Woodcarvers in the Philippines

On a recent quiet Saturday (when we had no patients) we were able to go out to Laguna (about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Manila) to visit some of the woodcarvers in their small homes and studios.

These first photos are of Frank and his family. He works in a little area next to his house. Here he is showing us a liahona he has in process. This is a carving of a handcart family he is working on. The large block on the right will become the father figure on the left (pulling the handcart).

Here is a completed handcart family. (On display in one of the offices in the Area Office)

This is a statue Frank did of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

From Frank's house we walked down a treelined lane to some of the other woodcarvers' homes. We had a parade of children following us everywhere we went!

On our walk we passed a group of children under a tree with a vendor selling "colored chicks".

Our next stop was in the little village of Paete in Laguna. The village has little alleyways lined with homes and shops.

We visited Armand and his family in their home. He carves in a little area of their living room. Armand started carving when he was 12. He now works with his father and uncle.

This is Armand and his young family. His wife is due with their third daughter in about 2 weeks (mid-Sept.)

Here are some of Armand's carvings. He does beautiful nativity sets and
reliefs of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.

This is the nativity he did for us. We have kept it out since he finished it in February. There are 18 pieces in the set.

Note - the wise men have mangoes, bananas and rice!

We just got this carving. It was done by a cousin of Armand's - showing Filipino children playing a game called "jumping the cow". It reminds us of some of the children we saw on our visit to Laguna.

In the village we visited some of the carvers who do large statues. The larger statues are generally for local Catholic Churches or shrines.

Here a woman is getting ready to stain a large statue.

This is one of the stalls (selling pots and pans) at the Saturday market we passed by on our "walk about" the village of Paete.

We had a fun day and loved being able to see the carvers work. They are truly craftmen!!

Trip to Cebu (end of May)

The end of May - We were able to go down to Cebu in the Southern Philippines for the open house of the Cebu City Temple. The dedication date is June 13th. It is a beautiful temple right on a main street of Cebu. We spent three days there and did a little touring. Cebu is the oldest "city" in the Philippines - established as a Spanish settlement by Magellan in 1571. {Note: I had too many pictures for one posting so there are three postings of pictures}

Marlon was able to go to Cebu with us.

Adjacent to the temple is a stake center, a three story building (below right) with temple patron housing, temple missionaries' apartments, Cebu Mission Office, distribution center and waiting area. The homes of the mission president and the temple president are also located on site. (to center back of the photo)

Cebu is a much smaller city than Manila but has a lot of tourism because you have to go through Cebu to go to Bohol and Boracay. Our hotel was up on a hill to the north so we had a great view of the city.

On one of our walks through the market place.

Notice the destination of the jeepney - I don't know where or what JONES was.

Trip to Cebu #2

Here are more pictures from our trip to Cebu City.

This is Fort San Pedro - built by Legaspi when he returned with Spanish reinforcements 40 years after Magellan. The original fort was wood but was replaced quickly with a stone fort.

The original well still has water in the bottom!

A group of students playing guitars, banduras and a "cello" like a bass guitar.
Dancer in native costume outside the fort.
I love the shell lights!!

This is the Basicilia of the Santa Nino (baby Jesus). The story is that Magellan brought a statue of Jesus as a child. It was left behind when the Spanish left after Magellans death. When Legaspi returned 40 years later, a tribe had found it and made a special shrine. The tribe was convereted to the Catholic Church and the statue is housed in the Basilica. (built in the 1600's)

Magellan's Cross is kept in a small rotunda next to the Basilica. Over the years so many people kept taking pieces off the cross that it is now encapsulated inside another cross.

The Cebu Cathedral dates to the mid/late 1700's.

The organ is one of the oldest organs in the Philippines still in existance. (many were destroyed during the bombing of WWII)

Trip to Cebu City #3

Here are more pictures from our trip to Cebu

We visited some of the remaining Spanish era houses. This one is from the late 1700's - Made of all wood with very open rooms and open beam ceiling. Notice the harps. There were 3 old European harps in the house.

This is Casa Gorordo - a well preserved home from the mid 1800's. The house is built with sliding panels so the rooms can be opened up and air can move through to cool the house. There are beautiful carved wood borders at the top of the panels.

The second floor had an open balcony running the entire length of the house.
This is an open courtyard with an old well and a carriage house.

This is the LapuLapu Monument in honor of King LapuLapu who killed Magellan when he tried to force the King's tribe to convert to the Catholic Church.

The monument is on the bay were Magellan first landed. This is one of the bancas (boats) up in "dry dock". The boys swimming in the bay are bold (Tagalog for "bare naked")

The Taoist Temple was built for the Chinese-Filipino population. It is located up on a hillside in northern Cebu City. The surrounding neighborhood has large homes and is called "Beverly Hills".

The dragons everywhere reminded me of the Eddy Murphy character in the Disney cartoon "Mulan".