My life experience so far in Philippines

[hk blues]

13 hours ago, Colsie said:

Got to admit I'm no expert on snakes but I reckon that the ones I have had to deal with look identical to the Samar Spitting Cobra. 

What do you think? 

 

I've no idea but I assume it died of shock when seeing you in those undies!

[GMG_AFP_RhoVet]

  Tommy, you screwed this up ! ! 

The reason you have a rat infestation is because you got rid of the python !

 

 

[GMG_AFP_RhoVet]

On 10/15/2022 at 10:52 PM, Tommy T. said:

Interesting question. They both have their pluses and minuses. 

At sea there was freedom, incredible bonding with nature, sometimes peace. There were moments of near terror (hurricanes, weather fronts, near misses by passing ships) and ecstasy. The old saw goes that sailing is, indeed a mixture of ecstasy and terror and sometimes in between. Nothing like catching fresh mahi mahi or yellowfin tuna, but how to eat 20 pounds of it or save it without a freezer? Anchoring in secluded coves and skinny dipping to bathe every day? Nothing like snorkeling or diving in remote areas. Visiting remote places like Easter Island, Pitcairn Island, Wallis Island, Kiribati and areas formerly excluded in French Polynesia due to nuclear testing was sublime.

On land, I sleep better and have air/con. The bed does not roll except in occasional earthquakes.  I don't worry about wind or storms coming up at 3am and dragging anchor. I don't worry about hitting submerged reefs or rocks when driving. I can go out and buy most supplies I might need or want on a moment's notice. There are some issues with noise and, of course, pigs, chickens, cows, goats and stray dogs, not to mention karaoke or just loud, silly radios. There is little privacy. There are house repairs and renovations and lots of landscaping (we are turning our property into a park!) ongoing but, I don't have to worry about yacht maintenance and repairs and, especially breakdowns in the middle of the ocean (which happened seriously once with broken engine and no wind hundreds of miles from nearest land). I can enjoy big winds, heavy rains and thunderstorms with impunity - except until recently when we had some serious roof leaks.

That's a super brief summary. But, in short, I am very happy to be on land now and look back with wonder and a bit of nostalgia, but not enough to want to do it again. Been there, done that, have many T-shirts. Cheeers!

  I left the sea in '77.  I still have recurring nightmares of running aground. . .  Although I never actually ran aground in anything bigger than my banca boat!  Go figure.

  These are more scary than the occasional dream of being on SCUBA, while a large vessel passes overhead.

[Tommy T.]

15 hours ago, GMG_AFP_RhoVet said:

  Tommy, you screwed this up ! ! 

The reason you have a rat infestation is because you got rid of the python !

 

 

Maybe, maybe not. A neighbour clear cut his many hectares nearby and I believe that is a contributor to why we suddenly had some rats. However, after feeding them rat poison for several days, they all died. I keep the rat poison out all the time now and there has been no disturbance of it for about two weeks now? And getting rid of the python made L happy because she doesn't like snakes any more than me. We were also concerned because our "guard" dog is very inquisitive and playful and might have gone after this snake if he saw it. Then who knows what might have happened. We do feel a bit lucky - so far - because a neighbour found and killed a cobra by their washing machine outside a few months back...

[Tommy T.]

On 10/12/2022 at 8:19 PM, Joey G said:

How about some recipes!   You usually have some good ones...

Okay... Check the recipe category and I have one for you...

[Tommy T.]

Fiesta time of year again......oh boy.... The next nearest neighbour has built a piggery and plans to be feeding people lechon or just cooked pig pieces. The music hasn't started yet, but it's still one week away. I will stock up on some beer and Tanduay and L will make something simple like spaghetti or pancit along with some bbq Porky's Best pig skewers.

Last year we only had a few visitors and we don't expect a lot this year either. But L wants the house and grounds to be spic and span clean - she's very proud to show off our house.... and now we have a new car to show off too - a Toyota Raize. Not big, not fancy, but "NEW!"

[Old55]

Nice little SUV Tommy! Perfect for driving in Philippines.

 

[hk blues]

58 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

.... and now we have a new car to show off too - a Toyota Raize. Not big, not fancy, but "NEW!"

Snap! 

[Tommy T.]

On 10/6/2023 at 12:53 PM, Old55 said:

Nice little SUV Tommy! Perfect for driving in Philippines.

 

So far, I am delighted with this car. It only has three cylinder engine, but it has good acceleration. Everything is automatic and very current with technology so far as I can tell. The owner's manual is about as thick as a Bible and almost as easy to understand. The air/con is incredible - I could use this car as a freezer for meats! Or at least a great chiller for beer! It drives nice, is very quiet. I would say it is one of the best small cars I have ever bought new. The only thing I want to change - when spare change is available - is to put on larger tires with more aggressive tread, or even larger wheels with larger tires. We experience flooding often here in the Davao area so more road clearance  would be a definite plus.  Otherwise, for the money, it seems - so far - to be a good investment for a smaller SUV here in the Phils...

[OnMyWay]

7 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

It only has three cylinder engine, but it has good acceleration.

The Raize looks like a great package!  When we were looking for a small car in 2017 I ruled out the Wigo because it only has 67 hp.  We live on a hill and I hated getting stuck behind them.  The Raize has the same engine but with Turbo it has 98 hp. Must be nice and zippy.  Nice looks too!  We ended up buying the Honda Brio with 88 hp.  Very zippy and a lot of fun to drive on the hills and curves.  If we were to replace it, the Raize would be at the top of the list.