Camperbelles Capers

Angelicas 8th birthday

2012-03-11T18:13:00.004+08:00

At avalon Ark zoo Ortigas http://www.avilonzoo.ph/index.php?q=arkavilon

Vietnam December 2011

2011-12-30T22:09:00.002+08:00

2011 An overview Part 4

2011-12-30T14:50:00.002+08:00

September I was in Brussels in Belgium and Zeeland in The Netherlands and then Amsterdam for work , for a conference and board meeting, where my report that I’d worked on all summer was very well received. Zeeland is on the coast which was very beautiful looking across to Belgium. Very small conservative town . We caused a bit of stir ,the board meeting being multinational , and a rather loud raucous discussion about our work, in the local restaurant 
In October we travelled to Indonesia together as a family. Angelica was in plaster after breaking her led in a freak accident when our front gate collapsed on top of her. Rusted over the years and weakened by 2 recent typhoons it fell when she opened it . The fracture was relatively minor and could have been so much worse, the gate took 4 adults to move it was so heavy. Our experience with the Philippine (private) medical system was wonderful, in and out within 2 hours of arrival with a CD of ex-rays and the opinion of the most senior orthopaedic surgeon in Manila !
We travelled to Indonesia for a conference I was attending in Yogyakarta and stayed at the lovely Phoenix hotel , http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-5451-the-phoenix-hotel-yogyakarta-mgallery-collection/index.shtmll converted from an old colonial house. The food was excellent at the hotel ,if a little expensive compared to local restaurants which were also very good, particularly a French owned place called....One of the highlights was our trip to Borobudur Temple where Angelica had her Lazarus moment ...Marc carried her to the top thru 7 stages (levels) of enlightenment ,to Nirvana (the top) and back down when she stood on her leg and walked for the first time since the break  shame it wasn’t an hour earlier for marc’s back .
Late November I was on the road again but this time without the kids , to South Africa for a workshop, which went well but was pretty exhausting. We did manage a day tour and visited the Cape , some vineyards and drove around the stunning South African coastline. We stayed with our participants in a guest house www. acornlodge.co.za , which we had rented in Rondebosch a very posh (white) suburb of Cape Town and within Cape Town centre at Manela Rhodes Palace www.mandelarhodesplace.co.za, the weekend before they arrived.
Both were very high standard of accommodation and good value for money for a group sharing. We also went to Robbin island something I didn’t manage to do last time I visited which is very moving, especially the tour with the ex inmate, and worth the trip if only for the fantastic view of table mountain. We ate several times at The Waterfront which is a regenerated dock area and one night took our participants sailing on the bay at sunset. I really enjoyed the company of the participants from Uganda, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania. It was sometimes challenging organising the logistics to get everyone together but rewarding at the end of the day.
On the way home, I stopped off in North Wales to meet Mum at a family friends 80th birthday, not quite en route , but in global terms was nearer than Manila...then finished back at work in Amsterdam before heading home just in time for my sisters Jacqui visit.
Jacqui was in Manila to lecture at University of the Philippines , a far cry from Cardiff university in terms of facilities with the Archaeology department being located in what appeared to be a broom cupboard under the stairs. Managed to show her the bright lights of Manila, hanging out at M cafe for Thursday night DJs and B side to see some local bands www.facebook.com/pages/B-SIDE/252630244525,
We has hoped to get North to see the mummies but bad weather prevented us, which was a shame as we had the possibility of going with the curator from the national museum. It was the wettest December I have experienced raining almost non stop from the time she arrived to when she left. We did get to Batanes where we got stranded by bad weather. Whilst the trip would have been more enjoyable with better weather Batanes, itself is amazing and has a landscape more reminiscent of Dorset that The Philippines. I would like to return in a dryer period. The flights are expensive but I think getting the 6 seater from Tuguegarao-Basco on Pasada Air and using Cebu to get to Tuguegarao would be a cheaper option particularly for a family trip. WE stayed at rapitan di vasay, a fantastic place very good value for money and centrally located http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1191611-d2052527-Reviews-Rapitan_di_Vasay-Basco_Province_of_Batanes_Cagayan_Valley_Region_Luzon.html . We also stayed at the lovely http://www.fundacionpacita.ph/ Fundacion Pacita which is a Wuthering heights sort of place on a windswept headland. The rooms are all 5 star quality and the organic food very nice. Its ok for one or at most 2 nights but for longer I think you would be bored, unless on retreat or an artist, and for me being in central Basco was more fun. We took ourselves there after our flight was cancelled and managed to get a good low season deal at Php4000, 50% discount.
It was great to spend so much time with my sister probably the longest since we shared a flat in the 90’s , or was it the 80s? It was important to be able to share my life and for her to get to spend time with the kids on home turf rather than on holiday, and get to know them better. Hopefully she will come back for work sooner rather than later.
The year ended on a tragic note for the people of Mindanao with massive flooding and loss of life from Tropical Storm Sedong, current figures estimate over 1500 dead. Iligan was badly affected where I worked with VSO and I knew the area well. Whole communities were swept away in the night but luckily as far as I am aware no one I know lost family . Once again the Philippines inability to prevent people from living in known flood prone areas has led to preventable tragedy. For us as a family we lost my Mums sister Mary after a short illness. She deteriorated from an active golf player and socialite to being bed ridden in hospital in a matter of months, luckily she did not have to endure years of nursing homes . I did manage to see her last xmas and say good bye as it was clear then I probably would never see her again. I wasn’t able to get to the funeral but she knows there will always be a special place for her in my memories ...”aunty Mary had a canary “ and made us all laugh 
Our year drew to a close with a trip to Hanoi to stay with Michael and Leona, Joseph and newest addition Ryan. We has had a traditional roast dinner with turkey and all the trimmings. The kids got on well, the boys did their football things and Leona and I had a real chance to catch up again. ON the way home we will have a stop off in Ho Chi Minh and then home to Manila for the New Year Countdown.
So long 2011 , what a great year, if 2012 is half as much fun it I’ll be more than happy . Wishing you all love , good health and good luck for the New Year

2011 -An overview part 3

2011-12-30T14:42:00.002+08:00

Gianna became a teenager in June.....we went to see Kylie Minogue which was a fantastic show even here with a more limited stage set. The stadium was filled with screaming (mostly gay) fans and I think Kylie was bowled over by the support. Around the same time we went to Cirque Du Soliel, on a typical flooded Manila night, the poor Spanish technicians just looked shell shocked by the amount of rain pouring from the skys and ensuing rising water levels , the show went on, the staff bailed out water and we “sailed home” in 2 ft of water, a memorable night!

July we went to the UK for the annual caravan of visits sleeping in many different beds and living out of suitcases. We started off in near Bristol with jo and went to visit THE tree (planted in 2004 for the kids)which is now rather tall , although it seemed to have lost a few branches in a storm. It was a great to see jo happy with her new fella and the girls all grown up.....watching the teenagers together reminded me they will be gone before too long, they are so big already!

Its seems like yesterday we were all camping at the tree planting ceremony and angelica was a baby............ From there we went onto Cardiff and stayed a week with Jacqui. We had planned camping but in the end the weather didn’t play ball but we still had fun together, boating, swimming, going to local park and Gianna saw the Harry Potter marathon and final film premier at midnight with her cousins. From Wales we moved on to Edinburgh and spent time with Molly and Mario, we visited St Andrews together on a sunny day having fish and chips on the beach . A relaxing and chilled time being fed by Mario and looked after by Molly. 

From Edinburgh we went to Birkenhead , collected Mum and travelled to Aberdaron in North Wales where Michael and the kids joined us, and I stopped working for a week . We rented a lovely apartment part of the Ship Pub www.theshiphotelaberdaron.co.uk.
Anna, Tony and Sion and his girlfriend came to visit and we were able to spend time with Bernie and her girls who have a caravan on a nearby site. The Area is very beautiful with lovely walks and beaches. We went to whistling sands twice once in a torrential downpour and once in heatwave...typical summer weather. We took mum to Morfa Nefyn http://www.tycoch.co.uk/........the last time she had been there was with me and my dad when I was 18 months old. Great place especially on a summer evening with DJs playing outside the pub, presumably not there when my parents first visited, but a welcome addition....It was a lovely family time , probably one of few left with the big girls who will no doubt outgrown trips to wales with parents /grandparents before I can say wellington boots.

Our final stop was London for a couple of days before flying home. The riots struck and closed London down...exciting to see on TV, but darn inconsiderate when I had plans to catch up with friends and couldn’t make it!! It was all very deja vu when passing thru Peckham the day after and seeing the burnt buildings. I was living in Peckham during the riots in the 80’s....living in squats, supporting the miners strike, and women at Greenham. Common...where has time gone to? and how much and how little has changed ....Who would have thought I’d ended up running a radical activist feminist organisation 30 years later – ha ha

2011 An Overview Part 2

2011-12-28T13:38:00.003+08:00

Mum came out to visit in March and celebrated her 75 birthday in Manila. We holidayed in Batangas @ Stilts www.stiltscalataganbeachresort.net and Coral beach club www.coralbeach.ph/ and then in returned to Bataan Montemar beach club www.montemar.com.ph

Stilts ( a location from the film) has a perfect location, nice accommodation but is overpriced for the service and restaurant which serves only basic Filipino fare. Coral beach club has great rooms and is good value with the best food we have had for ages. However the location is not as great beach wise. All the same somewhere we will return to quick getaways. Montemar has undergone some further upgrades since we were last there and their restaurant has improved as have the rooms . The beach is as always spotless and clean. Good value off peak or for large groups sharing rooms. The best are the ones fronting the beach (and of course the most expensive)We enjoyed all 3 locations, even though we were kept up all night by Karaoke by Stilts they did not charge us for that night and were very apologetic.

Marc was off in the UK training for his new job during this time in March /April and returned to Scotland to see family for the first time in 4 years. He also spent time in London catching up on some curries and very expensive pints.
After Easter the kids started at the British school in Manila www.britishschoolmanila.org which has been a very positive experience . The classes are small, the kids and parents very friendly and they both are thriving both academically and emotionally. They follow the UK system and at 16 they choose IB or A levels. The kids obviously gained a huge amount from being exposed to Philippine culture as we have now lived here for almost 5 years (being able to sing the national anthem is a good party trick!) but the curriculum was becoming too limited for Gianna along with weird gender stereotyping and religious indoctrination, whilst Angelica was not learning at all within the huge class sizes. The transition was easy for Angelica but took a little longer for Gianna as she had to leave her old friends behind and start afresh as a teen which is rather more challenging. She’s still keeping up with the old crowd which is good, she hasn’t lost old friends but gained new ones !!!

The move to the British school was made possible by my work opting to pay for the kids education at International school rather than me leaving for another job and final recognition for the stress and hard work of the last 2 years getting WGNRR back on track. I have enjoyed the work much much more this last year as I have gained more confidence on SRHR content and policy issues as oppose to solely focussing on management issues. The team are a great bunch of people and we have fun in our globetrotting around the world. I managed to keep the travel fairly low for the first half of the year, but was back on the road 3 times in the last quarter in elsewhere in Asia, Europe and Africa. The travel remains a challenging issue for the kids especially Angelica and hopefully with new staff members joining in 2012, I can cut down again.

At the same time the kids switched schools Marc began his work at the British Embassy so things all of sudden began to look much more settled in The Philippines . I have a 2 year contract with a possible extension so looks like will be at least 7 years total in The Philippines by by the time we leave !!!! way more time than I could ever have imagined....

I was in Amsterdam in May and popped over to celebrate Michaels birthday. jacqui came down so was a family reunion night out!! The next day I went to Dublin nursing a sore head and caught up with Derval, Graziano and Family and then Marion who has developed a career in TV chat shows alongside a revitalised career in Law!! watched her set off for studios then on TV a few hours later...all very glamorous

2011 - An overview part 1

2011-12-28T13:31:00.004+08:00

2011 has been a whirlwind of activity and globe trotting, with our lives in the Philippines improving in many important ways with the likelihood of a further 2 to 3 years here. Xmas and new year was spent in Thailand with Claire, Jeff and kids a hugely successful trip with new year let in from a balcony in Bangkok watching the city’s fireworks. The start of an amazing year 
January and February 2011 was taken up with the film making which will have its worldwide release at the Berlin film festival in February 2012.

Marc and I are listed on the official festival programme next to Isabel Huppert which feels rather strange as we played along side Filipino superstars and winners of international awards. Both marc and myself have appeared in as extras in Nat Geo programmes, and get invited to do castings for extras from time to time for commercials etc but often we are too busy with our day jobs to pursue. Not exactly Oscar nominated film stars but its a fun way to make a few quid.....an an unlikely mid life career change .

Angelica had her 7th birthday in March at Chillis a restaurant and finally got a puppy for her birthday, a local Askal (street dog). I also finally got my Wheels  and became a Manila driver ..... Having the car has transformed our lives, I drive the kids to school as many days as I can and share in a car pool with other parents, and we have been out of manila on a number of trips...its great to have the freedom to explore more and stop where we please although to be honest the greatest benefit is being able to jump i the car and do the shopping, drop the kids off at “play” dates without walking or taking taxis, especially in the rainy season 

Gianna graduated from Grade school with a formal ceremony, gown and hat as well as the ball!!

| Berlinale | Press | Press Releases | All Press Releases - Berlinale 2012: First Films for the Competition and Berlinale Special

2011-12-21T15:57:00.001+08:00

| Berlinale | Press | Press Releases | All Press Releases - Berlinale 2012: First Films for the Competition and Berlinale Special

More Pictures from Prey

2011-03-09T12:54:00.004+08:00

Article in French press with quote from "Moi"

2011-03-03T13:19:00.001+08:00

http://www.telerama.fr/cinema/dans-la-jungle-avec-les-otages-de-brillante-mendoza,66205.php

For non french speakers u can always google translate

Pictures from the set of Prey Jan 2010

2011-02-09T15:55:00.005+08:00

The most amazing experience ................

2011-02-05T10:30:00.004+08:00

Finally finished the film yesterday and wow what an amazing adventure...I would not have believed anyone 2 months ago telling me I would feature in a movie .....even more surprising is the news that apparently I am a great actress .....as told to me by both the Director Brillante Mendoza (Best Director Cannes 2010) and Isabelle Huppert award winning french actress http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabelle_Huppert . Apparently I did scenes that moved everyone on set including The Director and the very experienced actors - I believe it was all down to the magic of Brilliante. There is no script and you never know whats happening until u shoot. The actors are told to stay in character and then react to the situations you are placed in. There was constant surprises and we seemed to be for ever dodging bullets and explosions. My character had to be scared and emotional ...well that was not hard, believe me as, u never knew when the next squib would explode or you would be dragged off to a new camp in the jungle ....

We saw a tiny tiny section of the film last night at the cast party and it looks amazing - everyone expects it to do well at Cannes this year in May. The film will be very scary I think and definitely x rated - I spent most of the film screaming and being chased through the jungle...but also spent 5 days at sea with my fellow captives. It helped that our abductors were all gorgeous to look at ...as for a long time that's all we could do .

I made a whole new set of wonderful friends . The bond between everyone on set was very very close partially as we had to live together for weeks. At night there was a lot of fun and letting our hair down together, but once back on set we all assumed our roles again .....and our drinking pals from the night before would once again become the hardened terrorists ....

The film itself was french financed and a very big project ....I don't think we are supposed to share too many details or pictures until the film is actually released but in the few photos here, u see Marc and I at the end, after his sad demise via a bullet to the chest ...hence all the blood.

Iam rescued by the solders and fly away at sunset in the helicopter ......theres also a picture of us all eating lunch in the jungle watched by the ever present audience that followed us wherever we went. As many of the cast are very famous here we got used to lots of people screaming at us and signing autographs (people just assumed we were famous hollywoods actors I think :)

I had to work as much as I could whilst filming so a regular sight on set was me at my laptop....I have to thank everyone at work for letting me do this and of course the kids for being so patient and Rishita and Fedra for moving into our house to look after them. They had a ball at weekends when they were brought to the set. The locations for the shoots were so beautiful and Marc and I saw some amazing scenery that we would not have ever visited by ourselves as hidden away in the jungle. One of the most spectacular sights in Subic was 1000s of huge fruit bats ( and I mean huge) flying in the beautiful sunset. When I can I will post more pictures and information

The only shame was that I was made to look so terrible for the movie. Everyday in makeup they would add years to me and cover me in mud, mosquito bites, cuts and brusies .....it didnt help that many of the actresses were so dam good looking, particually the beautiful Mercedes who I was roped to for days.....http://www.facebook.com/mercedes.cabral

Xmas Holiday in Thailand

2011-01-02T11:19:00.008+08:00

For Xmas we went to stay with our friends Alison and Joesph and their 3 lovely girls Jo, Caroline and Sarah. They have a nice condo with pool right in central Bangkok where we stayed for a few nights before travelling by luxury van to Koh Chang, a small island around 5 hours from Bangkok. We stayed a smallish resort called Grand Cabana http://www.grandcabanakohchang.com/and a fab time was had by all.

The kids are close in age so they all got on well and kept each other amused. We went elephant trekking on Christmas day and ended up in the water with them :) and went on a speed boat for a snorkeling trip. We also saw a bit of the island by scooter - it is very beautiful a bit developed and busy in some places but then under developed in others.

There were a lot of empty places - apparently they are down by 50% 0n visitors from last year. Lonely beach was my favorite place and where I would stay if we went again - WE went back to Bangkok for new year and watched an amazing fireworks show from our friends balcony which was taking place directly in front of our building . Off home today :( to WGNRR board meeting and then film making and job hunting.

Time to move on and find a better paid position so that the kids can go to international school. Going back to the UK is of course an option but would be a retrograde step career wise .....have applied for jobs all over the world, Thailand, Washington, Geneva, NY, Jordon and of course the Philippines but all with good financial packages ....so have no idea where we might be this time next year.

As for the film making Marc and I have been recruited to make a film with an awarding winning Filipino director Brilliante Mendoza and french actress. We play hostages and will spend 3 weeks filing at various locations around Luzon. The film will be entered in the major film festivals next year - so who knows possibly a trip down the red carpet :) Watch this space

CSA football team (Liverpool under 7s)

2010-11-27T13:58:00.002+08:00

Both girls played football today - of course one at 7.ooam and the other at 1pm. Angelica's kit is actually a full Liverpool kit with the CSA logo on the front ? :)

lake island rizal

2010-09-30T23:24:00.001+08:00

Marcs 40th Party

2010-09-26T12:35:00.003+08:00

August bank holiday fun at San Fernando, la Union

2010-09-06T21:21:00.004+08:00

went to La Union for the August bank holiday and although weather been wet we managed to have sunshine on each day along wth usual tropical storms. stayed at nice little resort www.sunsetbayphilippines.com - nice quiet beach - good family room with 1double and bunk beds , sat TV and hot water for P1600 per night, also had small infinity pool and excellant food. Owned by 2 Uk ex pats from hong Kong, spider the one who had been running it dies a few days before we arrived so rather wierd that we got there in middle of rememberence ceremony for him. Food was excellant especially the pizzas and fish and chips - even had malt vinegar- engish brekfasts also good with HP and heinz ketchup !! Flashy new resort nearby called Poro point www.thunderbirdresorts.com/info/philippines/en/resorts.poropoint very nicely located on headland - bit pricey but ok for rainy day reductions - glof cousre and fantastic pool - didint see rooms but also good for happy hour cocktails.....6 hours from Manila :)

July 2010

2010-08-10T06:19:00.006+08:00

Sugar Beach Negros April 2010

2010-04-19T20:39:00.005+08:00

- 1 hour flight plus 5 hours on bus Sugar Beach is worth the travel - we stayed a Takakuta Lodge http://www.takatuka-lodge.com/ hired our boat from http://www.sulusunset.com/ as they have cheapest boats and ate at Bermuda Beach resort which had the most amazing food!

angelica birthday party and volcano trip

2010-04-01T14:09:00.004+08:00

The cheerdance extravaganza 2010

2010-02-13T09:40:00.005+08:00

once again the girls have been part of the field demonstrations at CSA. Gianna got into the squad and has been practicing night and day. Angelica was enlisted with all her classmates as a Mexican girl.They both looked lovely In their costumes. Angelica's two front teeth that have been wobbly since October finally both fell out yesterday so she has a lovely toothless smile

the girls have been enjoying their dancing and college days - the summer term is always much lighter school work wise and they have lots of extra curricular activities

I can hadley hard believe they only have only 6 weeks and its the end of another school year.

They both have lots of friend now and Gianna more independent off to the Mall with her friends and lots of sleepovers and parties, which means its getting a fight to spend anytime with her at weekends her her social life is such a whirl, shes just growing so quickley

I took videos pf the dancing which s here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGcbe_7t-l4 We are all looking forward to Molly and Marios arrival next week and anothe trip to Taal lake next weekend :)

January

2010-01-24T18:54:00.005+08:00

Just back from Bangkok - crazy busy - imprisoned in a hotel for a work shop and conference - our 3 day meeting was very successful but emotionally and physically draining ........we had over 50 people from 20 different countries from central and south asia and the pacific

My only escape took me to the night market where I got a chinese dress for angelica ..... also bought one for gianna 10 years ago when she was almost 2 and we went to thailand together- will try and find it

had good weekend with kids once home the photos from our sunday lunch outing for japanese...

2009 in review – what a year !!!!!

2010-01-10T10:10:00.005+08:00

I ended up with very mixed feelings about 2009 it had great highs and some pretty big challenges some of which will need to be resolved in 2010 – but we made it thru with lots of new adventures and many new things learnt.

The first quarter of the year was stressful in not knowing whether or not I would get a job and the last few months of the year wondering whether I wanted to keep it. But more on that later.

The move to the new house in central Makati made a huge difference to our lives with the girls being able to walk to school and live in the same village as their friends – Angelica has a new best friend Diana who is the same age as her and lives next door. Gianna has a couple of classmates that live locally and often goes to and from school with them. Marc was able to cut his commuting and walk to work in 15 minutes giving him an extra 2 hours in bed each day. Me? I had to start commuting back to Quezon City on the train each day which takes around an hour but as I can be flexible on my hours (in theory) I can try and avoid the worst of the traffic. Its great as we can walk to the mall, cinemas, restaurants and bars which are literally on our door step.

We travelled north for Easter to Pagudpud and Blue lagoon at Easter and Erica came in April and we had a wonderful trip to Club Paradise in Palawen – Club Paradise, truly amazing place and swam with turtles (photos in earlier blogs) – Erica then headed back to UK and then relocated to New York which seems so far away.

In May Gianna went by herself to UK with BA which was a huge success. (she did her own blog entry and posted lots of pics in earlier entries) She loved the solo flying and spent time with family in Edinburgh, London and the Wirral. The tricky bit was getting her ferried between stops but everyone helped out and moved her around the country. In July she did her first billboard shoot and has been on a large poster in central Makati since November. Every girl should have the chance for a makeover and be on a billboard once in their life 

Angelica started big school in June and joined CSA the same school Gianna attends. She has a couple of close friends including Venice who is the daughter of a former runner up miss world and belongs to a showbiz dynasty. We went to Venice’s birthday party which was bigger than most weddings I have attended complete with stage set, TV personality compare and heart throb pop star uncle in attendance. The prizes for games included bikes !!! The contrast between rich and poor never ceases to amaze me here – It probably would be fair to say that Angelica was not a model student at first being told off for bringing her friends Barbie watch home, calling her class mates losers and stealing her teachers perfume!!! But she seems to have settled down and is apparently very popular and now doing very well. Personally I would feel much better once she can read but they start later here (like some parts of Europe) and they are not expected to read until they are 6.

As they grow the girls I can see the girls different personalities, they will both look quite different and have different perspectives in life – Angelica is very sporty loves being outside and running around, gets taller everyday and is fearless. Gianna is more of a social bunny, hates exercise, and prefers social networking (on the PC) to physical activity and much more cautious in her approach to life. She still misses home and her friends which at time is really hard for both of us. I am already so aware that we are fast approaching crunch time regarding her schooling. She says she wants to stay and graduate from grade school next year at CSA but then she will have to either be in an international school or return to UK from 2011. She is of course already a tweenie growing fast – sometimes when I look at her its scary to realise that in 6 years she will be planning her own life and moving onto university or work …….time goes too quickly.

One of the perks of the job is that I have been back to the UK myself several times over the last year and able to catch up with my mum brother and sister and see friends albeit for fairly short stopovers. In September I was able to go to Bestival (on the Isle of Wight) with Jacqui and Jo, Chris Lawrence and the rest of the gang. I brought made to measure space girl outfits from the Philippines and we looked great!!! During the same trip I also went to Berlin for a conference – I had not been back for quite some time probably at least 8 or 9 years and it was great that I was able to catch up with Helmut and Patrick one night in the Tiergarten. The conference included a bus tour of Berlin and I found it fascinating to see how things have changed since the wall came down having lived there in 1981…... so long ago!!!! It’s a beautiful city and extremely green, something I had forgotten over the years

In late September the people of Manila faced the havoc that Typhoon Ondoy. We are fairly well insulated against storms etc where we live . In fact apart from raining incredibly hard all day we did not directly witness any real flooding. We had a few leaks in the house more irritating than disruptive and my only major hassle was having bored kids on my hands. We even went over to Greenbelt (local Mall) and out for dinner on Saturday night blissfully ignorant to the loss of life and hardship elsewhere. We knew that travel beyond a few 100 meters was impossible but for us that meant escaping at least for a short time covered head to toe with waterproofs.

The surprising thing about the storm was that no one was expecting anything out of the usual – we have around 20 typhoons a year so a tropical depression, as it was until Saturday, barely merits a mention in the news. We were weather watching as we had hoped to get to the beach overnight on the next island (Mindoro) with Pete and Marie –Lyn (friends from the UK) – a tropical depression was kids stuff so we actually thought right up until Friday night we were going. On Saturday morning I went on line and realised we were suddenly in a Signal 1 typhoon warning and that we were going nowhere. So many others must have been caught out in the same way. The rain was apocalyptic – we had a whole months rain in less than 24 hours and believe me it usually rains a lot in September - over one metre…… It affected both rich and poor another unusual factor about Ondoy, although of course a month later it’s the poor communities that were still wallowing in mud and shit with little prospect of things improving for some time. Surprisingly many in the new condo units were badly affected with flooding of underground car parks wrecking cars and buildings’ electric systems – its an amazing sight to see cars just swept away…the questions have begun about how it could have been so bad? The 3 dams reached their limits and water was released, a factor many blame for the sudden flooding late Saturday afternoon. It appears that water should have been gradually released earlier to prevent the huge overflows but once the water built up there was no choice but to release the dams burst.

Many believe that the real death toll will never be known, our gardener claims that he saw over 100 bodies himself that had been swept down river to his Barangay – official figures of only 249 dead would seem vastly underestimated. The problem as always in Manila is that so many people are not registered, so simply put no one knows how many people there are to begin with. Families have to pay to register a birth and for the poor this means that most children are never registered and when they lost in disasters such as Onday they are therefore never officially missed.

The kids ended up having extra Saturday school because of the time missed due to the 5 Typhoons we suffered in Manila including Ondoy and Swine Flu which closed the school for 2 weeks at the start of the school year . I now realise why they don’t have official school breaks between Jun and October as each year the kids miss a couple of weeks due to bad weather.

After a lull in visitors in 2008 we had a steady stream in the later part of 2009 with my mum coming for a month again in October. This year we went off to Bolinao for a week. It was touch and go with the weather whether we would make it as yet another Typhoon threatened but in the end we had beautiful sunshine every day we were away. Mum went along to the opening of the Mango tree house school, a school for street kids near the Patayas dump in Quezon City. Some of the pictures feature earlier in the blog.(photos posted earlier)

In November I was lucky enough to get to go to Cape Town which is a fantastic place. I had never realised the place was so beautiful with a stunning coast line. Also very outdoorsy and sporty. The work event I went there for went very well and was a high point in a frustrating 9 months at WGNRR. We had gathered members from all over Africa some of whom had not left their own countries before – it was a great learning experience for me as well as hopefully for them too, hearing about the challenges of reproductive health in places such as Congo and Sierra Leone and sharing strategies and approaches to try and improve women’s lives .

In December Marc's cousin Angela and husband came and joined us for Xmas at Erik’s house at Puerta Galera, we have stayed there a couple of times before. Rishita and Fedra joined and brought along Jessica and her friends. It was one long exhausting party ……with outing in jeepneys and boats lots of food and living like royalty for a week. New year we stayed in Manila and had a fairly quite new year at home if you can ever call Manila quiet at New Year when threes a hundred thousand fireworks going off …..Our neighbour opposite from Blackpool has a sack full of huge rockets and fire crackers so we took the sofas out and sat outside enjoying the show. Over the holidays we saw Avatar in 3D at the IMAX which I though was great – and climbed the nearest volcano as well as lunched at Antonio’s reportedly the best resto in the Philippines and jolly nice it was too….and now back to work

The job itself is far far more demanding than any other I have ever had and I also had to face the problems of lawsuits from staff, being badly flooded during Ondoy and having to cancel a major event in Beijing when visas for my staff and most participants were refused. However the major problems all stem from the move from Amsterdam to Manila in 2008 which resulted in an entirely new staff team and a lack of systems and procedures to support the organisation day to day running. It will take another 12 months to unpick all the bad stuff that was allowed to happen in the early months after the transfer and capacity build the organization both in terms of skills and content.

My main reservations relate to my quality of life which seems to have taken a nose dive as I am constantly working, or worrying about work or travelling. Consequently the kids feel they don’t get enough time with me ….even when I am at home. I need to seriously address both the work life balance and the financial rewards for the job in the early months of 2010 or look for new opportunities. The aim to make the break from the UK was to get away from the stress of CEO of a charity and I seem to have recreated it here in the Philippines where I get much less money. Although the job is hard, it remains potentially very exciting and is at times incredibly rewarding. I have learnt so much about Reproductive Rights, a whole new area for me and have undoubtedly increased by skills and therefore the types of jobs I can apply for when I do move on. I am glad I have had the chance to try my hand at something so different, not many people get that chance in their late 40s.

We have the election next year. Which will challenge any person out side the Philippines view of how good democracy works. For us in the Philippines we just hope for just someone who doesn’t already have a lengthy track record of crime and corruption. Erap, who you may recall, was found guilty of massive fraud and embezzlement whilst president and pardoned by the current president , is of course running for re-election . Gloria, she queen of corruption and election fraud and current president ,will run for senator hoping to get back in the presidents seat in 3 years no doubt.…. Nonoy, son of Cory Aquino, does seem to have the lead at the moment and although closely aligned with the catholic church at least supports publically the Reproductive Health bill here which would allow for the first time formal sex education, and is possibly the most progressive candidate at least with any chance of success

Of course the whole sorry affair will take place in a environment where votes will be bought. The very poor have no time to try and work out which bad politician to vote for, they may as well take the bribes and buy some rice as oppose expecting anyone to make a radical change to their lives. The election violence has already started with the massacre of 57 in Maguindanao, in Mindanao with the leader of a powerful political clan in the dock. The people killed were friends and supporters, many women lawyers, of the opposition family. It just seems incredible that it would occur to anyone that the best way to rid yourself of the opposition is to kill them and their supporters on mass whilst they were on the way to register their cadency against you, and that you can get away with it . Of course the killing is not limited to Mindanao and in fact candidates have been killed in other locations too. Last time I stopped counting at almost 200 deaths. Politics is a dangerous game in the Philippines .

I plan to bring both girls home in May – partly to get them out of the country during the elections but also because they need to keep their relationships with family and friends back home.

So its now the first weekend in the new year and we are off to spend Gianna’s earnings from her billboard , Madame has decided she wants a phone and Guess jeans for starters . Gianna is back in the cheer dance team this year and Angelica has started football so we are in for a sporty few months – They say summer has started early and will last till early June! Meanwhile Europe seems to be having the worst winter for years with thick snow and freezing temperatures. Lucky us ……30 degrees again today. So new years resolutions ???
1. Work more at home and see more of kids
2. Get a car so I can do more with kids at weekends. I am so sick of taxis
3. Loose the weight that crept on at the year end (how does it do that every year?
4. Relearn Spanish (sort of have to as hosting an event in Guatemala in September)
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Bolinao 09

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Gianna on the billboards and Angelica at Halloween

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Gianna Photoshoot

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