Thoughts and Ramblings of Life in US and the Philippines(Marinduque) and other miscellaneous topics close to my Heart.
Welcome to Marinduque-My Island Paradise
If this is your first time in my site, welcome! If you have been a follower, my heartfelt thanks to you, also. Help me achieve my dream, that someday, Marinduque will become a world tourist destination not only on Easter Week, but also whole year round. You can do this by telling your friends and relatives about this site. The photo above is Mt Malindig in Torrijos. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on the infringement of your copyrights. Cheers!
Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Islands
View of Mainland Marinduque from Tres Reyes Islands-Click on Photo to link to Marinduque Awaits You
My nephew from Australia was telling me the other day, that one of his other interest besides graphic design and photography is what he called ambient music. I am not familiar with the term "ambient music", so he send me a video example via Face Book. It sounded to me just like music for relaxation. This inspired me to search for relaxation music in Tube You. Below is a seven and one-half of pure relaxation music. The scenery is a feast to the eyes of the beauty of nature here in the US. A few of the pictures were from Zion National Park, that my wife and I have recently visited. I have listened to other relaxation videos, but this one is the best so far. I guarantee that your 7.5 minutes will not be wasted. Please let me know if you enjoy this music video by Enya Kitaro.
Note: I viewed and listened to this video in my newly purchased 32" LCD PC screen. It was fantastic, mesmerizing and a pure delight. If you know of other relaxation or meditation videos that are comparable or better than this one, please share.
Here's the latest report from marinduquegov.blogspot.com by Eli Obligacion spotlighting Marinduque as tourist destination, dated September 6, 2009. My dream and hope is to see my beloved island, Marinduque, become a worldwide and whole year round tourist destination in the years to come competing with Boracay and officially declared as the eco-tourism capital of the Philippines. This is the reason, why I devote so much time promoting the island province as a tourist destination in my two blogs: http://marinduqueawaitsyou.blogspot.com and http://marinduquemyislandparadise.blogspot.com
TOURISM SEC. ACE DURANO AND TOURISM ATTACHES COMING TO MARINDUQUE TODAY
Marinduque Airport streamer welcoming Secretary Ace H. Durano and party. The party of thirty expected to arrive today at the Marinduque airport includes Undersecretary Eduardo Jarque, Jr. and other top officials from the Department of Tourism and tourism attaches from Philippine embassies abroad. The list also includes directors Ma. Victoria Jasmin, Allan Canizal, Benito Bengzon, Jr., Ma. Rica Bueno, Dir. Louella Jurilla from among others, as well as local and foreign media representatives.
The visit is part of the tourism department’s annual marketing and technical visits to top priority destinations such as Albay, Cebu, Bohol and Manila. Marinduque which is now on the list, has drawn the attention of the travel industry with the launching of Bellarocca Resort and Spa. Part of Bellarocca’s promotional thrusts for resort guests is the integration of visits to Marinduque’s tourist attractions as well.
In recent months, the provincial tourism office has taken time to show the Bellarocca group headed by its sales manager for travel, Sheila Evano, to local tourism sites like Tarug caves, Bathala caves, Paadjao falls, Poctoy Beach and the Torrijos loom-weavers. Support for development of eco-tourism sites with potential to generate livelihood has been adopted by the resort as part of its social responsibility program. A joint undertaking of the provincial government, the municipality of Buenavista and Gold Barrel, Inc.,resort owner, is the current establishment of a 100-hectare forest area in Barangay Tungib-Lipata in Buenavista, where a 9-hole golf course has been developed, part of Bellarocca facilities.
These moves have triggered greater optimism for local tourism stakeholders as well as for bigger prospects for Bellarocca Island Resort and Marinduque tourism in general.
Photo from mgx.com/blog Recently, I have received several e-mails from residents of Marinduque, as well as comments from several bloggers from Marinduque, that frequent brown outs in the province is still the norm of life in the province. Is this still true or has it improved? I have also read from several Philippine blogs and Web magazines in the Philippines that in most parts of the Island with the exception of big cities and metropolitan areas, this power outage is also currently an irritant to the comfort of residents. Although this occurrence will be an economic boost to the sellers of generators, not every ordinary citizen could afford the luxury of buying even just a small generator, especially in Marinduque.
If Marinduque wants to promote tourism worldwide and whole year round, it is imperative that this frequent brownouts be solved soon. This frequent brown outs have not affected Bellarocca, for it has big industrial generators according to Kristin Rebutica, answering my questions in Face Book just recently.
In the case of Chateau Du Mer, I also have an industrial generator that I described in my blog http://chateaudumer.blogspot.com dated 8/17/09, so the frequent brown outs do not also affect my beach resort and conference center business.
I am however imploring the provincial officials to place solving this problem as their highest priority, if they want to promote tourism worldwide and whole year round in the province. I am hoping that the problem of frequent power outage will be solved soon in Marinduque-My Island Paradise and Second Home. Comments anyone?
Here's the latest update on diving sites in Marinduque. The following video was filmed by the provincial government department of tourism. It is a short video, but shows you do not have to go far to enjoy scuba diving in Marinduque. Baltazar Island is one of the three islands in the group called Tres Reyes Island-a marine sanctuary. Diving in Baltazar Island Image from asiadivesite.com Our province is mostly known worldwide because of the Moriones Festival. However, it has recently been in the news due to interests of divers all over the world to explore the diving sites in the island and in the vicinity. Among the diving sites are: 1.Natanco- north of the island has good walls and drift diving. Corals are abundant. Close by is the wreck of a Japanese torpedo boat 2.Baltazar-west of the Island-one of the Tres Reyes Island Chain- has a cave 20m worth exploring. Stone fish may be a problem. 3.Elephant Island-now known as Bellarocca- private resort with good walls, coral formation and and several varieties of tropical fish. Currents could be strong, but conditions for photography good. 4. Torrijos- canyons and fissures to explore. Can expect to encounter grouper, barracuda, tuna and shoals of tropical fish. 5.Maestro De Campo Island-southwest of Marinduque- a wall on the west side and a wreck of a ferry boat, MV Mactan on the east side 6.Banton Island- farther southwest – amazing corals and an array of fish. Dolphins, sharks and sting rays may be seen. From February to May are the good months for scuba diving 7.Sibuyan Sea- outlying areas to the south and east of Marinduque are fairly unexplored. Puerto Galera, Mindoro is the place to organize this tour if you are adventurous. Here are two excellent videos, I found in You Tube. Enjoy! Happy Diving
Diving Video from Southern Leyte, Apo Reefs, Sogod Bay, and Puerto Galera
Chateau Du Mer Beach House at Twilight, Marinduque
Currently my wife and I are lucky that we have a choice of living like a King or a Queen or a Slave. We spent half of our retirement lives annually living like a King and a Queen in our island Paradise in Marinduque, Philippines ( www.chateaudumer.com ). The benefits and advantages of our staying in the Philippines six months of the year are detailed in my article as a guest writer for Bob Martin web magazine ( www.liveinthephilppines.com) dated June 25, 2009. In that article, I cited ten things I love about the Philippines. The number one item is the cheaper standard of living, availability of maids, gardeners and helpers at a reasonable expense. Of course there is no perfect place in the world including the Philippines, so I wrote the 10 most annoying things about the Philippines in the same web magazine dated June 11, 2009. My number one complaint are the traffic, jeepneys and pollution in big cities like Manila or Cebu. But in Marinduque, there are no traffic or pollution problems. The island is only crowded during the Moriones Festival, Easter Week every year. As I mentioned, the availability of helpers in Marinduque, makes you feel like a king. We have two gardeners, a driver, a housekeeper and cook permanently. Macrine hires a laundry woman once a week for 200 pesos a day, plus 50 pesos tip. By hiring helpers, you are contributing to the improvement of the the local economy. The current dollar to pesos exchange is now about 1 to 48. Last year, I paid $1.00 for a haircut, $3.00 for 1 hour body massage and $2.00 for manicure and pedicure.(Note: These prices will vary, depending on the dollar to pesos exchange rate as well as the area in the Philippines you reside or plan to reside).
Compared to life here in Northern California, I pay $12 for a haircut. I can not afford to have a manicure or pedicure every month. I do it myself. Here in US, I am the driver, the gardener, the laundry man, and the dish washer. I do not cook or clean the house, those are Macrine's duties, but I know how to use the microwave and vacuum the carpets once in a while. So comparing our lives here in US to that in PI it is fair to say, that we live like a King or Queen in PI, but like slaves in US.
However, we have adjusted to the differences in lifestyles between the Philippines and United States. We consider both places HOME. But as the saying goes, HOME is not a place but in the HEART!
If perchance you have plans visiting or retiring in the Philippines in the near future, start by reading Bob Martins website above. I do not have any monetary gains by my advertising his website, but if you are serious retiring in the Philippines because of the cheaper standard of living, then you must start reading Bob Martins website. If you need more information about Marinduque, please read my blog http://marinduqueawaitsyou.blogspot.com or http://lifeinus1960present.blogspot.com
