Friday, September 07, 2007

Live in the Philippines

I always read this website about living in the Philippines. It's a blog maintained by a foreigner, named BOB, who lives in the Philippines, particularly, Davao City. Rick and I both read it whenever we can because it is such an informative website. Rick can learn about how life is like over there from a view of a fellow American. Bob doesn't say bad stuff about the country and the people. He just say it as it is, which, i admire about him. He doesn't try to scare people away, but encourage them to give it a try...

We plan to retire there someday. Take it easy for a while and see if we would like to settle there for good. The value of the dollar isn't much anymore. And probably the cost of living would be somewhat similar to what it is here. But having family around trumps the "American Dream". Plus having easy access to the beautiful white sandy beaches and the fresh seafood and fruits... makes it all worthwhile. Yeah, Rick has family here too... his mom and his brother lives 3 hours away. And they call each other once in a while. We go visit them once a month, if we can. They never come visit us. So i don't think it'll affect anything if we move. I know the transition is not gonna be easy... but it's worth a try. Hopefully we'll find a way to somehow keep the house here while we're gone. Rent it out perhaps?

Anyway, after following Bob's blog for a while now, i realized that he knows more about my country and the people there than I do. Being away for a while is not an excuse. I took for granted the beauty, the culture and everything that made me into who I am. I should have explored my own country more than my desire to visit all 50 states. Someday i'll go back and somehow explore the islands some more... hopefully it's not too late yet.

Change can be good or bad. But it's worth trying. Look at me now! *-*

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Weekend of Fun


Boy, oh boy! was my weekend ever fun!

THURSDAY - after work, i met with Em and Jemima. We went to Celia's place, talked for hours, ate, and then we went shopping! I didn't buy much. So did they, but it was already 9pm when we got home! Our husbands were worried! None of us bothered to give them a call that we were going to be late! Sometimes, we just have too much fun that we forget we have a family waiting for us at home... It was clean fun, by the way, no booze or whatever... we just like to talk and eat and shop. I'm glad I'm blessed with good friends.

FRIDAY - we went canoeing on Namekagon River. The canoe rental place is about 6 miles from Spooner, so it wasn't that far. From there, they took us to a boat landing which was about 5 miles. I was really excited because i have never been on a canoe before! I was a little scared too coz it's not really a big boat and you have to keep still or else it'll tip over, or so i thought. The day was so pretty, the sun was out and there was a gentle breeze... So off we go down the river. I was all smiles and giddy! Looked around trying to seek some form of life. We saw quite a few birds flying around, some trying to catch a bug on the water and some just staring at us from a tree or a log nearby. There was quite a few turtles on the bank on top of some log or a big rock trying to get a tan. We saw different kinds of fish in the water too! The water was so clean and clear... We even saw a couple jumped in front of us maybe trying to catch a bug or something.

The water was so shallow that i felt foolish to feel scared. I think the deepest there was, was 4 feet or less. It was so shallow that we got stuck a couple times. We had to get out and push the canoe 'til it floats again. Although, we partly blame our weight for that! There was one spot where the current was pretty strong and big rocks all around! It was exciting! Rick got wet coz we hit a big rock that sent water flying his way. It was fun and exhausting at the same time. I wish the seats were more comfortable and have a back so we can kind of lean and rest once in a while. It took us over three hours to get back. We didn't even notice we were gone that long. There was just so much to see that we forgot about time. But we felt the pain after we got home. Our back was just so sore for sitting so long... We didn't have to paddle as much, we just drifted mostly, so our arms or shoulders is not sore at all! We may be sore but we had fun and we are surely gonna do it again!

SATURDAY - we just stayed home. I did my chores while Rick putts around with his plants. He made my favorite beef stroganoff over rice for supper! Yummy! We finally put the boat seats in so we are gonna give it a test drive tomorrow. Rick and i are already toasted from the sun. He's red and i'm black! Arrrgh!

Another day of sun wont hurt...