Manilia, Philippines

This is a crazy, big, fun city.  Many of the Amsterdam’s crew member’s families are from Manila. We saw many tender reunions today aboard the ship while family members visited. We Explored Intramuros, the old Spanish part of Manila; churches, mansions, shops, etc.  The church of Saint Augustine was established in 1571.

 

While we were there, we began talking with this cute family who were getting ready to baptize their new daughter, Scarlett.  They had a photographer there to capture the event.  By the time they were ready to take the pictures, they insisted we were in them!  Fun to share such a happy event.

These beautiful girls were from out of town, on a school trip and asked if they could interview us for a history class project. They filmed it and then we had a fun visit.  Made us miss our grandkids.

 

The highlight of the day was watching a group of children from an orphanage in Manila perform. They were so charming.  The Amsterdam has a long standing relationship with this charity.  Many of the passengers and crew financially support them.  It was inspiring to see the passengers who make this trip every year connect with the children.  They were aboard ship to perform, eat and have all the ice cream they could eat.  They were not asking for donations, but most of us wanted to support this work.  They left the ship with over $5,000 in donations to help their work. 

 

Again, made us miss our grandchildren and be so grateful our grandchildren have loving parents and a strong support system.