Desautel.net
Back From the Phillipines!
Well, I have just returned from spending three great weeks with my sweetie Malen (and the kids). I left on October 21st, and returned November 8th. That is almost three weeks!
After arriving and spending a couple of days at Malen's place in the Manila area (including some site-seeing to historic Intramuros and a large aquarium), Malen and I flew to Phuket, Thailand for a week. We spent the time at a nice resort called Aochalong Villa. The beach was not good for swimming, but the pool was great and the view beautiful. The on-site restaurant was also great. Unfortunately, the 2nd day there I began to come down with some flu-like crud that lasted almost for the rest of the Philippines trip! Some fever, sore throat, coughing, and nose & chest congestion. I still have some residual symptoms from this!
So, the time we spent in Phuket was low-key. We spent a lot of time in and around the pool, and in local pharmacy stores! However, having brought a Little Richard CD with us, I had to get up and dance - sick or not! The video Malen took is on YouTube, here is a link!
As you can see, Malen had a good time taping me on her camera!
After Phuket, we spent another couple of days at Malen's place (we also went to Laguna, where I met Malen's mother, sister, brother, and families!), then We gathered up the kids and went to Boracay for a week! This is a beautiful place with great beaches, and we all had a great time. We did a lot of swimming, and I almost lost Malen on the flying fish ride (like a large, wide air mattress, pulled behind a speed boat, and when going into the wind, it becomes ALMOST air-borne!). The food was great and the weather was OK.
After we returned from Boracay, I had a final few days at Malen's before having to return to the US. On one of those days, Malen, Yeng, and I had a free tour of the Camaya Coast resort and residential development, where I am buying a condominium! This is a pre-sale (construction is ongoing and the condo will be done in 2011), and is a good investment. The value is expected to increase dramatically by the time the construction is done. This will also be a place to stay when we visit the Philippines, and when we are not there it can be rented out as a source of income. Visit the link above to see how beautiful the place mis. We had a great day there, and did some more swimming.
So, that is it for now. Check the photo gallery (on the menu at the left) as I am slowly adding pictures from this trip. The pictures that include family members are in a new "We Meet Again" sub-album, under the "Pictures of Dave & Malen" album. The rest of the pictures are in a new "Phillipines2" album.
Dave's Poetry Has Been Published!
I have finally been able to publish some of my poetry! The first volume has been published in paperback and electronically in kindle format! The title is “My Life in a Poem – Volume I.” Volume I contains the poetry that I wrote early in life - my late teens and early twenties. The time period was approximately 1968 through 1974. The major events reflected in these poems included such things as falling in love for the first time, seeing the destructiveness of the drug culture, meeting my first wife, getting married, getting drafted into the Army, going through basic training and Advanced Infantry Training (AIT), spending thirteen months in Vietnam, coming home, having my marriage fall apart, and the separation from my marriage.
The Publisher is Wordclay, and the whole thing is done online very cheaply. The copies are printed on an as-needed basis (so Amazon shows it as temporarily out of stock). The cost is $12.99 for the soft cover and $4.99 for the electronic Kindle version.
There are links on all three of my web sites listed below, and here are the direct links:
The paperback version at Amazon.com - $12.99
The paperback version at Wordclay - $12.99
The Amazon Kindle electronic version - $4.99
So you all go right out and buy some copies, or else I will be the only one!! 8^( Tell your friends, relatives, and even complete strangers! (I am shamelessly promoting myself!)
Dave
Overcoming my Visa Refusal
Back to the Philippines!
Since my Malen was not given a tourist visa so that she could come and visit, I will be going to her instead. We have planned another trip for me to Manila, and then Malen and I will fly to Phuket in Thailand to spend some time together. After that we will come back to Manila, and then fly to Boracay in the Philippines, with the kids, to spend some family time there. Then it will be back to Manila, and a couple days later I will return to the US.
From here, we are still waiting for Malen's annulment process to end. At that point we need to decide whether we will attempt to have her come here to the US on a Fiancee visa (K1) and get married here, or whether we will get married in the Philippines or Hong Kong, and then apply for her to come to the US on a spousal visa (K3 or CR1). There are no simple and fast solutions, and there are pros and cons to each path, but we are committed to the goal of being married and being a family living here in the US.
In the mean time, I am continuing with yard work every day (while the weather lasts), and I have some medical procedures coming up (colonoscopy and eye surgery to remove a pterygium) prior to my trip to the Philippines.
Regarding the Internet and my web sites, the family photo album on this site ("Pictures of Dave & Malen" on the main menu above) has not been updated yet, but I have pictures from my trip back East to upload, and some additional pictures of the house and land here as well. Keep an eye out for these updates. I have removed the bulletin board software from my "Reverse Spin" site and will be changing to something else, like another blog site, soon. The Reverse Spin is a political commentary site. The Boomer Blog is still up and running fine, and I am posting there periodically, including political posts that may move to The Reverse Spin eventually. The Photos R Free site, a semi-commercial photo site of my pictures, has not been updated in a long time, but I have lots of great pictures to add when I get time.
Finally, some exciting news (for me)! I have finally found a way to publish my poetry, which is something I have wanted to do for MANY years! As a result, the "My Life in a Poem" site will not contain my poetry, but will be a site describing and discussing my poetry, with some samples, and with information about where you can go to buy my published poetry. This will be coming soon! I am publishing an electronic version for the Amazon Kindle, AND a paperback version (6" by 9") as well! Watch for it!!
Dave
