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I voted FOR Brexit. Why? Because when the UK joined what is now the EU it was a Common Market (in name and actuality) - a grouping of countries to allow for easier trading. BUT, after we joined it became political and started making laws which affected the UK. The ruling classes are on big salaries and some are not elected. We were sold a lie and so changed our minds.

Btw, IMO other EU countries will follow and the EU will eventually fail - perhaps the UK had the sense to abandon ship first.

 

I myself have been around this country for a looong time and if I ever got in trouble and was given a second chance I would take it and run and while running I would be counting my lucky stars.

 

I thought what Liverpool said was hilarious, "If that grandfather doesn't have a house for sale, what's your point?".
This post too is off topic but is a response. I don't have a house for sale.
Be aware that in Asia, especially poorer countries, relationships are often entered into intellectually rather than emotionally, even more so than in the West. Love can come later and usually does. I don't think grandpa really believes that young lady loves him just for his personality or great physique. They are both happy so what's the problem? Not our business.

 

..Note the outline of the runway in red, exactly north south... Pic taken in the Engineers office, Bacong Municipal Hall.
At 76, i doubt i'll be around when the first plane lands (i was about to say "takes off," but then it occurred to me that it's gotta git here first...

..

 

Still better than starting it 6ft under. At my age now every day is a bonus

 

Final report:

After a few week's absence, finally reached the finish line (almost)! Despite being the dry season we have pushed ahead with landscaping and laying turf. This means copious watering twice a day - fortunately nature has played its part the last few days with heavy overnight rain. Long may it continue!

All units have been fully fitted out now and the water supply system installed - reserve water tank, pump and pressure tank. The system is rigged to run off city water unless the pressure drops below a certain level, which will trigger the pressure tank and pump to supplement the supply.

Cable TV and internet the last remaining non-construction related items yet to be sorted. I hope this thread has been of interest to anyone considering a building project in these parts.

Many thanks to our builder Dhing Santos, who yet again produced results far exceeding our expectations and without whose voluntary help in dealing with the local electricity cooperative we could never have reached this happy conclusion.

Major credits to Belle Caldosa, co-owner of the apartments for her flawless eye for design and fantastic landscaping.

Many thanks to Pakon, a lovely lady who single-handedly planted each individual piece of turf under an intolerably hot and unforgiving sun over the last two weeks.

And lastly to Clary, my daughter, whose future inspired me to undertake this project in the first place!

 

No, not locally. I managed to find white distilled vinegar at Hypermart. It's okay, a lot of chippies in the UK are using it now though it doesn't have the same kick as malt vinegar.
Just prior to opening I imported a small fortune's worth of dry goods and decent equipment. Part of this order was non brewed condiment. This is a highly concentrated form of malt vinegar ,water it down about 12 parts to each gallon. They wouldn't allow it on the plane. can't say I didn't try.
I noticed a query somewhere regarding tartare sauce. Correct I didn't have it the first time, you have no idea the pressure we were under at that time. Our 7 year old son, Zak, Had recently died at Silliman hospital due to wrong diagnosis, poor training and general laziness. We had just started litigation using a lawyer in Manila, a local lawyer may well be easily coerced. However, I digress. I realised there wasn't any tartare sauce and sent an assistant out to buy some. They returned with powdered tartar which is used to bolster meringues and the like. So I now make my own, including the mayonnaise. I imagine the flavour isn't the same every time as I can't always get all the ingredients I want . Ask a supermarket assistant for anything other than junk food , I.E. dill pickle, capers, gherkins, etc. and all you get in return is the 1000 yard stare. And no, I'm not going to buy in bulk as there's little enough room on the truck and I'm not turning our home , our last bastion of privacy, into a warehouse.
I've just returned from the fish markets I bought yellow fin tuna. White marlin made a late appearance looking decidedly worse for wear and at 600 pesos a kilo it's not going on my menu.
It will soon be time to start baking and to decide on the dessert for today. So, I'll bid you good morning and have a great day.

 

I feel Duterte has to carry a big stick in the Philippines. He has a lot of issues that he has to be overcome, including drugs, the multitude of rebel/criminal groups and the generally selfish attitudes of those with even the smallest amount of power. The fear of Duterte implementing Marshall Law is constantly used as a weapon of fear against Duterte. Duterte emphasizes meeting the needs of the "normal" citizens of the Philippines as a whole, not just what is good for the the Manila based/connected power structure. This is totally different from what has been the political philosophy here recently. There is going to be friction within the country. He needs the support of the Filipinos, and with a 91% approval rate he seems to have it. The old power structure politcal clans of the Philippine kept foreign interests out of the game as best they could with their ownership rules etc, but certainly used the foreigners as well as the poor of the country to build up their own power base and wallets. I believe that Duterte has to build up a persona that he is the leader of the country in the eyes of the citizens and the international community. Filipinos do not admire wimps, which is why they often see the soft hearted generosity of foreigners as a weakness to be exploited. There are significant powerful groups in the Philippines that want things the way the use to be. They have enlisted foreign powers to try to reduce Duterte's approval rating in the world arena of opeinion, and diminish his power in what use to be their economic playground.
Personally I would like this power struggle to be focused with the Filipino community. Obviously the past Filipino administrations has not done a great job, but Duterte is new and needs the opportunity to experience successes and support from his community.... Will Duterte, make some mistakes.... absolutely but that again is how life progresses. Let him work it out, and do not be too forceful with the beer fuel soltions that you can find in so many loactions around town. Any mistake you learn from is not really a mistake but a lesson. I believe any man who can strip the office of the President of the country away from the powerful clans of the Philippines has earned the right to make his own decisions with the minimum of outside pressures.
A great move on Duterte's parts that did aid us foreigner who travel was his solution for the NIA bullet scam (laglag-bala). Within a few days of becoming President, he was smart enough to take the power out of the scam by eliminating arrests for a bullet only in luggage. There was no more power to extract bribe money to avoid jail time. NO one was arrested, or killed, but the problem of laglag-bala was gone. His political opponent, Roxas seemed to take a different approach when asked about it, which may be why today he is not addressed today as "Mr President" : "Former interior secretary and now Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer for 2016 Manuel Roxas II defended the Aquino administration over the laglag-bala (bullet-planting) controversy at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, saying the passengers have to take responsibility when they get caught with bullets. When asked who has to take responsibility over discoveries of bullets in luggage at the airport, Roxas said, “Kung nagpasok ka ng contraband sa airport, paano naging problema ng gobyerno ’yun?” (If you enter the airport with contraband, then how does that become the government's problem?)" Of coarse most people claimed they did not enter the airport with contraband but that the contraband was planted in a money making scam. With Aquino's cousin as manager of the airport, the Aquino administration could not contain the problem that occurred over 1,200 recorded cases of discoveries of bullets in passegers' luggage in the past 10 months and 6,000 recorded since 2012. That is a lot possible bribes and reduces the fear out of flying when leaving NIA. I only hope Duterte could be a similarly successful on the other problems he faces. Like I said he does have a lot of issues to deal with and representative of the past administration do not seem to be helping him. As foreigner I think we should let the Filipinos work out their own political agendas out and not be so arrogant to believe we are the only ones with the solutions. If we do not like their solutions we have an option they do not have... we can leave, where as they are sort of stuck here.