You Ask, I Answer. Find Your Answers Here.
Making It Hard On Yourself In The Philippines.
Why would people want to make it hard on themselves?
Especially when breaking the law and prison time is involved?
Frankly, when the consequences of breaking a law include possible prison time, I personally become very law abiding … you can be sure of that.
But what about a law that seems ancient and virtually obsolete to many Westerners?
[Read more…] about Making It Hard On Yourself In The Philippines
Making decisions before you die.
I think that is a pretty well-accepted statement above. We all know we are going to die, but except for the sad case f suicide, virtually none of us wants to die. And we sure are not ready right now. Most of us know there are many things we would like to straighten out and make right before that last morning wakeup.
Especially if you move to the Philippines, you usual;y have more loose ends than you bargained for. For the sake of your loved ones, and especially children you may have left behind, please give things some thought BEFORE that moment when all your earthly thinking will stop.
[Read more…] about You Have To Make Decisions Before You Die
Do It Yourself or Ask For Help in the Philippines.
I had fun writing about my waiting for the chicken article centered around getting my car fixed. I’m glad some other folks enjoyed it also.
I actually had fun that day living out the experience too … why? I feel, mainly (except for the un-invited summoning of Philip), I was on my own.
Not knowing the language “to speak of” and often being a bit ignorant of local customs, it can sometimes seem a bit daunting to go off on your own to get things done. But always having to have an interpreter/helper/shepherd guiding you can be very wearing at times as well.
[Read more…] about Do It Yourself or Ask For Help in the Philippines
Just Fall In Line Behind The Chicken.
I first published this post nearly 10 years ago. It’s always been a favorite of mine because it tells a lot about what it’s really like to live in the Philippines, day by day.
It has had its share of readership but it is now buried so far back in the archives hardly anyone is ever going to find it, so I decided to dust it off, polish it up and make a few edits to bring it up to the present.
A while back I took my car to the dealer for its routine 40,000-kilometer service (that’s about 25,000 miles for the Metrically challenged out there).
Yep, four years now of living in the Philippines and car ownership in the Philippines and I have accumulated 25,000 miles already?
Already? Heck, I would have run up that many miles back in Colorado in only a year … one of the many reasons that living here is much cheaper than living in the US, even if you insist on the luxury of your own car.
It’s now 12 years living here and I have just over 100,000 km (60,000 miles.)
US Visitor Visa concerns. Can My Philippine Friend Visit Me in the USA?
Originally published sometime back. Significantly updated and corrected for my current reader’s information. Thanks for being a reader, by the way.
I have received a lot of queries over the years about the US Visitor Visa (known as a B2 Visa to the US State Department) for Filipinos.
Mainly these questions revolve around the subject of getting a Filipino friend a temporary visitor’s visa allowing them to enter the USA for a short visit.
People want to know, mainly:
It occurred to me today that I hadn’t written about these issues in some time when I opened an email from a reader here with some specific questions: [Read more…] about Can My Philippine Friend Visit Me in the USA?
One of the joys, as well as the hazards of living here in the Philippines, is that you can often buy almost anything you want .. or hire someone to get something done for you.
There Is No Profit in Being a Skeptic.
If you are interested in learning how to make a living online (or off), I recommend you take the time to read this great article my blogging colleague Chad Hamzeh recently published. [Read more…] about There Is No Profit in Being a Skeptic
Home Country Things You Better Hold On To.
Just recently I was telling a reader that writing about moving to the Philippines seemed very boring to me.
I had gotten very old and stale.
But then I just had a conversation with a fellow US military retiree here in the Philippines and I realized there’s a whole raft of things out there I should be writing about.
One thing people always ask about over the years I have been writing about is:
Well, I think rather than a blog article someone could write a whole book on that subject. Sorry, that won’t be me.
But one thing that did come up with my retiree friend recently is something many westerners who move to the Philippines don’t think about a lot when packing their moving boxes. [Read more…] about Home Country Things You Better Hold On To.