TBK Travels- Countdown to Palawan - 80 days to go and still so much to do!

My latest Countdown poster designed by Chester

In case you missed the "90 days to go" Blog, a quick recap:

When I first decided to leave Bahrain I found a website "How many working days until Feb 14 2021" and it gave me a countdown! Back then it was 300 or so days to go, but as I write this on 25 October 2020 it's 80 days and I got Chester to create this poster! You can check how many days are left now by clicking the link below

How many days until Feb 14

So I thought it would be a good title for a blog and over the coming weeks we could record how I am getting on preparing for my new life in Palawan. So here is the second update:

The Projects team remove 5 Bougainvillea and trellises from my Garage wall

In the last 10 days we have been busy getting rid of the stuff we do not need. I sent out emails, posted on Facebook, wrote a blog about the end of the Awali compost and someone shared that on Twitter ( or was it Instagram?) - thanks Jameela. The lady who lives opposite the back of my house invited me and some other work colleagues for tea and then we all did a tour of my garden and they decided what they wanted to buy! Finally my gardener Shji has been doing a great job ( I offered him 10% comission on all plant sales!) telling all his customers about my wonderful plants that are for sale!

My favourite Bougainvillea that has guarded my back door for 11 years

The good news is that in spite of Nina, Marisol, Gerda and Barbara driving hard bargains and negotiating my prices to half of the asking price in just 10 days I sold 500 bd ( 1000 GBP or 58,000 Philippine pesos) of plants and compost! On Saturday 17th October the lorries and Jeeps were backing in at the front and rear of the house to collect their plants and I felt like a bookmaker at the Epsom Derby as I stuffed 20 bd notes into my pockets!

One of the many lorries, Jeeps and wheelbarrows used to collect plants and compost

At work I had my Record of Interview to find out why I was leaving. I told Nooralhuda it was because of Maureen but she wrote down "Retirement", the same as happened with Peter! I did some more research into the relocation package with Mike, Martin and HR and decided to opt for the financial payment option after Bapco kept me waiting for two months, told me to email the wrong people, and then wanted to send my stuff back to the UK and not to the Philippines! So now I get 1900 bd for my shipment and I only have to pay out 500 bd and so I make 1,400 bd ! Baliw!

Handing over marking of ILM 2 presentations to Evan

I handed more stuff over to Evan and explained to Nooralhuda how to reply to our audit findings which arrived from ILM in Dubai. Hazel and created a new Customer Care course for our Security Colleagues with some help from Chester who provided some excellent graphics overnight.

One of the poster size exercises created by Chester in Manila overnight

We have 21 courses to run between now and December , as well as my ILM classes and marking, so thats every day filled until December! After the morning classes Rakesh and I recycled all the 2020 handouts for ILM 2 and 3 that we did not use due to COV 19 and the classes going online. Evan wants to change everything for next year and we are moving offices again soon ( from Building B to Building P) so the less stuff I have to move the better!

Rakesh shredding old ILM assignments

So its been a very busy 10 days but there is more to do in the next 10. My 2021 calendars will be arriving from the UK for my friends in Bahrain so we need to get envelopes and add the cards and letters I prepared when I was off sick. We have another 100 plants to market and sell. I need to get my act together and apply for my Philippine Retiree Visa and much more