Readers might just have to put up with the weekends being a little short. Apologies but that’s life. On the upside I have a small story for you. And it includes these lovely fellows:

So I’d come to notice that there were an extraordinary number of pigeons dwelling on the church rooftop and even though there was a birdhouse nearby I was puzzled as to why they didn’t fly off and enjoy the day. I marched over to inspect the aforementioned pigeons and observed that they didn’t seem to be too bothered about close human contact. So I moved closer… And closer… And closer still. I could get within 1m before they walked away from me. But they didn’t fly away or anything. Eventually I walked towards a corner and well…cornered them until they were balancing on the edge of the roof. And then it struck me. I yelled over to Kuya A “Can these pigeons actually fly or what?!?”. He glanced over and shook his head. Ah. Oh dear they’ve had their wings clipped… How mean of me. This reminds me of the Disney producers who chased lemmings over a cliff. I had very nearly caused 15 pigeons to plummet to their death while I wondered why they were so attracted to the rooftop. Oops.

 I love how the brown one is ready to take death like a man. He sees the end and stands tall, strong and proud. Go ahead! See if I care about a little death.

Speaking of said roof here is a picture of me when in alive and well. And a bit sleepy. I had just finished playing some carols and was taking a short stroll. Yes, that’s my Barong, how kind of to notice.

A word on the mosquitoes here:

Got you, you little B******

They are everywhere it must be said and I appear to be rather tasty but so far I have not contracted dengae fever and I’m taking a malaria pill every day which should protect me from that.

As is now sort of tradition on a Sunday night the pastor, Kuya J and A and I would head out for the evening to the downtown. Kiya J showed me an arcade, this was not the crazy Japanese type of arcade I was expecting but it had some pretty unique games. I tried the basketball machine (the normal one where you throw basketballs through the hoop) and in the healthy competitive spirit I suggested a competition.

Now… I can only claim insanity and amnesia for this. It hasn’t even been a week since I was thrashed and I was pleased I managed a respectable score of 37 shots. However in the Philippines that’s respectable for a 3 year old child who’s had both his arms amputated. And is blind. Without a basketball. My friend… Well Kuya J managed to get 217 shots. Still not the high score of 280 but I think we found out who is better.

So in the evening I went for an Asian massage.

Wait!

Stop!

Cease and desist!

Let me explain.

Okay so we all know the terrible connotations that it brings but this was no such place. I’m studying at a bible college for crying out loud! Nevertheless the massage was rather pleasant and I very nearly fell asleep in the middle of it.

You know I’ve come to like jeepneys. Mostly depending on the height of the ceiling (hence the amount of head banging) and secondly the craziness of the driver. I’ve never felt so safe in traffic before and the craziness in this place just gets you places faster. I’m probably going to fall asleep in Australian traffic. I’ll also completely terrify whoever judges me on my P plates. I think it would be worthwhile to learn how to drive a jeepney here and take one on the roads of Adelaide. That’ll be fun…

…and so it’s off to bed hoping to be ready for the (frankly) ungodly hour I have to get up.