Chester's new calendar- we photographed the first month here at Daluyon hotel
Work in Progress, our new online recipe book will be issued monthly from Mid-January 2023, and we have signed up our first three guest chefs who will share their favourite recipes!
For my 60th I planned a big farewell and
Birthday party on the roof of the Gulf Hotel with guests flying in from the UK
and then Cov 19 intervened
My 61st I spent in Muscat at the Crowne Plaza with Mark. We had a great day by the pool and in the sea, a salad lunch and then went to Shakespeare & Co at the Wave for dinner.
Neil's 61st Birthday in Muscat
So, I decided to spend my 62nd alone at Daluyon Beach and Mountain resort at Sabang.
My ate Jhoanna sent me a message (including pictures on a banner and balloons at my house) and said:
"Hi Tatay, happy happy birthday, thank you for all the help and knowledge. You are the best Tatay I've ever seen and been with. Tatay, I'm sad because my birthday is the best, but it was only you and Chester on your birthday. But I know that you are happy on your birthday, so I am happy to you
I'm sorry Tatay sometimes for my wrong grammar and spelling. Happy birthday to you. I love you and thank you very much.Enjoy and God Bless”
Like my brother Andrew (now 74) the older I get the more reclusive I get. I enjoy being alone (with my dog) by the sea, with no phones, TV or other “NOISE”.
Our room is on the ground floor by the beach
Daluyon is perfect for that- no phones or wi-fi in the room and the young staff are so obliging and helpful. Like me Chester just loves to sit outside our room looking out to sea (although I think he is looking for the other dogs to play with!)
However, I saw an advert for a Grill & Chill night at the
Microtel on 30 September so decided to use that as my birthday celebration at
home (no cooking, no washing up, just turn up and pay Chef Arnel). They have
live music and its outside so Chester can join us which is good as I am taking
all his dog sitters for dinner! I have booked a table of 12 for me, Elay,
Jhoanna, Jullymar, Bebe, Gracie, Frythy and Noel, Jovan and Jona and Luis and his girlfriend Vanessa.
Chester decided to paddle out a bit deeper this time
So how did I spend my birthday? Chester and I had an early night due to a power cut (Brown out as they call it here) waking up at 5 am. We sat on the veranda and chatted online to friends in UK and Palawan until the sun rose around 6 am. Then after a shave and shower we headed off to the wharf along the beach. The sun was out and for the first time this week the clouds had disappeared from the mountains at either end of the beach.
That is how I knew my parents were looking down and wishing me a happy birthday!
Chester soon found his doggy friends and disappeared, and I continued to walk to the Wharf and watched the world wake up! This time I took my money and enjoyed a coffee and manok adobo (Chicken) and Itlog (boiled egg x 2) while chatting to the locals in Taglish about the impact of the Typhoon and Cov 19. A very helpful lady went to her sisters shop to get me XXL tee shirts (still only one of 2 fitted!) and then I walked back along the beach to find a very excited Chester patiently waiting outside my room, tail wagging, wondering “where his Tatay had gone off to!”
"Where did you go Tatay, I was waiting for you?!"
Over our second breakfast at the hotel (eggs benedict,
of course, still cold even without the journey to my room!) I discovered all my
lovely birthday greetings from all my friends (Gracie, Agnes, Prudz, Ran, Geralyn,
Jhoanna, Chalsee, Edzel, Jhoann, Frythy, Elay, Dionfil, Chester (the Hooman,
the dawg cannot type yet!) Kit, Phil and Di, Debbie, Carl, Jack, Kevin, Noel (sent by his secretary Frythy), Bernard, John, May, Martin, Evan, Luis, Mark, Julian,
Grecil, Joe, Gracia, Making and Peter Conway- what a list, thanks all. Hope I did not miss
anyone!
The amazing Cacaoyan nature park, about 5 km from Daluyon
After editing writing the first part of this blog, we headed back to Cacaoyan nature park for lunch and this time went around the park and then on back to the Buenavista Viewpoint to ascend to the top Platform which I missed last time. The view was well worth the drive (about 15 km from Daluyon). I had another cup of coffee and my Merinda (Tortilla chips) and a chat with some Pinoy dog lovers who had stopped there.
The stunning panoramic view of Ulugan Bay, a deep channel in the midwestern coast of the city.
After that I returned to Daluyon for a relaxing dinner. I had and washed down with two cans of Royal.
As I look back on the last 62 years, I want to thank everyone who helped me get here today. Sadly, my parents are no longer here to guide me but when the sun shone on my birthday, I knew they were happy with the way I turned out! They taught me from an early age the value of money, “Never a lender or borrower be” as my brother Richard reminded me the other day. As I checked off my mental packing list for my vacation and noted the start and end time on my printed map, and the cost of the petrol I knew I was my father’s son!
Neil @ 21 on a working holiday in Greece
My Brother Richard has long since given up in despair
at my ability to spend whatever money I get! However, he invested what was left
wisely and I was able to achieve my dream and finish work age 61 and retire to
the Philippines for my 62nd Birthday. He has coached me through my
altercations with Lloyds (now with the Ombudsman) and Hargreaves Lansdowne. He also reminded me of the next steps with PRA and my Medical Insurance. As I arrived
in Sabang the NBI called me to say my NBI clearance was ready! When I get
back, I will collect that and send it to Chester who will deliver it to the
Philippine Retirement Authority. Another task off my long “To do List!”
Luis managed the unmanageable and taught the 62-year-old dog new tricks – and tomorrow I will edit my 5th Vlog. I love his straightforward approach tinged with politeness “it did not work sir, because you forgot to transfer the video clips to your laptop before you edited them, so when you removed the disc, you lost everything!” He has also become a great advisor on all things Pinoy like having rice with Spaghetti and the dangers of Thirst traps, buraots and people who sing "'Aahon na ako sa hirap" on Tik Tok videos filmed in your bedroom!
My anaks and their partners are getting very excited for our first Christmas together
My Anak’s, get the last word, because they constantly
reduce me to tears with their kindness and love. Jhoanna has done a great job
looking after the house and in 4 days has got things fixed like the door locks,
water pump, lighting and fly screens that I have been waiting for my landlady
to fix for months. I should go away more often! Kit took a video of himself with a
birthday cake and candle and sang happy Birthday. Grecil even managed to say Hi!
I knew that I would never marry or have kids (ok,
never say never- 30 years left!) but they have proved that I would have been a
good dad!
You can now see the Vlog of my special day on our You Tube channel, or you can click the picture below:
And on that happy note I am going to end because the tears are rolling down my cheeks again.
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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