“Three Tickets to Paradise” - Sabang, Palawan, Philippines (October 23-25, 2013)

            We loved our little bungalow in Sabang.  I think we were one of four or five families there for two days.  It was like having the whole island to ourselves.  We had a private beach (well, private to guests of the resort), with a balcony view which was about 75 yards from the waves crashing on the shore.  We heard the pounding of the sea loud and clear all night long (and the noises of a busy Gecko preying on a Praying Mantis outside our door).  

Maralea was so conflicted, first screaming at the green Praying Mantis, then being horrified by the
preying Gecko who thanked me for swatting the tasty green delight his way

            We made it outside to play some two on one volleyball.  Maralea and I gave Jordan a run for his money.  (Ha, not really.  Jordan could have plastered us, as he reminded me after I had done a little too much talking and spiked me dead center in the chest (preferable to the nose).  Maralea finally called the game on account of excess exhaustion.  Jordan would not get into the ocean water beyond ankles to take pictures.  He was content hanging out in the hammock, relaxing (after killing us in volleyball). 

Maralea found a friend (below) while laying out in the sun on the beach
(She asked me to "Make him go away - I don't want to get his fleas," - but he just looked so happy)

Jordan found time to sleep
(and didn't care about the dog)

Maralea still can't stop smiling (even with fleabe
heebe jeebe dogs following her around)

         

            We went on a tour of the underground river here in Sabang, which is pretty cool (basically a huge seven to eight mile long cave with water running through it - what else would it be, right?).  The stench of bat excrement was pretty disgusting.  (When Maralea booked the tour, I guarantee you she did not know we would be going to Bat City.  There were bats flying everywhere.  It was the literal Bat Cave.)  But, it was fun going through the cave on the river singing: "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me."  (But for the bat smell, it you closed your eyes and plugged your nose, it felt like Disneyland for just a moment.)  The drive over to the underground river was crazy.  We were in a boat that had to be 150 years old, with the loudest motor I have ever heard.  Fortunately, I brought ear plugs.  Unfortunately, Maralea took them.  Fortunately, I also brought an i-Pod with ear buds.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear any of the music because of the loud motor.  Fortunately, the ear buds themselves took some of the edge off the noise.  Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time en route to our destination worried that we might sink as I watched our little crew surreptitiously bailing water at several points along the way.  Fortunately, we arrived without any mishaps.  Unfortunately, I forgot to tip the guy driving the not so sea worthy vessel with the way too loud motor.  (Oh wait, that should be a “Fortunately,” shouldn’t it?) 

The S.S. Minnow was more sea worthy post crash on the beach than this vessel
(Random Old TV Thought: How come the Professor, Gilligan and the Skipper couldn't figure out a way to patch the boat but could build nice huts and somehow kept their radio working?)

Here's a brief video of our trip, which should give an idea of how loud the motor was (although we actually had a little breakdown at the end of the video, leaving us adrift for a few minutes - nice)

Sizing up the distance to swim to shore . . . just in case

  

We held up the captain of our boat to take this picture, as we waited behind a herd of Filipino teenage girls who each had to have an individual picture taken (but it was worth the wait, wasn't it?)

Maralea is all smiles now, but wait until we hit the Bat Cave!

We survived the Bat Cave and the
rest of the journey

Exiting the Bat Cave was awesome!
(I noted a lot of great places to bury treasure along the way)

This would be a great place to hide a pirate ship!  The river runs into the ocean at the upper right.

And now, a little break from our adventure for pictures of the local wildlife taken with my i-Phone

Seriously big iguana like thingy

The Monkeys there were not on chains, but were very cooperative posing for pictures
(I made sure I got his good side to publish online)

   

Another tree, another monkey (they all seemed very used to having people around)

            Maralea and I lounged in the pool at our resort, as Jordan sat in the chair under a shady tree, drinking chilled water.  As Jordan and I were walking along the way, he was stopped by a member of the Church who said he had just arrived in the area a few weeks ago.  (I think he is working for another resort.)  He saw Jordan’s name tag and asked where the local branch meets.  The two had a conversation in Tagalog and the brother congratulated Jordan on completing his mission and thanked for his service in the Philippines.

            We had a relaxing dinner together outside as we enjoyed what Jordan described as a “aw, that’s nothin’” Filipino downpour that we would describe as torrential.  (It would have created flash flooding in Las Vegas within the first five minutes, easily.)  We stayed dry and enjoyed the sound of the rain pouring down like a fire hose.  (There were some guests here who had set up for a candlelight dinner on the beach.  We were glad we were not one of them at the moment.)  We walked along the beach and the resort grounds after dinner, then sat outside visiting on the balcony of our little bungalow.  It was no later than 8:00 pm, and I was just overcome with fatigue.  The moment we sat down, I fell asleep in a rocking chair (typical grandpa) as Maralea and Jordan talked on.  It felt great to get to bed knowing that we did not have to get up early to be somewhere.  The gecko we met the night before appeared outside our door and sang us to sleep.  We were glad to have him back (especially Maralea, who could not get the picture of the gecko preying on that Praying Mantis the night before - one moment she freaked out at the sight of the big green bug, then felt bad for it as it languished helplessly in the gecko’s mouth . . . see above).

            The next morning we had a relaxing breakfast, packed up, then enjoyed a little more time on the beach before catching the shuttle back to Puerta Princesa.  Jordan and I had a very spirited badminton match on the beach, which was awesome.  (We actually attracted an audience of resort workers, who seemed to be mesmerized by the great athleticism on display.)  

Jordan with the serve

Mike with the great return (note the perfect form exhibited here)

Jordan loads up for what he thinks will be a winner (ha)

It was out by a foot but Maralea called it in (I knew I'd get homered by the mom)

I delivered the goods at badminton (well, in my opinion anyway) and Jordan kicked us in volleyball

             Maralea and I tried our hand at body surfing again, while Jordan again admired our efforts from a lounge chair on the beach (assuming he wasn’t sleeping).  We enjoyed our quiet time together.  But for the fact that the internet was as slow as a glacier (and did not work most of the time), it was a perfect getaway.  (Some might say being disconnected is all part of the experience.  For me . . . not so much.)  After a rather long and windy shuttle ride back to Puerta Princesca, our shuttle driver took us to a central bus terminal area at which point the van was immediately surrounded by about seven or eight trike drivers peering through the windows looking for potential passengers.  When our shuttle driver opened the door, we were engaged by guys trying to persuade us (in Tagalog) to ride with them.  Jordan took over and negotiated our ride to the hotel, with all our luggage and the three of us on a motorcycle with the passenger area to the right.  (To make things a little more interesting, our trike driver was huge.)  We had earlier seen a family of four riding on a single motorcycle, so we felt safe enough with this little maneuver.  (I mean, the guy had a displayed license, so it had to be okay.)

       I recalculated the math on the hours the BYU/BSU game would be live here and was happy to discover it will actually start at 8:00 am, not 2:00 am.  (Either way, I would have been listening.)  The internet was a little better at our hotel in Puerta Princesca.  We were able to listen to portions of the BYU/BSU game via www.ksl.com, with the feed coming in/out based on the weak internet service.  BYU had the game well in hand by the time we had to check out and leave for the airport.  (If any of my BSU friends are reading this, I don't feel a bit sorry for you.  We have suffered through three straight losses to BSU and are pretty tired of it.  Good to see BYU playing well.)  At the time this is posted, I am assuming BSU did not stage some miracle comeback.  If that happens (unlikely), at least I would not have had to suffer through it.

Best BYU shirt EVER!

             Jordan spent a lot of time on the phone over the past couple days making arrangements with members in his areas for visits over the next few days.  He is doing well.  Jordan is clearly more comfortable speaking with the locals in Tagalog than with us in English.  (Ha.)  Maralea already started coaching him about communication (and eating).  During breakfast on Friday, after having endured a couple days of Jordan responding by lifting his eyebrows for yes instead of just saying yes, Maralea (while giggling) said: “I don’t get the whole eyebrow thing.  Just say ‘yes’ when you are with us.”  I suppose it sounds kind of curt when you read it, but the whole situation was rather funny.  When Jordan eats, he leans over his plate with a big spoon in his right hand which he uses to cut and scoop, and a fork in the left hand, used merely to push food onto the spoon.  Maralea is carrying on the admonishment of Sister Martino to all the departing missionaries at the mission home on Tuesday to put away the scoopy spoons. (That may be a challenge for Jordan.  He’s quite a proficient eating machine with the big spoon.)  Jordan takes all our suggestions in stride.  He very patiently responded to his tenderly teaching mother: “Well, I guess I have a couple months to figure out how to eat and communicate with Americans again.  I will work on it.”

One more little respite before returning to the real world
(Can you guess which feet belong to Maralea?)

Manila to Puerta Princesa, Sabang (October 23, 2013)

Chained up monkeys over a dirty pool filled inhabited by frogs made the Manila Airport Hotel rather unique (this monkey dove off the tree at us, freaking me out, then swung by its chain, as though it just wanted to see our reaction - you know, just messin' with us)

           We settled into the Manila Airport Hotel (which is not a place I would ever recommend - we definitely have to find another place to stay the night before we fly back home).  After settling into our rooms, we joined a sea of missionaries gathered at the local KFC for their last not so authentic mission dinner in the Philippines.  They all were eating with a spoon in their right hand and fork in the left, using the spoon as a knife and scoop, and the fork to assist with the scooping.  (Sister Martino had just taught them table manners earlier in the day and told them all they need to leave their spoons in the Philippines.  I suppose they all figured they were still in the Philippines, so eating that way was still cool.)  I noticed during our dinner with Jordan that he has incorporated all the local non-verbal communication that Brad did when we were here eight years ago (i.e. eyebrows going up means Yes, puckering the lips and turning the head one direction is pointing out a direction, dropping your head with your mouth open means What?, etc.)  Also, the missionaries all went back and forth from English to Tagalog with their conversation.

Kermit swims another lap in the pool, daring the rest of us to join him

       Jordan with Elder Hawaikirangi, from Australia, who was the last missionary from Jordan's group to                                        depart Manila (leaving six hours after everyone else)

             Maralea and I did not sleep well.  In fact, we were both up by 3:00 am.  We have done a lot of fretting on this trip, and probably will continue to fret about something before we finally arrive back in Las Vegas (where we can finally replace Fake Cardboard Jordan with Real Jordan).  We were concerned about whether we would be able to board the flight for our island visit without Jordan’s passport, and whether we would have any trouble with our carry on bags.  (We did not check any luggage to save a few pesos, and there is a carry on weight limit, which required some fancy redistribution of baggage contents.)  We went through security with ease.  (I don’t even bother removing my computer from my backpack, removing shoes, belts, etc.  They just waved us through.  Sweet for us, but I hope they were watching for the bad stuff.  (The guy at the x-ray machine was playing on his phone, so I’m not sure how closely he was really paying attention.)  We arrived in a very hot and humid airport terminal awaiting our flight which, as luck would have it, was delayed, from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, then to 12:00 pm. . . .  (Wonderful.)  Other than the humidity and stuffy terminal conditions, it was fun visiting with Jordan about plans for visiting his areas, and for school.  (We brought his old phone, which is pretty outdated now.  We have no idea how to use it.  I could barely make a call or send a text.  But, Jordan has not lost his texting skills.  He was communicating with members via texting in Tagalog to advise of our visits later in our trip.)

Maralea didn't complain about a two hour flight delay in the Manila Airport, she just slept (here looking like Sleeping Beauty as Jordan watches over her while I was on safari to find an outlet to charge up my computer)

This ad for sardine sandwiches at the Manila
airport caught my eye.
(I was hungry, but uh . . . not THAT hungry.)

            We did finally make it to our island destination.  After landing in Palawan, we were met by a driver who took us on a two hour drive across the island on a long and winding road (cue The Beatles here), where we got to see a lot of water buffalo and stray dogs.  Our driver made a stop at some touristy trappy place for us to take pictures, purchase overpriced junk and pay five pesos a person to use the “comfort room” (that’s what they call the restrooms here).  I refused to use the bathroom on principle, even though 5 pesos is the equivalent of about $.10.  Anyhoo, we arrived and it felt like we were part of the cast for “Lost.”  The beach is similar, the surroundings are similar, and I have been on the lookout for “others.”  (Disregard if you haven’t watched “Lost,” as that last reference will be lost on you.)  By the way, I was wondering how many workers it takes to change a light bulb at an expensive, exclusive resort on the beach in Puerta Princesa.  Kind of a random thought, I know.  While I don’t have the exact answer, I discovered today that takes at least two.  After checking into our room and advising that the light bulb on the ceiling fan in our room is out, the front desk sent two workers to our little bungalow with a ladder in tow.  They sized up the situation and then advised that “it’s too big of a job for now” and asked if they could tackle it “tomorrow” while we are out on a little excursion.  (Guys, just give me the dang light bulb.  I’m pretty sure Jordan has figured out how to change a Filipino light bulb.  We got this.)  So, we went without a ceiling fan light our first night.  No matter, we were too tired to worry much about dim lighting.

The view from the balcony of our little second story villa
(The view was awesome.  The internet service . . . not so much.)

            So far, it has been like one big whirlwind.  We are trying to relax a bit today and get our bearings.

The next couple days will be filled with some adventure before we return to the mission to visit Jordan’s

areas.  We are really looking forward to that.  Mostly, however, it has just been a lot of fun chatting it up 

with Jordan.  

            Top five things Jordan  wants to do when he gets home:

            5.         Play volleyball

            4.         Workout (then play more volleyball)

            3.         Eat a big, meaty steak (preferably without rice) (followed by more volleyball)

            2.         Become reacquainted with his guitar and ukulele (and sing about volleyball)

            1.         Eat a real American hamburger (In and Out Burger preferably, but only after playing volleyball)

             It’s good to have Jordan back again!

Maralea and Jordan, on the beach at Sabang

A walk on the beach in Sabang was worth the hot, humid wait in the Manila Airport

The beach area in Sabang was a great place to get reacquainted
(Jordan never got to tract like this.)

Okay, fine, I'll get in the picture, too.  Three's company in Sabang

Did I mention there were big frogs in the Manila Airport Hotel pool?

Reunited ("and it feels so good" - Peaches & Herb, 1978, but that's not important right now) (October 22, 2013)

Jordan with his MTC district, October 2011

           Neither of us slept very good Monday night.  Maralea and I had a 5:30 am wake up call, but were up way before that.  We just could not sleep.  There was too much concern about getting to Tarlac on time, getting packed and ready for our scheduled 8:00 am pick up.  But, despite our bad night’s sleep (Maralea complained again about all the noise from other guests, but I did not recall any of that, so I must have slept better than I thought.)  Our drivers Kimmy and Mark were due to arrive at 8:00 am, and we were ready like champs.  I had all our baggage at the front area, ready for a quick pick up and getaway.  The only thing missing at 8:00 am was our drivers.  When they did not arrive by 8:30 am, we started calling and texting, to no avail.  (By the way, we brought Jordan's old phone and have no idea how to use it, so texting . . . even answering a call . . . was an adventure.)  Maralea and I began searching for alternatives to get to Tarlac.  We confirmed that we could get a taxi in a pinch, but the guy said it was a minimum two hour one way trip.  (A freeway has been extended from Angeles City north, which goes right by Tarlac, and we understood the trip was closer to 30 minutes.)  This got us into an ever so slight panic.  We needed to get to the mission home on time and were ready to hire a cab (even if the guy had no idea what he was talking about).  Kimmy called about five minutes later to advise that they were about 10 minutes away.  That was very welcomed news and it was a great relief to see Kimmy’s ever smiling face.  He told me 8:00 am last night, which I thought was kind of early, but I figured he just wanted to make sure they got us to the mission home on time.  (I actually think he was planning on 9:00 am all the time.  Ha.  I guess I'm not used to Filipino time.)  When I asked Kimmy if I misunderstood him about the 8:00 am pickup, he said, “No” and then looked at his watch, smiled and said: “It’s 8:59 am.”  (It was actually 9:10 am, but perhaps his watch was slow.  Ha.)  (Kimmy is a great guy and we loved spending time with him.  He brought a different driver, Lionel, who served in the Angeles Mission from September 2005-07.  In fact, Lionel would have entered the mission home the day after we arrived to pick up Brad in September 2007.)

This is a generic picture of the Tarlac main street post
typhoon.  There is still work to do.

            The anticipation of our reunion with Jordan grew the closer we got to Tarlac.  The effects of the typhoon also became more apparent.  As you drive into Tarlac, there is what was clearly once an incredibly beautiful row of large old trees along both sides of the divided four lane main street that formed a canopy over the entire roadway.  What was once a proud landmark of Tarlac now looks much different.  There were downed branches and uprooted trees everywhere.  A lot of work had already been done to clear the area of damage in the prior 10 days.  However, there is still clearly much work to do.  In the residential area of the mission home, there are downed power poles and trees.  Yet, the mission home (newly constructed) looked relatively undamaged.  While it was without electricity, the home is also equipped with an emergency generator that kept everything up and running (so we were to later learn).  As it turned out, we were not late at all, but were 90 minutes early.  (Yes Kimmy, you were right, I should have just trusted you all the way.)  We walked up to the mission home front door with Kimmy, who knocked on the door.  I thought that Jordan might answer the door after seeing us arrive, but it was Sister Martino, who advised that the missionaries were involved in some post mission training with Pres. Martino.  We did not want to go inside and interrupt anything, but Sister Martino insisted.  So, we walked into the living room where we sat down rather sheepishly and conspicuously.  All of the elders turned and looked at us . . . except Jordan.  He just kind of looked away and acted like we weren’t there.  Once we were advised that there was another 90 minutes of instruction to follow, we excused ourselves and drove to the mission office, where we delivered some very special items we brought with us by special request (i.e. packages for some missionaries (Elder Watkins and Sister Littlefield), some oatmeal packets for the senior missionaries there, Elder and Sister Tischner, caffeine free Coke (by very special request by a certain someone), white shirts and bed sheets, etc.)  We met Dave & Sandy Bell, parents of Elder Derek Bell from Gilbert, AZ, with whom we had arranged to share a ride from Tarlac to Manila and had a nice visit.  After about an hour, we departed again for the mission home.  This time, when we arrived, Jordan was at the front door and Maralea got the big hug she had been anticipating for so long.

The Tarlac Reunion

Mother & Missionary reunited

We were all smiles when we walked into the mission home

Pres. & Sis. Martino delivered Jordan to us.  So grateful for the great care they took of Jordan while
he served as Elder Royal in the Philippines Angeles Mission

One more time (with Dad in the picture - ha)

Our reunion with Sister Lopez, who served both our
missionary sons in the Philippines!

            It was an amazing thing for us to be with Jordan again.  What a journey it was to get here!  The mission home moved from Angeles City to Tarlac last year, so this was our first visit to Tarlac.  However, we did recognize the mission home furniture from our last visit (very unique).  Also, Sister Lopez, who has served as a mission cook for about 15 years, introduced herself to me in the kitchen as I went back for seconds.  (I admit it, I gorged - it was so good!).  Sister Lopez said: “Do you remember me?  I’m Sister Lopez, I washed your other Elder Royal’s clothes.  We met when you were here before.”  I did remember her.  In fact, Sister Lopez was the first local member we met from Brad’s mission when we surprised him at his apartment and he introduced us to her while providing a tour of where he had been living for the preceding six months.  (Brad, Sister Lopez said that she was very sad not to get to see you during your visit with Whitney and Beckham in January.  (She was busy cooking/working at the mission home.)  She wanted us to tell you hello.  So kumasta and ingat from Sister Lopez.)  

Maralea and Sandy Bell having lunch in the mission home

            We sat with other parents and family visiting (the Bells and Johnsons) during the testimony meeting and final words of counsel provided by President and Sister Martino.  It was really great to be there as Jordan stood and shared his last testimony as Elder Royal with his fellow missionaries.  After getting a few pictures, we all raced to our vehicles to get to the Manila Temple by the 5:00 pm session.  Jordan rode with his mission buddies, and we traveled separately with our group.  We got a few pictures outside the temple after our arrival.  As we prepared for the session, we learned that there was a problem with Jordan’s passport.  It would not be available for us to pick up before we were scheduled to leave Manila for a visit to another island for a few days.  That created a bit of anxiety, but we got it all cleared up for Jordan to travel.  (He had his NV DL and BYU ID, which was good enough for domestic travel.  Who knew?)

Loved going to the Manila Temple with Jordan

Manila temple is beautiful at night

            The temple in Manila is amazing.  We attended with Jordan’s entire mission “batch.”  I had a mission to deliver a package to Elder Watkins, from Alpine, UT. (His father, Tom, used me as a courier, but only after we watched BYU stomp Georgia Tech together in Provo.)  The package was delivered to the mission office earlier, so I just waved to the MTC across the street from the temple.  We were so, so tired when we made our way to the Manila Airport Hotel, where the departing missionaries were staying.  (By the way, if there was ever a hotel to avoid in the world, it’s this one.  Holy water buffalo!  Since it is where all the missionaries apparently stay their last night before departure, we figured it would be fine, or even semi fine.  Um, not so much.)  Jordan stayed with his mission buddies, who were to leave very early in the morning.  After this evening, Jordan would be in our exclusive care.  (We promise to be good companions.)

Here with Jordan and his trainer, Junjun Declaro, at the Manila Temple
(Very grateful to Junjun for being a fantastic trainer to Jordan!)

With Kimmy Talento, Jordan's second companion and our driver for the first two days

Mission Training Center (Quezon City), just across the street from the temple.
Somewhere in there was Elder Watkins, who has a package waiting for him at the mission office

Angeles City, Holiday Inn (October 19-21, 2013)

            Maralea and I stayed at the Holiday Inn at Clark Air Field in September 2005.  We decided to stay there again this eight years later.  It was a little like coming home.  We were familiar with everything, from the workout room, pool, spa (nice place).  We walked around upon our arrival and reminisced about our last trip here, such as where we happened to run into a group of sisters from the mission in the lobby and got to visit with them (complete with pictures), where we met with our friends from Angeles City where Brad was serving at the time (who loved partying with Da Royals - ha), where we sat in the buffet with Brad for the first time after our reunion, as he marveled at all the food, and the suite where Brad could not believe the water from the tap was okay to drink (there was a sign giving the A-okay for consumption), and where hot water was available at the turn of a handle.  That was a great time.  So, it brought us great comfort returning to this familiar place.  We got settled in our room in the afternoon and, although we were very tired, we did not allow ourselves to sleep.  Instead, we got unpacked, got caught up on the BYU game (which was of most importance) ventured around the grounds, had an early dinner, and went to bed by 8:00 am.  I don’t recall the last time I went to bed at 8:00 pm, but I also do not recall a time when I was so dead tired.  Once my head hit the pillow, I was out.  Maralea complained the next morning about a lot of noisy people talking, laughing, running through the hallways, slamming doors, playing music, etc.  I missed all that.  (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that she also complained that I was snoring.)pictures), where we met with our friends from Angeles City where Brad was serving at the time (who loved partying with Da Royals - ha), where we sat in the buffet with Brad for the first time after our reunion, as he marveled at all the food, and the suite where Brad could not believe the water from the tap was okay to drink (there was a sign giving the A-okay for consumption), and where hot water was available at the turn of a handle.  That was a great time.  So, it brought us great comfort returning to this familiar place.  

Our awesome Angeles City party in September 2005

            We got settled in our room in the afternoon and, although we were very tired, we did not allow ourselves to sleep.  Instead, we got unpacked, got caught up on the BYU game (which was of most importance) ventured around the grounds, had an early dinner, and went to bed by 8:00 am.  I don’t recall the last time I went to bed at 8:00 pm, but I also do not recall a time when I was so dead tired.  Once my head hit the pillow, I was out.  Maralea complained the next morning about a lot of noisy people talking, laughing, running through the hallways, slamming doors, playing music, etc.  I missed all that.  (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that she also complained that I was snoring.)We enjoyed a day of total relaxation on Monday at the hotel, working out, spa, big breakfast, hanging out in the pool.  It was great to just relax.  We needed a day to recover.  I still struggled to find a replay of the BYU/Houston game, to no avail.  (Since it was the longest game in BYU history without going to overtime, and the biggest plays of the game happened in the final 1:20 of the game, I wanted to make sure we got it all on the DVR, so contacted Kelli to record it again when replayed on BYU-TV.  These are important issues in our lives.)  

Did I mention that BYU beat Houston?

           We had the great pleasure of gathering at the hotel with some of our great Angeles friends, Pink, Jojo, Edsel, and James and Kris Guiwan (who we met for the first time, but who were here during the time Brad served in Angeles City).  We visited in the lobby for a little over an hour.  It was like a little family reunion.  We were so excited to see them and had a great time visiting.  A lot has happened in the eight years since we were last together, but it seemed like we didn’t miss a beat in our conversation.  (Being Facebook friends helps with all that.)  One more day and Jordan is physically back in the fold.

Back together again.  Back from left: Edsel, James, Jojo, Mike (me)
From row from left: Maralea, Pink and Kris

James met Kris, talked her out of BYU-Hawaii and married her

"Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner, but he knew it wouldn't last."
(Sorry Jojo, that song comes into my head every time I hear or think of your name)

Pink and Edsel are all smiles all the time

Here with (from left) Pink, Edsel, (yes, that's us next), Jojo and Kris.
Not pictured, James, who served here as photographer.

We still have the Elder Royal autographed poster from our September 2005 FHI in Angeles

"We're Here!" (Las Vegas to Angeles City, Philippines)

Royal likes playing "Where's Jordan?"

Royal knows cardboard Jordan very well

             I have to admit that I had approached our trip to the Philippines with great trepidation.  I fretted about being away from Kelli and Royal, Mom and Dad, being away from work, etc.  I packed a lot of work to take with me, and then discovered after we got to the airport that I had left it all at the house.  (All the papers would have really weighed me down, but I really thought I needed them.  I have plenty of other things to do with information I brought electronically, so no worries.  If there is one thing I can do, it is finding productive ways to spend my time.)  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  We have been richly rewarded in our previous experiences picking up Brad (Philippines) and David (Peru).  I am looking forward to making some new wonderful memories with Jordan. 


Our adventure begins in Las Vegas

            Maralea and I went to dinner with Kelli and Royal Friday night.  It was kind of sad for me.  I wanted to spend every last moment with Royal.  I felt I needed to memorize his face, his voice, his every quirky, funny little new thing he does that makes me laugh.  I sat in the backseat with Royal as Kelli drove us to the airport.  I laughed as Royal pushed our faces away after we would kiss him, then wiped his face where he had been kissed.  He’s a riot.  Kelli took a picture of us with our baggage at the airport, and we were on our way.

            I had planned to do a bunch of work on the plane.  But, when you board a plane at midnight, your body and mind are not really in the mood to do work.  Sleep becomes a priority.  I have such a hard time sleeping in an upright position.  Maralea bought these things that go around the neck and attach to a kind of sling where you can fold your arms and rest in a more comfortable position.  (She got them for our trip to Peru three years ago, and I don’t think we have used them since.)  I watched some Lone Ranger movie with Johnny Depp as Tonto (terrible movie - just flat awful).  I then watched 42, the story of Jackie Robinson with the Brooklyn Dodgers (much better).


Charting our travels from Vegas to Seoul

            When we arrived at the airport in Seoul, Korea, we had a rather strange experience.  There were about 300 people on our flight.  Within five minutes of pulling up to the gate, it was empty (and we were being rushed out by the stewardesses).  Once we got into the terminal, there was no one there.  It was completely empty (really eerie).  (By the way, the restrooms there have special small toilets for little toddlers – pretty interesting.)  It is the cleanest airport I have ever seen.  There was no trash anywhere.  Everything around us was immaculate.  Anyway, a security officer who spoke no English saw us wandering around and did his best to direct us to the Transfer area, where we went through security and found our way to the right gate.  As we were wandering as strangers in a foreign land, I was weighed down by other concerns.  The BYU/Houston game had started and I wasn’t watching it!  We were unable to get the game live via video stream (it does not work outside the US, apparently), but got it loud and clear on KSL.com.  Once we found the game, I was good as gold.  We sat down in the terminal for our three hour layover and huddled around the Mark Wrubell play by play.  The game was in progress when we picked it up, with BYU leading 17-14 in the first quarter.  It was 31-31 at the end of the first half.  Taysom Hill’s two interceptions in the first half were unbelievably costly (one for pick six, the other in the end zone from the Houston five yard line). 

Sunrise in Seoul

The defense seemed weak and confused, and made so many boneheaded plays.  I was frustrated as we sat in the Seoul airport, surrounded by hundreds of people entirely oblivious to my Cougar angst.  At the time we began boarding our flight for Manila, BYU had just given up a sack and trailed 40-34.  I thought that perhaps my internet service would continue at least until we got on the plane so I could hear the play by play to the point of being ordered to shut off our electronic devices.  Not so.  The second we checked in, my internet service was gone.  Nada.  So, we boarded our plane with a sense of BYU football despair.  (Life as a BYU sports fanatic is sometimes very challenging.)  

            My plan was to arrive at our hotel in Angeles City, unpack, relax, and then see if I could find a replay of the game online.  It was a good plan, but failed in two respects: First, the game was not set yet for replay on BYUtv.org when we finally got back up online.  Second, when I finally found a link for some highlights, the title referenced an exciting BYU come from behind victory.  (Okay, fine, I’ll admit my disappointment was minor since they won the game.)  Our plan is to watch the replay of the game as soon as it is made available (hopefully today, but probably not until we get back - somehow some way, it will be viewed by the Royals).

Relaxing in the Seoul airport, during halftime of the BYU/Houston game

            Our flight to Manila from Seoul was only three hours, but we still got served a meal.  In fact, in our 20 hours of travel, we were served three meals on Korean Air and all of them were very good.  They kept the plane dark through the night, so we had plenty of opportunity to sleep.  Still, I don’t think I slept much.  (I kept thinking about “Lost” and all those episodes with the plane crashing in the ocean, or plane crash scene in “Castaway,” which is pretty intense.)  I tried my hardest to get some work done on the flight.  (Somehow, it eases my angst of being away from the office.)  But, I found it to be incredibly challenging.  My mind just would not focus.  It has been racing with all kinds of things surrounding the surreal moment in which we seem to find ourselves.  We are returning to the Philippines to pick up our second son serving here.  Jordan’s mission is over.  He is returning home, and we will see him soon.  It just doesn’t seem real.  Anyway, I watched another movie during the trip from Seoul to Manila, The Internship, which was rather silly.  (Let’s be honest.  Every movie with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson is exactly the same.)  (Hey, maybe that’s why I had so much trouble getting work done on our trip, I watched three movies.)


Maralea, anxiously awaiting landing in Manila in anticipation of the Mother/Son reunion

           I wasn’t sure how things would work out at the Manila airport.  We had arranged for Jordan’s second mission companion, Kimmy Talento, to meet us and drive us to our hotel (a two hour drive).  We went through customs, got our luggage, exchanged some US dollars for pesos, got a SIM card for Jordan’s old phone (so we could use a phone here), and then walked to the greeting area with some trepidation.  I had a back up plan.  If Kimmy and I got our wires crossed, I figured I would just grab a taxi.  There are

Manila from the plane - a beautiful sight

enough people around here who speak English that I figured we would find a way.  (It’s not like our trip to see David in 2010 when Maralea and I landed in Chiclayo, Peru at 5:00 am where NO ONE spoke any English whatsoever and we were hoping that the Spanish speaking only drivers who David had arranged to pick us up and drive us 10 hours to Chachapoyas would recognize us.)  Anyway, we kind of wandered around for a few minutes and, through the crowd, I saw Kimmy walking towards us with a sign: “Mike Royal.”  (Yep, that’s me!)  Kimmy went to shake my hand but I just gave him a big hug.  It was a great relief to connect.  He walked us to a vehicle driven by his cousin, Mark, who served as our driver.  We threw our things in the back of the car and began our adventure through Manila.  I suppose it goes without saying, but I would never, ever want to attempt to drive a car through Manila.  It is all just too crazy.  I tried not to freak out at all the close calls with busses, bikers, other vehicles, and just let Mark focus on the road.  (He did not seem too concerned about any of it.  I wonder what kind of personal injury practice there is for Manila lawyers?  Ha.)  We had a great time visiting with Mark and Kimmy during our trip.  It was exciting to be in Manila.

            We kind of wandered around for a few minutes and, through the crowd, I saw Kimmy walking towards us with a sign: “Mike Royal.”  (Yep, that’s me!)  Kimmy went to shake my hand but I just gave him a big hug.  It was a great relief to connect.  He walked us to a vehicle driven by his cousin, Mark, who served as our driver.  We threw our things in the back of the car and began our adventure through Manila.  I suppose it goes without saying, but I would never, ever want to attempt to drive a car through Manila.  It is all just too crazy.  I tried not to freak out at all the close calls with busses, bikers, other vehicles, and just let Mark focus on the road.  (He did not seem too concerned about any of it.)  We had a great time visiting with Mark and Kimmy during our trip.  It was exciting to be in Manila.

Oh yeah, did I mention we got a flat tire?

           The drive to Angeles was a bit longer than I remembered.  As we got closer, we began to see more evidence of the recent typhoon and so affected this area just a week earlier, with large trees uprooted here and there.  When we arrived in Angeles, Mark and Kimmy began driving in circles and finally acknowledged they did not know where our hotel was located.  So, we stopped by the chapel in Angeles City, which I recognized as the same one we attended for Edsel's baptism in September 2005.  I saw the area in the front parking lot where we posed together for a group picture at that time.  That was pretty cool.  We finally found our hotel, checked in, and then began working feverishly to locate and watch all the BYU game highlights we could find.  By the way, we are staying at the same hotel where we stayed in 2005, so we already have some good memories here.  Maralea and I walked around later in the evening, talking about our lives together.  So much good has happened over the past three decades.  We have been very blessed.  We enjoyed a quiet dinner and went to bed pretty early.  (I think I was out by 8:00 pm.  Our goal was to stay up until bed time, without napping, so we could be on the right schedule.  Mission accomplished.)  We woke up early Monday morning and tried to get our bearings.  It is strange because I am constantly trying to do two things almost by the hour: 1) calculate the time difference between Manila and Las Vegas; and 2) calculate US dollars to pesos (42.70 pesos to a dollar).  So, today is a day of recovery as we prepare for our reunion with Jordan tomorrow.  So, we are here and Operation Recover Jordan is underway.

While we were busy traveling, Jordan was busy doing paperwork in the mission office.
(Can you find him in this sea of elders?)

The Royal soda reunion was sweet, too!

Taken during our September 2005 trip to Angeles, for Edsel's baptism.
It was pretty cool to visit the chapel again and see this important landmark of our lives.