6 Years - Almost

Currently in Subic, Luzon, Freeport area at Olongapo City. Have been living also in Makati and Global City at Manila.
Shall add pics as well:)

Till Here, 2 Years

Heh, should update my plogi as well. Currently at Manila, been here since November 2012.
Survived the flooding... Have to update with more pics.

Also, traveled Africa one month, South Africa and Nigeria... It was nice. Well, work trip.

Raining Season

I have been busy lately, but here are some photos.
This raining season is not bad at all, not yet. Some rain and thunder during the night time.

 

Experimental BBQ with fan, very hot.

Went to Dumaguete City, located in Negros, last week. One way ferry trip for car and five passengers is about P1 000. Few fast pics below.

 

Bodo'd Bamboo Resort, Alcoy, Cebu. Lunch time.

 

Great balls of fire:)

 

Lilo-An Boat Terminal.

 

Lilo-An Boat Terminal.

Pagkabuhay

Easter weekend. Peaceful and quiet time. Good food (green pea soup, hernekeitto:)) and relaxing. Plenty of brown-outs lately. It's a pure pain to woke up in the night and no aircon. Hot as in hell.

Sudtunggan Road, Basak, Lapu Lapu.

Eastern Friday was so quiet day that I felt I was back in Finland in the middle of lazy winter Sunday. No people in sight and no noise at all. Someone told me, that it wasn't good to be in move or outside at the same time when Hesus was crucified. Bad spirits or similar...

As promised last post, well... few days fashionable late, here is more news about our fresh company:

 

Baska Solutions 

Happy eastern and spring/summer to everyone!

Busy

Being busy lately. Old man (me) wants to learn new  tricks. So, it has been ASP and C# .NET -coding for me up till 12 hours per day. Well, weekends only few hours. Very rewarding activity, I didn't remember how fun it actually is. More news related to that before end of this month

Summer is coming. It has been hot lately. The sun is almost in zenith. Air conditioners of the houses of this area seems to drain some power. At least three black-outs per week. 

Inspirational image, Cheers!

Earthquake

Yes, it was my life first earthquake. We were sitting front yard with my friends. Suddenly we felt mild vibrations and I was just saying to my friends that it must be a huge truck passing by on the nearby road. Then, a second later, the feeling was like standing on top of plate on mud. I couldn't believe that the ground can shake like that.
Nothing really dangerous here in Cebu, only some panic due to tsunami warning.

Heavy rain last night. Now there are small lakes all over the Mactan. I check from the web and the total rain fall was near to 140mm.

Went to Bohol again. Some pics, again:)

 

Alona Beach.

 Regents Park Hotell, Panglao, Alona Beach.

Choco Hills.

The Fence

OK, my fence is ready. No more cat poops on my yard. Life is much easier.

My friends are visiting me starting from coming week end. Three weeks of fun and hopefully some relaxing as well. Some pics below.

Cheers!

 

My new fence.

 

What are you looking at?

 

Snake, sleeping? Hmm....

New Year

Went to Mango Square celebrating the new years eve. Alles good, but when we left Juliana's night club, a small group of little girls and boys started to hassling around me. While walking across the street to taxi, surprise surprise, they managed to pick my phone from my front pocket. My friend was fast enough to catch the oldest girl, and after a few seconds of shaking my phone started to glow inside her t-shirt. I am a lucky guy, have to say.

Visited Bohol, Panglao island last weekend. A really relaxing time and enjoying beach life and good food. Very clean place and plenty of fresh air. Few pictures below.

 

Tarsier, Bohol.

 

Alona beach, Panglao.

 

Oasis Resort, Alona beach.

 

Oh crap:)

 

Flushing Meadows beach, not drunk, resting.

 

Chocolate Hills, Bohol.

Now waiting for wood delivery, planning to build a small fence against cats and dogs. Tired to clean the piles of poops every morning:)

Christmas

Finally, before Christmas, I cleaned my front yard and build a wooden terrace and a table. Yes, it is a rugged one, but using only a hammer and saw, it is adequate for me. It is nice to sit outside and enjoy the smooth winter winds. Hence it has been raining a lot lately. No pictures, due the heaviest rains occurs during the dark hours, and I'm afraid to lose, or deep wash, my mobile phone.

Front yard, before the cleaning.

Actually, the right side is cleaned, left side is waiting for action.

 

Job done.

Removed that rather smelly grass. Filled empty space with gravel. Nowadays, cleaning the yard at least once per week to avoid moss and bad smell. 

Have to paint it as well. I'm not sure is the wood thee best material for this climate.

 

Santa Claus, my favorite man.

Oh yes, I agree.

Now getting ready for new years party, after that the year 2011 is nicely wrapped and gone.

Happy New Year 2012 for all of You! :)

New year song. 

Storm

Luckily, not here in Mactan island. The storm passed us from the south. Weather forecast was predicting heavy rain in this area for Friday and Saturday.  Despite of that, weather was nice and quite sunny. Hence, Thursday night it was raining cats and dogs. Till alive:)

 

Thursday rain, Mactan.

Waiting for Santa

Yeah, Santa is coming:) Well, at least one Finnish guest from China will hit the Cebu during the Christmas time. Just taking easy at the moment and checking how Euro is doing in market. Dammit.

Went to see some live music. Not bad, nice voice and lively show. Some western guys were brave enough to show their talent as well. Not me.

 

Diones, Mactan.

Weekend relaxing in nice bamboo bar with good atmospehere.

 

Banana Moon, Mactan.

Oh yes, the third Visa extension, 2 months, was only a bit over P2,800. Not bad.

Independence Day

Today, 6th of December, is Finland's Independence Day. Happy birthday, Finland! Perhaps a couple of shots of ice cold vodka is in order later on.

 

:)

Went to Manila last week. Lucky guy as I am, had a flu during the whole trip and the remaining of the week. Hence only one pic taken from my hotel window. It was a blast lying in bed, watching TV and ordering room service... Not!

 

Manila, Quezon City.

 Holidays are coming. Time for a Christmas decorations. Well, few lights, it is better than nothing:)
 

 

Let there be light.

ACR I-Card

Went to Immigration Office today to get my I-Card. Now I am an registered Alien:) Also, finally found Parmesan cheese from Park Mall, Mandaue City. Now it is possible prepare real spaghetti, risotto and pasta.

 

Talamban, Jan's Kool Bar, Pizza Hut

 

ACR-Card, front

 

ACR-Card, back

Birthday Week

Went to see local point of interest, the statue and doom of famous Mactan warrior LapuLapu. He was the leader of the battle against Portuguese explorer and conquistador Ferdinand Magellan. During the battle, Magellan and several of his men were killed.

As we are Finnish, he remains us a Finnish man called Lalli.
Lalli is an apocryphal character from Finnish history. According to legend, he killed Bishop Henry on the ice of lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland on January 20, 1156

See internet/wikipedia for more information about Lalli and LapuLapu.

 

Lobster and prawn meal

Had a good sea creature dinner nearby the statue of LapuLapu. Lobster and giant prawns. Very good and delicious food. Lobster price was around P1000 per kilogram and prawns P740 per kilogram. A one kilo equals 8 prawns. The whole dinner with the beverages and coffee for three persons was a bit over P2000.

 

The doom of LapuLapu

The doom of LapuLapu. We had a nice local guide with us. And yes, that is me smiling, a Finnish smile at least:)

 

The statue of the Mactan Hero LapuLapu

Me and my friend Karri from Finland. He was visiting me 10 days while he is traveling around Asia. We had a great time partying and relaxing during my birthday week. We had a party in local pub called Eddies. Free beer and pizza, nothing too fabulous. At the same night we hit Julianas dance nightclub in Cebu City.. And yes, we can remember something... but not much:)

Birthday

Ou jee! 40 years of breathing the same air as you do:) Party on this evening & tonite, but first going to gym, kick start today into a full speed.

Some pics below.

 

Dance girls, Ayala Mall, Cebu City

 

The lake, Sauna terrace, Mactan

The Finnish Sauna, Mactan

Halloween

Nice b-day party and Halloween last Monday. Few drinks and good food. Later on nite we hit Julianas disco at the Cebu City. Some dancing and some of the people had scary costumes. Unfortunately, those pics were completely useless, it was too dark for my mobile phone camera.

Today it is raining, going to gym to pep me up.

Some experimental cooking, rice hash browns. Quite good, no kidding:)

MB Outsiders, Mactan

Jualianas at Cebu City

Biz As Usual

Broadband for PC was down couple of days. Despite the fact I made the address change, in their office, at the end of the September, they sent the bill to the wrong address. So, took a taxi and problem was solved, for now.

Had a few drinks last Saturday. Intention was to check the local October fest, but when I arrived the Q was at least half a mile long... So decided to hit other bars and restaurants. Nice evening, I managed to pump my head to iron gate when hopping of the tricycle to the bar. Have to remember, doors are not as high as in Finland.

Made a decision to stay here in Mactan during my b-day party. Going to travel after that. Nicer to celebrate with friends and having a good one.

Bought my first 5kg bag of rice, starting to turn to a local chap.

Ant bite blister

A gross pic of my feet from early days here in Cebu. I was sensitive for certain ants, but nowadays no worries:)

2nd Visa Extension

Done. Damage was P7450 for two months, including U$50 I-Card payment. After two weeks that card should be ready. Only passport was needed, not even photos of my ugly face. They scan the image from your passport. Anyhow, it took two hours of waiting at the immigration office.

Paid my electricity bill at the bank. Helpful security guard offered guidance and what information to fill, no pain in that.

Hot day, maybe few beers now and relaxing. Planned to go to gym, but no food makes me angry:)

Sun is Shining

Yes, after a few darkish day, it is here again, thee Sun! Muy bueno! It was so moist and humid past three days. It started to grow green stuff on my yard, not grass but something else. Well, as said before, temperatures were OK for me.

Second Visa extension is coming soon. This time it is more expensive, almost P8k I guess. Because of I-Card, it is $50 extra cost. After that, under P3k per ~2 months.

My small but useful friend

Here is some Finnish music, at least some local people seems to like it:)
Missä muruseni on

A Finnish Weather

No, not quite. It has been raining through the morning, not heavily about an hour like usually. Can't complain because the temperature is ok:)

Two days ago I did woke up for singing. One of the neighbors had a party going on. Alcohol had something to do with that, according the volume and quality of the entertainment. Nevertheless, it is nice that people are enjoying their life.

---

Tropical storm hit here yesterday. Or at least part of it. No pics, due to lights went off. Had to come home in total darkness and it was raining as hell. Water up to my knees. It was great to be back in bed after that.