A 6.30 wake-up call prompted the beginning of a very long day. An early morning flurry of packing and breakfast saw us on the road just after 7am with the first game many miles away with a 9.30 tip-off time scheduled.
We have now acclimatised to the driving styles of the Filipinos and some of us are happy to ride on top of the 15-seater Jeepney we have been using. The countryside of mountains rising into the mist with rows of palm trees lining the road made the dawn travel something to behold. Old men harvesting their rice fields with caribou (water bison) waved happily as we passed them by on our way to Barbasa.
We arrived on time but the visiting team was a little late which gave us time to interact a little with the crowd of young children and working families who had come out for the Saturday morning game. The team was made up of a selection of the Barangay (district) players and they made a positive start for the locals who cheered them on. Once again, it was Paul ‘Wingman’ Beacham who shot the ball well from outside the arc to take us into the lead. Strenuous year-round physical training by Paul has transformed his body into something resembling a Greek Adonis and some of the team have remarked that he has now become ‘more of a machine than a man’. Needless to say we won the game 38-34 and the Mayor of the town was warm in her praise for us. Sam Macdonald gave his testimony at half-time to a responsive crowd.
The game concluded and we jumped back in the Jeepney and continued to travel north on the main road until we reached a coastal roadhouse for lunch. It was a welcome rest for the team as the lunch location overlooked the sea and the karaoke machine began to crank out the hits. ‘Moon River’, ‘Smooth Operator’ and other sing-a-long favourites preceded Pastor Gary’s version of the theme song from ‘The Love Boat’ which received high scores and applause from the local crowd. A swim in the island waters was refreshing for those that braved the pebble beaches while others relaxed in the beach huts for an hour.
The long day continued as we rolled into Tibiao for our 3.00pm game again the Police selection. The Chief of Police played point guard for the opposing team and we were under strict instructions not to give him a hard time for fear of being locked up! The game was very a friendly affair though, with the bright sunshine bringing out the crowds for a close game which saw David ‘Top Gun’ Tidy share his testimony and play a strong game to give us the win 72-68.
More driving took us to our final destination for the next three nights – some idyllic beach shacks which the lads have taken to in style. It’s not all easy though – the night was spent shelling out rice from large sacks for our food distribution tomorrow in a nearby town. The idea is to give out rice, sardines and noodles to the needy locals after their Sunday morning service. Financial support for the distribution program has been received from numerous groups in Perth and we will be happy when these plans come to fruition on Sunday.
Needless to say we were all ready for bed once work concluded around 10pm.
Tomorrow is the Sabbath so hopefully Pastor Gary will give us some rest! Here’s hoping!
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