Journey to Samal

Squatters

Randy C — Sun, 20 May 2012 03:45:03 +0000

Squatting has been a part of Pilipino life for a very long time. I don’t know the history, but it seems likely that it has always been that way. There didn’t exist any other way to do it, I suppose.

I’m not sure why so many people have difficulty knowing how to handle this situation. I have the obvious answer.

Toilet seats. What, you thought I was talking about another kind of squatting? I’m afraid I don’t have any one-size-fits-all answer for that problem, but if your squatting problem involves using the toilet, I’m pretty sure the toilet seat will fix it. It did for me.

You see, I have not perfected the art of squatting over a toilet bowl and doing my job. It is really uncomfortable for me, and if I am able to accomplish any results, they are often much less than I could if I were able to sit and really work at it.

I can only assume that many people here prefer the squat instead of sitting, as there are many unseated toilet bowls around still. Toilet seats are readily available, as I can attest to, having surveyed the various hardware stores for one on my last visit. The quality leaves much to be desired, but they are easy to find.

In conjunction with the toilet bowl that doesn’t contain a seat, you will often encounter the lack of a tank to flush with. I find the lack of a tank to be much less of a problem than the lack of a seat. I really don’t mind plopping a few buckets of water into the bowl to get it to fully flush. Maybe not as convenient as what I am used to, but really not a problem at all. No, it’s the squatting I have difficulty with.

Maybe it’s just my age, The lack of balance. More probably it’s the lack of proper technique. Hey, I’m learning the language (slowly), maybe I should take the time to learn how to poop properly, too.

At least I’ve been able to find toilet paper pretty much everywhere. Seems it is much more prevalent than when I first started coming to the Philippines. That’s another messy situation that I have not perfected – the “no toilet paper” wipe.

I’ve written some crappy articles in the past, but this may be among my stinkiest. Sorry po, maybe I’ll find a more refreshing subject this coming week.

Massage – My Treat to Myself

Randy C — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:11:09 +0000

Massage parlors are everywhere in the Philippines. Additionally, everyone knows a masseuse, or two. The cost for a massage is incredibly low, if compared to a similar service in the States, as are all things service related (this is really where the cost of living differs IMO).

The trick is to find a good one, because the training varies from none at all to quite extensive. If she happens to be cute, that doesn’t hurt either, but be sure she is asawa approved, or you may be looking for new one soon (masseuse and/or asawa) and dealing with tampo or worse in the meantime.

I like to get a massage every day or so while I’m vacationing in the Philippines. I can usually do that for the cost of one or two massages here. It is my treat to myself, as I can easily justify this small expense during that time. I don’t even consider this luxury when at home.

I don’t know how often I’ll treat myself once I retire and move there. I’ll be on a budget, and suspect that the novelty will wear off to some degree. I’d guess that I’ll find one that will come to the balay. Possibly a weekly service to keep the old muscles functioning properly.

Though I’ve not visited a parlor that performs services/favors beyond the massage (to my knowledge), I am aware that they exist. That’s true here where I live, and I would bet just about anywhere in the world if one were to seek that out. I’ve never been approached for anything other than the massage, but maybe that’s because I usually have a chaperone with me. Preventative medicine, so to speak.

There is a new massage parlor very near where I’ll be staying on my current visit. I’ll be trying them out as soon as I’ve settled. I really hope they are reasonable and have good service, as it would be very convenient for me.

***Because I started this article before I left, but have since arrived to Davao, I’d had chance to try the new parlor. My initial impression is good. I really like the decor and service is attentive. I’m not sure about the massage itself just yet. It was done very well, but I don’t know if I felt much benefit.

Funny, to me at least, it was the first time I’ve had a massage in the Philippines performed by a male. So much for the potential cute girl problem.

I wish them the best of luck, as it is obviously owned by someone that cares.

Samal Island Among The Philippines’ Best

Randy C — Sun, 06 May 2012 15:34:46 +0000

According to CNNGo Samal Island’s beaches are among the 10 best in the Philippines. Having not been to many others, it’s difficult for me to say. Having been to Samal Island many times, I would have to say that I am not surprised one bit that they are on the list. It would be hard to believe there is much nicer out there.

So what are the Top Ten beaches in the Philippines (according to CNNGo)?

They don’t really indicate if this list is from best to worst, but that’s the impression given:

1. El Nido, Palawan

2. Boracay, Aklan

3. Palaui Island, Cagayan Valley

4. Panglao, Bohol

5. Bantayan Island, Cebu

6. Caramoan, Camarines Sur

7. Samal, Davao

8. Siargao Islands, Surigao del Norte

9. Great Santa Cruz Island, Zamboanga

10. Pagudpud/Bangui, Ilocos Norte

There are a few on that list that I’d like to visit some day. Boracay is not high on my places to see, but many have told me that it is one of their favorites. Maybe I will have to make the trip and see for myself.

The second page of the article has directions on how to get to each destination. Typically, for Samal Island it’s pretty vague.

There is a small write up of each location, so please visit the article if you are interested in finding out more about what else the Philippines has to offer. I just wanted to point out what is obvious already to those that love Samal – it has some of the best beaches in the Philippines.

It’s great to see Samal Island get some well deserved recognition. With articles like this it will not remain a secret too much longer, if it even is still.

Thanks to Macky for the heads up on this one. I always appreciate it.

The Philippines' best beaches and islands | CNNGo.com.

Meditation in Davao

Randy C — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:57:38 +0000

I’ve been really stressed lately. Lots of those large life events happening at the same time, and though I think I’m getting through them fairly well, I can feel the stress and what it’s doing to me, both outward and inward. I hesitate to write about this because quite frankly everybody has their own challenges. Many much greater than mine. I understand that.

As much as I want to believe that many of these stresses will be gone once I’ve retired and move to the Philippines, I know that the reality is they will be replaced with new ones. In particular the adaptation to a new country and culture very different than what I have known for the 57 years of my existence. I have an idea of how I will try to cope with that.

I want to look into practicing meditation.

This is something that I’ve considered for a long time, but never pursued. I have a fairly hyper sensitive personality, at least at times, and I have no desire to try counter that with drugs (prescribed). I have on occasion, in the past, tried a few things, but for the most part what I need to do is slow down, specifically my thinking or worrying, whichever way you want to state it.

The Bikram yoga that I started really helped that area. Unfortunately I have fallen off the wagon with my practice, as I have been overwhelmed with things that I’ve been doing, and it was clear what the priorities were, for this period of time anyway. I WILL get back with my yoga, as the benefits are clear to me.

I’ve searched around for meditation in Davao and did not find much. There seems to be a Zen practice that is done at someone’s residence. I thought I remembered that the Lon Wa Buddhist Temple offered meditation, also, but I will need to check on that again. I believe that would be my preference, as just being in that temple is very soothing in and of itself.

I know some of these things – yoga, meditation – are not for everyone. We each have to find what works for us. I think that the practice could have great benefits for me, especially in helping me cope with the adjustments that I will be making there. If it can help be be more patient and calm, that will go a long way towards my dealing with the (many) things that I know are going to upset me.

If you know of a mediation center in Davao, please let me know. Otherwise I’ll report back after I’ve looked into it in my upcoming trip.

Natural Food Stores

Randy C — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:23:19 +0000

In my limited time in the Philippines I’ve only encountered one store that I would consider a health food store or coop, as we would know it here in the US. I am of course excluding the fresh markets, which would be another great source of healthy foods.

Healthy Options is a small store located in the SM mall in Davao (they actually have 17 locations throughout the Philippines, with most around Manila) that carries items that you would see in the health food stores here. The selection is very limited and the cost is expensive, even more so than the ridiculous prices they charge here. That would make sense as I assume most of these products are imported.

It still nice to see this kind of store in the Philippines. I dont know how well they do, but it does makes me wonder. It can’t be going too bad, not if they have that many stores.

With new high end malls, such as Abreeza, opening all over the Philippines, would it be time to try a larger store with more variety than what is carried at Healthy Options? Is there enough interest, could the product be obtained, and would people support the high cost of these specialty items?

My brother, who lives currently in the Philippines, recently paid a visit back to the States. He noted that one thing he really missed was some of unique products that could only be acquired at these kind of stores, even here.

Interestingly enough quite a few of the items carried at these stores are not US products. Many are imported already, so it should not be that much more difficult to do there, except of course there are large distributors here that specialize in these markets. Maybe you’d just import from one of these distributors. I don’t really know enough about that to really say, but it seems there must be a way to make that work. Fresh items of course would be much more difficult to handle.

I’m going to look around a little more on my next trip. I’ll pay a visit or two to Healthy Options, and hopefully speak with the manager or owner. Just to fill my curiosity more than anything. I don’t have any plans to open any stores, but it may be something that would be successful for someone.

Selfishly, I think that would be great. I do think the time is right.

The Blogging Expats

Randy C — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:26:54 +0000

Does it seems like every expat has a blog? Maybe it’s a requirement, that small legalese hidden at the bottom of the visa documentation. Maybe they (we) are all so bored that they (we) feel the only real contact with the rest of the world is this outlet.

No, I think the reason MOST expats, or 90% of any blogger for that matter, blogs is very simple.

It’s about the money. Not the actual money, because most make very little, but the perceived potential for earning money. I know it’s difficult to believe that someone might be motivated by money, but I’m afraid it’s true.

When I retire I’d like to earn a little extra income, too. Not to the extent that it’s my main income, but something above my living expenses. Doing so online appeals to me, and evidently to many others. Blogging is one option.

Since I’ve been blogging for four years now (wow, really?), I’ve, to some degree, figured out what I might need to do if I want to earn more money blogging. In case you are wondering, writing for this blog is not it.

I do plan to keep writing for this blog, and even possibly split it off. This blog will undoubtably always be more of a work of love, than an income maker. That’s fine. If I do other blogs, I’ll need to make some income from them, or frankly they won’t be worth the effort. Not that I will have so many more important things to do, but I don’t want the burden of feeling like I’m tied to that anchor.

I also don’t want to continue down the same path that so many others are already doing. Some very well by the way. No, if it isn’t something at least a little different, I don’t see the purpose. I don’t see any ebooks in my future, but I reserve the right to change my mind

The nice thing about blogs is that it’s easy to get set up and going. If it doesn’t pan out, you aren’t really out much, except some of your time. I imagine I will try a few different ideas, expecting failure with some, if not all. That’s OK, it’s all part of the process.

I’ll see where it all goes. Maybe this will be all I ever do in the writing/blogging realm, or maybe I’ll tire of this, too. Lots of adventures left (at least I hope so), and it’s difficult to know where it will lead. That’s what keeps us going though.

In the meantime, I’ll just keep trudging along with an occasional post of varied relevance.

How To Get To The Samal Island Resorts

Randy C — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:27:51 +0000

Note: this is an article that I wrote on a sister site, but I never got that site going. Maybe I’ll get to that again in the future.

The Samal Island resorts are located on the Island Garden City of Samal, a 4th class city in Davao del Norte, Mindanao, Philippines. The nearest city is Davao City, the largest city in the Philippines, when calculated by area.

If you are coming to the Philippines from out of the country, the likelihood is that you will be flying in. You’ll need to fly into Davao in order to get to Samal, unless you plan on taking a long trip from somewhere else in the Philippines. While it is possible to fly directly into Davao (I believe there are flights on some days from Singapore), most of us will have to travel through Manila and catch a connecting flight to Davao. Cebu Pacific and Philippine Air are the most popular of the airlines serving Manila to Davao. Everyone seems to swear by (or swear at) one or the other. It would also be possible to come in from another city, such as Cebu, if you were traveling there first.

One has several options to get to the island from Davao, but they all involve going by sea, as there is no bridge connecting Samal Island with the mainland of Mindanao and Davao. Most of the time one would be approaching Samal from the east, going to the west coast of the island. It is possible to travel to the other side of the island, but the majority of the resorts are on the west side.

Unless you are taking one of the resorts’ private boats, the most common way to get to Samal is the RORO ferry. This leaves Sasa Wharf in Davao and arrives at the Babak wharf. You can either ride the bus or travel with your vehicle of choice.

Here are some samples of the fares to Samal Island (courtesy of samal-island.com):

Sta. Ana wharf to Kaputian P 50.00
Km. 11 Sasa wharf to Babak (motorboat) P 13.00
Km. 11 Sasa wharf Ferryboat (bus) to any point in Babak District P 10.00
Davao Bus Terminal to any point in Babak P 30.00
Davao Bus Terminal to any point in Peñaplata P 40.00
10 wheeler cargo truck (empty/loaded) P 1,500.00
10 wheeler dump truck (empty/loaded) P 900.00
6 wheeler cargo truck (empty/loaded) P 1,100.00
6 wheeler dump truck (empty/loaded) P 750.00
Light cargo truck (elf/canter) P 600.00
Mini dump truck P 500.00
Light vehicles (jeep/pick-ups/van/cars) P 270.00
Tricycle P 125.00
Motorcycles/Bicycles P 60.00

As you can see, it’s not going to set you back too much to get to the Samal Island resorts and back. Unless you plan on bringing a large cargo truck a few times! I’d hope you wouldn’t need one of those to visit the resorts

Chinese Vitamix Knock Off 220v

Randy C — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:37:58 +0000

Last year or so I wrote about my green smoothies, and how I was enjoying getting into those. It is really exciting for me as I look towards my eventual retirement in the Philippines, because frankly it had been a little difficult to see how I was going to eat healthy there. The change of my diet to these smoothie (or shakes as they are known as there), allows me to take advantage of one the true benefits of the Mindanao region, the abundance of delicious fruits and vegetables.

At the heart of my smoothie making is the Vitamix blender. I have an older model – Total Nutrition Center VM0103. I do have plans to take that with me, if it’s still running, when I finally make the move. The problem with it is the voltage, which I’ve touched on before. In anticipation of that I have plans to use a 2000 watt step up/step down transformer, as the Vitamix consumes 1380 watts at peak. I consider this a temporary, or back up, solution.

Since my last trip to the Davao area I’ve been trying to track down a decent 220v blender for use when I visit and eventually when I move. I saw what I considered a suitable one (Dynamex) at one of the malls, but it was only 850 watts, and seems they are sold out now. Out of stock, sir. Do not know if or when they will be back in stock. So I looked elsewhere.

I’ve been searching the internet and other resources as I had the time, and I was eventually able to find a couple of units that were rated 1200 watt, and seemed exactly like my Vitamix. I tried contacting a few of the dealers for these, with mixed results, and finally settled on one that was in stock and could be delivered to the Davao area.

The one I purchased is a ST-767. That’s the model number but no brand that I could find was listed. It very clearly states< "High Performance Commercial Blenders" under some Chinese, so possibly the brand is in there. As you can see by the photos, it looks just like the Vitamix. The only discernible differences, other than the obvious writing and branding, are the ON/OFF switch are on different sides of the knob, and the Maximum switch must be held down. Of course there is the difference of voltage, which is the reason I was looking for one in the first place.

I’ve not had a chance to put it to the test yet. That’s coming on my next visit. I’ve had it examined to insure that it runs. We had to get an universal adapter because it came with a three prong Chinese plug. P35 took care of that. I’m not sure if I can just cut that plug off and put another on, but I plan to check into that down the road. More for my own knowledge than anything else.

The unit cost P5800, with another P300 for the shipping from Manila. There were cheaper, but again whether they were in stock, or I could not get a reply being the issues there. Compare that $135 I paid to a smiliar Vitamx here, about $450, and you can see that I can use up about three of these to equal the cost. I’m not expecting this to last as long as the Vitamix do, but that is yet to be determined. Parts are available.

I also plan to make coconut milk and hummus in this. Two other items that I use often. I consider this a pretty important item, one of the few I hope, for my existence there. I suppose I’ll find out if that ends up being true over time, but in the beginning I certainly expect so.

Recycle Philippines Style

Still Thinking About Internet in Davao

Randy C — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 15:46:07 +0000

I’ve been doing my research. Not that I don’t have anything better to do, but I need something to take my mind off the tasks at hand, at least once in awhile.

This internet in the Philippines is a complicated thing. Yes, things have gotten much better in the last five years or so, but it’s anywhere from clear as to who is the best service provider. Some will swear by the one they are using, while others will swear at them. One provider might be good in one area of the country or city, but far from it in another.

The good news is that speeds are increasing across the board. At least on paper they are, BUT the one thing that I see all of these providers ignoring, and many users, too, is the upload speed. They all seem to act like it doesn’t matter. Most providers do not even list the upload speed.

Take a look at this information from Speedtest.net as one example why it does matter:

Skype (source: Skype Support)

For voice calls: 0.1 mbps download / 0.1 mbps upload
For video calls: 0.5 mbps download / 0.5 mbps upload
For HD video calls: 1.5 mbps download / 1.5 mbps upload

Important note: these connection speed requirements include downloading and uploading at the same time. Since Speedtest.net tests download and upload separately for accuracy, your results will need to be higher than the the numbers provided above. For example, your upload speed may be 2 mbps in the Speedtest.net result, but may go down to 1 mbps while your connection is downloading something.

Notice that it says you’ll need to be higher than those numbers if you want a good connection. Good luck doing a HD Video call from the Philippines. Even the best plans with 10 mbps download typically only have 1 mbps up.

If you do any kind of file sharing, sending of photos, ftp, online backups, etc. you’ll be making use of uploading quite a bit. I know that I do, but maybe I’m not typical. Cloud services, of which there is an increasing trend towards, also make use of uploading. Frankly, I think the price that is being charged for the services offered there are really quite high, particularly if you consider you are getting decent speed from the download side.

As I’ve indicated before I’m on what is considered a very standard cable internet service for my area. Comcast is my provider. They have several tiers above what I get, but I find the cost and speed, along with the service, adequate for my needs. Here’s a typical speedtest result for me (I’ll note that I have some type of Powerboost for the first 20MB or so of download, then it levels off at 12 Mbps):

I’m not posting my results in anyway expecting to get those kind of speeds in Davao or surrounding region, but as a reference from where I’m at currently, and what is common here. My upload speed is actually considered pretty slow by most standards now, and increases quite a bit in the higher tiers, but I’m not willing to pay the price for that luxury.

A while back Mindanao Bob posted a result of his Globe DSL connection on Twitter, of which I took great notice of as I am really considering them as a provider. Here is his result (hope it’s OK to reference this Bob :

This is actually a very good result for the region. Notice where it says faster than 94% of the Philippines? There are a few rare locations that have much better download speeds, up to 100 Mbps, e.g. certain areas of Manila, but for the most part this is really good result. Globe does offer two levels of service above this @ 5 Mbps, and 10 Mbps, but again, you’ll pay handsomely, and the upload speed will still only be about 1 Mbps, from what I understand.

I believe the next area of improvement from the ISPs in the Philippines needs to be in regards to the upload speed. Many here have long ago since stopped caring about the download speeds, as they are for the most part greater than needed anyway, and instead are chasing the better upload speed.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still glad things have been moving in the right direction there, and I’ll certainly take what I can get. The lock in periods make my ISP choice a much more difficult decision than it should be though, but that’s another story….

I Don’t Have Time

Randy C — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 22:48:32 +0000

We all have the same amount of time each day, unless of course you are on Filipino time. Then you may have more or less, depending upon whether it’s the thing you are doing, or the thing you are supposed to be doing.

No, the issue isn’t how much time we have, but instead what we choose to devote our precious time towards. Of course this blog is the perfect example of what I’m talking about.

You see as I was busily doing my normal Sunday chores (laundry, cleaning, grooming, etc.), I had, in addition, a bunch of other chores that I had assigned myself for this weekend. One thing led to another, and those additional chores were expanding rapidly. I was thinking, “I don’t have time to write an article this week.” I was lying to myself. I had the time. I had just decided, as we all do everyday, that the other things I wanted/needed to do were more important.

I believe we need to be real careful when we say “I didn’t have time” or “I couldn’t get to it”, to others, or to ourselves. It can be especially revealing if you were to say this to your loved ones, friends, employers, etc. While you may be thinking you are saying, “I didn’t have time”, they are hearing something completely different such as, “I didn’t feel you are important enough.”

Thankfully my blog seems to be pretty unemotional, and doesn’t really get upset if I don’t post for awhile. The only one that seems to care about that is Google, and that will keep my blog rated lower, among other not-so-nice things.

So there you have it. I don’t like saying, “I don’t have time”, because I know it’s not true. I do have more important things to do at this time, at least it seems so to me. No offense intended, and I’ll continue as I have the time.