Lazy to Cook? Use the Telephone or your Computer!

In my previous posting, I mentioned that after Macrine ( my spouse of 59 years) was diagnosed with Parkinson Disease in 2013, I was forced by circumstance to take over as the cook in the family. At first, I did not like it, but after one week, I started enjoying it. I even become creative in my recipes. I also based our menu what is on sale, so we save a few dollars in our Food budget. The savings in our Food budget we add to our once a week Dining and Slots machine Escapade in our local Indian Casino. However there are days when I do not feel like cooking. On these days, I have several options where to buy our dinner.

Option A: A few months ago I discovered munchery.com. They delivered dishes right in your door steps, cool and just ready for heating. You have to reserve or order your meals in their web site for at least one day ahead or before 9AM for an afternoon delivery. As of today, I have ordered at least a dozen dishes and I am very satisfied with the quality of the food and delivery service. The main dishes costs vary from $7.95 ( vegetable, chicken and pasta dishes) to 11.95 (for steak and salmon and seafood dishes) with $2.95 delivery charge. A tip to the driver from $1 to $4 is listed as an option. If you become a member, there is a $4.00 discount every time you order.

Option #1: If we feel like eating Chinese food- I used the telephone and in 30 minutes, we have food delivered in our door steps. Once in a while if the restaurant is busy, the wait is about 45 minutes but had never exceeded to one hour. For free delivery, there is a minimum of $20. Our favorite dishes are Pan Fried Whole Fish, Walnut Shrimps, Won Ton soup and their Combination Chow Mein.

Option #2: If we feel like eating seafood, The Red Lobster Restaurant is only one mile from our residence. Red Lobster do not deliver so you have to pick it up. To avoid waiting order ahead. The wait is usually from 30 to 45 minutes. Our favorite dishes are The Ultimate Feast, Shrimps Scampi and Crab Cakes. For dessert we order their cheese cake.

Option #3: If we feel like eating Italian dishes, Olive Garden is also one mile from our residence. Olive Garden do not deliver. But again order ahead to avoid waiting and long lines. Our favorite dishes are their shrimp dishes and pasta dishes. Sometimes the restaurant has a buy one get one free promotion on certain dishes.

Option #4: If we feel like eating steaks, Black Angus Steak House is only about half a mile from us. Again they do not deliver, and to avoid waiting order 30 minutes ahead.

Option #5: There are several fast food restaurants within one mile from our residence. We have eaten at Fish and Chips, Panera House, Burgers Houses, Kentucky fried Chicken and for Mexican Dishes, we order at El Tapacio. My favorite Mexican dish is Chile Relleno made from fresh chiles ( not canned). El Tapacio cooked their Chile Relleno using fresh Chile peppers. Other Mexican restaurants used canned peppers.

Option #6: The deli section of Raleigh, Safeway, Trader's Joe and Sprouts Super Markets offers several dishes that we like. The Honey Baked Ham store is also near us. We order Honey bake ham on holidays ( Thanksgiving and Christmas).

Last but not least, Option #7: If we have a longing for Pinoy dishes, the nearest Pinoy Restaurant and Take Out is about 20 minutes drive from our residence in the neighborhood of McCleland Air Force Base. Our favorite dishes are Dinuguan- Barbecue pork, pancit and a tripe dish.

So, above our my eight options if I do not feel like cooking. This feeling occurs at least one or two days day in a week.

The 15th Anniversary of the Bombing of the World Trade Center

Tomorrow will be a decade and five years anniversary of the bombing of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York. The following article is my tribute to the more than two thousands victims of the most heinous crime of the decade as we remember it-15 years ago.

The following post from my Hubpages account describes my personal contribution in how I helped alleviate the sufferings of the burnt victims because of the terrorist's bombing of WTC.

Again, may I ask you where were you in the morning of September 11, 2001? Remember these four words: WE WILL NOT FORGET!

http://hubpages.com/education/the-day-the-world-trembled

Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Cebu, Philippines

This week twenty-one members of Macrine's immediate family(sisters, nieces, nephews and their children) spent one week of Fun and Relaxation at the famous Plantation Bay Resort and Spa in Cebu, Philippines( above photo).

From Left to Right: Sister Guia, Jean Jambalos Maeda, Chiqui Jambalos ( only daughter of Siony), Pepot, Ella (Pepot's daughter and son Adrian and Babes( Helen) Nunez.

This is a mini reunion of the Nieva-Jambalos sisters ( Macrine, Sister Guia, Fe, Jean and Charro) and sister-in-law, Siony Pagalunan-Jambalos and her children and grand children as well as Fe's(Pepot) two daughters( Elaine and Ella) and their kids, Wesley, Samantha and Adrian prior to the 70th Birthday Celebration of Fe( Pepot) in Manila, September 10.

Macrine wanted to attend, however because of health reasons, she can not travel and easily gets tired. Charro the youngest of the Jambalos sisters is still in the East Coast enjoying her summer vacation. Pepot's 70th Birthday celebration will be in Manila and about 100 guests are expected.

The following video and photos will speak for itself.














For more information about the resort visit: plantationbay.com

The Road to Hana, Maui, Hawaii

Seven years ago, Macrine, David III and I spent one week of vacation (time share-exchange) in the beautiful island of Maui, Hawaii. We have scheduled one day of our week vacation for the popular, scenic and breathtaking drive- the Road to Hana. However, when I learned that the are numerous narrow and winding roads and bridges along the Hana Highway and because I am prone to motion sickness (in the car), we decided not to do it.

Several days ago, Ditas and Carenna sent me some pictures of their road trip( see below). It reminded me of our aborted scheduled trip.

Suffice to say, here's a video that is very informative and worth watching if you plan to do the scenic and breathtaking drive-The Road to Hana for the first time. You can do it yourself or you can joined a guided tour at a reasonable price if you do not enjoy driving. If you are prone to car sickness and afraid of heights this tour is not recommended for you.

Help in Restoring Google Adsense Account

Last week when I was checking my Adsense earnings, I accidentally checked an update account button that resulted in the following no reply letter from Google.

"Your application has been successfully reviewed. Now you need to create your first ad unit and place the ad code on www.chateaudumer.com to fully activate your account. Note that before your account is fully activated, only blank ads will appear on your pages. Once your account is fully activated, you’ll receive a confirmation email and begin to see live ads. Please don't click on your live ads, even to test them -- doing so isn't permitted by the AdSense program policies. Sign in to Google AdSense to create your first ad unit and get fully approved. For further information, please visit the Your guide to AdSense". Do not reply to this E-mail!

Unfortunately, I no longer own www.chateaudumer.com so I can not create my first ad unit as instructed above. As a result, I can not read any ads in my other sites hosted by Blogger.com. My 7 other blogspot sites are active and I see all the new ads but It does not read in the blog post. So, I have zero earnings for the last week.

I can not have an e-mail access to the Adsense Help because I do not earn at least $25 per week. There is no telephone line for help. I followed all the Instruction in the Help Desk as well as the community forum. So far no luck. I have blocked www.chateaudumer.com., in my list of active sites.

I earn only about $10 per month, so this is no big deal. However if you are familiar with problems associated with Google Adsense, I will appreciate Help! It is very frustrating that I can not have direct or talk to a live person for help.

When it Rains, It Pours!

Carenna at top of the World-Hawaii, 2016

I am not talking about the weather here in Northern California. It had not rained here for the last six months. I am talking about my two daughters ( Dinah and Ditas) and two grand daughters ( Elaine and Carenna)visiting Macrine during this past week. Macrine was beaming with happiness after she got a visit from Ditas and Carenna yesterday. The other day she was also visited and taken shopping by my other daughter and grand daughter( Dinah and Elaine) as I described in my recent posting.

This is the first time since she was diagnosed with Parkinson Disease that she felt loved and not forgotten by her children. And most of all two visits in one week- a very rare occasion. Macrine then blurted out-When it Rains, it Pours!

Ditas and Carenna KT ( Katague-Thompson)

In my case I understand if my children and grand children do not visit us often. They have their own lives and busy with their own activities and they do not live near or just across the street. I am happy to hear from them during Holidays ( Thanksgiving and Christmas), Mothers Day, Fathers Day and our birthdays. But for Macrine due to her PD, she feels isolated and not loved ( side effects of her many medications), so she welcome a telephone call more often.

Thus after Ditas and Carenna visit giving her chocolate covered macadamia nuts( gift from their vacation from Hawaii last week), I was not surprised when she blurted out, I am so happy today!. I asked her why? Well, she said I got two visits this week and I heard news from my other two grand daughters, Alix and Marina. Alix and Marina are our oldest son( Dodie) daughters. I asked Macrine if Dodie call her recently? Macrine said No! Dodie calls me only on Mothers Day.

Alix Katague at the Cornell University Gardens, 2014

Evidently, Macrine asked Ditas if she heard from Dodie. Ditas told her Marina is now in her second year of College at San Luis Obispo Poly Technic University and Alix is in her senior at Cornell University.

The good news about Alix is that she had accepted a job offer from a Hi-Tech Company based here in San Francisco. She will work for the company( I know the name of the company) after her graduation next year. Alix had worked for this company this summer as part of her Internship program. The company must have been impressed of her summer internship, they did not hesitate to offer her a job, even before her graduation. Alix is majoring in Computer Engineering. Congratulations, Alix!

A Welcome Relief from my Duties as a Primary Care Giver

The other day, my daughter and grand daughter, Dinah and Elaine(photo above) visited us. They stayed overnight and the next day they took Macrine shopping in our local mall. Macrine my spouse of 59 years has stage 2-3 Parkinson Disease. Her tremors and movement problems are controlled by medications. However, there are side effects of her medications. One of the side effect beside numerous others are her feeling of isolation and not loved. So, Macrine welcomes a telephone call and even better a personal call from her friends and relatives.

As my wife's Primary Care Giver (PCG), I need relief once in a while for my own health and sanity.

A week before, Dinah during her weekly call had already discussed this visit. Macrine was super anxious of the visit and keep asking me when the visit would be. She insisted I prepare a good breakfast and lunch. She insisted I buy Linguisa( Portuguese sausage) besides fried rice, and huevos rancheros for breakfast as well as La Sagna and Hawaiian bread rolls for lunch.

On the day of the visit, the three ladies went to the mall for shopping ( shoes and watch). Macrine was planning to buy only a pair of shoes. She went home with three pairs. She said there was a buy one get one free sale. They went shopping for 3 hours and was back home in time for her next medication. This was a welcome relief and reprieve for me. During this 3 hours I had time for a leisurely bath and shower and time for cooking lunch. What a relief not too hurry taking a shower. I had also time to write this posting.

Once again, my million thanks to my Daughter and Grand Daughter for the visit and taking time from their own hectic schedule to visit and take Macrine for shopping. This was a much needed relief from my duties as a PCG.

Macrine enjoyed this visit very much, they have already scheduled a date for the last week of October, when Dinah can take a day from work.

My Second Year Anniversary Writing for Hubpages.com

Last week was my second year anniversary writing for HubPages.com(formerly from squidoo.com). As of today,I have written 32 articles (hubs) on almost all subjects except politics. My total reader's views as of today is only 17,772. I have also on record only 200 comments and only 58 followers. I earned a few dollars per month, just enough to buy me a cup of coffee. However, I enjoy writing for Hubpages even if it is not a money making activity.

HubPages is a user generated content, revenue-sharing website. On December 7, 2013, the website published data that showed that the website consisted of 910,106 "Hubs" (magazine-style articles on a specific topic), 73,969 published users, and 2,498,967 forum posts. Two years ago it acquired a famous content publishing website Squidoo. Hubpages has currently 24 employees and based in San Francisco.

Hubpages give scores for articles and authors separately. The scores for articles and authors varies from 50 to 100. I am happy and glad to report that the average score of my 32 hubs is 71 and my author score varies from day to day from 80 to 86. The lowest hub score I have now is 67 and the highest 81. My highest scoring article is about my childhood experiences during the American-Japanese War in the Philippines filed under Commercial and Creative writing. My two most widely read hubs are Caste System in the Philippines ( over 2500 views) and My Bucket List-101 Things to Do before I Die( over 8200 views).

Today, however, not all of my 32 hubs are featured because of low traffic (readership). I will appreciate if you help me re-featured the hubs listed below by reading them and if possible write a comment. Your comments positive or negative will be published and much appreciated! The following are my hubs not featured due to low traffic.

http://hubpages.com/relationships/most-memorable-new-year-s-eve-escapade
http://hubpages.com/relationships/the-secret-of-long-term-marriage
http://hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/premonition-of-death-and-extrasensory-perception
http://hubpages.com/games-hobbies/bridge-is-my-card-game
http://hubpages.com/education/the-day-the-world-trembled
http://hubpages.com/travel/the-philippines-nation-of-fiestas-and-festivals
http://hubpages.com/travel/marinduque-philippines-my-second-home
http://hubpages.com/money/My-Personal-Experience-on-my-Application-for-Home-Refinancing
http://hubpages.com/health/joys-and-activities-after-retirement

My hubs are filed under:
http://hubpages.com/@chateaudumer

Dust Thou Art, To Dust Thou Shalt Return

Last Sunday was the Interment and burial services of my younger brother, Atty. Erico B Katague, Sr. He passed away last August 15 and was 80 years old. The following are some of the photos during the funeral services, Jaro, Iloilo, Philippines. Rest in Peace, my dear brother!

Only in Marinduque, Philippines-An Update

Chateau Du Mer Main House, Amoingon, Boac, Marindque,Philippines-Our Winter Retreat

Just recently, I posted in my blogs an article written by a friend discussing his recent trip to the Philippines as a Senior Citizen. The article reminded me of my own experiences as a snowbird resident in our second home in the Island of Marinduque. The following is the article I wrote more than two years ago March 3, 2014 to be exact just in case you have not read it.

"This morning a door to door service woke me up at 4:30AM. I was in deep sleep when I heard the newly installed buzzer in our front gate. I thought the kids in the neighborhood were playing with the buzzer as in previous years. The bell rang two more times and I realized is time to wake up and see who is ringing the door bell . I walked barely awake to the front gate about 20 meters and asked what time is it and who is ringing the buzzer in this early morning hours.

I heard an apologetic response, door to door service Sir. What time is it? 4:30AM Sir. Why so early? Please be patient with us Sir. We are still delivering to Buenavista. Our load of fresh vegetables are rotting, that is the reason for this very early delivery.

I opened the gates, 4 small boxes and a long side table with glass top was delivered in my back porch. After checking that the glass top was not broken, the door to door service with another apology went on their way to Buenavista about 45 minutes away. The delivery was part of the mop and pail package that my sister in-law purchased for me in Manila. It cost 600 pesos. It is needed to clean our marble floors in the main house and the tile floors of the conference Hall. The glass top side table and other boxes were for my sister-in-law beach house and cottage.

Thank you dear sister-in-law for ordering the mop as well as my new PC and monitor, but hopefully the next delivery will not be early in the morning as this one.

Another item I want to mention is the dental service in this poor island with no air service from Manila. In general the dental services here are comparable to US standards and are much, much cheaper than the dental cost in California. I had ordered two new dental partials last year. The other day, one of the teeth in my lower partial broke after I eat a small piece of lechon skin ( roasted baby pig).

I tried to call my dentist in his land line several times. His telephone kept on ringing but no one is responding. I got tried ringing his phone, so I decided that my driver and I just drive to his office. Luckily, he was in his office and was able to fix my partial after leaving it overnight. I realize he does not answer his land line. He only respond to his cell phone that I did not have at that time.

Update: Just recently, Macrine had her teeth fixed ( a crown) and it cost us a fortune. As they say when you open your mouth to see a dentist here in US you also open your wallet. Like most Americans, we do not have dental insurance.

The third item I observed that is only in the Philippines is the special check out line for senior citizens in the grocery stores. During our 4 day stay in Manila prior to our land and sea trip to Marinduque, we purchased about a 2 weeks supply of grocery staples, fruits and vegetables. I was accompanied by my sister-in-law who has a senior citizen card and booklet. I was surprised to see a special check out line with seats for waiting only for senior citizens. I believe we got a 5% discount for certain basic food items, but not for alcohol and tobacco. Not much discount, but every penny here in the Philippines counts. There is no such line in the US.

Finally, I want to emphasize that I am really enjoying our 90 days snow birding time here in Marinduque so far. The mornings are cool but in mid day it is getting hot and humid- a sign that the hot summer season in the island Paradise is getting near ".

Update: The weather here in Northern California had been beautiful this past week. Cool in the morning ( in the 60'S and not too hot in the afternoon), sunny and not a single drop of rain!