Around Town

Posted April 21, 9:30 a.m. Philippines time

Two or three times a week there's a reason to go to town. Most of our immediate needs are within easy walking distance - I can count in my head at least 10 "mini-stores" within about 200 yards of our gate, where we almost daily buy eggs, bananas, fish, soda pop and other items as we need them.  But for hardware and building supplies, a selection of produce and various services, there's no place nearby like "Tibiao Proper."  This is what the "locals" call the area within a few hundred yards of the Municipal Building and the Plaza.  This is distinguished from the general area, which covers about 10 km and has 21 neighborhoods (barangays).     If you go to  Google Maps and type in "Tibiao" (tibby-AH-o) their system will direct you to a good overview map of our area - - even the satellite photos are pretty clear. I'll post a selection of photos to give you some idea what it all looks like. "Proper" about 1.5 miles away from our house, and while I occasionally walk there, usually we get a tricycle and ride for about 15- cents (newer readers, refer back to blog posting titled "tricycle").

.  Tibiao Municipal Hall.  It has all the various offices you would expect.
The plaza is behind you, as you face this direction.

This building is to the right of the Municipal Hall.  The car is a good 

clue if you have trouble translating the sign.

This archway is to the left of the Municipal Hall.  The word in the second line
under "SPORTS" does NOT refer to the pilot's area of an airplane; rooster
fighting is legal and popular here.  Several communications towers are in the
background, cropped out of this photo so that the lettering could be read.

About 50 yards to the left of the Sports Arena entrance, this large covered
open area is used for tricycle parking on market days, and for municipal
events like festivals as needed. The Public Market entrance is just beyond.

Turning to the left from the "tricycle shed" gives this view of the
Catholic Church.

Turning left again, you're looking directly across from the "tricycle shed"
at the Plaza, with roofed basket-ball court (note extreme-duty goals)
and the open-air auditorium stage.

This business is a short walk from the plaza.  The hours are 5:30 a.m.

to 7:00 p.m.  Note they are "since 1950."

Tibiao Bakery is about 1 block from the Plaza on a side-street.  They
have also been in business for over 60 years, and have retail stores
scattered as far as Iloilo, 100+ miles away.

Many large prominent houses are in the Tibiao Proper area.  The yellow
bus is a Ceres Liner; I will tell more about buses in a later posting.

Less imposing houses and shops are interspersed within a few yards
of larger and more elaborate buildings and houses.

The University of Antique (ann-TEE-kay) Tibiao Campus is 2 blocks
east of the Plaza.  The U. offers a great variety of 2- year to 4-year
programs from teaching to agriculture, computer science, entrepren-
eurship, computer science and too many more to list.  It originated
in the late '40s.

The sprawling campus is shaded by many huge Acacia trees.

This small landscaped area just seemed too pretty to leave out.

When my niece commented that the lady honored here was an original
donor, I did NOT (not, quite) immediately say, "Looks like it cost her
an arm and a leg . . ."

Miscellaneous:  Here are a few photos of things located along the highway between our
                               neighborhood and "Tibiao Proper."

On the highway approaching Tibiao Proper we pass by this large house
which has a little bamboo mini-store and restaurant combination out
in front, next to the road.  Seems like an odd contrast, like if the
Clampett's (Beverly Hillbillies) put out a farm produce stand.

The Tibiao Fish Spa is prominently located about 250 yards from the turning
onto "Main Street."  Customers put their feet into pools of water, where tiny
fish exfoliate (remove excess dead skin) by nibbling.  I'm told it tickles; I
haven't tried it.  It's "tourist destination" which also has a branch in Iloilo.

The Barangay (neighborhood) Hall is just a few yards around the corner
from us, on the Highway.  It houses the neighborhood government and
provides services to residents.

There are always more photos that either seem like "too many" or are out of whatever topic I'm  dealing with.  This seems like a comfortable stopping point for this time.  I hardly ever used a camera before I came here, but I'm getting used to carrying the little electronic-memory snapshot camera almost everywhere I go.  I'll try for another posting in a couple weeks.

Hope you all have a fine day, and a blessed and prosperous 2013.

Tim Larson,  Philippines

Totally "ON the Wall"

Posted Friday, April 12, 2013  3:40 p.m. Philippines time

The house construction has reached three months since ground-breaking, and we are in the final stages of interior work at this writing. I try to keep each blog posting to about 12- or- so photos maximum - - the early postings had to be more like 6 because of technical problems I hadn't learned how to solve (photos would not stay where I put them).  Everything here seems to be make-from-scratch handwork, as shown in earlier blogs (e.g. lumber chainsawn per order; concrete "ready, mix"), so it amazes me how far we have gotten in so short a time.  The last construction photos showed the interior just before the floor-slab was poured (two LONG days of work for a five-man crew), and with this posting I hope to show the methods used for wall-finishing and interior partitions.  Very little happens here in just the same way that it would happen in the USA.

This piece of tree-trunk with handles was used to compact the sand/ gravel

mix under the floor slab, before concrete was poured.  I didn't have a photo

to post before.  A couple of the workers got a good upper-body conditioning

for about a day.  There was no unauthorized tampering - - - -

For wall-surfacing we needed finely-screened sand, readily available here

provided we would first shovel it through this hand-made sieve.  The ropes

are tied to the roof-overhang rafters shown in previous blog- post; the

process is simple - just keep shovelin' and shakin'.

Inside AND outside, surface-finishing began with string-lines set to the correct

thickness for the finish-cement to be troweled.  This wall also shows that the

"smooth" poured-in-place wall post has been chiseled with a concrete nail to

roughen it so cement-mix will stick to it better.  

One worker would daub and trowel "mud" to string-line depth; a second

worker checked the result with  a straightedge about 30-inches long; later, 

a 5-foot straightedge was used to check for evenness; finally, the finisher

would add extra cement powder to the wall surface and use a water spray-

bottle to polish it into the surface for a smooth, hard "perfect" finish.

This window-opening will be enlarged; the unfinished blocks to be removed

show "before" and "after" pretty clearly.  Four people working hard, with

a fifth person often "ready, mixing" took more than a week to achieve the

finished walls.

As the walls were nearly finished, the doors were being built from rough

lumber, sawn and planed to the needed shape and smoothness for door-

frames.  All joints were hand-cut; each piece carefully fitted as they were

assembled. Wooden hand-planes were used for much of the work, but a

rotary-electric plane helped cut "rabbet joints" the door-face was set into.

The two planes (top and right) were made while the construction job
was in progress.  Older planes had worn out around the "mouth" where
 the blade comes out the bottom. Orange item is a piece of plastic PVC
pipe, slit lengthwise to form a clamp for the blade. The third item is a 30-
inch concrete "float" used to finish the walls.  A Stanley jack-plane I saw
in a tool-supplier's shop was priced at a month's wages for a carpenter.

The shop-door from previous photo has had its front face applied, and

is hung in place. The interior face will be added later.  All doors for the

house, except a "pre-fab" bathroom door, were made similarly.

Door-jamb frames for the interior had a mitre-joint with a fingerlap cut

done by our master-carpenter with handsaw, pencil and a pocket-square.

As the doors neared completion, other workers began hanging the ceiling
framework.  Ceiling and walls are all framed with chainsawn 2 x 2- inch
lumber.  Ceiling is "hung" with 2 x 2s nailed to roof- rafters and purlins.
String-lines, careful measuring, and a "knack" for straightening curved wood -
all these were constantly in use. I did not climb on the ceiling frame.

Here, the ceiling is mostly paneled and wall- framing is in progress.  All
ceiling- and wall-frame is 24 x 24- inch squares, to support the interior
panels which are marine-grade 1/4 inch plywood, the standard here.
Drywall ("sheetrock")  and plaster are unheard of.  I did the electrical
wiring except for overhead "runs" which a lighter-weight helper installed.

The workshop interior mostly completed (10 x 21 foot space).  My
favorite electric appliance is on the right; I'm a great fan of fans.

Shelves in-progress are already in use even though the cabinet is not
completed.  What a blessing! after weeks of working with stuff in piles
everywhere.  Narrow room behind the workshop is all storage shelves.

Even the incomplete bookshelf, moved outside for floor-painting, is in
constant use as short term storage in a vain attempt to avoid clutter.

The workshop, seen on floor-paint day, will never be this clear again!
It forms an "L"-room with the small parlor to the right.  Storage cabinet
at the rear now has doors and primer paint; to be colored soon. This
view is from the 8- foot wide front doorway.

Shifting view to the right from previous, shows the small parlor and "front"
door which is actually at the right side of the house.  Interior door visible
goes into the bedroom and bathroom.

Walking around the corner to the right from above vantage point, gives

the view as seen from the "front" door looking inside.

Workers enjoy their "mirienda," the local word for "breaktime."  I have

made the occasional wisecrack about "mirienda rights."

Well, the "or so" of 12- or so photos, above, turned out to be 18  photos this time.  I think that's the most I've ever posted in one blog issue. There are some details I'll back-track to later on, but this posting has you almost up-to-today's-date with the house building project.  I'm planning to give my readers a look at lots of other things I've seen meanwhile, in the next few issues.  Also, our farming project, located about a mile away from our houses in town (a couple photos in the earliest blogs), is just about to get started in earnest.  The plowing season for "second crop" which will grow during the rainy season, is just beginning.  We have scheduled clearing and plowing for next week, plus the building of a bamboo house for a caretaker, and I'm sure there will be lots to "show and tell" from that experience.

  We hope you all had a blessed Easter season and are enjoying a prosperous year 2013.

Tim and Bernadette Larson,  Philippines