Why Retire in the Philippines/Marinduque Vacations: Christmas Party, 2011

Planning to Retire Soon!

If you are planning to retire in the Philippines soon, I suggest you visit several excellent websites on pro's and cons of retiring in the Philippines. However if you want to retire in the provinces, where life is simple, standard of living cheaper, less traffic congestion and pollution, availability of fresh seafood and vegetables compared to the big cities, my island province is the place for you! If this is your first time in my site, welcome. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on the infringement of your copyrights. The photo above is the front yard of Chateau Du Mer- Our Retirement Home in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas Party, 2011

My four beautiful granddaughters, Carenna, Marina, Elaine and Alix

Dave and Macrine with the six grandchildren
This year, 2011 Macrine and I delayed our snowbirding trip to Marinduque for next month, so we could spend the Christmas Holidays with the Kids and grand children. We celebrated Christmas with a late lunch on December 24th to give the children also time to spend the holidays with their in-laws and other relatives.

Dodie and his family went to San Diego, CA the next day to spend the Christmas with Ruth's family. Ditas, Nick and Carenna went to Lincoln, CA in the evening of the 24th to share Christmas with Nick's family. Dinah with Ian and Elaine went to Mountain View after the party in our house to spend Christmas with Macrine's sisters ( Pepot and Jean) and her nieces, Elaine Lazarte Chalfin and Ella Lazarte.

As per request by the kids, Macrine prepared her favorite dishes-chicken-macaroni salad, beef broccoli in oysters sauce with mushrooms, pancit, puto and dinugu-an. In addition we have honey-baked ham that I ordered last week, cake and coffee for dessert. I have to wait in line to pick up my pre-ordered honey baked ham for about one hour in the cold, but the ham was worth the wait. Above are some of the photos taken during our Christmas reunion. All the David Balleza Katague clan were present.

No comments:

Fruit Trees in the Gardens of Chateau Du Mer

The Mango Tree-I have three varieties in my Garden-The Indian, Guimaras and Carabao Mangoes My caretaker/gardener informed me last month that due to the El Nino drought in Marinduque, two of my Durian trees died in spite of his vigilant watering. One of the tree was attacked by insects that looks like a big fly but yellowish in color that sucks the sap of the seedling. The roots of the other tree was attacked by ants residing in the soil. However, my other fruit trees, the rambutans( 2), the lanzones(2) and the jack fruits ( 2) trees are doing well. The above eight fruit trees were given to me by Retired General Recaredo Sarmiento of Boac and Lucena., about three years ago. General Sarmiento is the “atid” of my wife. “Atid” is the colloquial term for brother. Evidently, Macrine's father, the late Bernardo Jambalos was the Godfather of General Sarmiento during his baptism and comfirmation. Gen Sarmiento's hobby is orchard planting, reforestation and farming. The other fruit trees in my garden are guayabanos, cashew, avocados, starapples, duhats, ates, guavas, mangoes( 3 varieties) and papayas as well as several varieties of bananas . Of the above fruit trees, my favorite is the guayabanos, also known as soursop tree known for its anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties . The following are photos of the fruit trees. The Durian photo is from the web. Note that it almost look like a jack fruit tree, except that the leaves are bigger and shiny. My desire is to have a passion fruit tree in the near future. You are welcome to visit my orchard and flower gardens any time, if perchance you are in the vicinity of The Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center.

The Rambutan Tree and Fruits

The Lanzone Tree and Fruits

The Jack Fruit Tree

The Durian Fruit Tree