Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Daily Report: Plans and Meetings

I was up nice and early again. I'm also starting to eat breakfast again, which is a change from just coffee.

Jun stopped by early to pick up my motorcycle. Last week I had the bike painted with some cool color-shifting paint that I had shipped from America in a friend's balakbayan box. (Balakbayan boxes — the "official" boxes that Filipinos living overseas use to send items back to family here — aren't searched or subject to tariffs (that I am aware of), so you can send paint in them, which normally would require all kinds of paperwork and approvals and meeting of regulations for shipping.) The bike used to be red, but now it is purple... and when the light hits it, it turns green. Jun has taken the bike back to (1) put a final polish on the paint job, (2) paint the front fender the same color, which didn't look right with its faux-carbon-fiber appearance, and (3) see if the electrical output of the engine can be upgraded to run the extra headlights that I have added that keep draining the battery.

There are two gray farings on the each side of the bike that I'm having recreated in local narra hardwood that should be finished this week. After that, I'm having the seat reupholstered in brown leather (probably leather-looking polyester that is water proof). Next, I'm going to have versions of the metal "floor panels" fabricated in copper. Finally, I'm going to have some copper chrome paint shipped from America and I'm going to have all of the plastic and metal "highlight pieces" (rear view mirrors, front plaque, rear cargo rack, transmission cover) changed to copper. As a finishing touch, I'm thinking of having custom bodywork screws made, capped with copper 5-centavo pieces. (Can anybody tell me if that is illegal in The Philippines?)

By the way, Alsa, where I bought the paint, has some of the wildest paints on the planet... color shifting paint, paint that changes color with heat, paint that glows in the dark, paint that looks like marble or granite or wood grain when sprayed on, real chrome paint in a variety of colors... and many of their paints are even sold in (very advanced, 2-chamber) spray cans. Check them out.

Later in the morning, I went to City Hall and met with Mayor Jardin. I talked with him about (1) starting a branch of The Philippine Eagles here in Jasaan, which he was very interested in, but directed me to another fellow in town who he feels would be more helpful; (2) about getting a business license for our soon-to-be-built pizza stand, which he informed me I would not need until after the place was built and could be inspected; (3) about putting some low bushes and grass on the 2-meter wide strip of city property that runs between the street and open sewer in front of my house, to which he referred me to the city engineer (who came over to the house, inspected the area, and gave his approval).

After that, I spent the day working.

In the evening, I invited Ayan (not Ian, as I had spelled it previously... sorry), who runs the beauty pageants, over to my house. I've got a good idea: Ayan knows lots of beauty queens and I know that lots of fellows who read my blog want to meet nice Filipina girls. Since the online dating/introduction services are filled with thousands of girls of random and unknowable integrity, honesty, background, and beauty, I figured that I (with Epril's and Ayan's help) would find and post one local beauty queen every week on this blog (a "Jungle Juliette") who is interested in meeting foreign guys. We here will interview the girl, make sure she's nice, get personal information to put up along with some photos, and then you readers can get in touch with me for her e-mail address. It will be a money-making scheme insofar that, on the honor system, if one of you ever marries a Jungle Juliette, you send us (Epril and I will be sharing with Ayan) a token of your appreciation. Otherwise, it will be free. Also, if I set you up with a correspondence with a Jungle Juliette, I ask that you keep me updated with how things are going, so that I can make sure that nobody is getting played or cheated, and if I find that one of the girls is making promises to several guys that she couldn't possibly keep, or misrepresenting herself, or misleading people, I can put a stop to it. (UPDATE: Via private e-mail, Mike asked me how I would protect the girls from getting played or cheated. The girls will be keeping me updated as well, and the same rules apply to the guys as apply to the girls.)

Oh: I've got a new camera on the way. Bird is picking one up for me in America... 50% less than what it costs here in The Philippines. It will be Epril's first anniversary present. Then, we should have photos back on the blog.

5 comments:

Kyle Stanley said...

JIl,

Make sure that after your motorcycle is finished being painted that you get your registration changed to reflect the new color. they have a form at the LTO to fill out and a simple fee around 150 pesos. Also their is a free Motorcycle group with no annual fees or gimmicks if you want to join. http://philippinemotorcycleownersclub.ning.com/

or my page
http://philippinemotorcycleownersclub.ning.com/profile/KyleStanley

Kyle
www.thecornerhotel.multiply.com

Jil Wrinkle said...

Thanks Kyle. The thought had crossed my mind. I'll make sure to get that taken care of.

Heheh: The first motorcycle I bought in Thailand was a Yamaha Nouvo with a dealer-supplied very-custom paint job on it. Twice, police pulled me over with this look of extreme happiness on their faces, thinking that I was going to get nailed (like everybody else they caught on custom-painted bikes) for not having a color listed on the registration that matched the actual paint job. It was fun, those two times, to watch the officers' smiles disappear as they saw that the registration did indeed match the color.

Anonymous said...

Good idea about the ladies. Glad you'll be looking out for their interests.
YLM

Mike said...

Jil You might want to check and make sure you dont fall into any international marriage brokers regulations because they have alot of laws concerning marriage brokers and what they are required to disclose about thier clients. Just a thought. There might be some things you havent seen yet or know about like IMBRA. Just check it out to make sure it wont affect you or make you liable for anything... IMBRA was a law passed in 2006..

Jil Wrinkle said...

Mike, that's an interesting thought. I'll give it a look.