(Began Oct. 26) (Finished Oct. 29)
I'm trying a different method of putting these postings together. I've been putting up a lot of photos on a "blank sheet" for 2 or 3 weeks, and then organizing and captioning them. Before this, I would look at photos in my files (usually ones from the last couple months) and THEN put them up and caption them topic-by-topic. I think this may end up being faster.
The last two postings seemed to me to be a little "heavy" on the construction project, so I'm going to try to get some more "miscellaneous" topics into this one. We'll see how that works out.
This photo could be contemporary - - it sure looked familiar
to me, with the utility post remaining in the middle of completed
roadway! It arrived in an e-mail with 20 or 30 photos, titled
"Gotta love Africa - -" or similar, and is from central Africa
dated 2001.
to me, with the utility post remaining in the middle of completed
roadway! It arrived in an e-mail with 20 or 30 photos, titled
"Gotta love Africa - -" or similar, and is from central Africa
dated 2001.
For reference, the small photo shows the recently widened
National Hwy. about 4 miles away from our place. Above
is the highway intersection of one of TWO roads that go
into "downtown Tibiao." Viewed from the highway, its
"ONE WAY" is not specific which way but it seems to be
there to discourage highway traffic from entering. BUT
the other side of the same sign seems to prohibit local
traffic from exiting. In reality, everyone just uses that
road whenever they want to, it seems.
There were apparently no utility poles to conflict with this
section of the widening project. But after less than 2 miles
of 4-lane roadway, the road curves through another congested
area as it heads towards the Tibiao River Bridge (small photos).
Midway through this "blind curve" situation, a delivery truck is
blocking the north-bound lane, causing the tricycle ahead of
me to cautiously pass by it in the south-bound lane. I have
closed the gap with the tricycle, intending to closely follow past
the stopped truck - his passage effectively blocks any potential
south-bound traffic momentarily. GOOD MOVE! as I get clear
of the truck, there is a lineup of stopped south- bounders which
would have delayed me. (AND, with both sides not being able to
CLEARLY SEE any opposition, things would have been nerve-
wracking.) Meantime the tricycle had managed to turn
left into a small side-road, as another vehicle came out.
The puddles to the right of the road are in the never-completed
approach to the NEW BRIDGE. Two-plus years after this very
expensive bridge is complete, it sits unusable by traffic for lack
of 50 YARDS OF CEMENT PAVING on each end. We cross
the river on the old bridge. The locals use the new bridge for
sun-drying their harvested rice.
I guess the bridge-approaches just got overlooked in the
excitement of building disconnected 4-lane highway
segments all over the place.
I had the camera held in my right hand at shoulder height,
clicking without being able to aim, for these several shots.
National Hwy. about 4 miles away from our place. Above
is the highway intersection of one of TWO roads that go
into "downtown Tibiao." Viewed from the highway, its
"ONE WAY" is not specific which way but it seems to be
there to discourage highway traffic from entering. BUT
the other side of the same sign seems to prohibit local
traffic from exiting. In reality, everyone just uses that
road whenever they want to, it seems.
The newly-widened National Highway to the south of us, is repeated to the north of us, when the road again passes through relatively open area. Houses and businesses are too close to the route in our immediate area to allow a 4-lane road - - at least for now!
section of the widening project. But after less than 2 miles
of 4-lane roadway, the road curves through another congested
area as it heads towards the Tibiao River Bridge (small photos).
Midway through this "blind curve" situation, a delivery truck is
blocking the north-bound lane, causing the tricycle ahead of
me to cautiously pass by it in the south-bound lane. I have
closed the gap with the tricycle, intending to closely follow past
the stopped truck - his passage effectively blocks any potential
south-bound traffic momentarily. GOOD MOVE! as I get clear
of the truck, there is a lineup of stopped south- bounders which
would have delayed me. (AND, with both sides not being able to
CLEARLY SEE any opposition, things would have been nerve-
wracking.) Meantime the tricycle had managed to turn
left into a small side-road, as another vehicle came out.
The puddles to the right of the road are in the never-completed
approach to the NEW BRIDGE. Two-plus years after this very
expensive bridge is complete, it sits unusable by traffic for lack
of 50 YARDS OF CEMENT PAVING on each end. We cross
the river on the old bridge. The locals use the new bridge for
sun-drying their harvested rice.
I guess the bridge-approaches just got overlooked in the
excitement of building disconnected 4-lane highway
segments all over the place.
clicking without being able to aim, for these several shots.
I ride a bus or service van to San Jose (45 miles+-) if I
need to go for 1 or 2 "simple" errands, and not much
running around when I get there. This 2-and-2 seating
bus had plenty of open seats when I got on, but within
a short distance had filled up. Before we had our vehicle
here, I was a "standee" fairly often, for short periods.
I called it "road surfing" because the motion of the bus +
a narrow aisle to stand in requires some footwork and
body-shifting to stay in place. Some of these riders
ended up "surfing" for more than an hour on the 2-hour
trip. (Most buses have 3-and-2 seating, so more seats
but less space in each seat.)
need to go for 1 or 2 "simple" errands, and not much
running around when I get there. This 2-and-2 seating
bus had plenty of open seats when I got on, but within
a short distance had filled up. Before we had our vehicle
here, I was a "standee" fairly often, for short periods.
I called it "road surfing" because the motion of the bus +
a narrow aisle to stand in requires some footwork and
body-shifting to stay in place. Some of these riders
ended up "surfing" for more than an hour on the 2-hour
trip. (Most buses have 3-and-2 seating, so more seats
but less space in each seat.)
I didn't ask the seller if the chicken was "formal" or "casual."
"Dressed chicken" means prepared, ready to cook, usually
frozen. As this means the feathers have been removed,
I say it is UNdressed. Commercially produced chicken
is common here, but in every small town home-grown
chicken runs "neck and neck" with it.
This pumpkin is fairly typical of the local variety, about
dinner-plate size, 9- or 10- inch. They can be any
color from light tan to dark green. Their skin would be
better than KEVLAR, for making bullet-proof vests.
It is so tough to peel, that I have been cutting
"cantaloupe-slice wedges" and then steaming
them. After 15 minutes of steam, and you can
remove the flesh from the rind with a soup spoon.
The other item is a "totally gnarly" ginger root.
(Can you see the "elephant?")
I've heard the expression "bathtub GIN," referring to illegally produced "gin" during USA
"prohibition period" from 1920 to 1933. Kind of before my time - - -
As to this posting's TITLE - - - I have been drafting, lately.
For the last several weeks I have been home- brewing
"shower stall GINger-ALE," which has proven to be an easy
and productive hobby. Ginger ale is not generally available
here; Coca-Cola and Pepsi both have "short lists" of several
products which don't include it. Ginger ale CAN be found in
"import section" areas of big grocery stores, but expensively!
SO, I started with 1/2 cup or so of water + 1 teaspoon of
minced ginger (not peeled ) and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in
the jar. After a few days this "starter" began bubbling, and
I brewed a "tea" of 3/4 cup of ginger + 2 cups of sugar, plus
4 tsp. of lemonade concentrate, into the 5 quarts or so of
"final" mix that you see bottled here. The little- used shower
in the blue house is a convenient place to keep them.
The "starter" is added to the cooled-down "tea" just before
bottling, but half-a-jar of the mix is reserved for next-batch
starter. I've found that re-used "soda pop" bottles work fine
for bottling. One week is enough time for the ginger ale to
carbonate, but it seems "better" if left for two weeks. I started
marking my batches to keep track of them: "X15" and "X22"
are the production dates and they are batch 5 and batch 6.
Batch 5 is darker because it has much more molasses,
which I have been using to add flavor and color.
This week, I put a little bit of starter into a 12-oz.
bottle of "raspberry-tea;" I'll know how that turns
out in a couple weeks. I have found lots of recipes
for various flavors of "soda pop," and I intend to try
out "cream soda" sometime soon.
We have been hosting "Oktoberfest" the first Saturday
for several years, usually on a small-scale. Here are a
few of our guests arriving. I'd say that fewer than 1/20
of families can afford to have a "personal tricycle" here;
it is the "next step up" from just having a motorcycle.
(Motorcycle is much easier to drive, though - -)
for several years, usually on a small-scale. Here are a
few of our guests arriving. I'd say that fewer than 1/20
of families can afford to have a "personal tricycle" here;
it is the "next step up" from just having a motorcycle.
(Motorcycle is much easier to drive, though - -)
Not-unusual table-spread, and Bernadette's newly-baked sweet-potato pie.
On Oct. 5 I "took a ride for fun" to San Remigio, a municipality about 45 miles from us, about 15 miles inland. Note that their boundary "welcome sign" features a strawberry- motif. The farther-inland parts of the area are quite mountainous and elevated, and well-known for being able to produce specialty crops which won't grow elsewhere. However, these remote areas are "not for foreigners to travel," so I was content to get to their main-plaza area with the public market. Well, it wasn't "market day" + it's too early in the season for strawberries,
but I learned a little about our extended area here and had a nice ride.
One species of palm tree has branches about 5- feet long, with long tapered leaves. These are often folded around the "spar" and woven, to be used for awnings and shades. They last a few months, and there are always plenty more available. People here have a remarkable capability of making 'something' from little-or-nothing.
space, here. I don't know what most of them are; this bunch
is in front of a neighbor's house a few yards down the street.
I spent a couple days (parts of 2 days) at a conference
in San Jose, and this is the only photo I took, just before
dismissal. Lots of folks here are eager to record each
passing moment (Face- Booking?) but things mostly look
the same to me from one meeting to the next.
Well, I didn't say there would be NO construction updates!
Here's what the front looks like, from the front corner of
the "yellow house." 10:46 a.m. and the large shadow area
on the front wall shows that the 30-inch overhang above
is doing its job. An "A"-frame roof will complete the
upstairs at some future date, blocking the view of our
water-tank tower. We expect to be able to finish-coat
the downstairs and install doors in the next few weeks;
the estimate for the windows hasn't come in yet.
thoroughly tamped down. We went with less re-bar in
this floor slab than in earlier ones, as it hasn't seemed
to make much difference in surface-cracking.
am determined to find and apply Styrofoam insulation panels
to the underside of the cement upper deck (our ceiling)
before finishing it; this large slab gets about 8 hours of full
sunlight each day. The "A"-frame upper roof will also be
well insulated, but it may be a while before it's in place.
was preparing his lights for nighttime. The lights shining on dark water attract fish
to be netted. Nobody uses this method in the week around full moon. This photo shows the usual disposition of Sulu Sea, a smallish ocean body which is usually "flat as a farm pond," surrounded by land- masses. (Yeah, I know, Star Trek - - maybe Gene Roddenberry got the name from a map - - [Link: Sulu Sea].)
It's going to be a challenge to put next month's posting together. I have scheduled several "distance trips" for meetings and one wedding in the next few weeks, + ,maybe a one-day trip on Thursday or Friday, as daughter Thea, Joseph + friends are asking if I want to go see Kalibo area (All Saints Day and the day after are Holidays for office workers in the Philippines). I hope to keep the camera clicking if "new" or "different" scenes come into view.
Have a great week, and may the joys of the approaching holiday seasons utterly surpass any of the included hectic activity! ;-)
TJ and Bernadette Larson
Antique Province, Philippines
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