Snowbirds Living in the Philippines : Things I will Always Remember at Chateau Du Mer

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Things I will Always Remember at Chateau Du Mer

Next month will be the seven years anniversary of the opening of the beach house, Chateau Du Mer(CDM) for public use. Since then we have hosted several guests from US, Europe, Canada, Korea and Manila. The following are things that I will always remember at CDM.

1. The chirping songs and cacophony of sounds of the birds(Mayas)as they fly from tree to tree looking for worms

2. Native fishes and tilapias thriving well on my creek that meanders to the ocean

3. Sunset and coral reefs at low tide seen from the balcony of the beach house

4. A Reflection of an almost full moon as seen from the balcony of the beach house

5. Thousands of fireflies illuminating the firefly tree on a moonless night, just like a Chistmas tree with flickering miniature lights

6. Monitor Lizard ( bayawak) looking for chicken or duck eggs. He looks scary, but actually harmless,unlike the Komodo dragons of Indonesia

7. A native hawk (lawin) diving from the sky for young chicks. This lawin is on a cage to do no harm to your chickens for the moment

8. Coconut rats feasting on young coconuts ( one coconut almost hit me on the head). Watch out for your head, specially on a windy day

9. Blue starfish and corals seen only a few meters from my back yard

10. Bougainvillas and orchids blooming in my front yard ( see picture of orchids on previous posting)

11. A sunset that takes your breathe away ( notice the two swimmers also enjoying the sunset)

12. A papaya tree with ripe fruits ( not yet seen by the fruit bats)

13. Mangoes loaded with fruits almost touching the ground because of its weight

14. Bananas and avocado trees loaded with fruits( no picture of avocados-see in previous posting)

15. The scream of an alley cat on “Heat” at midnight ( photo taken from the web), and last, but not least

16. The crowing of the rooster at 4:00AM everyday morning before dawn, a reliable alarm clock if you want to wake up that early

Please visit my website, www.chateaudumer.com or my blog site, http://chateaudumer.blogspot.com for more pictures!

If you are from Marinduque, do you have things that you will always remember about Marinduque. If you have stayed at Chateau DU Mer, I will appreciate, if you drop me a note of things you will always remember about your stay in Marinduque.

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Joys of Retirement

I have been retired from USFDA since 2002. At first, I feel I have lost my identity as an individual or have lost my contribution to society. However, within a few weeks all these feelings were gone. It started when my wife and I started baby sitting one of our grandchildren. As some economics professor states: "Your children are your capital investments, but your grandchildren are your profits. That is why you love your grandchildren more than your children". I really agree with the statement. Retirement also gives you lots of time to do things you like to do, such as your hobbies and of course travel. In my case, I turned my hobby of gardening and landscaping into a small business in the Philippines. This endeavor was planned about five years before 2002. That year my wife and I started construction of our retirement home in Boac, Marinduque , Philippines. The next year we built a beach house, followed by a Conference Hall two years later. Needless to say, planning and executing the landscaping was a challenge and very enjoyable. With the help of local labor, I not only enjoy the time gardening and landscaping, but also help improved the economic situation of the province by providing work and jobs to the local residents. With plenty of time, I have engaged into two specific activities as follows: First, I created a website for my small business. By trial and error, I created and design the website, www.chateaudumer.com I have never been a computer nerd or expert. But with plenty of time and patience, the fruits of my labor could be enjoyed if you visit the website above. The second activity, I have not done before was to utilize on-line activities, such as shopping, paying bills ( save you stamps) and playing computer games in the Internet. I really enjoyed playing duplicate bridge on line. You play with players all over the world and can chat in between games. But be careful, you are not spending too much time in the computer. It is very addictive. With a lots of time, my wife and I devoted more time on our favorite humanitarian project. For the last 15 years, we have been involved with medical mission to the province of Marinduque. For details please visit the website: www.marinduqueinternational.org As a summary, the joy one gets on retirement is very specific for an individual. Some enjoy their free time by learning new activities, getting involved with humanitarian projects or spending more time with their grandchildren. Others hate it, since they missed their former jobs and co-workers. Others with no children still enjoy retirement by traveling, turning their hobbies into business or more community involvement. Of course those that retire and hate it, is believe to die earlier than those that enjoy their retirement years. So, plan your retirement as early as you can. The happier you are on retirement, the longer you will live.