Photos et lettres des Philippines, de France et d'ailleurs

It is now four weeks since I'm back in the Philippines and the time passed very fast. After having stayed five months in France the heat of the first two weeks here was hard to bear and I felt really good only at night after dinner and shower, in my 2 air-conditioned rooms, the TV room and my bedroom.

(TV room)

Actually I was also sweating my five extra kilos I put on during my stay in France. In fact my five months there didn't seem too long ranging from the April snow to the autumnal summer of the French Vexin region where I spent most of my time apart a few incursions in Paris and a week's holiday with my wife in southern Aveyron and the Var.
In my mostly free afternoons I tried to increase my knowledge in photography through books and the Internet to become better though I am afraid, never a very good one.
So on August 25 I left Paris and, I arrived in Hong Kong for two days for the first time, having already had many stops there before but never out of the airport. I was really impressed by the city and I think also as a chronicler of a French radio that if the 18th century was French, thef 19th century was British, the 20th century was US, and the 21st century will probably be that of Asia and China in particular.
After doing some photo shopping, I continued my trip on August 28 to Cebu in the Philippines where I landed after two and a half hours flight.

There I stayed two days and the I continued to Dumaguete far-off 140 km and an arm of sea of 7 kilometers to cross.

To do this I rented a car and driver because the number of my luggage still had increased after my visit to Hong Kong. It cost me 2500 pesos or 37 € for a three-hour drive and I arrived in Liloan in the southern tip of the island of Cebu where I took a fast craft for a crossing of 20 minutes to Sibulan in Negros Island.

There my faithful friend Charly was waiting for me for a lunch in his home and then finally to drive me to my house where Dodong and Nora, my house keepers were expecting me.

My Doberman dog, Brousse, first was shy to approach then came sniffed me and not bearing grudges for having been abandoned, made a fuss to me with all the strength of its 3 years of age and its 36-38 kilos of weight.

(My Doberman dog, Brousse)

 The next day was a Sunday and lacking of everything except beer, I took my meals at Well Beach resort owned by a Swiss Guido, 5 minutes walk by the beach from home.
On Monday, I started the serious things.  First resupplying then looking for a technician for the repairing of 2 water heater and 1 air-conditioner, then changing a PVC pipe broken by a branch of coconut tree, the failure of my main remote control of my home theater being sent to Manila, the endless problems of air-conditioning of my 4x4 Pajero, the renovation and painting work of my roof and finally the purchase of a generator to alleviate the incessant power outages.

All this lasted more than two weeks and I ended with a complete breakdown of my Pajero which necessitated the change of 2 batteries.
But all of that is so much easier in the Philippines than in Europe and above all cheaper.
I live 25 km from the city and the technicians had to travel more often by motorcycle but it  cost me € 7.50 for the air conditioner, 8 € for 2 water heaters,  240 € for the roof with nine days of labor of 4 people plus 45 kilos of paint and supplies for approximately 100 €.

Repairing a gas leak in my car air-con and a recharge of Freon were charged 24 €. The 2 batteries of the Pajero plus twice the transportation of 2 people were billed 150 € and finally the diesel generator of 5.5 KW with a battery starter was charged with installing, 645 €.

Although locally this is expensive and is the domain of a privileged, I hardly imagine how much I would have paid in France.
It should also be noted that all here increased by at least 10% in the last six months. Like everywhere else in the world, soaring fuel prices and food is the cause. Only this is even more severe in poor countries. The price of their basic food, rice has more than doubled and the queues in the state subsidized cooperatives eventually don't stop growing.
Well, now I will try my new photo equipment and do a few trips as a holiday.

(One of my 4 cats)

(Orchid of the garden)

(Plants of the garden)