Why Retire in the Philippines/Marinduque Vacations: A Simple Christmas Dinner This Year

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

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

A Simple Christmas Dinner This Year

I forgot to take the picture of this roasted duck before I tasted it. It was yummy. It was a Christmas gift from our Italian-American neighbor. The duck and pasta was our lunch.

For our dinner menu:

Honey baked Ham, Pancit, Eggrolls ( both Pinoy and Chinese), Cheese and macaroni casserole, puto ( both white and Brown( kutsinta), German chocolate cake, Fruit Tart, Goat cheese and Crackers and Hawaiian sweet rolls. For drinks we have Champagne, apple cider, wine and beer. No letson or Dinuguan or calderetta this year.

What was left of the German Chocolate Cake, Fruit Tart, Puto and Goat Cheese Appetizer

The highlights of the day: Playing Katague-Jambalos Family Jeopardy and Mahjong( David III prepared the Questions). It was fun and Informative.

Alix received as her Christmas gift this year an expensive Mahjong set from her DAD and Mom. Alix was inspired to learn how to play the game after she saw the movie- Crazy Rich Asians.

After dinner, David III, Macrine and I watched the movie ( Crazy Rich Asians) in Comcast Infinity TV for free. It is an entertaining movie and it reminds me about Filipinos vs Filipino-Americans also. I highly recommend the movie if you are an Asian-American.

For more information about mahjong read my posting on the subject:https://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/search?q=mahjong

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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