Why Retire in the Philippines/Marinduque Vacations: My Top Five Most Popular Blogs- An Update

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

Friday, November 10, 2023

My Top Five Most Popular Blogs- An Update

I started blogging in 2008. I started with one blog about Marinduque-my second home in the Philippines. Then I started writing my autobiography. The rest is history.

My primary goals for writing is to inform, to entertain and perhaps inspire. My secondary goal was to earn pocket money thru Adsense. The first year I earned about $100 from Adsense. I decided it was not worth it, so I cancelled it on my second year.

Today, I have been blogging for 15 years. I write on any topics/subjects that comes to my mind, my daily activities, families, tourism, gardening, cooking, Filipino culture, life in the US versus life in the Philippines. I write about senior citizen issues and problems, and the accomplishments of my children and relatives. I also blog to advertise our Beach House-Chateau Du Mer ( currently not in operation) for public use. Most of my clients were from abroad and non-Filipinos.

Currently, 21% of my blog readers are from the US. About 5% from the Philippines. The rest are from 25 countries around the world.

Recently, I wrote about my life here at the Heritage Downtown(THD), Walnut Creek. This month most of postings are related to Filipino-American activities celebrating Filipino-American History month here un the US.

Based on the comments I have received, I realized that my blogs do indeed inform and sometimes entertain. In a few cases I have inspired readers. Writing blogs keep me busy and sharpen my memory and thus making me feel useful and young.

I have ten blogs but here's the top five, most popular and most commented.

The first column is All Time Views, number of Post and Number of Comments as of today.

1. Becoming American-Total Views(993,489),# of Post (2670),# of Comments(304)

2. The Intellectual Migrants-Views(900,114),# of Post(2478), #of Comments(221)

3. Marinduque Awaits You-Views(782,096), #of Post(2671), # of Comments(203)

4. MRQ My Island Paradise-Views(671,096),#of Post(2519),# of Comments( 121)

5. Chateau Du Mer Beach etc-Views(466,101),#of Post(2577),#of Comments(249)

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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