4 Years in the Philippines

We are just passing our fourth year in the Philippines.  In the several weeks since I last wrote, there's been a lot going on.   I'll start by just putting up pictures as I find them in the file, and hope that it sorts itself into topics for you. 

One morning recently, this very nicely shaped yellow rose

near our door caught my eye, as I was headed inside for a

cup of coffee.  It doesn't look out of the ordinary in the photo

above, but appearances can be deceiving at times.

The first photo  is cropped from this one; that rose is an

extreme miniature, as shown by comparing its size with the

bottle cap.  It amazed me that anything that small could

be formed so closely like a regular sized rose.

Seems like the largest "item completed" in the last few

weeks was replacing our geriatric Sanyo refrigerator.  This

sort of purchase calls for a 50- mile road trip to San Jose.

On the return trip I was glad I had built the back "load rack"

of the  mini-truck to be removable, for hauling tall stuff.

 Backing into the lot at home, we had to leave the truck partly

outside the gate until we could gather a few "hands" to help

ease the new Samsung fridge to the ground.  The item

suspended beyond the fridge carton is the car-top piano

carrier, hanging in its storage rack.

 Placed in the kitchen, the 12 cu.ft. Samsung (medium size

 by USA standards) dwarfs the 15 yr. old Sanyo - which is

standing on an 8-inch riser box! The little fridge still runs

quite well, but its interior is the size of two file-cabinet

drawers - not much storage, there.   Using new technology,

we expect the Samsung to keep food much fresher and

to use scarcely any more electricity than the Sanyo.

Other than its small size, the Sanyo's big drawback has been

its inside-the-fridge freezer.  Opening and closing the fridge

allows warm, highly humid air to contact the freezer section,

and this extreme hard-ice buildup was typical of only about a

week.  Our climate here is just WRONG for such a design!

We hope to continue using the small fridge in a situation where

it will seldom be opened, maybe easing the icing problem.

While shopping appliance stores, we noticed this BRAND NEW
Singer treadle machine.  Still everyday-common here.  Maybe
that's one reason this is named "Antique" Province?  (NOT! 
The name of the province "ann-TEE-kay" seems to derive from
native- language words, corrupted to Spanish pronunciation.)

Fixtures on display at Citi Hardware gave me another blast
from the past.  On "Happy Days"  TV program, one of
"The Fonz's" frequent quotes was "SIT ON IT!!"  (I don't
think Fonzie was "toilet-talking," but the meaning was
never clear to me.  Oh, well, the photo was too "good" to
pass up!)  (No luck, looking it up in the "slang" dictionary.) 

On the return trip:  this tall crane is set up where a new
bridge is to replace this one-lane "bottleneck bridge" at
Patnongan.  Not in use when we have passed, but it
looks like it is set up to "pile drive" long concrete posts
directly into the ground.  Posts already in the ground at
the site had markings for 13- to 15- meters.  I'll bet it
shakes the ground for a half-mile, when it is hammering.

 On a longer road-trip to Iloilo (100 + miles), 6 'youths' and one

adult  fit into the cargo space for about 3.5 hours. Inside the

car were 6 people, and 3 adults ended up taking bus-service.

I watch the weight I load pretty closely - this was easily within

the limits of the vehicle but heavy enough for me to keep things

a little slower than usual.  Carrying "small folks" helps!

(With driving conditions here, typical speed is around 40- to

50- mph.  Covering 40 miles in an hour is quite good.  But

the speedo numbers at least LOOK familiar - kilometers, 

so I'm rolling at 70 to 75!!)

The meetings we attended were on Thur., Fri., and Sat., with

2 overnights hosted by members of the church where we met.

About 100 people attended, some from 6 to 8 hours' travel 

distance, which is why the sessions spanned those 3 days.

This type of cement post-and-beam open air structure is very

common here.  Other than some roll-down curtains for rain,

very little is usually needed for "walls."

Iloilo has its share of "sidewalk woes," too. (See San Jose, last

month's posting). Here, the steps to a pedestrian overpass 

nearly vanish behind vendor booths.  Many other places have

various occupations obstructing the walk-ways.  

 A REAL "Woe" for me is the pedestrian over-passes at inter-

sections, with more than 30 steps UP and DOWN.  I can

legitimately cross at street level, as a "Sr. Cit."  But locals

customarily jaywalk, in-between occasional crack-downs

against doing so.

This sign is on the mountainous section of the road between

Hamtic and San Joaquin (map link), where the ground often

slumps out from under the road- bed. The WAY it says what

it says, amuses me of course.  Maybe the Public Works

Department  will eventually provide road- psychologists?

Close to home, an update photo on the Tibiao River bridge

shows it complete, including the approach-embankments

with their retaining walls and road-base filler.  But the

approaches have been awaiting their cement-pavement for

many weeks now.  So this long, expensive bridge mostly 

serves as a solar rice-dryer; here, rice is spread on mats on

the approach embankments, but I frequently see shade-

umbrellas and vehicles of people on the bridge-span, also

drying their rice-crops.

Vehicle dealerships often install visor- film with their company
advertising in the vehicles they sell, as in the vans and
light-trucks I often see from this company.  We played with
"TONKA" toy vehicles a lot when I was a kid,  but they had
no working horns.  Seems like this one must have! 

Updating last issue's chair- project:  I thought it was just
about finished.  But the "sample" chair I featured was just
nailed and glued together.  The final chairs were all "mortise
and tenon" jointed (12 carved tabs, carefully fitted to 12 carved
slots for each chair). Alex's meticulous workmanship on
(eventually) 8 chairs took  nearly another week to complete.
(Alex is Bernadette's younger brother.  We LOVE having
him around here to hire for all sorts of projects.)

 Meantime, a much quicker project was another
mahogany- framed dining table.

We had saved Jackfruit-wood slabs for three years, 
to make this table-top.  Aside from bearing the largest
edible fruit in the world, Jackfruit has very durable
hardwood, often used for tool-making here.  ("Edible" is
a subjective assessment; it is OK as a 'filler" in some
types of stir-fry and stewed-vegetable preparations).
(link: Wiki "Jackfruit" article)

A stylish "coffee table" made from a Gmelina wood slab about
a year ago, finally got sanded and varnished.  "JIM-molina" is
a widely propagated hardwood, which resembles birch or ash
when used for furniture and cabinets. (link to article in Wiki)

I help out with the large projects, and work on a steady
stream of smaller things, too. This scrap of wood is part of
a bracket to secure the tire-change wrench in the car; it
has been a nuisance rattling around loose.  Lately I've
gotten the emergency and load-tiedown items organized.
I'm currently working on quick- hanging cleats and easy-
hookup wiring for the P.A. system at church.

We needed a paint-sprayer for a couple small jobs.  This
assemblage of a pill bottle, a juice-pack straw, a couple
wood scraps, and my compressed air blow-nozzle works
fine!  The air from the nozzle siphons and atomizes paint
out of the bottle.  Idea courtesy several YouTube videos.

The same day we returned with our new refrigerator,  Malabor
Elementary School had a special occasion with parades and
other activities.  These are pretty frequent - this one seemed to 
feature flags and costumes of nearby Asian nations.  The whole
school had assembled for a recognition program (we always 
hear the P.A. system) and then each class paraded.  (LATER:
Bernadette tells me it was United Nations Day.)

"End of the parade" is often the ice cream vendor!  This

company's units are an everyday sight, here. 

The school's location at the end of our street brings foot-traffic

in  waves, beginning at 6:45 a.m. and ending sometime after

5 p.m.  We vend items which are low-input for us from time

to time.  The "hottest-selling" item right now is ice-pops, and

neither we nor the stores in town can keep enough cases to

stay ahead of the demand.  We could probably double our

turnover, if we could just get enough stock not to "sell-out." 

Well, that's not everything that's been happening here for the last few weeks.  And, there's more to come, it seems.  I'll be getting some "take along" food ready for an early Thanksgiving celebration in a few days.  Thanksgiving Day, one of Alex's daughters and 8 or 9 of her work-mates will arrive at Kalibo (about 3 hours' drive? I haven't been there!), and I am to go and pick them up for a few days holiday in this area.  And of course, there is Christmas Season to look forward to, coming on fast!

We're grateful for our blessings!  We chafe sometimes because EVERYTHING doesn't happen as we think it should (still not much success with growing garden crops and raising any livestock other than poultry - i.e. no fresh dairy products and no "favorite" varieties of fruit and veggies).  But we are able to pick and to do mostly as we choose each day, and are reasonably healthy and comfortable.  There are plenty of useful and worthwhile things which we can get involved with. 

We hope that each of you are doing well and enjoying the waning days of 2016. 

TJ and Bernadette Larson

Malabor, Tibiao, Antique Province, Philippines

"Autumn" in the Philippines

(Started writing Friday, Oct. 14 about 11 a.m.  No telling when I may get it finished.)

I've been trying to keep the camera handy most of the time lately.  The result is nearly 80 "odds 'n' ends" photos from the last several weeks, with several "topic" or "project" series interrupted by other series as various things got photos taken a few days apart.  (EXAMPLE: The chair project seen below has its photos interwoven with scenery, errand, party, and other subjects.)  I'll try to sort them out as I go along, here.   Seems like this few weeks has had a lot of activity with small- to- medium sized projects, and several day-trips.  

We have NO "Autumn" or "Fall"  here!  Right now it's towards the end of "rainy" season - which THIS year was preceded by a l-o-n-g drier-than usual "drought" season.  Right now we are being deluged by rain almost every afternoon, with a few dry and sunny days, and looking at the arrival of Typhoon "Sarika"  which will give Luzon Island - north of us 300 to 500 miles - including the Manila area, a pretty thorough working-over in the next 2 to 3 days.
It will "miss" us, and WE WON'T MISS HAVING IT,  but quite likely we will have 3 to 5 days of pretty steady-to-heavy rain.

The rain has wreaked havoc on the rice harvest.  Some local crops have been knocked down by rain and wind, so they almost couldn't be harvested; and rainy days make threshing impossible - wet rice won't go through the machine properly.  Then when the rice is threshed, it needs a couple days of dry sunshine so that it can be dried for storage or further processing.   We were blessed to get something-like 75% of a "best crop" from our largest field.  This doesn't generate enough sale-cash to be very exciting, but it DOES offset the expense of buying our rice retail.  We will wait for the price-cycle to move upwards before we sell some of the crop.  (Rice blog #1)   (Rice blog #2)

On Tuesday, September 13, the Gaisano shopping mall at San Jose featured this:

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas."  I think this

Christmas decoration shop may be a LITTLE earlier than

USA retailers - - but maybe they have moved this early

before the Season.  "Santa" is motion activated, and sings

and dances.  Everything inside is artificial trees, wreaths,

and LED light strings.  

The sidewalks of Jan Jose:  Our provincial capitol has out-grown its downtown so that the few blocks of city-grid streets are a real challenge for vehicles and pedestrians. There is some discussion of solving the traffic problems by various means, and I have heard just a little about reforming the sidewalks.  Meanwhile I have "improved through much practise" at watching where I'm stepping and navigating around obstacles.

THERE IS NO MORE SPACE!  And, the officials can't really make any moves which take away from the livelihood of their constituency.  So, everybody just does the best he can (!)

This situation is fairly "tame," as the outdoor cafe- extension
leaves about a one-person width sidewalk remaining,

This HOLE in a newly-constructed sidewalk is about 2-feet 
deep, extending to where water could be seen below.  Later in the day I passed, and found that a somewhat better cover had been placed over this one.  

 Here, it is 5 steps up from the street- level to the sidewalk;  no access ramp.  The corner is pretty well blocked by a food-vending operation.

Lacking inside space, this store owner has extended an awning to create a permanent "parking lot sale," so the sidewalk becomes a mostly- obstructed aisle passing through the merchandising area.

Often, at this place, there is an awning extending out clear to the street-corner, and another stack of goods around the inside of the curb, so that anyone passing must either fight through a narrow aisle of goods and customers, or step off the sidewalk and walk in the street, to get around the corner. 

Here, the street was widened so the curb is even with the existing building.  THERE IS NO SIDEWALK at all!   When the building was built, the street was much narrower.  If the truck were parked close to the painted line, pedestrians would have to walk around the truck into the traffic lane to pass. 

 The vehicle driveway is no longer in use, but it remains - - just watch your step!  Further away, an awning-extension and merchandise displays appear to have the sidewalk completely obstructed.  Merchandise hanging from above will often mean having to "bow and scrape" in order to get through. 




 Goods are often stacked on the sidewalks, creating "narrows" for passers-by to navigate.

 

 And sometimes there is a utility pole which just can't  be moved.

The "rough places" where there are irregular steps, unfilled trenches, pipes running across the surface, etc., don't show well in photos - so I left a lot of them out.

All of the above is not to ridicule San Jose, only to show one very REAL aspect of the problems which they deal with there.  Be VERY GLAD if your area was able to anticipate its growth and accommodate pedestrians and vehicles more adequately.

We try to keep our San Jose errands to ONE per month - just to take care of banking and to shop for items which are more expensive or not available in our area.  But I've had two trips this month to Pandan - 40 miles NORTH from here - for day-conferences.

  

As we arrived at our conference center near Culasi one morning,

these flowering  bushes were rampant in the front yard, and

covered with thousands of blooms.  The young lady is about

5-feet tall.

The flowers themselves are small and delicate-looking, each

one about 2- inches in diameter.  They seem to be a type 
of miniature rose.

This "minimalist" motorcycle caught my eye as we passed

by.   A stainless-steel "Thermos" is adapted for a fuel tank.
What probably started as a "poverty" thing here, has quite
definitely become a "style- fad," maybe something like the
"Mexican street rod" cars in the USA.  I think I would

find the un-padded seat a little too minimal.  I call these
"skeleton bikes," and people seem to know what I mean.

 I used to hear the figure of speech, "A pillar of the community-"
or, "- of the church."  These literal pillars supplement the steel
truss material above them.  This occasion was a "teach by
storytelling"  seminar which caught the imagination of the
group, and they kept avidly involved through the day.


Sometimes I will have a small "flash of inspiration" which proves useful.

This calendar had flopped its way several months BACK in TIME  and was at June, because the pages kept tearing from around the nail it hangs on.  Just a few minutes with a scrap of wood, a coping
saw, and sandpaper, and I now see the correct month. 

There are nearly always several small things in-progress here.  I've been trying unsuccessfully, so far, to find a way to make the "smoke hood" in our new PATIO more effective.   So far, I can't get enough upward draft to positively move the smoke UP and OUT.

This exhaust fan was the first first attempt to create a 
stronger updraft and draw smoke upwards and out
exit vent at the top.  It proved too weak to create a
positive suction effect in the direction needed. 

Attempt "number 2" was to build a duct work to give the air
flow more positive direction.   Several hours of tinkering 
with this also proved ineffective.  There needs to be a
fairly strong air-current ("venturi" is the engineering name
I think).  BUT I also think that whatever type of blower
motor is used should not be directly in the smoky air,
which would quickly destroy it.   So I'm stumped for the
moment.  The new fan will be used somewhere else.


We put several things "on hold" for a couple days, to prepare
for an "Octoberfest" on October 9, in honor of a few calendar
anniversaries which occur all near the same time.   This
chocolate cake is derived from "aunt Bertha's recipe" which
we used constantly in growing-up years.  


The new sheltered car port and outside kitchen area provide
plenty of space for guests to relax and enjoy.


There's very little waste, here!  The day after the "fest," a
fairly thick mat of overcooked and slightly scorched rice gets
saved out of the cooking pot, destined towards the poultry
and other animals.   (All of them especially like stuff left-
over for a few days, which often ferments somewhat.)

 Meanwhile, the table-saw frame, which has been "topless"

 since we built it in April of 2015, has at last gotten its

table-top,  Two thicknesses of hard wood are laminated

to make a piece which we hope will not shrink, crack,

warp, or bow.   Alex has the patience and skill to carefully

line things up so that the top can be trimmed accurately

and "square" to the blade.  We had to "give up" on the

blade-height adjustment feature  which I had designed

into the saw-frame.  It proved beyond our precision

abilities to make it work without tilting and "yawing" as

it moved up and down in its slide-tracks.  The saw shaft

is now fixed and bolted at full height. 

But before we have time enough to "design and fabricate" a

built-in guide fence and other precision features, another

long-awaited project comes forward to occupy us.  These

are two of the mahogany tree-slabs which will become a

set of six chairs for the inside dining table.  For a lot of years,

this table has been served by well-made 4- legged stools

(lower left in photo).  Chairs will be a big improvement!  But

lots of wood must be "sawn"  before those chairs are "seen." 
(Plastic chairs in the background were "rented" for the festival.)

Using guides clamped to the edges (no screws to mar the new

top- surface!)  Alex has shown lots of ingenuity in making

sliding-jigs and other guides for a number of precision

repeat-cutting operations.   With this particular simple guide,

we were pleased to get nearly 3- inch cutting depth through

the hard mahogany.   This wood is from a large tree which

was downed by Typhoon Yolanda about 3 years ago.   

This 2- track "jig" allows accurate cross-cutting of multiple

pieces.   The basic principle gets modified for other needed

operations, later.  

Here, an angled piece attached to the top of the "slider" 

allows accurate diagonals to be cut off the main "spine"

pieces which will become the back legs of the chairs.

A taller set of slide-guides makes it possible to do depth-

controlled cuts, and create "L" shaped slots (rabbets)

for jointing various parts of the chair.

This pile of back-pieces have been jointed and partially
carved using various saw-cuts.  Much faster and more
accurate than hand-work.

This proto-type chair was made of various "reject pieces"
which have flaws.  After some comments from several
"test-sitters," the design was finalized, and Alex made
the jigs seen above (and others!) and as of Day 4 the
pieces are mostly cut and he is finishing the "hand-
work"  and beginning to assemble the chairs.  We will
end up with 7 chairs instead of 6, counting this one.
Seems quite true, HERE, that "chair-ity begins at home."

I don't have an exact count but it seems like I'm probably up to my usual number-range for photos this time.    I have been more aware recently of the prettiness of this place, when I'm moving around on errands.  But probably, I miss a lot.  Even people who live on and drive on Hwy. 1 Pacific Coast Highway (spectacular!) probably become a little too used to the beauty which surrounds them.   These last two photos give a little idea of how it can be:

Sometimes all I see is the fried-chicken vendor waiting to

make her left turn, with a dump truck slowing down behind her.

But there's joy in pausing long enough to see the surroundings,

after the traffic is gone.

Quite a few of those 80 or so photos remain.  I'll perhaps use some of the more interesting ones in a later posting.   

For now, we wish you joy in seeing all the interesting and lovely things around you;  that you will have the ability to appreciate all the wonderful things in life which sometimes get shuffled behind the humdrum day- to- day.

TJ and Bernadette Larson,

Antique Province, Panay Island, Philippines

Our location in the Philippines