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Yes, We Went There Again — Casablanca Hotel, Subic

August 23, 2010 By Philly 9 Comments

Well, what else would you do if it were a rainy Friday and your favorite nephews had finished their term in pre-school … sit around and watch it drizzle, or hit the road.

We took off for the former US Navy base at Subic, now called the Subic Bay Special Economic Zone just before ten am and arrived at our first destination, Texas Joe’s, where the boys thoroughly enjoyed the classic wood hobby hours in the outside waiting area and then everyone enjoyed a Texas Joe's Dining room, SubicOverview of the SCTEX, Philippines delicious Texas-style lunch.  I can highly recommend the “Bubba Burger” … friend Paul who had visited there recently suggested that would be a good choice and indeed it was.  Hard to believe now that we can drive from Marilao, right outside the city limits of Metro Manila to the central business district on Subic in about two hours, but it’s easy now with the new roads, even for a relatively slow driver like me.

The boys ate fast though, and after all, they had been promised swimming (the sun was out by now, an absolutely lovely day).  So we piled in the trusty Adventure (almost 40,000 km on it now and it hasn’t skipped a beat, what a great investment that car was … those of you who refuse to have a car and drive yourself in the Philippines just don’t realize what you are missing).

Our main destination was the Casablanca hotel, restaurant and condominium complex, just a 20 minute drive out on the Argonaut Highway, heading toward the airport.

(For those who might not have driven in the US for a while, or those who seldom see a traffic light even powered, let alone being observed, let me remind you … on the SBEZ, people actually stop for stop signs, observe traffic signals, follow speed limits, and if you happened to get stopped by a traffic officer, do not, under any circumstances attempt to bribe him .. it’s against the law.  Oh, and did I mention no smoke belching, road clogging tricycles allowed either?)

Condo units at Casablanca, SubicArriving at the Casablanca, the ever hospitable host, Kristian had our room already ready, right at Casablanca Poolpoolside. We were in a ground floor unit, exactly like the one pictured, the patio doors in the center were out main entrance and the ample living/dining/kitchen area, along with the generous private bedroom would be behind the windows to the right.  At over 7 meters by over 7 meters these are very ample single bedroom units, about twice the size of what passes for a one bedroom condo in Metro manila.  You can see floor plans and more details on Casablanca’ own excellent website, here and here.

Splash, and the boys were in the pool before I even finished locking up the car and signing the register in the reception office.  P3600 for a unit like this (rainy season special) seemed like a pretty darn good bargain to me.  I’ve paid more and gotten a lot less, even here in the Philippines.

Notice also that these rooms have very decent monthly rates available.  Especially the one and two bedroom condos are equipped and sized so that a couple (or a couple with several children, could just live there as long as you cared to ..they are that big and comfortable.

There are a number of units for sale as well (see the inquiry form here to get a personal condo sale quotation), and the management stands ready to managed purchased units for absentee owners … in other words you can live here part time and rent your unit out to recoup expenses when you are living elsewhere.  Very flexible arrangements.

After a few Margaritas (the only good ones I have found so far in the Philippines, I was hungry again (time had passed, it was getting dark, time for dinner anyway).  Rather than go inside the restaurant, where the Friday night special was an excellent Mongolian barbeque, we just ordered at our table right at poolside and right outside the door to our unit.

The boys, of course, were very interested in why we adults were drinking out of strange (to them) looking margarita glasses.  So we ordered them pineapple juice in margarita glasses .. oh what a hit that was.

The restaurant has a top quality Swiss chef, and I have found the food excellent and quite reasonably priced … all except the steak I ordered that night … very tasty and excellently presented, but with way too much gristle to suit me … you have to watch out for steaks in the Philippines, almost always better not to order one, because they almost always disappoint … Filipinos in general love fat and gristle, personally I can’t abide it.  Likewise, as a general rule, the salt.  I’ve had more meals ruined for me by excessive salt than for any other reason … Philippine-branded soy sauces are exceptionally salty, thus anything that might be soy sauce flavored is likely to be over salted by along shot.  It’s no wonder hypertension (high blood) is a big problem in the Philippines, the vast majority of restaurants just tip the salt shaker way, way too much.  Anyway, enough on the salt rant.

There’s enough on the international menu to please any palate.  A cousin came by to chat later in the evening and stayed for Friday night special, Mongolian barbeque.  He pronounced it excellent and finished every morsel, so I believed him ;-)   For a guy who said he wasn’t hungry to begin with, he did a darn good job enjoying the Mongolian barbeque.

Sleeping in the extremely quiet area where the Casablanca is located is excellent …no traffic noises to speak of, fresh breezes off the water which is only a few feet from the whole complex … restful and relaxing, and if you aren’t sleepy the Wi-Fi Internet is excellent … worked very well and much faster than my Wi-Fi at home.

In the morning the boys were up early and of course, into the pool.  after a suitable time of soaking and splashing around … measured by the amount of ‘prune skin’ visible, we got them out and went into the restaurant for breakfast.

What do you want to drink, boys?  Easy … margaritas …their special ones.  What do you want to eat?  Calamari rings and pizza, the hits, for them of last night’s supper.

Well, they’re o
nly young one, and therefore if they want calamari rings and pizza for breakfast, then that’s what they shall have.  Their mom had American style hotcakes, made well, with good maple syrup, often hard to find in the Philippines.  Mita had an excellent cheese omelet and I had a man size American breakfast with a big portion of scrambled eggs, sausage, good beacon and excellent toast … tasted like home cooked bread, very nice indeed.

All too soon it was time to pack up and get on the road for some family commitments and our trip home.  Will we be back to visit the Casablanca again?  You bet we will.  There are far too many places in the Philippines that “say” they are interested in the tourism business, far too few, that like the Casablanca actual ‘walk the walk” of making tourist feel wanted and welcome.  A big thanks to the owner, Gunnar, who made it all happen to begin with, Kristian, the general manager, and all the friendly, accommodating staff.  Recommended.

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Just Refuse To Pay The Fear Tax!

August 23, 2010 By Philly 10 Comments

Seth  had an interesting post that he happened to pen at virtually the same time I wrote my “Just Give Up” opus last “Opinionated Monday”.

Here’s what happens as a result of security theater at the Orlando airport:

  • You wait in line at least twenty minutes
  • There’s a scrum of pushing and shoving
  • The staff are unhappy and not afraid to share it
  • An unreasonable workload leads to fatigue and errors
  • People miss their flights

Here’s what doesn’t happen:

  • Security is not increased
  • Peace of mind is not enhanced

In other words, we’re paying a significant tax (time and money) and getting nothing in return. In fact, we get worse than nothing. We could call it an anxiety program, instead of a tax. (After all, when you pay a luxury tax, you get some hard-won luxury as part of the deal).

The reason the TSA keeps changing the rules is not because the rules work, but because changing the rules creates more anxiety (for bad guys, they say, but for us too). …

We pay the fear tax every time we spend time or money seeking reassurance. We pay it twice when the act of seeking that reassurance actually makes us more anxious, not less.

We pay the tax when we cover our butt instead of doing the right thing, and we pay the tax when we take away someone’s dignity because we’re afraid. (my emphasis)

Here’s another “breaking news” item I just came across during the time I started drafting this post and then sent it off to publish:

“TSA was notified of a passenger allegedly smoking onboard American Airlines Flight 117 from John I. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX),” the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.

This caused the diversion of the aircraft to an alternate landing site, the confinement of all the passengers in Gulag-like interrogation areas and then finally resulted in the aircraft being sent on it’s way after about 6 hours of delay, lost time, lost wages, added on expenses and so forth.

Why?  Because of a recognized terrorist threat?  No, because an American Citizen was rude enough/unlawful enough/ignorant enough to light a cigarette in a place he was not allowed to.  Wow.  Surprised they didn’t land the plane in the desert and just nuke everyone on board … real hardened criminals there, especially all the innocents who did not break the law, but still were treated and inconvenienced as if they had.

Before you rabid anti-smokers out there get on your high horse, I used to fly when smoking was allowed on aircraft and I still fly today.  Even as a smoker, I certainly support a smoking ban on airline flights, because the air on board is unhealthy enough without subjecting non-smokers to my habit … but Jesus, people, can we have a little bit of intelligence here … a measured response to the level of the threat?

The guy broke the law.  So take him off the plane and deal with him as the law requires … but subject all his innocent fellow passengers to a captive situation like they were?  Complete lack of control and intelligence on the part of our government … rampant display of arrogance, actually, in my view of course, since I know Carnivore is reading my blog posts to make sure I don’t use bad words like bomb, and terrorism, and overthrow and civil disobedience … and other words that are no longer part of free speech.

And then again, just before I was ready to go to press I got another news item involving air planes, terrorism paranoia and the aggrandizement of government agencies who somehow have forgotten their place … yes, Secret Service and TSA, I’m talking about your own disloyalty to the oaths you are supposed to serve under (more carnivore fodder there, eh?)

Two fighter jets were responsible for a pair of loud sonic booms that shook Western Washington Tuesday afternoon. The Oregon Air National Guard F-15s took off from Portland, Ore. in pursuit of a seaplane that breached a 10-mile restricted fly zone around the president’s Air Force One.

The intruding plane left the restricted area shortly before the fighter jets arrived and later landed in Lake Washington, outside of Seattle, where the unsuspecting pilot and passenger were awaited by the Secret Service. The pair were unaware of President Obama’s visit and the restricted fly-zone.

The explosion-like sounds heard throughout the area were caused by shock waves produced when the jets exceeded the speed of sound.

At the time, Air Force One was parked at a nearby air field while President Obama was in Seattle visiting an eatery and attending a fundraiser.

F-15 enforcing the far tax. The President crisscrosses the country at will .. for important things like fundraisers.  OK, fine, he’s the elected chief executive, and certainly he is so far less of a traveler/delay causer than his predecessor or his predecessor’s predecessor .. although I I were in the President’s shoes, I’d travel less and use the money to create more honest jobs … but hey, that’s just me.

But he’s my issue.  Even when the president isn’t on board.the Secret Service expects everyone to know where Air Force One is (technically it is never Air Force One when the President isn’t on board, but you wouldn’t expect new reporters to understand the laws of our land).  They only understand hyperbole and fear mongering.

In the name of “Presidential Security” we launch fighter aircraft from hundreds of miles away to “protect” an airplane that doesn’t even have the president on board.  Why?  because we are powerful agencies and we CAN, not because there is the slightest indication of any threat to the president.  Sad.

Also note, that just like in 2001, the Air Force still arrived too late to do anything about the threat, had it been real.  So in nearly 10 years now, almost a decade into this “War On Terror”, we, the people have accomplished exactly what?

Sacred the crap out of a lot of people and instilled fear in the hearts of Americans who actually have nothing to fear.

The heck with these Tea Parties and other Fox News propaganda, let’s revolt against the damnable “Fear Tax” Americans are paying … remember who we are and then act accordingly … and just say no to Federal Agency jackboots … do we still have the guts to live by our own Constitution?  What sayeth you?

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Filed Under: Editorials Tagged With: , ,

Are You On The Map?

August 9, 2010 By Philly 3 Comments

An old joke says that tri-lingual means to speak three languages, bi-lingual means to speak two languages, and mono-lingual means you are an American. But English is not the only language spoken in the USA: Ethnologue lists 162 living languages in the US.

Just take a look at the Modern Language Association’s Language Map of the US. It lists the number of speakers of the top 30 languages, from 28 million Spanish speakers and 2 million Chinese speakers to 118,000 Hungarian speakers, and displays the geographical distribution of each language by county or zip code, as you choose.  Language Map 

lanaguge maps

What does it mean?

The MLA Language Map is intended for use by students, teachers, and anyone interested in learning about the linguistic and cultural composition of the United States.

The MLA Language Map uses data from the 2000 United States census to display the locations and numbers of speakers of thirty languages and three groups of less commonly spoken languages in the United States.

The census data are based on responses to the question, "Does this person speak a language other than English at home?"

The Language Map illustrates the concentration of language speakers in zip codes and counties. The Language Map Data Center provides data from Census 2000 about over three hundred languages spoken in the United States, including actual numbers and percentages of speakers.

Data from the 2005 American Community Survey about the thirty languages most commonly spoken in the United States provide a snapshot of recent changes in American language communities.

Why Post it on PhilFAQS?

Well, in the four years I have been living in the Philippines I find that one of the things Filipinos, as a rule, are least interested in seems to be their own country.  Sadly.

There are thousands of smart programmers, web designers and engineers, language majors, linguists, sociologist, anthropologists, et al, out there, many unemployed or under employed.

All the data that is needed to construct a similar map for the Philippines is already being collected on a timely basis by the Philippine Census people .. they come to my house every two years or so.

I hear all the time that Tagalong is (or is not) as widely spoken as some people say, that Bisaya is not the second most common language, Ilocano is (or vice-versa), “Dear Philly, I am moving to Podunk City, Podunk Province, what language is most common there?, and the list goes on.

Here’s you chance guys and gals … who wants to step up and build a map useful to your country and the rest of the world as well?  (write me privately if you want to, via my “Contact” page above, I can provide some limited server support, etc.)

Popularity: 5% [?]

Filed Under: Phils News Tagged With: ,

Don’t Try To Live Your Life On An ATM Card!

July 14, 2010 By Philly 8 Comments

Again and again and again I get these messages, or read them on someone else’s site …

Hi ….where do I go to get answers to my husband’s queries on banking here in our city.
He’s a retired xxxx and depends solely on his pension from bank of America for a living.
Lately we cannot make one time cash advance from his bank of America debit card at Banco de Oro. We need to get one time cash advance…

Well let me take this opportunity to pass on a tip or two about Living in the Philippines.  You can find plenty of cries for help like the one I quoted above, any day of the week.  Here are a few rules and suggestions that can help you avoid being one of the ones in dire straights asking for help.

As a general observation, Americans in particular need to get their banking terms straight … because when it is your money, you need to use the proper terms.  A bank ATM card gives you cash by withdrawing it directly from your bank account.  This is Not a Cash Advance.  A Cash Advance is the use of a credit card to obtain cash where the money goes into your credit card account the same as a purchase.  Fees are imposed and you have to pay back the debt, and interest if applicable.  Some bank ATM/debit cards are ‘dual purpose’, they can function as either a debit (direct withdrawal) or a credit (Cash Advance) card.  Don’t go into a bank, or use a teller machine, and use the term :Cash Advance: unless you mean to incur the fees and the debt.  Most banks will happily process the request as a “Cash Advance” instead of a “Withdrawal”, if you say so, because typically they make a lot more money on the deal … so, precision in speaking is required here if you ant to save yourself money.

First a Rule:  (No it isn’t really a rule documented anywhere, but it’s “Dave’s Rule” and it has served me well so far). Do not attempt to live here on one ATM card.  It is like playing Russian Roulette without even knowing how many cartridges are in the cylinder.  Why?

ATM cards can get lost or stolen.  Shouldn’t have to expand much on this, but if you have only one card and it gets stolen, have you any idea how long it will take your bank in the US to send you a replacement?  Will they even send a replacement to the Philippines?  Have at least another, independent card (that you don’t carry with you)as a backup.

ATM’s here in the Philippines may ‘eat” your card, capturing the card and refusing to return it.  This is a common anti-fraud measure.  If you committed no wrong doing, can you get your card back?  Normally, yes, through the head office of the bank who runs the ATM.  How long?  Figure weeks, not days.

For some reason unknown to you, your bank may terminate or suspend your account. especially in today’s “War On Terror” hyperbole, foreign money transactions are always monitored by various agencies of the US government and by commercial security agencies, perhaps under contract to your bank and/or the card issuer.  How could this happen if you do nothing wrong? 

No way I can say, but if it happens, do not expect to get the matter resolved via a simple phone call.  My advice.  Have more than one bank or credit union, either in the US or here and in the US so that one “backs up” the other. 

Your bank may be totally out of line in taking such an action, and maybe you can sue tem, and write your Congressman, etc., but the bottom line is, if this happens to you, you ain’t getting cash

ATM’s here in the Philippines are sometimes notorious for “Failure to Dispense”.  You card is accepted, the transaction is processed and charged to your US account but no cash comes out.  If you asked for cash up to the limit of the card, guess what, you can’t even try again until tomorrow. 

Will you get your money back?  Most likely yes.  But here’s the way it works.

The bank here who owns the ATM which failed to dispense is acting solely as a service provider to your US bank.  They are not responsible to give you a refund, and they certainly won’t.  They are required, and normally will, report the “no dispense” to your US bank, and the end of the next banking day here in the Philippines. 

Your US bank them, is responsible to credit your account for the money erroneously charged.  How long will this take?  Last time it happened to me, it was back in my account in three days, with only ne phone call to the States.  Got time to wait for that before you go to the grocery store?

What do I recommend?  belt and suspenders, or even multiple belts.

Carry a US bank debit card.  Also carry a US “name brand” credit card, like Visa or MasterCard.  If your US debit card fails, you can try the Credit Card, either in a machine or an over the counter cash advance from any major bank.

There are fees that come with a cash advance, but hey, you can still eat while you straighten out the mess.

I go several steps farther.  I have a bank account here in the Philippines.  I carry an ATM card for that account.  No fees and much easier to straighten out any screw ups that might occur.

I also carry a Philippine-issued master card, and I could buy groceries, go to the drug store or even get a cash advance on that card if I was in those “dire straights” we mentioned earlier.

But there is another pair of suspenders which I highly recommend.  It’s free, and I wonder why more long-term visitors don’t take advantage of it.

Not only do I r3ecommend you have a bank account here, I highly recommend you introduce yourself to, and take time to notice and act courteously to the branch manager, his or her deputy, the chief security guard, etc.  Do I mean be an asskisser?  Those who know me will quickly realize I don’t mean that.

But these folks are fellow humans, and they control, to a great extent at times, just how easy (or hard) it is to live here.  My branch manager is Mr. Favro.  It costs me nothing to pass by his desk on the way out and say hello.  Matter of fact, he often has something interesting to say.  And recently, when I came back from Florida, he and I had a very interesting conversation for about half an hour regarding the real estate credit crunch in the US, how things were similar and also different here, and so on.  I know I certainly learned some things of value.  I hardly consider enjoyable conversations like that currying favor, but hey, as we say here in the Philippines, ‘Sup to you’.

All can say is, works for me … instead of having the adversarial relationship so many foreigners seem to have with their banks here, why not find yourself one managed by humans, and, in turn, treat them like humans in return.  For me, it has paid dividends in convenience and peace of mind.  Thanks to all the great folks at the SM Marilao branch of BDO, who help me out most every day.

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Recent Queries That People Used To Find PhilFAQS — Frequently Asked Philippine Questions

July 8, 2010 By Philly Leave a Comment

How much is gas in the Philippines?  As of 7 July 2010 in northern Metro Manila .. Diesel, 34.5 Pesos per Liter and regular Unleaded for 42 Pesos per liter.  Saw those prices at at least five gas stations I passed yesterday.  OK, wow, Pesos per Liter,.  What does that mean in “real” prices.

Well actually, those are real prices.  I am always amazed by the number of people who contact me with questions … often real, meaningful questions, about living here or moving here, yet they have not even made the most trivial attempt to understand things by learning what a liter or a meter or a hectare or a kilometer are.  You aren’t in Kansas any more, fellow Americans … learn the basics of the Metric system. please.  (I can address this rant only to fellow Americns, because the USA id virtually the only “first world” country who refuses to use the far superior Metric system.)  Hmm, and all the jobs are flowing to countries that do?  You don’t suppose there can be any connection there, do you?

Anyway, back to the motor fuel question:  Diesel: P34.x x 3.785 liters per gallon = P 130.58 per gallon or $2.80 USD at today’s rate of 46.5.  Regular unleaded? P42 x 3,785 = P159 pesos per liter, or about $3.42USD  per gallon.

Of course ‘gas” might also mean cooking gas, which nearly everyone uses for cooking here .. typically LPG or CNG.  That currently runs about P700 for an 11 kilogram bottle (the same bottle you are used to on BBQ grills in the US), delivered.  Works out to about $15 USD, we use about 4 bottles a year here at Blog Central Bulacan, with a larger or smaller family, YMMV.

Number of gasoline stations in Philippines? Wow.  Don’t know where to get this info.  I can tell you one thing, it is a very, very large number.  Unlike the US, almost all of them are actually what we used to call “service stations”.  They pump your gas, wash you windshield, air up your tires, provide restrooms, repair tires, replace wiper blades, etc..  Those of you under 40 years old or so likely have no idea what I’m talking about ;_0

Car wash services and price list Philippines?  There’s a car wash on every other corner, it seems, and at all the major malls there are roving car was boys with a tank on wheels and a soapy water bucket who will wash your car while you shop.  I always go to a local fellow a few blocks from me who has a three-car facility tacked on to the end of his house.  Car wash, foam and hand wiping on the outside, complete inside vacuum, take out the floor mats and scrub them and last step, make the tires black .. P70 or P80 or P90 depending on the size of the car or van.  This seems a pretty common price.  They will wax the car, by hand, with US-brand wax after a wash for the same price … in other words inside and out complete was and hand wax, P160 or about $3.45 USD.  Prices in the shopping malls and such can be ludicrous, I never use them.

SCTEX rate? The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) is a 94-kilometer four-lane expressway north of Manila, in the Philippines.  This is actually a kind of funny query I get all the time, based(sadly) ion the fact that the people who probably charged the operators of this toll roads and others a fortune for their pretty web sites, but they neglected the most simplistic rules for getting stuff indexed with Google.  I find I am as high as number 5 on the first page of Google for this query from time to time.  I don’t have a table of the tolls between individual exits.  From Dau, (Angeles City) where I usually enter to Tipo, the southern end that serves Subic, the toll is P112.  From Dau to Tarlac, the current northern end, the toll is P69.  From Tipo to Tarlac, it is P181.  Happy motoring.

Jobs in Philippines for foreigners?  One of my perennial favorites, I probably get found for this query five times more than any other.  My answer is, as it has been for years, you don’t want a job here.  But if you read my posts by category, or search my site by keyword, you’ll find a lot of articles here, including pointers to web sites in the Philippines that do list jobs for foreigners … for those who have a stubborn streak and don’t want to take expert advice.

Anyway, another fun day with Google, hope yours has been half as much fun as mine has.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed Under: Philippine Jobs Tagged With: , , ,

Now This Is The Way To Fly To The Philipines

June 29, 2010 By Philly Leave a Comment

Interesting offer I received this morning from Cathay Pacific … one of my all time favorite trans-Pacific airlines:

View Details
U.S. to Hong Kong First Class*
Lay back in first-class with a round-trip plane ticket to Hong Kong for just $2,000 (regularly $25,940)! Fly from New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco in a seat that reclines to a full, 81"-long bed.

Wow!  that’s like almost $24,000 off!  Great deal.

But Dave, you say,aren’t you missing something here?  The flights are to Hong Kong, not the Philippines.

True that, but it’s easy and cheap to fly from Hong Kong to the Philippines and back.  Check out Cebu Pacific.  It’s pretty easy to find Hong Kong/Manila fares for about $100 USD.

Now, of course, maybe even $2200 or so is too much fare for your budget.  Or perhaps the time constraints on this offer are too strict.  No problem.  We here at PhilFAQS can still help you find the lowest fares.

One way is to visit one of our recommend providers, Ed Mabunga Travel International.  Ed and his family operate a full service travel agency out of the Salt Lake City area and I have personally used their services and been well satisfied.,  Ed “knows” Philippine travel and he knows what US travelers need, coming and going.  Several close friends and also my son have used Ed for their Philippines trips and they were all very happy with Ed’s services as well.  Recommended. (Note, I have no financial interest in this company nor do I receive remuneration for this recommendation or any airfares you may decide to purchase from them)

(note:  Not long ago several readers reported difficulty with reaching Ed via email.  I have been emailing Ed regularly and never had a problem …Ed’s email provider, though, seems to have difficulty in operating along with Yahoo Mail addresses, so perhaps this is part of the perceived problem?  I frequently have the problem here at PhilFAQS that people write me with a question and when I answer them their email box is full, or closed, or otherwise rejects me.  I don’t know, though, if this could be a factor in the reports I have received, as I said he always responds very quickly to me .. and if in doubt, use the toll free number: 1-888-MABUNGA-)

Way number two, and I always think intelligent people should shop and compare, is to contact another of my recommended suppliers, Travelph.com This company is located in Los Angeles and Manila and is owned and operated by an old friend, Manny Paez (also head on Manila Forwarders LLC).  I only recommend companies I would use myself, and TravelPH is the company who sold us the tickets to move to the Philippine sin the first place, back in 2006.  They are a full-service company, run by Filipino-Americans who know the markets and can usually help you find the lowest fares.  And they’re friendly and helpful and use the principles of geography smartly, you should always get an answer if you phone them, because if it’s middle of the nigh in LA, the Manila office should answer.  Again, I’ve used them personally and recommend them. (Note, I have no financial interest in this company nor do I receive remuneration for this recommendation or any airfares you may decide to purchase from them)

Or, for a third choice, you might want to look at something I do earn a small commission on, but still highly recommend.  It comes with not only a 60 money back guarantee, but a Double Your Money Back guarantee … now that is exceptional.  A fact-filled, informative eBook that tells you the secrets the airlines don’t want you to know about getting cheap fares … domestic or overseas.  It’s kind of a “revenge book”, written by an airline ticketing agent who was ‘downsized”, according to his boss, because he and some of his fellow agents were being too good to prospective customers … working too hard to make callers happy with better fares.  Don’t think a situation like that can happen? … well it does, and this is what a disgruntled employee can do to even up the score ;-).  From the author:

Here is my personal promise:
"Double Your Investment Guarantee"

I am so confident that my secret techniques can save you money that I guarantee you will save at least double what you paid for my guide within 60 days, or your money back, no questions asked.

The moment you begin reading over my information, your eyes will be opened to the deepest and darkest secrets of the airline companies. With these powerful secrets, you will finally be able to stop getting ripped off by the greedy airlines for good.

You have nothing to lose, get my guide today and save on your very next trip, guaranteed.

Good Luck

Henry Rustkirk signature

 

Instant Download Airline Cheap Fare Secrets PDF Guidebook

family vacation

Critical Update  May 2010:  Upon completing this guide, I have received threatening emails, with demands that this information not be brought to light. My site has also been "crawled" by airline computers looking for anything to use against me. Trust me when I say that I will fight to make this controversial information available to you as long as I am legally able to.

 

  Henry, I just wanted to let you know I really liked your guide. Using your search sequence, I was able to save over $80 on the flight I needed to Colorado the same day I bought your guide. I guess that more than paid for my purchase! Thanks for looking out for the little guy.

-John S. from Greenwood, Indiana  &
#160;               Learn More Now!

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Can You Insulate Yourself Cool In The Philippines — A Tinfoil Hat?

June 21, 2010 By Philly 2 Comments

OK, here it is, been a little slow with posting lately … partly because of so ‘net issues and partly because … well, hey, I’m retired.  This site is a charter member of the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) club.

Last installment I busted all over the idea of conventional, “R” Value insulation that blocks the conduction and convention of heat.  Reader Fred commented on that post and left a link to this site:

http://www.sibonga.com/philippines_insulating_concrete_forms_icf.htm

Feel free to pay a visit and shop around there, I have no relationship with that site/company, but I’ve visited them many times during my time here in the Philippines.  They have a wealth of useful information.

But to stay on subject, let’s get back to the real matter at hand.  The sun beating down 12 hours a day on the metal roof over our heads here.

The page Fred pointed out is selling a patented system of "what we call “buhos” construction here in the Philippines. Buhos is a Tagalog word that means literally, “To pour something”.  In construction terms it typically means a high quality method of construction where forms are constructed and concrete mix is poured into the forms .. a poured concrete house in other words.

More typical construction, especially for single-family structures is to pour a reinforced footing and then build a “hollow block” wall atop the footing.  Normally these hollow blocks are a concrete mixture … here in the land near Mt Pinatubo the bocks are very often similar to what old guys like me used to call “cinder blocks” in the USA.  Back then they were made from cinders and fly ash from steam locomotives, here in the Philippines they use lahar, or “volcanic ash” for the sand and aggregate components of the concrete.

There is another solution very popular here around metro Manila, a company called Vas Built www.vazbuilt.com who uses factory made reinforced concrete panels and interlocking columns to build wall very quickly and strongly, kind of like stacking up steel reinforced Lego Blocks.

(Note:  Their site linked above is working, but sometimes loads slow, please be patient and don’t don’t write me back about that, it’s their issue, not mine, this is the only link I have).

There is no doubt that buhos is in almost every way a superior construction.  In larger commercial buildings it is buy far the most common as well.  Properly built and reinforced hollow block can essentially be equal to properly built buhos construction, but that is not the purpose of the discussion we are having.  We want to know about staying cool, we’ll assume that any of the popular methods, done right, will be strong enough.

The insulated construction forms technique Fred mentioned makes this, to me a bit astounding claim: Insulated; Air-conditioning is seldom necessary.

Let me make an editorial comment about what is ‘essential’ in the Philippines and where people’s idea of ‘essentiality” may differ slightly among people of different backgrounds.

A relation lives in a house that has a central air system … very unusual here in the Philippines.  The central air failed to cool one hot day, so he shut it off and left it off for TWO YEARs.  Then, and only then, he took the bull by the horns and called in a service tech to find out what it would cost to get the system repaired.  400 Pesos (about $8 or $9 USD) later the aircon was humming away again and cooling fine.

Obviously, air-conditioning was hardly essential to my relative.  World you go without for two years, without even knowing the cost to get it fixed?  No, don’t think many of you would, but I have the idea that the statement about “air-conditioning seldom being necessary” comes from the same line of thought.   I said before and I’ll say it again. 

One, you can not effectively insulate a house here by insulating the walls only.  If you don’t effectively block the radiant heat from the sun shining on your roof, insulating the sidewalls is locking the barn after the horse is stolen … it’s pouring money down a rat hole. 

Two, Unlike the US where the sun frequently bakes south and west facing walls for hours at a time, the sun here is ALWAYs almost vertically above, and the length of day varies less than an hour from summer to winter … so you never have the sun load on exterior walls that is common in the USA.  In fact, with the common wide roof overhangs here, it’s easy to keep all but west facing walls in the shade all day long.  What works well in, say, Texas, does not work the same way at all when you are less than 12 degrees from the equator .. ever have the sun north of your house in the USA?  No, for sure.  Here it is north about half the year and south the rest, but never more than 10 or 12 degrees away from the vertical at noon.

Two, I linked you to a US government study that came to the conclusion that heavy, foam-insulated sidewall construction  is not only ineffective for cooling insulation (it’s very effective for heating insulation … remember, we are talking reverse sense and logic for most insulating techniques that Americans are familiar with when we talk about techniques of insulation here in the Philippines) , but in climates even as warm as Miami, (overall, we are much warmer here) it is counter-productive,  It ADDS to the overall heating costs rather than saving any.

So please, get to the point, Dave.  How do we keep that sun from making the attic (and thus our living areas) a daily oven?

Well here’s one way that is tried and true, in the US and likewise here in the Philippines.  Buy far the single most important cooling investment you can make first is something to reflect back the sun’s tremendous radiant energy.  And one of the most effective ways ever to do this is a mirror.  You could build your roof out of mirror tiles … maybe not too practical, but it sure would look kewl .. or burn out your eyes if you looked the wrong way…

Fortunately, there’s a common substance much cheaper, lighter and more durable than mirrored glass, but nearly as effective at stopping radiant heat … “tin foil”.

Of course “tin foil” is a misnomer .. we are talking about aluminum foil, but pound for pound and peso for peso there is nothing out there that can do more to lower attic (under roof) temperatures, and this roof temperatures.  Here’s on big supplier that who dealers herein the Philippines … you can learn a lot from their site.  I recommend you do a bit of reading there.

Remember, going back to our earlier conversation about “R” value … this stuff will have virtually no “R” value … but a sheet of thin aluminum between those two calibrated plates and there will be almost no resistance “R) to heat transfer … we are not trying to block conduction … that’s the reason.

Now, after thinking through and hopefully using some foil insulation to block as much of the sun’s radiant energy as we can. what about an additional barrier … one you can apply with a paint brush and one that will even stop some roof leaks as you use it?

Go read about this space age coating.  And again, as with the last recommendation, spend some time reading their explanation and background materi
als.  It’s way more than just a sales site.

I do not yet know of anyone who handles it in the Philippines, but I may have to change that situation .. because my son and I used a product like this on a metal house trailer roof in Colorado and it was very effective … I can’t believe it is not popular (yet) in the Philippines, but it works and it reflects back and blocks a significant portion of the suns radiant energy … and since the majority of roofs here are painted steel sheet of some form or another, it’s eminently practical to use.

So in this three part series we have learned that:

All the materials that are used in the construction of your home or business absorb and transfer Heat. 80% – 95 % of this heat is transferred, from the warmer side to the cooler side by one or more of the following ways.

1. * CONDUCTION:
Conduction is direct heat flow through matter (molecular motion). An example of conduction, if you lay one end of a butter knife on the burner of your stove, the heat travels by conduction through the metal to the other end that you are holding and it soon becomes too hot to hold. Heat is always conducted from warm to cold never from cold to warm.

2.* CONVECTION is the transport of heat within a gas or liquid.
Example-hold your hand above the stove burner and you soon feel the heat being emitted and transferred thru the air upward.

3.* RADIATION is the transmission of electromagnetic rays through space. We experience infrared radiation every day. The heat that we feel from sunlight, a fire, a radiator or a warm sidewalk is infrared. Although our eyes cannot see it, the nerves in our skin can feel it as heat.

Now that you understand how heat is transferred,
How do we stop this transfer?

Up till now, we have used (mass) insulation such as Fiberglass, Cellulose, Styrofoam, etc. to slow down and resist ("R value") heat transfer. These types of insulation materials only work on heat transfer by means of conduction which amounts to between 5 % – 7 % of the total heat transfer into / out of a structure. That leaves 93 % – 95 % of the total heat transfer to be dealt with by your air conditioner.

I’ve suggested some ways … open to user reports and more discussion.

Free Energy Options textbok If you want to learn more about solar and other free energy, like the wind, here’s a course/how to do it manual that teaches everything you need to know about doing your own solar energy production in any country … here in the Philippines for sure. It’s not free, but it’s 100% risk free, you be the judge of whether it works for you or not.

Yesterday I saw a news item where the Philippine DOE (Department of Education) had just converted a school near me in Luzon to solar power. My wife pointed the article out to me with the comment of, "OMG, solar is still very expensive to do." Unlike most such articles this one had some facts and figures.

The plant for the school cost half a million Philippine Pesos and was able to produce 1 to 5 kilo Watts per hour (all the power produced is used, because excess is stored in deep cycle batteries and sold back to the grid as needed) So did the DOE get a bad deal or a good deal?

Well my last electric bill shows I am paying 11.692 Pesos per Kilowatt Hour. That means each hour the school solar plant makes electricity worth almost 30 Pesos. (I’ll take the average between the stated low and high outputs). Ten hours a day of useful sun, means the school is netting about 300 Pesos per day from their small, six-panel pilot program. ( very little difference in day length from summer to winter here)… that means the school is netting 120 Pesos per day, or well over 100,000 Pesos per year … I’m knocking off some potential profit to allow from cleaning, maintenance and periodic deep cycle battery replacement.

So they will get the investment back in about 5 years … unless the commercial rates go even higher, which might happen I suppose. Isn’t that something like a 12% per anum rate of return?

How much are you CD’s earning these days?  Do you think the DOE made a good investment? Do you still think solar can’t be made to pay?

Learn how to figure your own rate of return before you accept snap judgments about what is too expensive. It looks to me like solar is a pretty decent investment on it’s own here in the Philippines these days. Of course, YMMV, that’s why it’s a 100% satisfaction guaranteed no risk offer.

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Work With Your Mind, Not Your Back

June 18, 2010 By Philly 12 Comments

The title of this article comes partially from a conversation I’m currently having with a reader who asked for some Living in the Philippines answers.

Among other issues and background information this fellow opened up to me about was the fact that he had no job, because he had injured his back.  He also made the almost off-handed comment that getting paid disability payments for a bad back is difficult.

Well, I’m not trying to insult him, or anyone else out there with a bad back, but dammit it is supposed to be difficult to get disability for a bad back … and why should having a bad back make it impossible to earn a gainful living?

For 10 years or more now I have fielded lots of comments and questions expressing people’s difficulties, fears and the obstacles they see in coming to the Philippines (I almost never hear from the successful ones, they just do it), mainly I hear from the ones “on the cusp” who are looking for someone else to influence them, good or bad.

Anyway. it amazed me recently just how many Americans have written me over the past 10 years or so and brought up the problem of a bad back.  Thinking back, it’s really amazing to me.  We, as a country, must have totally lost our backbone, so to speak.  I think rather than an obesity epidemic we have a weak back epidemic … doctors out there, are you listening?

Well my main point here is, what I said earlier about disabilities, bad backs and working.

If you have a bad back, chronic pain, afflictions like that, you have my condolences.  I don’t like pain, and I imagine very few people reading this do.

But over the years I have found out quite a few things about pain, and one thing I have found out is, building and rearranging your life around it seldom makes the pain any better.  A great many people live with chronic pain by focusing on what they can do and ignoring what they can’t.

You should, if you’re a regular reader here, realize where this is going .  Today’s post is a participatory exercise.  First, go here:

http://philfaqs.com/editorials/phils-editorals/why-were-broke-and-how-to-fix-it/

I’m not going to write the same message over and over.  If your problem in life is that you don’t have a job, and in particular you can’t move to the Philippines because of not having a job, then read the article I just linked to.  You don’t need a job, and as a matter of fact, this new … it certainly wasn’t our American way back in my father’s time … habit of being who our jobs are or are not, rather than who we are and is depressing and wrong.  You don’t need a job!

Second, go hear and have a read for meaning.  Don’t start off a spring-loaded that Dave is wrong, read the reasons and reflect a bit about the desirability and supposed “stability” of a job before you form your considered opinion.

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/07/10-reasons-you-should-never-get-a-job/

And if you are still single-mindedly pursuing that “jobs for Americans in the Philippines’ dram, no matter what I have written here:

http://philfaqs.com/live-there/philippine-jobs/basics-of-working-in-the-philippines-for-foreigners/

Or here:

http://philfaqs.com/live-there/philippine-jobs/about-that-job-in-the-philippines-you-want-part-1/

Or pay some attention to what my friend Bob said, perhaps more eloquently, here:

http://liveinthephilippines.com/content/2010/06/getting-real-about-jobs-in-the-philippines/

Now, suppose, in spite of what I have written, and what Steve and Bob have said, you feel that you, yourself, are still hopelessly mired in this “I can’t live without a job” quagmire

For goodness sakes then save your children, OK?  let’s not raise yet another generation who thinks that the only way to make your way in life is to slave at a job that requires a strong back … it just ain’t so, and I think you’ll like the video.

And just in case learning to fly, at a price you can afford, has made you interested in coming to the Philippines (if not now, when?), and you want insider info that can save you real money how you could still afford to fly you might be interesting in this: "If you are planning a vacation, wish you could visit distant family or just want to see the world then my guide is for you. I give you all the essentials on how to get Extremely Cheap Flights , tell you the scams to avoid and reveal all of the biggest money saving and confidential insider secrets the airlines have threatened me to keep silent about…"

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Can You Insulate Yourself Cool in the Philippines — Intro

June 8, 2010 By Philly 1 Comment

Like most everyone else I know in the Philippines., I currently suffer from two main complaints … it’s hot … especially my little one-story, steel roofed bungalow style house and two, electricity costs way too dang much.

Last time I looked electricity in the Philip[pines was second in cost only to Japan, and with the 25% (plus) increase my area suffered two months back, it’s likely more than Japan now.

Those of you in the US with abundant, often government subsidized electric power (Hoover Dam, TVA, REA, the list goes on) rally have little or no idea what you will be up against if you move to the Philippines.  The electric supply is not only expensive, it’s very, very often unreliable, or it can even be used as a political tool as a few in-the-know allege happen this past election in the Philippin3es.  Regardless how much truth there is or isn’t in that conspiracy theory, I can assure you you’ll become a lot more conscious of kilowatt hours (kWh) here than you are used to in the US.

By far the major electric expense for any household here is cooling.  If you’re a Westerner to have Western budget resources, you’ll spend most of the monthly bill running air conditioners.  If you’re Filipino or more Filipino-oriented in your outlook/budget, you’re going to spend most of your day and evening sitting in the past of a fan … electric fans are cheaper to run than air conditioners but they sure ain’t free either … but go without any power in couple hours Brownout/Blackout and you’ll be very, very appreciative of a simple fan … trust me on that.

Now I got an interesting comment from a regular reader here, (thanks, Fred) and it made me think a lot … and, in fact, made me do a lot of research over the weekend.  Here’s some excerpts from Fred’s comment to consider:

….. QUESTIONS!! how many homes built in the last 20 years have CEILING INSULATION equal to R40 or better, 1 in 100,000, How many have NON- LOUVERED WINDOWS, not talking about double pane or Triple pane here, just ordinary windows, same number!! How many have roofs which are not huge heat sinks, painted a DARK COLOR, such as RED!!!, SILVER or WHITE much better!!

Try to buy formaldehyde free fiberglass insulation here in Cebu, Have not found it yet!!! I get referred to what passes as insulation, open foam styro with some shiny aluminum foil on it. I ask what is the R value, get blank look, so I stop.

SOLUTION:
I have found Styrofoam peanuts the size of Monggo Beans here, price depends on number of kilos you buy at one time. Fill the voids between rafters on the ceilings over full, then take that Styrofoam with the shiny backing and staple it over the top of the styro peanuts to push them down, then take 4×8 sheets of Styrofoam an lay over the top of the shiny Styro an push down to compact.
DO THIS IN BEDROOM WITH THE AIR CON, SHOULD SEE AT LEAST A DROP IN ELECTRIC TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT ALL THE WORK, AN STAY MUCH COOLER.
Then replace those louvered windows In the air con bedroom with glass block windows
If you like the results then insulate the ceilings in the whole house …

Well most of what Fred says there is some pretty good advice, but a couple thing are, in my opinion, absolutely wrong … mainly because we Westerners think that “applied physics” … like deciding how to insulate our houses here … is the same, US or or Philippines.  because we never really got the actual physics of insulation right, we spend a lot of hours of our lives chasing things like “R values”, when in fact … except for a few cool nights in Baguio, where people often have a fireplace for heat … R Value and many other US concepts regarding insulation and energy costs are way out in left field.

It’s going to take several articles to convey the real facts about insulation in a foreign, tropical country and how those facts relate to what most Americans “know” or at least think they know about home insulation.  Let’s explore the very basics here in this article and then I’ll run some more posts depending on the interest I see.

imageFirst of all, what the heck is heat anyway?

In physics and thermodynamics, heat is the process of energy transfer from one body or system due to thermal contact, which in turn is defined as an energy transfer to a body in any other way than due to work performed on the body.[1]

A related term is thermal energy, loosely defined as the energy of a body that increases with its temperature. Heat is also loosely referred to as thermal energy, although many definitions require this thermal energy to actually be in the process of movement between one body and another to be technically called heat (otherwise, many sources prefer to continue to refer to the static quantity as "thermal energy"). Heat is a flow of energy, rather than a form of energy.[citation needed]

Energy transfer by heat can occur between objects by radiation, conduction and convection. Temperature is used as a measure of the internal energy or enthalpy, that is the level of elementary motion giving rise to heat transfer. Energy can only be transferred by heat between objects – or areas within an object – with different temperatures (as given by the zeroth law of thermodynamics). This transfer happens spontaneously only in the direction of the colder body (as per the second law of thermodynamics).

Now this is nearly a thousand words already and I don’t want to make anyone sweat, trying to wrap their head around too much at once.   There are two important points, though, that you have got to take away from this and remember in our next discussion:

radiation, conduction and convection.  In the US and other countries that get cold in the winter, the major mode of heat transfer we deal with is building paths against heat CONDUCTION.  When you are trying to keep your 2,000 square foot home at a livable temperature on a zero-degree night, you need worry very little about radiation or convection.  Conduction is the process that “sucks” your expensive heat energy right out the roof, walls and windows an doors … and most of what we know and most of what we do regarding insulation in the USA is related to slowing down “conduction” of heat … remember … always “From” the warm inside
of out house “To the vast coldness of space … the heat always travels from hot to cold.

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Having More Fun in the Philippines

June 3, 2010 By Philly 9 Comments

I wrote recently about how I try to have more fun out of life rather than pondering on all the problems of the world.  For sure one of the major reasons I enjoy living in the Philippines is the absence of almost all the FUD … Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt … sensationalism of the US media those of you still back in the USA subject themselves to every night.

I also try to get out of the house and travel as often as possible.  One of my favorite destinations is relatively close by, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Freeport, one of of the more common names for the former US Navy base at Subic Bay, now run by an agency of the Philippine government.

There are many places to stay at Subic, more every day it seems, and I have stayed at a number of them.  Here’s the one that is definitely my favoriteInternet workspace Veniza though, the Venezia Hotel.  One big reason we like to make the Venezia our first destination choice is their special promo room rates, as low as P1,800 … about $39 USD at today’s rate of exchange.  I plan to be there this coming Saturday and Sunday nights, actually, and if I decide to make any blog posts, I already know what “blog central” will look like on those nights.  (no wires and other paraphernalia needed, good quality high speed Wi-Fi is included with the room)

Typical Veniza hotel suite This is how a typical low-end promo room is furnished and this left-hand photo will give you an idea of the overall size of the room you get for the discount promo price.

Now I did say these are promos … they only have a limited number of rooms available at these rates … but so far in several stays I have never failed to be early enough to get one.  The “promo rooms” are on the third floor too, there is no elevator, but quite frankly, I need the exercise so that’s fine with me.

Also, the most expensive rooms are only into the low &100 USD range,(with many lesser choices in between), and compared with the rooms I paid well over $100 USD in Florida last February, even the Venezia’s top executive suite is a bargain.

The hotel is attached to a PAGCOR Casino (only electronic games at this one) and free shuttle service is available to a brand new ‘real” casino on the beach. 

There’s an excellent Chinese restaurant in the hotel proper, as well as a small coffee shop/cafe, and many local restaurants to chose from who deliver to your room.  Free parking, excellent, near silent air-conditioning, and most important to me, a staff who is ever-present without being intrusive in any way, and who is unfailingly courteous and friendly

In case you didn’t get the drift from this article yet, I like the place and highly recommend it.   Next article I’ll write up some of the attractions you can visit right there on the Freeport which I also feel are well worth their price.

 

Subic Bay Venezia Hotel
Bldg. 675 Canal Road
Subic Bay Freeport Zone
Zambales 2222
Telephone : ; 252-8399
Fax: (+63)(47) 252-8404

Mobile: 0917-836-3942
customer_service@subicbayveneziahotel.com

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Philippines and Submarines

May 23, 2010 By Philly 2 Comments

Nope. this article isn’t really about ‘submarines as we normally think of them, or even about the luxury submarines slated to be built and tested at Subic Bay … anyone heard anything new about this project?

No, today I am going to talk about submarine cables and why, if you live in the Philippines or even deal with many people here, you need to think about from time to time.

Submarine cables.  Many people give no thought to how dial tone gets to their phones or bits fly onto their computer screens when they click on a website URL.  And that’s fine, because in order to be generally accepted and useful (and profitable) around the world, technology has to be made to look like “magic” to the consumer.

But there isn’t r3eally an “magic” in the David Copperfield sense involved.  Electrical pulses from my computer to yours, or my telephone to your telephone have to happen.  There are three ways you can make electrical pulses of energy “jump” the broad Pacific Ocean.  Radio waves, microwave links over a communications satellite or pulses of light in a fiber optic undersea cable.

Radio won’t serve the needs.  You can easily send signals and talk via voice radio across trans-oceanic distances, but conditions don’t allow radio to work, reliably, 24-7 and the bandwidth .. the amount of information that can be carried this way … is woefully smaller than the demand.  Won’t work for a 2010 solution.

Communications Satellites can be part of the solution.  They have been for years … more years than you might guess, the military had a classified system between Washington DC and Pearl Harbor in use for years, bouncing signals off the moon .. i is a satellite you know … long before people thought of businesses like Direct TV.  But satellites, literally, can’t carry the load.  The bandwidth available via data links across satellites is tiny in comparison to the present, much less the future, capacity of fiber optic cable.

And there’s another problem regarding Philippine/US communication via satellite. A satellite which can “see” the Philippines can’t “see” most of the US.  In many cases this leads to using twice the bandwidth, because signals from the Philippine would have to “land” somewhere, say Hawaii, and then get sent back up to another “bird” to be landed at their final destination.  In the satellite business we call this “double hopping”

It’s expensive, cumbersome, and most significant to modern day communications, causes near-unworkable delays.  I’m sure you’ve seen news shows on TV where the reported is in some far off country covering the latest disaster and when the news anchor asks a question there is a puzzling, annoying delay before the report hears the question and answers it.  This is common called latency … a good explanation of geostationary satellite latency here … and it makes usable Internet connectivity difficult.  This really leaves us only one good choice:Cable overview 1

imageUndersea Fiber Optic Cables:  The Philippines is connected to the rest of of the world by several large commercial undersea cable systems.  Here’s an overview map that pretty much shows the world’s modern cable connectivity.  Better detail of modern cable connections is here.

The main international cables that serve the Philippines connect to the terrestrial (land-based) Internet system in Batangas, south of Manila and in San Fernando La Union, on the west coast of northern Luzon.

When I type on my computer here and send bits to the PhilFAQS web server, (which is located in Dallas, Texas, AAG Cab;e detailUSA) the bits travel either to the west coast of the US, most often coming ashore at Seattle, or east through the Middle East and France and then back onto other cables across the Atlantic to enter the terrestrial US system at any of several US East coast cable “landings”.

The ‘rest of the Philippines’ connects to these undersea cable end points typically through two large domestic undersea cable systems that for a ring around the Philippines, landing at more than 20 Philippine population centers, the NDTN (National Digital Transmission Network) managed by TelicPhil , and the  DFON )Domestic Fibre Optic Network), owned and operated by PLDT.

Pretty interesting, how it all works out.  And, when it doesn’t?  How ever can they fix these amazing undersea lifelines?

It’s easy when you know how.  Here’s a picture of the KDDI Ocean Link .. I’ve had the [pleasure of being aboard this ship .. totally like a science fiction movie.  They can find a KDDI ocean Linkdamaged cable anywhere in any ocean, grapple it up to the surface, slice in a new section and restore service.

The holds of this ship are like giant barrels, it can store about 5,000 miles of cable on-board, enough to lay a cable from Japan to the US west coast in only two trips.

So that’s the story, today, of how these bits got from my computer in Marilao to the my server in Dallas to your computer screen where ever you are “tuning in from”.

There’s an old saying that goes; “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” … and you know, to a 1945 model like me, this is pretty close to magic.

The “man behind the curtain” is often more interesting to me that the show the wizard puts on for the general public.

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Telecommute From The Philippines With Ease — Free!

May 14, 2010 By Philly Leave a Comment

You know how many times I have mentioned Skype as a tool for both personal and business communication … especially if you are planning to live in the Philippines and earn you money elsewhere … either by telecommuting or setting up you own web-based business.

Here’s an advance announcement of what is coming soon … actually already available in “beta” format, I’ll wait until it is released in ‘shrink wrap” format myself … should be soon:

If you’ve got a Web cam, you can now add video to Skype’s party line.

Skype 5.0 beta

 

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Skype’s new beta with added conference calling features could be just what the doctor ordered for low-cost international meetings and planning sessions among family and friends. On Thursday, Skype 5.0 beta for Windows became available as a free download.

Instead of initiating video calls to just one other recipient, as in the stable version of Skype, you can host video chats for up to five people. Unfortunately, each of them has to have a Web cam and Skype 5.0 beta installed on a Windows PC in order for video conferencing to work. This limitation could get in testers’ ways.

We got word about the update last week when Skype announced a new set of calling plans to benefit those calling mobile phones. We haven’t had time to stage an elaborate overseas calling conference yet, but our plans are in the works, so watch this space for our hands-on evaluation.

Skype certainly isn’t the first to bring video conferencing to everyday users. The free Skype competitor VoxOx offers video conferencing for up to three callers; the freemium ooVoo can support up to six.

If you do try out Skype’s beta video party line, let us know in the comment what you think. Remember that beta software is neither as less polished nor stable as final software, so keep that in mind if you try out Skype 5.0 beta for Windows. Mac users can expect to see a version of Skype’s group video calls for that computing platform later this year.

Jessica Dolcourt reviews the latest and greatest smartphone apps, in addition to a healthy dose of Windows software. E-mail Jessica and follow her on Twitter.

Thanks a big tip of the blog hat to Jessica and CNet for this very newsworthy report

And don’t forget, I showed you how to get a very worthwhile "Blueprint" on building a business with Skype and the Internet here:

OK, I looked this over since I posted it, and I also have some questions from many people who aren’t really clear on a couple concepts. One question I have had several times is, "If this is so easy, why aren’t you doing it, Dave"? Well that’s a very good question. part one of the answer is, I didn’t say it was easy. I said that anyone with normal spoken English skills and a computer and the free program Skype can do it, but it’s work.

It’s a legitimate business opportunity that you can pursue from anywhere you live, and it requires virtually no investment .. but … like any conventional or self-employed venture, it requires effort.  I’m 65 years young and I enjoy being retired.  that’s one reason I don’t teach English online as a business (Although I was really, really tempted to bu7y that example site I showed you earlier ;-) )

The second reason is, like any successful business, it requires a certain amount of setting up, planning and developing specific techniques for the market … and I spend way too much time on other profitable on-line ventures as it is … I don’t care to start something else again from scratch.  I’d rather build the properties I currently have to be bigger and better.

But I di the next best thing.  I found those of you who are interested in a sensible, doable way to make real money online for performing a necessary and useful service, a complete package on how to set up a working business, step by step, written by an American living in Japan who earns money teaching English online.

An online English teaching journey and how you too can teach English online and get money:

Teaching English online report My name is John Buchanan, and I’m an online English teacher.  I love to travel and help people.

In 2005 I moved to Osaka, Japan with thoughts of meeting new people, witnessing the culture and exploring the other mysteries that awaited.  I never thought I would become self-employed after being hired by a Japanese conversation school by the name of Nova.
With them I taught English to Japanese students from all over Japan by using a computer and the Internet. For myself, I paid attention, learned a lot, and eventually adapted a working strategy that paid nicely. …

I did all of my teaching with a webcam, microphone and their special software. The setup was pretty neat because it allowed me to show pictures, play audio recordings, write with a typing tool, as well as the ability to draw with colors.

Pretty cool! I got paid to sit and talk and teach English and draw funny pictures for students.

After I got to Japan, I was blown away by how much money students were paying on average for a 40 minute one-on-one private lesson over the Internet.

Guess how much?

About $70.00 for one 40 minute English lesson was the average! My eyebrows flew off my face when I heard that number. …

If you want a no BS look at the details facts and figures of how one man does this, for real, and you want a professionally written step by step course, complete with custom video instructions on things like how to set up Skype to do this teaching professionally, then I suggest you read John’s Teaching English Online sales page.

I find his facts, figures and conclusions are very believable, based on personal experience, and best of all, the offer is completely risk free .. if it ain’t what you want, you get back very penny.  A no nonsense course in how to make teaching English online, from anywhere, work for you.

Will you make a move, or will you wait and see if the government makes things better just for you?

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed Under: Earn a Living Online Tagged With: , , ,

More on Jobs for Americans Teaching English in the Philippines

May 11, 2010 By Philly 2 Comments

I’ve mention the excellent source for Philippines jobs, image http://www.jobstreet.com.ph/.  Although this site is far from specific for foreigners, there are thousands and thousands of jibs listed.  In the past year or so I have been pleased to see this site evolve as well, it’s been cleaned up, searches are faster, options to narrow searches are more robust and it general it’s a very good example of Philippine business moving smartly into the “on-line” generation.

But if you’re one of my average “frequent searches” trying to find that elusive, but oh so desirable foreigner job in the Philippines, I don’t recommend you waste time on JobStreet or any other “job Listing” site.  Why?

Simple.  What they have to offer, mainly, is JOBS.  And I’ve tried to tell people for years now, you most likely don’t want a JOB here in the Philippines.

Let’s take a look at a typical listing that most Americans can easily qualify for … except for things like a work visa which, you can see, the prospective employer requires, but isn’t about to help you get … and they ain’t cheap or easy to get.

Online English Teacher
PHP 12500 – 13000
(National Capital Reg – Pasig City)

Responsibilities:

  • Teach English to Koreans online using the company’s curriculum

  • Help in other tasks such as giving tests to applicants, scoring student’s tests, making changes in the company’s curriculum, etc.

Requirements:

  • Degree holder of any 4 to 5 year course, but degrees in Education/Mass Communications/Communication Arts and other related courses preferred English teaching experience especially with Korean students preferred.
  • Must be very patient and can handle pressure extremely well With pleasing personality Ability to multi task With neutral or American accent preferred.
  • Must be willing to work from 2 to 11 pm Mondays to Fridays, and 4 hours on Saturdays.
  • Must be willing to undergo paid 2-4 weeks training Living near Ortigas Center, Pasig preferred Females 20-35 years old preferred With good typing skills and internet savvy preferred.
  • Can start immediately Only Full Time positions are available Salary for Full time tutors : Basic Salary P12, 000 + (class incentives and bonuses)
  • Applicants should be Filipino citizens or hold relevant residence status.

Does this look like the job for you to focus on so you can support yourself in a comfortable life style here in the Philippines?  Hoy, my Filipino friends, keep reading, this is for you to read as well).

You may think so, but me, I think it’s a pretty poor choice for anyone who can read, write and speak the English language … which pretty much means almost anyone reading here and looking for a job in the Philippines.

You see, jobs for English speakers aren’t hard to find here at all.  A relative just recently set out for a call center job and landed a “good” one in less that two days.  She’s happy, so I’m happy that she’s happy, but personally I think she sold herself way too short … her job pays very much like this one illustrated above … and I think, if you seriously consider jobs like this then you sell yourself too short too.

You see I hate to sound like some reactionary rabble rouser, but in many ways … the so-called “security” of a job is nothing more than a voluntary entry into legalized enslavement.

Go to any good business school and work on your MBA, and one of the things you will find about “jobs”, how to create them, manage them, hire and fire for them, etc. is that in order to justify creating a new job … rather than paying overtime to existing workers, for example, is that the new job needs to bring in a minimum of three times the “burdened” cost of the new position.

“Burdened” cost simply means the cost of the actual salary, the cost of whatever benefits you are providing, the cost of owning or renting space for the new employee to work, taxes, medical insurance, in short the actual “grand total” cost of establishing a new person’s position.

Now there’s another pretty easy to use rule of thumb that the “burdened cost” of most entry-level jobs runs right around twice the published salary.  A lot of people may not believe this, but they are folks who never opened a business with employees and started paying all the bills that have to be paid even before you hire someone.

So what does all this estimating and averaging mean to you, the dear reader who thinks the solution to their problems is to find a JOB (means Just Over Broke, by the way).?  That’s easy.  What is the illustrated job paying?  PhP 13,000 (max) per month.  That’s a whopping (almost) $300 USD per month at today’s exchange rate.

By rule of thumb as we already mentioned, the burdened cost for that jib will be close to $600 USD per month, and by the profitability rule of thumb, the person who did the analysis and decided to advertise the position is pretty darn sure that the successful candidate is thus going to generate about $1,800 USD (or the Peso equivalent) for the school.

Now $600 USD per month is a wage you can live on (barely) … don’t forget that figure is all before mandatory income taxes, social security deductions and such … see my recent update to living in the Philippines on $700 USD per month for a local Filipino readers viewpoint on living on that amount.

But $1,800 USD per month is an OK income so far as I am concerned.  My wife and I live decently in the Manila suburbs on that amount, send our nice to college and enjoy some other perquisites as well … and we save money every month to boot.

So if you are a person eagerly looking for a job like this, let me ask you a serious question, which I don’t want to know the answer to, but you, yourself, really needs to consider carefully.  What personality flaw or other fault are you burdened with that makes you want to “sell yourself” … because that is what a JOB is …  to sell yourself to a bidder who is only willing to pay 1/3 of your proven worth?  

I’m no Doctor Phil, to be sure, but it certainly sounds to me as if a person who sets their goals 66.666% below what they already know what they are worth in today’s economy need to seriously re-evaluate their own thinking … ya think?

You might already know what’s coming … because you’ve heard it here before.  Why don’t you set up an online English School, for yourself, no matter where you live now?  here’s a recent pricing example from an online English school web site I recently watched get sold in an online auction:

Payment

1 hour trial class  Our Price: $10.00

1 hour trial class with free book.

10 English lessons Our Price: $90.00

10 hours class via Skype with free ebook. Any level/age. Any English course.

23 English Lessons  Our Price: $187.00

20 hours plus 3 bonus hours total of 23 hours, private class

<
strong>30 hours English Class  Our Price: $249.75

30 hours. Private lesson via Skype. Any level or age. Any English course.

This little "online school site" sold for less than $400 USD as a “going concern” with a number of eager English teachers ready to be on staff, custom written eBook class texts and … get this … an email list of over 65,000 prospective students who had mailed in over the past few years to inquire about the school. 

Now even if you did this yourself, with no staff, if we were to look at our notional $1.800 USD “target”, so we could assure ourselves we were getting paid what we are obviously worth … we would need only 20 people per month, based on an average of the sales prices, to get our $1800 USD target.

The fellow who has acquired this site is now using a Japanese address and a Japanese phone number for his contact data .. easy and cheap to do with Skype .. Skype cab provide a cheap local phone number in over 21 countries, so he is obviously targeting the Japanese market … although he can accept students world-wide.  I used to work for a language school in Japan part-time when I was living there.  I have first-hand experience for the enthusiasm of Japanese for conversational English classes and coaching, and for the prices they are willing to pay.

This sample site is offering instruction for $9,00 USD per hour.  In the Tokyo area, students commonly pay their English schools $40 to $50 USD equivalent per hour.  Do you think he is price competitive?  Too damn cheap in my book!

Think this JOB charade through closely, friends … in my opinion it is NOT how you want to live in the Philippines, even if you are Filipino.

OK, I looked this over since I posted it, and I also have some questions from many people who aren’t really clear on a couple concepts. One question I have had several times is, "If this is so easy, why aren’t you doing it, Dave"? Well that’s a very good question. part one of the answer is, I didn’t say it was easy. I said that anyone with normal spoken English skills and a computer and the free program Skype can do it, but it’s work.

It;s a legitimate business opportunity that you can pursue from anywhere you live, and it requires virtually no investment .. but … like any conventional or self-employed venture, it requires effort.  I’m 65 years young and I enjoy being retired.  that’s one reason I don’t teach English online as a business (Although I was really, really tempted to bu7y that example site I showed you earlier ;-) )

The second reason is, like any successful business, it requires a certain amount of setting up, planning and developing specific techniques for the market … and I spend way too much time on other profitable on-line ventures as it is … I don’t care to start something else again from scratch.  I’d rather build the properties I currently have to be bigger and better.

But I di the next best thing.  I found those of you who are interested in a sensible, doable way to make real money online for performing a necessary and useful service, a complete package on how to set up a working business, step by step, written by an American living in Japan who earns money teaching English online.

An online English teaching journey and how you too can teach English online and get money:

Teaching English online report My name is John Buchanan, and I’m an online English teacher.  I love to travel and help people.

In 2005 I moved to Osaka, Japan with thoughts of meeting new people, witnessing the culture and exploring the other mysteries that awaited.  I never thought I would become self-employed after being hired by a Japanese conversation school by the name of Nova.
With them I taught English to Japanese students from all over Japan by using a computer and the Internet. For myself, I paid attention, learned a lot, and eventually adapted a working strategy that paid nicely. …

I did all of my teaching with a webcam, microphone and their special software. The setup was pretty neat because it allowed me to show pictures, play audio recordings, write with a typing tool, as well as the ability to draw with colors.

Pretty cool! I got paid to sit and talk and teach English and draw funny pictures for students.

After I got to Japan, I was blown away by how much money students were paying on average for a 40 minute one-on-one private lesson over the Internet.

Guess how much?

 

About $70.00 for one 40 minute English lesson was the average! My eyebrows flew off my face when I heard that number. …

If you want a no BS look at the details facts and figures of how one man does this, for real, and you want a professionally written step by step course, complete with custom video instructions on things like how to set up Skype to do this teaching professionally, then I suggest you read John’s Teaching English Online sales page.

I find his facts, figures and conclusions are very believable, based on personal experience, and best of all, the offer is completely risk free .. if it ain’t what you want, you get back very penny.  A no nonsense course in how to make teaching English online, from anywhere, work for you.

Will you make a move, or will you wait and see if the government makes things better just for you?

Popularity: 4% [?]

Filed Under: Philippine Jobs Tagged With: , ,

What? Me, Work for the State Department?

May 8, 2010 By Philly Leave a Comment

That seems to be the reaction I get when I post these notices (which the US Embassy sends out on their own to publicize their growing need for professional employees).

I sometimes get disappointed or exasperated when Filipino friends say to me .. “Oh, I couldn’t do anything like that” when I point out job or business opportunities.

But I also find my fellow Americans are really no different in the bad habit of walking around with a bad self-image at times.

Why, indeed, shouldn’t you be working for the US Department of State?  You come up with a good answer, you let me know, OK?

Of course some folks reading here won’t be qualified … but many more will be.

The particular tests I announce here, three times a year when it is typically held in Manila and elsewhere ’round the world, is for Foreign Service Officers (FSO);s.  What do you need to be an FSO?

Who can become a Foreign Service Officer?

While diplomatic careers are rewarding, they can require extremely difficult work, hardship and even working under dangerous conditions. To be eligible, the U.S. Department of State requires that all applicants be:

  • U.S. citizens on the date they submit their registration package
  • At least 20 years old and no older than 59 years of age on the day you submit your registration*
  • At least 21 years old and not yet 60 on the day you are appointed as a Foreign Service Officer
  • Available for worldwide assignments, including Washington, D.C.**

Even though you are not required to know a foreign language to become a FSO, proficiency in one or more languages will enhance your competitiveness for selection.

If you are a capable, healthy and dedicated candidate who is prepared to step up to the challenges facing our country and the work, we want to talk to you.

Doesn’t sound like insurmountable requirements, does it?  More at the official State Department recruitment site … and for those of you who are military veterans, pay particular attention to:

* Different limitations apply to Preference-Eligible Veterans. To ascertain if you are a Preference-Eligible Veteran, please follow the links on http://www.fedshirevets.gov to the “Veterans’ Preference Questionnaire.” If you are a Preference-Eligible Veteran, please contact fsoaquestions@state.gov to let us know you are in fact preference eligible.

on the same page.

Guide for US FSO examination

Find out more About the FSO Program

Of course, some may not be interested in being a Foreign Service Officer.  This is a highly professional career track that actual leads as high as a Deputy Secretary of State level.  Even many ambassadors are not political appointees, but instead career FSO’s.

That’s OK, the State Department has many other folks working for them.  Example, Foreign Service Specialists:

Who are the Specialists? What do they do?

The Department of State offers career opportunities to professionals in specialized functions needed to meet Foreign Service responsibilities around the world. As a Foreign Service Specialist, you will provide important technical, support or administrative services at one of 250 posts overseas, in Washington, D.C., or elsewhere in the United States.

As a Foreign Service Specialist, you’ll receive excellent paid housing or a housing allowance, health and medical coverage, federal retirement benefits, paid education for dependent children between K-12, generous paid leave, and an unprecedented chance to see the world and experience different cultures.

The opportunities that exist for Foreign Service Specialists are as diverse as the countries in which they serve. Foreign Service Specialist jobs are grouped into seven major categories: Administration, Construction Engineering, Information Technology, International Information and English Language Programs, Medical and Health, Office Management, and Security.

Covers a lot of ground, doesn’t it? How many reading here who “wish” they could find a job overseas, especially with good pay and benefits, have even applied?  Here’s the place to start looking for a Foreigner Service Specialist position.

Still nothing for you Well, the US Department of State also employs so-called “straight” Civil Service employees who are not part of the Foreign Service program.  They work side-by-side with Foreign Service employees and fulfil a variety of roles”

From improving trade opportunities for U.S. businesses to helping American couples adopt children from overseas, to monitoring human rights issues, to providing management supervision, you can make a difference by working in one of the following areas:

A career in the Civil Service is a unique opportunity to represent America to the world. There are hundreds of job opportunities available that allow you to make a difference in our global society.  For specific job listings and to apply, please click here.

Did you see where it says “Click Here”?  Well that’s the place you can start your search for any US government civil service job,  at home or abroad.

Did you think that was all?  Well, not quite.  The State Department also hires a significant number of LE’s (Local Employees, what we used to call in the DoD “Local Hires”)  They serve in more than 265 posts world-wide and that most certainly includes Manila, it’s likely you’ve dealt with some of these great folks if you’ve visited the US Embassy, Manila.

Locally Employed (LE) Staff are foreign nationals and other locally resident citizens (including US Citizens) who are legally eligible to work in that country. Foreign Service Nationals and locally resident US Citizens are the continuity staff of our Missions abroad. Our Locally Employed Staff abroad provide the institutional knowledge and professional contacts that are so important to the embassy. LE Staff perform vital mission program and support functions. All USG agencies under Chief of Mission authority depend heavily on their continuity staff, frequently delegating to them significant management roles and program functions.

How do you get into jobs like this?  Here’s what the State Department has to say about it:

Employment Opportunities

Each Mission is responsible for its own recruitment, so individuals need to contact the Mission’s HR office or visit the Mission’s website for employment information.

Please click here (http://usembassy.state.gov/) to see a list of websites of U.S. Embassies, Consulates, and Diplomatic Missions.

Actually, I’ve seen Local Employee jobs at the US Embassy Manila listed in local papers from time to time, but, in 2010, of course, your first point of contact should be the Embassy’s excellent Employment opportunities page.  Not that they also recruit for some other government agencies here in the Philippines and they help people get into some excellent internship programs for those of you with Filipino/American children getting out of school soon and wondering about opportunities?

So, do you still think you should skip on announcements?  Remember, you want a job, chances are you have to do something to get it … if you’re one of those readers who comes here from his workplace, surfing instead of working because you “Can’t stand your job” and want to be able to “Move to the Philippines”,  good things happen to folks who take action rather than those who simply “wish”.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Filed Under: Philippine Jobs Tagged With: , , ,

Enter a Lottery, Win a Green Card — Maybe

May 2, 2010 By Philly 3 Comments

Just a short note this morning to highlight a perennial old wives tale scam that so frequently circulates on Philippine and Philippine related sites and communities.

The scam revolves around a perfectly legal and time-honored program of the USA that has been going on for years now … the Diversity Visa Program … I guess because that doesn’t sound profitable … or for our propensity to insist on calling things what they are not, most people know this as the Green Card Lottery program.

And that’s where the scam comes in.  At almost any time of the year you may receive emails or see vague ads that claim you can enter a lottery and, if you win, presto, you get a Resident Alien Card … commonly known as a Green Card.

Not only can you get into this program for free, you can even enter online.

imageSounds like a great deal, and I suppose for the 50,000 people per year (maximum allowed by law) it certainly is a good thing.

But those of us from the Philippines … or very importantly, those of us who are foreigners in the Philippines and might be called upon for advice or assistance from our Filipino families and friends need to become a bit of an expert on this lottery … for a very special reason:

Filipino Citizens are NOT eligible!

Yep.  Only certain country’s citizens qualify and the Philippines does not.

Unfair?  Discrimination? Maybe so, but the problem, if there be one, has to be fixed within the law … don’t write me, write you Congressman or Senator.  But whatever you do, don’t help perpetrate this cruel scam, especially on or Filipino friends and family.  The reason the Philippines and a number of other countries are excluded is that they already send more than 50,000 immigrants in the past five years to the US, and the program is supposed to diversify immigration but boosting the number of applicants from countries who don’t send so many to our shores.:

….natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because the countries sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years:

BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PERU, PHILIPPINES, POLAND, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM.

Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible. For DV-2011, no countries have been added or removed from the previous year’s list of eligible countries.

Here’s where you can find out more about the specifics of the program:

The Congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program makes available 50,000 diversity visas (DV) annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to persons who meet strict eligibility requirements from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States….

And also where you can read official information on the frequent scams.

Fraud Warning

Please Note: There have been instances of fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Government sites. Some companies posing as the U.S. Government have sought money in order to "complete" lottery entry forms. There is no charge to download and complete the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form. The Department of State notifies successful Diversity Visa applicants by letter, and NOT by email. To learn more see the Department of State Warning and the Federal Trade Commission Warning.

So keep it simple, folks.

==>> The Diversity Visa (Green Card) lottery is a real program of the USA

==>> It does not cost anything to join it … so do not pay money to predators who claim they will help you!

==>> But remember that Filipinos can’t enter it, so don’t go running off to help you girlfriend or brother in law and then disappoint them.

As they say in the Navy, “That is All”.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Filed Under: US Visas Tagged With: , , ,

Is the Philippines Really a Potential Retirement Destination?

April 9, 2010 By Philly 4 Comments

I know, you’ve likely hear this question a time or two before.

For some who are going to read this who can’t separate the image of old men drinking themselves to death in bars while “ladies of the evening” (very young ladies at that) pick their pockets) from the many other ways to spend a retired life, then it’s likely that the answer to the Retirement Destination question is “NO”.

I always attempt to give you the straight answers to questions here on PhilFAQS, the site that answers your Frequently Asked Questions about the Philippines.  I don’t “sugar coat” anything.  If I tried to tell you that there are old men making a fool of themselves in girly bars here, you’d know I was lying, and where would my credibility be then?

But I can also tell you that the “old men” (and even the not so old ones) who see the Philippines as nothing more than a place to act out immature fantasies are far, far from the only foreigners living here in the Philippines by choice.

image In order to form your own answer to the title question properly, you have to look at things in balance … because those of you who think there is, for example, no “sex trade” or “foolish old men” in their own country must be looking at the world with blinders on.

Now I’d propose that one of many decision factors that should be thought through is, does the government of the Philippines make it relatively easy and affordable for folks to retire here in the Philippines.  Some of you may recall I haven’t delivered (yet) on a promised series I started some months back which was going to answer the question “Why Chose the Philippines”.

You can consider this article as an ongoing installment in that series.

Is it relatively inexpensive for folks of retirement age to relocate to the Philippines?  Yes, indeed.  In common with two other notable retirement destinations we are going to talk more about … Thailand and Malaysia, the Philippines has a very flexible and affordable long-term visa system in place … it’s called the SRRV … Special Residents Retirement Visa.

I’ve mentioned the SRRV many times before here on PhiFAQS but today I came across a neat resource that actually is brand new.

Some weeks back I met (online only, so far) a fascinating lady named Susan Dudley.  Ms. Dudley has lived and worked in the Philippines for years, and even though she is officially retired, she’s taken on a new role … marketing the SRRV via the excellent resources of the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce.  Ms. Dudley, welcome to the PhilFAQS “club”, and let me be the first of I am sure many from this site in the future who thank you for helping sort out the information in this many faceted program and offering yourself as a resource for people who want to learn how to do retirement “right” in the Philippines.

Now before I close let me be quick to emphasize a could things that people always seem to breeze past … and then prove by their comments that the never actually read the article itself.  (I know that doesn’t apply to “you)  but you’d be surprised how many people do just ‘scan’ rather than read and then let go with both barrels restating a lot of inaccurate, or at best, semi-accurate statements that have been floating around since before even I started reading and writing about the Philippines.

First of all the SRRV is for people of retirement age.  Although some “flavors” of the program allow visa holders to work here in the Philippines, a lot of opportunities don’t exists for younger, actively working folks who might well be better served with a Foreigner Working Visa.

Secondly, the SRRV is not a program for those who are penniless.  Some versions of the visa require a substantial investment, all require some investment and financial responsibility.  I always advise people not to come to the Philippines without at least a modest cash reserve as well as a proven way to earn more income.  The SRRV will not be for you if you’re broke .. for rather obvious reasons.

Third, the SRRV is not needed for folks who qualify for a “13” series visa .. married to a Filipino or former Filipino citizen.  There are some special cases where even those who qualify for a marriage-based visa might benefit from the SRRV, but in the vast majority of cases the SRRV offers a similar path to retirement as the 13(a) and 13(g) permanent resident visas for those not married, or not married to someone who can sponsor them in the 13-series programs.

Lastly, the most glaring inaccuracy I hear all the time is, “The Philippine government is selling you a visa and once you get in the program you have lost all your savings.”  Stated simply, that is just not true.  The money you invest to qualify for the SRRV program is always yours.  You decide where to place it (within approved programs), and if you decide the SRRV program is not for you, you can pack up and move somewhere else, taking your investment back with you.

Note:  An expert weighed in here and pointed out a couple of things in the preceding paragraph that could be more clear:

….  folks should be aware that, if they DO utilize their investment for any of the authorized purposes, (house, condo, etc) they will be subject to paying PRA a hefty annual “visitorial fee” .

The other point is, they are not compelled to use the invested $.  In my case, I bought my house some time ago … the SRRV $ just sits in the bank and I collect the monthly interest …  As long as it remains, I get to keep my SRRV – no additional fees, charges or complications.. no annotations against my property.…Maintaining the SRRV $ intact is almost like placing a surety bond…

The SRRV … is it for you?  Only you can make that decision, but a big vote of thanks and a tip of the blog hat to the folks at the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce for providing some extra help in making that decision.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Filed Under: Philippine Retirement Planning Tagged With: , , ,