TBK tells- One year in the Blue House/Philippines and our 410th Blog

 TJ reminded me on April 1st I had been here a year. I had already written this Blog but not published it- so lets look back on our first year here:

One year on and Alvin's tree is nearly taller than him! I love the different colours of Maggie's plants and my first task each day is to water them. Then I make my breakfast and Chester's. He is now nearly one year old ( 9 th April) and sleeps until 6 am , can climb the stairs on his own and jumps into the car on his own. Life is so much easier than when he was a puppy and could not get upstairs, wanted to be let out to pee at 4 am and had to be lifted in the car! He loves his daily walks and his week by the sea every 2 months, and is helping get me fitter and thinner. 

Those early battles with my Bank and Saving house in the UK ( won one , lost one) seem so long away . Now I have money in a bank account here in Palawan and can withdraw it by ATM without the huge UK charges. I can also transfer my money from UK to Philippines on line and my Compass pension goes into my UK account as regular as clockwork ( just pays for the house and car rental). 

A longer , two year, battle, with the Philippine Retirement Authority was also eventually won , saving me 3 visits to Manila ( flight, hotel, dog sitter etc) and associated expenses. I am now the proud holder of a SSRV. Thanks to Chester ( the Hooman ) for taking me to the PRA office when I arrived in Manila and for representing me twice and sending my documents by Grab a third time!

This means I do not have to renew my Tourist visa every few months and can stay here permanently. In return I have deposited $10,000 in a bank account which I cannot touch and had to give them details of my pension, health and clean criminal record ( checked twice in Bahrain, once here and then by Interpol) .

So having proved to my Bank I am not here to Money launder and to PRA I am not a criminal, how do I spend my days?

I was blessed with a beautifully planted garden by my landlady , Maggie, who grows and sells plants ( and breeds cats and dogs). I water it daily and one of my 3 houseboys , Joven , does the weeding on a Saturday ( I find it hard to bend down) . Close by is a lovely walk along a quiet road to a restaurant by the sea ( Badjao Seafront) so Chester and I walk there and back once a week ( 5000 steps) or sometimes we go to the Fisherman's Port at Banco Banco. Most evenings we walk at Baywalk which has restaurants and magnificent views of the mountains.

                    The view from one of the restaurants at Baywalk

When I lived in Bahrain I would take month long vacations and visit Palawan ( 2013,2014, 2015, 2017,2018, 2020) but now I live here I feel no desire to travel outside the island. All those PCR tests and paperwork and extra insurance, flight delays and cancellations during COV19 did my head in. Likewise the hassle of moving house, staying in hotels, changing my address etc. So now I just load up the car with Chester and my things and we drive off to a hotel by the beach for a week once every two months. We visit old friends, make new ones, eat out, walk on the beach and Chester loves swimming. You can see our many " Chester goes to..." Vlogs on The British Kabayan YouTube channel. We started in Sabang then Alimanguan, Nacpan, Surya and still have plenty more places to visit ( Coron, Cuyo and Balabac head the current bucket list.

                           The latest in our "Chester goes to..." series

My other hobbies also now have more time and resources dedicated to them. My colleagues in Building B at the Oil & Gas Academy in Bahrain gave me a most generous retirement gift which paid for a new Cannon camera, tripod, lighting and microphones. Here in Palawan Luis taught me how to edit my own vlogs and now we have over 120  =vlogs on the TBK YouTube channel, 44  of which I edited, one by TJ , 1 each from Corleen and Mama Jam! Chester ( the Hooman) edited 74 Vlogs until I learnt how. One day I will learn to use my Kindle. I am getting a more Powerful lens for my trip to Coron and next year a Drone and Go pro camera. 

Since I first attended a Cordon Bleu Cookery course in the UK in 1976 I have loved cooking and on many vacations had cookery lessons as I travelled. I then added to my Malaysian, Cambodian and Thai cookery certificates by learning Pakistani and Indian cookery from friends in Bahrain . Finally attended a Pinoy cookery lesson with Jhoanna and Chef Poochie here in Palawan. In my retirement I have enjoyed passing on my culinary skills to my younger friends ( Noel, Frythy, Kevin, TJ, Jhoanna, Joven ) and making many TBK cooks vlogs. On Jan 15th we launched our 2023 recipe book and add 6 recipes each month. Special thanks to our guest Chefs ( Mama Jam, Poochie, Chef Arnell, Barbara, Noel, Frythy, Joven, Bazz, Miss A, Joven and Chester's mum Elizabeth) and to Chester ( the Hooman) for putting it all together and online, and finally to my neighbour, Benny, for tasting all the food. He loves smoking meat in his BBQ outside my back door so , in return, we get ribs and steaks!

Photography, travel and supporting those less fortunate than me have always been part of my life, and now I have retired here in Palawan I am keen to promote the island as a tourism destination. It was hit hard when it's borders were closed to foreigners for a year by COV19 and then Typhoon Odette. However this year many cruise ships have docked in PPC and the hotels are filling up and being refurbished or rebuilt after the Typhoon and reopened. Chester have been travelling the Island taking photos each month for his 2023 Calendar and we have contributed to the Alimanguan Skimmers, HOPE and several local basketball teams.

   Chester and I with some of the Alimanguan skimmers at their Coastal clean up

In addition to Aimae who I have supported since 2017 through HOPE ( she is now 13 and studying in Aberawan) I have 5 students at University here that I support ( Kit and Elay are first year, Grecil second year, TJ and Jhoanna final year. I also pay three young guys to keep my house clean and do my ironing, wash my car, and do odd jobs around the house. Frythy (18) and Noel (17) are at the nearby Palawan National school and come to clean from 5- 7 pm on Monday and Weds and Joven is first year at PSU and works for me on Saturday from 8- 5. I also sponsor Frythy's sister at Junior High school where she is studying art. Sadly, with a limited pension ( 50,000 pesos a month) I am unable to help or support anyone else this year. 

Joven cooking Blackberry and Apple parcels which will be in the Recipe Book on 15 April

It's really great having these young people visit and teach them new skills. They  also help with the filming for the vlog and blog ( which they are very good at) and Jhoanna searches out the bargains in the market each week. Jhoanna spent several hours last night registering the sim card for my Globe at home prepaid Wi-Fi and checking the Wi-Fi speed so now I can blob at home again. Joven fixes everything that breaks, puts up the blinds and keeps the car clean. Kit and Grecil are at college further away so visit when they can . I love taking Jhoanna and her boyfriend Jullymar out for lunch and we have discovered several new restaurants together this year , like Rustic Café on BM road.

 

TBK , Jullymar and Jhoanna ( the selfie Queen) having Roast Chicken at Rustic Café

One of the questions I used to get asked a lot when I announced my retirement in 2020 when I turned 60 was " What will you do?" and " Won't you get bored?"

One year on the answers are clear - plenty and no way!

In fact I often have to put things off because I don's have time! How did I ever manage to fit work in? The original plan was to rent a house for a year and then buy a place. Legally I can buy a condominium but having seen the Condos here there is no way I would buy one. I love my big house, in a quiet road, near the malls and airport with lovely beaches less than an hour away and lots of great restaurants... and of course my lovely garden!

Next to the Brown house and the Blue house the Orange boarding house has now been completed

I love the shaded area beside my house where I can hang my washing when it rains

      My Frangipani ( Calachuchi) which reminds me of my garden in Bahrain

Well that's all for now, time to cook breakfast and then make lunch and dinner. I hope you enjoyed my look back at my first year here in Palawan as much as I enjoyed writing it and I will end with just one more photo of my lovely garden.

My house is on the right and then there are 6 apartments behind , of which only 3 are let so far

I just remembered, as that picture was uploading, another joy this last year has been all the people that came to stay. Mark from Manila was here for a week and will be back in May, Rhoda came with Matilda and then again recently alone, Grecil and John, Kit and Chalsee a few times, Alvin, Kevin, Jhoanna, Elay, Bebe, Danica, TJ, Jhoann and Joven . If you would like to visit you are very welcome but please let me know well in advance as I only have one spare room and am away a lot.

Ingat Palagi ( Take care always) and Kita Kits ( see you soon!)