Back home (there'll be singing about us...)

I think thats the title of the 1970 world cup -funny what songs u remember and what u forget! I can still sing the chorus! Anyways the blog title has nothing to do with footie, I mean back home in Manila, as oppose to back home in UK. All rather confusing really.

The jet lag was tough - straight back to work but kids up at 4am every morning then wanting to sleep all day....Luckily Gianna had exams so she had to leave at 6am but was home by 11 so could sleep. Meanwhile I had to prepare for a conference in Cebu. First ever event for VSOP where they got all the volunteers and partners together part of my KM strategy. Was away for a week and was damm busy - only just getting over it now. I think it was a success and delivered most of the objectives. It ended with an away day at a resort for the vols and staff. Nalusuan Resort - photos in previous blog- tiny island you can walk around in 4 minutes. It is the only privately owned marine sanctuary in the Philippines and it was wonderful - the reef that is- there was a very long pier. the kids counted over 100 blue starfish from one end to the other. http://nalusuan.mencaresorts.com/

The houses on stills were sweet and the water crystal clear. I thought the food limited and drinks a bit pricey. The main thing that put me off was the hordes of days trippers that came for lunch each day shattering any illusion of privacy. If u could hide away in your room for the 3 hours in the middle of the day it would be fine. Considering its proximity to Cebu about 1 hour transfer from airport its fabulous- go on a week day and avoid the rush!

We then went onto Camotes islands - whitest beaches we've visited outside Boracay and Palawan. Very under developed. We took an island tour P1800 and went all over San Francisco and its neighbour Poro connected by a bridge. The caves were great fun. http://www.camotesresorts.com.ph/home.htm. We stayed at Santiago Bay Garden resort = fantastic beach with marine sanctuary and lots of starfish. Great for kids. good value too - food and drink cheap - just very limited- I mean no fresh fish at all on menu yet a huddle of fishing boats on the beach. Sometimes things don't make sense but you learn to live with it.

The boat trip out on pump boats (2 hrs) was as entertaining as ever! On the way out the boat started smoking - the boatmen dived under the boat and freed peanut shells of all things from the water filter. Hummm someone snacking on duty?

On the way back it was like riding the ark! We got on early to get seats away from the engine (and smoke!) and the sides so we stayed dry! We were then entertained by the zoo that was brought on - goats, chickens, chicks, cockerels - the goats were particularly unhappy ....

It was one of those rare family weekends when its just us exploring and it was just what we needed. I also needed just to be back at home and an ordinary week of early nights to get over the hectic August. I was only along weekend but felt much longer and the weather was great- having now been through 2 Augusts I realise that even though rainy season u rarely get more than 10 days bad weather in one go and then as soon as it passes we then get 10 days of great weather so always possible to get to the beach!

Of course whilst we were in Cebu the fighting broke out in Mindanao. The government has been involved in " Peace" negotiations for almost 10 years on the establishment of a Moro ancestral domain. It was announced that an agreement had finally been reached and all parties headed off to Malaysia, who had brokered the deal, to sign a Memorandum of agreement (MOA). Then all hell broke loose - apparently no-one had shared with the senate what was in the deal not even the provinces where they would loose land to the new boundaries - The courts stepped in and declared the MOA invalid as it required constitutional change. The armed faction of the Moros started taking villages by force or at least couple of renegade commanders, venting their frustration at the futility of the 10 years negotiation.

Then things got very inflammatory with senators calling for all out war and for Christians to arm themselves - in other words a complete and utter mess. With civilians caught between a incompetent government and angry and humiliated armed separatists. Our volunteers were initially pulled out but are now back working but confined to "safe " areas - Many people have been displaced by the fighting so there is much work to do sorting out relief supplies as well as trying to advocate for some sort of dialogue although this seems unlikely now. The elections are in 2010 and this government or at least the president is unlikely to attempt anything that will affect her popularity. There is a huge difference between what is on TV and in the press and what is happening on the ground, meaning that its hard to see how any real discussion can take place, when most of the populace so totally uninformed. This is a great link from a well know peace advocate that trys to explain what is actually happening and why...

http://blogs.gmanews.tv/jun-mercado/archives/2008/09.html

http://blogs.gmanews.tv/jun-mercado/archives/19-Bangsamoro-Juridical-Entity.html.

Marc's job has come to an (amicable) end. There wasn't sufficient work for him to be kept on although the experience was very good. With only 6 months left of my placement we are having to make some decisions about the future fairly soon. One major issue is to sort out our immigration status as we can't stay and work without this settled. We re currently looking at retirement visas believe it or not - you only have to be over 35. I'm seriously looking at job ads and other possibilities like consultancy. Marc is of course also looking for new possibilities although he's unlikely to get something via a advert its more likely to be through word of mouth so we are out networking when ever we can.

The kitties are growing fast. They fell from the roof into our yard about 3 months ago. We are all allergic to them except Angelica which is rather problematic. The plan is that they live outside- today is their first day out the front, as they finished their shots yesterday. It remains to be seen how self sufficient Molly and Run Run become at the moment as they prefer tuna and pilchards to eat, unless they work out how to open a tin, they would not survive long by themselves. Good job they have an attentive nanny Angelica.....

Gianna got her first quarter exam results and did very well with an overall score of 81. This even though she missed 3 weeks of school. All the studying whilst away oviously paid off. I would not do visit U,K again during the school term again though as too stressful, to keep up with school work and too short a time to see people. I think we would some how try and come for longer in May next year when the kids were off. Unless of cousre Gianna swicthes to international school in which case she will have 5 months off next summer - God help us!

Bank Holiday Weekend (August '08)

The UK Tour 2008 and life back "home" in Manila...

Long time / no write.....what a marathon August has been.

We left for the UK via HK at the end of July. Hong Kong was fun we met up with Pete and Tomoko, and for the very first time met the lovely Mica. We stayed at their place on Lantau. It was 8 years since Gianna and I had last been to HK and probably 5 years since I had seen Pete. As with all good friendships it seemed like yesterday we were getting drunk in the Swan in Peckham ....reassuring that nothing really changes, I admit we're probably both more sensible these days although hopefully not too much. Pete and Tomoko have a lovely house, Pete and Mica are in the pool in the photo above. The modern house with views of the sea from the upper terrace is walking distance from the beach where we wandered for a great lunch..... HK was so clean and organised compared to Manila but accomodation is soooooo expensive its makes London seem cheap. Now I realise why we have friends that live in Manila and commute weekly to HK.

I took the girls to HK Disney on the day of our midnight flight. Much smaller than Florida or LA without the very big rides (They did have space mountain) which makes it perfect for smaller kids as u can easily get around everything in a day. However I suspect older ones would find it a little bit boring if they have been to the States....Most the the entertainers seemed to be Filipino apparently they recruited many entertainers from The Pines when they opened, including most of the members of the Manila Ballet company which has never recovered. Gianna had her photo taken with a huge number of disney charatcters and got their "autographs" I wondered whether they had to practice a specific signature for their character .............but not for too long.

The flight home was great, in fact BA was wonderful both ways - Great food - lovely wine and good films - watched Cold Mountain on the way there , never seen it b4 - thought it was great. Mum met us at the airport which was a lovely surprise and much needed as trying to get two kids and 4 suitcases across London was more challenging than I anticipated. I'm still wondering what was the role of the guard on the platform at barons court? - clearly not safety, as she waved her smart baton to tell the train to shut the doors whilst i had 2 bags and one kid on train, and 2 bags and one kid off train???????????

It was great to see Catia, Michael and the girls - we arrived into London on a gloriously hot day- if only London was like that 52 weeks a year! Although jet lagged it was so exciting to see Chris and Lawrence that night - you forget how much you miss people until u see them again, Friday meant a catchup with school friends for Gianna (see Eve above) and work friends for me. We met in the NFT on the Southbank - some of my favourite nights out in London in recent years were on the Southbank. It was just like the old days lots of wine and gossip. Having worked in the area for over 10 years theres quite a few nights to recall. Gianna was so happy to see her friends - Thanks Diana for getting everyone together - I realise I miss my circle of Mums more than I realise - Yummy Mummys rock!

Saturday was special as had a lunch with Erica, Derval and Helen before heading back to Michael's to meet Chas, Ruth and Haggis and of course the bro and Catia. The usual high jinks prevailed although our 7 am flight to Edinburgh the next day and serious jet lag sent me to bed before the more resilient members of the family.

We spent 4 days in Edinburgh with Molly and Mario and caught up with Maddalena and the girls . There was also the opportunity to catch up with Marc's cousins, aunties and uncles and the newest edition to the the family baby Archie who is extremely cute. Spent quality time with Maddalena and the kids as well as Molly and Mario. Plus of course the requisite trip to M&S for some underwear sale bargains. Filipinos do not have bums or boobs therefore no underwear fits me here. In fact that was one of the things that I noticed when I got to the UK - Big boobs and lots of cleavage everywhere and as for the bums .... for once mine felt almost average! However I do like being "Tall" here - back in UK I was munchkin Mulville again!

From Scotland we got the train down to Liverpool to see Mum friends and family on the Wirral. Mum had organised a barbie and lots of people came over to say hi . It was a lovely evening although my biggest regret was not seeing more of Bernie on the trip and missing seeing Jayne. We ahve to plan girls trip somewhere someday soonish. It was only an overnight stopover and we left for the Big Chill festival in Hereford the next day. The time was just too short.

Big Chill was fun and the weather was mostly warm (well that's what I was told)-Seemed a wee bit chilly to me on the Friday and as exhaustion was already kicking in I took to my sleeping bag for the afternoon.

Overall the BC worked a treat in that I got lots of time with all the friends that went including JoButters and Co, Jo/Brad and kids from Oz and Anna and family from Wales and of course a top time with my sis/bro and family. Jacqui excelled herself at dressing up (as did Bryony) a different outfit everyday I think the purple wig should became a regular feature.

Talking of wigs Michael and Maya got into appropriate attire for the Buzzcocks - he sporting a green spikey wig pogoing about- Ever fallen in love took me straight back to my first ever concert at Liverpool Empire in 1978. It was slightly disconcerting that Pete Shelly now looked like someones (grand)dad with a paunch, trackie bottoms and a shapeless shirt....The kids said the band shouted too much...echos of my mothers complaints, as I played love bites at top volume in my bedroom (on the record player with 50p on top to stop it jumping) ....personally I've always thought them quite tuneful!

The highlight was however Lennard Cohen - best night! Anna and I watched him together - . Norman Jay was cool as ever and of course the sun came out on Sunday afternoon for him! Mum who had looked after Angelica with her ever faithful assistance, Wendy, had managed a daily trip out without loosing her, or getting too stressed, which seemed nothing short of a miracle. Who knows maybe she'll be able to do the Chill next time! (Angelica not mother!) Whilst Gianna was sensible enough to go from 2 years old, Angelica is just so anarchic (at least with me) she could cause a major emergency all by herself- A lack of fear of anything or anyone!

The final leg of the Tour took in Cardiff where it seemed colder inside that outside and rained a lot. None of that mattered as there was lots of time with my sis and her kids and our course Mum. Managed to squeeze in an Indian and fish and chips, two must dos of the visit! Mum took the kids to Cardiff castle which was a huge success, even with Angelica who only wanted to see the "princess" inside. Saying goodbye was hard, although we'll be seeing mum again here this side of Xmas.

We arrived back in London for a final farewell dinner in Camberwell for old times sake - Phil was reassuringly the same - although I'd heard rumours he was more boring these days! We started at the Hermits for Old times sake - although only a few familiar faces and over four quid for a glass of wine ensured it was a short visit!...and then moved onto the Greek where Michael and Catia had had their wedding reception many years ago. Familar faces, familar venue and reassuringly familar behavior - fantastic!

The last day came too quickly and just in case we had forgotten what a "real"English barbecue was like it poured with rain for our farewell event at Chas and Ruth with the gang. (cheers guys love u lots and lots) We sat under a tarpaulin in the garden with coats on - not to be beaten! After an emotional goodbye and promises of visitors soon (better keep to it !)we set off for the long haul home.....

It was interesting to see just how Pinoy Angelica has become - All her references are now Filipino - In Scotland she pointed at the mountains shouting "Volcano". A walk in the woods - called a Jungle, she refused to drink water out the tap or put paper down the loo, kept asking for rice, refusing to eat potatoes or go to sleep b4 it was dark as it was too early! A problem in Scotland when it didn't get dark until 10.30 at night...She has spent a third of her life here now and it shows.

So how did we feel about going home? very mixed. I loved the how orderly it all was - Yes London seemed like a village compared to Manila! I liked the fact that people just say it the way it is and I understood their meaning, and people understood me! I hated the weather apart from the sunshine of course and it was worryingly expensive - We would need work (well paid work) to survive back there. The food was great and of course most of all just being with family and friends was the most satisfying in a lovely comfortable sort of way . At the same time everyone seemed so busy with their jobs/looking after kids and they don't exactly get together every weekend either. Life is much easier here than in the UK it seemed much less stressful! well at least for us.

It may sound selfish, but I hate the idea of going back to juggling the work/childcare/housework with a very limited social life worrying about money.....We may have to worry about money here but its a lot less we have to find to have a better quality of life. If I could live here and get home twice a year it would be perfect or live in UK with a stupendous salary so I could have the same standard of life I have here - In reality how much would that be? In excess of 100K I'd say. Oh and to get off to a hot beach once a month better add in another 10K.

And the kids? Gianna, who didn't want to go to the UK just before we left because she was missing too much fun at school, is now desperate to get back there and be with her friends in London -meanwhile Angelica just wanted to get back "home" to the Pines towards the end and Marc? - Well he refuses to contemplate a life back in the UK at all. I was happy to be back in Manila for a rest, and to see everyone here! Although the next 2 weeks were equally challenging with a week long conference to prepare and attend as soon as got back. At least it was a comfortable 28 degrees again....

All of this is of course academic because ultimately we can only live where we can earn an income ....the perfect scenario of course is unlikely to present itself, some compromises will need to be made - watch this space!

Dashing Diva Birthday Party - Gianna 10

Heres some birthday pics. The beauty bar dashing Diva package hands,nails, toes and nail art for P450 = 8 happy little divas

Port Barton Palawan

Can it already be the 1st of July? I uploaded these photos a week ago and still haven't edited the text. Things at work are very busy (but very good) lots of my Knowledge management tools are coming to fruition which provides a nice sense of achievement after a slow start. Can't believe I am well into my second year here already and feeling so at home.

Having said that we will be in 3 weeks and I can't wait to see everyone. Only myself and the kids are now going. We got stung by the Oasis collapse and although I'm hopeful we will get the money back on the credit card its 2K pounds+ for all 4 of us to go to UK Also Marc now has a job with a friend of ours setting up a solid waste management company, whilst its not permanent, its good wages whilst it lasts and gets Marc in the job market again. Its hard here as local wages are so low - its difficult to compete within local labour. Marc's boss has suggested a new possible project from August for 3 months at a slightly lower salary - I'm just hopeful that the longer he stays the greater the chance of something more permanent coming up or an alternative comes up elsewhere.

The photos posted are from our summer holiday to Palawan with Jo, Gaz Stephi and kids from UK. It was a great trip. The actual road trip there was at times both terrifying and exhilarating
catch all the action here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMLt4uqdl3I

Port Bartin is a lovely place - very rural and therefore interesting, as you can get the beach holiday whilst getting a feel for rural life. Port Barton only consists of a couple of roads, a handful of resorts and bars along the beachfront and a few small shops. As the road is so bad they are very dependent on boats to get supplies in and if the weather is bad they are completely cut off. The house we stayed at was great owned by Mal Brewer an Aussie. It's the house with boat in foreground marked port Barton. The cost was about 250 quid for the week but for that we had another house thrown in at Nao Nao for overnights or picnics. The picture of the girls playing with machete in the sand was taken at Nao Nao, as were the action man coconut tree climbing shots. The house at PB had its own bar complete with pool table , table tennis and badminton for the lawn. We hired the local staff so had someone to cook clean and shop for us each day. The great thing about self catering in the Philippines is you don't actually have to do any "self-catering"at all! We ate well - lots of fish - fresh lobsters - and lots of barbeque's on the beach.

The house was large and could easily have slept a couple more than the 9 of us.

The main attraction is however the fabulous beaches off shore in the many small islands off Port Barton - I saw my first turtle and the kids loved the snorkeling once they got the hang of it, especially the clown fish (Nemo!) it really was the best so far here in the Philippines with giant clams, huge extensive coral reefs and abundant fish. We went out in the boats 3 of the 7 days we were there - a boat was around 16 quid for the day for 4 people - with a beach barbecue cooked by the fishermen for lunch. Back at Port Barton the favorite hang out was Judy's Place which did great food. Marc had met Jim ( and Aussie) and Judy on his previous trip to PB with Boyd last September http://camperbellescapers.blogspot.com/2007/10/action-action-action.html. The girls took themselves off for pancakes everyday and Judy quickly became their favorite person in town.

After the holiday there was time for a few girls nights out in Manila taking in the bars and revelry in Makati and Malate. Jo and the girls enjoyed the shopping and pampering sessions in the local malls. Gianna enjoyed the girls being around but of course there were the usual squabbles especially as 3 usually leaves someone out....

Since they left Gianna and Angelica have both restarted school and seem to be settling in really well. When we went to Gianna's school they had erected banners with pictures of the cheerdance competition. Guess who was featured - yes Gianna - her celebrity status assured for another year!

She had a great birthday party at the beauty bar where her and 7 friends had their nails painted with nail art followed by pizza. It was a good mix with a couple of the girls from the British school and the rest from Gianna's school they all seemed to get on well. Its so different, this year, compared to last, when we were completely lost and out of our depth, not knowing the school system. Suddenly its all so easy and familiar and Gianna has lots of friends. She is even talking about staying on at CSA next year. She has started guitar lessons no doubt with aspirations to become the next Avril Lavine.

We've had out first Typhoon in Manila. We slept thru most of it as it hit early Sunday morning. Marc and his mate Michael had been out watching the European football, well at least till the typhoon cut the power. They had to pay triple fare to get home as there was quite bad flooding. Apart from the power gone for a few hours we weren't really affected but other parts of the country were really badly affected the number of dead was 540 as of Friday evening included at least 291 were reported injured while 277 remained missing.

The typhoon affected almost 3 million people 4000 villages. At least 65k houses were destroyed and 167K damaged. The estimated cost of damage to infrastructure and agriculture amounted to P7 billion. The fact is that as most people live in wooden structures they don't stand a chance against the wind and high seas that come with the Typhoon. Most the the fatalities drowned either at sea or in their houses washed away by the floods.

The worst incident was of course the sunken ship. The figures don't include the 500+ still missing from the ferry that sank. Typically the incident illustrates the poor safety records in the Philippines and complete disregard to basic good practice. For starters the manifest doesn't match the number of people on the boat, the boat set sail even though a typhoon warning was in place and it appears that although a distress signal was sent 2pm in the afternoon the ship was not reached for almost 24 hours even though it was close to shore as all rescue vessel were in Manila. Very few people got into life boats even though land was within sight of the boat and survivers report that the crew were more interested in saving themselves - most children and older passengers did not even have life vests on when the boat turned. Most alarming was the discovery that the ship was carrying highly toxic pesticides not included on the manifest at the time it sank. This was only disclosed after the divers hadalready begun operations to retrieve the bodies leading to the divers having to be hospitalised to check they had not became contaminated. Apparently the pesticide was being sent to the Del Monte factory although I heard reported its use was supposed to be banned several years ago. No more canned pineapples then! We have never actually been on one of the large ferries and incidents like this reinforce the view, that carbon footprint or not we're better off in the skies. This is the 4th major ferry disaster for this company in the last 20 years.

We've also had a kidnapping which in the soap opera we call "Living in the Philippines". It started off as a journalist and her crew being kidnapped by "Muslim extremists linked with Al Quiada" and ended up as basic extortion with the Mayor's son being charged with Kidnap - He who had negotiated the release of the hostages for millions of pesos. Seems the Journo wanted an exclusive with the Leader of the Muslim Group and everyone decided to get a piece of the action. A major flaw in stopping kidnapping is that ransoms are routinely paid for kidnap victims. So whilst most victims are freed unharmed kidnap is generally accepted as a easy way to raise funds for whatever cause you are seeking to support, including a better lifestyle for yourself. Having said that I certainly would not want to the hostage if the payment policy changed!

Kareoke Kapers, river cruise, makati meal and volcanic donkey derby!

JO arrived late Monday night and already have had an adventurous time! Tuesday we took he karaoke virgins to red box which was heaps of fun - Jo and I definitely think its the way to go. lock yourself in a padded room play the music of your choice as loud as u like. There's glitter balls pool tables and flashing lights in the rooms so u can have your very own private club night without worrying that the rest of he clubbers are young enough to be your grandchildren ...

Wednesday we went off to greenbelt for meal after a day sightseeing and Pasig ferry cruise whilst yesterday Jo Gaz an the kids went up the Taal Volcano - Jo and Jessica said was probably one of the best ever days out. They were very lucky as they had blue skys over lake Taal. They went up on horses - As u can see in the picture Gary's horse was so small his feet almost touched the floor - after the pic was take the guide jumped on the back and they galloped to the top. Gary said he'd never been in a donkey derby on a volcano before!

Baler Aurora - Surfing fun

Baler - the capital of Aurora province

After our trip to Lanuza and the bus ride from hell I decided we were primed for the 7 hour journey over the (Sierra Madre Mountains) to Baler which is were they filmed the surf scene in Apocalypse now.

We set off for the 5.30 am bus at Cubao and managed to get the last few seats squeezed between surf boards plastic chairs and a folding table. There was a mixed crowd on the bus some local and foreign tourists as well as people returning home to the provinces for the May bank holiday weekend. The bus station had recently moved (leading to much confusion prior to departure) but took a detour to its old location to pick up extra passengers. Given there were no seats left this seemed rather ambitious until we realised the plastic chairs were to be put in the aisle ( I did wonder at this point were the folding table was going to be placed but it stayed stored for some unknown future use). The initial part of the journey was uneventful with stops every few hours then we began the climb up in the mountains - the scenery was fantastic and the roads challenging - Not for the faint hearted- the bus got hotter and hotter - a novel experience here where most of the time the aircon is set to freezing and people are forced to wear woolly hats and coats just to survive long trips without experiencing hypothermia!

Then the bus broke down! In the middle of nowhere . I knew something was up when the driver started to walk away and then hid being a small roadside shack- the major obstacle was actually getting any information as to what might happen next - we soon realised that the smart people had just started hopping on any form of local transport to get off the mountain- so we followed. The latter part of the journey was completed on the local bus which was great fun - piled high with rice and other provisions - the open windows actually made it easier to see the view and the breeze was refreshing after the stinky hot äircon"bus -

We arrived in Baler late afternoon almost 12 hours since we left the house - and loved the place. Our friend Paul Watts, another volunteer has a house right on the beach. He and his wife were away the first night so we had the place to ourselves. Theres a handful of guest houses- Bays'Inn being about the best which is next to Paul's place - they had a great food somewhat of a novelty in small places like Baler. I discovered eggplant salad yum yum! (barbecued aubergine mixed with onions,tomatoes, chilli's and vinegar P75). They have aircon rooms for around P850 - Baler was about the cheapest place we have been to so far! Facilities seemed fairly basic but OK - For most people the attraction is the waves.

There are surf instructors and it cost P450 for an hours lesson - they were pretty good as most people seemed to get up on the boards fairly quickly.

The Beach at Baler has brown sand but is long and picturesque framed by the Sierra Madre with its white cloud topped peaks. The waves were great and its a real surf spot! The surfers are out all day but the beach is at its busiest first thing in the morning. Its the real thing with some pretty impressive moves happening on waves. The kids were out on the boogie board and Marc on Paul's surf board all day - There's even a night scene - with a couple of disco / karaoke bars and even an acoustic venue. The market was awash with wonderful vegetables - very different to Lanuza where we found it difficult to get enough for a simple meal.

Paul and his wife were back for the Saturday night when we all went to the acoustic bar to drink beer and watch surf videos. Its such a small place we kept running into the people who had been on our bus all weekend - By Saturday night we felt like locals and knew the other people in the bar.

On our last day we met the Governor of Aurora who bought us lunch. She was very hospitable and working to promote Baler as a tourist spot.

The journey back was slightly quicker - we took the adventurous route back - yes even more challenging than on way - the last bus to manila leaves early on Sunday morning so Paul and Marivic suggested we take a van to Cabanatuan later in the day and hook up with a Manila bus there - The road - winding madly up and down the mountains- was very beautiful. As we came down the other side the sun was setting on the valley below - very memorable. Certainly i hope we can return to Baler. They have now started weekly flights but if u had a decent car and driver u could make it in 7 hours making it possible for long weekends - A fun place to visit - especially for the surf competition in February!