US visit
Early weekend
I decided not to go in to the office today. There is no reason (cf previous post). So it’s an early weekend (weekends are Thurs-Fri here). Have a lot of miscellaneous things to do today actually. For one, I updated the pics on the blog sidebar to your right. My mom is on the sidebar now.
Bacon seems to no longer be available here in Yanbu. We’re upset about it. Of course it was beef bacon, but still. However there is a saving grace, because Philly cream cheese is now available. I am about to have a croissant and strawberry cream cheese for breakfast. Mmm. Also the new mall here in Yanbu is partially open, and the new superstore, “HyperPanda” (what a name!), is cool because there are kid’s carts with a little mini plastic car in front where the baby can ride. Bug LOOOOOOVES HyperPanda as you can imagine.
The Cheetahhhhhhh played 3 games of squash yesterday and is a tad sore. He kicked ass, 9-1, 9-2, 9-2. I quit after 3 because I wanted to rest on my laurels… ie, I could feel myself getting exhausted and that’s when my game falls apart.
For my mom’s email of last night, yes mom, I know about things like closing doors to keep the aircon going at full strength. The problem is it’s 47C here. I don’t know what 47C is but I can tell you it’s frakkin hot. I would estimate it’s in the 110-120F range.
6 days in Saudi
Well we’ve been back for 6 days and we’re settling back into our old habits. They are leisurely and pleasant habits.
I want to go out into the desert to the reefs outside Yanbu for fishing. Unlike in Leyte, the place teams with fish and there should be some really good fishing. The only thing that’s held me back is that it’s summer and that means it’s a trifle hot. Indeed so hot that any outside activity is quite unpleasant. I may end up waiting until November to fish actually.
I’m sitting in my office now and have been here 40 minutes. I’m going to leave soon. I don’t know why I bother coming in. Last year, I spent these pre-term days in Jeddah. This year, we’re supposed to show up in case there is something to do. There’s nothing to do. Also nobody has specifically told ME to show up. I’m a team player I suppose, so I’m here for an hour, but I can’t help but ask myself why I bother.
The aircon in my house can’t deal with the heat, at the house is still luke-warm. This makes me and Little Chris crazy. Vanessa doesn’t mind, but the Bug and I have trouble sleeping in the heat.
back to the salt mines
Item #1, the CHeetahhhhhhh went back to the salt mines yesterday. Actually classes don’t start until the 9th of Sept and I just popped into the office and flashed my face around for 30 minutes.
Item #2, the New York Times reports that housing prices in the USA will likely decline 4-16%, and not recover for another decade at least. Haven’t I been saying this for about 2 years now? And the Economist has been saying it for about 3 years.
Item #3, I have to look up the American football schedule. It’s Sunday and that means football. The only problem is that noon in Green Bay is something like midnight here in the Arabian desert. That might prove to be a problem for the CHeetahhhhhhhh. There’s only one thing I’m not prepared to be flexible about, and that’s my sleep.
Item #4, back on the subject of economics. Well, the Cheetahhhhhhh was on vacation for 2 months and had little internet access, and so just checked out of the financial world for a while. And why not, that’s what a vacation is for. I can’t help but notice that my Euro stocks have declined 7% in August and what the frak is with that, eh? I don’t actually know the cause and so find it depressing. I have to spend a day or two reading the Wall Street Journal from cover to cover and get back up to speed. What’s depressing is the last time I checked my Euro stocks, in Boracay, they were up. I actually pulled 90% of my money into a money market fund before vacation out of sheer prudence. I’m planning on putting most of it back into Euro stocks next week. It appears there is profit-taking going on at the moment. Then I will buy low. Traditionally the markets rise the most in the pre-Christmas months, which start right about now. The only problem is economically there are a few things to keep concerned about, such as the low value of the dollar, this housing market problem in the USA, etc…
And finally…below is a pic from the Bug’s birthday party. As you can see, he is not too thrilled with the giant bee.
Back in Yanbu update
Well item #1, Yanbu cable has introduced faster internet speeds, which we appreciate, though they cost more. Our Skype phone is much clearer now. It seems I have an old Airport which only operates at 54Mbps though. Item #2, many of you don’t know that LIttle Chris had his 1st birthday party last Sunday, the 19th, in Capoocan. We celebrated it there because in Saudi the Muslims don’t celebrate birthdays and there is only 1 other Christian around (Nelson). Anyway Vanessa had a Jollybee (a Philipino fast food chain like McDonald’s) party, complete with a Jollybee mascot running around. She invited 60 kids but the whole town showed up, because it was the first Jollybee party in Capoocan history. Little Chris had fun, though he was afraid of the Jollybee mascot.
I managed to catch one game of pre-season American football before we left Capoocan. This made me realize how much I miss football. It has been so long, seriously. Anyway I’m ordering a Showtime decoder for my satellite dish so that I can pick up their American sports channel. I remember how football was my primary reason for going on with this difficult life, and it’s amazing I’ve gotten through 5 long years without it. And yesssss…. I know the Packers are crap this year already, you don’t need to tell me.
Back in Yanbu
We got back to KSA around midnight of the 21st. Saudi Air sends its shit planes to Manila and so we were on a cattle-mover for 9 straight hours with a broken chair and a screaming baby, plus we were delayed in Manila 3 hours for repairs. It was really a hellish experience. My advice to anybody listening is don’t travel with a baby. It’s just too exhausting. By the time we got to Riyadh, we were too worn out to continue, and just jumped in a taxi and went to a hotel. We got to Yanbu the next day around 5 in the afternoon. The entire house was coated in dust. Apparently it had grown very hot in here over the summer because the candles melted. We just collapsed into the dusty bed and slept 11 hours. Little Chris didn’t like sleeping in the dust. Anyway our apartment here is quite big. You could fit 2 of our Capoocan houses into our apartment. Little Chris is having fun crawling around and getting into trouble. He is a little scared by new sounds like the vacuum and the washer however. We are going to have a hell of a time trying to baby-proof the joint, right now there is just too much potential trouble for Little Chris. The good news here in Yanbu is they built a new mall and there is a huge mega-store kind of like Walmart or Carrefour. We are pleased to be back. Some people find this surprising but the truth is, our lifestyle here is very peaceful and pleasant here. Also we have very little interaction with the locals, we live in a little Filipino-Western bubble. Also every day in Saudi means more money and CHRIST ALMIGHTY do we need it after this financial bloodletting of a summer. Also (the CHeetahhhhhhhs favorite) Yanbu is quiet. No noise. God, the CHeetahhhhhh hates noise. It sometimes seems like I expent 3/4 of my energy trying to escape extraneous noise. Here, there’s nothing to escape. Oh—and we have Missy, my Honda, back, and it’s nice to be mobile again.
Last day in Boracay
Boracay pics
“Anything with tequila!”
We went to play golf at the Boracay country club, the golfing jewel of the Pacific. It was indeed quite nice. I got my game on and managed to beat Vanessa, which was a surprise. We were going to visit the butterfly farm but were too exhausted and sunburnt after golf. I’m bunt to a crisp despite applying sunblock 5 times a day to every part of my body. Today we had lobster, and when the P6500 bill came, Vanessa had a heart attack and wanted to spit the lobster out. It was pretty good though not worth P6500 in my book. Vanessa had been craving lobster since we got here but I guess she’s regretting it now. I have to book us new tickets on Air Asia to get out of Boracay because, FYI, Cebu Pacific flies to Kalibo. They claim Kalibo is for Boracay but that’s nonsense. You have to get into a big jalopey of a bus and drive on one-lane roads through rainforest mountains until you get to the port, and it’s a good 2 hour trip. It was so harrowing (it often seemed like we were going to fall off the mountain) that I promised Vanessa and Bug that they wouldn’t have to do it again on the way back. Anyhoo we’ve been enjoying ourselves in Boracay. Last night Vanessa went drinking with me which was quite a surprise. It’s difficult to get her to drink even one drop of alcohol usually, but she wanted to see the famous Boracay nightlife. She got hammered, mainly because we were barhopping and the bar couldn’t make the drink she was already drunk on, Sex on the Beach. So she shouted “Anything with tequila!” and the results of that are easy to imagine. FYI if you get Vanessa drunk, you’d better keep an eye on her. Vanessa is shy about her drunken episode and wants me to make excuses about it. What she doesn’t realize is how much alcohol the folks back in Wisconsin drink on a daily basis. I say everyone is entitled to get hammered occasionally, indeed it’s good for you. Anyway I have lots of cute pictures but the internet here is really slow so you’re going to have to wait.
Playing on the beach
