I suggested they all started singing a song, so they would all (hopefully) look at the camera at the same time, and that would keep Brandi happy as she loves to sing, but instead of sitting down singing we also got the actions with the song ...
Now back to our belated blog from the Philippines - Tuesday 8th September ..
Tuesday morning and it’s time to hope on that plane again – this time back to Manila. You know how it’s always good to get value for money, well this was the one time when I really didn’t want it – we’re about 10 minutes away from landing when the pilot says that we can’t land yet as the airport is busy (well, ok, not his exact words) and hey, we get to spend some extra unexpected time on the plane (oh yay-not!). Thankfully Brandi was totally unphased about flying, busy putting stickers into her book, and I was trying to keep busy helping her & not think about the fact that we were 30,000 feet in the air.
On arriving back in Manila we got lunch from a little café at the airport (for all those of flying into domestic terminal, after getting past the baggage claim I think we went out a door and the café was slightly to the left, just in front of a whole lot of seats – noodles for 50 pesos each). We then caught a taxi back to Manila Group House (MGH), got the taxi driver to wait while we quickly put our bags into our room, before racing back to our waiting taxi to take us to ICAB (Inter Country Adoption Board). The taxi driver managed to get lost (we were in the right kind of area, and we had a map of the immediate area that ICAB was in), but we were early anyway & we just told him, hey we’re more lost than you, so don’t worry! Once we arrived at ICAB the taxi driver was really nice and said he didn’t want to get paid (now that’s unheard of!), but we couldn’t not pay him, so Jared just guessed how much we needed to pay (+ the tip).
We were at ICAB for about an hour. For all of you who are heading there in the future, you’ll be asked to write something to your child to be put on your child’s file, for if they ever went back to the Philippines and wanted to access their file – they’ll get to find a note from you. Had I know that, then I would have been think about what I was going to write – not when I’m sitting there with the social worker! We got Brandi’s passport there. We also got 2 travel documents for if we had any problems at the airport – basically just saying that we were allowed to take her out of the country etc.
Then it was back to MGH. We had done all the ‘official’ things by now & felt we were ready to go home, but of course we still had another 2 days to wait before our flight. At MGH they had purified water, so we could fill up our water bottles for free! At one meal when we were on the island we actually spent more on bottled water than we did on our meal!
At MGH there are a lot of missionaries staying there – some for a few days, some for longer, so at meal times it was really interesting talking to different people. They were also really helpful to let us know where to go shopping, along with answering all the other questions we had. So Wednesday we went to Greenhills shopping center. We had heard that it was really good, but had also found out that all the stall holders (where you get all the souvenirs at bargain prices) clear out for about 3 days once a month. Guess what, it just happened to be when we were in Manila. We still went and had a look though, but there wasn’t much there. Funnily enough we also ran into some Australians there who were also staying at MGH with us (it’s a small world – in the city of millions of people!). They suggested heading over to the big MegaMall, so into a taxi we went and drove over to the mega mall. Jared & I have never seen such a large shopping area. He got totally lost! There were plenty of people everywhere – so I was making sure that we were carrying Brandi – and not putting her down!! Imagine losing a child in a place like that!! They even had an ice skating rink there. One thing they didn’t have at the mall though was toilet paper in the toilets (and that was the only place in the Philippines I encounted that problem)– I was carrying a pack of tissues on me (as you do when you have children) so that wasn’t a problem. The main thing the women actually seemed to be doing in the toilets was brushing their teeth & their hair. We did get some groceries at the mall but everything else was so expensive … all my plans of buying souvenirs were totally out the window when I saw the prices! On the way back our taxi didn’t have any interior door handles in the back & the boot (or as the American’s would say – ‘trunk’) obviously didn’t shut properly because whenever we went over a speed hump we’d hear a thump of the boot shutting, only to hear the same thing again when we went over the next speed hump.
After that we headed back to MGH to recover from our shopping expedition. It had finally stopped raining (that was the first time we saw Manila without rain). On Thursday morning we had an American couple come up to us at breakfast and ask us if we had just come over to Manila to adopt our daughter, and then the wife asked me if I happened to be on the Yahoo adoption group – as soon as she said her name, I’m like ‘Jennifer – you’re here!’. Jennifer and her husband (from USA) had been hoping to travel in August but kept getting hold ups, but they had finally travelled & arrived in Manila the previous night. She was lovely & it was a shame we didn’t have more time to talk (mind you, probably to the relief of our husbands – haha) but they had their driver coming to pick them up soon after to take them to the orphanage where their 2 new sons were awaiting their arrival. There were also about 3 other couples from the Yahoo group in Manila at the same time as us too, also there to pick up their new sons & daughters.
We spent the day at MGH (and I managed to track down a computer that I could update my blog on). We weren’t flying out until about 8.30 that night, but were supposed to be ‘officially’ at the airport 3 hours prior (5.30pm), so decided that we’d get a taxi at 3.30pm, to allow 2 hours to get to the airport (just in case of any hold-ups … well not literally … maybe I should say just in case of any traffic jams, etc). To get the taxi from MGH I just had to walk up the hill (only a couple of minutes) and flag down a taxi … that took a while as they all seemed to have people in them!.
It only took us an hour to get to the airport. When we got there, there was a huge line of people waiting to get inside the terminal. I saw some other people who had just got dropped off by a taxi & I said to Jared ‘follow them’ – good thing we did, because the long cue of people were all going in the door for overseas workers (they obviously have different processes to go through), meanwhile, we got to go straight into the international terminal (well, when I say straight in, I mean we got our passports checked, and then us & our bags checked too – of course). There were hardly any seats to sit on, so we joined several other people in sitting on the trolley on which we had our suitcases. We also got a sandwich to eat while we waited from a small stand at the terminal. By 5.30pm we were allowed to put our bags through … it was really funny as while we were waiting in the line to put our bags on the luggage belt, we had a guy come up to us (as he was with everyone), and ripped a small bit of thin cardboard off a strip then ran it over our bags & handles. We were like ‘what are you doing??’ & he replied ‘checking for explosives’, to which Jared said ‘I hope it works!!’. We asked someone afterwards about the cardboard stuff, and apparently it is supposed to change colour if there is any powder residue from explosives on the suitcase. Once the bags were gone, we went through one door where we got checked (again), and then through another part where we had to fill in our departure card, then more checks (this time with our shoes off), and then we were in duty free. There were a few shops there – magazine stall, some food shops, a chemist, a couple of souvenir shops … I can’t remember what else. So we bought our bottles of water so we could take them on the plane with us. We also had some, lets say, inquisitive people (who were actually supposed to be working in the shop near where we were sitting, but obviously weren’t very busy) come up to us, and they were all on for a talk and wanting to know everything about us & Brandi … after about 30 minutes, Jared made our excuse to go (otherwise I think they would have been happy talking to us all night!). So off we go to the departure lounge for Qantas, only to find … wait for it … another check – through the bags, frisking etc – and apparently, even thought we just bought our bottled water from the kiosk in the duty free area, we couldn’t take it on the plane with us, so once again I had to drink the bottle of water, that I had just paid for (that was the 2nd time that had happened to me). Brandi had only had a little bit out of her bottle and we were about to throw it in the bin when an apparently very thirst Australian came up and asked if he could have the water, so we figured he must have been really thirsty to ask that and so we gave it to him. Then Jared had to go to the toilets – so off he goes only to be frisked again when he comes back to sit down. We could see all our cabin crew waiting to board the plane and there was one guy who was yawning away – thankfully we found out once we were on the plane that he was one of the hosts & not the pilot!.
Once on the plane we got all strapped in and about an hour after take-off Brandi fell asleep & she was still sleeping after we landed (and no, we didn’t sedate her!!). We got a couple of meals on the plane, so I saved Brandi’s so she could have it once she woke up (which was in the transit lounge at Sydney airport), and surprise surprise, the water that I’d been given on the plane (which had a safety seal still on it) was confiscated, along with a can of drink that we’d also got on the plane (and obviously was unopened). I think I know why they confiscate these things – so they can take them to the airport shop & resell them, therefore bringing in a lot more revenue for the airports! (Ok, so I have a small issue with security checks and water that’s been paid for!).
After a wait of 3 hours & yet another flight we finally made it home on Friday afternoon, to our 3 beautiful children & my parents waiting for us at the airport. We were so excited to see them & they were so excited to see us Brandi (ok, so they were excited to see us, but they were really really excited to finally see Brandi). Josh kept saying ‘I can’t believe she is finally here’. Brandi was shy for oh, about the first 20 minutes, and then she over her shyness with them & hasn’t looked back since!
On arriving back in Manila we got lunch from a little café at the airport (for all those of flying into domestic terminal, after getting past the baggage claim I think we went out a door and the café was slightly to the left, just in front of a whole lot of seats – noodles for 50 pesos each). We then caught a taxi back to Manila Group House (MGH), got the taxi driver to wait while we quickly put our bags into our room, before racing back to our waiting taxi to take us to ICAB (Inter Country Adoption Board). The taxi driver managed to get lost (we were in the right kind of area, and we had a map of the immediate area that ICAB was in), but we were early anyway & we just told him, hey we’re more lost than you, so don’t worry! Once we arrived at ICAB the taxi driver was really nice and said he didn’t want to get paid (now that’s unheard of!), but we couldn’t not pay him, so Jared just guessed how much we needed to pay (+ the tip).
We were at ICAB for about an hour. For all of you who are heading there in the future, you’ll be asked to write something to your child to be put on your child’s file, for if they ever went back to the Philippines and wanted to access their file – they’ll get to find a note from you. Had I know that, then I would have been think about what I was going to write – not when I’m sitting there with the social worker! We got Brandi’s passport there. We also got 2 travel documents for if we had any problems at the airport – basically just saying that we were allowed to take her out of the country etc.
Then it was back to MGH. We had done all the ‘official’ things by now & felt we were ready to go home, but of course we still had another 2 days to wait before our flight. At MGH they had purified water, so we could fill up our water bottles for free! At one meal when we were on the island we actually spent more on bottled water than we did on our meal!
At MGH there are a lot of missionaries staying there – some for a few days, some for longer, so at meal times it was really interesting talking to different people. They were also really helpful to let us know where to go shopping, along with answering all the other questions we had. So Wednesday we went to Greenhills shopping center. We had heard that it was really good, but had also found out that all the stall holders (where you get all the souvenirs at bargain prices) clear out for about 3 days once a month. Guess what, it just happened to be when we were in Manila. We still went and had a look though, but there wasn’t much there. Funnily enough we also ran into some Australians there who were also staying at MGH with us (it’s a small world – in the city of millions of people!). They suggested heading over to the big MegaMall, so into a taxi we went and drove over to the mega mall. Jared & I have never seen such a large shopping area. He got totally lost! There were plenty of people everywhere – so I was making sure that we were carrying Brandi – and not putting her down!! Imagine losing a child in a place like that!! They even had an ice skating rink there. One thing they didn’t have at the mall though was toilet paper in the toilets (and that was the only place in the Philippines I encounted that problem)– I was carrying a pack of tissues on me (as you do when you have children) so that wasn’t a problem. The main thing the women actually seemed to be doing in the toilets was brushing their teeth & their hair. We did get some groceries at the mall but everything else was so expensive … all my plans of buying souvenirs were totally out the window when I saw the prices! On the way back our taxi didn’t have any interior door handles in the back & the boot (or as the American’s would say – ‘trunk’) obviously didn’t shut properly because whenever we went over a speed hump we’d hear a thump of the boot shutting, only to hear the same thing again when we went over the next speed hump.
After that we headed back to MGH to recover from our shopping expedition. It had finally stopped raining (that was the first time we saw Manila without rain). On Thursday morning we had an American couple come up to us at breakfast and ask us if we had just come over to Manila to adopt our daughter, and then the wife asked me if I happened to be on the Yahoo adoption group – as soon as she said her name, I’m like ‘Jennifer – you’re here!’. Jennifer and her husband (from USA) had been hoping to travel in August but kept getting hold ups, but they had finally travelled & arrived in Manila the previous night. She was lovely & it was a shame we didn’t have more time to talk (mind you, probably to the relief of our husbands – haha) but they had their driver coming to pick them up soon after to take them to the orphanage where their 2 new sons were awaiting their arrival. There were also about 3 other couples from the Yahoo group in Manila at the same time as us too, also there to pick up their new sons & daughters.
We spent the day at MGH (and I managed to track down a computer that I could update my blog on). We weren’t flying out until about 8.30 that night, but were supposed to be ‘officially’ at the airport 3 hours prior (5.30pm), so decided that we’d get a taxi at 3.30pm, to allow 2 hours to get to the airport (just in case of any hold-ups … well not literally … maybe I should say just in case of any traffic jams, etc). To get the taxi from MGH I just had to walk up the hill (only a couple of minutes) and flag down a taxi … that took a while as they all seemed to have people in them!.
It only took us an hour to get to the airport. When we got there, there was a huge line of people waiting to get inside the terminal. I saw some other people who had just got dropped off by a taxi & I said to Jared ‘follow them’ – good thing we did, because the long cue of people were all going in the door for overseas workers (they obviously have different processes to go through), meanwhile, we got to go straight into the international terminal (well, when I say straight in, I mean we got our passports checked, and then us & our bags checked too – of course). There were hardly any seats to sit on, so we joined several other people in sitting on the trolley on which we had our suitcases. We also got a sandwich to eat while we waited from a small stand at the terminal. By 5.30pm we were allowed to put our bags through … it was really funny as while we were waiting in the line to put our bags on the luggage belt, we had a guy come up to us (as he was with everyone), and ripped a small bit of thin cardboard off a strip then ran it over our bags & handles. We were like ‘what are you doing??’ & he replied ‘checking for explosives’, to which Jared said ‘I hope it works!!’. We asked someone afterwards about the cardboard stuff, and apparently it is supposed to change colour if there is any powder residue from explosives on the suitcase. Once the bags were gone, we went through one door where we got checked (again), and then through another part where we had to fill in our departure card, then more checks (this time with our shoes off), and then we were in duty free. There were a few shops there – magazine stall, some food shops, a chemist, a couple of souvenir shops … I can’t remember what else. So we bought our bottles of water so we could take them on the plane with us. We also had some, lets say, inquisitive people (who were actually supposed to be working in the shop near where we were sitting, but obviously weren’t very busy) come up to us, and they were all on for a talk and wanting to know everything about us & Brandi … after about 30 minutes, Jared made our excuse to go (otherwise I think they would have been happy talking to us all night!). So off we go to the departure lounge for Qantas, only to find … wait for it … another check – through the bags, frisking etc – and apparently, even thought we just bought our bottled water from the kiosk in the duty free area, we couldn’t take it on the plane with us, so once again I had to drink the bottle of water, that I had just paid for (that was the 2nd time that had happened to me). Brandi had only had a little bit out of her bottle and we were about to throw it in the bin when an apparently very thirst Australian came up and asked if he could have the water, so we figured he must have been really thirsty to ask that and so we gave it to him. Then Jared had to go to the toilets – so off he goes only to be frisked again when he comes back to sit down. We could see all our cabin crew waiting to board the plane and there was one guy who was yawning away – thankfully we found out once we were on the plane that he was one of the hosts & not the pilot!.
Once on the plane we got all strapped in and about an hour after take-off Brandi fell asleep & she was still sleeping after we landed (and no, we didn’t sedate her!!). We got a couple of meals on the plane, so I saved Brandi’s so she could have it once she woke up (which was in the transit lounge at Sydney airport), and surprise surprise, the water that I’d been given on the plane (which had a safety seal still on it) was confiscated, along with a can of drink that we’d also got on the plane (and obviously was unopened). I think I know why they confiscate these things – so they can take them to the airport shop & resell them, therefore bringing in a lot more revenue for the airports! (Ok, so I have a small issue with security checks and water that’s been paid for!).
After a wait of 3 hours & yet another flight we finally made it home on Friday afternoon, to our 3 beautiful children & my parents waiting for us at the airport. We were so excited to see them & they were so excited to see us Brandi (ok, so they were excited to see us, but they were really really excited to finally see Brandi). Josh kept saying ‘I can’t believe she is finally here’. Brandi was shy for oh, about the first 20 minutes, and then she over her shyness with them & hasn’t looked back since!
So thats about the main lot of blog for our trip. I'll try and post a more condensed list of 'things to take' while in the Philippines, for all of you who plan to be travelling soon.
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