Miss HOME Eight Thousand Miles Away!

Posted on by
Reply

HOME 8000 Miles Away

Where Is- Mindoro Palms Beach, Occidental Mindoro on google earth.

To the right of the screen in orange marker is the National Road. The straight line you see which runs East-West is the feeder road, still just an unpaved rough road less than a mile long.

The shorter straight line you see which turns North from the feeder road is the private access I built, solely for the Resort’s use and no one else’s. Supposedly. But I’m a nice person and let my neighbors to the North use it too!

At the end of that short access road is the Maganda (means beautiful in Tagalog) Bridge under all that foliage! This Bridge was my crowning achievement at the time it was completed. Having NOT an inkling how construction is- completion of a simple bridge built over a wetland was an achievement. ;)

The Main House is under that coconut grove! What shows is the caretaker’s house and barely a glimpse is the new Exec Duplex.

 

The blue of a swimming pool you see just below that feeder road, close to the beach belong to our neighbor dive club. He is who I will entrust you should you want a PADI-certified Master Diver to guide you to your Apo Reef Dive Park.

Altho the hubby is also a Master Diver, he is retired and want me to keep THAT in mind– he ain’t workin’ no mo..!

 

Miss the beach! From here. When I’m there I’m so busy I hardly step on it.. but watcha gonna do??

Wild Life on the Beach- Turtle Visits Its Birthplace!

Posted on by
Reply

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
IMG_0887

Its been said that turtles visit the VERY beach where they were first laid as eggs by the mother. For some reason these creatures have the natural GPS encoded in their genes so they are able to hone in on that particular body of water and make that journey to lay their eggs there.

The natural processes at play here is much in the same way as another species, the Salmon. Everyone I think is familiar with the life cycle of a Salmon. When Salmon gets to maturity to spawn they go back to that source of water where they themselves were hatched. Sadly for the adult fishes, they die after assuring the continuous survival of their species.

Thank goodness, turtles don’t die after they’ve laid that first batch!

This particular visitor came around April 20. Due to its size we believe it might be in the same batch of hatchlings as the one caught and tagged a year ago. I hope s/he comes back when  I’m there so we can tag it too. It would be nice to find out how many times an individual turtle shows up at the beach.

If this one is a female and had laid eggs the nest won’t be very far from  our doorsteps.

How neat is that? ;)

Experience our One-of-a Kind Customer Service: the Meaning of Au Pair or Personal Assistant

Posted on by
Reply

Experience our One-of-a Kind Customer Service: the Au Pair or Personal Assistant

Every Guest or Group will have a designated Au Pair, or if you prefer,
Personal Assistants..
I am using the term oft-hand here, but for better understanding, the Au Pair’s job description is basically that, baby sitters!

Before you get all insulted and say you’re not babies, please read on. ;)

The job of your Au Pair:
a- babysit your kids if you come with li’l ‘uns,
b- prepare your food, or drinks, and serve it, whether this be a room service, or you dine at
the courtyard. We do not have the Clubhouse built yet, it is coming tho;
c- do basic housekeeping services for the full duration of your stay,
d- pack your needs like water, food, etc. on the boat if we are going out to sea on an excursion.
e- provide you with a guide in your forays with the Locals. It’s better to have someone with you who understands the language, communicate with others on your behalf, and come to your aid on prices of local stuff… Just in case you want to splurge on a t-shirt!
f- act as your overall guide to checking out land marks, places to visit, etc.
g- their services start for you at the airport, when we come to meet you. More likely I will be your driver, and the Au Pairs are with me, at your service.
h- if we foray into Manila, your Au Pair is a good buffer between you and sidewalk vendors who might be after your wallet instead of the few pesos their stuff will cost you!
Please be clear, I did not say “body guard”, but they are trained for these eventualities.
I- if you have to take public transit, you provide the fare and they will take care of buying the tickets, buying snacks or bottled water at places that are sanitary, the way we know “sanitary” here in the West.
j- if we have a party, which I almost guarantee we will, they can be your dance partners too! Who said its all boring work?
k- all the while you are here, they work for YOU under my supervision.
l- for child care, you as the parents can choose whether you turn your children over to us for care, or the Au Pair be under your supervision, its ok too.
m- dismiss their services at the end of the day at your discretion. We expect that you are a reasonable person who knows when to give them breaks for rest, for meals, and when to dismiss them at the end of the day.

These Au Pairs, or Personal Assistants if you will, will work very hard for you. They are paid very minimal per day, as compared with their Western counterparts, so I ask that you please treat them with kindness, and decency, as they will you.

These are mostly young people who are on a summer break from their respective colleges.

Schools in the Philippines require these young people to work so many hours of OJT- on the job training, and submit detailed reports of it to their respective schools when they go back.

Graduation, and grades depend on yours and my recommendations as to how they did.

If, and for your privacy, please dismiss this service if you have no need for it. I will always be a few yards behind you, so to speak. Let me know what else I can do for you!

Hubby will tell you I am a detail-oriented, service-oriented micro-manager! What can I say? haha! I can’t help that. That is how I am. Serving you, with your comfort always in mind, and with the thought of making everything be just right, and right for you is what will send me to bed comfortably at night!

If I had missed anything here, please let me know that you want a service added. Within reason we will do our very best to accommodate your request.

God speed your sails to us safely!

Three- Unit Executive Suite @Mindoro Palms Beach ready for Occupancy by June 30, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

An architect’s rendition for now as the place is still too messy with construction to put up actual photos. We will post more pictures as the building become more presentable. Pardon our mess!

imageimage

Whether you are the highly paid CEO of the business world or the Mom doing the “thankless job” at home making equally earth-moving decisions about budgets and such, our Exec Lux Suite will meet your most demanding needs of pampering and relaxation.

This is a two-story three-bedroom suite which will accommodate a large crowd.

We have a spacious Second Floor Executive Studio Suite with all-open floor plan. It features all-glass bay windows and doors leading to your very own private Balcony. The scenery from here is exquisite especially at dusk! The large bathroom feature a jacuzzi by one of the bay windows so you could look out to the beach as you relax inside. This suite will have an office just in case you are ever the workaholic, or not.

Your decor is au naturale. There’s a coconut tree about the level of your Floor. Reach out and split one buko (fruit) if you’re that good with a bolo, or holler, and we’ll do it for you! In this Balcony will rise in the future, your very own zip line into the waters below!

Your closet is a walk-in. Go in and open the fridge and see what we have for you. Yes. A fridge in your closet. Why not?

The First Floor rooms can be independently occupied, or joined together to accommodate a family. The kids can have their own separate bedroom.
These two units have each their own entryway, bathrooms and Porch facing the beach. You never have to share accomodations, which is nice if there are at least three people in your group.

These are our very first units specifically tailored to receive Guests. We know you look for relaxation and comfort and we deliver. For our Western Guests, we had you in mind when we planned these accommodations. We know what you expect as it is also what we want for ourselves when we travel.

Our style of decor is modern, that is to say “a mix of native, western, and fancy imagination!” In other words, have fun and relax. We guarantee you’ll love what we have waiting for you. If you don’t, tell us why and your stay is free! Does it get any better than that?

Back to the US… Back to the US!

Posted on by
2

That was 8 months being out of the US. It went in a flash I thought.
It’s good to be back. Play Mom for a bit. The best job ever.

Below is a picture of the Porch on the Main House, 98 percent complete. Yey! The other picture is staff meeting. It’s hard to leave a construction project mid-stream, but I gotta.

A reassuring thought is that I finally hired me an architect and he promises to not yell to my construction foreman, and keep a tight supervise on it all. We’ll see in June when I get back there just how well all my directives were followed! Yes, directives. I run a tight ship.

Ahh… Good to be back and relax!

 

 

ImageImage

“Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow”, who said that?

Posted on by
Reply

In this case, I did.

It’s time to go again, back to the Resort in the Philippines and for yours truly that means W-O-R-K! But it is not “sorrow” because of that, it is such because I hate to leave at such an inopportune time as the current events in the USA, some very dear friends and the fact that my Son also leaves. With me leaving the US after he does,  it feels like I am “not home” to keep the candles burning until his return. As a Mom that feeling is kinda unsettling… Daughter is staying behind after all. I thought I’d convinced her to join me at  the Resort even just for two weeks. As it turns out of course she promises to be available in December when the Resort opens.

Please stay tuned to this website, I will update you all on Projects completed. A bungalow at the Mindoro Palms is half-way done so Friends and Guests can finally visit and enjoy excellent accommodations. Brush needs to be cleared up at the second property, Macopa Reef.

A beach house similar to this on the waters is in the plans.

First two projects that go in this site are a bamboo pier that leads all the way to the edge of the coral cliffs, and a thatched-roof bar/ coffee house. Hey, priorities, right?

Work include the all-consuming topographic mapping of both Resorts’ underwater lay-outs. Any volunteers out there?

Dive and take pictures let’s have a contest for best underweater captures, Mango Ritas on me! :)

When I get there maybe I’ll finally put in an order for a 40-person capacity outrigger boat to cross the Mindoro Straits to Palawan Island to take pictures of those WW11 sunken ships. This is an expedition for experienced sea-faring adventurous souls. Have underwater cams, we’ll travel! This oughta be good. JOIN ME!!

FUN? Did you say Fun not Work? I did say  “SWEET”  however, didn’t I?


Here’s to you!

Out of the Wilds a funny creature smart enough to foil for escape

Posted on by
Reply

What species is this funny creature with the Elizabethan-era head garb?

A local came to us unannounced one day. He was bearing this bird tied up with a pretty big nylon string. He said he caught it a few days ago and wanted to sell it to me. I said no. I won’t want to care for it. Insisting on selling it, he said that it would be easy to feed and it would eat mice or fish or whatever. For two hundred pesos (roughly a little over 4 dollars), I could have it, a cage built for it and as the guy said, could start a mini-zoo if I want. He volunteered to catch wild animals, including monkeys to add to that mini zoo. I said no a second time.

He pointed out that our neighbor resort bought these animals to put in their zoo. I’ve known for a while now that my neighbor does have that zoo and indeed buy wild animals brought to him from the mountains. I won’t bother with what I personally think.
He might read these posts some day…

The man sensing my disinterest in his merchandise stood up and said he will take the bird to my neighbor. I shot out with a stern ‘No!’ Somehow I couldn’t imagine this bird being this close to the mountains its home, and not be able to go back… I paid the man what he wanted.

“Touch Me Not!”

Drawing near to see if I could touch it altho some warnings were going off in my head about “not touching wildlife” because of any possible bacteria they carried I went ahead and tried… my fingers suspended in mid-air when before I could, this bird fell to its side!


A little bit unnerved, I gulped and walked a distance away from it. The warning in my head seem to bear truth that this bird was sick. I told my nephew to untie it and release it right then. It tried to fight him off but finally it was let loose.
It flopped around on the ground as if trying to fly but couldn’t. Now what, I thought. How do make it go home, or what do I do if this bird indeed was sick? We tried to shoo it away and tell it it’s free, and time to go home… It ran a few meters, stopped, then looked at all of us for a few minutes. (Is it really true owls can’t see in the daytime considering that they are nocturnal beings?)

Almost w/ breathtaking speed it was airborne! We watched it circle above the coco palms once and it’s gone. Some of the Resort hand that had gathered looked at me as if unbelieving then said, “there goes two hundred pesos!”

Someday. Some day…. the locals will have to know to never hunt these wild treasures!

Retirement and Healthcare: Perfect Comparison ER Bill US and Philippines

Posted on by
Reply

Lately I’ve posted some information about Health Care to help those of you who might be considering retirement in a tropical environment like the Philippines but medical considerations had dampen your enthusiasm. Or if you have not thought about it- it’s all over the news and isn’t it timely that you should consider the possibility what with the uncertainty of our own health care delivery here in the United States.

The term “Medical Tourism” had been around a while now. It had opened up some people’s eyes to the benefits of this ‘other’ kind of tourism, but this informational blog’s aim goes a little deeper than ‘medical tourism’. The information given here is to SEDUCE YOU to consider retiring “to live in the Philippines” altogether! ;) And why not?

The advances in information technology had helped contract the world definitively. Even time zones are ‘no matter’ anymore with the term 24/7. Skype puts families from different times zones to ‘real time’.

Whether we are disciples of change and embrace it as readily, or we are dinosaurs (am speaking for myself!) who relinquish grip only tentatively after some convincing, the fact is this rapid change is to our advantage as far as medicine is concerned.

There is an under-current of Philippine life that does not get press, and that is the fact that there is a “great life” to be had in the island. What gets press fair or not- is the bad.
One of those negatives is the thought that the Philippines is so backwards still, especially in medicine. It used to be, not so anymore. If the Filipino MDs were to be asked, in the case of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Philippine ex-president, these Filipino Docs will tell you that anything foreign doctors can do, they can do. That is believable considering that most of these MDs studied abroad, got their Doctorates, or got US-certified in their respective fields here in the US and EU. These elite Docs travel back and forth as if the world really did shrink to a manageable few hours distance. Philippine hospitals routinely do an exchange fellowship with American medical service providers. There is no problem with calling in reinforcements from outside should circumstances or personal preferences warrant.
That was one of the points in the Arroyo case whereby the ex-president seeking medical treatment abroad was denied travel on grounds that she may just want to flee prosecution from her pillaging of the public treasury and nepotic reign, some people hypothesized. She was told she need not travel to get the care she needed. Filipino Docs are more than up to the challenge, but should it be necessary, the hospital would fly one in for her.
Now for us non-ex-presidents, that is a comfort to know. What she can afford, You and I using Dollars or Euros, can well afford.

*Compare-
In this part of the post one can see what the numbers really tell using an excellent comparative tool- another ER bill this time from San Antonio Hospital in California. The first bill from St. Luke’s Medical in the Philippines is here. The medical reasons for these two ER visits are EXACTLY the same! Yes, too bad yours truly had to go through it to have these comparative tools, so let’s use the good out of it shall we?

Below is the ER bill from the San Antonio Hospital here in California. You’ll see they hardly did any tests. They pulled out the old records and used data from those. In a way, thank goodness or I would have had to pay that too out of pocket. (Have I mentioned that we dropped our medical insurance coverage carry-over from my hubby’s company retirement that he earned working for 32 years? And that it was excellent coverage compared to most? Yes I have. Okie..)

June 24, 2012

LEV 4, DET HIST. EXAM.MOD— $401.00
Lead EKG, Interpretation————– 44.00
_______________________________________________
TOTAL CHARGES——————- $445.00

Compare the above charges to the St. Luke’s which had more detailed exams, at $159.36 minus the 2 X-rays which were unrelated to my original complaint but was done simply because I was already there.

The “Over-55 discount” calculated out to be 16%. As Previously stated in the St. Luke’s bill, as soon as it shows a patient to be over 55, one need not ask for the discount- you automatically get it.
Makes being ‘over…’ not bad at all! Hey, cheer, it’s just numbers!

Post script: DID YOU ENJOY THE LITTLE STORY ABOUT THE PI EX-PRESIDENT? ;)

Tropical Retirement: Retiree having a blast setting priorities straight

Posted on by
1

A Leopard can change spots! An old dog can be trained! Put your mind to it, it’ll happen!  

Once upon a time this Retiree didn’t have a clue how to live outside of Westhampton, NY. He didn’t know there was such a thing as Mexican Food. Why should he? There wasn’t any Mexican Restaurant in the village then. Moving to California you’d think his horizon would broaden a bit. Ok, it did, but really just a bit! When he agreed to retire in the Philippines he had no idea about the culture either. He didn’t know that the difference was indeed 180 degrees let alone know what that truly mean for him.

This is my hubby’s email to me; (keep in mind I am at the present at home in California) no corrections, no omissions. He’ll love that I posted his email! ;)

“mccjc@gmail.com Jun 24 (4 days ago)

to me

Okay, the guy just wants to know how to get here.

Anyway, Rex and I went to Macopa today. And Sonia said sadly “don’t you want us to go?”, and I said sure, you and Joey can come. I think she wanted to see Pat, her buddy….

It was GORGEOUS !!! Some waves breaking out where the reef drops off, but small ones. So we snorkeled out there, I saw trigger fish, butterfly fish, angel fish, and a bunch of others. And somehow Sonia grabbed a small but GORGEOUS trigger fish with her bare hands and brought it back to show me. I need to teach them to leave the fish alone and not stand on the reef. Anyway, tons of fish, water was gorgeous, clear sunny day. Pat made chicken tinola (?), I brought some of the apple flavored beer which was surprisingly good. I think it’s my new favorite beer. We had a blast just floating in the water and BS’ing. Oh, and with the rains there is a babbling brook running right thru the property on the hill side of the huts and down under the big bridge Pat made out of tree trunks. Just wonderful. And you can hear it, very relaxing.

Tomorrow we’re going to San Jose to get food, bebinka, Rex knows where we can get a bug zapper for mosquitoes, and Rex has to get some parts for his guitar. He’s getting all excited about them playing music.

Oh, and Mickey is bringing his smaller boat up on shore. Watched him for a while, they’re doing it by hand using two of those chain winches like the one Dante bought. Though after a few hours it’s still sitting in the same place, so I’m not sure what happened. I should go over and watch.

Everyone’s nervous about the 4th day of sun messing up the rice planting. Nobody can work cuz there’s no water, and the fields are drying out.

Oh, and apparently as a kid in the 60’s Rex and his father would walk from San Jose to Concepcion via the beach, and he remembers stopping to drink fresh water at our Macopa beach at that water well thing. That guy’s been around for a long time. Seems like he knows everything about everything.

I checked the website, it looks real nice. Do you need more photos of the house or anything?”

~~end of email~~

Now- there’s a guy enjoying his retirement! Who cares if he retired 3 1/2 years early and we are paying penalties for digging into his retirement? He doesn’t!

Health Care: an example of an ER bill from St. Luke’s Medical Center, Philippines

Posted on by
2

Lucky you, St. Luke’s Hospital! You are getting a FREE ad.

In this Page is an ACTUAL bill from the hospital for my ER visit.

Why the visit? I work hard physically and most times forget to drink enough fluids. Maybe it’s heat exhaustion.
I also suffer from vertigo which is imbalance, dizziness, the feeling of nausea, and erratic or irregular heartbeat. The dizziness and headache fells me. I lay on the couch quiet for an hour eyes closed. Then my BP start to act up because I’m “panicked it might be heart attack”. The room start to swirl and I feel like I’m going to pass out. Well, it’s ER time!

It was correctly diagnosed only in June ’12 in another ER trip: it was inner ear infection. Only my eardrums! Imagine that. All those ER trips, 3-4 times a year. Thank God that was all it was but when you’re feeling all of the above symptoms you do not mess around. In my case, twice I had to go to ER at St. Luke’s.

Here are my diagnostics and the corresponding amount of charges, in Philippine Pesos.
The currency exchange right now is $1 = P42.00. Keep in mind this exchange can go up or down:

CLINICAL CHEMISTRY:
ER Sodium and Potassium: 840.00

EMERGENCY ROOM:
Bedside ECG: 975.00
Thermometer Probe: 13.00
Capillary Blood Glucose: 169.00
ER Fee- Diagnostic: 1,301.00

HEMATOLOGY:
ER CBC Complete Blood Count: 525.00
Drug- Clonidine Hydrochloride 50.00

DIAGNOSTIC X-RAY:
**Diagnostic X-Ray- Extremities- Forearm: 1,365.00
**Diagnostic X-Ray- Extremities- Wrist: 1,365.00
**Chest PA and Lateral: 1,365.00
**not included in my original complaint but I asked for. I hurt my wrist while boating and was painful a few days later so I had it looked at.
_______________
Total Hospital Charges: P7,968.00
Over 55 Discount: 1,274.88
**Hospitals and pharmacies in the Phil. are quick to offer you Senior Citizen discounts. Restaurants are the same. They’d practically put a card in your hand to use every time you come in.

Balance Due: P6,693.12  ’/.  42 =  $ 159.36

Now- digest that, Folks!
That’s first rate ER admission, full staff, you get attended to ASAP as you come in.
If you took out the bill for the X-ray portion of my wrists, this bill would have been much smaller.

I want to add that Jim and I have excellent private insurance here in California. We do have to pay a premium of 550.00 a month plus any co-pays. We’ve dropped/ opted out of this coverage since Blue Cross/ Blue Shield does not reimburse nor recognize use in the Philippines. Instead I am going to funnel that money to an account (savings) where it will stay until we need it.

With this new health care decision by the US Supreme Court, we don’t know what lies beyond..
One thing I know- we have recourse should it turn for the worst.

Stay tuned for more. Feel free to ask me questions on this, or any other questions you may have about our Resorts, the Philippine society as a whole, or the Philippines as your business headquarters. Come out and stay with us while you look around and ponder about your personal or business possibilities. We will guide you through all these.

In our tiny barrio (pop. 1,000 voters), we have 1 Brit ex-pat, several Swiss-Germans and hubby and myself represent the USA. C’mon over let’s raise that count! ;)

********If you’re curious-
My eardrums are punctured and totally shot. I don’t have any. There’s not enough parts left in there to support a patch. Nothing stops water from getting in and when water gets in infection starts. But I never knew it. Never thought to correlate feeling that bad as if a heart attack, to ear infection! Nobody told me. Until that day of diagnosis.

In my teens I had two incidents; a 90 lbs. weight fell right on top of my head displacing one of the neck vertebrae. I lost consciousness.
Three years later, a riptide pulled my left arm out of its socket. Don’t ask how it got pushed back 3 days later! ;(
I found out you couldn’t swim out of a riptide as long as it is still swirling. What you need to do is stay put, relax, measure your breathes (yes you can!) only up to your throat, then wait for the whiteout bubbles to clear.

On both accidents I didn’t have the benefit of a doctor. Maybe I’ll tell in a beach camp fire!