Thanksgiving dinner and holiday shopping trip

Last Updated on June 7, 2023 by Ellen

Happy Thanksgiving! From Malay, Aklan, Panay, Philippines.

Although in the Philippines, it’s just Thursday, November 26. Thanksgiving is not a Philippine holiday.

Thanksgiving dinner in the Philippines

Of course, in recent years, we’ve been in other countries that also have no connection to American Thanksgiving. In some of those places, we were able to find restaurants that catered to U.S. expats. And some did serve up turkey and all the fixins.

But like many places today, due to the coronavirus, restaurant dining here is not especially appealing, so we didn’t really seek out any turkey day options this year.

Still, our landlady, Yolly, made us a Thanksgiving dinner! And delivered it to our apartment. See the top photo. A whole roasted chicken served with vegetables, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Gravy! Mmmm… we haven’t had gravy all year. Delicious!

In all, a wonderful meal and way to celebrate Thanksgiving — even if we are the only ones around who are doing so.

Holiday shopping kickoff — Kortan style

The other development this holiday week; my continuing efforts at finding a pump/pipe system that will work to send drinking water uphill more than 160 feet in elevation to a holding tank.


Above is the graphic I made and shared here a few days ago. And this time, I’ve added a second visual showing the detail at spring/pump level that must also be accounted for.

As I explained in my first blog post, I’ve been studying the basics of hydrodynamics in order to assure that we purchase the proper equipment for this job. And I do think I have a pretty good handle on what is needed. But…

In an effort to confirm my calculations, and hopefully talk with someone who knows pumps and water transport, I went to the capital of the Aklan province – Kalibo – a 100-minute bus ride southeast of our current rural home.

It was my first trip to ‘the big city’ since we arrived here in mid-March. Ellen has been to Kalibo a number of times, but again, because of COVID, I’ve not had much desire to ride buses or visit bigger population centers.

Now I had a reason, a mission. Unfortunately, my pump information excursion was mostly a failure. In fact, from my internet study, I knew more about the physics of pump head and flow and friction and horsepower and suction than any of the salespeople at the shops selling the equipment.

Bottom line, they were unable to offer any better insight as to what specific equipment pieces and parts would be best for our project specifications. Their analysis: “get the biggest pump — it should work.”

Actually, I was relieved to see pumps that do appear to be of sufficient size and quality at several of the mechanical supply stores. That alone was worth the trip. We should be able to purchase a workable pump.

As you can see in the photos below, there were at least two Italian made pumps which provide more than 60 meters of ‘head’ (water lift) — which is what we need. 

Still seeking help with hydraulic engineering…

While in Kalibo, I also was able to get names and phone numbers of a couple local ‘master plumbers’ who might be of assistance. Or perhaps they would know a local ‘engineer’ who I could consult with. We will follow up in coming days.

We also plan to send some letters via email to American ‘water project contractors’ asking if someone might be kind enough to look over our specs and math and design and offer input — as a ‘donation’ to our charitable efforts.  We’ll see what happens.

Of course, if anybody out there reading this does know of a person knowledgeable in ‘hydro engineering’, please feel free to put us in contact. Thanks.

Hopefully, in the next couple weeks I can get some confirmations and then return to Kalibo and get the correct pump, valves, piping, filters, connections, etc. that we need to get the drinking water project done. More details to follow.

For now, Happy Thanksgiving and holidays. We wish all our readers a safe and healthy holiday season. The potatoes and gravy have made me sleepy. I’m gonna lay down.

As always, be thankful and generous, happy trails & more beer.

Life is NOW!

Thanks for reading, “Thanksgiving dinner and holiday shopping trip.”

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