Holy Week 2018

(Begun Wed. morning Mar. 28) (finished Fri. afternoon Mar. 30) 

Holy Week in the Philippines - the week preceding Easter - is observed as a time of particular reflection and respect.  Especially from Wednesday onward, many businesses and services ore either closed or operating reduced schedules. 

This link is to a Washigton Post online article,  posted 11:30a.m. Philippines time on Good Friday (11:30 Thursday evening D.C. time).  It briefly describes the crucifixion reenactments which still take place at San Pedro, San Fernando, Pampanga, which is about 50 miles north of Manila.  This devotional practice is frowned upon by the Catholic Church, but there are still a significant number of fervently devout people within the Philippines.  (I imagine that the attraction of large numbers of tourists also influnces the event's continuance.) (Note: one day after posting this I notice that the brief online article has been expanded quite a lot) Most places, the more reserved and somber reflection of many folks is the indicator of the day.

Easter Sunday occurs on April 1, this year.  This seemed like an unusual event, as I couldn't remember it happening before.  The internet is an amazing resource.  In less than 5 minutes I found a listing of all Easter Sunday dates from 1700 to 2299.  The most recent April 1 Easter Sunday was 1956; at 4 years old I wouldn't have noticed the date.  In the 1900s, Easter fell on April 1 four times in an 11-year-apart cycle, 1923, 1934, 1945, and 1956.  In the 1800s there was a similar sequence, 1866, 1877, 1888,  and this year of 2018 begins another such sequence, 2018, 2029, 2040.  I don't think there is any particular significance to this phenomenon;  it is only an interesting (to me) bit of trivia.

This has been a slack-month for picture-taking it seems; my photo file for March
is about half the number of images I usually have; and quite a few of those are redundant various phases of the blue-bathroom re-model which we finally got around to.  I'll put up
some of that project, but try not to over-do it.

It's also been a month of continuing aggravations as several long-term things-not-working, still aren't!  I'm likely to post a little about THAT, too, also trying not to over-do it.

This large, fairly new looking "Manila bus," represents the most common way that local-folks

travel to Manila.   People here travel a lot less than most Americans do, but most families have

members working around the capital city, so there is enough going-and-coming to make these

a common sight.  Dimple Star and others have many units passing through our area each day.  From our place, the buses go north-west to Caticlan,  and board a ferry to go to Manila.

The trip takes around 30 hours, and costs about $35.  Bus travelers have the advantage of a comfortable seat to sleep in, and I think the air conditioning is kept on.  This is a big improvement over the cheapest ferry-fare, which is "hard bench" category.   Airfare to fly to Manila is around $85 to $100 from Kalibo (80 miles away from us) but there are occasional promo-fares cheaper than the ferry.  So far I have had no reason to go to Manila, and I hope things stay that way.  

I carry the Yamaha music keyboard to and from Batonon for

its uses on weekends, but its stand rarely leaves that

area.  From our meeting-center to the pastors house a

few hundred yards away it frequently gets moved this way!

Saturday music practises are at the house, and Sunday

activities take place "on campus."

The Suzuki "multi-cab" has come home to our carport, but

ALAS! the diagnostics and repairs so far have not ended

ALL of its problems.  The intermittent surging and cutting

in-and-out STILL seems to be a fuel supply regulation-

problem.  There are NO manuals or diagrams of the quite-

complicated fuel system  (many environmental controls are

on Japan-origin vehicles).  So, Henry* the mechanic and I

are still "working down the list" of possible causes, trying to

find the one-item or combination which causes the symptoms. 

 One outside door handle got broken around New Year.  Quite a few weeks of searching

convinced me that I may never get a replacement door handle  without buying an entire

vehicle.  The first repair attempt, I relied on an epoxy glue to repair a high-stress

area.  When that failed, I eventually used a small bolt embedded in the epoxy.

I THINK that may work OK, but I haven't reinstalled it yet.  It's still possible

I may find a replacement for sale, and easier to "show what I want" if I can

carry the part into a store in my hand instead of asking the owner to come

outside and look.  Lack of supply-lines  in a "third world area," for many

things I would take for granted in the USA, is one of the hard realities

I am still learning to deal with here. 

 One of many examples of *Henry's resourcefulness and his

meticulous attention to workmanship; here, he uses a glass-plate

with a sheet of sandpaper to smooth and be certain that the

mounting area of the engine-head is absolutely clean and flat.

The room we always tried not

to show anyone - finally got

its "face-lift" started in mid-

March.  The floor had to be broken out, as we needed to

be "down" 2 inches for new

floor drains + to allow the

additional thickness of floor tiles.

Things stayed in various 

degrees of "mess" for about

a week.

This view, as of "quittin' time" Tue. March 27, shows tile-work nearly complete.

It is from the same vantage-point as the "before" view seen above.  The upper

walls will be smoothed and painted very light blue enamel, and fixtures are

nearly ready to install.  Chrome towel-rods and shower-curtain rod will

give a kind of retro- 30s to 50s appearance.  I'm pleased with the way

that 3 types of tile have coordinated - - it's kind of hard to know for sure

how it will come out, just putting samples side by side in the store. 

But there are always a few GOOFY LITTLE SIDE-PROJECTS

which come with ANY job.  Here's one:

The brackets supplied to attach the sink to the wall appear to be too weak, and they depend on fragile pottery to bear all of the weight   So, we needed to find a way to put legs under the front corners of the sink.  Here, Gatorade bottles are trimmed into forms, which will allow high-strength epoxy material to be applied as mounting pads underneath the sink.  Then,  shiny chrome legs - the same material as all the rods - can be mounted to provide more stability. 

The gray material will be trimmed 

 and finished so that it will be minimally visible, and the new legs should compliment the overall "motif" of the room - but in a way it's a nuisance NOT to have some sort of off-the-shelf solution for this kind of problem.

Seems like I just "naturally" read things differently from a lot

of other people.  Double meaning of the word "counter"

creates a ready-made "double-take" on this advisory sign.

After more than 5 years here, we are still finding "sources" for

some desired items.  I was really pleased when we found a

"Costco" type store newly opened at Iloilo, only 100 miles away.

They stock jalapeno peppers, and prepared California

garlic-in-a-jar.  (I have probably peeled and minced more

garlic in the last 5 years, than I had in the previous 50 years.)

It is common here for grocery clerks to have never heard

of "mustard" or "worcestershire sauce," but we have

found occasional  sources for these and other such-stuff.

(IN FAIRNESS, lots of the sauces and other items in the

grocery stores here are things that I have scarcely or

never heard of, either.)

Well, this is also MY Good Friday so I am going to make a "short issue" this time.  In April I have TWO major trips scheduled so far, one for a conference and one for a wedding "renewal of vows."  These trips will total nearly 500 miles and they are taking place in the same 5-day Thursday thru Tuesday period.    I'll remember to keep the camera handy, as the first trip will be my first time "off the island" since we arrived in Nov. of 2012. We will leave the car  parked at a  ferry-port in Dumangas (map below) during a 2-overnight trip to Bacolod.  (I really hope that Henry and I will have some success with the performance problem before those two trips.  I can and will drive the car as is if necessary; there's no option.)

MAP shows our area (Tibiao) upper left, from which we will travel the familiar route around

the perimiter of Panay Island to Iloilo (lower center) and Dumangas (pink outline), there to

embark on the passenger- ferry for a 35-mile ride to Bacolod.  Elapsed time driving and

ferry- riding will be about 6 to 7 hours, for a total of around 150 miles.

We hope that you will have a fine and blessed weekend; regardless of  any point of view,  we commemorate what is objectively The Pivotal Event in the world's history as to the far-reaching scope and power of its consequences.  

TJ and Bernadette :Larson

Tibiao, Antique Province, Philippines

"Caught Short"

(begun Thur., Mar. 1)  (finished Mon. Mar. 5, 2018)   

There's no better reminder that February is the "short month" than having the end of it sneak past while you're still thinking "third week".   Seems like we sure have been  been busy, and gotten little-or-nothing DONE!

I got this nice, picturesque shot of a fairly large vessel as I was looking from a friend's back yard.  Not being the nautical expert, I wasn't quite sure if it was a "sand and gravel" boat of which I have discovered several, who move river-gravel over-sea to places like Boracay Island, a tourism site which has been being enlarged for 20+ years.   Alternate possibility is that it is a fishing vessel. 

 The "picturesque" aspect may be lost on the local small-boat fishermen.  I'm told that in the last generation, the number fish has decreased sharply from what it used to be.

Trawlers that are  able to catch and refrigerate tens-of-tons of fish  pose a threat to the "little guys" who might be able to catch "zero to a couple hundred pounds."   The larger, more profitable fish also seem to go to the trawlers.

The locals put fish into iced styrofoam chests, and later sell it  in "bulk" 3-foot diameter basins, to vendors who take it to customers. I hear numbers like 2,000 pesos ($40) per basin, depending on the variety.    So a good night may "net" (!!) the fisherman  $100 or $200,  but that might only happen a few times in a month (or, not at all) and there is a lot of risk involved.  Smaller, bonier, stronger-flavored fish are of course cheaper than large, meaty, mild-flavored fish, and the retail prices around here seem to be from about $1.00 to $2.50 per pound  in this area where day-wages for various laborers are around $4.00 to $5.00.

(Later, after getting past this section) I decided to try to find the Google-satellite photo of the gravel-ship being loaded.  This photo is only about 3 miles south of our beach on a protruding shoreline created by hills funnelling a river-delta area.

The ship being loaded is quite visible at the left.  The main highway

is about a mile inland at this point, crossing the Dalanes River

at a place somewhat narrower and easier to access from both sides.

This shows  the larger area and gives you some perspective.
If I hadn't seen the Google shot, I wouldn't know about the
gravel mining, as the river delta area is pretty inaccessible.

NOTE that "downtown Tibiao" is just above the sharp turn in

the road, upper left, and NOT where the name on the map is.

I was standing facing away from that curve in "the old bridge

photos" which are below.  

OUR PLACE is just about  under

the "b"  in "Malabor."  The photo area is about 8 x 8 miles.

THIS LINK will let you navigate the photo on-line, so you can

zoom and look at things.  The "street level views" are even

available now, you just keep zooming in and the image

will "flip" to street view just after an area-circle appears.

THINGS I SEE AROUND:

 A certain rock-weighted canvas bag has hung alone and forlorn

under the carport quite a bit recently.  It is my "parking positioner"

which allows precision-parking the car (when the car touches it,

you've parked "just-right!" ).  The car has had a series of minor

repairs recently, and will still be gone for a few days, or a
couple weeks maybe,  as it gets a valve-job.  Such things

happen slowly, here.  

One benefit of the car- repair is that I do more walking, and

I see things which I've been missing. This main-highway bridge

crosses a small stream, near the Tibiao "main road" intersection.

I have driven and ridden over it  hundreds of times.  I  would

usually see this view from the right-hand lane, not hoofing-it

along the left hand shoulder.

So this time I got to see the never-noticed "old bridge" which

is quite ornate with 1930s/ 1940s style ginger-jar shaped

cement balusters supporting its railing. 

BTW, just "behind me" is the curve which toppled the "dinosaur"

just before dawn one morning a couple years ago  (LINK)

You never know what you'll see on the highway, here.  One

afternoon I passed this Suzuki pickup truck, rolling at maybe

15 miles-per-hour, and decided that the huge caribou riding

a tiny truck  would make a great photo.  I easily gained a few 

hundred yards distance, and jumped out to wait with my

camera ready.  Missed the shot, just too hard to frame

and shoot even a slow-moving object with the little pocket

camera.  Another attempt, after passing them a second

time, and I still got mostly a blur.  But by that time, they had

noticed the crazy (Ameri) 'cano racing past them and trying

to photo-shoot, and they very kindly stopped at the next

"wide spot." Not much slowing needed before THAT stop.

You'd have to say that's quite a load of bull.  (Steer, maybe.) 

His weight distribution looks kind of heavy behind the back

axle, which would make the steering seem to "float," which

is probably at least ONE reason they were movin' kinda slow. 

Multi-load motorcycles are an everyday sight, of course. I
have ONLY RECENTLY discovered that there are laws
"on the books" which direct passenger and load situation
on motorcycles, but for all practical purposes they would
be almost impossible to apply here.  Transportation is
livelihood many times, and the people here are used to
making do with what they have.  "Family of 5" can be
4-year-old, "Dad,"  2-year-old, and "Mom" holding an
infant  all riding along perfectly complacent.
(I will get a photo of that eventually.)

"Breaking news from the trenches:" The big drainage

project on "Main Street" of Tibiao (shown last month) is 

mostly finished, and people can get in and out of places

without  walking over makeshift gang-planks.  There is a

nice curb- and- sidewalk finish progressing nicely.  This

has been a VERY fast-moving project, for this area.

KITCHEN STUFF SEGMENT:

Bernadette found the nice medium peppers above (coffee mug for size reference) which are just-above bell-pepper flavor, and we hope to grow more from their seeds.  I am clumsy- fingered and prefer to work with this size and larger, rather than the pencil-shaped varieties.   I recently learned a "new" skinny-pepper prep-trick, though - - slice one edge of the pepper off, then rotate it slightly several times while slicing.  Just a few quick slices this way and you're left with the core and seeds intact and separated from your slices.  Much quicker than slicing in half and trying to scrape out all the seeds ;-). 

The above casseroles were (left) flour-tortilla and "chicken-enchilada filling,"  and (right) a wide-noodle preparation, probably beef stroganoff.

    Spaghetti and macaroni are available close-by; "twist noodles, " lasagna, and a few other pasta shapes are 50 miles away, but I like wide-flat noodles for stroganoff and certain things, so I'm getting fairly efficient with egg-noodles (pretty easy, really) and beginning to think of ravioli stuffed with home-made sausage, etc.  I've found out that noodles simply won't dry in our high-humidity, so beginning to experiment with very-most-minimal oven-drying.  This is tricky - you have to keep constant watch and lowest temperature,  or instead of drying the noodles, you will brown them. I've "been meaning" to put together a simple baking-sheet sized solar dryer, someday soon - - -  Noodles left to dry "at room temperature" here are still gummy-middle after 48 hours, and likely to attract ants.
   I'm also 3 or 4 "batches" into home-made hand-pies (empanadas, or pasties) with pot-pie filling.  Starting to think about expanding this genre into dessert-types with chocolate, coconut-cream, etc. for fillings, in slightly sweetened crust. 
    Playing with cooking enjoyably fills some of my time, though unfortunately filled some of my figure, too. 

FIXIN' TO START FIXING

Our favorite shelf-clock (time-date-day-temperature) started acting quirky, so I took the battery out - - and also removed a couple dozen tiny ants! Opening the case revealed that the entire interior was packed solid with the little creatures "in colony" and with nearly as many eggs as ants.  We had occasionally noticed 1 or 2 ants walking along the edge of the shelf, but nothing to suggest such a numerous residence, certainly thousands in that tiny space, as these ants are the size of the smallest mark possible with the sharpest pencil - 1/32 inch(?).  The acidity of the ants had corroded several components, so the time was up for our little clock.  I had ordered two similar clocks a few months before, which came in our "annual box."

 The bamboo "nipa house" which we built in Dec./ Jan. 2012-2013 was a great asset at the time, as we were as many as 9 people on a property with ONE small house.  It has served many purposes in 5 years' time but this environment has pretty well beaten it up. This is the second roof, mostly weathered away, and we can see and feel that the insects have munched most of the main frame members.  We like the "look" of something organic on the property, as everything else is cement posts & walls  with metal roofing - - so we will soon be trying to re-create something of "the look" with more durable materials.

"The blue house" here was built about 2005 to 2006, and I have never shown its bathroom before - - although this is a very "standard" type of "CR" around here even now, and it was certainly up-to-expectations then.  The 6-foot x 4-foot room has a single water-tap just .beyond-photo- left , filling a "reservoir" container just like the one which is visible (re-purposed margarine or shortening bulk-size container).  There is no sink/ lavatory.  The ceramic toilet is "S"-trap sanitary but is flushed by dumping water from the 1-quart dipper or 8-quart bucket, depending on the amount of "flush" needed. Bathing and handwashing are "dip and splash method," and there is a floor drain which carries  away incidental gray-water from these washings.  A plastic-coated wire-rack shower-organizer shelf is on the wall above the reservoir container   Many, MANY other projects and concerns have occupied us for 5+ years,but we have recently gotten tiles and fixtures which will convert this to a still-small but "western-level" bathroom.  Up until now it has been the room the "real estate agent" would keep you from seeing.   REMINDER, most of the Philippine population lives at-or-below this level of expectation, but things are gradually improving with "our" 7-plus percent annual economic growth  over the last several years. (While we could barely maintain 2%  to 3% in U.S.A.)  We will be pleased to show you how the project turns out, in a month or two.  I guess when it's done we will be "sittin' pretty."

GRANDSON SEGMENT

I kind of avoided putting "family photos" in this BLOG for the first couple years; my "take" on posting  is that the material should mostly show what this PLACE is like  (surroundings, customs, and other material which differs from our U.S.A. life).  But it's hard to resist putting a few "Timmie" photos in.  He's a lot of fun to watch, as he develops. The video arcade is a rare occasion, maybe his first & only time, as it is 50 miles away in San Jose.  The sequence of climbing-over into the pickup bed is within the last week, on the day he learned how to swing-over using body momentum and leverage (quite a "milestone" feat).  Before, he was getting in and out using a step-stool with the tailgate down - he's been doing that for a couple years.  He still can't swing-over to get out, yet - it's too far to the ground and finding the toe-hold on top of the tire is pretty complicated.   He's about 3 yrs. 9 months old now, and beginning to "sound out" simple combinations of letter sounds, and do very simple adding/ subtracting of objects in front of him.  There are thousands of education- cartoons on YouTube, and we have made a lot of use of them.

Timmie has visited here 3 days, so getting this together has been a little complicated.  He likes to sit between me and the keyboard, preferrably watching Shrek or Road-runner.  As usual, there are some things that I left out, but maybe I'll catch up some of them in the next posting.  

We would be happy to exchange some of your left-over winter - anywhere in the U.S.A., for our weather here, even for a few days.  Lately the overnights have been 78+ F. and most daytimes pass 85 F.  with humidity you could squeeze out of the air in your hand.  We do hope that you are beginning to have a fine spring-time and enjoy your contrasting weather. 

Best wishes and hopes to you all!

TJ and Bernadette Larson
Antique Province, Philippines