Looking down on the basketball court in Tubas. The single road thru town is being widened.

While Lyn went to bed, I watched "Cast Away" till about 9:30; a somewhat boring film for me and probably especially boring to my filipino companions, who are used to action packed movies. I rectified the situation by playing "Mr. Nice Guy", a Jackie Chan picture. Jackie is the most popular movie star in the world, because of his huge asian following. Lyn rose about 2 a.m. and started crocheting a hat for Alex's baby and a coin purse for Alex who has a tricycle route in Unisan. The tricycle is the second most popular form of public transportation. It is a small motorcycle, 100 to 175 cc, with an attached side-car. They can handle up to about 10 people.

-Tuesday-

In Unisan, a street sweeper asked me to take his picture and send it to him.

We had a breakfast of eggs, rice, and grilled fish. Alex and his wife and baby went back to their home in Unisan. Another visitor left as well. Everyone but us was doing work: sweeping the ground, cooking, washing dishes, washing clothes, running the rice grinder, tending the fields. I plugged in the charger to charge the battery of my digital camera, but, when I did the same for the camcorder, I heard a sickening pop. I knew then that the camcorder would be dead-weight for the remainder of the trip. Power all over the Philippines is unreliable. Everywhere we stayed, I would look up at the lights and see them flicker. VCRs and televisions don't seem to last very long. There are frequent "brown-outs" including 3 on this day.

Note: after returning from the trip, I talked with an electrician friend of mine. He said that in the Philippines, the entire 220 volts is carried on only one wire. In America, on 220 volt circuits, 110 volts is carried on each wire, with the wires being out of phase with respect to each other, thereby giving 220 volts. He was surprised that the charger worked for my Canon digital camera. I have read that 110 volts is the standard in some parts of the Philippines, however, I have never encountered this in my travels.

Also, after returning home, I went to eBay and found a used charger for $15 plus $7 shipping. In Manila, I had been quoted a price of approximately $80 for a new one. For a new one, on the internet, the best I could do was $77 plus shipping.

Just like my previous trip, I came down with a cold on my arrival in the Philippines. However, this didn't stop me from playing basketball. In three trips to Tubas, this was the third court I played at. The first court had fallen apart and hadn't been fixed. The second court was in the neighboring barangay (town) and was starting to fall apart. This third court had been fixed up by some soldiers who were stationed in Tubas. Though one rim sagged, parts of the court were dirt, while others had some holes in the concrete, it was about the best I played on around there. Moreover, it was the closest one to the house. Later on we watched "Unbreakable", another dud of a picture.

-Wednesday-

A luxurious house...

At 7:30 a.m. we left for the Unisan beach. The road from a few miles outside of Gumaca to Unisan has always been dirt with lots of nasty sharp rocks jutting out. It is pure hell for the vehicles that have to traverse it. Two years ago, work was started to ultimately widen and pave the road. Currently, culverts are being installed to allow water to flow under the road from one side to the other. In some places the road is being widened and some spots have had the rocks removed leaving soft soil to turn to mud and swallow up vehicles when it rains. The work looks hit-and-miss, as if work groups say we are going to work on this stretch of road for the next few months, while another stretch is ignored, until, later on, you find another work group.

While we stopped for a few minutes in Unisan, I walked around a little. "That house is 150 years old", the street sweeper said who came up to talk to me. The house, having lost almost all of its protective coat of paint, was being eaten away by the elements. Could this once grand house have been owned by one of the Spaniards who controlled the Philippines for so long? "Would you take a picture of me", he asked? I took the photo and he gave me his name and address. Filipinos love to have their picture taken and I will send it to him as soon as I can.

...being built next to an ugly one.

Further up the street, I saw a new luxurious home being built. On both sides of it were ugly looking properties. Another irony of the Philippines, is that you will see the homes of wealthy people right next to the average person's domicile. Finally, the jeepney arrived at the beach and we started to unload. Our jeepney carried over 30 people and all the food for those people. Additionally, two tricycles were needed for the overflow. A "cottage" is a portion of beach front that you can rent for the day. Each cottage has at least a few covered benches to seat about 15 people. Generally, they rent for 50 pesos a day, except of course, in our case, when the owner saw the "cano" (Americano), in which case the price trippled. Mylene was so incensed, I thought she was going to attack the guy. Meanwhile Tatay, Lyn's father, went in search of other accomodations.

Percelyn and Honey have just came back from a swim.

When Tatay returned, he told us we were able to get the entire adjacent property for just a 100 pesos cleaning fee for the maid. It had well-tended grounds and a couple of huge deluxe covered tables. Additionally, there was a small raised house. I immediately siezed this high ground. I was feeling horrible with my cold and even had to use my inhaler twice. Sitting in one of the chairs on the front porch, I had a great view and could be quite comfortable in my misery. Later on when I felt even worse, I retreated to the bedroom for a nap. For awhile, it poured down rain, but then cleared up and was nice again. Back at the porch, a drunk kept wanting me to come down for a drink and a game of chess with him.

Later on, Lyn and I walked over to look at the property next door which was for sale. The owner, Mr. Everon, told us he was selling it as just property for 3,000,000 pesos (~$60,000) as the house, while only 20 years old needed 500,000 pesos in repairs. Even though he knew we were unlikely customers, he chatted quite curteously about the property. In another few years, he said, the road to Unisan would be paved and raise real estate values in the area. The idea of ocean front property is quite enchanting and I thought about the money that some of Lyn's family could make sending out fishing boats, but it was just too much money to spend.

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