Later I checked in at the Hop Inn Hotel Alabang which was not too far from their place.

Tues, Dec 24^th

The 7-Eleven stores entrance is right next to the exit door from the Hop Inn, so I went there for breakfast each morning. I had the Tuna Cheese Melt Siopão. It is good, just a little lean on the amount of filling.

This afternoon we had lunch at Marilou's niece, Sheila's house. There was plenty of food again including a roasted pig, Lechon Baboy.

I was introduced to Adlai which is similar to rice but doesn't try to choke me as much. It's supposed to be healthier than rice.

We played a game called "Left Center Right". It involves spinning dice that direct you where to pass money. The winner is the one who ends up with all the money. It was fun.

That evening we attended the Midnight Mass at their church, Sacred Heart of Jesus. We got there early so the kids could claim their normal seats. Good thing, it was packed by Mass time. Candy did some lecturing and Ray was Eucharist Minister.

Wednesday, Dec 25^th

I again was able to get the Tuna Siopão for breakfast. Later we hung out with the family not doing too much. The kids played a word game that seemed to focus on local area knowledge so I sat it out.

That evening, I walked around the area near Hop Inn and took pictures of the Christmas lights. My camera isn't too good at capturing the lights/dark contrasts but I got some photos that weren't too bad.

Thursday, Dec 26^th

I spent the morning walking in the neighboring area to the hotel, taking pictures of the Christmas Displays.

Marilou called and said Candy and the girls were going shopping in Ayala Center and we could go see the museum there if we wanted. So, we visited the Ayala Museum where they had a gold of the ancestors display going on. It was a very interesting display with huge articles of gold jewelry. I think they had more gold than is stored at Fort Knox. I took a picture of every one of them, but the lighting with the display cases made a lot of the pictures not so good. I still had to cull some down as I edited the day's pictures for the web site.

Another area had displays to explain the different ways the gold was processed.

We started out to meet Pinky and the girls for lunch when we saw a display of Philippine History. We spent some time rushing through it. I took a few pictures of some of the displays. When we got out, Marilou called Pinky and they were already eating lunch so we got some food there. The selection wasn't extensive, but it was handy.

Friday, Dec 27^th

7-Eleven was out of tuna siopáo so I had the Premium Asado. After breakfast I packed up, checked out and went to Pinky's. Later we took Marilou to meet her cousins for a few days at a spa. That evening Ray took me to the airport for my flight back to Houston.

Saturday, Dec 28^th

I arrived in Houston around 9 am and went to the Parking Spot to pick up my car. It wouldn't start and I had to get a jump to bring it home. Since I didn't want risk it not starting back up if I shut it down, I drove straight to Corpus Christi without shutting it off.

The next day, the car started ok. I went to Auto Zone and replaced the battery in their lot.