Japan and China

[Dave H]

I never post much about Japan (or China,including Hong Kong)...because I know very little about it other than the passing lights of Tokyo from the sky at night. I will probably have a brief flight transfer at Narita International Airport (NAA) the next time I fly to the Philippines...and I did briefly date a JAL stewardess in the late 1970's.  I was listening to one of my favorite musical groups "12 Girls Band" (Chinese, but are very popular in Japan) and started thinking about some of the things I love about China and Japan (besides women) in no particular order, even though I have never been there. It is getting late so I will only name a few... Jeff's pictures show Japan to be a beautiful place. My wife and I will visit China and Japan in the future.

China:

A. 12 Girls Band I especially like their rendition of Dave Brubeck's "Take 5" and Coldplay's "Clocks!" Lots of videos here.

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=tongtech&p=r

B. Bruce Lee

C. Jackie Chan

D. Food - various noodle dishes and soups

E. Various Martial arts

F. Bicycles

G. Great Wall

H. Hong Kong - Beautiful scenery

I. Those Gold Cats with the arm that goes up and down for luck.

Japan:

Things I still have in blue:

A. 5 6 7 8's, Dr. Osamu Kitajima

B. My Honda motorcycles past and present Sport 50, S90, Scrambler 250,  Dream Touring 305, CB750, GL 1500 Goldwing Aspencade, 2 - XRM 110's, Dream 125

C. 1981 Honda Civic

D. Honda pressure washer and Honda generator, irrigation pump (Philippines)

E. Kawazaki 350 Bighorn, Kawasaki 500 Mach lll

E. 1995 Mazda 323, 1996 Mazda pickup

E. 88 Mitsubishi pickup, 89 Montero, 06 Outlander, 2002 Van (Philippines)

F. Suzuki Carry Pick Up (Philippines)

G. Much of my electronics

H. Food: various noodle dishes and soups, tempura, korokke, teriyaki,...

I. Sumo

J. Various martial arts

K. Karaoke

Time for bed...

Dave H.

[michaelb]

You had a Honda Sport 50 and a Super 90? I did too. I traded a CB radio for the both of them. They were pretty beat up by the time I got them, so I used to only ride them on the section lines near the house (don't get further away than you can push it back). The gas tank on the 90 leaked so badly that I was almost scared to smoke my cigarettes while riding it. Then for a few years we (my dad, my brother and I) had a whole fleet of Suzukis from 185 to 1000. Those WERE licensed and we used to ride them everywhere. Many a night my dad would show back up at midnight or 1:00 AM with my 12 year old sister leaning back on the bar, sound asleep (somehow, she never fell off). Haven't touched one of the nasty dangerous things since 1983 (motorcycles, that is, I still touch cigarettes).

[Dave H]

You had a Honda Sport 50 and a Super 90? I did too.

Hey michaelb,

Yeah I had a white Honda Sport 50...no girlie man step through 50 for me. My dad thought that it lacked balls and ended up doing a wheelie and dragging himself down the alley behind our house.  I moved up to a black Super 90 when I was 15...it was detuned to under 5 brake horsepower so I could  legally drive it on the street. My brother and I quickly took care of that problem and probably got it up to 6 or 7 hp.  My dream was the Scrambler 250 and my brother's the 305 Super Hawk. My cousin dreamed of the Dream Touring. We eventually got them and my brother and I inherited our cousin's Dream Touring (305) when he went into the Army...and took off that front fender! 

In the Philippines where we have a house...big bikes are hard to come by. The biggest in town is are Chinese made twin's (250cc). I have 2 XRM 110's in the Philippines and my wife a Dream 125cc. The Dream looks like the old Honda C 50 girlie bike. Unfortunately it can kick my butt on the XRM 110 because of hp and my Kano weight (about 100 lbs more than my wife and 70 lbs more than her brother). But there is no way I'm riding a girlie man bike! OK so my bikes are camouflaged girlie man bikes. 

Dave H.

[xcited]

Alright Dave, be honest -- the things you like best about Japan are really your "Hello Kitty" stuff and "Pokemon". 

I will agree with you though, Honda makes the best motorcycles; I currently have a Honda Sabre 1100 and it runs like a charm.  Why such low horsepower on bikes in the Philippines?  I know most of the people there don't weigh very much, but I have also seen pictures of something like 4-5 people on one motorcycle. 



Xcited

[Dave H]

Hey xcited,

My wife (the phase passed)  and daughter are into Hello Kitty - don't make me name everything we have. My boys used to be into Pokeman. Now my daughter is getting interested, as she inherited all of their old stuff.

I would be happy to have something over 500cc in the Philippines. I am going to have to buy a bike in Davao or Cebu. I would like a BMW R 1200 GS Adventure. 

Even, a bicycle is expensive for the average Filipino. I gave my Mt. Bike to my head farmer. Now he can go from field to field in a short time. He was so grateful for it! With motorcycles, they try to make due with the most economical and inexpensive. When you carry several people on a motorcycle, it is called "habal-habal." 4-5 people on a motorcycle is quite common. It is not unusual to see 6 or more. Many bikes come already equipped with dual rear shocks on each side. This is a common form of travel in the "bundok." Most of the time the people ride all in a row. Sometimes a board is tied across the seat as in the bottom picture below.

Dave H.

[xcited]

I gave my Mt. Bike to my head farmer. Now he can go from field to field in a short time.

So Dave, do you (or I guess your wife) own a farm in the Philippines?  What area is it in?  If you own a house there, why are you still in the US?  I would figure the cost of living would be much lower in the PI.

Those are some crazy pictures (of the people on the motorcycles), it looks like a circus act.  You do have to appreciate their ingenuity.



Xcited

[Dave H]

It gets very funny when you see Westerners habal-habal!  

Dave H.

[Dave H]

So Dave, do you (or I guess your wife) own a farm in the Philippines?  What area is it in?  If you own a house there, why are you still in the US?  I would figure the cost of living would be much lower in the PI.


Xcited

Hey xcited,

Since I am not a Philippine citizen I cannot own land there. I am able to own a structure, but not the land it sits on. My wife and I have a house. She also owns farmland, as does her mother and several sisters. About 10 acres total in Butuan City, Mindanao.  We also have family land in Bohol. I have been waiting for my son to graduate high school in Florida this year, or I would already be there! I will spend more time in the Philippines starting this year.

Here I am in my rice paddy...keeping an eye out for large pythons and king cobras. CRICKEY! No worries mate! The huge crocs are behind me in the river...on the other side of the levee. 

Dave H.

[xcited]

Dave,
     That's great, but I guess I didn't even think about the crocs and snakes.  When I lived in Florida gators and snakes were a pain around fresh water. 

I have read that because of increased costs of food that the Philippines is having trouble feeding the poor.  I'm not sure how their agricultural market is, but is farming income there good?  (not trying to get too personal, just wondering).  By the way, rice has always seemed very manual -- do you have equipment to plant and harvest the rice or does it have to be done by hand?  If it's manual, how many workers does it take to plant and harvest all that stuff?  Farm work is tough enough, I can't imagine doing it without tractors, combines, and trucks!!

It looks like a beautiful area you have there.  Is your wife excited about going back to the PI?  How about your kids, have they been able to visit often?

Take care!

 Xcited
   

[Dave H]

Hi xcited,

Many Filipinos are poor and thus are thin. They eat mostly rice, noodles, and vegetables, with a little dried fish or canned meat if they can afford it. The Philippines used to have the strongest economy in Asia before WW ll. The economic losses after the US military bases were closed in the early 1990's caused further poverty.

Rice farming in the Philippines and Asia is very labor intensive! We enjoy the countryside and the people, although live in town. We are friends with the farmers and invite them to our family parties. We are not trying to get rich, but make a little money and help people work. We do pretty well, because we have the money to replant when crops are flooded too soon by rain (usually monsoons in January and June and July) or the harvest is bad. Most small farmers are usually poor and live from crop to crop.  They are in debt before they even harvest their rice. They sell most of what they grow.

The land is tilled by carabao (water buffalo) or by "turtle" (small gas powered tiller) that we use. The rice is planted and harvested by hand. Kids miss school to help with planting and harvesting. Weeds are pulled by hand (6 people were pulling weeds today). The rice is sun dried usually on a roadway or outdoor basketball (VERY popular in the PI) court. The rice takes a day to dry on a hot day.  We have a diesel water pump for irrigation (flooding) and a small Suzuki Carry pickup to haul the rice to be milled (by machine) and to storage and market. I sent 2 light-weight hand trucks. Filipinos carry rice sacks (50 kilos - 110 lbs.) that weigh almost as much as them.  I would love to buy a tractor someday. I also want to buy my own milling machine, gas dryer (for rainy days), and a warehouse for storage to serve the local farms.

We have 4 hectares (almost 10 acres). One hectare (2.5 acres) is usually planted or harvested per day. It takes 18 laborers to plant or harvest one hectare (2.5 acres) in a day. We usually have between 18-30 workers.  Each worker earns P120 (almost $3) per day. We also feed them during planting and harvest. We send clothes to them from the US. Six or more people from our barangay (barrio) often ride out to the farm to help. We have a nipa hut (house made of bamboo, wood, and palm leaves for the roof) for people to sleep in. I also bought an eight man tent that is put in the middle of the field and a 20 million candlepower spotlight to protect against people stealing the harvested rice.  We let the kids come in and collect the rice that is left behind after harvest. A good harvest yields between 120-150 sacks (50 kilo sacks) per hectare. Each team of 5 workers is given 2 sacks for every 25 they harvest.

We are always excited to go back to the Philippines!  My wife usually goes back every year. We missed in 2007 because of my illness. We were there for 5 months in 2005-2006.

Dave H.

[xcited]

Dave,
     Sounds like a great arrangement you have out there.  If you have the time, I would love it if you started a new thread about this subject.  How you got started, how you learned about it, how you manage it from the US, etc...  You have been able to help out the community and make a few bucks for you and your family.

The one thing that surprised me the most is the crop choice.  I know rice is a staple in most of Asia, but since it is so labor intensive I would have thought they might have moved to something else.  Being in Iowa here, you really see how many acres can be done by one guy and big tractor or combine. 


Xcited

[Dave H]

Dave,
     Sounds like a great arrangement you have out there.  If you have the time, I would love it if you started a new thread about this subject.  How you got started, how you learned about it, how you manage it from the US, etc...  You have been able to help out the community and make a few bucks for you and your family.

The one thing that surprised me the most is the crop choice.  I know rice is a staple in most of Asia, but since it is so labor intensive I would have thought they might have moved to something else.  Being in Iowa here, you really see how many acres can be done by one guy and big tractor or combine. 


Xcited

Hi Xcited,

The farmers have been growing rice there for generations. Rice is the staple of the Philippine (Asian) diet. I would like to grow some fruit crops like mango as well in the future. We sometimes raise 6 pigs or so, for celebrations.

Many farmers own the land but can't afford the cost of buying rice seedings to plant, fertilizers and pesticides, etc. They rent the land for several years, with the leasee paying all of the expenses, while they farm it, earning additional income. The farmers liked my wife's family, so they sold us a portion, 4 hectares of their land at a very reasonable price. We have the option of buying more in the future. My wife's mother and 2 of her sisters are also land owners with us (1 hectare each). My wife's mother and brother run things. Another sister sells the rice in large quantities to several hotels and restaurants. We grow very good quality rice and don't mix any cheap rice in to extend it. Thus, we sell out very quickly. Rice that you buy here can't compare. Most is old and mechanically dried (we prefer to sun dry), causing it to spoil quickly after it is cooked. Here, I buy the highest quality Thai Jasmine rice from a Chinese store that quickly turns over inventory.

One of my wife's cousin was renting land and was doing quite well. The farmers liked her and wanted her to rent more land. She couldn't afford to, so she told us about it.


Dave H.

[xcited]

Dave,
     Sometime I will PM you and ask you some dollar figures, because that sounds like a great opportunity.  Assuming I enjoy the area, someday I may want to "retire" there myself and have some sort of income.  Congrats on a good investment and you are lucky to have a family in the area tha can help run the day-to-day business.  At least you don't have to worry about being ripped off.

Take care!


Xcited

[Dave H]

Hi xcited,

I consider our farm more of a hobby than a serious source of income. You are at the mercy of Mother Nature. In the Philippines people who work for you (including housekeepers) become part of your extended family. If the employee or someone in their family becomes sick, dies or has financial problems (school tuition and supplies, etc.) they come to you for financial assistance. The more people you employ on a regular basis, the more you become morally responsible for.

A better money making business would be to have a rice mill and storage facility, with mechanical rice driers for rainy days when rice can’t be dried in the sun. You would only need 2-3 employees to run it.

Dave H.

[xcited]

Dave,
     I understand not wanting to employ too many people if you are responsible for their random expenses.  Are you going to do the rice mill and storage facility?  I would think those types of facilities would need to be centrally located and therefore more expensive.  What about raising pigs?  It sounds like in the PI they roast a pig for every celebration (and they seem to celebrate often).  I don't know how labor intensive it is, but could be profitable.  Also, do they grow sugar cane in the PI?  I would think the environment would be good for that crop.  Have they begun to use sugar cane ethanol like Brazil?  Being a poor country, oil prices must be difficult to pay and ethanol would make sense (unlike corn based ethanol here in the states which is a waste!!).  I'm not a farmer, but I find this topic interesting and you seem to know quite a bit about it.


Xcited

[Dave H]

Hi xcited,

We are seriously considering the rice mill storage idea. We already have the land in a good location. We are stating to research equipment prices.

The pigs are a lot of work as well! We only feed good quality feed and not scraps and garbage, making it much more expensive. We only raise enough for personal use. But they are certainly very easy to sell, especially during holidays.

Sugar cane is a big crop on the island of Negros. 

I really don't know that much. When I am at the farm, I put on my rubber boots and sun hat. I walk around looking at things like I know what I am doing. Most importantly...I mostly just keep my mouth shut and listen!  It's a good thing I don't speak much Visayan or my ignorance would show!

Dave H.

[xcited]

Dave,
     Let me know how things progress with your plans for the rice mill and storage.  I didn't think pigs were so much work.  Here we have ENORMOUS hog farms (largest pork producing State -- aren't we special), but it doesn't seem to take too many people to work them.  Then again, I am not a farmer so what do I know -- I don't even have the rubber boots and sun hat.
     So what businesses do make money in the Philippines?  What are the important industries for their economy?  It seems like they send lots of people overseas to work and remit money to their families. 



Xcited

[Dave H]

     So what businesses do make money in the Philippines?  What are the important industries for their economy?  It seems like they send lots of people overseas to work and remit money to their families. 

Xcited

 I'm not sure what businesses actually make money there...or I would probably be doing it.  Shadow, who posts here from time to time, has first hand experience operating various businesses in the Philippines. The Philippine economy is rooted in agriculture. Remittance from OFW's and Filipinas married to foreigners (under rated in my book) contribute a large amount to the economy as well. Many foreigners (and Filipinas married to them) and OFW's buy multicabs and tricycles for relatives to operate. But, depending on various factors (driver, hours of operation, repairs, maintenance, fuel costs, etc.) generally don't seem to do that well. My wife's family had those businesses in the past.

Dave H.

[Dave H]

 Home > Pinoy Abroad > Top Stories Recruitment firms encourage retired OFWs to go into rice production03/23/2008 | 02:27 PM

Philippines - The Department of Labor and Employment should redirect its reintegration program for returning Overseas Filipino Workers to go into rice production to ease the impact of the impending supply shortage.

This was the suggestion made by the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (FAME) in the wake of a looming shortage of the country's staple food.

"Encouraging returning OFWs who opt to settle in the provinces to go into rice production is better than helping them set up sari-sari stores, " FAME vice president Jackson Gan said.

Gan noted that the DoLE’s National Reintegration Center for OFWs could tap the help of the Agriculture department in setting up rice farming seminars for retired OFWs.

The NRCO is currently involved in providing returning migrants technical assistance for self-employment or entrepreneurship, access to credit/microfinance, counseling on business or savings mobilization schemes, and psychosocial counseling.

According to Gan, also the president of the Philippine Coconut Exporters Association, acting Labor Secretary Marianito Roque could request the Agriculture department to tap into the P1.5 billion fund released by Malacañang to help OFWs who wish to venture to rice production.

President Arroyo has recently approved an additional P1.5 billion fund for the Department of Agriculture to mitigate the shortage in rice supply that has reached a critical stage in the face of price increases in Vietnam and Thailand.

The DA earlier admitted that the country’s rice reserve is expected to last for less than two months as world prices increase to 25 percent more compared to last month. - GMANews.TV

[xcited]

Dave,
     That is great news for you, you should do well with your rice farm.  It's nice to see that they are encouraging OCW's to become entrepreneurs as well.  I believe that is the best way for people to get ahead.  There may be even more demand for your rice mill and storage as well.  Maybe it's time for you to invest in more land and new boots and new sun hat as well.  You really should look good when inspecting the property.  By the way, do your kids have dual citizenship with the US and the Philippines?  Can they inherit your wife's land in the PI?

     Is the problem with rice production in the PI because of the lack of a lack of labor or is there something else?  How long does it take from planting until harvest?  How many growing seasons can you get in a year?  Sounds like you may wind up being a land baron soon -- congratulations!


Xcited

[Dave H]

     Is the problem with rice production in the PI because of the lack of a lack of labor or is there something else?  How long does it take from planting until harvest?  How many growing seasons can you get in a year?  Sounds like you may wind up being a land baron soon -- congratulations!


Xcited

Hi xcited,

Our daughter is a dual citizen. She can inherit the property. My sons are from my Latina ex-wife.

A labor shortage is never a problem in the Philippines! The big problem with rice crops is flooding from monsoon rains. Draught is also a problem if you don't have a method of irrigation. Rice grows in about 4 months...3 crops per year. Disease and pests can be a problem if you can't afford chemicals for treatment.

Baron sounds good...I'm still working on becoming a Scottish Laird. 

Dave H.

[xcited]

Dave,
      So you have been married to both a Latina and a Filipina huh?  I think we can tell which one you prefer.  Was your Latina wife from Central or South America or just an AW from South Florida with Latin heritage?  I would think there is a big difference between true Latinas and those from the States.  I would like to know your opinion of the differences between Latinas and filipinas.



Xcited

[Dave H]

Hey xcited

"So you have been married to both a Latina and a Filipina huh?"
Yep

"I think we can tell which one you prefer."
No comparison! My wife!

Was your Latina wife from Central or South America or just an AW from South Florida with Latin heritage?
Puerto Rican and Cuban born parents. Born in South Florida which is a LA country of it's own!

"I would think there is a big difference between true Latinas and those from the States."
Not much...they just speak better English. Many metamorphose once they touch US soil, especially in areas with large Hispanic populations. I have dated many foreign born Latinas...some fresh off the banana boat.

"I would like to know your opinion of the differences between Latinas and Filipinas."
My secret! There are good and bad people in all cultures. I have  been with Latinas for many years...I wanted a change. I find my Filipina wife to be more patient, plenty of fire...without the volcanic eruptions! Some guys have found great Latinas. 

Dave H.