Why Retire in the Philippines/Marinduque Vacations: Have You Heard of Julio Iglesias?

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

Monday, August 13, 2012

Have You Heard of Julio Iglesias?

I am not talking about his son, Enrique, or his other son Julio,II who are both popular singers and the heart throbs of today's teenagers. I am talking of their father who is still my wife's favorite singer. I think today, he is semi-retired and left the singing to both his two talented sons. He was married to Filipina-Spanish mestiza, Elizabeth Prysler, the mother of Julio, Jr and Enrique.

My wife and I first attended a concert that Julio gave way back in the late 1970's in Burlingame, CA. The theater was mobbed by screaming women of all ages. One of the women screaming for his name is my wife who was in her late thirties at that time. Luckily, she was not one of several women who throw their panties to the stage. Macrine, my wife for 53 years is one out of the millions of Julio's groupie and fans. She has a complete collection of all his songs from 1970 to 1990.

The second Julio concert we attended was in Lake Tahoe, NV in the late 1980's. This time the crowd was a little bit tamer and no panties were thrown on the stage. However, I have to pay scalped tickets for about 10 times the regular price, so I could also see the show. Macrine also attended two other live converts of Julio in Reno, NV with her girl friends(Julio fans) in the mid 1980's.

In case you are too young and have not heard of Julio Iglesias, Sr., please read his detailed biography in Wikipedia.

Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (born September 23, 1943) better known as Julio Iglesias is a Spanish singer who has sold over 200 million records worldwide in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music Entertainment, he is one of the top 10 best selling music artists in history. While Iglesias rose to international prominence in the 1970s and 1980s as a performer of romantic ballads, his success has continued on as he entered new musical endeavors even in his semi-retirement years.

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.