It is always an early morning when your running a sari sari
store in the Philippines. Every day you must come in and prepare what you are
going to serve that day if you have food products. Even if you do not serve
food, you have to be up early to catch anyone who might need shampoo, soap,
coffee or a snack before going to work or school.
Some mornings you just wish you could go back to bed. A
simple job of placing a lid on a pot can become a struggle! It sure was this
morning. Maly, who I thought should know how this worked, struggled at first.
She quickly gave up her struggles to me! I twisted, flipped and I spun the lid
I every direction possible trying to get it to go on. I was having about the
same luck as Maly. Just as I was about to give in, it caught my eye that the
handle should face the other direction. Thankfully this worked and the lid then
locked in place.
We went ahead and finished our regular routine of opening
the doors, gates and rolling of the tarps. I even had a little helper come out
to assist. This was a surprise being it was early in the morning and he usually
sleeps in on the days he is off from school.
After getting everything opened and ready for business, Maly
and I take our break form the hectic morning. We enjoy a cup of coffee and some
pandasal as we wait for customers to come fill our store!
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Maly had made a garden out beside the store with the help of
Tina. They had grown a good planting of eggplants. There is no better way to
enjoy eggplant than to make you some tortong talong out of it. The best way to
do this is grill it first.
Maly went out and gathered a bunch of eggplants in the
morning. She had quite a few by the time she finished picking them all. With
Grandma and Ellen over, we decided we would make tortong talong out of a few of
these eggplants.
First, we started the grill so we could char the eggplants a
bit. These are done over a high heat turning often to keep them from burning.
As they cooked the out skin would brown. You don’t want to leave these on too
long, but long enough for the skin to become soft enough to peel off.
You then take them inside (or wherever you decide to peel
them) and let them cool for just a few minutes. You do not want to try and peel
them while they are hot off the grill. Just give them a few minutes to cool
down.
You must take all the skin off the eggplants. This is simple
and easy to do. The skin just peels away. Just be careful here as the eggplants
can be slippery.
Once the egg plants have been peeled, you want to make up an
egg wash to dip the egg plants in. This is just eggs, salt, Ajino Moto (unless
you prefer not to use this flavor enhancer), pepper and Maly’s special ingredient
from her child hood, onion tops finely chopped.
To the egg wash you dip in the egg plants and fully cover
them. You can do this prior to getting out your pan and heating it up. You want
to add just a little oil to your pan to coat the bottom of it. If using a none
stick pan, you could omit this part.
The eggplants are dredged through the egg mixture and then
put into the frying pan. At this point it is basically like cooking an egg
omelet or pancake. You just watch your sides to make sure the egg mixture gets
cooked. You will need to flip over the eggplant at least once during the
cooking.
And there you have it folks! Tortong talong! Brought right
from the garden to your plate!
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This is Our Philippines! I took Maly to the Cauayan Public
market to pick up a few items. While she went inside, I just stayed out and
watched what went on outside the market. You never know what you might see. #ThisisOurPhilippines
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What a fun experience it was to go through the barangay
selling balut. Each and every person has their own story to tell about why they
eat this delicacy. They know how to choose the best one and they search the
bucket for just the perfect balut.
To be an honest salesman, you should be willing to eat the
food you sell. How many times have you gone to a restaurant and wondered if the
chef would eat his own cooking? Well, I did tell everyone that this balut we
were selling was “ang sarap sarap”. Little did they know, I had never eaten
balut in my life.
Everyone said it was "ang sarap sarap". They told
me it would make me strong! They if I wanted a good one to find one that was
big and round. I was assured it would help my knees be strong!
All these qualities in this one little egg. What could go
wrong? You will have to watch to see if I would pass my fear factor test and
eat balut for the first time in the Philippines!
So, when we got back to the house, we had a few friends over
enjoying the nice weather outside. Grandma Anabel was there and she claims to
be a renowned balut eater. Junior was busy and he could not be there to show me
how to eat this delicacy. So it was me and Grandma!
We got off to kind of a rocky start. When cracking the
balut, you should crack it on the hollow end. This holds all the juice from the
egg. It is like a broth once it has been boiled. Well needless to say, my egg
was cracked on the wrong end to start with.
I quickly managed to crack the other end. When I did, the
juices started to flow out the first end I cracked. I placed my finger over the
hole I had made to start with and turned the egg up to drink the juice. It was
really not that bad. It did taste like a chicken broth soup if I were to tell
you what I thought of it.
Now comes the fun part. Peeling away the rest of the outer
shell and exposing the “chick” inside. I guess I am glad it was dark and I
could not see it. It probably made it a lot easier for me to eat. Once I got
the shell off, we sprinkled it with a little salt and away it went! I was
expecting the worse, but actually it was not that bad. There were not many
feathers to deal with and the yolk covered up any taste there might have been.
I now have tried balut. Would I try it again? Hmmm… I am
still undecided on that. But if it were to go as the first time did, I guess my
answer would have to be yes.
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Junior and I try to sell balut in our Barangay. Balut is a delicacy
here in the Philippines. What is balut you may ask? Well it is an almost
fully-formed duck fetus cooked in its own egg. Balut is boiled and eaten from
the shell. It originated from and is commonly sold as street food in the
Philippines.
It is not uncommon to hear the pitched voice of the balut
salesman as he walks through the neighborhood imploring would be buyers with
his constant “baaaluuut! Baaaaluuut” during the evening hours. You will see in
the video Junior is quite good with this. I on the other hand get asked to give
away the balut free “libre” or to do a two for one sale. Neither of these are
good when you need to make every sale you can.
Junior has his regular customers that are there waiting on
him nightly to make his rounds. Some of these customers claim it is good for
the knees. It is rumored that eating balut is good for the male stamina at
night. I have no medical or personal experience to back up this claim.
All in all it was a fun experience I will not soon forget.
If not for the selling of the balut, it is also good exercise and a good way to
meet some of the neighborhood people.
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You never know what you might get to eat when Maly goes into the kitchen. This was a special request made by the guard at the school. I thought it would be a spicy dish, but the peppers are not that spicy and more of a sweet pepper. I still am not fond of the fish sauce being used. But this is an Ilocano (people inhabiting NW Luzon in the Philippines) dish and Maly is an expert in fixing these dishes to peoples liking.
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Being a Filipino Mom, it can be a little different than a US
Mom when it comes to school. In the Philippines, there are no buses that you
can put your kids on to go to school. There are usually no cafeterias that the
kids go to lunch at as a class. This means that a lot of Filipino Moms (or the
helpers) spend their time at or near the school while the kids are there. I
guess this is more common for the younger children at least. They often time
spend the day in special waiting areas the school has provided them to wait in.
Others find nearby locations to spend their time at.
Today, while waiting on the kids to get out of school, I
happened to experience why these Moms have such a hectic and busy day. I
arrived to find a lady giving manicures and pedicures while the Moms waited for
their children to come out of school. Not wanting to seem like I was not
working, I too got a manicure and pedicure while enjoying the tsismis (Filipino
for gossip) going around!
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We always seem to have a construction project going on
around the house. Although the main construction is finished, we still have
some other projects that need completing. Removing mango trees, building a
hallow brick wall, moving the electric and other projects were on the list for
this time.
Come check out what all got accomplished. You might just be
surprised!
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Lomi is a Filipino dish similar to the southern US chicken
dumplings sort of. Lomi is made with a variety of thick fresh egg noodles of about a quarter inch in
diameter. Other ingredients added are pork or chicken (liver is the most
popular), green beans, peppers and eggs.
Lomi is best eaten while steaming hot. It is a challenge to finish eating it all before the bowl gets cold. To spice up the taste, depending on one's preference, a mixture of soy sauce, kalamansi juice and crushed red chili peppers.
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We purchased a new drum set from West Coast Music Center
& Services in Cauayan. It did not take long for the boys to start picking
out a beat. Sammy watched two Youtube videos and found a beginners rhythm he
could follow. Matthew was quick to pick up that beat as well. Time can only
tell if we have made a good choice here!
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What is more exciting to hear than a child’s laughter! When
the Tickle Monster invades our bedtime activities, the joyous sounds of
laughter fill the air! This is just a part of our bedtime activities at the house. The kids probably enjoy this time the most of anything we do at the house while I am home.
We often have a tilapia salesman come by in the morning.
Maly decided she needed a full 10KG of tilapia this morning. After dealing with
the salesman, she and Marisa cleaned them and bagged them for freezing with
some left over to cook.
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Becoming Filipino? Today we prepare gabi or taro root for
lunch. I learned how to peel and cut the gabi leaves so they could be cooked
down into a ginataang. I have had plenty of experience as a young boy growing
up in Alabama shelling peas, but this was a little different experience. After experiencing
the mess this makes of your hands, I would a lot rather shell a bushel of peas
instead!
While eating this meal, I was expecting a more slimy texture
like that of okra, but it actually was not that bad. The taste with the coconut
milk was actually pretty good. This is a common dish of the Filipinos in our
area. I guess you could say I am really becoming Filipino now!
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I think I have found a new spot for halo halo! Kuya J’s has
some of the best I have had. Their halo halo mix has a real creamy texture that
is just awesome! Maly and I took a little break from our errands and enjoyed
eating halo halo at Kuya J’s in SM Cauayan.
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Come and ride along with us as we travel around Cauayan a little bit. We go through the market and Maly lets us in on a little secret about double parking. If you are not careful, you can loose your tricycle for the day (or more) if you are caught double parking in the Cauayan City Public Market I suppose.
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When going to the market with Maly, you have to be ready to go from end to end in search of whatever she needs. If she cannot find it in one stall, she will search the whole market until she finds what she is looking for.
Today we were in search of fresh pancit. Fresh pancit noodles are the best for making this Filipino favorite! We had a lot to make so we needed to find someone with a good supply. Luckily for us, we finally did find a stall that had it. We ended up getting 2 kilos to bring home with us.
You will notice, this saleslady had a pretty good audience as she was told she would be on Youtube! They all gave her a cheer!
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Cows, cows, cows! Everywhere there are cows! It was a
traffic jam coming out of our Barangay this morning. It seemed everyone was out
taking their cows somewhere to graze. Wouldn’t you like it if your morning
commute only had to deal with a few cows?
Come take a ride with us as we go to fill up the MIO. We got
a full tank for 120PHP which is equivalent to approximately $2.40 in the US.
This is for 3 litters which is less than a gallon of gas. Yes, the price of
fuel is expensive here.
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My camera was stolen! After a hard morning at work and a
good lunch, I decided to take a short nap. While I was peacefully sleeping, I
had my camera stolen. Luckily for me, it was used to take a stolen video and
then returned.
A quick lesson learned was that I need to be on alert at all
times. Even while in the comfort of my own home, I have some sneaky little guys
that run around looking for stolen shots. Hope you will enjoy this video!
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to make these, please visit our Patreon page to help out.
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Living out in the province you have barangay officials that
look out for the health of their community. Here they are doing a barangay
health check up by the kids having their weight and height checked. No fancy
building or doctor’s office to go to, but just along the side of the road.
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Chicken tinola is one of my favorite dishes while in the
Philippines. Maly has always made sure to make this while I am home. Her recipe
is one of the best I have had. Maly shares her secrets of what makes her
chicken tinola so good.
This is a wonderful meal whether the heat is turned up and
it is 140 degrees outside or if it is a cold winters day with frost biting at
your nose. The delicious flavors of the chicken, garlic, ginger, chayote and
pepper leaves make this one of the best chicken soups you can have.
We hope you have enjoyed this cooking with Maly episode and
will come back to watch more of our future videos.
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to make these, please visit our Patreon page to help out.
Maly was ready to be home to see her macopa tree! She loves
the fruit of the macopa and could not wait to see what her tree had produced
while she was away. After picking some of the macopa fruit, we sit down under
the bahay kubo to enjoy the fruits.
This is country living. Step outside your back door and
enjoy the fruits and other items nature gives you. It is a simple life, but a
good one. We enjoyed our macopa fruit while we sit and relaxed with friends.
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We made it! 500 subscribers and over 50,000 views! We could not
have done it without your help! Thank you everyone who has followed us and
subscribed to our channel!
We departed Manila through NAIA Terminal 4. This is the
domestic terminal used by Cebu Pacific for their Cebgo flights. It is a smaller
terminal and not very hard to get through the security. For its size it is very
efficient in moving passengers.
We flew from Manila to Cauayan aboard DG6024. This is a
smaller aircraft they have been using for this route. It is approximately a 1
hour flight between Manila and Cauayan. We had a good flight although it was
raining when we departed Manila. When we arrived to Cauayan, we were welcomed
with sunshine.
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life videos in the Cagayan Valley and Beyond. If you enjoyed this video please
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Enchanted Kingdom located in Santa Rosa, Laguna just south
of Manila. It is an amusement park built around a magical theme much like
Disney World. It is a smaller park, but there are a lot of attractions. It can
make for an enjoyable day for the whole family (minus the rain).
Although we did have rain for our visit to Enchanted
Kingdom, we managed to make the most out of our day. We had a great time going
through all the 3, 4 and 7D movie rides they had plus a few others that were
open. Some rides were not operating due to the weather conditions.
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life videos in the Cagayan Valley and Beyond. If you enjoyed this video please
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Come check out this funny game of Pie Face with us. First
you must spin the wheel to see how many times you have to turn the catapult. If
you are lucky and you perform your allotted clicks without getting pie faced,
you pass the game to the next individual.
Although Mama is a bit kuriput (cheap) with the use of the
cool whip, we all had a great time and many laughs. Watch as Sam, Matt, Megan
and even Tito Jerry get pie faced. Mama and Tita Salve somehow managed to avoid
the pie in the face. Stay young! You are never too old to have a little fun
with your family!
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The whole family enjoyed our time swimming at the Ohana
Place swimming pool. The pool is located within the Ohana Place complex and
offered a nice place to relax and enjoy the day. As you can see, it was not
crowed at all and we could enjoy our time together as a family.
We took a break from swimming and came back to the condo
where Tita Salve had prepared us a nice lunch of pork adobo. It was made just
the way I like it with plenty of gravy to spread over the rice. This meal
received Steve’s thumb up of approval!
Contact for Lissa’s Condo can be made on AirBnB using the
link below:
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Had
a tough week? Need a good laugh? Come watch our latest video as we try out the
game Bean Boozled. While traveling back from Lipa to Las Pinas, the kids could
not wait to get home to try this out. I think it was opened before they got to
the van.
Flavors
like blue berry, tuti fruiti, chocolate pudding are all mixed in with dog food,
vomit and stinky socks! What flavor did you get?
After visiting with the legend Mr James Tanner, there was a place we needed to visit. We take a short visit to SM City Lipa to find out what all this fuss is over Clyde's Bakery. If you get a chance, you have to stop by and try some of their pastries.
Ending video by permission of James from My PI Dream
Finally we meet the legend himself, the creator of My PI
Dream and the owner of Villa Feliz, Mr James Tanner. Not only is he a Youtube
sensation, but he has now been aired on national television as well.
By watching James channel you can tell he is a very friendly
and outgoing individual. He is just the same once you meet him in person. If
you have not already, you need to check out his channel on youtube to follow
his daily adventures. From his daily walks into work visiting with the locals
from Anilao, to his expertise in house building, you are sure to find some
enjoyment in his channel.
You can check out James on his channel, My PI Dream using
the below link:
Good morning, afternoon or evening everyone. Wherever you
may be, I hope you are having a wonderful day. These are 5 tips I would like to
share with EXPATs that are either in the Philippines now or thinking of moving
there. I have thought about these for a little while now and think they would
help almost anyone to have a more enjoyable time here.
One of the first things when moving here to the Philippines
I found is that you must have patience. When I arrived back in 2010, I was
told we needed to be somewhere at a certain time. Being that I am from a
military background I would check my watch frequently to make sure I would not
be late. Let’s just say we were to be at a party at 1400. By 1300 I was in
getting a shower and getting ready to go. I know it takes approximately 15
minutes to get to town, so I am assuming we will be leaving by 1340 at the
latest. So here I am at 1340 standing by all ready to go. I look over and my
wife has still not even gotten a shower yet. “Honey, what time was the party?”
I ask. Straight away the answer comes back, “Darling I told you 1400.” I
frantically look at my watch and look back at her. “We are going to be late”
But she replies don’t worry. We will be fine. Sure enough after arriving about
an hour after we are to be there, we find we are one of the first to show up.
Good thing I was keeping track of the time.
Since that day, I have not worn a watch in the Philippines.
I just simply follow along and I usually wait until all others have gotten
ready before I take my shower and get ready myself. Filipinos have their own
time and it is not governed by any mechanical instrument you might have on the
wall or on your wrist.
Also going anywhere in the Philippines is going to take time.
You might as well sit back and enjoy the ride. The traffic here has to be some
of the worst traffic I have had to endure. To go a mere short distance can take
forever if you get caught in the traffic.
Internet is nearly nonexistence at times. The Philippines
has some of the slowest internet speeds of many of the countries I have
visited. It is an issue many wish would be addressed, but still there are many
issues with the internet. Living out in the province, you can expect even
slower speeds. They just have yet to catch up with other developing countries.
These are just a few examples where your patience will be
tested while in the Philippines. If you can learn to “go with the flow” you
will find you will have a much greater time.
The second thing I can think of would be that you must
approach the Philippines with an open mind. You are going to most likely
experience a cultural shock once stepping off the plane in Manila or one of the
other international terminals.
The first thing you will probably notice is the heat when
stepping off the plane. I thought being from Lower Alabama this would be the
least of my worries. I have to admit, Philippines heat is of a different
character than that of the dog days of summer in the US. It is extremely hot
and humid here. The summer months can be brutal. Learning to be Filipino and
staying in a cool place during the hot summer afternoon will soon become a
practice for you as well.
Filipino foods also require and open minded person. Although
I do like some of it, there are others that can be quite shocking. The
Filipinos are not a wasteful people. They will use most anything to make food
out of. Do not be surprised when seeing someone BBQ that they are actually
using the chicken intestines as the meat. When in the market you will see
buckets of pig blood used for making dinuguan. Dinuguan is a Filipino stew made
of pork meat cooked in pig’s blood, vinegar and spices.
Thirdly I would say you must be prepared to rough it
sometimes. Manila, Cebu, Angeles City and Davao may not as much. But as you
leave the city areas and go into the province, there are not as many amenities
as one might be used to. Simple things
like not having a hot shower, no toilet paper in the restrooms (crs) and the
brownouts can be tough. Then the noise of the roosters crowing at o dark thirty
to wake you up each morning is just a little more realization you are no longer
in Kansas Dorothy!
The fourth thing I would like to mention is to be observant.
This is not only applied to learning some of the culture and language, but also
for safety. It is a good practice to try and pick up some of the local dialect
where you are at. Learn to interact with those around you. Observe their
practices and participate with them. This does not mean you need to find the
local town drunk and sit with him all day. Get out, see what goes on around you
and enjoy yourself. I follow a simple rule taught to me during my military days
and that is “stay alert, stay alive.
Finally, and the most important of all I feel is to allow
yourself a game plan. Make sure you are prepared for what the future may bring
your way. If you are contemplating a move, try it for 3 months. After that is
finished, evaluate the situation and see where the pros and cons lie. Maybe you
like it, maybe you find yourself looking to go back to the Western way of doing
things. Although the Philippines is a great place I feel to live, it may not be
to everyone’s liking.
The Philippines is wrought with natural disasters. We are on
what they call the ring of fire. Make sure you have your plans ready if and
when one of the disasters strikes. We have been through typhoons and
earthquakes and luckily we have not had to use our escape plans as yet.
Just remember to always have an exit plan. No matter if you’re
married here or if you are visiting for the first time. Knowing what your plans
are can make a huge difference in being able to remain calm in a tough
situation.
So to sum it up,
1)Patience, we all need a little in our lives
2) Come in with an open mind, don’t keep the doors
and windows locked on a sunny day
3) It might be rough, but you can make it
4) Observe your surroundings, you might find that
pot of gold at the end of the rain bow
5) And finally, plan wisely so you can enjoy your
time
I hope I have provided you, whether you are new or old to
the Philippines, 5 helpful tips here. If you have enjoyed these tips or you
know of others, please comment below. If you liked this video, click that
thumps up button and then share it with a friend. It might be just the advice
they needed today. Thank you and we hope to see you on our next video!
Look what’s in the bag! A Go Pro Hero 5! Yes, we have
finally moved up to the Go Pro world. I have always wanted a Go Pro to see what
all the excitement was about. I had tried to order one on line, but they would
not ship to the address I am at.
Go Pro’s have become a staple of action cameras. They are
often used for vlogging and other purposes. I am eager to learn the ins and
outs and see where this leads me with my vlogging experiences. As add footage,
I try some of the other items Gayan brought back with him on his return to
work.
You know that feeling you have when someone comes from
vacation? Be honest now! Although you are glad to see them, you really want to
know what exciting gift they brought you back as well. Did they find a special
snack? Was it some kind of special clothing? What are they keeping secret in
their bag?
Well today Gayan returned from his vacation days with his
family in Sri Lanka. He had a bag with him that had several treats inside just
for me! It was fun to open the bag and see what he had brought.
The first thing I found in the bag was a box of Choco Pies.
These pies seemed to be similar to what we in the States would call a moonpie.
When I opened one up to taste it, it brought back the memories of going to our
local store and eating a moonpie while drinking an RC Cola! The taste was
practically the same. It had a chocolate covering over a gram cracker style
biscuit with a marshmallow filling in-between. Only thing different was this
was a little smaller than the moonpies of the south.
He had also brought chocolate candies and another type of
tea biscuits with him. The chocolates were in a box that had pictures from
different areas of Sri Lanka on it. It could really be like a keep sake to
remember where it came from. The chocolates won’t last that long for sure!
He had also brought back a pair of slippers made in Sri
Lanka! I may not wear them here much, but they will be used in the Philippines
for sure. I thought Mr Bud Brown was in town when pulling the tsinelas
(Filipino for slippers) from the bag.
Oh, and what is that in the bottom of the bag? Did Gayan
save the best for last? Oh man, look at this…..
You will have to come back to find out what this last item
is!
Bring out the hammers, bring out the saws! It’s Hammer time!
Working abroad, you find you have to do things own your own
with what you have available at times. We recently had a fire warden inspection
and we were advised that the landings in our doorways were not adequate. We
needed to add extra length to the steps for them to be deemed safe in case of a
fire.
The team came through once more in this occasion. They took extra
wood we had here and began to construct the new landings. They did a great job
working together to get the new landings built. We now can hopefully pass the
next fire warden inspection without issue.
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Today we bring you an insightful video into the life of an OFW. Come see the challenges and rewards as Roger Parcon describes his experience being an overseas foreign worker.
Roger has been an overseas worker now for over 10 years. He first came overseas after his dreams of owning his own poultry farm for laying hens was devastated by lack in production due to a feed supplement scam. He had invested his lifetime savings into this business only to lose it all. With
little left in savings, he left his family and moved overseas to begin work.
Roger is married to a “wonderful and beautiful” wife. He has 4 adult children and 4 grand kids. He is happy to have achieved the status of “Lolo” or grandfather as we would call it in the States. He enjoys his time when he is home by spending time with his family and enjoys being an example to his
grand kids.
Roger has just accomplished a milestone working for National Air Cargo. He has just completed 10 years of service with them this month. He enjoys the day to day challenges that come with the job. Loading aircrafts is
his specialty which include 747s, AN124s, A300s, IL76s and L100 aircraft. Each aircraft
having its own challenges while loading and or unloading.
Roger is an experienced operator of many of the equipment that is used for not only loading of the aircrafts but also delivering the shipments
to the customer. He is one of the main operators of the CHAMP 140 Main Deck Loader which is the primary loading system for the 747 which we handle here. He also drives the trucks and forklifts needed when out on deliveries. He is well rounded with his knowledge of the equipment and how to handle it safely.
Rodger’s main concern while working abroad is the time missed with his family. He counts the days (and possibly even the hours) he has to spend not being there with them. He finds that being overseas is a missed opportunity to spend quality time with the family. He feels that if there would be any way to avoid coming overseas to work and you could spend this time with your family, it would be the better choice.
Roger also hates the extreme temperature differencesexperienced where he is now working compared to the tropical climate of the
Philippines. The weather here can go from temperatures exceeding 120 degrees in
the summer to well below freezing in the winter. Roger never experienced snow before coming here. He stated that “it can snow from December to February”here. He always ensures he bundles up in layers of clothing when having to work
in the snow.
Roger does enjoy the fact that since working overseas he has gotten to visit some different countries he may never have been able to visitif not for working overseas. He has been to the war-torn countries like Afghanistan to traveling through the beautiful United Arab Emirates. Traveling through Dubai there are many malls, places to eat and things to see. He has also been to Thailand, Hong Kong and other countries while transiting back to
the Philippines.
When asked what advice he would give to someone wanting to come overseas to work, he gave this bit of advice. “Always try and find a good company”. There are too many times an OFW has to return heartbroken with no money to show when they find poor employers. From bullying and abusive employers, poor housing to simply not getting their salaries on time are just a few of the concerns an OFW must face.
Rodger also suggested a strong “friendship ring” be established for those left at home. He is a Jehovah Witness and he concluded that the principles that were instilled in his family from the Bible studies attended have led them to keep on the right path. One of his favorite verses that he believes in states “Bad associations spoil good habits” 1COR 15:33.
We want to thank Roger for being our guest and hope you enjoy his video interview. Please LIKE, SHARE and comment on this video if you have enjoyed his point of view.
I have the most wonderful sister a guy could ask for. She
has sent boxes to me during my time overseas to help bring some of the joys of
home here. She always packs the box with treats and other things that you just
cannot get overseas. From Little Debbies to cake mixes you never know what
might be inside a box. Receiving familiar items not only provides the comforts
of home, but can also remind you that someone is thinking of you. This can help
combat the lonesomeness and stress of being so far from home.
Surprisingly it does not take that long for a care package
to arrive here. This package took only about 9 days to arrive. We can receive
and mail packages with a relative short transit time even though we would be
considered to be a remote location here.
Care packages are always great to receive. They bring that
little bit of home into your life when you are 10,000 miles away from home. I
always talk about how I miss southern Alabama food and my sister tries to
provide some of these things for me with her packages she sends. From the
summer sausages to the black eye peas to the turnip greens, this will be a box
to enjoy!
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Bamboo…
although it is used for many useful things in the Philippines, it can be used
for fun and games as well. I am not sure what to call this game, so I named it
the Bamboo Caterpillar Pole race.
It was sure
fun watching these bamboo caterpillars move around. The kids did a fairly good
job for the most part. They did have their stumbles and falls making that much
more fun to watch!
Mama's Wish
Comes True - Videoke Machine - A Glimpse of Life in the Province
Videoke
machines in the Philippines are a special treat. It is fair to say that
Filipinos love their karaoke! Walk into any home and you are bound to find a
karaoke machine or a Magic Sing microphone.
We had discussed
getting a videoke machine while I was away at work. There would be no way to
carry this in my carry on. When I arrived, we went to Raon Electronics in
Cauayan to purchase the videoke machine Maly found. She was all smiles while it
was installed with wireless microphones and then loaded onto our workhorse of a
tricycle to get it back home!
Finally made it home! Cauayan Airport is and airport serving
the general area of Cauayan, a city in Isabela province in the Philippines.
Cebu Pacific is the only airline at this time with direct flights from Manila
to Cauayan. They have around 12 flights weekly servicing this route. There is
only one flight on Saturdays and Sundays there are no flights.
Cebu Pacific uses the ATR72 which is a twin-engine turboprop
short-haul regional airliner. Hopefully this will not be a deterrent to the
flight schedules as in days of old. Hopefully these will be able to continue
service even during inclement weather. Cauayan is known to have low cloud cover
at times and it used to be an issue with other aircraft keeping their flights
on schedule.
The flight from Manila to Cauayan is approximately 1 hour in
duration. This sure beats the drive up which can take anywhere from 8-10 hours
if you are lucky. Riding a bus it can take longer than that on most trips.
We would like to have you follow us along on our other pages
as well!
When traveling through Dubai International Airport you will
find yourself in a city within an airport. There is so much to do and see
inside the concourses you might find yourself getting hungry. I was in that
same boat on my last trip through. I had a few hours until my flight boarding
time so I decided I would try out on of the restaurants here in the D
concourse. I selected The Draft House as where I wanted to eat.
I ordered the only steak they had on the menu. It was a 250G
New York steak. It came with curly fries and some broccoli on the side. All in
all it was 130AED (35.00USD) for the meal. That may seem excessive, but then
again you are eating in an airport facility. The food preparation was very
good. The steak did arrive as I asked for it to be cooked. I was really overall
pleased with the meal.
Join along in the video as I explore the food options and
give a quick tour of what you can expect to find in the food court area of
Dubai Airport’s Concourse D. I received no special for this endorsement nor was
I asked to make any comments. This is my honest and true opinion.
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A little treat as we
prepare a zesty Rotel Mac and Cheese casserole. It was a rare treat that we
enjoyed from a package received from my sister, Carolyn. She had sent this in a care package we received recently.
We had a good time preparing it and then had the guys do a taste test. It is not often they get to try anything other than curry and rice. I think this went over pretty good with the team here as there was nothing left once everyone had gotten a chance to eat.
The Airbus A300 is a wide-body medium-to-long range
airliner; it has the distinction of being the first twin-engine wide-body
aircraft in the world. Sometimes you find yourself in a difficult situation
when trying to download or upload this aircraft. There are no automated rollers
on this flight and all cargo must be pushed our pulled to the loading door.
To adjust for the weight in the plane, a pallet cannot be
simply pushed down the plane and right out the doors. You have to adjust the
load for each pallet unloaded or loaded to keep the plane from tipping. As each
pallet is shifted out the door, other pallets must be brought forward to adjust
the weight in the plane. Heavier pallets can be a struggle to get out or in the
aircraft. You need to have some heavy pushers to move the pallet down the
plane. Often this entails exerting all you have into pushing or pulling the
pallets. Without a full staffed crew it
makes it even more difficult as you have others on forklifts and the highloader
to perform their jobs as well. We have been in some tough situations before,
but we always seem to manage. Completing a full download within an hour is
quite an accomplishment for our little team here.
Not many would be willing to put forth the effort or
determination to get the job done here this team preforms. They work long hours
at times without much rest. Sometimes they go straight from loading and
unloading containers to working either a 747, an IL76 or an A-300 such as this.
Then after the download is completed they are out to make the deliveries so the
task can be completed. This is called dedication to the job and team work. This
team takes a whole lot of pride in all they do and I could not be more proud of
them.
A Walk Around Maly’s Garden - A Glimpse of Life in the Philippine
Province
Flowers and trees - Maly loves to have plants growing all
over. It matters not if they are edible or just for show and tell. She enjoys
them all. She is often busy trying to make our yard look better by planting
different plants here and there. From
her plants out at Maly’s Country Market to brighten the landscape, to the ones
she has out front around our porch and finally the multiple fruit trees she has
planted in our back yard.
We take a short walk around to see what all is in Maly’s
Garden. We hope you will come along and enjoy your walk with us. There are way
more plants than I can come up with names for. If I know the names, I will try
to let you know what it is she has growing.
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We managed to finally complete the painting on the inside of the house. We have now begun to make it look more like a home than a construction zone. We have added pictures and decorations to the walls along with shelving and other nick-nacks Maly has collected. The master bath is still a work in progress, but hopefully one day soon this too will be complete. Our front porch has now been tiled and we are ready to welcome you through our doors with open arms.
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There 4 Key Signs to a Family Friendly Neighborhood - A
Glimpse of Life in the Province
Is living in the Philippines a good place to raise a family?
Maybe this will help you decide. Here is a look around our neighborhood. Kids playing outside, Friendly People,
Proximity to Necessities, A Safe Environment Can you spot these here?
Let’s take a short walk around our neighborhood and let’s
see if you can locate these 4 key signs of this being family friendly
neighborhood or not. From kids playing ball in the streets, to neighbor’s
greeting you with a friendly hello or even meeting the local carabao as he
takes a rest from a hard day’s work. Even the luxury of having a sari-sari
store almost in every house! These are
the things you really see in the Philippines when you live off the beaten path.
The sights and sounds that surround you are very real and can be soothing to
the soul looking for some relaxation.
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Grandma’s house is just down the road from us. No need to
worry about the BIG bad wolf, but she does have plenty of barking dogs.
It is
interesting visiting with Grandma as she is an avid gardener and has many
plants growing in her yard. This is just a quick little video of an evening
walk down to Grandmas and viewing some of her yard. The Barangay is to put in a
new road, so they moved her fence back a meter. Now we will see if the new road
gets accomplished anytime soon.
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