A Day in the Life...

 E. Bird, S. Hadlock, E. Hadlock, S. Bird, E. DuPaix, S. DuPaix is photographer!

Good Morning!  We live in an Apt. tower that has 40 floors.  It is strange to have to 

go up and down an elevator to get to your apt!!!  Three couples who work at the 

Philippines Administration Office (PAO) live in our same tower.  We all have parking 

underground and all go in a different times.  One morning we were all on the same 

elevator at the same time. This is also amazing in that there are 

four different elevators!!!

Off to work driving on EDSA. It is a 8-10 lane divided highway which the drivers often make 

into 12 lanes!  It is 6 miles to work and we can usually get there in 10-15 mins.  Now we 

also take EDSA home but you have to go round about so it is 10 miles home and takes 

30-45 mins to get there! We always know that road to turn on because of this monument!

This is the first sight we see as we get to work!  The Manila Temple is so beautiful.  

This picture was actually taken one evening when we stayed late packing food kits. 

The sun comes up so early that we never see the lights on the Temple in the morning!

Our Public Affairs Office! The door on the right is ours.  It is one of the only "secure" 

places, once you get into the building, so you must have the "Key" or be let in!!! I'm standing 

by a tarpoline (no I did not say trampoline!) These are very popular here in the Philippines 

as a great way to get your message out.  This one is to remind everyone to check out our 

new mormonnewsroom.ph!  If you haven't done so, please go there today!  Elder DuPaix 

wrote the article about the Calamity meeting and we also took the pictures!

We often get to work close to 7am so we have a few minutes to check emails, make 

some calls and do some skyping!  It was fun to talk with you Meri!!!

One day we were talking about shoes and how we were suppose to wear "closed toed"

 shoes as the dress code in the PAO.  Our poor little director was shocked as she had never 

heard that direction.  The next day she came and showed us her cute "closed toed" shoes! 

 We had to prove that none of us had dress code violations so we took a picture to prove it! 

It's good to be able to have fun at work!!!

One of Elder DuPaix's assignments is to send out exhibits to different wards and stakes.  

Here he is presenting a New Building Openhouse booklet to a Stake Public Affairs Director.  

Her name is Pink! Notice pink shoes, blouse, and purse!!!

So...since Elder DuPaix has the assignment of exhibits, he thought it might be a good idea to 

see what all these boxes contained before he had them sent all over the Philippines!  He did
a great job of repairing and getting copies of what each exhibit contained.  He was glad he 

wore his work clothes that day as this room gets pretty dirty!

Another thing we do very often is have meetings in our conference room.  Interesting - 

Sis. Bird and Sis. DuPaix are wearing shawls and sweaters!  This was the coldest room in 

the whole building but now we have it fixed!!!  Sometimes we even say we are too warm!

Sometimes we even invite other departments to meet with us.  Haidi, Sis. DuPaix and

 Elder DuPaix are on the right side of the table.  Here we were planning the Calamity 

meeting of which Elder DuPaix wrote about in the mormonnewsroom.ph  Be sure to 

check it out!

A beautiful storm!

With all the rain we have had here, we thought this would be a fun blog. 

These pictures were taken from Elder and Sister Bird's apt.  It faces west, 

toward Manila Bay. You can see the rain pouring down!

These pictures were taken over the course of just a few minutes.

It is amazing to see how fast a storm comes in and then suddenly...

You can see hardly anything!

This is that same affect from our side of the building facing north.

It is an eerie feeling - almost like fog. It comes in quickly, and then it is gone!

This is one of the best pictures of the week from here in the Philippines.  

Jerry comes in every week to wash our cars - rain or shine. 

 This is how he provides for his family.

This week of course it's rainy but Jerry came prepared. 

 He just does his work like always!!!

A Saturday Adventure!

 We started the day with our husbands taking us to the women's correctional institution.  

Sis. Bird and I were not very happy to be there!

 At least they marked us so we would be able to leave when the time came!  We 

actually went there to buy some of their crafts.  The inmates make darling 

little beaded purses and other things.

 Our hubbies took us home after we had purchased at least one thing from 

each of the girls!

 We started down this very busy road and wondered where we were going to go 

when we saw this garbage truck at the end of the road.

 We hoped he would stop but he just kept coming.  Can you see him motioning us forward?  

Can you also see there are people and tables in our way?

 He looks at us and says, "Look.  You have this much room."  He must have thought

 we were driving a trike instead of a car!!!

 Whoa!  Two inches to spare!

But the great people on the street were trying to clear out and help us so we made it through!!!

 Our final adventure of the day was to find the patch of green that we can see from 

our Apt.! We can actually drive to it!  It is the only park-like area that we have seen 

close to where we live.  We were lucky enough to find them "mowing" the lawn!

 It must take him hours!

Of course, all that grass must be raked up.  The rake looks like a bundle of sticks 

but it works great.  They also use them to sweep the roads and I have one 

to sweep my floor!  It works really well!

We have to wash what?

I've been a bit slow getting back to my blog having already finished this one once - 

then forgot to save it and LOST it.  So sad!!!  But I downloaded the picts again and here
 goes!  When planning a meal you must plan to prepare in plenty of time so you don't
 become too hungry!  Since we did the shopping last blog, thought we should tell you what
we do with the food once we get it home!  We wash all the fruits and veggies in a special
 preparation or clorox water to eliminate bacteria, then rinse it all in filtered water.

We need to be careful with our lettuce to wash, rinse, dry and stuff in a plastic zip lock so 

it can stay as fresh as possible.  Sarah and John, this is when we really need that

 Salad Spinner you gave us for Christmas!!!

After everyone told me we had to eat as much mango as possible, thought I would show
you the first one I ever peeled.  If it is ripe enough, it is easy.  Or you can just cut off the
front and the back and scoop it out with a spoon like they do at the Mall when they make

 Mango Shakes!  Just put a couple of mangos in a blender along with some fruit juice, 

a cup of crushed ice, and blend while adding some canned milk!  Yummy!

You even have to soak your cans here!  

Wash, rinse, dry, and they are ready to put away or open!

Finally!  We get to eat!  It has been fun to share a few meals with Elder and Sister Bird!  

Notice the pitcher of juice on the table.  It is our new favorite drink - Four Seasons.  

It is a combination of pineapple, mango, orange and guava!

After dinner we have another fun job.  Doing the dishes is kind of like camping indoors. 

 We have no hot water in the kitchen, but we have some filtered water there.  We have 

hot water in the bathroom, but it is not filtered!  So...we get hot water from the bathroom 

and add "Joy" and clorox for the wash cycle and boil the water in the kitchen for the rise

 water.  Elder DuPaix has lots of fun trying not to burn his fingers when rinsing!!!

Now the work is done, the fun begins!  We went to the store and found Haagen Dazs
ice cream on sale of half off so we bought several.  We didn't realize that our little splurg
 would cost us $25 bucks!

Let's go Shopping!

We begin by parking our motorcycles!  There are almost as many parked in the lot as there are cars!

 Next we go through security.  Notice male and female have their own lines. 

 They are careful to check bags and purses.

 There is a beautiful selection of seafood.  Other things are available at certain places, sometimes!  We go to one store for milk, one Mall for Cool Whip, and another for pudding!

 John, just had to send some sushi for you!

 The sales assistants are so helpful.  There is usually one person assigned to each row in a store.
These young people are not usually high school or college students.
Many have design or marketing degrees.  It is crazy.

 They have a specific uniform for the area they work in!

 Right down to the shoes!!!

 Another department!  They were helpful with finding my" hair care"!  These wonderful young men and women are very respectful.  They always greet us with "Hello Mum-Sir" for Sister, and "Hello Sir, po" for Elder.  There is no female or male distinction in their language so they just say both.  

"Po" is said to show honor.  They are so polite and friendly!

When you are tired after shopping, be sure to head for the Senior Citizen line, 

complete with a bench for resting!!!

Notice the cute checkers and baggers are also dressed in uniforms, with their hair all done up in buns.

They also use their checkers to help with advertisement - hence the head gear!

This was one of my favorite pictures.  There were five assistants helping Elder DuPaix 

make his purchase.  Sometimes I think they are so excited to be able to help. 

We went to buy a light bulb and nine assistants came to our aid!

We are finally done so some relaxation and message therapy is in order!  p10 isn't too bad a price for a great three minute workout!