Airport Pics

Here are some photos of our family last week in Manila. Special thanks to my cousins, Chris and Chona (Bermejo) who met up with me and helped our family get the domestic terminal. They are both funny and very kind. The taxi rides from the international terminal to the domestic one can be a bit tricky. We decided to catch one of the vans, which cost us 150 pesos (a little over $3) for the 10 minute ride. The only unreasonable thing about this arrangement was the driver. Right when he arrived at our destination, he asked for a big a tip. He literally said to me, with a smile, "please give me a big tip." I gave him 200 pesos, which included the tip, but he insisted on more. Apparently, he thought he saw an US Dollar bill (45 pesos) in my wallet, but the only money I had was a 1,000 pesos. I don't know what he saw, but he was not happy when I offered him a 20 peso bill and insisted on the (phantom) $1 bill in my wallet. In fact, he refused to take the 20 pesos, and said something in Cebuano, which sounded like "you stingy cheap Filipino-American."

I was grateful that he brought us to the terminal safely, though.
This is a new carrier for Megumi and Tomoki. So far its working out well. Tomoki looks like a koala bear!

Megumi and Chona talking up a storm during their short meeting.

Bermejo Boys. My cousin, Chris, actually looks like my dad in his younger years. Chris works as a trainer for Chili's Restaurant (American establishment) in Manila. We had a good time talking about nasty foreigners.

The photo below is funny for some reason. I should run a contest for the best caption.

Two of my very beautiful children. Hana, who looks as filipino as any other 8 year old here (Daddy's genes) and my son, Tomoki, whose name and eyes are "very Japanese."