Why Retire in the Philippines/Marinduque Vacations: A Surprise Visit from My Nephew from Australia

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, March 16, 2016

A Surprise Visit from My Nephew from Australia

The 3 David Katagues, David Efren, David Balleza and David E III.

One of the most pleasant surprise in my life happened the other day. My nephew from Australia( my name sake) is on business ( his own company) here in the US. He had been to New York for several days and had travel plans for Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The last couple of days he has been communicating via FB that he will be in LA from March 14 to 22 and will spend a couple of days with us. When I opened my FB messages early in the morning at about 6:30AM, here's what I found- a really big surprise. Here's our conversation verbatim:

Dave Katague (Nephew from Australia): Good morning 🏼

ME: Good morning You must be in LA now, Do you still have plans to visit us? David E your first cousin said he could give you a ride from the airport to our house if you arrive late in the Evening from around 10 to 11PM, since he works in the airport. Anyway, give us the date as soon as you have arranged it. David E plans to take off from work, so he could take you around Sacramento. Have you gone to a Casino? Near us is Thunder Valley, similar to the Casinos in Las Vegas in size, decor and number of slots and gambling facilities. We go there twice a month to eat in the several restaurants and played the slots. We plan on taking you there, if you wish.

Dave Katague: Where are you now!

Me: I am at home reading my FB messages.

Dave Katague: Are you free today?

Me:Yes, today is Tuesday. This is our usual day to the Casinos.

Dave Katague: I'm out in front. SURPRISE!

Me: You must be kidding? Come in and have a freshly brewed coffee.

Note: Dave( the only son of my brother, Efren from Australia) is involved with Film, Stills, Design and Animation.
He is driven by the challenge of storytelling through capturing real-time events with photographic and cinematic composition. He also loves creating Movie Titles, VFX, Outro Sequences, Kinetic Typography and Motion Information Graphics. He has his own company doing the above activities.

For more information visit his web site, www.davekatague.com/ or https://vimeo.com/davekatague

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