Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS) About How To Travel, Retire, Work or Start a Business and Live in the Philippines
When my brother and sister and I were little, like most kids, we would watch for my dad to be heading out somewhere and run up to him, hollering, “Where you going daddy, where you going?”, hoping, of course, to be taken along for the ride. My dad had a stock answer, particularly if he wasn't interested in tasking any or all of us along. His pet standby phrase? “Crazy, want to go along”? I enjoy driving here in the Philippines, most of the time that is, but there are times I … [Read more...]
Two posts in a row about NFL football? Seriously, from me, one of the most anti-football guys in the world (my best year ever in recollection was 1982, when for 57 blissful days the overpaid, overweight actors of the league had to sit it out ... sad to say, play resumed and the resulting 16-team 'Superbowl Tournament" got even more air time than a regular season". Sigh. But anyway, what does US football have to do with living in the Philippines? Not a heck of a lot, except I noticed … [Read more...]
A few days back I had an interesting question in the comments from reader Mike (thanks, Mike) about motorcycles prices and practicality here in the Philippines. Here's my reply to Mike along with some other useful motorcycle (and hints on earning a living in the Philippines) information. @Mike (ID 4676): Hi Mike, what a good question. I probably should have talked about motorcycles long ago. I know nothing about US prices, but indeed I think the prices you are talking about are pretty … [Read more...]
I had fun writing about my waiting for the chicken article centered around getting my car fixed. I’m glad some other folks enjoyed it also. I actually had fun that day living out the experience too … why? I feel, mainly (except for the un-invited summoning of Philip), I was on my own. Not knowing the language “to speak of” and often being a bit ignorant of local customs, it can sometimes seem a bit daunting to go off on your own to get things done. But always having to have … [Read more...]
I had already started a post about taking my car in to the dealer last Friday when it was due for a 'heavy' 30,000 km service and then I discovered I had written this pretty much comprehensive post about my Mitsubishi Adventure SUV back in July, 2007. So I have put on 15,000 km in a little less than 2 years. Not very much driving by US standards, but I'm still very happy that I bought this car and I wouldn't be without a car ... 50 plus years of car ownership is a habit that dies … [Read more...]
One of the more popular posts ever here at PhilFAQS, the site where you get your living in the Philippines questions answered is this one about current year new car prices in the Philippines. We talk her often about opportunity and business in the Philippines and I hate to keep “beating the online drum” but that is where the money is at these days. There are about 2,400,000 other pages in Google about car prices in the Philippines, but I rank number three out of all of them for that … [Read more...]
I keep a stack of notes and papers next to my computer for background material on future articles. I just noticed a leaflet someone stuck in my hand at the mall the other day for a Hyundai that I sat in recently (big enough for 4 Americans, not much else impressive about it that I could see). But they did have the full price list and payment plans on the flier. One thing you will find completely different here in the Philippines than in the US is, in general, there's one price for a … [Read more...]
I notice a lot of folks search here at PhilFAQS for information about prices. Both in the Philippines and in the US the price of gas is a hot topic right now. My wife and I had a laugh a few days ago when one of her sisters sent a message from Rhode Island and said, "I just filled my car up for $4.07 a gallon ... can you believe that prices have gone that high"? Well it turns out that I had just come back from filling up our Mitsubishi Adventure here in Marilao. Know … [Read more...]
Update to the Update: Recently my wife and I headed up to Pangasinan province to fetch her sister home for the holidays. Finally the new SCTEX northern segment was completed in it's current form. Not nearly as impressive as the segment that goes west to Subic, that's for sure. Again I am completely unimpressed by the lack of coordination between the toll systems ... every time someone decides to collect a peso they put up yet another toll gate and hire 24/7 staff to do so rather than use … [Read more...]
No secret that many roads in the Philippines are bad ... and stories about the traffic can sometimes reach legendary proportions. I wrote one I particulate back about "Three-lined Streets". But to leave you thinking I go through that nonsense every day would be a failure to present the whole picture. Tuesday last we drove up to one of my sisters-in-law's home in Pangasinan Province, a trip of almost exactly 200 kilometers (about 124 miles for the "thinking … [Read more...]
CAWAYAN PORT, Masbate -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sent off on Monday the roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) ferry that was on its maiden voyage from this port, but did not board it. The Super Shuttle Ferry 12 was the third ferry she sent off for the day as part of the Ro-Ro caravan to promote anew the Strong Philippines Nautical Highway that linked various islands in the country from Luzon to Mindanao.... more of the article here. What the heck is Ro-Ro and why do you care? Well, … [Read more...]
Last night my wife (The Unofficial Cook) and I had a good chuckle at a real estate ad she found on a Philippine newspaper website. It was an obvious typo, instead of describing a house as being on a tree lined street they had written that it was on a "Three lined street". A simple sort of mistake that any of us could have made ... but we laughed none the less. Then I got to thinking about what a 'Three-lined street" might really be like. Did they … [Read more...]
