Three months on - August 2022- The Blue house is complete
I was just looking at the top 5 most popular blogs of TBK and the most read blog of mine with 221 readers is : My new home in Puerto Princessa, Palawan, Philippines- A Blog and Vlog special. I published that in May 2022 and did a follow up in June 2022 called TBK Tells- Life in the Blue house which had 101 readers. So I thought now it was time to write "The Blue House- 3 months on"
My huge kitchen with cooker, fridge freezer and electrical equipment
We now have all the furniture and equipment fitted including a huge fridge freezer ( full as I cook at home daily and freeze what I don't eat for future use). The washing machine is constantly in use ( 2 beds, towels for me , my guests and Chester's bedding plus regular changes of clothes due to the rain and humidity). The cooker is equally well used as I cook breakfast , lunch and dinner for m guests. So far the spare room has been occupied for 30 nights with visitors from Manila, Nacpan, Barutaan, Roxas, Brookes Point etc., and we regularly have guests for lunch like TJ, Sarah, Jhoanna, Julios, Jullymar Bebe, Alvin amongst others. We have replaced many of the spices that got damaged in storage and Chester sent us a new set of Chef Neil Spice labels. The kitchen has spread and spread and we had two extra tables installed for all the electrical equipment ( Microwave, Rice cooker, Blender, Juicer, ice crusher, toaster, kettle hand held mixer , steak grill, toastie maker etc.) /. Some are new additions here in Palawan ( kettle, ice crusher, toaster, rice cooker) whilst others came from Bahrain ( Juicer and blender) and I still have the toastie maker that Fran gave me in the UK 26 years ago!
My spacious dining, office and lounge area
One of the things that most attracted me to the blue house was the front "Commercial space" which is glass fronted and looks onto the road with roller shutters and its own CR ( which is now Chester's shower room!). The original intention of the landlords was to rent this out as a shop ( Sari Sari store) and people still ask me what my business is and what I sell! I am lucky enough to have retired age 61 and not to need to work again, having worked since I was 16, some 44 years, the last 11 of which were in the Middle East ( tax free income). I never married, do not smoke or drink alcohol and so , with help from my eldest brother , have invested wisely and already receive one pension ( from my first 14 year employment with Compass ) . More will follow as I get older. The next question is then " so what do you do?", I write blogs, make vlogs, cook, entertain and travel. I bought a lot of books and scrapbooks with me so had two bookcases made to measure with a printer table and a CD storage unit, all in mahogany to match the central feature, the 6 person Mahogany dining table ( all hand made by Rodel furniture here in Puerto Princessa. This front room was very hot when I first moved in and as I spend most of the day here I paid to have an AC unit fitted ( the only other room with AC is my bedroom, the other rooms have ceiling fans ) .
The Dining table, lounge area and on the right Chester's shower room.
One of the first things visitors comment on are the amazing pictures, paintings, maps and press cuttings that cover the walls. I had over 100 in Bahrain but selected the best 50 and had them reframed by Fakhrawi Frames ( http://www.fakhrawiframes.com/ before I left Bahrain. Then I have added a few more that were leaving gifts from Bahrain which I had framed here (https://web.facebook.com/newpalawanglass?_rdc=1&_rdr ) . I wanted to showcase local artists so I commissioned Arjen Abubakar to paint a portrait of a Cuyunon friend of mine, Rodel. You can read all about Arjen here https://palawan-news.com/a-cuyunon-artist-emerges/ and here https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2020/12/arjen-abubakar-cuyunon-artist-emerges.html. The painting, which is simply stunning, was framed by Palawan Glass and has pride of place in my lounge and gets admiring glances from passers by. Rodel's sister, Rhoda, and his niece, Matilda stayed here a few months back and several people asked if Rhoda was my wife and Matilda my daughter!
Rodel's portrait by Arjen
I gave the task of deciding what picture went where to TJ and she did an excellent job hanging everything ( with help from Kit and Chalsee and the carpenters from next door for the largest pieces). My other favourite artwork in my office area is a leaving gift from the Senior Training Officer at Bapco which she gave me on my last day and I had to get DHL to deliver to Palawan. It is simply beautiful, and together with my 10 year service certificate and many gifts from grateful delegates in my 11 years at Bapco ( Bahrain Petroleum Company) reminds me of how I got the money to enjoy my early retirement- thank you all.
Shukran Habibte Zainoob for your precious gift
Chester, our new 4 month old Labrador puppy has the run of the house and loves being chased around the Dining room table ( thanks Julios, Jovan, TJ) and watching Jhoanna dance ( sorry, could not resist Jhe!)
Upstairs we have 2 bedrooms and our third CR. The house came with the beds made by landlord Mickey, and a wardrobe in each room, The cupboard unit between the two bedrooms provides storage for all my medicines, ornaments and spare supplied of toiletries etc. ( my mother always told me to have spares in case it snowed!). Rhoda showed us how to do various towel folds and Jhoanna learnt some when she was doing her OJT at El Nido Cove and then Emil Batoy sent us pictures of more!
The spare room with one of Rhoda's towel designs!If you want to stay we are close to Puerto Princesa airport with flights from Manila through Cebu Pacific or Air Asia. There is a good van service from El Nido ( 5 or 6 hrs.) and the slower cheaper Roro bus ( 7 hrs.) and also Port Barton and Roxas. However please book a few weeks in advance by email as I have already had three double bookings where people turned up unannounced and expected to stay when the spare room was already full! I already have bookings for October and December and I will be away in September and November . We also have a big Christmas lunch in December for 10 people.
Chester has her own "bed" on the floor in my room at night
When he first arrived Chester could not climb the stairs so had to be carried to bed as he barked and made a mess on the floor if he was left downstairs. However he can now run up and down the stairs and, as Joven found out, eats anything left on the stairs! My wardrobe has a mirror door and Chester found that very confusing at first, barking at his reflection and even now he noses the sliding door open during the night to check there really is not another Labrador in the house!
The Master's bedroom where naughty guys get tied to the bed!
Above my head is a photo that Drew took of a romantic couple as the sunsets over Bacuit Bay at El Nido Cove to remind me of how I fell in love with Palawan back in 2014. There are also two framed Trip advisor reviews I wrote of El Nido Cove back in 2014 and 2015. The first one was read by 11,799 people and earned me a discount the following year from then Manager, Marco Martinez. ( you can read more about the first review by reading this blog:https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2021/11/tbk-travels-to-philippines-part-eight.html
Outside the Blue House is a gated compound ( although annoyingly the new residents of the apartments behind my house and the workers who have been making window blinds all week keep leaving the gates open allowing my 18000 peso puppy to run off down the road twice!) . Chester has finally learnt to go to the toilet here rather than in the lounge or kitchen. Each morning she wakes me up at 4 am to be let out and then fed. Its my favourite time of day- so quiet , the internet is fast then and I enjoy watering the plants that surround the house. I floated the idea of a compost bin once with landlord but get a very negative response. I bought my own bins and recycling bins from Bahrain and we separate paper , cardboard, metal cans, glass and plastic bottles. However currently we cannot find anywhere to take it so it all goes out with the trash which is collected in a huge truck that gingerly edges its way down our narrow street to the sea and then reverses all the way back up!
Chester and I love watering all the plants each morning as the sun rises
From my bedroom and office windows you can see the Mountains that form the spine of Palawan. You often have amazing blood red sunsets and every morning we wake to the sound of the Cockerels crowning and the wild dogs. Later on the growing collection of wild cats ( and as Jeanine warned) and kittens come to be fed. Chester is bemused by them and runs off sulking if they arch their backs and growl at him, or worse still come in the house or it on the back door step in the sun!
Chester and some of his Feline friends- Kit e Kat 1 and 2, Ginger and one of the two white kittens
Well hope you have enjoyed the latest tour of the Blue House, it will be the subject of one of my first new Vlogs with Luis once I get my camera back and have my lessons! We still a have a few things on our to do list like to finish checking our bank accounts spreadsheet, chase my SSRV, chase my camera, Buy a Drone and Go pro, have my guided diving lessons, and go walkies with Chester a week after his final vaccination. Our Christmas meal is in the planning stages ( menu, name cards, banner, Monito Monita allocated) and we are just waiting for my anaks to finalise the date so we can book the balloons. The Christmas cards, letter and photos are ready to email out and Chester's 2023 Calendar is in the draft stage.
Tatay Chef Neil ( aka TBK) and his Elves are ready for his first Christmas in the Philippines!
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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