TBK tells- Life as a retiree

 

Back in Bahrain my life was controlled by my work- up at 5 am, get to work between 6 and 7 am, prepare for an ILM programme which started at 8 am until 4 pm, then walk home, so some gardening, cook dinner, eat and head to bed around 8 pm. I was off on Friday and Saturday and would have my houseboys clean the house on Friday and do my ironing, and the gardener would water the plants and do the weeding etc. Either I would cook lunch, or we would go to the Bapco club or a swanky hotel for Brunch and then sleep in the afternoon. Saturday I would do the shopping and cooking from the week ahead and then have a nap in the afternoon and back to work on Sunday (Muslim working week) 

          Princess Pav of Dubai in my garden in Bahrain one lazy weekend

Now I have retired to the Philippines and many people ask what I do all day. I always remember a lady called Beth in Bahrain telling me in the gym what a busy day she had. When I asked what she had done it consisted of a visit to the hairdressers, then a pedicure, manicure, nap, massage and when her husband came home, they went out for dinner. Would I end up as a "Lady who lunches?"

                           Chester can fall asleep anywhere at any time!

Chester sleeps on the floor in my bedroom (I tried leaving him downstairs when he fell asleep there, but he just follows me upstairs and pushes the door open!). He usually awakes around 3 or 4 am and then dances around the bedroom making whining noises until I get out of bed and take him downstairs. I open the back door and he goes out to poo and pee and see if he can find the cats or any stray dogs that have got through the gate in the night (they tend to go upstairs at the apartments behind us which are not occupied and sleep there.)

             One of the stray cats' sleeps on top of my neighbours Dustbin

While Chester is patrolling the estate I prepare his food, biscuits and chicken liver which he gobbles down when he comes inside, before drinking his water. Next, I make my breakfast (Boiled eggs or Granola or Muesli and coffee). As I try and eat that he tries to get me to play with his plastic bone or my old Van shoe which he has pulled to pieces. When the sun comes up around 6 am we put his harness on and go for 5,000 steps walk to Badjao Seafront (a restaurant by the sea along a quiet country road).

                                      Chester at Badjao Seafront

When we get back, I have another cup of coffee and check my emails and Facebook accounts and see how my Blogs and Vlogs are doing before washing up, sweeping the floors and mopping. I have houseboys who come on Monday and Wednesday evenings, so I do less on those days. I also do my washing (and clean towels for Chester to sleep on) and hang it out to dry in the sun then water the plants.

If my shoes get muddy outside, I will wash them as well and put them in the sun to dry. The big blue container in the picture above is for drinking water so if that is empty, I will take that to get refilled down the road (and if I have any guests staying, I will get some hot freshly made Mallanguy Pandesal ( bread rolls) ) . Eventually around 10 am I will go upstairs again to make my bed, clean my teeth, shave and take a shower.

Next job is to water the plants including my one indoor plant, a gift from my Landlady, Maggie, which needs water daily and has to sit in the sun for 2 hours. I also clean up any dog mess left by Chester or the stray dogs and collect any litter that Chester could chew and make himself sick. The worst offenders moved out but I still find plastic cups, cigarettes, nails, plastic bags etc. I also sweep the area where I park my car with a Wallis Ting Ting (which I watched being made from coconut tree leaves in Alimanguan).

The Wallis Tamboo (made in Baguio, allegedly) is for indoor sweeping (one hand behind your back and singing the Wallis Tamboo song (ask Patrick for the words). The Wallis Tin Tin is for outdoor use. The Wallis Tamboo can also be used for Palo sa Pwet on makulit anak!) 

             The Wallis Ting Ting is the one standing up to the left of the bench

By then it's usually about 10 am so I prepare my lunch which I eat at around 11 am. 

I took these photos a while back so not sure what I was making- maybe some kind of stew. Just as in Bahrain I make several portions at one time, usually on a couple of days a week then the Frythy and Noel can wash up all the pans on Monday or Wednesday. I eat one portion and put the rest in plastic containers in the fridge or freezer, so I just have to microwave it for 3 minutes later in the week and my meal is ready with minimal washing up!

I think I just counted 10 meals ready to warm up, plus extra in the freezer which need defrosting first, and I still have some Lamb and Salmon and beef to cook later today!

After lunch I start to feel sleepy so turn everything off downstairs to save electricity and lock up my front room as it has windows and doors onto the street. Then I head up to bed and turn on the AC there as the room will be about 30 degrees by then (I turn off that AC when I get up at 4 am). I catch up on emails and messages on my mobile lying in my bed with the curtains drawn and usually I sleep from 1 to 3 pm, to make up for getting up early.  Usually, Chester will have woken up downstairs, realised I am not there and then head upstairs to find me.

       I love my big table (ready for our Christmas dinner on 10 December) 

After a coffee, and maybe another shower if it's very hot and humid, and my third clothes change of the day, i will return to my "office" at 5 pm and turn the AC back on there (the front is all glass and the sun shines in there in the afternoon). That's when I do my "work", whatever projects I am working on. At the moment I am working in a recipe book for next year so will be typing recipes, taking photos as I cook dishes, or finding new recipes and making my shopping lists based on the food I need. Jhoanna does my main shopping and delivers it on a Friday, but sometimes I go to the Sari Sari store for fruit, soft drinks Cassava pie etc.  I also do the high-end shopping (Lamb, Steak, Salmon, Cheeses) from Puerto Deli so Jhoanna is not too out of pocket. Being Filipino she will get me about 30 items from washing up liquid, to dog food and cereals and cleaning materials and rice for about 10,000 pesos, and I will buy 5 items for 6000 pesos!

Once home I will unpack the food and put everything away and either get ready for dinner or prepare a snack ( Meryenda) for the boys when they come here from school around 5 pm on Monday and Wednesday. That way they get food after school and before they start work. On one of the nights, I will cook them dinner after they finish work at 7 pm, on the other night I will drop them off at Jollibee's so they can get a takeaway to take home and eat around 8pm while they do their assignments. I know they are only 18 but I really do not know where they get their energy from. By 6 pm Chester is asleep, and I start dozing off around 7 pm. Finally, I lock up, shut all the windows, turn off the downstairs AC, take my medication and some water to the bedroom for Chester (he has a bowl in the bedroom) and I (glass!) 

 

The other end of the table is for Noel and Frythy, for their task list, Merienda and soft drinks after school

Then I check my messages one last time (so 4 times a day - 4 am, 10 am, 1 pm and 8 pm) and go to sleep.

That is what I get up to as a retiree!