Reinvent Your Retirement

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.

39th Anniversary Honours List

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.

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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.

Now with the support of non-profit organizations both in the Philippines and abroad, those who once exploited the turtles are now protecting them. Development pressure and other human activities have reduced  the number and safety of the nesting sites. While other events have reduced the number of turtles available to reach the nesting sites. To help safeguard the reduced number of eggs, Non-profit organizations have stepped in to assist. Volunteers look for signs on the beach that a turtle has come ashore to lay eggs. When they find them they locate the nest and mark it. If the location is at risk the eggs are harvested and transported to one of the conservatories along the coast. When they arrive at the conservatory they are reburied and the new nest is tagged with information about its original location and date. Hatching   takes about seven weeks depending on the species  and the temperature of the sand. When the time for hatching gets near the conservatory staff place plastic mesh cones around the nest and starts looking for signs that hatching has started. The early signs will be a depression in the sand. As the turtles come out the shells and the shells breaks and the sand fills in the space. It may take a day or so for the turtles to get to the surface, normally reaching the surface at night and then heading to the water. The mesh cone keeps the turtles together and away from the water. The baby turtles are gathered counted and the nest examined for unhatched eggs.

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