Loida Lumanlan
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This past Tuesday we heard an informal talk from Loida Lumanlan, who spoke about her recent trip to the Philippines. She and her brothers and sisters all returned home to visit their mother on the occasion of her eighty eighth birthday. Her mother is still living in her own home and near to other family members. Unfortunately, the long twelve-hour flight to Manilla in the Philippines became even longer as their flight was diverted to Cebu due to bad weather. This would then entail arranging another flight to get back to her home town near Manilla. Her plane landed near noon and her mother’s birthday was the next day, so it did not leave much time to arrange a flight, collect her luggage, take a bus to the proper terminal, go back through security and onto the next plane. Then things got really hairy when her luggage took four hours to come. Once she finally got through security they were already calling her name for the flight, so she grabbed her shoes and ran barefooted for the plane. However, she did make it home by evening and in plenty of time for the party the next day. She and one of her sisters had arranged to stay at their mother’s home in the spare bedroom. They knew they were back in the Philippines once they spotted a dead cockroach under the bed and a live lizard on the ceiling of their room.
They had a great time at the party and the food was amazing. Lots of fresh fruit, fresh fish and fresh vegetables. To cap off the trip, Loida had arranged to treat her sisters to a holiday together in Macau for a few days. No husbands, no children, no talking about money or troubles at home, just enjoy themselves, shopping, sightseeing and eating. She said they all had a wonderful time and she would recommend doing this to anyone. She said that if you have someone you love who you know can not afford this type of trip, but you can, go ahead and treat them to the trip of a lifetime. You will not regret doing it. Loida certainly does not. They all had a great time.