Photos et lettres des Philippines, de France et d'ailleurs

Eight years have passed since our last vacations in the Philippines. I was hardly in a hurry to return there and furthermore we had our house to arrange and furnish.

For our summer holydays, we continued to take them in Brousse le Chateau, a true haven of peace and happiness.

Finally in 1995, we thought that it was time to return in the Philippines as my sister in law Leng,  was living alone there since the death of their mother. And then it would be also good for my kids to get accustomed to their mother's country. In addition to that, going there via Singapore we could be an opportunity to pay a visit to Leth, Jeff and Joel.

On August 5, 1995 we departed to Singapore, a beautiful, modern and clean city but too much stressful for my Parisian taste.

Leth and her husband Jeff were leading there a comfortable life and my nephew Joel was soon to become a school champion swimmer.

The Singaporeans did not really understand why we were leaving their prosperous country for a place as deprived as the Philippines but one week later we were on our way to Manila where we stayed 2 days and visited 2 friends couples in their family for four weeks.

At the airport while checking in to go in Dumaguete, 650 km to the south where Leng was residing for the time being, a man in his early 40s heard us speaking French and introduced himself. He was from the South-West of France and narrated his story. He was a former warrant officer who took early retirement at the age of 38 and had decided to start a family. Beforehand he had taken some vacations in Thailand and Vietnam but his journey had stopped in Cebu in the Philippines after he met his future wife Marichu. By now he had been married for two years and had just become the father of a baby boy. Consequently he was uncertain about his future or rather the future of his son. Did he have to stay in the Philippines or rather return to live in France with his family? Finally he remained in the Philippines and thus will become my best friend there some years later.

After one-hour flight we arrived in Dumaguete where Leng awaited us. She had rented a beach house a few kilometers from the city. Though the house was dilapidated, we have had there, living by the sea  three weeks of such a wonderful time that it made me reconciled with this beautiful country. We saw Charly from time to time and Jerome the husband of one of the two couples we had met in Manila, came to spend one week with us. Jerome the Parisian was married with Marissa and François the Breton was married with the sister Susan. All the four had met in Macao and were our friends since 1981.

As for Leng, she came every evenings and weekends to meet us. Leng had found her vocation. She had taken new studies for three years in order to become a pastor. She was now a sophomore at Silliman University. It was what had brought us to Dumaguete. My wife wanted to spend her vacations with her only sister left in the Philippines.

Six years later these holidays were going to change the course of my existence.