While there had some great seafood and enjoyed the relaxing enviroment. Even visited one of the local temples for photos.

Should I Cruise?

Asking that question to a cruise addict is about as dangerous as asking a Jewish grandmother how her grandchildren are. You will launch each into a topic that they can talk about for hours and hours. They will also give you a viewpoint based on their own experience. The thought of taking a cruise keeps popping into your mind. Most people just keep thinking of it and never get around to taking the first cruise. Selecting your first cruise can be a major effort. There are so many options and so many things to consider that you can become overwhelmed and just give up. Just stop for a moment and think back to your friends, remember how enthusiastic they talked about there last cruise even months afterward? Are you like that about your last vacation? That should get you refocused. When you listen to your friends who have cruised you should keep in mind that a cruise vacation is a personal experience, and what is right ship and destination for them may not be so for you. we will look aat some of the answers you will need to go on your first cruise. This book, some on line resources and a good travel agent will help you keep things clear as well as move you closer to that “once in a life time” cruise vacation. .

Last year I looked at a condo project in Pattaya and liked it, In December I visited it again and a few others for comparison. One project I looked at is in Bang Saray. Bang Saray is about ten minutes from the city limits of Pattaya but is a very rural area, lightly developed. While looking at some information about condos in the area while on line I came across another project the Bang Saray Beach condominium. After a exchange of emails , I made a fast reservation and a few days later flew to Thailand to look at the project. Long story short I place a down payment on two 25 square meter units (about 300 square feet each) which will be redesigned into a one bedroom unit. It will take about two years to finish but when it is it should be a great place to take a vacation form paradise. The Photo was taken in December. If you look in the background you can see the skyline of Pattaya.

One of my new year resolutions is to explore
more and to take more photos. Did get a early jump on that with a trip to thailand in December. Went to Chiang Mai  for a few days of that trip.

The old part of the city is very interesting, with dozens of temples hundreds of years old.

I also plan on more trips in the Philippines. This past weekend we visited Mount Samat. the site of the last battle in the Battle of Bataan during WWII. currently there is a National Shrine there, the Shrine of Valor.

new photo albums charleswdavisjr.visitsubic.org  and at Photobucket

Renew Yourself in Subic Bay, Philippines

Authored by Charles W Davis Jr.

What is your dream of retirement? Sitting on a tropical beach sipping a drink as the sunsets? Sitting on your back porch looking at the distance mountains? Everyone has a different view of retirement. People are living longer and it is possible that you will have as many years in retirement as you did working years. Those years are more likely to be active. Some people look at retirement in the old tradition, work till your 65, move to Florida, play golf or bridge, sit watching television till you and your friends are all dead. More and more people are throwing away those old fashion notions and "retirement" becomes "reinventing" their lives . In the last couple of decades, pre-retirees are looking outside of their own country to retire. The more adventurous nature of the current baby boomer is having them look for something different. They want a comfortable live style but are flexible to what that means. Make a list of what you enjoy and what you want in life. Then explore how to get there. You may find that getting to what is important in your future is not as far off as you thought. Once you have your plan then put it in motion. The Philippines is one country that is becoming increasingly popular. Having been a Spanish colony for centuries there is a Spanish flavor to the country, and having been an American territory for decades it also has a large American influence. English is widely spoken and is in fact one of the country's official languages. The people are genuinely friendly. The cities and urban areas are well developed. The country is seeing an increase in international tourism. Many of the items that attract tourist to an area is equally attractive to retirees. The Subic Bay area is very well suited for retirees. Having been the home of a US Navy base it is used to Americans and has a large number of retirees. This book explores Subic Bay as a place to live and enjoy your reinvented retirement. Ideal for singles and families.

Awards bestowed by HRH Prince Leonard on the occasion of the 39th Anniversary of Secession!
Twenty First day of April 2009

(Subic Bay, PHILLIPINES)

Bestowed with the Rank of Knight Commander in the Illustrious Order of Merit.

full text

I like to thank my staff and friends for thier support and input to this award.

Recently Bella Dimayuga of Bella Dimayuga Productions asked me if I would assist in a promotion they were doing. Since we were working on developing her web site and online marketing, it seem like a great opportunity. The promotion she was doing was for a condominium project called Uptown 21. They were having a fiesta built around the Legendary Korean Basketball Super star , Shin Dong Pa. The promotion lasted about a week, while I was to help photograph some of the key activities. It was very interesting to step back into a “professional” photographer role again. The events were fast paced in some cases and a hurry up and wait in others. While not originally part of the promotion, the photos included coverage of the People's Choice awards where Bella and the Philippine Juicy fruits both received awards. By Bella efforts the People choice award group also extended a award to Shin Dong Pa.

Television and radio interviews were a part of the promotion as well as a motorcade , a fun basketball games event and a show at the fiesta. Overall I took a thousand photos, some exceptional. It will take a while to sort which ones I like best but I have put a link to some on my photography page. it was a lot of work but nice to be back into photograph for a while.

the link to the selected photos

I had planned my new years to be one of quiet reflection, some writing, as well as a time for some un-distracted business planning. I has booked myself into a resort in Pundekit,San Anthony Zambales. This beautiful area along the south China Seas is about a hour drive north of Subic Bay and is the home of a number of different resorts. New Years is often associated with rebirth even the symbolism of father time leaving and a new baby arriving, I happen to be lucky and happened upon the perfect way to start the countdown to new years. On New Years eve right before sunset, I saw a man walking along the beach carrying a wash tub. Gathering around him was a group of children trying to peer into his tub,adults were also tagging along. Reaching a somewhat smooth section of beach he set his tub down and the children dropped to their knees and gather around it. The mans name is Mike Robertson and he is from the Environmental Protection Agency of Asia, A non profit group involved in environmental projects. Mike is responsible for the Pundekit Turtle Conservatory and his tub contained 154 olive ridley turtles that had hatched early morning.

The west coast of Luzon is the nesting home of a number of marine turtle species. Like many people around the world, the people of the Philippines used to capture turtles for their meat and shells as well as collecting the eggs. Now public awareness  has caused that to change. The Pawikan festival held in Bataan each November is a prime example. A four day event celebrating turtle conservation,with dance competition, ecology contest, musical performances and other events leading to a ceremonial release of  turtles. The release in Bataan are some of the earliest hatchings of the season. As early as July a turtle may show up to lay a clutch of eggs but hatching are rare, it may be that the bad storms has cause salt water to enter the eggs or it may be they were not fertilized. Turtles start nesting in October according to Mike, he said that there is often days between finds but by the end of November and early December there may be five or more nest found each day and during that time he often finds two even three nest in the section of beach he patrols. By the end of December the number of new nest drops off. While it is mostly the Olive Ridleys that nest here, there are some hawk bills. In past years there have been some green turtles but so far this year none have been found.

When Mike had his group around him, he had them spread out in a line facing the water. He then walked down the line with his tub giving adult and child alike a chance to pick out a turtle or two to release. bending over or kneeling in the sand they released “their” turtles and encouraged them to crawl to the sea. Sometimes a strong wave would hit them and send them back to where they started. The people would rush to them and get them headed in the right direction. It took most of the turtles a number of times before they were able to make it safety into the surf. The process was repeated until they all were safely in the sea.

Only God knows what the future will hold for these little ones, however they are off to a good start. the conservatories not only helps to counteract man's destruction but also helps to protect them from natural predators. In the wild, nest are often raided by other animals who eat the eggs. Birds will often feast on hatching as they struggle to the sea. Some experts suggest that as many as half the eggs laid never make it to the sea.  These one hundred fifty four turtles came from two nest along the the Zambales coast, and with the help of Mike and the volunteers who first found the nest, all of the eggs hatched and the turtles all made it to the sea. For the next 20 years the turtles will roam the world, most will not survive but those that do will return here. The females will crawl back onto the same beach and lay her own clutch of eggs

Recently took a short break and made a trip to Thailand. One my plans for the trip were a cooking class. A few years ago I had taken a half day lesson at Baipai Thai Cooking School and really enjoyed it so it was back for another lesson. The school is reasonably priced around $50 for a lesson and that includes pick up at your hotel. The school is small with largest class size less than a dozen. Each student has there own work station, yes it is hands on and lunch is included, 4 courses that you cook yourself. There were only 3 of us in this class, a fallout of the airport being closed for 10 days. I flew in 2 days after it reopened. Each class has something additional about Thai cooking, In my first class we made our own coconut cream starting by shredding fresh coconut using a traditional device. This time it was a trip to the neighborhood market.
Going with the staff to the market the assistant chef pointed out different fruits and vegetables and show how to tell if they were ripe. Back at the school, the first dish we made was the desert Khao Neaw Moon ,Coconut Sticky Rice. We did a little cheating here, since the rice takes hours to soak and time to steam, we started with the rice ready for the preparations. We prepared a coconut Marinate and soaked the rice in it setting it aside while we made the topping. While waiting for the rice to finish marinating, we had a demonstration on the next dish, then back to give more attention to our rice before setting it aside till dinner. Back to our work stations we worked on the appetizer Satay (grilled) chicken. This was very simple, just chicken breast on a stick grilled over a charcoal grill. What gave it a different taste was that while grilling we brushed it with coconut cream. It was served with a peanut sauce and a sweet and sour relish. Generally I am not a fan of peanut sauces but this one was outstanding. It had a curry paste, not hot, coconut milk and cream, and tamarind. After having a short break and eating our appetizers we moved on to the salad. The salad was Plah Goong, Savory Prawn salad. Besides how great it tasted and how easy and fast it was to prepare the largest comment I have that this would be a great lunch by itself, or a dinner entre if slightly larger serving.
The main course was Gai Pad Med Ma-Muang, Chicken with Cashew nuts stir fried. Cooking time for this was very short and not too much prep time either. The meal was great even if I did cook it my self