Letter from Manila - Santol - of course!

Clean? What is this concept? Here, the pig is killed on the street outside the house, beheaded and long before the guy starts to clean the carcass, it's gone to be cooked. I think that's why it's laughing.

Of course, you'll all want to know how my Little Bottle Openers fared in their 1st school quarter. Well actually, and very pleasingly, they did good. Remember the fun and games of getting them enrolled and the results? Well they passed the bloody lot!

Also bear in mind, the schools they went to before were a lot less demanding than this one and Jey-Ann, the eldest, lost two years of primary when her parents split and basically left her on the streets so yes, they done pretty damn good.

This'll cost me but what the hell?



As penance for reading this, have a pic of a (happy and very proud) ugly old git and two deservedly happier Filipinas! Gawd love 'em.

Oh, and after this week, there should be some more railway updates too.

Some of that Pig Head with some of those chilli's would go down lovely right now.

That reminds me, for the last Month or so, I have meant to take a nice picture of a lovely UK Kebab for you to drool over but as is always the way over here, by the time it arrives, my brain is awash with vino and I forget.

Insomnia sucks..... 4 hrs sleep is not what I asked for.

But there are always threads like yours to look forward to.

Well done to your girls !!

Nicola is just taking Tom to University in Reading today with her ex and these kids have no concept of their privilege ( of course that cuts me some truck time after Bootfair)

Have a good weekend (what's left of it)

Sending love and best wishes to your lovely young ladies George, they seem to be doing great. Loving your diaries as ever - and if anyone brings in a pig's head of that size again, I have a very good traditional recipe for Brawn

You mentioned rugby, are you league or union mate? Big Leeds RL fan here

Ah, sorry to disappoint but despite spending an early childhood in Salford, being carted along to RL games there, it's Union for me and what I used to play. Whilst I think League's speed and ball handling is great, I just prefer the grunt and grind that Union delivers.



Thanks and don't worry, I will.

Decided that, as I can't do the Great Bataan Roadtrip this weekend, due to ankle and they’re all over in Tondo after tonight, I have a full three, uninterrupted days of beer, rugby and F1 planned. Nice.

Cheers djefk, glad it's not just me that found Singapore a little, erm, dull Certainly moving here was the best move I made, and not just personally for those two either, but professionally as well. 

I totally agree with you and hope they'll grow up able to think for themselves without the 'Yes sir, no sir' mindset that's so prevalent in the region.

As an example, a few years ago we were looking for a document controller for one of the jobs below. I wanted a young local engineer who could, in time, become a specialist in some area of rail or other that took their fancy. So it was basically, get the job and then write your own career path. All well and good, but...Knowing the way Asian companies work, I explained that we were pretty much all Brits on the job and that we expected our engineers to show initiative and not be afraid to question their 'elders' about what was done. After all, we're none of us perfect. Basically giving them the freedom to take responsibility and grow. Over 50% at this point decided it wasn't for them and that they were expecting to be told what to do, at all times. A product of an unquestioning university education and, for me, possibly the most depressing set of interviews I've ever carried out. 

So, if I can succeed in eradicating that in my two, I'll join you in raising a (very cheap) beer in reply, and thanks very much.

Malaysia? Well, I've had a hand in pretty much most things railway over there over the last few years. The 18km Ampang Line MRT extension was a long standing one and I devised their new ops plan, was involved in producing systems technical specifications (trains, track, signalling, etc) and tender review. On that we were accused of corruption by the government (that was a fun few weeks) because we didn't recommend the Prime Minister's golf partner who had a long and honourable history of making water pumps, so obviously a first choice for a major railway job. You've gotta love hypocrisy! Not surprisingly, it's currently a shambles.

I did the detailed feasibilities and ops plans for all three new KL MRTs, one now under construction and the other two going to detail design. We also did the initial study into the JB-Singapore light rail link but ducked our company out of the later stages, as it was shaping up to become a good old Malaysia v Singapore bun fight. Best stay away from those

Oh and a 600km line from the north east border with Thailand, down the east coast and then over to KL. It should have been six months study but, after two years, I left them arguing about standard v metre gauge

The one I managed to avoid completely was the Singapore - KL high speed line. That'll end in (very expensive) tears, I fear.

And finally, a private sector proposal to operate commuter trains on KTM lines in the Johor area. Mainly because KTM hadn't thought of it themselves! We got it through all the government hoops, but I dunno where that one is now.

Since I left my old outfit to set up on my own, I still do any operations bits they need, so keep in touch with what's going on in KL and it's all pretty shambolic! I know at least four of my old KL colleagues would jump at the chance to bail out.

Out of interest, what you up to in Singers?

Funnily enough, when I lived there all my jobs were in Australia!

League is a game for teams that can't get enough men to play Rugby. Go the ABs.
Been reading your Range Rover thread this week George. Up to page 25 and enjoying it immensely.
There are many Philipinos here in New Zealand, often employed on farms. Employers love them because they are not afraid to work. They just go hard and get the job done. Our butcher once told me of an experience he had with a couple of Philipino men on a farm he was at. Seems he was slaughtering an ox for a client and the farm workers were helping him as is pretty standard here. When they dropped the guts out and started sorting the edible parts the Philipinos were straight into eating the raw liver like it was the greatest delicacy they had seen for years.

I'm just not getting into that argument!

Sorry, have to disagree there as well. But then you would expect me to!


Now there's dedication. Glad you're enjoying it.

I reckon there's lots of Filipinos on just about every continent, all for the same reasons. My son works with plenty of them offshore as well. Get a good grafting Filipino and you can't go wrong and that goes for the vast majority working overseas. Cheap too.

At home it can be a different story and the lazy ones are generally recipients of the, to give them their proper title, Overseas Filipino Worker's salary! As an example a couple of years ago, Madam's younger brother decided he fancied 'working' overseas so, with a mate, he got a job as a security guard in Macao. All he had to do was walk around an apartment building every couple of hours and sign in at a few electronic boxes to prove it. And how long did this career last? One week. Sacked for not doing the rounds. Idle, shiftless git! So back home he came and continued living off the money his sister sent back. No bloody longer he doesn't!

Food. Yes, it's the same when we kill a pig (which seems to be happening more frequently  ) the liver, kidneys and heart disappear in the blink of an eye.

Really must try to get over to NZ one day. I was offered a job in Auckland a couple of years ago, but turned it down to come here instead.