TBK Travels- My journey to retiring in the Philippines

 

Palawan - Honda bay tour - 2013

So for those of you who do not know me....welcome to my new blog. I had a blog before in Bahrain but someone distributed a photo from it around my company and I had to close the Blog. Up into the ether went 5000 hours of work, 500 blogs, and I lost all my readers. I vowed I would start over but bigger and better, once I moved to live in the Philippines to live and this is it. 

El Nido Cove - 2014

My special thanks to the wonderful Chester Delos- Santos for the design work to create this site and for testing and training this technophobe blogger to get it all working. Next year we will also extend from Blog to Vlog with a You Tube channel of the same name.  Chester and Arvin have promised to help getting a Drone in Manila in February next year.  Corleen and I , with help from Kuya Dino , will be buying the camera gear in December before I head off to the Philippines. Chester has set up the You Tube account and we have been testing it with the wonderful Birthday videos I was sent for my 60th Birthday. 

You can check it out now on :

The British Kabayan Vlog 

Please do not forget to Like and Subscribe- I want to have more followers than Corleen's Pusa!

Chester Delos - Santos Porter, my business partner and Graphic designer

I would like to say special thanks to all my loyal supporters who rallied around from Canada, Bahrain, and the UK when the old Blog was taken down- this is for you all- we are back!

So why the Philippines? That is one of the questions I most get asked- and it is so easy to answer. EATS more fun in the Philippines! The people are so friendly, there are beautiful sandy beaches, there is great food and scenery, the weather is cooler than the Middle East and warmer than the UK. Everyone sings beautifully. I sold my last house in 2004 and have been in rented and company accommodation since so I wanted to set down some roots somewhere I can have and bring up my family. My parents died in 2000, my brothers are in their Seventies, and I had the fortune to be able to move anywhere in the world.

Subic- 2010

During my 11 years in the Middle East I visited many countries on vacation: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and India  as well as virtually all the Gulf Countries such as UAE, Oman and Qatar, But there was one country I enjoyed more than all the others. I kept returning there from  my first visit in 2000 when I was working in Kuwait. Later I returned on vacation from 2010 until 2019. I visited Manila, Subic, Baguio, Villa Escudero and Vigan among other places, and many of the Island such as Boracay, Bohol, Cebu, Corregidor, but the Island I visited the most was Palawan.

The wonderful reception team at El Nido Cove in height order, way back when

Here I made many friends like Jam Fernandez, whose HOPE Charity I have supported for 5 years and I now sponsor two girls ( 10 and 21) and a boy ( 20) through school and University there. In El Nido, where I stayed for many years , I met Marco, Ran and Ritchelle and we are all still firm friends to this day. In the end I got fed off being ripped off by Ayala when they put their hotel prices up from 5,000 to 15, 000 pesos a night . I decided to give up on the North ( El Nido and Sibaltan ) and settle further south in still largely unspoiled Port Barton,  St Vicente and Sabang . 

Drew and I on our first Honda bay trip

Drew and Jhoanne are in college in Puerto prior to pursuing and resuming careers in the hotel industry. Beth at LVF farms has been teaching me more Tagalog and Ate Gracie taught me Pinoy cuisine. Sadly in moving there I will left behind several Pinoy co workers such as the amazing Hazel, Dino and Jun, Vincent and the lovely Raoul to name a few. I have also been fortunate to have had 10 wonderful Pinoy houseboys : Jay, Corleen, Patrick, Ram,  Gabby, Vin , Joshua, Coco, Lee  and Jake over my 10 years in the Middle East. Unfortunately Jay died recently, but I look forward to welcoming the rest to my new home in Palawan over the coming years. 

Villa Escudero where I went with Vin

Finally thanks to everyone who taught me to Malandi ( flirt) in Tagalog -

Jayvee, Gab, Lee, Ate Tess, Jhoanna and Jullytot, Erickson, Eduardo, Marco, 

 

Sheila, Mars, Ariel, Hazel , Sheryl, Dino, Noel , Vin, Jay , Patrick, Corleen, 

 

Aravelle, Coco, Tin Tin, Drew , Joshua, Chester, Ritchelle, Ran , Marnel and the 

 

other staff who used to work at El Nido Cove Resort and Spa before it closed down

earlier this year.

I guess I had better end in Tagalog...


Magandang Umaga Kabayan,
Kamusta kayo  ?
Kita Kits

Ingat

( Good morning Countrymen , how are you, see you soon, take care!)  

Dirty ice cream in Vigan with Vin