I’ll be good this time. I’m not in the mood to rant and scream MURDER ! !
Hi ! !
Going to show some random old photos.
Above ,with statues of Pres. Obama and Michelle in a restaurant in the Philippines that is full of odd decorations. ( Not shown in the photo are the huge statues of KingKong , Godzilla and Batman.
Man, I love that hat ! ! ( pic taken in Pisa, Italy)
I was rummaging thru thousands of photos in my file , and got stoked, for the nth time, when I saw my 15 minutes of fame. …. I was on stage with Jason DeRulo, singing to me. * ah, this never gets old. *
I split the computer screen, and translate the manga I’m reading. I spend so much time doing this. Mangas translated from Japanese into English are so slow in coming. So, I go to Spanish and Italian websites. So, why not translate Japanese straight to English ? Well, there are no Japanese characters in my computer.
I love crime/detective books, too…. so much so that I studied and got a degree in Forensics Biology. That’s pretty hardcore , if I do say so myself.
As you can see from the photo above, my favorite crime author is Patricia Cornwell.
Had a glass or two at this bar above photo at Boracay Island, Philippines. Below photo is Boracay Island. Pretty, isn’t it ?
I love the spiral staircase , from the backgarden below to the covered rooftop of our house in the Philippines.
That’s my bedroom on the right, the one with sliding glass door. I wish I could transport our house, from the Philippines to the US.
Enough of random things. I’ll be back for the serious stuff next time. Ackkk, politics is so confusing. I literally have to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea.
I might have to choose the devil.
But first, I need to contemplate what my role is in the universe. That’s important.
I’ve been busy these past few weeks, with only one day off a week, and lots of overtimes. I’m glad for the extra work, though. I’m planning to buy a GoPro with a selfie stick { he he} for our planned vacation in the Philippines in February, 2020, with my sister and mother. Well, it isn’t really a vacation… it’s for some important “family” business we have to take care of. My mom needs our physical presence and ” signatures” so that she and my aunt can finally transfer family properties to us.( We are my aunt’s heirs , as well. ) They say they are already old and so they need to keep things in order to avoid “trouble” , when the “inevitable” comes….. like who will inherit what . My brother who can’t come with us jokingly told us” Don’t be greedy, or I’ll sue you. ” I had already shown you guys a photo of our vacation house on Boracay Island ,Philippines.
This is a 3level house ( the fourth is a view deck, shown above,) 7 bedrooms, 4 toilet/bath, all rooms fully air-conditioned.. The house is already furnished. Uhm, sorry for shamelessly promoting our house. Ha ha The tenants’ contract ends in 2020, and we’re planning to make it an airbnb. So, if you’re a reader living in the Philippines, contact me in 2020. (^_^)
We have another vacation house in Baguio City, the Cordilleras, Mountain Province. Baguio City is a mountain resort in the Philippines. Our house is a 3 level one with 4 bedrooms, 3 toilet/baths, and also fully furnished. It’s located high up, with a million dollar view of the Cordilleras.
That’s me sleeping in the photo above, all covered with blanket. ( It was very cold ) You can also see a great view of the mountains from the veranda, shown above. Also shown above is a row of townhouses where our house is located. There’s no one living there now, but we’re also planning to rent it out, airbnb, soon.
Okay, so this post is all about $$$$$$. We have 4 more properties, all tenanted, but they’re all located in the capital city of Metro-Manila in the Philippines. That’s why it’s very important that we keep things in order and organized .
Meanwhile, here’s an update on our tenant problem here in the US.. The tenants have promised to vacate our house on June 23., in a registered letter , signed by the tenant. My parents have decided to cut their losses and just wait it out… Our lawyer has warned us not to do anything despite the losses, because there’s always a possibility of a tenant filing a malicious lawsuit against a landowner. ( knock on wood)
Sorry, guys, I’m suddenly on a business mode… Boring, huh ! Whatever, I want to decorate ! ! !
This is my first post in 2015, and I guess, the one and only post for the month. I hope I can post more often this year. So, you ask, what’s preventing you from writing, Ren ? You’re not that busy, are you ? Actually, I am. I work full time since I’m on vacation , and I’ve been doing stuff that I’ve been wanting to do, but couldn’t find the time to do it, because, you know, life gets in the way . Anyway, my best friend said, Get out of that nunnery black hole, Ren ! And get laid ! Huh ? Uhm, okay. Understood. So, last week, I binge watched the anime Attack on Titan, all 28 episodes of it, and 2 seasons of Doomsday Preppers ( love this ! ). I also watched Inside North Korea. That’s one heck of a fascinating documentary. The North Koreans’ behavior was so bizarre it made the hair in my arms stand on end while watching it. Well, that’s what brain-washing does to people. I liken them to the Fundamentalists, of any religion. What ? You saw the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in your ham sandwich ? Nope, I’m not going there. I’m a practicing Roman Catholic. XD
Speaking of which….. Pope Francis just visited the Philippines last week. The Philippines is the third largest Catholic country in the world. Well, 90% Catholic in a population of 90 million. Just a trivia for you. And, because this post is about my fun vacation in the Philippines.
Remember these photos ?
That’s the before and after photos of our vacation house at Boracay Island, Philippines.
Oh, but we don’t live there. We live in Manila, the capital city… well, Paranaque, specifically. So from there, we took a 6 – hour- ferry ride to Boracay. Could have flown, instead, but it was too expensive. The ferry ride was like 900 pesos ( USD 20 ), and plane fare was Php 4,000. I won’t bore you with money matters or lack thereof. But for PhP 900, we got this.
The one and only meal we had was terrible. Actually, it tasted good, but it looked so unappetizing, and pitiful. 1/2 cup steamed rice and 3 beef cubes drowning in dark sauce. Good thing our aunt warned us about this. So we made sandwiches, brought some Cheeze-it and Oreos. We left the port at 8 PM , and arrived in Aklan at 4 AM. Since big ferries cannot dock in Boracay , we had to ride on a small contraption they call banca. Anyway, while on the ferry, the passengers were entertained by 2 pretty singers and a Minus One. the singers were good, but they were too loud.
The banca…. it was a 10 minute ride from one island to another.
My cousin , my friend/neighbor, and I, sleepless, tired, but none the worse for wear. We look like refugees.
That crude contraption is there to balance the banca, and do you see that small thingy tied to the bamboo pole ? I assume that’s our lifeboat, just in case. x_x
There were no furniture in the house, no bed, nothing… just a small electric cooker, a few stools, and a makeshift table.
Oh, there’s an eletric fan, and an airbed. But I slept on the mat.
.The house has 4 floors, ( the 4th is a rooftop garden, with a nice view, ), 7 bedrooms, 4 toilets and bath. Well, I’m going into details because we’re renting out the house to tourists. XD We’ve been told there are beds already, and a few furniture, and a refrigerator. ( My Mom left some money for a fridge before we left ) So, to my readers from the Philippines, if you plan on going to Boracay, email me. ( shameless advertising) )
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A bedroom with a nice view, airconditioned, with its own toilet and bath.
.A small kitchenette, first floor. The first floor is ” private quarters “… for our family and has a separate entrance.
We didn’t waste any time, and headed out straight to where the action is.. the beach. Actually, we rode a tricycle to go there. Our house is about a 5 minute walk to the beach, but we’re at a “quiet” part of the island. ( which we preferred , by the way…. but we wanted to see the touristy area. )
A tricycle
.Actually, it was more like this. he he
.We were packed like a can of sardines. Fun, fun, fun. My US – born cousin really loved it.
The last photo is just a glimpse of yours truly at the beach…. a long shot …. well, I don’t want to show my flabs, , pardon me. ~_~
This is it for now. … more Boracay photos on my next post.
I’m in the Philippines ! We left good ol’ USA on June 21 , 10:30 PM, and arrived in the Philippines 0n June 23 at 4:30 AM. It was a 14 hour flight. It wasn’t a smooth ride, there was too much turbulence from get go, and I was so scared I almost cried. It didn’t help that I actually have plane phobia. I didn’t get to sleep at all. Instead I watched 5 movies. ( Frozen, Transfomers, X-Men, The Hobbit, The Conjuring. ) The only good thing about the flight was the food. Philippine Airlines was quite generous . Dinner was delicious, we had sandwiches and muffins and juice/coffee in between , then breakfast. I’m sorry I can’t post any pictures as yet because I’m using a teeny weeny notebook, and it isn’t mine.
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Today is July 25. I’m back home, yay, California ! ! We left the Philippines on July 21, 10:30 PM and arrived here in California , also on July 21 , 8 P.M.
It’s been a week since then, but I have not done anything here, no reading, no writing. I’ve been busy at work. I’m even afraid to check out my emails. I’m sure I already have thousands of thousands of unread emails.
Oh, well, I have to start writing , anyway, so here I am. Bear with me, please. I think I left my enthusiasm in the Philippines. So, where do I begin?
Do you guys remember this picture? I posted this in Novemeber. That’s how our vacation house in Boracay, Island in the Philippines looked in November last year, 2013.
Here is how it looks now. It’s 99% finished, except for a few paintings here and there…. and the house is empty, no furniture, and just 2 beds.
.It looks like it has 3 floors, but actually, there’s a 4th floor , which is the rooftop. I love the view from the rooftop.
It was such a hectic and busy one month vacation in the Philippines. The bulk of our vacation was spent checking out the huge shopping malls in the city. Do you know 3 of the top 10 biggest malls in the world are in Manila, Philippines? Mall of Asia, North EDSA/Trinoma, and EDSAMegaMall. . They were so huge that just walking around and window shopping at these places overwhelmed and exhausted us. And then there are smaller ones, but still 3x bigger than the shopping mall here in our city in the US.. Even the friendly neighborhood mall at the subdivision where we live in the Philippines is 2x bigger… 4 floors and 2 buildings connected by a bridge. It’s insane. The Philippines is supposed to be a Thirld World country, but shopping malls are full, people are actually shopping and we always have to wait a bit at restaurants to be seated.
Above pic is one 0f a smaller malls. I like the interior architecture of this one.
Our vacation was mostly food tripping, too. The price of food over there is ridiculously low.
For example, the takoyaki is $0.50 and shawarma is $1.50. Takoyaki is Japanese octopus balls.
We arrived at 4 AM at the airport. By 12 noon, we were already at the neighborhood mall , shopping for walking shoes and flipflops. We sure didn’t waste any time.
.That’s yours truly in the photo.
The next day, it was again another shopping spree, this time for real pearls. There’s a mall there ( Greehhills ) with seemingly endless stalls of pearls. It was a sight to behold.
Eh. I’ve been found out. I’m the one wearing white shirt, and wearing glasses ! He he. he. I’m near sighted.
That’s the food court at nearby mall ( SM MegaMall ) where we had lunch after the pearl shopping. SM MegaMall is one of the largest in the world.
Different kinds of food from different countries to choose from.
Check out the prices. At Philippine peso 43.50 to a dollar, that PhP 87 on the menu board is only $ 2.00.
My $2 lunch…. fried rice, pork bbq, chowmein, and fruit dessert. I bought the cheapest.
That’s Korean rice. Yep, it was hot.
It was raining heavily when we came home. Traffic was horrendous.
On the way home, I saw these showrooms.
I don’t know if you can read what’s in that building. Well, it’s Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Audi.
About the photo below, what the heck does that mean ? LOL
So, this is it…. 2 days into my one month vacation in the Philippines.
There are tons of current issues I’d like to write about, but I promised I would wind down my European travelogue, so here it is, as promised.
My lovely, regular readers know my family is building a vacation house at Boracay island in the Philippines. We thought construction would be finished in March but a super storm happened, unfortunately . It is a 3 level house with 7 bedrooms, and yes, we do plan to rent out the whole house or individual rooms to tourists. Although it’s now almost 99% finished, we still need to furnish it, and you know, we have no investors, everything is out of pocket, our pockets, and I guess, we are already at our limit, as far as finances go.
That’s how it looked in November. ( That’s my dad in yellow shirt ) I wish I could show here some recent photos , but our aunt is so computer -challenged she doesn’t even know how to email pictures. * shakes head *
We’ve already sent 5 boxes of stuff to the Philippines, via Door to Door delivery. ( dozens of towels, Ikea curtains, chafing dishes, etc. … omg, bottles of wine ! ! )
We originally planned to go to Japan and some Southeast Asian countries , but I guess that ‘s cancelled now. I’m very disappointed. Oh, well. It’s okay….. I don’t think a one-month Philippine vacation is enough, anyways….. there are so much to do there and so much to see, and I’ll take tons of pictures. Oh, by the way, my brother and his girlfriend are coming too, but they are going to France first, and from there, fly to the Philippines. We don’t know if we’ll get to meet up with them, though. We hope not. My mother said it would be troublesome to take care of 2 more people. Ha ha .
Speaking of France……Paris is the last leg of our European tour. We’ve been to Nice, Carcassone, Poitiers, Bordeaux, Amboise, Avignon, ( all in France) and I’ve already posted some pictures of Paris.. and the photo below of the Eiffel Tower. I’m posting it again because I look very happy in it.
So without further ado….
The following photos are those of The Louvre Museum’s .
Below is the back entrance. The size of European cars fascinates me because my eyes are used to big, American cars. Guess what, Mini cars are already being advertised on TV here in the US. I just watched a commercial for a Mini a while ago, a cute yellow one.
Below is the entrance to the Museum.
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That triangle structure looks kind of out of place in front of the imposing palace.
Now for the awesome art objects inside Louvre.
* stares* I’m wondering about the pose. Or maybe not. Maybe that was just the way they posed. Cool.
There’s a lot of movement in these later Roman statues. Gorgeous.
You can feel the movement of those muscles.
* stares * Oh. my. word. He’s beautiful ! ! !
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Alright, enough of the nekkid male statues. Below is Venus de Milo, goddess of beauty.
I bet you haven’t seen Venus’ behind.
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Photo below is Athena ( not sure )
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This is all for now, folks. Next post is still Louvre Museum. The place has thousands of art objects ! Stand by for the Mona Lisa !
Oh, yeah, Manny Pacquiao , a champion Philippine boxer just won over Bradly. We watched it a few hours ago on paid HBO special. Okay, I didn’t watch it. I don’t like boxing.
My father arrived from Manila , Philippines , Friday evening . He has tons of stories to tell because he was right there in the Visayas islands in the Philippines when the super storm happened. Fortunately, Boracay Island wasn;t hit hard. For a few hours though , it felt like the end of the world , Dad said.
My regular readers know we are building a vacation house in Boracay. A fellow blogger friend, Dead AnarchistPhil had asked about the house… was it damaged or not? Luckily, no. And here are some pics of the house, nothing much as you can see.
.It looks like a building but when it’s done, there’s going to be a nice roof, French windows and doors, verandas, etc. It’s 3 floors with a roof garden, 7 bedrooms, 4 t/b. It ‘s gonna look like a house, not a building.LOL ( We were disappointed too when we saw the pictures. )
Heh , There’s dad in yellow striped shirt.
That’s the back of the house… Dad going up the hill. Landscaping is part of the contract , so , I guess they’ll make the backyard nice too. It does look like a jungle.
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.A relative’s restaurant, beachfront. The whole place was blown away by the storm, except the flooring. Our cousin managed to take out all the restaurant stuff before the storm… to be honest, I hope he left those pink heart thingies hanging from the ceiling. Ugh. The place needed a serious make-over, anyway. Just kidding !!! I love the open space, bamboo materials, and thatched roof !
Dad at the beach., 2 days before the super storm.
.Tourists unaware a super storm was coming.
.Those structures were blown away, too, Dad said.
.Such blue sky ! Who would have thought…….
/Nightlife at the beach. This is the ” busy ” part of the island. Ours is very quite and private, which I think is nicer, imo. Tourists can go to that place at night if they want fun.
Dad safe at our house in Manila, the capital city, far from the storm devastation.
You can see the French door on the left. We’re going to install exactly the same thing at Boracay, but the squares will be made of steel, not wood. Oh, do you notice the unusual shape of the window ? It’s a quarter moon, and it’s repeated outside , at the main entrance. Neighbors say it reminds them of The House at Elm Street. he he he
There you go… the other window. Outside. And that’s my aunt…. and what the heck , why is there a mirror outside?
.Okay, this is the French door I’m talking about. It’s on the second floor, and that’s the veranda. The house at Boracay will have verandas all over. Oooh, that’s my bedroom door.
.I’m showing you the water tank. Now I understand why we have it. We’d have water , just in case. When we were there 2 years ago, there was a huge storm, too, and there was no power for 3 days. In our subdivision, no power=no water. It was fun at night, though.. We had candle lit dinners, and a few childhood friends would come over, brought snacks, and talked about ghosts…….. and how our house was called a haunted house for several years when we immigrated to the US. You see, nobody lived in our house for 5 years (until my aunt who was a Singaporean resident retired and is now living in our house.) Anyway, we only had a caretaker who came in 3x a week to clean and water the plants. Some neighbors swore they would sometimes see a woman walking around in the house at night. No, not the caretaker. She didn’t have the key. Our relatives, who live next door, had the keys. And it wasn’t our relatives, either. After listening to these stories, I slept with Mom through the remainder of our vacation. LOL I’m a scaredy cat.
Speaking of which….. I post 2x a month, that’s all I can manage…. I’m too busy, especially these past few weeks, and these coming few days before Thanksgiving Day. We’ll have exams just before Thanksgiving vacation. But, guess what, I found time to guest post here. C’mon, click this , guys. I won’t tell ya what it’s all about, but it’s a true story. He he… Oh, it’s not political ! =_=”
another pic …
.A small nice backyard.
So, that’s it for now. It’s a tour of our house in the Philippines, and an update on construction of our vacation house at Boracay Island.
PS… The engineer and the 13 workers are all from Tacloban City, the center of typhoon Haiyan’s destruction . The engineers house is gone, but thankfully, his father managed to secure all his stuff, especially his 50 inch Sony TV, his prized possession. 0_0 ” All the rest of the workers had damaged homes…. but they all came back to Boracay . They say now is the time to work. They need money. In fact, some people there are begging to be taken in and work there, too. The engineer has enough workers, sadly.
Have a good day, folks ! Next will be my Paris tour. Aaargh, I know…..
Thank you all for your prayers and concern. My father is safe, and already in Manila. He says he’s coming home soon, maybe in 3 days or so.
But we’re worried about the family of the engineer who is doing our vacation house. His family is from Tacloban, Leyte, the center of destruction . The city had been flattened by the 376 km/hr storm. ( 235 m/hr ). You know guys, the Philippines is used to these kind of typhoons… my Mom said she remembered a 250 km/hr storm and how it was then, so this one is quite unimaginable. Metereologists say this off the charts. Categories are only up to 5… this super storm could easily be # 7. There is no official count of fatalities, but they’re estimating it can reach 10,000 to 20,000.
Mom and my aunt have already decided how much they’re going to donate to the victims. Of course we will give.. My parents had given to American Red Cross for Japan tsunami victims. And Japan is a rich country. The Philippines is poor. We don’t even know how the country will manage to rebuild that part of the country. Do you know that same area had been hit by a 7.2 earthquake one month ago? The country is in the earthquake, volcano , and typhoon belt. Google Mt. Pinatubo eruption. It was the second biggest eruption of the 20th century. Earthquakes are a daily occurence, and I’m not kidding. Of course , the daily earthquakes cannot be felt, but my parents say they can. At our house there, there’s a hanging lamp, and that lamp will sway just a bit if there’s a tiniest movement of the ground.
Speaking of Mt. Pinatubo volcano eruption… When it erupted, Manila , the capital city, and which is about a hundred kilometers from the volcano, turned pitch black at 12 noon. Then heavy ashes fell on the city, blanketing it with ashes a few inches thick. Visibilty was zero. The eruption actually caused the earth’s tempersture to drop by 1 F. It was also 10x bigger than Mt. Helen’s eruption here in the US. They have theorized that the eruption was triggered by a 8.2 earthquake that occured about a year before the eruption. Two weeks after the earthquake , the people felt tremors and smoke was seen coming out of the volcano.
The Philippines is a calamity area. Strong typhoons, floodings, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions…. Filipinos eat them for breakfast. But this super storm is just……. We’ve been watching CNN for days now. It’s just heartbreaking. We are also ready for bad news from our architect. Oh, man.
Anyway……. to my dear readers and friends….. if you can find a way to donate.. donation intended for the Philippines, please, please, please, please , do so. Please find a way. CNN has provided a link… go there, and click donate. $ 5 , $ 10, even this small amount will go a long way.
My dad is in the Philippines, and when the super storm came , he was in Boracay Island , Philippines, right smack in the middle of it. We still have no communication, as of this moment, so we don’t know how he is. Mom has been calling like crazy… right now , what we’re getting is…. ” I’m sorry we cannot connect to the country you’re calling.Please try again later.”
This is my second post this month. I wish I could post more but.. oh well.
My father’s in the Philippines. He left last week. It wasn’t a sudden trip, though. He had been planning this for months, but we were nevertheless surprised to see him packing Thursday night, and we were like, When are you leaving? … Tomorrow. What ! ! ” My sister goes to San Francisco twice a month to be with her boyfriend . ( He now works in Frisco ). She is supposed to go there this coming Saturday, and take Dad to the airport, but her BF called to tell her he bought tickets to a Friday night game, ( baseball or football, I don;t know), so Dad just decided to leave one week earlier. San Francisco is a 2 hour drive from our house, and he doesn’t want Mom to go on long drives anymore.
So, anyway, I wrote about a beach house we’re constructing in Boracay Island, Philippines, didn’t I ? The plan was originally a duplex, one unit for the family, and the other one for rent to tourists. Then it was changed to a 2 floor house , 6 bedrooms, 3 toilets/baths…. then 3 weeks ago, we learned that my aunt changed it again to 2 1/2 floors, 7 bedrooms, 5 t/b with a rooftop garden. What the heck ! ! Well, it is my aunt’s and my parents’ joint venture, but this is getting out of control. My aunt assured us all additional expenses would be on her. Oh–kay …… still……..
Anyway, that’s the reason why dad ‘s in the Philippines now…… to check out what the heck’s going on with with on – going construction….. and to ask the architect about the changes, although we learned it was due to the site’s topography. It’s hilly, so the architect changed the plan based on the layout of the land. The architect assured us the view would be spectacular…. though our property is not beachfront… it’s a mere 5 to 10 minute walk to the beach, so that view from the hillside will be spectacular, indeed.
So, to my readers from the Philippines, watch out for my ” promotional plugging”, ha ha. Our problem now is , this is not a simple vacation house anymore that we’ll be renting out when not in use by the owner. We’re figuring out how to run this……… now how do we classify this ? An inn? Also, to my non- Filipino readers who want to go on tropical vacation, we’ll advertise this on VRBO.com * Vacation Rental By Owner ” . Hopefully, we’ll be ready by February , 2014.
Oh, by the way, I bought a published book by a fellow WordPress blogger. Uhm, Mr. Conley ? I haven’t read it, but I promise to read it soon, and hopefully, write a review.
Hey, I’m not going to be political on this post, even though my mouth is itching to say something. One thing though…. the total non-empathy and non- compassion of the Teabagger Republicans for the needy are stunning. And to think their base constituents from Red states * (Democrats’ are BLue states * )are poorer than Blue states’. ALL … I repeat, ALL, Red states, except Texas , get more federal welfare than they give to the government. The rich Blue States, like New York, California, Massachusetts, Washington, Oregon, New Jersey, Maryland, etc. heavily subsidize theseRed States. Oh, the irony ! ! ! Hey, teabaggers !. See that poor, homeless- hippy looking beggar listening in to your tirades againts those lazy poor and the sick – if – you- can ‘t afford it- just die folks ? He could be Jesus -come- down – to- earth. And His eyes are glazing over as He listens to people like you. The shamelessness and meanness are breathtaking.
So, I went political. Again. Couldn’t help it. * walks off, mumbling. *
* turns around *
My Paris tour next post….. Louvre, specifically. And countdown to our Asian tour in June, 2014….. 7 1/2 months. Good day and Peace.
I wrote about the beach house my family is building on Boracay Island, Philippines. If you haven’t read it, it’s here. We’ve been calling our aunt in the Philippines to check on the progress of construction. As of last week, the foundation had been dug and they had already put the rebars , etc. The original plan was just a one -story duplex, one unit for rent, and one for the family. We’ve since altered the plan. Now it’s a two-story house with 6 bedrooms and 4 toilet/baths. I/m worried my parents and aunt have bitten off more than they could chew, but I trust they can do this. They have supervised construction of several properties, after all..However, though they are all rentals too, this is the first time they’re going into this kind of business… We classify it as Vacation House for Rent by Owner and we’re going to advertise it as such. Locals and foreigners can reserve the house at VRBO.com ( Vacation Rental By Owner ) by February, 2014. It’s 7,000 Philippines pesos a day ( USD150). That’s cheap, considering that the cheapest room at nearby Shangrila Hotel is USD300. Ours is the whole house that can accomodate at least 12 persons. During low season, we’ll rent out individual rooms for $30 /day. We’re still figuring out how this can be done. Oh, and the most important thing is to have it advertised in South Korea and Japan in their own language, especially South Korea.
Speaking of which…….
There was a joke that went around in the Philippines during the North Korea crisis. They say the South Koreans are not worried about North Korea because half of the population of S.Korea are already residing in the Philippines. Ha ha . J/k
Currently, dozens of US Embassies in the Middle East, and North Africa have been closed indefinitely, or on high alert. Americans are warned not to travel to these countries. Well, you can travel to the Philippines. Two days ago, Chris Matthews on Hardball announced a list of top 5 countries that view The US most favorably. # 5 is Kenya ( Pres. Obama’;s father was from there) and guess what is # 1. Tadaaaa ! The Philippines. 86% of the country view the US favorably. I expected England and Japan to be # 1 …. surprisingly, no. So, fellow Americans, we’re welcome there, very much so.
Okay, enough of self-promotion.On to my Paris tour, as promised.
The following are photos of Paris street scenes and fine architecture.
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The Seine River , Notre Dame Cathedral is nearby. By the way, it’s pronounced No-truh Dahm ( the “o ” in No is like the “o” in hot ) . TV hosts , especially sportcasters are perpetuating this Noter Deym pronunciation. Well, there’s nothing we can do to correct Los Angeles. But it’s pronounced Los An-he-les. Sorry for nitpicking. lol
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.City dwellers should drive this smart car here in the US. It doesn’t occupy too much space, and doesn’t consume too much gasoline. It’s green. This was actually the very first thing I noticed in Europe. The cars were small, especially in Italy and the Netherlands.
*ponders*
I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed that there are countries where the word “The ” is placed before the name of the country. Ex: the United States, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, and , oh, yeah, the Philippines. In fact, these are the only countries that I know of that have ” THE ” before the name. We don’t say, in the Japan, in the Indonesia, in the England, in the China , in the Italy, etc. It does sound awkward, doesn;t it?
.This is the avenue going to the famous Arc de Triomphe
.The building of this arch was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon to honor those who died during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. It’s located on the right bank of the Seine River.
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This is all for now, folks. Next posts will feature The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, and yes, the Mona Lisa.
Good day to all. Be nice, be good, stay cool, and PEACE !
Oy ! About this blogging thing…. do you sometimes feel it’s become an obligation to post something, even if you think there’s really nothing you can write down that will interest readers of your blog? At this moment, my mind is blank. Well, I can talk about some current issues like the acquital of that p*ssy coward George Zimmerman, or this idiot guy Edward Snowden, the security secrets thief. But then, I tend to run my mouth off and offend readers,y’know, and I don’t want that. So, let me gather my thoughts for a sec……
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Oh, yes ! ! My Mom and I just discussed about the possibility of going on another trip next summer. This time, we’ll go to Asia, specifically, Philippines, ( of course ), Japan, Thailand, Singapore , and South Korea. This depends on my employer though. Believe it or not, I have to sound them off one year early, like I did before we went to Europe. My cousin is coming with us , of course, and guess what, her boyfriend too. She’s 14 now, she was 13 when we went to Europe and she’ll be 15 when we go to Asia. There’s a 99 % probability her Bf is going with us. His mother is so happy with the invitation and already asking how much the trip would cost. I don’t know if she could come up with $ 1,466 by January , 2014 ( We buy the tickets for Manila, Philippines in January,) and additional $1,500 ( for Asian tour) by June , 2014. My cousin and her Bf are childhood friends and have been classmates since first grade. Sweet ! I don’t know if their relationship’s going to survive though. His mom likes my cousin very much. She always takes her to go shopping, go to the movies, and just last week, they went on a 3 day vacation in Monterey, California. Ah, young love ! I’m jealous.
Should I do a countdown again? Last year, I was like, yay, 7 months to go ! 4 months ! 1 month ! Then on the day we left for Europe, I posted something like, I’m leaving for San Francisco Airport in 1 hour. Now for our Asian tour, it’s , 11 months to go !! I guess I’ll do a countdown then.
Oh, newsflash ! The BF’s parents and grandparents will come up with the money. Totally approved ! It will be fun to have a 15 year old boy coming with us, and hear his comments and opinions. I don’t know if it’s relevant but BF is a white guy, so I’m sure he will kind of stand out among us brown folks. he he he And I don’t know if some of the readers have read my posts where I mentioned that we have a beach property in one of the top ten best beaches in the world, Boracay island , and that my aunt and parents ( on joint venture ) are going to build a beach /vacation house there soon. Well, construction has finally started and I’m sure it will be finished in 3 months. Also, we are going to rent it out on daily basis, so if my readers from the Philippines are interested, contact me here on WordPress for reservation. Ha ha ha ( Ha ! I’m into business mode again…..well, my parents are into rental business in the Philippines… apartments and condo units, oh, and a townhouse in Baguio, Mt. Province, which we’ll be renting out on a daily basis for vacationers ) Is this allowed by WordPress?
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Filipinos do love to dance. Philippine inmates, 70% of whom are high risk criminals, are taught to dance as part of their rehabilitaion.
Filipinos are either crazy or have a good sense of humour.
Did I just say Filipinos are crazy? That sign was seen at a school’s gate.
Sorry I digress.
Below is a picture of the beach at Boracay Island. It was voted as the Best Beach in the World in 2012.
By the way, our beach property is right behind Shangrila Hotel… in fact, we share the same property line. We were afraid they might even have taken a few feet off our property. Big corporations are like that, right? And that Shangrila Hotel land used to be owned by my great grandmother. Her heirs sold off that big chunk of land to the hotel conglomerate. * shakes head * I don’t like it when big corporations come in. Somehow they destroy the pristine beauty of a place.
I just wrote that my mind was blank, but here I go again chatting and blabberring endlessly. I suddenly got excited about our next trip while writing this , so pardon me. Gaaaah ! I’m supposed to post about my Paris tour but I ‘ve chatted too much. Next post, okay ?
While I’m at it, I’d better make use of this post and advertise about our Baguio townhouse for Philippine readers of this post. The pictures were taken when we were there on vacation 2 years ago. Some of the units are still unfinished in the picture so the place doesn’t look much.
By the way, the place is a mountain resort.
That’s me sleeping…. you can see the veranda , the house is hanging for dear life on a cliff, but the view is spectacular from the veranda.
Below are the million-dollar views from the bedrooms. The townhouse has 3 floors, and the bedroom shown here is on the second floor. The pictures were taken using a disposable camera ! He he he I’ll take better photos next time.
That’s yours truly in Bagui 2 years ago.
The ubiquitous Starbucks. I couldn’t believe when I saw it there up in the mountains.
The lady in the picture with me is my cousin, a very pretty medical doctor. I masked her face though.
The photo of me is the ugliest so far, but I love it.Bahahaha ! I’m wearing a tribal costume here. This is a mountain resort in the Mountain Province. I doubt indegenous people of this province still wear this attire. This is for tourists.
LOL I jumped from France to the Philippines ! But I’m hyped. And to think I started so lame and dull !
Boracay Beach ! Woooh ! It’s on ! Construction has began ! ! * I see dollar signs* Anyway, there’s no one living in the house. It’s our relatives who use the house and bring friends, and that kinda annoys me. A week before we went there, the whole cast of one noontime TV show were there for a week, and forgot to close the windows…. it rained , so the living room got all wet, including the furniture. ( A TV star is the GF of the son of a family friend ). They paid for the damage with microwave oven and toaster. o.Oa Oh, well. Anyway, the townhouse is up for rent on a daily basis. We still have to figure out how much.
Okay, this is all for now. Our second day in Paris, France is next.
Good day to all. Be good, be nice, be cool. PEACE !
Gaaaah ! This post is so random.
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Random thoughts, musings; click image
Am a Molecular Microbiology student, love to read books, and I play the violin.
Am a Molecular Microbiology student, love to read books, and I play the violin. 
dreamsending
renxkyoko
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