Take Me Out to the Ball Game

[skank-la]

Spring/Baseball Update-Redux on Singapore Kids & sports or lack thereof-Worthy of of discussion in my mind.


One of the most positive aspects for our family of being back in the old country is having sports back as an integral part of the daily fabric of life.

Last Friday I was just fed up life. A week of hell at the office & the overall stess of life had me in a total funk so instead of arrvig as bit late as usual I took off from work an hour early to catch the skankster’s entire little league game. He’s moved up to Pinto division this year & after tryouts was drafted by the Red Sox. He plays little league at Walmerado Park a beautiful palm tree lined park with the San Gabriel Mountains towering over the horizon, with still a bit of snow lingering on the highest peaks that early Spring day. The park contains 6 baseball diamonds of various sizes to match the league divisions of kids of different ages. It is busy with games every weekday & all weekend long. The teams are coached by volunteer dads who spend long hours practicing with the kids on their throwing, fielding, batting skills & basic games strategies. The amount of time dedication (& yes love) put into the kids by these men is to me almost heroic as we all live these 21st century time starved lifestysles.

Anyhow when I pull up to the park, get out my bag of sunflower seeds & walk to the bleachers to sit next to the DW among the parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles, siblings & family friends the pressures of the week really start to melt away. For a couple of hours I can cheer on the skankster & his buddies under the beautiful spring afternoon/evening & shoot the shit with all the other parents. Walmerado is pretty much a blue collar league with dads showing up to the game in their postal uniform or mechanic’s garb fresh from work; like me meeting the wife at the park to eat the olbligatory bag of sunflower seeds, & hot dog or hamburger & fries from Walmerado’s legendary snack bar, run by with a stern hand by Ms Rosa. We submerge ourselves in shouts of ‘Good Eye, Shooby’, & Good Catch, Glenn’ cheering the kids on cheering & shouting every time one of the kids gets a hit or makes a run. Everyone enjoys the fresh air & the escape from the pressures of the world for a short time. Last Friday In the end the skankster’s team lost. But he hit a double & played second base & made some pretty nice plays so overall it was a good day for him. After the game the coach awards one of the kids the ‘game ball’ for best effort or best overall improvement.. Oft time Mom goes home to get ready for night shit at the hospital & the skankster & I stay on to watch the older kids in the next division up play while eating a burger or dog in the stands. Often we watch games where its a neighbor kid or somebody’s older brother that we know so we can cheer on that team & that player.

Last Friday however was different, still in his little league uniform the Skankster & I hopped into the car & picked up one of his buddies & headed to Dodger stadium for the season opener against the last year’s World Series Champions the Boston Red Sox. along w/52,000 other folks.. It was a perfect cool everning, although its officially spring you needed to put on a windbreaker as the sun went down over the mountains behind the rows of palm trees swaying in the breeze over the stadium wall.. All in all it was an pretty decent game, the Dodgers won 3-1 , beer, sodas & Dodger dogs were consumed by our group since the tickets were purchased via the skanksters’ little league we knew a lot of the kids& families sitting around us.. We screamed & hollered at every base hit or double play & were part of a few waves.& finally later headed home a bit sleepy but in an overall great mood, the funk of pressure filled week at the office almost completely gone Sports are part of the good life I didn’t have back in SG & I am now really happy to have back in my life.

My neighbor in Singapore once showed me an article that said only 1 out of 10 children in Singapore ever participate in organized sports. He himself had his son playing in weekend football league at the Indian Club in Singapore but the actual amount of kids participating was hardly enough to field a team. I used to tell people that part of the explanation for the ‘kiausu’ me 1st fanatacism you see in Singapore is the fact that as children they never experience being part of a team. Learning towork together to gain the advantage is not part of Singapore’s culture. Kids there never learn to hit a sacrifice bunt so that their teammate can score & the overall victory is their’s. Never understand that a good defense is just as important as a couple of fast strikers. The children grow up completely selfcentered

Here sports is part of most childen’s life. The skankster is in a soccer/football league & baseball league along with about every male & female child in his class,. He also does Tae Kwan Do year round but that is another entire essay. There are childrens leagues for almost every imaginable sport baseball/basketball/soccer, American football, swim teams. Etc etc . The teams are usually coached by parents & the practice sessions, games etc very highly organized.& when you got to the field there are literally hundreds of people there.. At the end of the match/game win or lose the entire group of parents applaud & high five & generally encourage the young players. It sort of takes a way your flexibility on Saturdays but the kids love it & there is no way this is not good for them on so many levels. Well gotta get out of here & go home & take my son to baseball practice!
_________________

[expat yorkshire]

Skank

The pictures you present of sport in Singapore is not one that I have come across . There are many many opportunites for kids to get involved in sport here and from my own experience most of the kids involved are local Singaporeans

One example is the Taekwondo Institute in Middle Road which is run by the two time US Taekwondo champion. The place is packed out with kids and they have classes every hour on Saturdays and Sundays. In one hour on Sunday I can see 30 kids being trained ( 90% are local) . The school has opened 3 new centres to cope with demand and the grading every three months is complete chaos. This is just one Taekwondo school there are many many others


Take football , or what you call soccer. EPY went for a trial lesson at the Arsenal Soccer school near the Indoor Stadium I was amazed how many kids were there again 90% local .

There are so many opporunites here Skank..... maybe you didnt see them or maybe your kid was too young to participate at the time

[Aliya]

I have to admit when Skank writes like he does it sort of makes you wish you could see it too, very descriptive!

[baloo]

Not sure I'd like to see skank covered in funk

[Kooky]

I feel sorry for Mrs Skank, getting ready for the night shit at the hospital while he and skankster are off having fun.

[Pinklepurr]

I thought it sounded quite appropriate K

[skank-la]

EPY in Singapore I found it sporting activites for kids was usually a for profit affair not neighborhood leagues run by volunteer Coach Dads & Team Moms. Completely different dynamic in my mind. The skankster does Tae Kwan Do year round. He actually started as a wee lad at Bedok Community Centre which WAS a community program. Tae Kwan Doe costs money. The centre's are somebody's way of making a living, like I said a completely different expericence than neighborhoold little or soccer leagues. Here & I'm pretty sure back in the UK Almost ALL the kids play sport while in Singapore whilst the places are busy the percentages are low.

K The Mrs does not like Dodger Stadium, a bit too rowdy for her. When we ask her to come she does not. Now concerts at Hollywood Bowl, or the Lakers at Staples Centre are another matter.

Here the wife got her 1st level nursing certifiate w/i a year & now has a year's experience under her belt. Now has the experience & recommendations to go for her next level. She soon will be starting school full time for 15 months for next level LVN cert, once received her earnings will more than double. The last Cert-RN is her end goal. RN's make over US$100,000 these days. Much different from the days as an trailing spouse on Dependent Pass spending her days out for Tea at the Regent etc while the maid ran the house.

The upside for me of her working nights is that we play tag tean w/the Skankster & I spend more 1 on 1 time with him than ever before. Good for both of us. No full time maids in Amerika-more like full time parenting.

[TheD]

So. Skank, when is the big move back?

[skank-la]

Trust me the US is a mess at the moment. Its so complicated I cant even begin to describe it. When the economy collapses we'll retire to our farm in the Philippines. As long as we can get there we'll be fine.

We do miss the leisurely 'tropical; pace of Singapore. I think I wore long pants there less than 10 times a year. What we miss most is being close to Bali, Phuket, Kho Samui, Boracay etc etc

The one thing I am glad to be away from the most is the legalized slavery called maids there.. Every time we made good friends w/Singaporeans when we actually got close enough to see how they treated their maids it made me sick. I think it bothered me more than anything else in the whole place. Drove me mad & made feel complicit by socializing & becoming friends w/slave owners w/o confronting them about it.

[Possum]

Sounds heavenly skank but I like EP have experienced a very different side to kids and sport in Singapore. There are many opportunities available to those who want them.

[BFG]

I have to agree with Skank in some respects, but, lately, there has been an increase in the availability of opportunities to get involved in sport. That availability was much less 5 or 6 years ago.

[Dinosaur]

Trust me the US is a mess at the moment. Its so complicated I cant even begin to describe it. When the economy collapses we'll retire to our farm in the Philippines. As long as we can get there we'll be fine.

Yes I did mean to dredge up an old thread this time (apologies for the other one). Well, first of all, I'd just like to congratulate Skank-la for his/her prediction back in April 2008 - wow.

But what I'm really interested in, if it's not too nosey Skank-La, is your thoughts on living in the Philippines. Which part of the country is your farm in? What is it really like in terms of infrastructure/crime? (Yes folks I'm still doing my long-term research on "Retirement Plan Bs" especially now that monsoon time seems to have come early .)

[Lili Von Shtupp]

PK, I'm starting to think you're on the run from Johnny Law!

[slinky]

PK, I'm starting to think you're on the run from Johnny Law!

She does seem to be looking for an escape.....hmmmmm.....

[Dinosaur]

PK, I'm starting to think you're on the run from Johnny Law!

No not at all - don't worry peoples - it's just a Monsoon-time Project and you never really know on these temporary retirement visas (Thailand) if things might change. I'm reasonably okay with Phuket life at the moment. There are a lot of plusses (climate, inexpensive, good local produce) and, in any case, we could not afford to leave right now during the recession.

The Peens have got a really fantastic lifetime retirement visa - you just don't see that anywhere else, certainly not in Asia/Australasia. Lovely people there and speak English but I just get the feeling that the infrastructure is not up to scratch (you need infrastructure in later life) and not sure about crime (not that Phuket is crime-free of course). Just interested in Skank-la's thoughts as someone with first-hand knowledge.

[skank-la]

The retirement visa for anyone over 55 as you know is very nice.

Also for me married to a Filipina land ownership is no problem, both our names go on the deed & neither party can sell w/o signature of the other. Opposed to Thailand where when a local lass marries a foreigner she is then prohibited from owning land.

Medical care/facilites is very good & priced affordably in the Peens, that is why a lot of people retire there. Good doctors, hospitals etc for those who have money.

We have 'Direct TV' ( a mini-dish) at our very remote compound with all the channels HBO, ESPN etc etc

Favourite places for Expats to retire are Boracay, Angeles City, San Fernando de la Union, Cebu & the outlying islands like Bantayan, Malapascua

Iam old enough to remember taking the ferry to Phuket & renting a locker & shower facilities & then sleeping on the beach at Patong many many moons ago. Now it has everything but most of all you can work the region from there as there are so many flights in & out of Phuket daily. But having lived in Thailand as an expat I can say although I love Thailand I prefer to live in the Peens. Thailand eventually gets ugly if you stay there long enough you get caught up in some dangerous soap operas, its endemic to the place.

I think crime against expats is much less common in the Peens than Thailand, but as T2K would attest to they do love their guns.

Busy today more later

[Lichtgestalt]

Favourite places for Expats to retire are Boracay, Angeles City, San Fernando de la Union, Cebu & the outlying islands like Bantayan, Malapascua

Angeles City??? From what I've heard I'd like to retire there too! Heard about it when we went to Subic Bay for diving where lots of American ex-Soldiers were living of their pension with their Filipino wives.

[Dinosaur]

Skank-la, thanks very much for the info. Have you been to Phuket in recent years? I'm wondering how somewhere like Cebu, which I believe is the most "developed" city(?), compares infrastructure-wise with Phuket? Maybe I should be asking someone like Fat Bob - I think he's been to both in recent years (looking back through the archives).

Not sure I like the sound of Angeles City. Someone on another forum raves on about San Fernando la Union which sounds lovely and a good place for local food produce. I understand that distribution of foodstuffs can be a problem in the Peens. San Fernando just sounds a bit too perfect - I mean, there's got to be something wrong with it. Nowhere is perfect.

[skank-la]

Luzon:

San Fernando de la Union is a 45 minute drive from the cool spectacular above the clouds pine forests of Baguio yet on the beach. It is far from perfect but has a pretty large retired Expat Population. lots of retired US Military with their Filipina wives/families & good number of Aussies & Europeans. Its is not as 'modern' as Phuket but has good Cable & Internet access & excellent hospitals which is important for retiree's. It is not as spectacular on 1st viewing as Phuket & the expats are hidden down long drives so what is there is not so 'out in the open' bit its a nice laid-back place. People drive to Baguio to play golf & Baguio also has the private schools most expats put their kids in.

There are some also some nice surf breaks north of San Fernando that young GI's discovered years ago & now are populated by some very laid back surf camps. Mostly Aussies surfers go there & most of them want to keep it secret so that it stays the way it is in terms of price & lack of crowds.

We live 3 hours north of San Fernando in the mountains due north of Baguio. We are in a remote but beautiful valley. Attached photo here isthe view from top of one of our pieces of property. Where we are is only for people who want to 'get away'. I've only met one Brit, 1 other American & 1 German who live in the whole valley & they are married to local gals like myself. When I get bored I go down to San Fernando & rent a bungalow on the beach for a weekend or a couple of weeks. The family can go to the beach & I can go to the pub & drink w/the other retired Expats many of whom I know now & have good meals etc.

The reason I mentioned Angeles City is that it has a really large Expat (including Chinese) population. Since the reopening of Clark Air Force base as an international airport with Economy airlines like Tiger flying in directly Angeles has started to grow again. It is still a huge sex tourist capital rivaling Pattaya/Patong but that means the economy is larege. When we really need supplies we go there & go to Carrefour, Book Stores, have some good Chinese food, etc etc . They have some large megamalls there too. We spend the night at very nice hide-a-way resort stock up on supplies then drive back up to our farm.

puzzled about the food chain question, never been an issue. Plenty of expat restaurants in the expat centers. Iin San Fernando can get a better breakfast fry-up than anywhere in Singapore at the American Legion right next to the beach.

later on Cebu/Visayas

[Dinosaur]

That's terrific info - thank you. (Hope we're not boring the pants off everyone else, but they don't have to read it all if they don't want to )

It's good to hear some "how it really is" info. There is so much codswallop that people post on the 'net - those with an axe to grind, quite often.

And what a photo - beautiful.

[Panama Hat]

Luzon gets hit by too many natural catastrophes . . . better off somewhere on Mindanao, like General Santos or outside of Cagayan de Oro.

[Dinosaur]

oh blimey, you're a bit behind p-duck, have formulated plans B, C, and D since March 2009. Try some more recent threads.

[Panama Hat]

Oh . . . that's what the date-stamp thingy is. oops!

[Dinosaur]

that's correct FB

[Panama Hat]

FB?