns a shoe factory there! Can you imagine how much fun that was?

It was very busy with shop keepers from the surrounding area coming to purchase shoes that they would, in turn, sell to the people of their own community. We found several styles that would work well in Doha!

The roads outside the city were well maintained and by times crowded with the local transportation called the "jeepney". These were originally the jeep vehicles used by the American military during its colonization of the Philippines from 1898-1946. When the Americans left in 1946 (Philippines independence) they left these vehicles behind. The locals modified them with an extended back end to carry more people.

Motorcycles with a sidecar are also very popular to transport people, whole families, goods, and farm animals!

We continued to the province of Batangas and the area called Anilau. We were never very far from water and it was spectacular.






 

We arrived at Isabelle's family Dive Resort just in time for sunset. We spent the next 4 days snorkeling, diving, boating, sitting by the water, eating buko (coconut milk with fruit and ice), and exploring the local sights.

It was relaxing and beautiful!

Sixteenth Birthday

Today Max turned sixteen years old. We can hardly believe how time flies. And, as usual, we retold the story of his birth..... hospitals in northern BC on strike, crowded in Labour and Delivery, told to stay home as long as possible (maybe stayed home too long), quick delivery, 27 babies born within 24 hours, Tim didn't get to eat the big snack he had packed, Tim too tired to find his car the next morning, etc., etc.

For Tim and Lisa it was just like it happened yesterday. And yet we now have this very tall, kind, handsome young man. It didn't happen overnight -- it just feels like it did.

Today is also Vergie's birthday. She is somewhat older than 16 but still very young at heart. Vergie had today off to celebrate her birthday and her plan was to go to church early in the morning, cook food for her friends at lunch, and then ride on the buses all afternoon.

She and Max are both pretty easy to please!

The Philippines -- City Life

Atrium of Shangri-La hotel at the end of Day 1

Last week Lisa took a trip to the Philippines with two of her colleagues. Isabelle grew up in the Philippines but immigrated to Canada more than 30 years ago to begin her career as a nurse.

Isabelle now teaches at the University of Calgary -- Qatar with Lisa and takes advantage of the (relative) nearness of Doha to Manilla by traveling home several times a year. This makes her a great local tour guide.

The adventure started in Manilla (an 8 hour flight from Doha). The city is noisy, crowded, hot and humid, even in the cooler month of February. There are lots of people, lots of colour, lots of traffic.

Manila is also the place to find knock-offs! Shoes, purses, sneakers, jewelry, watches. Because of the inexpensive cost of labour, companies (like Adidas) have shoes made in Manilla for the market in USA. Sometimes the factories produce "extra" sneakers and then make them available locally at a much reduced price.

The other type of "knock-off" is when one original Rolex watch (for example) is given to a factory to make a replica. The original watch is taken apart and reproduced in exact detail and then sold in the market at much-reduced prices.

There are also markets with local items --baroque pearl necklaces, ornaments made from caprice shell, lamps made of abalone shell, outdoor lighting made from coconut shells, salad tongs made from kamagong wood and mother-of-pearl. There are also many markets of local clothing items -- cotton, pineapple fabric, lots of polyester!

extra suitcase for all the purchases

Around the compound

This morning I noticed the cleaners using the aloe vera plants for a new purpose.

Christmas belated

Not only was life interrupted when Max broke his arm, so was our blog. Here are some pictures of our amazing time in Nova Scotia for Christmas. We found the weather very cold but the beauty of the snow made up for the cold -- almost!

Christmas Eve

The hostess with the mostest!

Above all, it was a time to hang out with family. We laughed, told stories, played cards, and ate lots of good food. We celebrated Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Simon's 14th Birthday, New Years Eve, New Years Day.

Lisa, Todd, Shelley

Chinese food for New Years Eve!

Dairy Queen Cake for Simon!

making mincemeat pie together

Sights beyond the city

Sam and Lianna have been busy visiting some interesting sights beyond the city limits. There are a variety of activities that take place in the desert that don't involve dune bashing.... Sheik Faisal's Museum is a large collection of buildings with an odd collection of items. You can spend hours wandering amid old cars, tapestries, pottery, paintings, swords.

On weekends the Losail Race Track is very busy. It is loud and fast! The boys went on Friday night to watch a Porsche GT3 race. The cars raced at speeds over 200 km/hour.

The Pearl is another area on the edge of town that warrants a few hours of wandering. It is a man-made collection of islands that has condos, marinas, shops, restaurants and lots of view.

And then, of course, there is the beach. Qatar is a peninsula surrounded by the beautiful green water of the Gulf. A stroll on the beach in the northern part of the country is actually pleasant at this time of year.