To the Beach...

Monday, 15th August 2011

We all got ready for a trip to the beach, some of the local brothers & sisters arrived at 9:00am (Sis Jinky, Bro Jodel, Bro Jonathan and his wife Sis Catherine).

Ready for swimming

Feeling all better now

On the jeepney to Lingayen and the beach!

Another jeepney ride into Lingayen, then two trikes to the beach. To get to the beach involved going past the government buildings (Lingayen is the provinvial capital) and the WW2 memorial to General McArthur. All the streets and grounds around are very clean, neatly mown grass is all around (quite the contrast to the rest of the town). The beach has grey sand, kept clean by people and diggers that cart away the seaweed and rubbish. The children, Sarah, myself and Jodel all went swimming. Silas really enjoyed the opportunity to practice his swimming strokes in the calm water.

 

Some of the stalls selling food at the beach

Lingayen beach, looking back towards the shelters

Lingayen gulf was very calm with a nice wide beach, the water stayed quite shallow for at least 50m. There were a number of people fishing with nets, some were individuals with bamboo poles and a net strung between. They would walk along with the poles in the water in front of them, scooping up whatever fish they could.

Some people worked in pairs with a long net that they would carry out, then cast and pull back to shore.

Then there was a group of people with a long net that they carried out in a boat. Two long ropes were attached to each end and eight people at each end worked to pull in the net. Each person had a wooden brace behind their back with a short rope that was attached to the long rope so they could pull. When the person at the back got so-far from the shore they would untie their short rope and reattach it at the front of the line.

A different way to fish!

A fishing boat

All us Australians got sunburnt (Silas and myself particularly because we did not wear any tops or sunscreen) on the beach, we left about 11:30 and took two trikes to Jolibee's for lunch. We all had a little treat of chocolate sundaes for dessert.

After lunch we went to visit the WW2 memorial. We could climb over the old aeroplane and army tanks and guns. The memorial gave the history of the war, starting with the Japanese invasion in 1941 and then the American liberation in 1945.

Bro Jonathan, Eden, Silas, Bro Jodell (waving) on top of an old WWII plane

A government building in the capital of Pangisinan province, Lingayen

Noah inside a WWII tank

Nice smile Eden!

Sarah talking with Sis Jinky

Silas's imagination getting a workout, while his friends Bro Jonathan,
Sis Catherine & Bro Jodell are amused.

Beautifully kept gardens, we learnt a lot of history at this memorial park

We look a jeepney back into the town centre, Jonathan and myself got off to get some things for the monkeys who got sunburnt because they drank milk (code to help me remember what to buy - bananas, milk and after sun lotion).

I did something spontaneous and invited Jonathan and Catherine to stay for dinner (which they did), we prepared the dinner (something that is not normally allowed to happen) and cooked some more pasta to go with our bolognaise sauce, and also a beef stir fry, with our secret ingredients in it. Everyone thought it was masarap (delicious).

Icy cold Coke© was our friend at the dinner table – as well as another unexpected friend. Bro Jamie Arnold from Darwin, arrived unannounced from Manila. Jamie is a seasoned traveller who likes to experience things first-hand and share his experiences with others.

We did the readings from Mark again, and then sat and chatted with Bro Jamie and the boys who were staying at the hall with us tonight, so it was a late night.