Dream Hill Condos - Sabang

As I sit on my balcony overlooking Sabang Bay at half past six in the afternoon, I notice the slightly increasing velocity of wind blowing cool air across from the highlands - a peaceful time.

The day had been cloudless and hot; I have no complaints, I had escaped the cold of Perth's winter to head to the tropics for two weeks of diving, eating and drinking and even despite a bout of food poisoning a couple of days earlier – I regret nothing.

The power had been out all afternoon; at this time while we patiently waited for the electricity to be restored, the gentle cooling effect had not been missed. Watching the grey clouds slowly drifting across the sky obscuring my sunset; I enjoyed the chirping of birds knowing as darkness beset Sabang, the gentle sounds of native birds would soon give way to karaoke bars and the three go-go bars down the hill.

Dogs barking, roosters crowing and shrieks of young children playing on the water's edge at low tide were soon to fade as darkness swept across the village and the nightlife kicked into full swing. This is my fourth trip to Sabang; I had enjoyed my time hanging out further up the hill and away from the hustle and hassle.

Sure, I need to venture down the hill to reach the dive centre on the waterfront; but I can traverse the back lane ways between the houses and only dodge dogs, cats and the odd labourer carting building supplies up the hill.

My last trip to Sabang was September 2012; on this occasion, I had ventured down the hill to experience the nightlife and I can't say I much enjoyed it. My first trip across to Sabang was in 1994 and in many respects; the place hasn't changed much, the quality of accommodation, surely, has as my initial experience had drop toilets in my very basic room.

I still recall about twenty children sitting outside a house on the fence watching TV through the window. Geez, back then, even a trip to shark cave would result in a mandatory sighting of seven or so whitetip reef sharks sitting on the bottom allowing the current to pass through their gills.

My reflection is suddenly disturbed by the sound of Alf cranking up the generator shattering the solitude of the occasion. While his premises is connected to the main power supply; the power to the village was out, brown-outs in this part of the world is still a common occurrence.

There is no point cranking the generator up in the afternoon, life is slow and sitting in a doorway reading my book was a relaxing way to spend the afternoon with a cooling wind having an effect on a thirty-five degree day.

After all, the morning was filled with two dives in a ripping current and a brisk walk up the hill, better to hit my university reference book and plan my case study. Strategic planning and management seems so far away now.

What I had failed to notice before, almost all of the lights of Sabang are out, only the larger establishments able to afford their own generators. Looking down on Sabang from my vantage point, I notice the lights have returned and immediately the generator rumbles to a stop. Only fifteen minutes of chugging under the load of the generator interrupted my evening – fantastic.

The smell of smoke wafts upwards; Alf is firing up the wood-fired oven for his latest venture, a Roman inspired spa complete with hot and cold rooms that is currently under construction. The oven will heat the marble massage table of the hot room; this evening's test run will go some way to fire the kiln bricks and roast the odd potato. Life is pretty uncomplicated out here, maybe I need to further contemplate my life – this evening seems like the perfect time.

Philippine Airlines now fly from Perth to Manila

I like diving, I like diving a lot so I was naturally excited when Philippine Airlines announced it would be flying to Perth via Darwin. The Philippines is one of the premium diving destinations of South East Asia with World War II wrecks, pristine reefs and walls spread over the 7107 islands of the Philippine archipelago.

On previous trips across to the islands, I had always flown Singapore Airlines due to their frequent schedules from Perth via Singapore. Their outstanding service and routes made them the airline of choice despite their expense, unreasonable frequent flyer program and arrogant corporate attitude.

Qantas also flys to Manila, normally my airline of choice; however, flights and routes didn't suit my personal scheduling. There was of course Air Asia; the budget airline but unfortunately only flying to Clark, the former US air force base at sin city - Angeles. There was no way I was intending on spending any time in the cesspit of Angeles City.

I have been a traveller to the Philippines since the mid 90s with the last five or six years earning me 15+ diving trips to the archipelago. During these trips, I have flown Philippine Airlines (PAL) frequently internally and although the airline had gained a reputation of PAL becoming the pseudonym of plane always late.

My first international trip showed PAL to be well organised and on time. The 8:50 am flight from Perth to Darwin was lightly booked; I and others like me had a whole row to ourselves, the route had only been running for less than a month; I hope patronage improves and the management persists with this route.

The stopover in Darwin was only an hour and we were required to disembark; just enough time for a browse through the duty free shop and pick up some premium Penfolds wines. From Darwin to Manila, more flyers boarded the aircraft and I picked up a partner for my row; we maintained a space between ourselves with the flight being comfortable in economy class.

My experiences with PAL on international flights appear to be as positive as with internal flights in the Philippines; the inflight staff was both courteous and professional representing the airline in a positive manner.

While the standard of inflight service can't compete with the Qantas, Emirates or even Singapore Airlines, however, the cost of the flight places PAL in the budget airline category whilst offering full service.

The same movie played between Darwin and Manila; not bad for me as I had work to complete but must be annoying for other patrons, there is only a centralised entertainment system – there are no other choices. The choice of menu was pretty limited; the wines were plain awful but flavoured coffee was passable. 

Owing to the number of patrons onboard; service was brisk for both segments of the flight. On arrival in Manila, we landed at the new terminal with a quick traverse through immigration, baggage claim and customs. This is contrary to my experiences at the older terminal and a positive for new arrivals to the country.

Pizza Bella Napoli - Sabang

Located on Center Street, a small lane in the heart of Sabang is Pizza Bella Napoli, a wonderful Italian pizza restaurant with exquisite décor situated on the first floor facing towards the lane. The balcony overlooks the lane between local businesses, two small tables face onto the balcony; the walls are decorated with a number of small photographs and two large murals.

Empty wine bottles lined the stairs leading upwards; I had to be careful not to dislodge any with my camera bag on my ascent up the staircase, not in the mood to be cleaning up broken glass. I also notice bottles of Italian Merlot adorn the nearby tables, no vino for me today though, while I would be happy sitting at the table for the afternoon overlooking the comings and goings of the nearby establishments.

I needed to be alert to study for an upcoming university test. I had a late lunch, arriving after one thirty to an empty restaurant, the afternoon was hot, stifling hot and the waitress quickly turned a number of fans on me immediately providing respite from the hot and humid conditions.

Ordering a fourteen inch pizza, I devoured the pizza in silence regretting the fact I had failed to bring my reference book and notes with me. Had I been better prepared I could have studied my notes overlooking the laneway below.

Instead I made a dent in bottle a of Merlot concentrating less on management problems slipping into planning my 2014 Italian trip and return to Naples. I left this wonderful establishment feeling contented; not only did I eat well but I enjoyed the ambiance alone, a time of reflection spent alone but definitely not lonely.

The Talijancich 1961 Liqueur Muscat

A recent trip to the Swan Valley saw our group walking through the doors of the new tasting room at Talijancich, a small producer specialising in fortified wines. Mid winter in Perth is a perfect time for fortified sipping fortified wines.

This weekend was no exception with clear blue skies requiring only a short sleeved shirt to maximise the reduced sun's rays. The mornings and nights are cold, the days generally cloudless and warm with the evenings perfect for a taste of Talijancich's fine range of liqueur muscats and fortified wines.

I had purchased a number of years ago the 1963 Liqueur Muscat, a silver medal winner at the London Wine Show and numerous other shows, a trip to the tasting rooms is usually both exciting and expensive. This trip was no exception with the 1980 liqueur muscat, liqueur shiraz, liqueur verdelho and some Julian James liqueurs now gracing my cellar. 

The vintage liqueurs burst with the flavours of burnt toffee and chocolate overtures with a wonderful brown hue. As I was laying my new bottles down I found a 1961 liqueur muscat I had forgotten about, I found a tokay laying pretty close. In the wash up, I really didn't need to take the drive up to the valley after all - I still not complaining. Oh yeah, the Penfolds Coonawarra Bin 128 really hit the spot on warm afternoon too.

Growth minded learning goals

The setting and attainment of learning goals tends to correlate with the views of global learners and alignment to learning objectives. The development of abilities greater than required to perform the job ensures candidates have a range of skills at their disposal.

 

Searching for innovative methods to solve problems, I was once asked if I am a lateral thinker, while I replied at the time I was - I have a change of heart. Generally speaking, a lateral thinker uses uncommon wisdom but since I am from an engineering trade background, I tend to be very pragmatic and systematic in my approach to problem-solving. 

Once you have extinguished all avenues of systematic and rational problem-solving techniques, then more unusual means may need to be entertained. This requires new methods and the development of models. The base purpose of business school education is to identify proven techniques and to improve those methods whist disseminating this information to peers. 

The value of the Pinoy overseas foreign worker

Living in Australia and making numerous trips across to the Philippines, I run into many Filipinos who work overseas returning to the Philippines for holidays. Likewise, I also meet numerous Filipinos whilst working in Australia in my profession seeking to gain Australian qualifications.

To the casual observer, it would appear the major export of the Philippines is workers to the region and beyond. To a certain degree, the smartest and the most productive workers are picking up the international contracts leading to a possible brain drain in the Philippines.

After some investigation, I learnt that most men head to the middle east in construction, oil & gas and mining contracts whilst the majority of women remain in south-east Asia or east Asia. I was also astounded to learn remittances from Filipinos working abroad form the second largest source of foreign reserves after direct foreign investment.

What I have seen is a building boom in Makati, Mandaluyong, Bonifacio, Taguig and Paranaque City that has been running for years and shows no signs of abating. Having first visited the Philippines in 1994.

I am seeing a large middle class emerging driving consumerism in the Philippines. It would appear significant investments in real estate is now generated by OFWs with longer forms of investment in education and training.

During breaks hanging out in cafes such as Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks and restaurants in the large shopping malls; I see many young locals armed with smart phones, iPads, Galaxy tablets and notebook computers all plugged in online.

I have checked prices in the Philippines and compared to prices in Australia and I find the prices cheaper in Australia. I also notice than many of the younger consumers are engaging in studies at local colleges and universities all developing the human capital of the Philippines in a holistic method.

Overall, I see ongoing development in the Philippines improving the outcomes of locals, although as a passive observer I also see the highly educated and most productive leaving the Philippines for economic advantage overseas.

I often wonder if the people taking up the positions left vacant by the OFWs are up to the task leading to a level of wholesale incompetence or it leads to opportunities to workers who may have been overlooked in the past.

Candidasa

As a diver, a road trip to Amed or Tulumben frequently takes me through Candidasa; a small seaside village on Bali's east coast. The centrepiece of Candidasa is the freshwater lagoon perched between the road and water's edge.

However, Candidasa is very much a cultural centre with numerous temples and traditional villages scattered around the area, it is also a very good dive location with sometimes ripping currents.



Lotus plants float on the water; the flowers of the trees surrounding the lagoon mix with the lotus plants inhabiting the lagoon ensuring the beauty of the lagoon.



The road through Candidasa takes you right through the Lotus Lagoon and to the steps of Candidasa Temple that overlooks the lagoon.



The temple of Candidasa is accessed straight from the main road; I am told candi translates to temple and dasa translates to ten, a number of temples inhabit the area.

The Lotus Lagoon in the early evening, during the day children are swimming amongst the lily pads on the water surface, the contrast of colours at sunset are wonderful.