18th March 2016 - Samal Island - Camp Holiday Resort to 2Xs - day in Davao

Friday 18^th March 2016

Splendid local transport (jeepney)

I should not be so astonished to find that it is hot here on Samal Island.  Fearfully hot!  Our barometer says it is nearly 45 inside…and not much cooler outside!!

Yesterday we went to several shopping malls, in search of carpet for the boat.  Along the way Pete fell in love with a fancy radiogram thingy….

and I made a new Best Friend Forever ((BFF) a sulky, sultry mannequin sitting near a large bottle of whisky.

But best of all – we (a) found carpet, very VERY cheap, and presumably suitable for the boat.  And (b) Pete found a fancy water-cooled fan which is, we hope, going to make life aboard in these insane temperatures more bearable.

We also made our way to our favourite bolt-hole in Davao…the comfy little Swiss Deli.

I asked Pete to pose winningly next to the cow, which he did, to the great delight of the security guard, who has a very boring job opening and closing the door for customers.

FarmerBoy!

We moved back to the boat this morning, leaving our happy little room at Camp Holiday with a bit of a sigh.  Oh the aircon!!)  Our vehicle stopped to get petrol, and I was very charmed by the home-made stepladder at the garage.  Obviously made with love!

From the photo you can tell that all is not yet completely shipshape – I have NO idea where to put the big box of water filters, for example.  But the cushions are back on the couches!!  Bliss!  Pete has done FAR too much work, trying to get the pump working again (yes, the pump is…playing up, as usual,) and generally doing all the things which need to be done to get 2XS in working order once more. 

I have retreated to the marina clubrooms, where there is a cooling breeze blowing in the veranda.  Pete is in the shower cubicle, struggling with the water hoses.  It is at least ten degrees hotter in there (probably over 50…) but he refuses to budge.  He is SO much more stoical than I am!

I have bought a new phone, which makes me very happy.  I never made friends with the little Nokia I bought in West Timor.  This one is much fancier; it has a proper screen and is easy for me to work.  And it cost approx. $30, brand new…It is an obscure brand – ZH&K mobile – but I don’t care!

Next to it in the photo is…my iPad Mini which has been missing in action since well before Christmas.  I had sent out a search party via the Find My IPhone app, but it was too far dead by the time I thought to do this.  I kept thinking it would turn up…And it did!  Pete found it nestling between some papers in one of the bookcases.  I was overjoyed to see it again; it is part of my iDevice Family!  When I plugged it in to charge, it seemed just ads happy to see me.  “This iPad is lost!  Please ring Marguerite!” it said, plaintively, via an anxious  little message on its home page.

Our last days at Camp Holiday provided us with lots of entertainment, and some very pleasant swims in the pools. 

Firstly there were some dear little kiddiewinks dressed as plump butterflies, who sang, almost inaudibly, a happy song, all in English, for their delighted mummies and daddies.

In the evening, there was a concert provided by the Mindanao Firemen’s band.  They were great!  The firemen/women were having a conference next to the dining area and we stuck our noses in the door when we heard the music… They were very happy to have us as audience.  (No we didn’t get up and do an interpretive dance for them… but nearly!)

And then we met Maria, a visitor from Finland.  Maria came to our room with a bottle of Irish C ream.  Her Philippino friends are very devout non-drinkers so she enjoyed a bit of a visit with us… We had a lively discussion about education in Finland (reputed to be the best system in the world – Maria is a teacher, and she heartily agreed.)  She had some eye-popping solutions to the hostage crisis, involving slow death and torture for the perpetrators…but we parted on excellent terms.

Tonight is usually the marina pot-luck BBQ.  I had been planning to make a potato salad to share but – lucky! – tonight the new marina manager is coming to give us a pep talk, and he is brining with him FOOD…from Camp Holiday!

Not sure if he will bring whole fried fish – Pete LOVED these and chewed away on the bones with great gusto  (Me…not so much, but I did love the veggies cooked in coconut milk…)