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This is a beautiful picture taken by Liz.  It's minutes before or after one I took of her taking a picture, somewhere else in these pages.  Post card material.

One from the Cemetery tour.  We attended an organized tour of three cemeteries in Manila, one was the old Chinese one.  Lots of pictures of dead people boxes.  Some of these memorial houses and crypts have an upstairs, coke machines, televisions, dining tables and chairs, etc.  When the families visit their departed relatives, it's often a chance to meet and spend time with other family members.  On All Saints Day, the cemeteries are a mess, with many times more live people than dead.

This was a picture of the ARCE family crypt.  I couldn't resist taking a picture showing little Jimmy's disdain for waiting until he's dead before having his name etched in stone.  Now he's up in chalk!

Another crypt box, this one covered with small plastic figurines. 

An early picture from one of our debriefing zones, the Manila Hotel.  A grand old establishment, from back in the day.  Still a very elegant place, and within walking distance from the office.  And they have 2 for 1 happy hour from 6pm to 8pm, very convenient.  Here John, Efren, Liz and I are enjoying a respite from the pollution, noise and craziness.  A six piece string orchestra plays live muzak, and all the people who are the people eventually wander in.  One day Imelda Marcos wandered in, looking for her shoes.  John spotted her coming in, and Liz wanted the gold lame shoes. 

This is the McDonalds across from the apartment building.  When the last coup took place a few months ago, John looked out his window and spotted military guys sitting around the Ronny statue.  Tooooo cuuuute!

Pictures of Pictures of Pictures of...

Alan and John talking pics of me taking pics.  

Just a mess of wiring.  I was told they don't often take old wires down, just put new ones up.  This junction supports that theory.

One of my all time favorite pictures from here, and it sums up my feeling of Manila.  Not the entire country, just Manila.  I think every car has to take the test, ensuring they're producing their share of smoke belching.  Most of the cars here pass with flying colors judging from the amount of brown in the air, and the massive clouds of soot and smoke that blast from every tailpipe, even on new looking cars.  Maybe they're knock-off cars, pirated copies of the real thing.

This is Oonagh, another person in the office.  Excellent technical writer and document editor!  Very Irish, and funny.  This is not a good shot, camera was set incorrectly.

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