Covered court and local election

A common sight here in the Philippines is a basketball court, they are all over the place and established areas of a little bit more affluence have covered courts, like the one shown which is here in central park very close to where we live. If you wonder why covered, well when it rains here all hell can break loose and if there is a function being held, well, self explanatory really, a cover s much better.

As well as games of basketball they can be hired for private parties or used for group meetings, fiestas, child groups, anything at all really and in the case shown for a local election.

The election is for directors of homeowners association who will then form a committee and elect president to deal with local issues such as rubbish collection, security, fiestas, beautification projects and other things as well. I was asked to stand as potential director and it took me 2 seconds to dismiss the idea as there is a lot of side issues and even hostility between rival groups. Do i want to get involved in that rubbish, not likely, for sure NO.

Anyway Ann voted on behalf of our household, we are in Purok 4, which is a local area of just a few streets.

Anyway that's the covered courts and the local election, i will find out later who gets elected and sworn in as president.

Pictures shown are of the court from the inside, one of the voters, our neighbours waiting to vote, the rules and regulations inside the court and of course Annika and Mum going to vote, its a very short distance from our house to the court.

Eden

Fieden a tennis friend has a beautiful 3 hectare property on the slopes of Mount Apo and the general area is known as Eden, i have no idea why BUT...it is paradise, it is unbelievably fertile and under developed and so there i may have answered my own question, its like the garden of Eden.

I have been to the place before and in part the property is used as a conference and training facility for the family pharmaceutical business and the last time we went there a magnificent training facility was being built, pictures shown are from this newly built facility.

There are kitchens and balconys and beneath the main area shown are 4 separate bedroom and bathrooms for guests. There is a fish pond and snooker and table tennis area and Fieden has a plan to build a tennis court. This is great news for me because Fieden is one of my regular tennis partners (or opponenents) and so i am bound to get invitations to use his faciltiy, i do count Fieden as a good friend at this stage.

I stopped off and showed Mum the place when we were visiting Eden nature park and Mum waved a tennis racket in the general direction of Fieden, so she knows it all but will not recognise the internal shots, you can see its big.......

Doggie Dogs

Yep the dogs are growing up fast now, not quite full grown but say 2/3rds or 3/4ths, anyway growing up. We have been to the vets quite a few times for inoculations and anti rabies jabs and the vet gives them a full 100% tick in the health and condition department.

The dogs are dogs and here they are treated like dogs, let me explain. In the UK, a lot of people treat their dogs better than people, here a lot of people treat them harshly, short leads or caged life and suchlike, here at this house we treat them with respect and friendship but they sleep outside, are not allowed in the house and generally get on with their doggie life.

We penned the dogs in to half the garden to keep them out of the kitchen and generally this now works well, they have plenty of room to exercise and "explore" but are not under our feet all the time.

Different people here have dog responsibilities......I am the shit clearing and vet guy. Germain or Joy feed the dogs and Lorenz baths and inspects for tic's etc.

Pictured above are Chai chai (or is it Spike........................... not sure) getting a bath and picture of Chai chai (or is it Spike etc etc) with Anti Tic and Flea powder after his bath.

Nikka

Nikka has been at swim club most of this summer and it culminated last weekend in swimming competition on Saturday and triathalon Sunday. Ann, Annika and I attended the swimming Saturday.

The event was held at Ladislawa subdivision clubhouse, they have good sports facilities there including a 25 metre pool.

The event was well attended and suitably well organised, Nikka was well supported by sister Jaiya, Mum Joy, Karen Arnel, Grandma at times and us at times too, as well as assorted other toddlers and members of her swim group.

Nikka did well, she won the 50metre breastroke easily when we watched and came back with a stack of medals, very pleased with herself as she should be having put in a lot of effort during the summer.

Towns and Cities, not really very pretty

The Philippines is a beautiful country i wrote a blog a few weeks back about natural beauty and its true the natural part is beautiful, very...but.......

Where it isn't pretty is where civilization makes its mark and builds towns, cities and sub-divisions.

Services, mainly electrical distribution cables but also including telephone, satelite and internet cables are "slung" along roads and highways, towns and in fact everywhere. Sure its the practical way to distribute power etc but it isn't pretty, in fact its ugly, practical yes, pretty no.

Secondly and also allied to the above is money, money here tends to be at a premium, Philippines s a poor country and beautification although it does take place, with plantings etc, in general terms the lack of money both in the public and private sector does not allow for too much expenditure on aesthetics.

For example with the "slung" electrical distribution, they could be buried under the roads and pavements but this would be expensive and so, the cheaper more ugly alternative is used.

People don't have the money to "finish off" (paint) buildings, see house example above which has been left with bare cement render finish for years, i guess no money to paint.

Shanty and squatter areas, simply they are not pretty, for obvious reasons, in town they are ugly in country villages they can be clean and structured.

Oh well, the natural beauty more than makes up for it and i quite like the cities, they are grimey and kind of interesting.

Pictures shown are squatter housing Sasa port area, "unpainted house" public building (library or city hall i think) San Pedro and random shots from the highway and in the city.

Three in and one out

The title applies to persons in and out of the Bowden household....first the persons in....

Ann's sister Joy approached us some months ago and broached the subject of her daughters education, Jaiya and Nika. The girls who are both in the same grade expressed some desire to attend high school here in Davao to go to the same state school that Lorenz, their elder cousin already has attended for the last 2 years. Lorenz is 13, Jaiya, 12 and Nika 11.

I agreed and of course Ann wants to support her sister and nieces, so, a couple of months ago in they moved. There have been some small "teething" problems but never mind, we are all adults (no we aren't 2 are kids but you know what i mean) and we need to get on with life... the 3 (joy and the kids) have spent their summer holidays here, school starts in about a week and there we are, real life will kick in.

The one "out" is Lizelle, who left last week after being with us for a year, she was our maid and was a pleasure to have in our house, she is a quiet girl, but very pleasant and polite, she is a great cook, doesn't cause any problems and was a great addition to our family. However...she decided to move on, we let her know we didn't want her to go, but it's her choice and we wouldn't hold her back.

What is she going to do? She told us she is going to Manila to work / stay with her cousin, but Germaine, our yiya (nanny for annika and lizelle's friend) thinks she is going to get married, i have no idea but for the last couple of months of her stay here she got a massive amount of texts from someone on a daily basis, husband to be? who knows.

Photos shown are Lizelle at her birthday party, looking suitably happy, Lizelle holding Annika in typical family pose with the girls, and then Jaiya and Nika looking beautiful and with Joy (Mum) at their graduation from junior school.

We are getting another maid on tuesday next week, although she s on trial only, the position is being held open for a couple of months for Lizelle if she decides not to get married or go to Manila or whatever...we would like to have her back.

(photos wouldn't upload so, will "edit' them in tomorrow.....wait)....update tuesday....photos are not being uploaded, tried 3 or 4 times, anyway never mind eh

Blue Jaz

We have lots of options here in Davao for day trips out, for example, Eden nature park on the slopes of Mt. Apo is beautiful, there are lots of beach resorts and suchlike very close by and there is Samal island which is in Davao gulf, at the nearest point only about 500metres or so away from the mainland.

Samal is a beautiful island, its quite big, and rural, mainly coral rock base but also has mountains and waterfalls, it is, say about the same size as the isle of man and there are roads and pathways crossing the island, main roads are ok, side roads are dodgy and are subject to heavy rain making them impossible to pass.

My neighbour Raul who has lived in Davao all his life has not for example ever been to the other side of the island, i promissed him a trip there, must do that soon...anyway.......

On Samal and close and convenient to Davao city there are lots of beach resorts, where you arrive by boat direct from the mainland...the boat dropping you at the resort. The beach resorts are not Samal, they just exist on Samal and are a major employer on the island and generally cater for tourists from Davao and everywhere else.

The most popular resort is paradise beach and yes, its great we have been there many times, say 20....so we decided to go and try another venue, Blue Jaz. 14 of us, adults and kids, all our family and Karen and Arnels, we packed up loads of food and drink and shoehorned us into my car, off for about 7:30am and drove to the ferry. Parking was a bit chaotic and the large ferry was full, but before 9am we were in.

The resort is large, and has some great facilties, like water slides and pools but in all honesty it is a "work in progress" (building site) and feels about 70% finshed, nevertheless we enjoyed the day, particularly the kids because of the water slides and well, kiddie fun, i asked the kids afterwards and they all said they prefer Blue Jaz to Paradise beach, but for a cleanliness and facilities, paradise wins hands down, so, its pay your money and take your chance.

Annika went down a small but wizzzy slide 3 times with 3 different cousins, she was a bit mystified by the process, but enjoyed splashing with Dad in the pool while children all around us played and splashed and had kiddie fun. She had 2 lovely sleeps in the arms of Ann and Germaine, we left about 3:45 and were safely home by ferry and car by 5 on the dot, an excellent and fun day out.