TBK Gives -The British Kabayan is one year old

 

One of the first photos I saw of Chester

Or if you prefer , Black and white

Today The British Kabayan ( Blog, Vlog and Facebook page) is one year old and over the last year we have achieved great success as the Table below shows.

                              On Line Growth of TBK as at 1.9.21

I often get asked how the idea of boring old Blogger Neil in Bahrain became the super hero that is The British Kabayan. It's a long story going back to 2015 when I was on vacation in Doha , Qatar and I met an amazing guy called Chester Delos - Santos. He was working for a car hire company and offered to be my tour guide, meeting me from the airport, taking me around the city and to my hotel. He drew up an amazing itinerary and we agreed on the final details. I arrived at the airport and waited, and waited, but no Chester. He had given me a mobile number and I asked at the information desk if I could use their phone to call him but they apologised and said they could not do that. Our plan B was a café with free Wi-Fi and I went there and emailed him, but he did not reply. Eventually  one of the Pinoy waitresses called her Manager who called Chester on her mobile ( now that's service) and a very apologetic disheveled Chester soon ran through the door, apologising for oversleeping. He then revealed he had left his GPS at home and as he was new to Doha he did not know any of the places on the itinerary he had sent me! We got completely lost until I eventually said "Lets just eat here" when we could not find the restaurant he had suggested.

No caption required, Chester from the Archive in 2015

To cut a long story short he was, like most people you meet on the internet, nothing like his photos , and could not do any of the things he said he could ! He  was also hopeless at getting up in the morning. The early morning exercise listed daily on our itinerary consisted of me trying to wake Chester up to go for a walk on the Cornice ( hope I spelt it right this time, bro).

Chester in 2015 in Doha, when I finally woke him up- beyond incredible!

The one thing Chester WAS good at was graphic design and soon I employed him to prepare handouts, memory cards and the like for work, and then ILM Birthday cards for every delegate in 2019.
 

An example of a handout Chester designed for my ILM programme

I also used him for my personal stuff and we produced 10 eBooks, 3 calendars, and 2 blog sites together over the years, plus endless Birthday, new year and special events cards. So I now feel like I have shared all the best bits of the last 6 years with him.

Chester's mum and Patrick

There have also been the low points like when he had to move back to Manila and got a stress related illness which caused him to loose his job there. His mum was working in Bahrain and his brother at one point, although Chester himself never made it. So I acted as his personal representative in Bahrain delivering flowers and cards to his lovely mother Elizabeth from her son. The first time I was not sure where she worked so I took along Patrick ( Mrs. Garmin) who knows everywhere and everyone in Bahrain. He took me door to door and then strangely I saw Chester's mum's face light up when she saw Patrick. It turns out they were once dancing partners! What a small world.

Chester's Christmas present from his mum

In 2020 during the COV 19 crisis I drove past her Salon on my way to meet a friend and wondered if she was still there. When I started to write this blog I found the picture of Chester's mum and the flowers and chocolates that Ram and Patrick put together for her. Then the next day I got an email to say he had just heard from his Mum and as all the Salons were shutting in Bahrain due to COV 19 and she had no work and no money . He said she was only able to afford one meal a day. Chester asked if I could deliver the money I owed him for some design work to his mum so she could eat. He also asked if I could I pick some flowers from my garden as a Mothers Day gift for his mum. He sent me the picture I had just found to remind me where she worked and what she looked like! So I asked Lee to put some flowers together for me ( as Ram and Patrick had by then left Bahrain) 

At the last minute I got a message saying her employer would not let her out so we cancelled the flowers and I just transferred some money to her bank account in Bahrain.

                             

                              Chester's dad. Chester and his dad's favourite coffee mug

Sadly since I started this Blog Chester's dad died which hit him really hard and he used his creative skills to make a beautiful memorial video for his dad to mark 40 days since his passing. My condolences again, Chester, to you and your family on your great loss. 

Chester's mum with gifts from her loving son , Chester

When I told Chester I wanted to start a new blog when I moved to the Philippines he came up with the name, The British Kabayan, set up the site for me, made the blog footers, and even cut pieces from my old Best of the Blog eBooks and added them to the new blog. 

He also suggested that Vlogging was the way to go and created a Vlog of the same name on you tube ( click on this link and subscribe

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCguk78T3Po2gYm_ax1gLdaw) 

Next came The British Kabayan Facebook page and the rest as they say is history. My thanks to Chester for helping make TBK such a success. 

Chester drew up detailed plans for my move to the Philippines in February 2021 with details of my quarantine, flights etc. . However at the last minute I was told I needed a Visa to enter the Philippines due to the COV 19 epidemic, and here I am , now in Dubai, In September, waiting for my visa!

One day I hope to move to the Philippines and plan to meet with Arvin and Chester in Manila to buy a Drone and better quality cameras ( Go pro etc.) for my new adventure as the Vlogger - the British Kabayan. We have now published over 150 blogs and vlogs in one year with another 100 ready in draft . The blog has gone from zero to 10,000 readers. That's just amazing- thank you all!

When I finally get to the Philippines I will be  creating more Vlogs to show you all where I will be living for the rest of my life. I have recruited a new Video editor , TJ, who I am sponsoring at college and I have a new Vlog collaborator lined up as well. So although you will not be hearing from Chester so much in the future he will still be there and his work will live on through The British Kabayan. His mum has invited me for dinner when she returns to the Philippines and I am told her Beef Kaldereta is legendary!

For the last 11 years in Bahrain I have traveled the world ( Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Oman, India, UAE and the Philippines). For the next 10 years I am going to try and visit the rest of the Philippines and share that journey with you. Only 7000 islands to go.

So I will end by thanking the guy behind all my wonderful publications for the last 6 years- well done Chester. Great job.

Until the next time ...