February 21, 2025 – A Walk Through Taguig City
At first light on Tuesday, Johanna met me at the Grace mall and we hailed a tricycle to ride to a BDO bank in Taguig. I had to exchange more USD into Pesos. $1600 USD to be exact. It was my first ride in the trike, but I absolutely loved it. It was a bit cramped for me, but nonetheless, it was a wonderful Filipino experience that let me see how the people here commute. One of various ways including but not limited to trike, jeepney, motorcycle, scooter, LRT (Light Rail Transit) and MRT (Manila Rail Transit), modern buses, cars, bicycles, pedicabs, on foot, etc. Things at the BDO were going kind of slow, but we finally (after a couple hours) got the USD exchanged into Filipino Pesos. The FX (foreign exchange) rate was 57.95 Filipino Pesos to $1 USD, so my $1600 USD was transformed into 92,720 Filipino Pesos. This should be enough money to get me through the remainder of my journey here in the Philippines. If not I will have to do a bank transfer or a money order. One of the tellers at the BDO looked exactly like Wes Massey's long-distance girlfriend in the Philippines. I believe she lives in Manila, but Johanna assured me that it was not her. If it wasn't her, it sure was a spitting image of her. We got the money, hailed another trike, and we drove to the Vista Mall just down the road from the BDO.
At the Vista mall, we simply walked around and hanna went to the National Book Store to buy some things. We also ate at a Greenwich, ordering two meal deals—a spinach wrap with tater tots and a drink. It was very delicious and gave us energy to walk the streets of Taguig. So, we walked from the mall, down the road, and Johanna and I were doing a photoshoot for her. We are trying to shoot photos for her album called 'Songs for Johanna' by the Sunrise Hope. The album will include eight older songs and 13 new songs that I have wrote for Johanna since I returned from the bicycle trip in October of 2024. We are shooting photos of her for the CD pamphlet, the photo-book with lyrics, and for the music videos that I will post online.
As we walked, we kept finding aesthetically pleasing places as back drops to Johanna's elegant form. Everywhere we looked, pictures popped up into our minds. We walked for quite a ways enjoying the scenery of the unique city of Taguig. We happened upon a church that one of Johanna's high school friends attends (I forget her name). She was actually there at the church getting the church fellowship hall prepared for a wedding ceremony and reception. She also gave us a tour of the church sanctuary and showed us their recent renovations.
After visiting Johanna's friend and the church, we kept up with the photoshoot for a while longer. Then, it was time to head back to Johanna's house for Bible study. We went to a jeepney terminal close by and took the jeepney ride back to her house on Dimasalang. We are studying the scriptures and continuing in the John Coblentz book. We are hoping to finish this book before my time is up here in the Philippines.
An hour after Johanna retired fro the evening, after our dinner of Spaghetti (Filipino-sweet style) and a delicious salad prepared by Mrs. Cora, Mr. Joe and I talked on the 4th floor rooftop deck of their home. I was straight forward with Mr. Joe, and I approached him with the utmost respect. I told him, “Mr. Joe, I have known Johanna now for over ten years. Johanna has discipled me and led me back to the Lord. Through the years we have had our ups and downs, but God has delivered us, and He has drawn us together in love. I really love your daughter, sir, and to this day we still continue to grow in love. Tonight, I ask you, if I can get your blessing to take Johanna's hand in marriage. I promise to love and cherish her, protect her, and I will do whatever it takes to see her succeed. May I have your blessing, Mr. Joe?” After saying this to him, Mr. Joe did not think twice, but he did ask me about my plans for the future and my income. I told him that I have three rental properties in which I am earning $2500 a month. I intend to start an electrical business this year. Also, my dad and I intend to build a new building for my business to store electrical inventory. We also plan to build three new homes on a plot of land just down the road from our house. Construction on the homes should begin sometime this year. I also told him that I plan to get Johanna to the US on a K1 Fiance Visa, in which we have 90 days to get married. Afterward, she can apply for a green card and then her American citizenship. After revealing my plans to Mr. Joe, he gave me his blessing, and then he prayed over me. He blessed me and blessed our future marriage. He prayed that we would stay close to the Lord, and close to one another by the power of the Holy Spirit and with the love of Jesus.
Following Mr. Joe's blessing over me, Mr. Joe began talking about the lunar and solar cycle. The modern calendar is based from the solar cycle in which it takes the earth 365.25 days to circle the sun. That is why every four years there is a leap year. On the other hand, the moon circles the earth every 30 days. So, the lunar calendar is only 360 days long, so on the seventh year an extra 13th month is added to the calendar in order to keep up with the solar calendar. He also taught me about the phases of the moon. Day one is a new moon, day 7 is a crescent moon. Day 15 is a half moon. Day 21 is a crescent moon, and day 30 is a full moon. Mr. Joe uses both the solar cycle and the lunar cycle as his calendar to keep up with the days for the year.
He uses the lunar calendar because that is the calendar the Hebrews used back in the Old Testament times. He believes similarly to a Messianic Jew, so he observes all of the practices and festivals of the Jewish tradition. Mr. Joe is a wealth of knowledge and information, and most importantly, wisdom. He taught me a great deal this night, and I cannot be more thankful to him for bestowing his blessing upon Johanna and I. I can't wait for what is to come in our lives. I just know God has great plans and joy in store for us during our lifetime.
Subsequently, Mr. Joe called his son, Jayson, to give me a ride back to the hotel/AirBnB/condo. I rode with him in the back of his motorcycle and we were off into the bustling Taguig City night.
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