Why Retire in the Philippines/Marinduque Vacations: I Left My Heart in Marinduque-A Parody

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, May 24, 2013

I Left My Heart in Marinduque-A Parody

The beach in Amoingon, Boac in front of the Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort

I have always wanted to write a song about "Leaving my Heart in Marinduque"—a parody of the signature song of Tony Bennett, I left My Heart in San Francisco. My sincere apologies to George Cory and Douglas Cross who wrote, I left My Heart in San Francisco in 1954. This song should be sung to the tune of the famous song in honor of the city by the Bay (San Francisco, California).

Here it is, I hope you like it:

The loveliness of Fair Oaks seems somehow sadly gay

The glory that was Boac is another day!

I've been terribly alone and forgotten in Sacramento

I'm going home to my town by the sea.

I left my heart in Marinduque

Near by the beach it beckons me

To be where the Moriones are

Come, visit wherever you are

The morning sun rise by the sea

I don't care!

My love waits at Chateau Du Mer

Near the blue and calmy sea

When I come home to you, Marinduque

Chateau Du Mer will welcome me!

Note: Fair Oaks (an eastern suburb of Sacramento-the capital city of the State of California), California is our first home but Chateau Du Mer, Boac, Marinduque, Philippines is our second home. Boac is the capital town of the province of Marinduque.

My wife and I called ourselves snowbirds, because in winter time, we fly to tropical Philippines to get away from the winter chills of Northern California. We owned a small beach resort in Marinduque, we named Chateau Du Mer ( House of the Sea).

Marinduque is a small island province in the Philiipines. It is the heart and geographic center of the Philippines. Marinduque is also known for its Morions and the Moriones Festival during Holy Week.

Marinduque had been having bad press here in US and in the social media this election because of the congressional battle between Regina Reyes and Lord Allan Velasco. Reyes won by about 3000 votes. She was however disqualified by the Commission on Election because she is an American Citizen. There were two premature proclamations of Gina Reyes which were protested by Velasco, because of the citizenship issue and lies on her certificate of Candidacy as well as the incomplete official results at the time of proclamation.

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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