February 28, 2025 – Manila Zoo

    Jayson picked me up once again from the Starbucks in front of the Grace Mall. We drove through the bustling morning city traffic to the Binuya bungalow on his scooter. He reminded me that the air compressor is missing an adaptor to plug the hose into the unit. Perhaps Johanna and I will be able to pick it up from Ace Hardware before the sojourn's completion of March 3. At the house, Mrs. Cora was completing breakfast: a salad with thousand island dressing, Imbethedo (similar to a chicken meatloaf), leftover macaroni casserole, and more. Mrs. Cora is such an outstanding cook, just like my mother. I can't thank her enough for providing food for me and Johanna for my entire journey over here in the Philippines. By the way, she was able to cook the Imbethedo in the wok/steamer that I bought her the day before. She really loves it.

    After breakfast, Johanna opened up her day 16 gift and love song. Her gift was a Willow Tree Butterfly angel and the song is 'The Tale of Butterflyhanna.' She absolutely loved both the gift and the song. She says that I make her heart melt. There is almost nothing better than to treat her with generosity and see her face glow with joy, happiness, and love. Subsequent to listening to her day 16 song, we gathered our belonging and set out for the Manila Zoo. We had to catch two trikes and a jeepney to get to the train station. Then the LRT (Light Rail Transit) led us to downtown Manila. Once in downtown Manila,we had to walk a mile or so to get to the Manila Zoo and Botanical Gardens. It was absolutely spectacular, especially spending quality time with my love.

    The first place we visited within the zoo is the butterfly sanctuary; coincidence? I think not. God divinely orchestrated the song of the day and our encounter with hundreds of butterflies in the sanctuary of butterflies. We were all smiles and giddy with laughter. We saw so many animals, including reptiles, snakes, turtles, many different types of endemic birds, zebra, deer, ostrich, lions, tigers, birds of prey, fish, primates, rodents, and much much more. We decided to play “The Tale of Butterflyhanna” by a large bird cage, and as soon as we started listening, two birds in the cage came right over to us to listen to the song with us. We thought the occasion was nothing short of a miracle. The birds really enjoyed the song, Johanna was humming, ans as soon as the song ended, the birds went along their way.

    At the zoo, we enjoyed a couple of smoothies. Johanna ordered a milk tea smoothie and I ordered a strawberry Oreo smoothies. Both smoothies were absolutely delicious. Johanna and I held hands with the smoothies in our other hand, and we left the zoo singing and humming our daily song. We made our way back to Johanna's home in Taguig after the zoo. Of course, traffic was horrendous. It took us a couple hours to get back to her home, but we finally made it. Traffic here in Manila is probably unlike most traffic anywhere else in the world. It's a city that never sleeps, and there is almost always a great amount of traffic. As Johanna says, “Only in the Philippines!”

    Back at the bungalow, Johanna got ready for bed and retired for the night, while Joe, Cora, and I ate a chicken noodle soup that Mrs. Cora prepared. It was really tasty! Both her and Mr. Joe treat me as a guest of honor and they are very accommodating. After dinner, Mr. Joe and I talked for the rest of the evening about his past career as a photographer his life, and life in the Philippines. I also asked him to make a family tree of the Binuya/Francisco family, so that I can really grasp and familiarize myself with the folks in their family. I told him I would make one for Johanna as well, concerning the Furches/Graham family tree. He told me that Johanna would make one for me in due time.

    Finally, Jayson shuttled me back to the condo on his scooter. I plan to give Jayson, Jonathan, Mrs. Cora, and Mr. Joe a monetary gift for their hospitality and accommodation the whole time that I have been in the Philippines. They have made my journey here much more enjoyable and convenient. God bless you guys, Yahweh bless and guide you all the days of your lives. Amen.