A vintage Ricoh World Time Diver

I had wanted to have a nice Ricoh watch. It's not necessarily on my grail watch list but this brand is no longer there leaving Seiko, Citizen, Orient and Casio as the remaining Japanese brands that you can consider as 'major'. Ricoh watches can be nice and certain pieces I think are collectible. The problem with discontinued brands and models though will be the parts for these watches once they become defective.

The watch has both day and date complications. The bezel rotates as part of the world time feature.

Side view showing the crown

The other side view showing the overall good condition of the case and dial.

It says diver on the case back but the 200 feet on the dial is just 60.96 meters. That's pretty shallow for the typical diver's watches but these were typical of the 'diver' watches of that time including Swiss watches from the 60s and 70s.

Close up of the dial showing a watch that aged well

The obligatory wrist shot. I immediately changed the strap on the watch when I got it as the nato that came with it wasn't a nice match.

Another photo of the watch

This was an unexpected acquisition as I only chanced upon this watch on eBay while I was looking for another Ricoh world timer. The latter is the rare world timer model that had Manila included in the outer bezel. Still, this was a great pick-up and a keeper. The watch keeps time and runs overnight and ready to wear the following day. I guess that means the power storage is still good for the watch. I haven't opened it and have not determined the caliber of the movement so maybe that's another topic to write about in the future.

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Houses and resorts around Caliraya Lake

During our getaway to Caliraya, we also did a short tour of the lake to see the developments around it. We were also interested in learning about the opportunities around as Caliraya was just a couple of hours from our home in Antipolo.

Many residents have their own boats to travel around the lake. Their homes have piers or ports for these vessels. Some even have their own miniature lighthouses like this one.

Lakeside homes are usually in clusters. In certain cases, there are those that appear to be designed for rentals or airBNB's. These are not really the conventional resort types but probably meant as getaways from the urban jungle.

Some homes are on spacious lots allowing for some landscaping

Other houses are hidden and only the more basic buildings are visible from the lake. The three roofed structures

Some homes are quite large but have obviously seen better days. I could imagine this one to be one of the grandest homes many years ago.

It had its own lighthouse and pedestals for plants that could have also had some lighting

These could have been used for entertaining guests for meals or perhaps parties on the lake itself.

This was the port for their boats

The lighthouse and one of the structures comprising this complex

What appears as a major structure, could have been the main house. It certainly is in the best spot in the lot with a nice view of the lake and surroundings.

Roll-on-roll-off (RORO) ramp? These allow for people to back up their trailers to launch their boats or jet skis straight unto the lake.

Lagos del Sol resort across the lake from the house where we stayed at. The resort was still closed when we stayed in Caliraya, as was other established resorts in the area.

A floating house? We saw this while navigating around the lake. It's like your own private kitchen and dining area. Powered by a single engine (don't know how many HP but you can see it in the photo), this "houseboat" travels at a very leisurely pace while the people cook and enjoy their meals.

More house boats moored at a resort in the lake

Our guide told us that there are many houses around the lake that are owned by celebrities and well-known families. As I said, the area was just a few hours drive from Metro Manila and since development here is still controlled or restricted (Caliraya being a reservoir), it won't be as crowded as other locations. People probably would prefer beach front properties than around these lakes where there are development restrictions despite already established communities. Prices though are on the rise and there is currently a demand for lots probably due to the pandemic experience where people (especially those who could afford it) discovered they needed the space to escape where they could also produce food in the form of vegetables and fruits. While it would be nice to have a house here, I think the wife still prefers a beachfront home. I'll get to that in a future post.

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Chocolate review: Auro Saloy 70% Dark Chocolate

I haven't written about chocolates in a while and I saw this draft from April that I had not finished. This is about one of the last of the Auro chocolate bars we got last January and had been saving up for special occasions. The chocolates are really good but are on the expensive side so we made sure we had some at least until the second quarter of the year.

Auro's Saloy is from a single estate

Details about the chocolate are at the back of the package.

There's info about this reserve collection. There's even a spider graph showing the characteristics of the chocolate.

Nutrition facts, ingredients, allergens and the maker's information

This is definitely an excellent chocolate and one I won't mind purchasing individual bars (instead of as part of a set of chocolates). As our cache of Auro chocolates has been depleted, I guess I will be purchasing a few bars soon.

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Point cards

I was searching for something among the various items in my office desk drawers when I came upon my stash of old point cards I had accumulated during my student days in Japan. So I took a photo of them in collage style.

Clockwise from upper left: Yodobashi Camera, HMV Music Store, Tower Records, RECO fan, and Yamagiwa

Among the five point cards, only Yodobashi Camera is an electronics and appliance chain. The others are all music stores. I patiently scanned the RECO fan store near Yokohama Station for second hand CDs (I accumulated a lot of these that still survive and I listen to from time to time). I also did so for Yamagiwa's Kannai and Akihabara stores. Though there's a Tower Records store near the JR Kannai Station, my favorite was their big store in Shibuya where at its peak each floor was a music category. I get lost in the Jazz, Classical and Pop/Rock floors. But perhaps my most memorable buys at Tower Records were Far Side greeting cards that I sent to my future wife.

I also should have the point cards of other shops like Bic Camera, Sakuraya, Tokyu Hands and Laox as well as some hobby shops in Akihabara, Shinjuku and Shibuya that I frequented even just for window shopping. Many of these stores and branches are no longer there; victims of the changing times (e.g., Who buys old CDs now?). I would love to go back on another sentimental journey to Japan if only to go around and see what stores are still there in my former haunts.

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A vintage Zenith Respirator automatic watch

Vintage Zenith watches are not that rare but they can be on the pricey side of vintage watches.  Of course, their top-of-the-line El Primero are among the more desirable (and expensive) pieces that speak of the pedigree of these watches. I guess that pedigree is what makes their watches collectibles while maintaining very decent resale values.

The watch features a square tropicalized dial and a date complication at the 4:30 mark (lower right corner of the dial)

Side view showing the signed crown

The other side view

Case back showing the chips and scratches likely from opening the watch for maintenance.

Close-up of the bottom of the dial clearly showing the 'Swiss Made' label

Another close-up of the tropicalized dial

The watch after I changed the beat up strap that came with it with this cracking brown leather from Two One Four Straps

Wrist shot after I changed the strap. The customized leather straps are from my suki - Two One Four Straps

Another close-up of this vintage Respirator

 

The inside of the back cover and the movement

I initially planned to just flip this watch but up close and personal it turned out really nice, especially after I changed the straps. I decided to keep it and sent it for routine maintenance to my watch guy in Taytay. Who knows if I change my mind? It's safe for now and running well. I just had to rest it to preserve the watch.

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Sunrise by the beach in Laiya, Batangas

The recent trip to the beach allowed me to take these wonderful images of the sunrise. We woke up early in order to witness the sunrise as we took a walk along the beach. There were few people at 5:30 AM; mostly local folk including fishermen arriving from a night's work. I will not put captions anymore to each of the photos. The scenes speak for themselves.

I will never tire waking up early to marvel at these sunsets and the scenery around the places we're at. Of course, it would have been better if we also had a nice view of the sunsets but I am just thankful whatever it is we are granted especially during these escapes that seem to be defiant (a rebuke of sorts?) of the pandemic.

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Custom strap for my antique Waltham watch

I recently purchased some customized straps for my watches. Among them was a leather nato for my antique Waltham. The lugs were fixed so I couldn't use the conventional straps. It also didn't seem to be appropriate to use the nylon natos and zulus that I have for this 100+ year old time piece. And so I went to my strap guy - Two One Four Straps - to make a customized cowhide strap for my Waltham, which has fixed bars instead of the typical spring bars that most watches have.

My more than a century old Waltham looks even better with the customized cowhide.

A closer look at the cowhide strap

Wrist shot - the strap makes the watch look larger than it is.

Thanks to Two One Four Straps for the excellent craftsmanship!

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The Kalayaan Hydro Electric Power Plant

Caliraya Lake is man-made located to the south of Metro Manila and Rizal Province.  It is popular for excursions or weekend getaways. There are many resorts of all sizes around and near the lake and another man-made body of water nearby, Lumot Lake. There are also many houses or cottages for rent around and in the lake. I say 'in' because there are places around and in the lake that are not accessible by land, and you would have to rent a boat to get there. Nowadays, it is easier to find and book a place with Airbnb and other apps at your disposal.

Last weekend’s getaway allowed me to take a few quick photos of a familiar sight that is the Kalayaan hydro-electric power plant located in the town of Lumban, Laguna at its border with Kalayaan town in the same province. Built in 1982, it was the first of its kind in Southeast Asia and is the only pumped storage plant in the Philippines. Basically, what ‘pumped storage’ means is that it can reverse its turbine to suck water from the basin at the level of Laguna de Bai to charge what could be a depleted Caliraya reservoir. It can then draw water from the lake to generate power. If water levels at the reservoir are normal to high such as during the wet season, it can draw water more than it needs to pump back into the lake.

Approach to the viewing bridge

Approaching the floodgates

There’s a viewing bridge like the one in La Mesa Dam and Angat Dam but it is closed to the general public. The barangay welcome marker is also located here.

The viewing bridge as seen from the road. It is closed to the public but people still stopover to take photos. One can monitor the water level from the tower at the end of the bridge.

One landmark near to the penstock for the Kalayaan plant is the welcome sign for Kalayaan town along the national road.

One of the Kalayaan power plant’s penstocks, a gigantic pipe connecting the Caliraya Lake to the plant at the level of Laguna de Bai

Another photo of the penstock, which is 6m in diameter and 1,300m long. This feeds into two turbines that generate power as water passes through them.

I wanted to write about the power plant as I recalled memories of a field trip we had in the area when I was a 5th year student in civil engineering back in 1992. We went to both Kalayaan and Caliraya power plants as part of our CE 112 class on Water Resources Engineering and we had a blast seeing the facilities back then. I also recall we had photos for posterity but my copies were also lost to the floods of 2009.

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