The waiter approaches... the waiter hands PJ a tray... on it... 3 envelopes!!!! THE FIRST CHALLENGE! My first thought... CAN THIS REALLY BE HAPPENING?! We were on the ferry on the way back to Manila from Cebu island! What we thought to be a time of rest that was coming up before we fly to Kuala Lumpur, was now South Bound's first challenge!!! At that time i actually just wanted to jump overboard... we were all exhausted! The Philippines was a very busy and intense time! It can be summarised in one word... CRUSADES! 11 crusades in 11 days! The Lord did amazing things, touched many hearts and healed many people at the crusades, so it was definitely worth all the hard work! But when it was time to move on, we were relieved! Then the challenge...
Tasks that had to be completed included:
* Watching an Imax or
iceskating at the Mall of Asia... one of the biggest malls in Asia!
* Watching a sunrise or sunset at Manila Bay!
* Visiting the 'walled city'called Intramuros, which is where the Spaniards lived when they took over the country. We had to spend an hour there and learn mroe about the country's history!
* Going to Divisoria flea market and buying a t-shirt for each team member, under R15, that should speak of the character of that member.
* We had to experience a cockfight and learn more about the sport!
* We had to eat 2 specific Philippino cuisines...
* We had to get to the airport by Monday morning 8am! First team to arrive wins!
Unfortunately Elsabe had a bacterial infection on a foot at the time, and had to be taken to the doctor, and therefore could not participate in the challenge with us... so it was Danie, Wynand and myself! The boys wanted to win this one!!! The prize?!? 2 days rest! This motivated me :)
When we got to the Church of God in Manila, where they had arranged for us to sleep, the boys wanted to start immedaitely, and try get some tasks done already! So off we were, into the streets of Manila at about 10:30 trying to find a cockfight... all we found was information about it, and then planned it for the next day! So we were off to the Mall of Asia! Ice-skating was cheaper so that was our first choice, but it was closed already, so our only option was to watch Ironman in Imax, at 11! When we got there, there was the Lime team, tickets in hand and waiting for the movie! I thought i would pass out in the first 10 minutes of the movie, but i actually enjoyed it! we've all been craving to watch a movie! As the Imax was more expensive, we had to find a way to raise money... so Danie came up with the brilliant plan to after the movie, stand up in the theatre and tell people about Global Challenge and about our challenge and to stand at the door as they walked out to get donations! So we got permission and thats exactly what we did! Some looked at us very strangely, some thought we were from the Amazing Race and thought they'd be on TV and some probably just felt sorry for us... we looked a bit hobbo-ish! :) We raised over R100 in like 5 minutes! And then in true Lime style, they waited for eveyone to leave the theatre and then picked up all the left over popcorn etc and had a feast! We got home at about 02:30 and then were up again at 04:30 to catch the sunrise at Manila Bay!
Ironman at Imax at 1 in the morning!
We were on a mission... those 2 days rest flickered around in our minds! After watching sunrise (together with people still left over from the previous night's partying or early morning joggers), we decided to head to Intramuros and go spend our hour there and have breakfast! Intramuros was really a beautiful part of Manila with stunning old buildings and churches! The
one catherdral is a world heritage sight! We had green mangoes, condense milk and bread for breakfast! Next up we were on our way to Divisoria! When we got there, we were all shocked at what we saw! No less than 5 people told us within the hour that we were there that we must watch out for pick-pocketers! There were children and adults lying around in rubbish in the streets, on the pavement, everywhere! The sight was gross, was sad, was sickening. It was worse than anything that I have seen this year! All we wanted to do was get the eats and the t-shirts and get out! We were walking around the market, trying to find these specific cuisines, standing out like 3 fish in a desert! After a while of not getting anywhere... a random lady from behind asked me what we were looking forward! We were about to just leave it because the filth, the comments and the environment was just getting too much! She was like an angel for us! She took us all the way to a possible stand where we could get the one dish, and when we
got there and it wasnt there (it is actually only made in the afternoon), she sent someone to go to another place far away to get the Kamote-que for us! She gave us free bananas and told us where to find the other food!!! She even offered us a plce to sleep at her house if we needed! We exchanged details, and once again i stood amazed at how God pulled us through that situation and how He provided for us!
Our angel in the market!*
Visiting Intramuros!
We got our t-shirts, the other food and were off to go and find the cockfight! When we got to the arena, they told us there is no fighting (as it was Sunday and the next day was election day)... but i got them to allow us into the arena to just see it, and we imported our own 2 chickens... Wynand and Danie, who then acted out a cockfight in the actual fighting ring, in the
arena! It was hilarious! So we had our cockfight on video, all that was left was to actually eat the food, get our bags from the church, and be off to the bus station to get a bus to take us to the airport (about 3 hours away)! We got on a bus at 12 already and were at the airport at 14:30... the first team to arrive... the first challenge WINNERS!!! WHOOOO HOOOO!*
The other teams arrived later that night and we all slept over at the airport awainting our flight the next morning to Kuala Lumpur for much needed REST! :)
God is good! He gives us what we need! And we must not forget to see that, even in tough situations! God was our strength, not just in the challenge, but throughout our time in Philippines... He carried us in His palm and filled us with His Holy Spirit!