But, I still need to work and a power outage is almost assured. So, today, we ordered a gas-powered generator that we’re scheduled to pick up in the morning. It’s nothing fancy – just enough to run the computer, a fan and the fridge. We’ll see how that works out.

Living in the Philippines will make you do some interesting assessments of your ability to adapt. I guess that’s why I see so few foreigners out here. I’m told they live all around, but I have come to doubt the perceptions of the locals. If you took 20 foreigners (from Europe and the U.S.) and placed them in one of the nearby towns, they would probably consider it an “invasion”. My next door neighbor is German – but he spends a lot of time on the road (he’s currently in South America – no jokes, please). Every now and again, I’ll see some aging foreign guy over in Subic (which caters to tourists) – but that’s about it. One may find this odd, since it’s so cheap to live here. But everything has its price. Sure, you can get a live-in servant for eighty bucks a month. But it’s a bit tough to tell your maid to clean up the house by candlelight. I’m exaggerating, of course. The power only goes out two or three times a week.

In all, I’ve come to the realization that no matter where you live – there’s always the good and the bad. Here, I think the best part is being able to slow down and look at all the fruit trees on the property while eating dinner on the porch and watching the sunset. Eventually, I guess I will come to understand the workings of this culture and the completely different way that the people think. But that’s okay – I have all the time in the world. Unless, of course, I’m listening to Harold Camping (or the Mayans)…

According to MY calendar - you'll lose power 12 hours before you get your generator

I’m surrounded by trees of all types. I count ten varieties of edibles beginning with a huge avocado tree that is already providing its bounty. Others will soon follow suit as we head into the summer months. Alma and Rita (our maid/helper) are planning on setting up a garden and that will be nice, too. It’s no problem to do this on a tropical island, of course, and they’re talking about planting corn, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and other vegetables that grow so easily, here. The locals do this, as well, which makes for low prices when you want to purchase something for dinner. And, of course, there is an abundance of cashew trees which we pick from and then roast (far more than you may imagine – this property also has a cashew grove on the opposite side of the road). It’s interesting, the cashews taste more like pistachios (which I really like) – and watching the roasting process is an experience (see photos below).

Last week, we went into the town of Subic and shopped at the duty free market (click here). Subic was once a U.S. military base, but it’s mostly for tourists, now. My brother-in-law’s friend drove us out there. It takes about 45 minutes – but the drive is pleasant and quite picturesque. There are a lot of good restaurants in Subic and we had lunch at one that specializes in steaks and ribs. I was surprised at how good my babyback rib plate was – especially since it only cost about $6. Alma and I stocked up at the duty free store which resembles a Wal-Mart Supercenter. We plan on making the trip once a month.

Other than that, I’m in the process of getting healthy. My diet has almost no sugar in it and contains fresh fruit and locally grown produce. I consume a good amount of filtered water each day in order to get rid of toxins and I set up a daily exercise program. The exercises harken back to my martial arts days (performed twice, daily) with upcoming trips to the local resort pool beginning this week. I have the equipment to monitor my blood sugar each morning and that’s been doing well (as you would expect with a proper diet and exercise). Best of all, I feel better than I’ve felt for a while.

Work is steady and I enjoy my dinners on the porch at sunset with Alma and Rita. This weekend, we’re having company for dinner (not in the Hannibal Lecter sense). It’s our way of saying “thank you” to the relatives who helped us to move. Our local relatives live in a “compound” just down the road, consisting of several houses. Our next door neighbor (not the water buffalo) is an engineer from Germany and seems like a very nice guy.

Anyway, I need to finish out the day’s work and relax at dinner time. I can honestly say that I feel myself slowing down to meet my peaceful surroundings. Go figure…

Roasting Cashews

Roasted Cashews Before Peeling

"Hey - I smell cashews roasting."

Speaking of silver linings, Alma and I managed to complete the move a week later. We now live in a large, gorgeous house on a pretty big lot. Here, we’re just a stone’s throw from the beach and within walking distance from the same resort pool that we visited during the Zambales family reunion (!!) The next town over is the resort town of Subic. The property we’re on is complete with mango, avocado, papaya and various other fruit trees. The lot across the road (still a part of this property) contains an abundance of cashew trees.

I’ll go into more detail as time goes on. But still, the best part is the slower peaceful lifestyle that one would expect on a tropical island. For that, I’m really thankful…

The House

The View

A Neighbor

With that said, let’s take a look at my upcoming move in less than a month. It’s scheduled for around April 10^th – 11^th. We’re in the process of packing and the relatives are preparing our place of residence in the new location. If you haven’t already guessed where we moving to – it’s the province of Zambales! I’ll talk more about Zambales, as time goes on – but here’s the deal. After careful consideration, I knew that I wanted to get out of Pasig City (Metro Manila) and move out to the provinces. So, my brother-in-law suggested that I check out two houses for potential relocation. The first house was a small two bedroom place located on his family’s compound (several houses and a small sari-sari store). It was okay. But the next place was amazing.

We’re talking a large 3-bedroom house with two bathrooms – actual bathrooms with tubs and hot water (!!!).  It has a huge yard in front and a substantial yard in back. But, get this – the back yard has a splendid view of green fields and multi-colored mountains (!!!). At the end of my work day, I can sit outside and watch the sunset as the entire area goes completely dark. The air is clean (I didn’t have to clean my glasses once over the two days that we were there – in Pasig, I have to clean my glasses every day – even if I’m inside the house all day). The market is only ten minutes down the road – so is the beach. There is also a duty-free store nearby. Within a five-minute walking distance is the same resort and pool that we used for our family reunion. Because it’s a resort location, banks and all the amenities are present. The Internet is faster (due to the fact that fewer people are on it) and cable TV has all the channels you could want. Both the Internet and TV costs are cheaper than Pasig, as well. There will also be a maid arranged for us. But, get this – rent for the house is 7,000 pesos a month (!!!) – less than half of what I’m paying now. This means that we can save up for our own home in the future. By the way, this house is owned by the sister-in-law of my brother-in law’s wife – with no three months to pay, in advance – just two. This means a cost of 14,000 pesos to move in vs. the 45,000 pesos it cost to move into my present home.  It’s also just five minutes down the road from my brother-in-law’s compound  and the family promises to visit us every day – until we buy our own transportation.

So that’s the size of it. Yours truly is finally doing something that many of us can only dream of doing – moving to a tropical island near the beach with mountains and an abundance of mango trees – complete with modern conveniences and a loving family. It really doesn’t get better than that. More to come…

As you can see, I’m in a good mood. There’s a very good reason for this. I could prattle on for decades, but I’ll try to keep things succinct. Here’s the deal regarding my experience, so far, in the Philippines. I’ll try to directly relate it to the places I have lived in since I arrive on June 5^th, 2008. Here we go:

• Home #1 – The ironically named “Greenwoods Executive Village – Phase IV – a small, one bedroom, two story apartment with plumbing that was damaged by construction next door. As a result, the bottom floor flooded and I slipped coming off the stairs, in the poor lighting, (while getting ready for work) and broke my leg. And trust me, you don’t want to break your leg in a Third World Country. Prior to that, I worked in three call centers for about 18,000 pesos a month (minus taxes, etc.). Transportation was just short of horrendous (and expensive to boot). Rent was 5,000 pesos a month.

• Home #2 – Still in Greenwoods, Phase IV – but a larger home with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms (no actual “bath” – just the standard cold shower). This was when the flood hit (from Typhoon Ondoy). After being rescued by the Philippine military, we spent about a month with relatives in Kapasigan (This included my encounter with the flying cockroaches – don’t ask). We came back once the flood waters receded but I couldn’t work at the call center anymore since I had surgery on my leg. However, this was when I discovered oDesk and I could make more with my writing than at a call center. Much more. At this point, the roof was coming apart and it rained inside the cooking area of the house. Rent = 11,000 pesos. Time to leave.

• Home #3 – Greenwoods, Phase VI. A much nicer sub-division where attorneys, bank executives, basketball players and actors live. Nice looking house with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Too bad there’s all this construction going on – so it’s noisy. Plus, the water pressure is not good during the day. I could go on. Not to mention the fact that we are still living in Pasig City (Metro Manila). A “less than clean”, third world country-type city. Polluted with no exhaust limitations on the vehicles. But I’m now working at home on oDesk for about 16,000 – 21,000 pesos per week. This is the equivalent of what two neuro-surgeons make together (seriously – I checked). Rent is considered cheap for my place at 15,000 pesos per month. Add in the cable TV and broadband Internet connection, maid, etc. Not too shabby, but still…

• Now for the GOOD stuff. Home #4 coming up on April 10^th – 11^th. The place that I have always wanted to live (you’ll see why, later). I will go into this, in detail, in my next post. But to give you a clue – this is SO nice that it actually brought tears to my eyes as I looked around. Finally- Peace.

Stay tuned…

Just waiting for Henry

But, as with all things, water seeks its own level. Not much response from the one assignment that I handed out. That assignment was to set up an oDesk account, complete your profile and then get back with me, so I can help you to take it from there. One person has done this in the weeks that have since past. One.

Oh well, that will only bring me to my original (and preferred) plan. As it turns out there are quite a few highly qualified individuals who already have oDesk accounts. They just don’t know how to get started beyond that. These guys are located throughout the world and many hold advanced degrees. It’s just that there’s no money to be made where they live.

So, my plan is to re-launch in March and begin signing up these guys. As of a matter of fact, when I first set up the company and posted an oDesk ad that stated I was looking for potential agents to work with me, I got 10 responses in about two hours. Each one had a degree and seemed quite capable. They were just new to oDesk. As I said, I’ll proceed along those lines, in March.

Beyond that, it’s been pretty exhausting. I have more work than I know what to do with. Which is really a good thing. But I’m not all that thrilled with the construction going on in this area. Too much noise and it’s affecting the water pressure. Since this area is attracting people with “money”, I don’t see this situation improving in the near future.

Which brings me to my new plan. I’ve decided to move out of Pasig City and make my way out to the cleaner air and beaches of the far more attractive Provinces (see: the Zambales post). Since I work online, I can work anywhere I choose (pretty much). In the end, I’d like to end up in a more picturesque area of the Philippines (where a lot of folks think I live, anyway). Trust me – it’s not all palm trees and coconuts in Pasig City. It’s more like 3^rd world city and viewing folks washing the naked kiddies out on the sidewalk, as I head out from my sub-division and into the main town. Seriously, all I need is a camera and I could work for National Geographic. Check out the photo of the main shopping area of Pasig City (about 20 minutes from where I live). Time to get to the place where I want to eventually retire…

I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THE POWER KEEPS GOING OUT.

I took a quick trip with Alma to pick up a few groceries, this morning. Mostly just to get out of the house. On the way out of the gate, I noticed something interesting. Our usual innocuous gate security has been replaced. The originals were just your run of the mill security guards with white shirts and blue pants uniforms – no weapons of any kind. I had to admit they were far from intimidating. These new guys – well. They wear berets and brown uniforms that are reminiscent of para-military mercenaries and (I kid you not) – they are ARMED. Some of them carry automatic shotgun-type weapons that make you want to say, “Hey, I LIVE here – really…I do!” Now this may seem a bit distressing to some. But I lived on Okinawa for two and a half years. For those of you who are not familiar – Okinawa is home for one-third of the U.S. Marine Corps at any given point in time. It’s also a training ground of the U.S. Special Forces (Green Berets) who they wisely keep separate from the Marines. To be honest with you, I never felt safer in my entire life when I lived around those guys. With that said – I honestly prefer these guards to the less than effective-looking ones that the sub-division previously employed. They’re pretty friendly to me, too (you know – the “American” thing). Anyway – back to work. You can also find my new company on Facebook. Just look under “Two Sticks and a Hammer Productions™”. Wish me luck…

"Good morning, Mr. Brennan - Nice weather we're having."

Anyway, the construction folks next door are off till the beginning of the new year (yay!). This means blessed silence throughout the day. Although I’m not one to criticize the lack of modern technology in the Philippines (big lie), seriously, this is just plain weird. After having spoken to one of the workers, I’ve been informed that it will take them about 10 more months to finish their work next door (!!). Here’s why – the owners of the house went the cheap route and only hired about five guys to do the job (no surprise there). So, I look out on my terrace and I see one of the workers crouched on a ledge next door and hammering on a piece of cement. Now picture this – he’s balanced in a crouching position on a ledge and his “tools” consist of a hammer and a stick with a nail jutting out (!!!). He’s hitting the back of the stick with the hammer and the nail is acting as the “chisel”. This is how they’re doing their work. I am not lying when I say that the methods they are using to add a second story to the house next door were developed over 5,000 years ago. Amazing.

Anyway, it’s Christmas Eve here and I just got back from visiting a relative over in the more populated area of town that Alma grew up in. They were having a wake, since Alma’s cousin recently passed away. It’s an interesting set up, since all the trappings of a standard funeral parlour are rented and the body is on display in the home’s living room.

Most of the family is in Zambales, so Alma and I are having a quiet Christmas at home. The big party will be here for New Year’s Eve. As per tradition, we’ll be up at midnight, tonight, and have our “special Christmas dinner”. Alma bought a can of Spam for this – which I thought was hilarious. Don’t get me wrong, I could have asked for anything, but I let her be frugal since we ended up with over 40 people on our Christmas list (!!) That’s a lot of presents – but fortunately there were five Wednesdays in December, so I had an extra payday to cover all this. It was also Alma’s first Christmas tree (that she actually owned – they had one in Hong Kong, where she worked, every year for the 16 years she was there). So that was good.

For the last payday of this month, I’m paying for the website to set up my new company that starts at the beginning of the year. We’ll have to be a little bit more frugal as a result of Christmas expenses and the start of the company. That means no actual Christmas gifts for Alma and myself this year. But it’s worth it. These are actually the biggest Christmas celebrations that I have ever experienced and I’m really glad that Alma is having such a good time. I hope you guys are too…

BTW – The holiday movie line-up:

• Santa Claus (the Mexican version)
• The Star Wars Holiday Special – and, of course,
• Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny

Case in point, we just acquired a new maid. As I mentioned before, our previous live-in maid missed her children and had to resign as a result. The new maid is named Rhea and she has a four-year old child that resides with her mom out in the provinces. Rhea seems quite professional and just might work out. We have a maid’s room on the first floor of our home, so there’s no problem with living arrangements. Plus there’s a bathroom just opposite the room and it’s in close proximity to the kitchen, living room, dining room, etc.

In the Philippines, a “maid” is actually known as a “helper” and performs more functions than just tidying up the house. Rhea also looks after our big dog, Onday, bathing her and taking her for her walks. In addition, she cooks for the family, as well. With the exception of yours truly since Alma cooks all my meals. She can also be sent to the market for small items and perform miscellaneous other tasks. She also gets every Sunday off, which is a bit rare over here. This is a good deal since she is only paid 3,000 pesos a month (which works out to about $68).

This may seem like a small amount, but I also pay for all her necessities (toothpaste, shampoo, food, etc.), so her pay is hers to keep and help out her family in the provinces. She’s 24 years old and had the unfortunate experience of recently being separated from her husband. It seems that he has a girlfriend and four children on the side. So now she was left with a child to support and no real prospects for a future husband, since there is no divorce allowed in the Philippines. That’s okay, we’ll look after her and she gets to be here to benefit from our Christmas celebration. Alma and I have 36 people on our Christmas gift list – so it’s a good thing there are five paydays this month (since there are five Wednesdays).

So our family has extended to include Rhea (who sleeps in the maid’s room), Alma and myself (in the Master bedroom on the second floor), niece Rancel (who has her own room on the second floor) and occasionally nephew Renmar and his wife, Cynthia (who can camp out in our pretty large 3^rd floor attic that has been converted into a bedroom – complete with TV and DVD player). Renmar and Cynthia work for a company that provides loans to retirees with pensions. They make a good living and recently purchased an SUV, which they use to take Alma and me around town when we need something larger than a tricycle. They stay with us during most weekdays since it makes it convenient to travel around to meet with their extensive client base. All-in-all it’s a good family arrangement.

Below is a picture of niece Rancel all dressed up for a beauty contest that her college gave in order to raise funds for their educational programs. She’s a pretty good kid. At 17, she’s a freshman in college and works part time at a local Starbucks. Her dad works in Japan and pays for her schooling and other expenses. Well, that’s about it for now. We’ll see how Rhea works out…