Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS) About How To Travel, Retire, Work or Start a Business and Live in the Philippines
This is the fourth installment in my series highlighting this truly valuable little book. Like the old saying, “Good Things Come In Small Packages”, this book impressed me as a great value for not only the intended Filipino audience but also for foreigners like me who live the Philippines, or are “married into” the Philippines, or both. Don’t buy smuggled goods. Buy local. Buy Filipino. It has been really eye opening to me to work my way through these 12 little things. At first … [Read more...]
My posting schedule is a little “off” this week because I was in Manila for two days and had a little adventure, reaffirmed some old friendships and learned a lot about doing business in the Philippines. Since Fridays are usually the day I write about business in the Philippines, you can consider this your regular Friday offering … subtitled “Business in the Philippines is Going to the Hogs”. Going to the hogs? Yep, one of the things the lovely Unofficial Cook and I did while … [Read more...]
Instead of a direct question this week, I am going to address a couple issues that have come up from readers and fellow bloggers in the past few weeks regarding one of our favorite subjects … getting through the immigration and travel tax hassles at the airport. Travel Taxes, Fees and Keeping Right With Immigration A few weeks ago a fellow blogger posted a bit of a rant regarding an airline here in the Philippines. He was understandably upset about not receiving a … [Read more...]
This is the third installment on my series highlighting this truly valuable little book. Like the old saying, “Good Things Come In Small Packages”, this book impressed me as a great value for not only the intended Filipino audience but also for foreigners like me who live the Philippines, or are “married into” the Philippines, or both. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt. There are so many “things wrong” one sees on a daily basis that at first … [Read more...]
I see there have often been searches here on PhilFAQS, the blog that attempts to answer the frequently asked questions (FAQS) about the Philippines regarding US Department of State jobs in the Philippines. Here’s some information the US State Department just sent and asked me to pass on (US Citizens on are eligible) For registration information or to request study materials you may visit: www.careers.state.gov For further information contact: American Citizen Services U.S. … [Read more...]
A few electrical thoughts written as my trusty air conditioner hums away, sucking down that expensive MERALCO power, for which I am very grateful. It’s the height of the summer here on Luzon … summer peaks much earlier here than it does in more temperate latitudes, and this summer has been the hottest of the three I have been in so far. A lot of people have questions about the power, and about bringing appliances here to the Philippines. I started to write a separate post and then … [Read more...]
Some of the most popular posts on this blog have been lists of what things cost here in the Philippines. In the past I have somewhat laboriously made lists. Boring to both me and to some readers. Today I’ll try scanning in some current ad circulars and we’ll see (by the number of visits the page gets) how popular the method might be, The real estate images don’t have pricing. I just included this flier because it is typical of middle class homes being built here … [Read more...]
Today I’m cleaning my in box/draft posts folder. And yes I know curmudgeon is properly spelled with a “C” but I live in the Philippines and I can spell it anyway I want. You’ll find many ‘creative’ spellings of English words here, especially the ones that have been adopted into Pilipino or Filipino or Tagalog. I learned to read at an early age using a method my school was trying out … innovative at the time … called the Carden method. It seems a fantastic … [Read more...]
It’s Monday so it’s time for the next installment in my 12 Little Things series. As I mentioned, this is commentary on a book I found, written by a Filipino for Filipinos … but very applicable for all of us who live in the Philippines or who have family/loved ones here. I’m in the process of getting distribution rights and a stock of these books for PhilFAQS, keep your eye on this spot if it interests you,. because I am certainly going to make it available in the future. Without … [Read more...]
I’ve written quite a few articles about using the combination of the Internet and video to make or expand a business. This can certainly work for you in the US or in the Philippines or when dividing one’s time between two countries, as many of my readers want to do. One thing there is a demand for … as in people buy … is home or business security and monitoring. In particular there is a market connected with the Philippines for three categories of folks that come to mind … [Read more...]
A little Easter gift. But what is underneath the pretty wrapping? We’ve talked here before about the recent Rural Bank Time deposit scams that forced the closure of 12 banks over the Christmas holidays, end of 2008. Sadly a number of foreigners were involved in peddling these ‘too good to be true’ products, and many foreigners, some who even contacted me for advice, were so enthused about the promises of ‘money for nothing’ that they didn’t want to hear any … [Read more...]
A blogging colleague of mine, Tyler Cruz lives up in the far, frozen north of Canada (well. not really that far north, Tyler lives on Vancouver island on the beautiful Strait of Georgia, down in Canada’s lovely southland, but it’s altogether far enough north for me ;-) A week or so ago Tyler emailed me and said he was coming to the Philippines for the first rime ever, and a primary purpose of the visit was to meet his Lola (grandmother) in the town of Baliuag (also spelled Baliwag … … [Read more...]
