THIS PAGE WILL NOT BE OF INTEREST TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

THIS PAGE ONLY CONTAINS INFORMATION ABOUT SKIP’S LIFE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA.

WE ARE INCLUDING THIS INFORMATION BECAUSE MANY OF HIS FRIENDS AND/OR FORMER STUDENTS CALL US TO ASK ABOUT SKIP -- WHAT HE IS DOING -- WHERE HE IS LIVING -- ETC.

THIS WILL BE A STATUS REPORT -- BASED UPON PHOTOS AND NOTES THAT SKIP SENT TO US (FROM SEVERAL YEARS AGO TO THE PRESENT TIME).

FROM ONE OF SKIP'S LETTERS:

"As you requested, I will send you some photos from here.

Most of the photos will probably be of Elvie and our son, Chip.

Also, I will send photos of the following;

1. Some beaches where I have stayed -- and played.

2. Some native houses where I have stayed.

3. Some boats I have sailed on.

4. Some girls ("girls" is their word, not mine) that you might like to
    meet when you come for a visit (???)

5. Our fast car on the main island.

6. Our jeep (made of galvanized steel).

7. Our boat, THE SULU QUEEN -- and our new boat
    THE LUCKY CHIP.

8. Our home in the city.

9. Our beach-front home.

0. A few other aspects of life in the Southeast Asia.

I will try to write an explanation on the back of each picture. "

This is Elvie -- and our son, Chip. This photo was taken at our "city-house" in the Philippines -- just prior to our first trip to America.

We are curious about what Chip will look like when he grows up. 

The problem is as follows: 

#1)  Elvie is 4'10" tall, and  weighs 85 pounds.
#2)  I am over 6' tall, and weigh 215 pounds.
#3)  What if Chip ends up being 4' 10" tall ( as  per his mom) and
        weighing 215 pounds (as per his dad) ???

                    This would mean that his height would be exceeded by his width...

This photo was taken in our bedroom. The window openings have no glass in them -- only wooden louvers that can be opened and closed. The walls are "single-wall" -- with no insulation.

We use these maps to plan our boat trips.

This is Elvie's graduation photo -- from the University of Cebu, in Cebu City, Philippines.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Commerce. She was an honor student -- and she is VERY intelligent. As time permits, she attends  graduate school at San Carlos University, where she will obtain a Master's degree -- and eventually a Doctorate.

our son Chip -- at 11 months.

He was happy to see us. He has a smile that lights up the entire room -- no matter how large the room.

Push-ups ??? No problem !!!

This is Chip's first birthday -- as indicated by the writing on the balloons.

Chip in his cage...

...but happy about it.

What a smile !!!

Chip smiles almost constantly.

Let's party, dude !!!

This is Chip's ya-ya (in the native language) -- or nanny (in the English language.). Her name is Evelyn. She is from a small fishing village on Bantayan Island. She doesn't speak ANY English.

The average salary for a maid or ya-ya is $30 U.S, per month -- plus room and board.

In the background is the S-M Shopping Mall -- which is totally huge. We have been there thousands of  times, and we still sometimes get lost.

[We are sad to say that Evelyn died while giving birth to her first child.  Death during childbirth is a common phenomenon here.]

My oldest son, DeWelle, came to visit us in Southeast Asia. This photo was taken at the house of Elvie's mother.

To the right of my son (stage left) is Elvie's sister and her husband. To the left of my son (stage right) is one of DeWelle's girl friends. In front of my son is Elvie's cousin Gina, who is 28 years old, but only 4' 3" tall.

Elvie's mom had a large party (with friends, relatives, neighbors, etc.) to celebrate my son's visit.

Elvie, my son DeWelle, and his girl-friend. 

One of our first "Asian" cars is in the background. It is called a Minica. It is made by Mitsubishi, but only for use in Southeast Asian countries. It is powered by a two cylinder motorcycle engine. Two husky dudes can lift the front end of this car.  In Asia it is called a "four passenger" car (assuming that the four people are under 5' tall, and weigh less than 120 pounds). My son had to sit in the back seat and hang his legs out the front window.

This is where DeWelle's girl-friend lives with her parents on a beautiful beach. Her father is a fisherman -- as are all of her brothers -- and all of her neighbors.

Elvie, my son DeWelle, and another one of DeWelle's girl friends.   This girl was something like 4' 7" tall, and weighed 70 pounds.  Our car is in the background.  This was on Mactan Island.

The "size" difference is just something that my son needed to accept here in Asia.  Poor guy ???

This is the entrance to one of the very interesting caves in this island. It went many feet underground, and suddenly it opened into a huge room, with a beautiful natural pool. The pool was approximately the size of three normal swimming pools.

Island hopping with my son DeWelle and Elvie.

We will probably be gone for a couple of weeks. We decided not to take my boat -- so we would have the option of  traveling overland across some of the islands, leaving from different ports, etc.

Elvie and me at a Taoist Temple.

Robin Stumbo was one of my log home building students approximately 25 years ago.  He is a  well-known Journeyman log house builder from the Seattle area.

When he came to visit us in Asia, he only intended to stay for a couple of weeks -- and he ended up staying with us for three (?) months.

Whenever people come to visit us, they ALWAYS stay longer than they originally planned. It is easy to fall in love with this place -- and/or with some of the inhabitants.

[That looks like an "evil" grin, Robin.]

Elvie and I are walking through a sea-side fishing village near our house. In the more remote villages, children often follow me, because they have never seen a white guy, and they are very curious about us weird creatures.

I am plowing with a carabao (water buffalo). I have learned how to plow in both dry fields and wet (rice) fields.

This is done with a single-gang plow, so it takes a loooooooong time to plow an entire field. It is extremely hard work -- especially until one learns the proper techniques.

One of our maids (a totally GORGEOUS 16 year old girl from Mindanao) had previously spent more than six years plowing behind a water buffalo on her family's farm -- working 12 hour per day -- seven days per week -- in the hot sun -- with no shade.

This girl was very happy when we hired her to work in our home.

HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF MERIAM...

MERIAM HAS BEEN WITH US SINCE SHE WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD -- AND SHE IS NOW EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD.

This is Meriam (age seven ?) at the house of Elvie's mother. She is standing by the kitchen. The hearth is raised, and all of the cooking is done on this out-door fire. This kitchen is approximately 15' from the house.

Elvie's mother gets up very early every morning (5 or 6 AM) whenever we stay at her house. She kills a chicken, and has breakfast ready for us when we get up. Breakfast generally consists of chicken, rice, eggs, bananas, jack-fruit, guavas, coconut milk, and coffee.

We first met Meriam in this neighborhood. Her family lives in the jungle near Daanbantayan.

This house belongs to Meriam's uncle. The pig lives under the house (which is common in this culture).

This is Meriam (on the porch), and one of the neighbor girls holding a baby. 

Meriam's parents have 12 children.  Because of the poverty in the Philippines, they can not afford to feed these children, buy clothes for them, take care of their medical or dental needs, or afford to send them to school.

This is their home.  There is no furniture in it.  The sleep on the floor.  The family pig is kept under the house. 

Because of her parent's economic situation, I took Meriam to live with us when she was seven years old.  She is now 18 years old -- still living with us (see current photos below) -- and doing very well in High School. 

I will make sure that she attends a good University here in the Philippines.  Hopefully, she will become an Attorney or a Medical Doctor.   

[Public school is not "free" in the Philippines -- because the children must purchase uniforms (a requirement), as well as other supplies, such as pencils, paper, etc. For these people, purchasing a pen and paper would be analogous to a working class American paying tuition at Harvard Medical School.]
 

There is no furniture inside this house. The floor is made of split bamboo (as shown), and it is used only for sleeping. All of the day-to-day living is done outside -- on this covered porch, or in the yard.

When Meriam first came to live with us she had never ridden in a car, never been inside a "real" building, never seen a refrigerator, never seen a door-knob, never turned on an electric light, never eaten at a restaurant, never seen a movie, never ridden on an escalator, never ridden in an elevator, never had shoes, never had new clothes, etc.

On her first day with us, I took her on a tour of the city that blew her socks off. We did all of the things listed above -- and more. We even went to McDonald's (WOW !!!). When we returned home, Elvie asked Meriam to explain what she saw that day. The poor girl was so confused that the only thing she could think of to say was, "We went to many cold places."

At that time, it occurred to us that she had never experienced air conditioning before, and she didn't know what it was.

The most confusing thing for her was the elevator. "How can we go into a small room at one location, and come out of the room at another location ???"

This was taken at our house in the city. Chip was 1  year old -- and Meriam was 8 years old.

(Photo above) 
Meriam and I are on the way to one of the  islands.

(Photo below) 
Here's a recent photo of Meriam.  She is holding the trophy that was presented to her when she was crowned "MISS CORTEHAN OF 2002".

The trophy still has the wrapping on it.

None of my buddies would volunteer to "baby-sit" with Meriam when she was seven years old.  Needless-to-say, things have changed now.  My buddies often joke with me about their willingness to baby-sit Meriam -- even for weeks at a time.     

Actually, my buddies know that Meriam is being raised with "Old World" Asian Values (a common thing in this area).  This means that she can not be alone with a boy until after she is married.

This is my boat -- THE SULU QUEEN. It is 37' in length, and has an 85 HP Toyota engine. It is a fast boat. There are MANY pirates in Asia -- especially in the Sulu Sea.

It is good to have a fast boat here.

We often take the boat onto the beach -- especially if I am not going to use it for an extended period.

This is my good friend, Julio. He is a boat builder. I leave my boat at his house, which is 10' from the high-tide line.

[I regret to say that Julio has since passed away.  He died of an infected tooth,  because he didn't have enough money to see a dentist and/or buy antibiotics.  Unfortunately, I was visiting a different Asian country when this happened, so I was not here to pay for Julio's medical care.]

When we are island-hopping, we sometimes want  to  travel overland on some of the islands we visit -- and depart from the island at a different place.

Therefore, we sometimes do NOT travel in our own boat. Instead, we pay  fishermen to take us where we want to go.

We can hire a boat like this (with an operator) for less than $12 per day.

This is Elvie and my son, DeWelle.  We are on the way to the small island in the background.

We often go "island hopping."

As the tourist books love to say -- "There are 7,200 islands in this part of Asia, and over half of them are NOT inhabited."

Landing on another island -- with Elvie (left), and one of my son's girl friends, and my son.

This beach-front home has electricity from 6 PM to 9 PM every evening -- and a toilet -- and a shower. What's the world coming to... (?)

Maybe I'll forget how to walk, dad -- because mom carries me all the time.

Elvie's smile definitely brightens things up -- and she smiles almost constantly.

We spent a couple of days at this cabin, and then went to the next island.

Elvie, my son DeWelle, his girl-friend, and me -- heading for the next island.

Check out the gang-plank.

Just another cabin on the beach...

This was Chip's first experience with a hammock.

Elvie is so shy that she always tries to hide when she is wearing a swim-suit. She weighed 85 pounds when we first met. She is pushing 87 pounds at this time.  What a problem... (?)

Miles of beach -- with no people.

We hired this boat to take us to the next island.

It might sound strange, but we sometimes do not even know the names of the islands we are on -- because the names just don't matter to us.

We landed on this beach with our own boat -- THE SULU QUEEN. This was a small island, with very few people living on it. There were absolutely NO "commercial"  places to stay (hotels, resorts, cabins, stores, etc.), which is quite common when we are island-hopping. Therefore, we made arrangements to stay with a local fisherman and his family. Most of these people had never seen a white-guy before -- and many  of them had ever spoken to a white guy. They really checked me out. They were delighted that I knew how to speak some Cebuano. They were very friendly people, and extremely hospitable.

On this island there was no electricity -- no running water -- no TV -- no radio -- no refrigeration --  NO NOTHING !!!

This abandoned "beach-front" home is one of the places where we stayed. There was no furniture at all in the house. In this "fishing" culture people "live" outside -- and only go indoors to sleep on the split-bamboo floor. If it rains, they stay under the extended roof on the other side (the "lee" side) of the house. This house is approximately 7' X 10'.

We stayed here for several days.  We gathered our own food. As usual, there was an abundance of clams, shrimp, crabs, squid, octopus, fish, coconuts, bananas, star-fruit, jack-fruit, sea-weed, etc.

We walked to a small village (consisting of seven or eight houses) on the other side of the island, and left on this boat which had arrived to pick up the Styrofoam ice-chests that were full of fish -- to take the fish to a market on a larger island.

We told the owner of the boat to take us to one of the nearest islands that was not inhabited. He took us to a small island, approximately 2 1/2 hours away, and dropped us off on this beach. There was a deserted grass shack which is probably used occasionally by passing fishermen. We fell in love with the place and stayed for several days -- exploring the island, fishing, gathering food, etc.

High tide. We had the entire island to ourselves.

There are many secluded beaches and coves on many of these islands.

We sailed on this boat to the next island.

We landed here. This was another grass shack that was not inhabited. We stayed here for a few days.

This fisherman lived approximately 1/2 mile away. I fished with him a few times, and we also gathered other food together (clams, sea-weed, etc.).

Life can't get much simpler than this.

Fishermen live here.

This home is right on the beach.

This home was built for approximately $2. (two dollars) U.S.

The home was so expensive to build because the builder bought "nails" instead of tying the poles together with vines.

The annual cost of living on one of these islands (in a grass shack on a beautiful beach) could be as low as $100 (U.S.).

The fish-net fence cost this man much more than the home. In fact, his T-shirt cost more than his home.

A typical "fisherman's" home.

I considered building a place of my own in this cove. It was on the lee side of the island, and well protected. "Ownership" of land is sometimes not much of an issue on these small isolated islands -- because they belong to the government -- and because no one seems to care if people build grass shacks on them.

Also, it costs virtually nothing to build a small home here (out of bamboo, banana leaves, vines, etc.) -- so there is very little at risk.

This house was built for less than $2  U.S.

We took one of these boats to the next island.

This house is quite typical of native architecture. The family pigs are usually tethered under the house.

Fishermen occasionally live in this "tent" that is located on a small, uninhabited island. We stayed here for a few days.

Another typical dwelling in this area.

Typical.

Typical.

A small village is located in this cove.

White guys usually  DON'T go to villages like this. The natives are always very surprised when I arrive at these types of villages -- and they are even more surprised when I express a desire to stay for awhile. These native fishermen (and their families) are the friendliest people on earth. Their tradition of hospitality is unequaled. I am always invited to stay with them in their homes.  They almost always refuse to accept money for food, lodging, etc. However, I always leave money for them -- in a place where they will find it after I leave.

In the same village.

These people are among the most self-sufficient in the world. They make almost everything that they need for day-to-day living. Also, they hunt and gather most of their own food. This man is obviously making a couch/settee out of bamboo.

We went to this island next.

This is a small village, on a small island. The main street on the island is shown in the lower right of the photo (see the "path").

Guess what -- there are no street lights, no stop and go lights, no horns honking -- no auto-exhaust to breath -- no building permits -- no building codes -- no police -- no evidence of government -- etc.

A person could definitely get used to this way of life.

A typical island home.

On the larger islands, the paths are wider -- because they get more use. There are no vehicles on this particular island.

This path that goes clear around the island. It takes approximately eight hours to walk around the periphery  -- with beautiful beaches the entire way.

A storm is coming.

We are sailing up a river (name unknown). We went for miles and miles. The building on the right was a floating "store" that services people who live up and down the river.

Further "up-river" there is a grass shack approximately every 1/2 mile or so.

Up river -- this is a Southeast Asian equivalent of a John Deere tractor.

Up river -- this man couldn't afford a water buffalo so he is plowing with a machete, as is the custom among "poor" farmers in this region. The upper right portion of the field is the area he has already plowed. He turns over the soil with his machete, and stacks the weeds in little piles that will be moved later. He squats like this for 12 hours per day in the hot sun.

"Country" people gladly do this type of work for $1. per day (U.S.).

This is approximately the size of my own boat. However, mine is set up to haul passengers in comfort -- and it is considerably faster than this guy's boat.  Also, I have three relatively tall masts on my boat -- so we can sail it to shore if the engine fails.

Paradise...

The main streets on a small island -- no cars, no electricity, no noise, etc.

The Sunday market -- on one of the larger islands.

A cock-fight -- which is the national pass-time in Asia. In the "country" areas, I am ALWAYS the only white guy at these affairs.

This is the narrow trail that goes through the jungle to the house of Elvie's mother. We park the car on a dirt road, and walk for 20 minutes through the jungle. When it rains, the mud sticks to the bottom of your shoes -- so you get taller and taller with each step you take. The kids live out by the road, but they wanted to carry our stuff for us.

This is the house of Elvie's mother. It is situated in a beautiful clearing -- surrounded by jungle. There are coconut trees, guava trees, avocado trees, jack-fruit trees, star-fruit trees, bananas, etc.

It is approximately a 30 minute walk from this home to the ocean -- so there is easy access to seafood of all types.

The tallest white guy in this photo is my son, DeWelle -- with his girl-friend.  The other white guy is my  friend Ed (from Tacoma). He is a school teacher, and just getting ready to retire. We introduced him to one of the very nice neighborhood girls (standing between the white guys) -- and they got married within 10 days. They are now residing in Tacoma.

Many of Elvie's relatives came to visit when they heard there "white guys" at her house.

My son is quite tall (6'3" ?), and the "country" Filipinos are often amused by this.

This is my friend, Bob Walsh -- from New Hampshire. He came to visit us, and immediately fell in love with the place. We introduced him to the girl he is with, and it was love at first sight  -- as is often the case here (WOW !!!). 

Bob is currently trying to arrange his life so he can establish a "home base" in Asia  -- and live there most of the time.

This is Meriam when she was approximately 7 years old.

Meriam is standing by the cook-stove at the house of Elvie's mother. The hearth is raised approximately 3', and this is where all the meals are cooked.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE BOATS I HAVE TRAVELED ON. THIS IS AN AQUATIC CULTURE, AND I OFTEN TRAVEL ON BOATS LIKE THESE -- OR ON MY OWN BOAT.

WHENEVER I AM GOING FROM ONE ISLAND TO THE OTHER ON MY OWN BOAT, I ASK IF ANYONE ON THE BEACH NEEDS A FREE RIDE. THEREFORE, I AM GENERALLY LOADED WITH PASSENGERS. THIS HAS OPENED A LOT OF DOORS FOR ME IN VARIOUS COMMUNITIES. I AM OFTEN INVITED TO DINNER, AND/OR TO SPEND THE NIGHT, ETC.

This is the equivalent of a new Lincoln Towncar.

This is the equivalent of a 1986 Ford station wagon.

This is the equivalent of a 1974 Ford two-door sedan -- with snow tires in the front.

This is the equivalent of a brand-new Ford F-250 4 X 4 pick-up truck -- with a winch in front -- and a rifle rack in the rear window.

At first glance, you might think this is the equivalent of a school-bus. The kids love to climb on these small ferries. When the boats leave, the kids sometimes ride out on them for several hundred feet before jumping off and swimming back to shore.

Surprisingly, these boats are quite sea-worthy -- until they lose their outriggers in high seas. Once the outriggers are gone, the boats tip over immediately.

These are the kinds of boats that the islanders ride on -- from one island to the other. They are used as taxi cabs. This girl and her family are just arriving back on their own small island.

This is approximately 2 blocks from one of our "city" houses. We often walk along the sea-shore here. This is in one of the worst slum areas in Asia.

The building on stilts is a combination store/tavern/bar/and disco. It would not be advisable to go into this place by yourself. It would especially not be advisable to approach any of the girls in a place like this. Your life-expectancy might be adversely effected.

IF YOU COME FOR A VISIT, WE WILL UNDOUBTEDLY SPEND A LOT OF TIME ISLAND-HOPPING -- WHICH IS ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO EXPERIENCE THE CULTURE.

ELVIE HAS A LOT OF VERY NICE GIRL FRIENDS THAT OFTEN TRAVEL WITH US WHEN WE GO ISLAND-HOPPING.

I WILL TRY TO INCLUDE A FEW PHOTOS OF HER FRIENDS -- SO YOU CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WILL BE FORCED (?) TO DEAL WITH IF YOU COME FOR A VISIT.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN EXCERPT FROM SKIP'S E-MAIL CONCERNING HIS RECENT TRIP TO THAILAND, CAMBODIA, LAOS, AND BURMA.

“… and thank you for telling me about the trip you took with your son.  It sounds like the two of you had a good time “on the road” and learned a lot about the cultures in those countries.

As you know, my son Chip is seven years old now, and he is already an experienced traveler.  Chip has been back-and-forth between America and Southeast Asia so many times that we can not count them.  I recently tried to count the “trans-Pacific” stamps in his Passport, but I gave up because there are too many of them, and so many of them are out of chronological order.  It would have taken too long to sort it all out. 

We recently went on another extensive “back-packing” trip through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Burma (the locals still call it by that name). 

On this trip, we traveled by airplanes – trains –busses – trucks – vans – rental cars -- tuk-tuks -- jeepneys – row boats -- sail boats – long-tail boats in Thailand – speed boats in Cambodia (because of the pirates) – rented motorcycles – elephants through the jungles – bamboo river rafts through the jungles – small boats down the Mekong River -- on foot through the jungles (with our back-packs and machetes) – etc.

We visited a lot of tribal villages, including those of the “long-necked” tribe (the people who wear brass rings around their necks) in Northern Thailand and Burma. 

It is rumored that Chip and I crossed the Mekong River in a small boat and entered into Laos without Visas.  The rumors allege that we did this because we wanted to visit some of the remote jungle villages in Laos, and we didn’t have time to return to Bangkok to get the necessary (?) Visas.  When I first told Chip that I heard these rumors, he responded by saying:  “Let ‘em prove it.”  When our friends came right out and asked us about these rumors, Chip just smiled and said “Have you guys ever heard of the Fifth Amendment” ???    

Chip is an awesome little guy to go back-packing with.  He re-loads his own pack every morning and carries it all day without complaining (e.g. dealing with up-hill, down-hill, heat, high humidity, mosquitoes, black flies, leeches, thorns, no more water for drinking, etc.).  Also, he handles the money whenever possible (e.g. paying for things and dealing with the change) – negotiates his own purchases in the public markets (arguing and gesturing just like the vendors) -- arranges for our transportation (with me listening in the background to make sure that we don’t end up back in Zamboanga) – participates in the decision-making regarding the trip (where, when, why, what, how, who, how much), etc.  

Also, whenever Chip and I are traveling through areas where kidnappings and robberies could be an issue  (e.g. Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc.), I make him be responsible for watching our “backsides”.  He takes this responsibility very seriously, and he says he can now recognize “suspicious behavior” in several different cultures.

Even though Chip is only seven years old, he is already a “hip” traveler, and therefore I have a lot of confidence in his ability to take care of himself, both physically and mentally.  In fact, I generally make him take care of “me” whenever possible.  In other words, sometimes I “intentionally” forget things – or I “intentionally” go in the wrong direction – just so he has to remind me.  Therefore, whenever we “pack up” to go, he is always saying stuff like, “Do you have the passports, dad – the tickets – your wallet -- the money -- the keys – the maps – the compass – etc. ???” 

Damn… he sounds just like his dad. 

My friends and I have been teaching Kung Fu to Chip for the past two years and he is learning very quickly.  His specialty is the “Wing-Chun-straight-punch-attack,” slightly modified to include the use of “Tiger Claw Hand” to dig out the opponent’s eyes and to include a few “kicks” that would be suitable under many circumstances.  By the time Chip is 12 years old there won’t be many “average” men on the street that can beat him in a serious fight – unless they can continue fighting without being able to see.

Fortunately, Chip is a very sensitive, compassionate, and empathetic boy.  I know that he will never hurt anyone unless there is absolutely no other alternative.

Chip is definitely one of the best things that have ever happened to me.  I miss the little dude even when he is playing in the next room – as he is doing now.  Sometimes I wake him up in the middle of the night just to tell him that I love him.

A few days ago, Chip put his arms around me, looked up into my eyes, and said, “Thank you for being my daddy.” 

What an awesome experience that was !!!  

Hey, enough of this bragging about my youngest son.

I am glad to hear that your log home is finished now, and …”  

Back to About Skip Ellsworth