Manila Photos

This is a picture of Daniel and I sitting on one of the cannon that defended Corregidor Island in Manila Bay before it fell to the Japanese in 1942. It was a dream come true to visit this historic location that lived as a symbol of hope in the early part of World War II when the war wasn't going so well for us. When I was out in the countryside away from Manila, I also visited the Filipino memorial at Capas, the location where the Bataan Death March ended and the location of a prison camp for all the Americans and the Filipinos who surrendered on Bataan. They were later moved to Cabanuatan, a little bit farther north, where they were rescued in 1945, as depicted in the wonderful move The Great Raid (2005).
This is a picture of Manny and Minny Carlos and their sons Jeremy and Daniel who hosted us in Manila. Manny is the pastor of the Victory Christian Fellowship church on the University of the Philippines campus. Manny went to UVA Business School in the 80's and met my parents.
This is a picture of our living room in the condo where we stayed in Makati. It was a great place to hang out and venture out across the city shopping at many different malls and shopping areas, which they have in abundance. The malls in Manila put the malls in the U.S. to shame in their beauty and their fascinating design and people.

Eight Blessed Days in Manila

This is the view out our 24th floor window of the Shang Grand Tower, a condo owned by our friends Fred and Mary Lou who graciously let us stay here. The view is out toward Manila Bay and is hard to beat. It's located in Makati, one of the 13 cities of Metro Manila. The picture above that is inside the Araneta Coliseum (where the Thrilla in Manila took place in 1975) where we attended the Every Nation conference the first weekend we were here along with 13,000 other delegates from 54 nations.

Work Boating Trip and Carrie with Baby

More backyard

Dungcas Beach

I recently discovered that our backyard, Dungcas Beach, is where 5,000 Japanese landed on 10 December 1941 to capture the island. Afterwards, they expected the Americans to attack here as well, so they lined the beach with mines, torpedoes, and other explosive devices, but the Americans chose to attack at a different spot. Until 1965, after the war, the location was an EOD post in order to clear out all the leftover explosive devices found on location.