And Now For Something Completely Different…

I can’t write about cooking all the time, even I get tired of sitting in front of a stove all day especially in the heat over here in the Philippines.  What I have really been thinking about lately is a house.  My wife and I have our eye on a piece of property, 168sqm at a good price in a very nice subdivision.  Not one of those guarded and gated subdivisions mind you, just a normal middle class neighborhood.  Once we acquire this property I’m going to have the daunting task of building a house on it.

We decided long ago that it was better for us to just build a house, that way we could get what really wanted and not what someone else built.   If you plan on living over here it’s something you will have to think about as well.  The real estate market is very slow over here since the banks keep a tight reign on credit.  Plus the standard 30 year mortgage is nonexistant here.  So most houses are bought and paid for on a cash basis.

We looked at houses for sale but most suffered from “Pinoy House Syndrome” as I call it. In other words, the house was built then nothing was ever done to it for upkeep.  The tropical environment is very harsh to houses, and regular maintenance is needed to keep them from falling apart.  I had to laugh at a couple of people who offered us houses that were 10 years old and looked a wreck and they still asked over P4 million for it!

So here we are waiting to design and build our house.  Luckily I have a friend who was an architect in the States so I already have someone that can put my rough design into paper reality.  I really don’t want the standard house that is built here these days.  Hollow block and concrete with metal or wood frame casement windows.  That type of house builds up heat in the afternoon sun and it takes days for it to radiate out.  So, for me it’s time for a little historical research.

How did they do it in the old days before air conditioning?  The answer is simple, the Bahay ng Bato or house of stone.  To be sure only the first floor is made of stone with and upstairs made of wood.  The stone gives a stable foundation and keeps the termites from getting into the wood upstairs.  This design dates back to the early 1800’s and originally the downstairs was the carraige house, offices or family store and the wooden upstairs was the living area.  The windows were large wooden sliding panels with capiz shell instead of glass and the whole design of the living area was open to allow for breezes to cool naturally.  Wood also doesn’t have the heat retention problems of stone or concrete.

Even though I am in love with this design it may be hard to put into reality.  In my research I found only one manufacturer of Capiz Shell windows in the Philippines and it’s “price on request” or as my grandmother used to say “If you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it.”  For now the cost of building will be in the future so I can dream on about having a house that needs little or aircon.

Dear Feyma: I need a house!

Time for another edition of Dear Feyma, where I try to help readers with Philippine related issues that they may be facing.

If you have a question you wish to have featured here on my “Dear Feyma” column, please contact me through the “Contact Us” link at the top of each page here on the Live in the Philippines Web Magazine.

This week, I have heard from a number of people looking to buy or rent property here in the Philippines.  I have combined several of their e-mails into a single e-mail that will answer all of them at once.  I hope they don’t mind, it just makes it easier this way, and they will each get their answer.  Also, it makes it where they will remain more anonymous.

Dear Feyma,

“I am interested in buying a house and lot in Davao. A member of my wife’s family bought a house and lot up North. I like to be in Davao since I’ve heard a lot of good things about the place. I want a place in the city proper. Is there a 4-5 bedroom house in Davao City? Is it safe there?”

I received an email regarding buying a house here in Davao City. A guy wrote to me asking for it. Of course I told him that I saw some places here in Davao that’s for sale with the specification that he is asking for. In around Davao and in the gated area too. I told him that Davao really is the safest city right now in the Philippines. Thanks to the Mayor of Davao City, Mayor Duterte.

Somehow he has to convince his wife first before moving back here to the Philippines. One of his wife’s family members bought a house somewhere in the Northern part of the Philippines. The house that was bought there had the specifications that he wanted. So he really is itching to purchase here if only his wife will say the big yes. I think she will agree to him in buying  a house if its near to the family member that just purchased.

He had problem buying up North because the house that just bought by the family member was hit by the typhoon “Ondoy”. The house got damaged. And this guy doesn’t want to be there in Luzon after hearing from the family that the got hit and upon seeing on TV of what happened. But somehow the wife still wants to be there to be near to her family. I can’t blame her for wanting to be near the family. I am hoping that the couple can resolved their issues with the place they will retire later. I can see the point of the husband, but I can’t blame the wife for her decision too. Personally for this couple I think they should just put the moving to the Philippines on hold for a long awhile until both of them can agree a 100% where they want to stay here in the Philippines.

My advice to the couple to really decide tightly so that at the end no one will have the resentment. Moving here is not easy, the Filipina had to readjust again here with the culture and the weather.  The husband he has to adjust being here and seeing the poor people all over the place which is not easy at first. It took us like 3-4 years to really adjust being here. Culturally for me I had to relearned being in the States for 10 years, with Bob he had to rom me, the people and from his Bisaya teacher Bebe Metillo, thank God for her.  She taught me a lot too.

Good luck to you and your wife. You can email me anytime!

That’s What Friends are For

That’s the words recently sent to me from someone on this web magazine, you see first I have to apologize to the readers of my column here on LIP but last week was a busy one for me and having computer and Internet issues didn’t help.

That’s what brings me to this article this week though, I thought I sent word to the editor of this fine medium, that I had company his week, my mother in law and some family members came from Leyte to stay with us and sell thier farm there in Maragusan. But the message never went out, I don’t know why.

So a week later our Editor sends me a e-mail asking if I am OK, not saying “hey wheres last weeks article” or anything like that but more of a, hey are you OK are you sick ? is there anything I can do for you ? so I thought to myself, yes this group of people that are in a foreign land far from thier original roots do have a genuine concern for one another. The same is to be said for those who are part of this community that are affected by the wrath of mother nature all of us LIP community members have a concern for you and your family and well being.

It really is a warm feeling that although we are not related and really have not spent any considerable time together, we as part of this community that our Editor had knitted together have each others back so to speak. This is just another facet of living here in the Philippines. I participated in many other forums when I lived in the US, mostly race related and not so many social sites but never did I once get a mail saying hey are you OK after not signing on for a week and I just wanted to say in public Thank You Bob and Feyma (the birthday girl) for caring enough to ask about my well being.

It really is wonderful to belong to this community. I will resume my regular articles next week and thanks to all of you for being supportive.

Mabuhay !

Let’s count our blessings

This article is from Mindanao Bob’s Journal, which is a regular weekly column in SunStar Davao Newspaper.  This column appeared in SunStar today, October 2, 2009.

This past weekend, the scenes on TV from Manila were horrific.  The flooding in Manila was devastating.  The suffering of the people was heart wrenching.  It’s really a time to count our blessings.

Count our blessings? Yes, I believe it is time for that.  We are blessed to be Dabawenyos.  Imagine the differences here compared to other places around the Philippines.  Mindanao is the only part of the Philippines that is outside the typhoon belt, we have beautiful weather here!  We have an abundance of so many things here in Davao, we really need to count our blessings for that.

Davao is hounded with flooding whenever it rains very hard, but it certainly is nothing like we saw on TV over the weekend.  Yes, we get a few centimeters of water on the City Streets, and we complain.  It’s human nature, we want the streets to remain dry, of course.  But, when was the last time you saw the water waist deep, or heaven forbid neck deep in Davao City?  It just doesn’t happen here.

As the flooding hit Manila, what was the next thing we saw on TV?  People were hungry.  Here in Mindanao we live in a land of abundance when it comes to food.  Fruits and other kinds of foods are plentiful, and inexpensive too.

Yes, I believe that as Dabawenyos we are really blessed.  Those who are from other areas, though, away from Mindanao, only talk about what a bad, or dangerous place Mindanao is.  Just the mention of Mindanao brings fear to those people.  It seems they don’t realize that only a few parts of Mindanao present danger, the vast majority of Mindanao is a beautiful, unspoiled and safe place!  Especially Davao City.

A lot of times, when we have visitors come to Davao they rave about the place.  It’s so beautiful, such a wonderful life!  The food is so cheap and abundant.  Yet, others tell them to fear Mindanao.  Why?  Because those who advise fear have never set foot in Mindanao.  And, when it comes to danger, that’s about as far as you could get from Davao while still remaining on the Island.

Yes, even as I write this, things are not comfortable for those in Metro Manila.  Most of the water has drained off, leaving a ton of mud on the streets, in the homes and just about anyplace you might look.  It’s dirty, and there is a lot of work to be done.  I feel sorry for the people in Manila, no doubt about that, and I pray for their well being.  I wonder, though, if they realize just how much different life in Davao is?

Ten differences between Manila and Davao

This is just a light hearted fun list of things I have noticed as I travel now between Davao City and Manila, and this is based on the last four years. Yes, of course its a generalization but it really is something that I have noticed.

1. As I walk around Manila I am offered USA dollars and Viagra,not so in Davao.
   Honest what do I want American dollars for, and as for Viagra,,well not yet!!!
2. In Davao the idea of customer service is not often available to people, where as in Manila customer service is very apparant and sometime too intrusive.
   Manila you will be approached every few seconds by shop staff and in Davao will be more likely to see many staff but who seem to have little training.
3. The smiles in Davao seem to always be there, however in Manila , because of the pace of life the smiles are not always as persistent.
4. Food prices are about the same, but the quantity and quality of food is much better in Manila ,not just in the supermarkets but also in the restaurants where the menus provided actually relate to what is available.
5. Accommodation in Manila surprisingly, seems cheaper to rent or buy than in Davao.
6. It is much easier to get around Davao by using the Jeepneys and taxis, and although Davao is huge, it is the main easy to navigate.
   Manila is the place to have the worse taxi rip offs and it can takes hours to travel anywhere.
   The trains are great value in Manila, but be prepared to be a sardine inside the train.
7. As touched on before the range of places to go and the food places are great in Manila, be it in the Malls or on the street.
   You get what you order, but lots of the places are franchised and sometimes lack a good atmosphere.
   Davao has the atmosphere, but a poorer range and the menus are less available.
8. Begging on the streets is much more prevalent in Manila, and it seems to be “controlled”, whilst in Davao there are a few, but not as “controlled”, or as aggressive.
   Often people come into Manila to look for a job and end up on the street, often the whole family live on the street.
9. Manila is full of so many white faces in the malls and in the bars, and apart from the street peddlers are ignored by the rest of the population, however in Davao. no matter where you go a white guy walking will attract hundreds of “hi Joe” shouts from smiling faces.
   Manila is obviously more cosmopolitan, where the provinces still are a little rare of too many white faces.
10. Pollution problems are so bad, the streets are packed solid everyday with gridlocked vehicles, and there is no doubt that the older type vehicles leave so much smoke. In Davao its got worse over the last few years, but it is NO WAY as bad Manila. YET.

A Trip to Pearl Farm

It seems like it has been forever since my wife and I took a vacation.  Somehow living over here day to day feels like one long giant vacation at first but then sooner or later you realize you are stuck in a day to day rotation of things to do, errands to run etc.  We all need a break sometimes and least living in the Philippines gives us so many more options than I had when I was in the US.

The Kadayawan festival was being celebrated right before I came home this year and unfortunately I missed it but it did give us an opportunty to avail of a promo at Pearl Farm Resort.  For those of you who don’t know, Pearl Farm is a 5 star resort located in Kaputian, Samal Island.  They have a pier in Lanang where you board the bangka for a 45 minute trip to the resort.  The promo that we decided to take advantage of included an overnight stay in one of the “Samal” houses and breakfast the next morning.

The trip over on the outrigger boat or “bangka” was spectacular.  We were able to enjoy beautiful weather and calm waters all the way down to the resort.  The guide told us that from time to time you can see bottle nosed dolphins and whale sharks in these waters but unfortunately none were to be seen this day.  Upon arrival at the dock you are greeted by the courteous staff and given a pinapple based drink and welcomed with the sounds of native music.  After checking in you are free to roam around the resort and see all it has to offer.

Boredom is not a word that you will be seeing in Pearl Farm.  You have the choice of 2 swimming pools and 4 beaches to swim in as well as a world class spa and exercise facilities.  From the beaches of Malipano Island,  just offshore of the resort, you can snorkel in some of the cleanest, clearest waters I have seen so far in the Philippines.  The waters around the resort are a sanctuary for native fish and you can swim over pristine coral reefs and enjoy literally thousands of tropical fish.  For those of you who are divers, 2 wrecks dating to World War II can be found offshore.

Mealtime is no small affair at Pearl Farm.  While our package included breakfast on the second morning, we had to pay for lunch and dinner which were P800 and P900 respectively.  For this amount you are treated to a 5 star buffet of Filipino foods. There is something for everyone and even if you are not particularly fond of native foods, you will not leave hungry.  I heartily recommend trying the bistek if they are serving it that day and for dessert they make a superb durian float although unfortunately this dessert is seasonal and not always to be found on the menu.

I am happy that my wife and I were able to take advantage of this special promo.  With room rates starting in the $120/night range exclusive of meals an overnight stay was a little too expensive for us to consider.  We had gone over in the past as part of the day trip which I heartily recommend to anyone wanting to visit the resort.  The fee for the day trip is P1,500 per person which includes ferry rides back and forth and a buffet lunch.  It is a once in awhile treat for us to visit Pearl Farm and every trip is remembered fondly.

What's that in the air?

Over the weekend, I had a little mini-adventure.  I didn’t set out for an adventure, but it kind of turned into one.  On Saturday morning, I was headed downtown for a meeting.  I regular LiP reader, a person who had also purchased some of my books in the past was visiting Davao, and I wanted to meet him.  He invited me for coffee on Saturday morning at the Grand Men Seng Hotel, which is in downtown Davao City.

I left the house a bit early.  I had a couple of reasons for leaving early.  First, just in case I ran into heavy traffic, and secondly in case I was unable to find parking.  Parking in the downtown area can be kind of tough to find, so you just never know.  So, I left about 40 minutes ahead of my meeting schedule, although it only takes about 10 minutes to drive downtown from my house.

When I got downtown, after having not run into any traffic pileups, something looked different.  Hmm.. what was it? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.  I had not been down in this part of town for probably a couple of months, but I could just sense that something wasn’t quite the same as it should be.  Somehow the city looked cleaner than I was expecting.

As I drove past buildings, I was surprised because concrete walls had been freshly painted.  Buildings themselves were newly painted, or washed.  Wow, Davao was looking really nice that morning.  It made me feel kind of proud of my adopted City.

I was still about 30 minutes early for my meeting, so I decided to park a bit of a distance away, and take a walk around the downtown area on the way to my meeting.  After I got out of the car and took a breath, I suddenly realized why things were looking so nice!  It’s Kadayawan Festival time in Davao!

How did the smell tell me?

Well, Kadayawan is the Harvest Festival for the region.  It is the time when Davao Region’s luscious fruits are at the peak of the season!  When I stepped out from the car, the air was filled with the fragrance of Durian!  Ah, the fruit that smells like hell, but tastes like heaven, or so they say.  But, for me, I really don’t agree with that assessment of Durian, because I personally love the smell of a nice ripe Durian fruit.  For me there is nothing that says “Davao” more than the fragrance of Durian.  There is no food or activity that is more typically Davao than Durian!

A few months ago, my friend, Dave Starr was visiting here in Davao with his family.  Dave’s sister in law likes Durian, and since she was in Davao, she wanted to get some Durian and enjoy it.  Feyma and I took Dave and his wife to Magsaysay Fruit Vendors Association, as that is really one of the prime Durian spots of the City.  At that time, I was quite surprised at the price of the Durian.  The first vendor, as I recall, quoted me a price of P130/kilo for Durian.  During Kadawayan season you can sometimes find Durian as low as P15 or P20/kilo, so this price was shocking.  As I talked to other vendors at the fruit stand, I was able to get the price down to P100/kilo, but no less.  We bought a fruit, and ate some of it there, even getting Dave and Mita to enjoy some of it.  The rest was brought back to the hotel for the Sister-in-law to enjoy, which I am told she did.

Well, the Durian on Saturday was not as cheap as I expected.  I was quoted a price of P70/kilo.  I’m not sure if the vendor was trying to take advantage of me, or if the price is just high this year.  I expected less since it was Kadayawan season already.  I didn’t buy any, thinking that I’d visit one of my Suki vendors (Suki is a vendor whom you have a regular relationship with) and I know that they will give me a fair price.  When I do that, I will know if the other price quote was fair.

I enjoyed walking the City on Saturday, though.  Kadayawan is a special time of the year in Davao City, and if you are in town during Kadayawan, you really owe it to yourself to roam the City a bit, talk with the people, and just enjoy the spirit of Davao!

If you see me, be sure to say hi!

Where I live: Davao City

Well as most of you know I live in Davao City on the Island of Mindanao, which is honestly a great place for me to live.

Even though its a huge city in terms of area, it is so friendly compared to my experiences in places like London, where big seems to be equated to “not friendly”, a bit like most big cities around the world.

Over the years I have lived here I have been invited to fiestas where the whole of that community get together and open all their homes for people to come party and eat, remember some of these people have very little but allow people (even me) into their homes where they do everything to keep you in food and drink and to party.

You will see those more fortunate providing food to strangers and even people from outside the local community can walk in uninvited to partake in the celebrations and food and dancing.

Music will thump into your ear drums into the Early hours, but I have never seen aggressive behavior, and the Police who pass by seem more likely to join in the celebration’s too. Most events seem to be around the basketball courts, where hundreds and hundreds of people dance and sing from the little kids right up to the oldest person. No age barriers here.

Fiestas are ongoing everywhere in the Philippines, but also here in Davao City we also have a specific celebration that brings in thousands and thousands of people from all over Mindanao, the Kadayawan festival, where the streets and Malls are full for a few days.

The event in  August, with  its dancing and parades and there are major shows in the city all revolve around the indigenous peoples of the Island. The festival has its roots as a thanksgiving to the Lord for providing a good harvest and and non stop colorful street dancing from people that hardly ever see a city.

Some of the people come from such remote areas, including people from the mountains who go to great effort to dress in fantastic costumes and build floats from anything they can find. Tractors, old carts, anything that can move is made into floats and along with  the beating of drums all day makes Davao the place to be.

The whole event is televised live across the country and also across the Pinoy international network , but to see it on TV is just not right. To see it in person makes you feel the warmth and the spirit of the people of Mindanao.

The parades that stretch for miles are exhausting  just to watch let alone be involved with.

Click here to see a video I made of the Festival and then book your tickets for August.

And this is the official site of the Kadaywan

Where will I live? Can't say!

OK, so this week, the “Where I Live” week here on LiP, I’ve talked about where I have lived previously, where I live now and where we had planned to live.  The future, though, is not clear yet on where we really will live.  One thing is for certain, unless something major changes in our lives, and that is that we will live in the Philippines.

So, what are the considerations at this point?  Let’s have a look:

1. Samal Island. Yes, we are still keeping an eye on Samal.  I was pretty clear yesterday that Samal has not been ruled out.  We already own a very nice piece of land there, in fact I’d call it a premium piece of land.  It has a beautiful view, and we both love the place a lot.  So, there is still a decent chance that we will decide to live there after all.  It’s still a good possibility!
2. Buda. Buda, or that general area is a place that is on the Davao City-Bukidnon border.  We are talking like a 90 minute drive from the City.  Of course, as the City continues to grow, that 90 minutes keeps shrinking, who knows how close it will be to town a few years from now?  Feyma and I have talked about buying like a hectare out in the Buda area and having a small ranch with a couple of horses, maybe a few cattle that we would use for our own beef, pigs and such. Grow some vegetables there too.  A really rural lifestyle, but still not that far from the City.  Probably we would go to the City like once per month or so.  We have several very good friends who live in the Buda area, within about 30 minutes of each other.  I feel like we could have a pretty nice lifestyle there, and enjoy ourselves a lot.  Having the mini-ranch could be nice if we have grandkids who might enjoy riding the horse, playing with the other animals and such.  We wouldn’t want anything fancy, just something that we would be comfortable in.  The weather can get quite cool up in Buda.  There have been times when we were there and I felt that I wished I had a jacket to wear!  I don’t even own a jacket!  Ha ha…  So, Buda is on the list of possible future homes for us.
3. Southern Davao City. We have considered the possibility of buying a house or building a house somewhere in the southern part of the City, maybe in Central Park, or somewhere in the Matina area or south of there.  However, again, traffic is a major consideration in that area, so perhaps it’s not a good idea.  We used to live in Matina for a few months, and the traffic was a downside already, and that was in 2002, so I am certain that it is much worse now.  However, we feel that the traffic is not as bad there as it here in the heart of the City, and also we really like Central Park, it’s a quiet neighborhood, and also well kept.  So, it is at least on the list.
4. Cebu. Well, I haven’t discussed this with Feyma very extensively, but I will put it on the list anyway.  If I don’t respond to your comments, or if you don’t hear from me, that means that Feyma was not too happy by having this on the list!  Ha ha.. No, I know that Feyma has an open mind, and we have had a bit of discussion that I might want to move to Cebu sometime in the future.  Notice I said “I might want” not “We might want” because I have not convinced her yet.  I like Cebu, though.  There are some advantages there, but if we did move there, I doubt that we would want to live in the City, probably we would choose to live either north of or south of the City, maybe 30 minutes out of town or so.  We like quiet, as you know by reading my recent articles.  For me, a major attraction of living in Cebu is the language.  Being able to use my Bisaya in such an environment is something I find very attractive and inviting.  Also, there are a lot of conveniences and availability of almost any kind of products in and around Cebu.

So, you may be wondering… “why doesn’t Bob keep living where he is now?”  That’s a good question.  The real answer is that we are renting the house where we live now.  When we are ready to settle down and the kids have grown up, we would prefer to build a place (or buy if we find the right place) and live out the rest of our years there.  Notice that 3 of the 4 places I listed are in or near Davao City.  As I have said clearly this week, and before, we love Davao, and we always will.  But, you also have to consider all the options when you are starting to make plans for your final place where you will spend the rest of your days, or plan to.  So, that is what this series of articles is all about for me.  It also happens to give you an insight into what I am thinking about, and my reasoning.  Not that what I am thinking is all that important, but if you plan to live in the Philippines, then it is an advantage to hear what a long time resident has on his mind, or at least I think it is.

So, for me, this wraps up my part of the “Where I live” series on LiP.  There will still be a couple more articles in the series before it wraps up, but this is the last one that you’ll get from me.  I hope that you enjoyed my thinking, and that it brought you some information that might be helpful for you.

Our future plans: Samal

Anybody who has read this site for any amount of time will know that Feyma and I have had our heart set on moving to Samal Island.  Feyma and I purchased some land there about 2 1/2 years ago, and we have been holding on to a dream to move there and live on Samal Island after the kids have finished school.

But, there is more to the story than you may know.  I’ve discussed this with some readers that I have met in person, but I don’t think I’ve ever said anything here on the site.  Feyma and I have been thinking that Samal might not be right for us!  Wow!  Are you shocked?  I expect that a number of you are.

We didn’t come to this decision lightly, and we have not been thinking this way for very long.  But, it is becoming obvious that Samal is trending toward becoming very commercial, very touristy.  There are a number of large resorts and subdivisions under construction or soon to start construction on the Island.  This is not necessarily what we were looking for when we originally purchased our land there.  We were more looking for a peaceful place, rural, yet close to the City.  This way, we could be somewhat secluded, yet close enough to the City that what we wanted and needed would still be at our disposal.  It is starting to look like Samal will not fit our vision of our retired life.

The area where we own land appears to be right at the bulls eye of where a lot of development is happening.  One major resort community is under construction just a stones throw from where our land is.  We purchased land up on a fairly high hilltop overlooking Davao City, and the resort is being built right down at the bottom of the hill in front of where we are.  It doesn’t obstruct the view or anything, but it is just awfully close to where we would be living, and thus we have to consider things like increased traffic (pedestrian and automobile), a “partying” crowd of people, that kind of thing.  It just is not necessarily what we are looking for as we wind down to a quieter lifestyle.

Don’t take me wrong, I love Samal.  There is nothing I enjoy more right now than just going over to the Island and spending a relaxing day.  Even just sitting up on the hilltop looking out over the City of Davao with the Gulf of Davao in view… well, it’s almost heavenly.  But, what will it be like 5 or 10 years from now.

So, as of now, we certainly have not decided that we won’t live on Samal, we still may.  But, we are keeping an eye on the situation, and we are unsure at this point.  There are other things that we could consider too. We could still live on the Island, but maybe go further south on the Island where it is less developed.  Or, better yet, go to the other side of the island that is nearly totally undeveloped at this point, the side facing toward Davao Oriental.  Of course, there is something nice of viewing the City from afar, though!

So, is Samal still in our future?  Maybe, maybe not.  Maybe we would choose not to live there, but to still have a getaway there.  Maybe a rest house?  Maybe we would sell our land and forget the whole idea?  We just can’t say for now.  Don’t take me wrong, I am not against Samal, I love it.  I am just not quite sure that it fits the lifestyle that we are looking for.

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