Sorry all, Things have been super busy. I have Part 5 done as well, just going to try to get these up as quickly as possible with out too much fuss on editing. Without further ado.

Today is the other big day of the trip, the ICAB visit (Inter-Country Adoption Board). They’re responsible for interviewing and screening of children and prospective parents. The appoint is at 10AM and we have a 45 minute ride by car, so we’re left extra early. We arranged for a driver through the hotel to be ready for us at 8:30AM. It didn’t look far on the map, but man, the traffic is insane. We got up later than usual, 7AM, and we had just enough time to get a nice breakfast in us before heading back down to grab our things and head out the door.

The driver got us close, but the hotel drivers don’t seem to want to use GPS. The driver just stops in the middle of the intersection, three lanes all ways, and five streets converging, to as the traffic director how to get to where we need to go. The best part is he did this three times in short succession and all three people pointed in a different direction. I wasn’t sweating it since we gave ourselves a ton of extra time in the event that this sort of thing came up. At some point I just pulled up google maps and help the guy get to where we needed to go. He really didn’t care to use my phone though. I’m not sure if it was pride or what, but he would rather ask me for the turn by turn, than to listen to the phone tell him where to go. I don’t know and don’t care, because we made it safe and sound. Christopher was distracted the whole ride with Power Ranger videos. Turns out that travel SIM card in a spare smart phone came in handy after all, since he was able to use it to just stream Youtube videos.

Our social worker was late, but everyone at ICAB was super nice. While we waited, Beth was able to read a book to Christopher for the first time. Christopher was very well behaved and answered all of the questions with “Opò” which is the polite way to affirm an answer. When it came down to the serious business of paperwork and immigration and customs, we put the headphones and SpongeBob back on so mom and dad could focus in with Ms. Rosa. I’m not going to lie, having all of those important documents is stressful. Ms Rosa made it clear to us that we had to be to the airport three hours early due to the amount of sorting things out we will have to do to get Christopher out of the country. On top of that, she wasn’t sure if we would all have to pay some sort of travel tax, and if that tax would be levied against all three of us or just Christopher. Worst case scenario, if it’s all three, it’s only like $95, so whatever. We had explained that we will be there five hours early, so we should be fine.

We had the traditional ICAB chair photo done, and Beth was so happy to have that photo done:

Rather than sorting out the hotel driver again, we just called up a Grab, which just seemed to be much better because they actually use GPS. Not only that, it’s less than half the price. The driver took the short route, which was still 40 minutes. On the way I tried to capture some of what goes on outside in Manila. It’s a rough place. Even Ms Rosa stated to us, that we should not just be out walking around in Metro Manila, which we already knew.

Manila is an interesting place, and it is a dog eat dog kind of city. Everyone seems to be just scraping by.

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After getting back to the hotel, dad went down to change out some more USD to PHP and mom and lad went up to feed the turtles. It turns out “Tutu” the turtle was hungry today.

More pool time was scheduled, but we had to put our foot down to get some resting time in. Beth set a timer so Christopher knew when nap time was finally up. He puts up the usual 8 year old protest, but we are blessed that he really does listen, and you don’t have to be all that firm with him. My hope is that we can maintain that level of repect, and others have even pointed out to us how polite he really is. Even Ms Rosa pointed out how courteous he is.

Christopher really wanted to swim with the evening pool lights on, but we spent an hour and a half at the pool and the lights weren’t coming on for another hour and a half. We made a deal that we would go get some dinner first and we would only come back to look, and not swim. That seemed an acceptable offer, so we headed back up to the room to get changed and to head down for dinner.

We decided to head to the little corner restaurant that was really good for lunch a few days back. We ordered a bunch of stuff. Christopher insisted on the deep fried chicken hearts, and stole half of my… pork thing. I loved mine, but there wasn’t a whole lot on the plate. We’re really trying to figure out the portioning thing, so we told him to “save room for ice cream”. We sort of shot ourselves in the foot, and it’s sounding like we’re just going to have to figure out food balance when we get home. Just as we finished up, Christopher said he had to poop, but we asked and he said he could wait five minutes for the bill. Mommy hedged her bets and decided that she and Christopher better head out right there and then and Daddy would stay to pay.

Apparently, on the ride up, Christopher, hunched over, just started saying “hurry elevator, faster, faster, faster…” Beth and I sort of chuckled. Sounds like we have a Filipino with the old Schranz tummy. It’s becoming apparent he’s just not used to all of this rich food, and while he loves it, it’s wreaking havoc on his tummy. It’s a countdown to home cooked meals at this point. After that was all sorted out, we asked if he wanted to go to the pool to see the lights and then go get ice cream. “I saw the pool lights on the way up in the elevator… let’s go get ice cream.” Well ok then! So we headed down to the lobby to get some gelato, but they didn’t have Strawberry, which is what Christopher wanted, and they didn’t have ube, which is what mommy wanted. So we went back into the little restaurants, where Beth had spotted some little ice cream options. Turns out, even though they had a bunch of options on the menu, the only were offering green tea, vanilla, and chocolate flavors. We ordered one of each, but only received the green tea (Christopher’s) and the vanilla (dad’s). We’ve run into this language barrier issue with ordering before, where there is just some miscommunication with what’s actually being ordered. Mom and Dad just shared, and it worked out for the best. After that, we came up and just laid down and went to bed and Christopher was out by 8:30PM.

Christopher didn’t wake up until 8:30AM. We thought, maybe that was a little too much sleep because he was extra wired. The honeymoon phase is wearing off, and as mommy explained that tomorrow was the day we get on the plane for NY, he wanted it to be the day after tomorrow. I think we’re starting to get some travel nerves.

Christopher decided today was shower day, and after some asking, that is apparently how he bathed at Hospicio. He actually explained that he used a cup to scoop and pour over himself, but either way, the shower was much quicker. We headed up to breakfast at 9:30AM and it was packed, waiting room only.  So, we sat for a minute until a spot opened up. It was another great spread, and nothing new to elaborate on there. Today was mall day, and we had the notion that we were going to do some shopping for some specific items.

We took a grab to a huge mall, “Mall of Asia”, the 4^th largest in the Philippines and the 13^th largest in the world. The amount of construction going on was kind of intense. From what I understand, it’s going to be the largest mall in Asia, if not the world, when it’s completed. Security is tight, and there are security checkpoints with armed guards everywhere. On the way to the mall Beth pointed out that one of the guards outside was armed with a submachine gun, looked about 14, and had nearly no shoes on. I would say it was inconvenient, but they really just look you over and pass you on through.

We went to Kultura, which is a chain that sells specifically Filipino products. We were hoping to find a Parol for the house, but no luck. The store was cool and Christopher was in full “I want mode”. We had planned to get him some Filipino products for his room regardless, and there were some die cast toys. He decided he really wanted the horse and carriage. I was really hoping we could talk him into the Jeepney since they’re so iconic, but no luck. I asked him, if I bought this toy for him, was he was going to be a good boy for the rest of they day?  Of course, he was willing to make that deal, but how long would it last?

We started walking around some more, and soon the whining really picked up. So much for our deal, but the parents reading this already knew how that deal works out. We really just wanted to check things out, but we had to stop because someone’s feet hurt, and he needed some down time. After break time was up, we kept on, and so did the whining. The “I wants” were not letting up, and now with the added “let’s go home.” While he may not actually want those things, I think his vocabulary and grammar can’t really properly express liking something and wanting something, and it’s hard to draw that line in your mind, when you’re hearing “I want” over and over again. While it sounds demanding, I don’t think it’s meant to be. The whole mall experience clearly had us in environmental overload!

Mommy found a book store and that was a place that Christopher was willing to go to. We wandered around and checked things out. It was like a Staples meets a Barnes and Noble, except small in both respects. They had toys and fun things for more “I wants”. Mom looked and looked and found a few books that were dual language, but she wasn’t really that happy with what she found. As we were milling around, Christopher found the jackpot of dual language books. The stories had Tagalog and English side by side. We bought a bunch of them.

As we left, we hit an unexpected mile stone. As the complaining picked up, Daddy got down, with a stern look asked, what the issue was. He couldn’t look me in the eyes and it was the first serious talk that occurred. He shut right down. At first, I thought, ok, the message got through, but he’s such a lively spirit, something was definitely brewing. Christopher was walking with us with his hand limply in Mommy’s not saying anything, frowning and with his eyes down.  We were trying to decide what to do and were going to bail on getting lunch at the mall and just scrap the rest of the day and just head back to the hotel.  Mommy got down on Christopher’s level and told him that we loved him and he wasn’t in trouble. No response.  Soon, you could tell, the dam was starting to break. I also got down on his level and you could start to see his chin wiggle.

I just grabbed him in a hug and asked him to hug me back, and he obliged. He was crying. I told him he was a good boy, and that I loved him, and that everything was ok. I asked him to squeeze harder, and harder, and harder, and he did each time. I kissed him on the cheek and looked him over. He was still so sad, but he needed to just be reassured. This was a milestone I wasn’t really prepared for yet, but I was the one that set it into motion. I felt so bad, my heart just sunk to see him so upset. We finally calmed down, and not that he was blubbering by any means, it was very subdued, which actually made it that much worse to be honest.

We asked him if he was hungry, and at the point it was 1PM, so he was overdue, which didn’t help the situation, for any of us. Mommy spotted Burger King. She asked if he wanted a burger… no. How about some fries? That got a yes. So Burger King it was. We got three meals, and the drink and fry sizes are quite different in comparison to US sizes. It’s all you need really, and I ended up giving all of my fries to Christopher, and I took half of his drink. After we had finished lunch, he was chuckling again, which made me feel so much better.  I think it’s hard for Christopher to understand we can freely buy some things but others are a no.  Plus, I think the whole mall experience was overwhelming.  So much to see and take in.

There was some last fun to be had at the mall. There were these tiny little rides in an atrium section. Mommy and Christopher bought a ride and the laughs came back. Mommy said that Daddy said yes out of guilt. At that point, she was right, I just wanted to see him laugh again. I know there will be more tears in the future, but for now, I just wanted to see him happy again.

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The Grab back was a longer ride due to all the insane traffic. The driver didn’t say two words. I guess that’s a cultural thing. My phone took its sweet time getting connected to 4G. It’s been a real pain, and Beth’s phone just works so much better, but I was determined because I had prepaid $10 worth of Grab. Thankfully that finally worked and I’m getting that balance down. We’ll polish it off on the way to the airport.

Having returned to the room, we all just crash on the beds and put on the TV to just get some down time again. No more pool for us the rest of the trip because it’s raining buckets outside. After some TV time, we decided that maybe we needed to do something other than stare at a screen. There will be plenty of that tomorrow on the plane.

We did some coloring, and Daddy’s Crayola skills were greatly admired. Admittedly, I really enjoyed the coloring, and I’m looking forward to some coloring down time at home. Mommy even pointed out that, once the TV was off and a new non-screen based activity started, the TV wasn’t even missed. And another point of interest is that the TV in the hotel room is really quite crappy. Thankfully we don’t have cable at home, so we can really monitor screen time.

Dinner was at the same Filipino corner restaurant that has become the favorite. We put in the order and Christopher really wanted chicken hearts again. So we all put in our order. Christopher really liked my tocino from before, so that was his main order, and the hearts were his second pick. Beth ordered a ramen, and I ordered pancit canton and some lumpia. I think they must be trying to get rid of us because they brought out a dish in ten minute increments. Beth got her ramen first, then the tocino, then the lumpia, then my pancit, and finally just fried chicken, not the chicken hearts. We were all pretty full so we didn’t miss the chicken hearts, but like I said earlier, I swear, something always goes wrong when ordering. At dinner we talked about the pets, and Christopher was just so excited to be able to see Chubby, Roscoe, and Charlie. He’s wanted a dog so bad and we told him that they were going to be so excited to see him. At one point he said “I’m crying, I’m so happy”.

Christopher was already asking for ice cream and explaining he was saving room, though he ate a ton of food again. We said we had to do our rosary first, then dad and lad would go on an ice cream run while mom started to pack. We swung by the gelato cooler in the main lobby. It was completely missing, and the porter apologized. I told him he did us a favor by not having it and he laughed. We told Christopher that he could have a special drink if there wasn’t any ice cream. There was a juice bar down stairs and that was what we ended up with for dessert. I had a kiwi juice (awesome by the way), mom had a fresh squeezed orange juice, and Christopher had a fresh mango juice. Everyone was happy with their selection.

Once we were all settled back in, packing was in full swing, while Christopher vegged in front of some Nickelodeon. It was 9PM when we realized that Christopher was still up and we really needed to just settle in and get some sleep. We were in pretty good shape by the time we got him down to sleep. All the bags were weighed and we just need to get up, eat breakfast, shower, and pack a few little odds and ends in external pockets and we’re out the door. While lying in bed, Christopher, again, brought up the dogs and how excited he was. We decided that the dogs were going to be our go to when we needed airplane motivation. As Beth explained the plane schedule to him, I can tell he’s worried about the long flight. We all are. Hopefully lots of screen time and some sleep will get us to JFK without issues.

It was a long, action packed day, with new parenting experiences. Tomorrow with be the same 10x over. Tomorrow will be the first step in our immigration saga, followed by a pain in the ass Chinese connection, and then US Border and Customs the day after.

To be continued.